Claim OwnershipMary Versus the Movies
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© Mary Jones
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Sure, the 1980s were a great decade for film. But have you seen all of them? No, neither has Mary. In fact, some pretty big films passed her by, what with being in kindergarten at the time: A Nightmare on Elm Street, Moonstruck, My Neighbor Totoro... So it's time to fix that.
Artwork, opening and closing themes by Dennis Lingg
Produced and edited by Mary Jones
Artwork, opening and closing themes by Dennis Lingg
Produced and edited by Mary Jones
233 Episodes
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David Lynch's first film is an exploration of the fear of fatherhood, set against a grim industrial backdrop, featuring surreal, nightmarish imagry that would reoccur throughout his career. An influential, landmark American film of the midnight movie scene, and ultimately, one hell of a bad trip. Starring Jack Nance, Charlotte Stewart, Jeanne Bates, Judith Anna Roberts, and Robert Fisk. Written and directed by David Lynch.
Nebbish Seymour Krelborn finds an extraterrestrial plant that offers him everything he wants—fame, money, the love of his coworker Audrey—in return for fresh human blood. What started as a 1960 Roger Corman schlockfest is turned into a campy musical from the guys who brought us… The Little Mermaid? Wait, really? Starring Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia, Steve Martin, and Bill Murray. Written by Howard Ashman. Music by Alan Menkin. Directed by Frank Oz
A washed-up, alcoholic ex-ballplayer is recruited to coach the worst team in little league, and sets off to pull them together into a real team, where the star pitcher is a girl and the best player is a dirtbike-riding juvenile delinquent. It's a classic 1970s snobs-versus-slobs story of rooting for the losers, the bums, the misfits. Starring Walter Matthau, Tatum O'Neill, Vic Morrow, Jackie Earl Haley, and Joyce Van Patten. Written by Bill Lancaster. Directed by Michael Ritchie.
A Miami Vice-influenced cross between neo-Noir and over-the-top action, it’s the story of two cops—one an alcoholic detective, the other an undercover cop playing hitman—taking down some Hong Kong gangsters. It has gung-fu, babies in peril, and the boxiest, beigest computers the 1990s could deliver. Starring Chow Yun-fat, Tony Leung, Theresa Mo, Philip Chan, and Anthony Wong. Written by Gordon Chan and Barry Wong. Directed by John Woo. Apologies to any listeners for the sound, this was recorded while Mary had a bad cold.
Dan Ackroyd's misguided take on the copaganda classic Dragnet was a huge disappointment when Dennis saw it in theaters back in 1987. Does his opinion hold up? Or is the film even worse than he remembers? Should he have talked Mary out of covering this at all? But at least we finally get to cover a Tom Hanks movie for the show, right? Starring Dan Ackroyd, Tom Hanks, Christopher Plummer, Dabney Coleman, Alexandra Paul, and Harry Morgan. Written by Dan Ackroyd, Alan Zweibel, and Tom Mankiewicz. Directed by Tom Mankiewicz.
David Lynch's violent romantic drama plays like William Faulkner had written The Wizard of Oz starring Elvis Presley--a strange, campy, Southern Gothic road trip through America that Lynch described as "a love story in Hell". Starring Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern, Willem Dafoe, Diane Ladd, Harry Dean Stanton, and Isabella Rossellini.
Blake Edwards' 1980s remake of a Weimar-era German film about a gender-bending cabaret singer and the mobster who falls in love with her/him in 1930s Paris, starring Julie Andrews, James Garner, and Robert Preston, is a delightful creampuff of a movie that should have absolutely no relevance to the incredibly stupid political and cultural climate of the United States in 2023, and yet here we are. What a time to be alive.
This episode could've been two hours, because holy cow does Richard Linklater's breakthrough indie comedy provoke a lot of thought about the nature of work, generational angst, conspiratorial thinking, religion and pop culture, and whether withdrawing in disgust is not the same as apathy. For Dennis this was a trip down memory lane into his own Gen X youth, for Mary this was a real excavation of a lot of ideas, all wrapped up in a funny, thoughtful package. Also, yeah, getting the "explicit" tag just because of a music cue we use.
Jim Jarmusch's Neo-noir-beatnik-comedy is a favorite film of Dennis's, and a staple of the 1980s indie film scene, so it's time for Mary to finally sit down and watch. Silly, stylized, and warm, "sad and beautiful" as one character says, it stars Tom Waits, John Lurie, and Roberto Benigni as three men stuck in a Louisiana jail for accidental crimes who try to find a way to live with each other.
Our month of Christmas-themed movies wraps up with Ingmar Bergman's Fanny and Alexander, a lushly-filmed, sometimes dark, deeply-moving family drama about a brother and sister whose lives fall apart when their father dies and their mother remarries. With allusions to Hamlet and Charles Dickens, it's a heavy one, but then, some of the best Christmas stories are.
It's an old-fashioned Christmas in the Smoky Mountains when Dolly Parton runs away from L.A. and ends up running afoul of a sleazy sheriff, a jealous witch, seven orphan, and Lee Majors as a a mountain man named Mountain Dan. It's a cornball affair, but very Christmassy.
Our Christmas-themed month continues with this not-exactly-Christmasy Japanese World War II movie starring David Bowie and set in a POW camp. However, this film about repressed desires, honor, toxic masculinity, and regret carries some potent themes, even if it's light on conventional Yuletide joy.
We're bending the rules a little here to bring you an early Muppets Christmas special, and one of the few Mary's never seen. Make some cocoa, curl up by the fire, and listen to us talk about the Muppets, John Denver, Jimmy Carter, vaudeville, Jack Benny, Old Time Radio, whether God has a wife, and more.
It's a Thanksgiving Miracle--we thought we'd seen this movie, but it turns out we hadn't, and now we know why it's a holiday classic. Is it John Hughes' best film? Maybe! Does it contain one of the funniest scenes in comedy? Arguably! And has travel in America actually gotten worse since the mid-1980s? DEFINITELY. So join Steve Martin, John Candy, and Mary and Dennis as we hit the road in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.
It's an episode of unbridled enthusiasm as we take on Jonathan Demme's romantic-screwball-comedy-meets-domestic-crime-drama Something Wild, starring Melanie Griffith, Jeff Daniels, and Ray Liotta, and littered with music from David Byrne, John Cale, Laurie Anderson, and a memorable appearance by New Jersey's post-punk legends The Feelies playing a high school reunion. We fell in love with this movie before it was even over.
This British satire is half a good movie and half a ham-handed play for an American audience unfamiliar with the tv series this was based on. The part of the film that posits the prime minister of the UK is a dangerous madman is a not-bad homage to Doctor Strangelove, while the American plot involving Michael Richards as a master-of-disguise terrorist is pretty dire. But at least the movie features a deadpan Peter Cook, Alexei Sayle in a Hawaiian shirt, and Rik Mayal destroying a wax museum.
This is the notorious film that got Lisa Bonet thrown off The Cosby Show. Initially rated X for a scene that honestly is pretty tame by today's standards, it's a fascinating blend of noir and horror, starring Mickey Rourke as a private eye collecting on a debt for the Devil, played by Robert De Niro. It has some sketchy racial and religious elements, but overall is a stylish head-scratcher.
Halloween month comes to a close with this very silly movie that takes horror hostess Elvira from the boob tube to the big screen. It ain't high art, but it's a lot of fun.
In what is sure to become a Halloween tradition for us, we watch the comedy-horror film An American Werewolf in London and absolutely fall in love with it. Part gothic horror, part romance, part buddy-comedy, this is the second film we've watched from John Landis, and easily one of the best films for the podcast.
Spooky Month continues with our special guest, author and relationships specialist Alana Phelan (@hellolibrarian)! We sit down with Alana to watch the first Nightmare on Elm Street film. Will this be as quippy as we expect? Does the Simpsons parody spoil the ending? And just how is he killing these kids in their sleep? Find out on our latest episode.
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