Revenge of The Nerds: 30th Anniversary

In this episode we discuss the 1984 film, Revenge of The Nerds. This is a much loved film within certain circles, and some of our podcasters love this film, yet, not everyone at The Soylent GreenScreen was a fan. Through this discussion we hypothesise whether or not Louis was a hero or creepy psychopathic villain who was pushed too far, and whether the Lambda Lambda fraternity were really that bad.

 

We also examine some of the more comntroversial elements of Revenge of The Nerds and whether these nerds are as inspiring as they have been given credit for. We also touch upon other forms of nerd humour such as Big Bang Theory and the referencs to Revenge of The Nerds in American Splendour.

 

 

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Xmas Special: Gremlins 30th Anniversary

Our series of 1984 retrospective episodes continue into our latest Christmas special with the 1984 Christmas classic, Gremlins, directed by Joe Dante and presented by Steven Spielberg. Through this episode we discuss the influence of Gremlins, the tightrope this film walks between horror and comedy, the absurdity of Phoebe Cates speech, and the film references throughout the movie. We also attempt to uncover whether the film references such as Snow White and Invasion of The Body Snatchers have any hidden meanings and if the Gremlins are an allegory for atheism.

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16 Candles: 30th Anniversary

It's almost Christmas and that means it's time to celebrate a very special birthday. That's right join us as we celebrate the birthday of Samantha Baker played by Molly Ringwald in the John Hughes classic Sixteen Candles. And whilst we're on birthdays did you know that the film turned 30 this year? Join Wayne, Michelle and the two Justin's as we take a look at this cult teen comedy and see if it has stood the test of time.

 

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Ernest Saves Christmas

In this episode, The Soylent GreenScreen takes a closer look at the modern Christmas Cult Classic, Ernest Saves Christmas. Through this discussion we focus on the legacy of the late, great Jim Varney and the irreplaceable comic brilliance he brought to the character of Ernest. 

We also discuss the formula of Christmas films; we go off on a tangent about Dr Who and a few random topics of discussion, because you never know where a conversation about Ernest P. Worrell will take you. 

 

 

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The Karate Kid 30th Anniversary

In this episode Wayne challenges Michelle and The Justin’s opinions on The Karate Kid and why it may be the greatest sports film of all time. Darkest-timeline Justin and Michelle on the other hand were not as taken and thought it was too long, while Regular Justin was just as indifferent but thought it was too short.  Through this discussion we discuss the character motivations, the Stinson argument, whether or not Mr Miyagi was good at his job, how a janitor can afford so many cars, understanding Johnny's Point of View, why Daniel is a great teen role model, and why Wayne thinks The Karate Kid is not a martial arts film. By the end of the episode Wayne gets his mind Blown by Darkest-Timeline Justin’s Fight Club theory, which surprisingly, holds together.

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Sasquatch: Strange Wilderness/Saquatch Dumpling Gang

In this episode The Soylent GreenScreen goes searching for Sasquatch, but all we get is more Justin Long. In the first half we discuss the Happy Madison produced, Strange Wilderness. Through our discussion we try to figure out if Adam Sandler produces these movies as a tax dodge, the brilliance of Steve Zahn and Justin Long and the ways that they pulled together a pretty fantastic comedic cast for a film that was loathed by critics and shunned by audiences upon release, but is gradually developing a cult following for the ways in which they parody TV wildlife personalities such as Bear Grills and Steve Irwin, and America's cultural obsession with Bigfoot.

In the second half we discuss the very low budget Indie, kids comedy The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang. This was another Justin Long film that featured the search for Sasquatch (AKA Bigfoot). Throughout this half we discussed the history of The Dumpling films that inspired this film, the inspiration of Napoleon Dynamite. The coming of age story, and theorize about why Sasquatch is often used in kids’ films. 

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Rambo: First Blood (1982) / Rambo (2008)

In the latest episode of The Soylent GreenScreen Podcast Wayne, Michelle and The Justins take on Rambo to discuss whether these are silly action films or if there is something else going within this character. 

We cover the usage of post vietman america and whether First Blood is am anti-war film, the Frankenstein themes, whether the sheriff was right to want Rambo to leave, and the importance of Colonel Trautman. We also compare First Blood to The Incredible Hulk TV series.

In the second half we examine the most recent 2008 Rambo film, simply titled, Rambo. This was the first Rambo film to be directed by Sylvester Stallone. In this part of the episode we discuss the excessive violence, the usage of the Burmese genocide and how this film shed some light on a clonflict that had been largely ignored in the west. We also discuss how Stallone was able to cast genuine Freedom Fighters in this film, why this film was banned in certain countries.

We also discuss the series in general and how Rambo was trapped within the franchise machinery of the 1980s. 

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30th Anniversary: Ghostbusters

Continuing our retrospective episodes on classic horror and supernatural films for Halloween season we rewatched and studied up on Ghostbusters to provide our listeners with some deeper insights into this transgenerational cult classic. Throughout this episode we examine the development of Ghostbusters and the journey Dan Aykroyd went through in bringing this to the screen. We also discuss the future of ghostbusters as a franchise, the animated series, some trivia such as the ironic twist of the voice of Venkman in the cartoon being the same guy who voiced Garfield. We also touch upon the loss of Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd's obsessions, Bill Murray's refusal to return to the series and what went wrong with Ghostbusters 2. 

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Halloween Special: A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Wes Craven's 1984 classic A Nighmare on Elm Street, which introduced the world to Freddy Krueger is now 30 years old and has remained a benchmark film of the genre ever since. The Soylent GreenScreen crew have returned to Wes Craven's groundbreaking film phenomemon in time for halloween to discuss the behind the scenes history of the film, the gener role reveral, the cultural impact on franchise horror films and the evolution of Freddy Krueger.

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The Asylum: Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark / Sharknado (the first one)

 

 

With Wayne in Tasmania fighting The Bass Strait Sharknado it's up to Darkest-timeline Justin, to accept Anne and Nick’s request to venture inside The Asylum and take on their obsession with Sharks in this Sharktacular episode. In this episode we discuss the B-film inspired Asylum films; Mega-Shark vs Mecha-Shark followed by a discussion on The Asylum’s most successful movie, Sharknado. Joining Darkest-Timeline Justin are regular co-hosts Michelle and Regular Justin. You can subcribe and review our show on iTunes or Stitcher.  

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Melbourne Cinema History Part 3: The Sound of Music

The final part of our podcast on the history of Melbourne Cinemas our discussion with Michelle's dad, Bryan turns to Rodgers & Hammerstein's The Sound of Music. The Sound of Music Ran for a staggering 140 weeks in Melbourne's Paris Theatre, perhaps better known to history buffs as The Lyceum. The Paris/Lyceum was pulled down in the 70s and replaced by The Tivoli Arcade. 

The Tivoli Arcade

 The Sound of Music was directed by Robert Wise (The Day The Earth Stood Still) and starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. 

 

 

The Rivoli is in NY. No pictures were available for The Paris. 

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Melbourne Cinema History Part2: Around The World in 80 Days

In the scond part of our epic podcasting night with Michelle's dad we discuss the 1956 version of Jules Verne's Around The World in 80 Days, starring David Niven, Shirley McClaine, Cantinflas and a swag of celebrity cameos ranging from Caesar Romero to Buster Keaton. 

Through this discussion Bryan (Michelle's dad) explains the importance of this film and why it ran for three and a half years. He also introduces us to the Todd AO processor and how they used the hot airballoon as a way of marketing Todd AO. Todd AO was the foundation of high fidelity surround and the widescreen 70mm format as we know it today. Before this time they had to use three cameras and three projectors to present cinerama. With Todd AO they were able to record a widescreen image on a single strip of film with six channel surround sound. So this was a ground breaking cinematic achievement. Bryan also points out the number of celebrity cameos in this film and brings us a deeper and more complex understanding of the era that Around The World in 80 Days was made. 

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Melbourne Cinema History Part 1: South Pacific

 

In this episode the Soylent GreenScreen is joined by Michelle's dad, Bryan. Bryan was generous enough to be our special guest and share his memories of being raised by the manager of the Esquire theatre, Gil (1924 - 2014). Gil managed some of Melbourne's finest cinemas from the 1950s through to the 70s. Gil was there for a time that History seems to forgotten now that cinema has been subsumed by the multiplex. 

This conversation with Bryan stretched out to over 2 hours so we broke it into three parts. The first part is focused on South Pacific (1958), whilst we all agreed that this wasn't the best of the films in cinema history, it ran for three years at The Esquire on Bourke Street. Thus cementing its place in cinema history.

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More info on The Esquire can be found on the Technicolor Yawn Blog

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Outlaws: Natural Born KIllers/Bonnie & Clyde

In our latest episode of the Soylent GreenScreen Podcast, now available for download or streaming from iTunes and Stitcher, Michelle, the Justins and Wayne discuss Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers, starring Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Robert Downey Jnr., Tommy Lee Jones and Tome Sizemore as well as Arthur Penn’s 1967 version of Bonnie and Clyde, starring Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Gene Hackman and Gene Wilder.

We discuss the media, the highs and lows of Robert Downey Jnr. and his career, the brilliance of Woody Harrelson, why Quentin Tarantino only gets a “Story By” credit and not a screenplay credit and the ways that Natural Born Killers ruined Michelle’s love of Rodney Dangerfield. We also discuss Oliver Stone and how his films are male centric and question whether Natural Born Killers was made for an adult audience and whether or not they were serial killers or mass murderers, or even if it matters.

In the second half we discuss the 1967 film, Bonnie and Clyde. Through this discussion we examine the influence of Bonnie and Clyde on American cinema and the ways in which the media portrays these characters. We also look at the hysteria of Bonnie and Clyde and attempt to figure out if they were deluding themselves into thinking they were heroes. 

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Slither and Super

In this podcast our crack team of podcasters, AKA guardians of the podcasting Galaxy, examine two James Gunn films, Slither and Super, in preparation for his new film, Guardians Of The Galaxy.  Darkest-Timeline Justin, Michelle, Irregular Justin and Wayne take you deep into the heart of creepy, slimy, slithering aliens, with Slither.  They also delve into the dark, creepy world of Super. They discuss the nuances in these James Gunn films. Yes, Slusho Thoery is alive and well in these films. Super, staring Rainn Wilson, notably from The Office, is a well-made, masterfully dark comedy. With stellar performances from Wilson and Ellen Page, this movie is well worth a watch. Super is bout an everyday guy that transforms himself into Crimson Bolt, a superhero with the best intentions, but lacking in heroic skills. He tries to win back his wife from drug dealing Scum Lords and takes Bolte/Libby along for the ride. Slither is about that goes for a night walk and comes back with more than he bargained for. A blend of the B movie classic The Blob (1958), and some Romero's zombies film, a meteorite collides in a small town and unleashes slithering creepy crawlies. Starring Nathan Fillion and Elizabeth Banks this horror comedy will keep you squirming! One of the movies in this podcast scores a rare 10! You’ll have to listen to find out which one, and who gave it a 10!

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Guardians of the Galaxy Minisode

 

In this mini episode it's up to Wayne and Darkest timeline Justin to discuss the latest Marvel film Guardians of the galaxy. We do our best to avoid spoilers but one or two slip through the cracks. We also discuss the twist at the end of Iron Man 3 get a brief visit by a Thundergod and we look at the possibilities of a Groot or Throg spin off movie. All this and much much less.

 

 

 

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Fantasy Women of Ruby Sparks, Her and Lars & The Real Girl

In our 17th episide from The Soylent Greenscreen Podcast, Darkest-Timeline Justin, Michelle, Regular Justin and Wayne discuss three films about fantasy women and unfulfilled men trying to establish their identities. While these films tell the same story of the inanimate object developing a life beyond the control of the owner/creator they all present unique worlds, differing genres and three men at different stages of the ir emotional development. 

The first film is the 2007 contemporary comedy-drama Lars and The Real Girl starring Ryan Gosling as Lars and Emily Mortimer as Karin. This was one of the few films that we all gave a similar rating. 

Our second film was the 2013 Spike Jonz science-fiction-romantic-drama Her starring Joaquin Pheonix as Theodore and Scarlett Johanssenn as the voice of Samantha. 

Our last film and perhaps the most controversial was the 2012 fantasy drama with darker undertones, Ruby Sparks. This film written by and starring Zoe Kazan as Ruby, with Paul Dano as Calvin.

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Steve Jobs: The Man, The Myth, The Pirate

In this episode Michelle introduces Wayne, Darkest-Timeline Justin and High-Fibre Justin to the life and times of Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, John Scully, Bill Gates and the rest of the guys that defined our marketing and technology inspired culture with IBM, Macintosh and The Pepsi Challenge through a discussion of three movies about Steve Jobs. These three films are the recent Ashton Kutcher starring theatrical feature, Jobs (2013), the first feature length Funny or Die movie iSteve (2013) starring Justin Long as Steve Jobs and Jorge Garcia as Steve Wozniak and lastly, the surprisingly good tv movie Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999) starring Noah Wyle as Steve Jobs and Anthony Michael Hall as Bill Gates. 

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Justin Long and Jorge Garcia

 

 

 

Ashton Kutcher in Jobs

Noah Wyle and Anthony Michael Hall in Pirates of Silicon Valley

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Anime: Akira & Ghost in the Shell

 

 

 

In this episode of The Soylent GreenScreen Podcast Darkest-Timeline Justin introduces Wayne, Michelle and Justin to two anime films of cultural significance that helped define a genre. The first half is dedicated to Akira (1988) with Darkest-Timeline Justin helping Wayne and Michelle begin to uncover how complex and culturally significant Akira really is. In the second half Justin joins the gang to discuss Ghost in the Shell (1995) where we go even further into the rabbit hole through the philosophical conundrum that the film presents. This includes AI, the search for the soul and Ulysses.  

 

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X-Men: Days of Future Past - Reviewed by Justin, Wayne and Darkest-Timeline Justin

In this episode Wayne, Justin and Darkest-Timeline Justin review the new X-men film. Throughout the discussion we look at the X-men film franchise and how this film surprisingly feels like a real film with actual characters. We also look at the time travel dynamics in comparison to other time travel stories, an explanation of why the Star Trek films needed a reboot and X-men didn't, why Professor X still can't walk after coming back from the dead and how Bryan Singer may have pulled off the greatest retcon in film history.

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Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927) - Reviewed by Wayne and Cam (Guest Podcaster)

In this episode Wayne discusses the 1927 Fritz Lang classic, Metropolis with guest podcaster Cam. Through this episode we discuss the transitions from silent to talking films, how it was acceptable to speak during silent films, how Metropolis impacted film as we know it today and the changes in acting styles from early to latter silent films.

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