The Idiocracy of Muggles

Movie Meltdown - Episode 622

This episode we discuss the recent comedy Bottoms directed by Emma Seligman and starring Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri.

And while we take turns punching each other in the face, we also mention… Mad Max: Fury Road, The Monkees, Easy Rider, football players, The Bear, the most level-headed out of a bunch of crazy people, magic melons, Leslie Nielsen, phone books, cloning is real, alternate crazy world, winning awards, quick one liners, the commentary track, painfully realistic, this should be red flags all over the place, smart comedies and dumb comedies, Instagram posts, musical ironic jokes, the differences in being a high school student today versus years ago, Head and the insane universe of Jim Steinman.

Spoiler Alert: Full spoilers for the 2023 movie "Bottoms", so watch the movie before you listen. 

“Ha, ha… joke’s on you! You got a better movie than you even thought you were gonna get.”

Attack of the Killer Soundtrack 68 

Composer Erich Stem once again joins us as we play and discuss all the 2023 Oscar nominees for both Best Original Song and Best Original Score.

And as we try to decide if we are really into serialism or total serialism, we also cover… the mandocello, the use of motives, electro punk, Tōru Takemitsu, chord progression, it disrupts the food industry, Threnody, sci-fi predictions, singing about battling oil and greed, Woman in the Dunes, whispering song voice, hard bop, real life events attaching themselves to songs, scat singer, Disney songs, connecting with the song, detuning, Juilliard trained, AI writing, compared to other songs of a similar style, a dry studios recording sound, free jazz, Milton Babbitt, use of instrumentation, Krzysztof Penderecki, ultra modern pop and a certain very successful song writer. 

“...I think it makes it better for the movie industry.”

Movie Meltdown - Episode 621 (For our Patreon "Horror Club")

The horror club returns to discuss the 2007 horror/comedy The Mad directed by Johnny Kalangis and starring Billy Zane. 

And while we try to decide who can just kinda get it, we also bring up… Saltburn, Fargo, Circuit City, Twin Peaks, what an inconvenient place to kill somebody, the finer and lesser points of fake bacon, Mtv, Jon Hamm, eating meat, camcorder shooting, I’m grossed out but I want to know more, Dave Foley, choking on a bone, steer clear of  drummers, domestic abuse, vintage TVs, Barry Keoghan, necrophile, VCR head cleaners, awkward adoption conversations, turn down the banjos, those parts were definitely swinging, Jennifer Jason Leigh, the tiger, I want you to be sexy when I put you in the ground and cows. 

Spoiler Alert: Full spoilers for “The Mad”, so go watch before you listen. 

“It’s really gross and like really beautiful and it’s really something.”

Movie Meltdown - Episode 620

Sam Drog returns… as we adamantly argue both sides of Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire. 

And while we're trying to pick out our favorite Trapper Keepers, we also delve into… Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Lisa Frank, it's an Oliver Stone critique of American foreign policy mixed with a zany Disney brain switch movie in Cambodia, if I came out of a vacuum, Man of Steel, taste vs style, Star Wars, when we go to Gladiator planet, if you like that story you’ll see it dressed up in different ways, Michael Bay, Kill Bill, a unified vision, an army of art directors and designers, towing the company line, watching video games, visually striking emotionally shallow movies, Alan Moore, throwing talent to the sarlacc pit, Heavy Metal, intensified reality, anime style, J.J. Abrams, Flash Gordon, nobody gets to retire, a hodgepodge call back to every sci fi thing you've ever seen, Netflix blockbusters, Army of the Dead, the desperation of content creators, David Goyer, a chicken pot pie of cultural references, Slim Pickens writing the atom bomb down, an unhealthy relationship with a filmmaker, Seven Samurai, we wanna forgive, Anthony Hopkins robot, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Tarantino's directing style, a victim of his success, George Lucas, very presumptuous, Sucker Punch, watching concept art, space orifices and the impending Snyder cut. 

Spoiler Alert: Random spoilers for “Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire”, watch it beforehand… if you want to. 

“Man, Zack Snyder underlines, highlights, italicizes and puts fifteen exclamation points, in all caps - on everything he does.”

Movie Meltdown - Episode 619

Sam Drog is back! Listen as we discuss Family Switch, Slave Girls from Beyond Infinity, Flash Gordon, A Christmas Story: The Musical and so much more.

And while we continue to work on our how’s it going response, we also address… John Carpenter, Phantom of The Paradise, Star Wars' disco cousin, Joe Dante, were we media saturated, John Woo, punch upwards, song and dance numbers, the peak of cinematic achievement, George Romero's Polar Express, he did not read the script, let’s make as much stuff as humanly possible, community theater movies, dead eyed automatons, Snowden, a Swedish meatball, Flash Gordon, so Santa Claus and the alignment of planets, somebody has to bear witness to the horror, Escape from L.A., an act of torture and an act of brutality that is almost inhuman, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2, I was wondering why Oliver Stone was in my shed, a magic metal bowl, everybody's kind of in on the joke, approachable B movies, Sam Raimi, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, kind of like smutty back in the day, big toothpick, they're pandering to people of a certain demographic, the career of McG, you've never punked me before, trapped inside the genre that you're in, In the Mouth of Madness and Frito-Lay feeding the cultural discourse. 

“This discussion has been an emotional roller coaster.”

Movie Meltdown - Episode 618

This episode we discuss Enzo G. Castellari’s 1983 post-apocalyptic “classic” Warriors of the Wasteland aka The New Barbarians. 

And as we strap on our bubble armor, we also mention… As Above so Below, Skinamarink, Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain, Once Upon a Deadpool, bad smoke effects, George Eastman, the unnecessary dome, George Miller, extra tubes n’ stuff, A Fistful of Dollars, VHS, there's secretly a Matt Damon hiding somewhere in your movie, questionable theme music, the Starscream of the group, three different cameras shooting at three different film speeds, a weird creepy kid, the most awkward shadow sex, floppy shoulders, no backstory, a very hilly area outside of Rome, if Indiana Jones was a horror movie, Fred Savage, wearing camouflage in the 80s and the golf carts from hell. 

Spoiler Alert: Full spoilers for Warriors of the Wasteland, I mean if you can actually ruin this movie?

“Again that’s what I love about these movies. Like, half the time none of this shit makes sense… but you just kind of just keep going with it.”

Movie Meltdown - Episode 617 (For our Patreon "Horror Club")

Gather around the yule log as The Meltdown Horror Club comes together to discuss the 1987 holiday "classic" - Silent Night, Deadly Night 2.

And as we all practice our festive maniacal laugh, we also cover… who’s your Grinch, The Cult of Humpty Dumpty, Boris Karloff, the feet stuff, the plot made very little sense… and I don’t think really mattered anyway, not even following your own rules, the child welfare system has issues, Thurl Ravenscroft, having someone else’s flashbacks, a fake movie theater, murder with eye contact, what are those nuns doing, the meet cute where you get hit by a car, exploding eyes, line delivery, everything's better with Yakety Sax, being crazy gives you super strength, awkward love scenes, nuclear waste exposure, Benedict Cumberbatch, that guy at a party that you get cornered by that’s been doing coke all day, becoming a vigilante, put your tee hee fingers away, he wears preppy clothes in the woods, they are wearing the most Party City black vampire capes, Eric Freeman, off-screen kills, Makit & Bakit Suncatchers, we flash forward in the flashbacks, Chuck Jones, alternate universe Christmas music, who decided how much time do allot to each of these things, Quentin Tarantino, watching movies in the shower, the time-honored tradition that is… hopscotch in the dark, Ron Howard, rolling down the stairs, toxic Mother Superior and who wanted this… who asked for this?!

Spoiler Alert: Full spoilers for Silent Night, Deadly Night 2. And since half of the movie is just re-watching the first movie, also spoilers for Silent Night, Deadly Night.

“I don’t think Billy had a chance to tell ‘em… ‘Hey, I saw some boobs and killed a guy!’”

Movie Meltdown - Episode 616 (For our Patreon "Horror Club")

There's no place like Movie Meltdown for the holidays, and this year the horror club comes together to discuss the 2019 movie Pilgrim directed by Marcus Dunstan.

And as we make Thanksgiving dinner like the children we are, we also bring up… A Haunting in Venice, The Conference, Bob Clark, Kerr Smith, Psycho 2, the healing power of love, a set dinner for cannibalism, Into the Dark, Hallowe'en Party, look at everyone with a skeptical eye, (There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays, iPad finance dad, the elaborate dunking chair, jelly bean flavors, headbutt technicalities, Agatha Christie, the taffy timeline, Psycho IV: The Beginning, doing things as a family and a marketing goldmine.

Spoiler Alert: Full spoilers for “Pilgrim”, so go watch the movie before we listen.

“I’ve seen this movie like four times, I think… and I just turn my rational brain off.”

Movie Meltdown - Episode 615

Join us as we return to the Super Series and discuss Nia DaCosta’s The Marvels. And as we try to decide just what makes a good movie versus a limited series, we also delve into… Secret Invasion, Loki, The Automat, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Hellhouse, The Flerken, Ke Huy Quan, Hugh Jackman, The Supreme Intelligence, what shoes do you wear in space, Iman Vellani, Norman Osborn, Japanese culture, Miles Morales, Police Squad, post-credits scene, Brie Larson as an actress, Dogpool, Florence Pugh, Blue Beetle, Repossessed, The Void vs. Sentry, Teyonah Parris, The Young Avengers, Candyman, the DC universe, banned movies, Jonathan Majors, Carol Danvers, translating from page to screen, White Widow, Gal Gadot, Leslie Nielsen and alternate universe casting.

Spoiler Alert: Full Spoilers for "The Marvels", so go watch the movie before you listen.

“This is like one of my favorite characters, of anything - in years… I think she is so - not just likable, which she is… but also, it’s this humanity that she brings to it.” 

Movie Meltdown - Episode 614

Listen as we're heading back from Scarefest and all the fun that trip entailed. And while we reserve the right to pullover at any point to look for different Boo Buckets, along the way we still address… Tyler Labine, Van Helsing, American Horror Stories, Felissa Rose and Karen Fields, a very sexy birthday present, Emma Roberts, avoiding a spoiler, Paris Jackson, the troma-est, non-troma movie, Reaper,  Street Trash, Sam McMurray, Hackers, Tim Cappello, The Fog, Kaia Jordan Gerber, pregnant bellies, Deadbeat, C.H.U.D., I totally went to sleep because I was trying to escape, Sleepaway Camp, New Amsterdam and being a Judy.

“This movie’d be great if it didn’t suck.”

For more on Scarefest, go to: https://scarefestweekend.com/