Ethan Sarezky has returned and they’re taking us back to a longer time ago in a galaxy far, far away with Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (1999).  George Lucas finally decided to tell us how we got here by utilizing the talents of Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, and Samuel L. Jackson to tell the tale of trade routes, young boys making robots, a questionable romance, an off-screen interim election, racing, slavery and, of course, Jar Jar Binks.  “This was not the Star Wars I was looking for” is the most generous way to put the reaction back then, but time has a way of making things look different. Does this one look different? Well, we’re revisiting it with years of impressions none of us knew we had boiling up inside of us and we’re having a pretty good time with it, despite our own consternation with the film.  It’s certainly a divisive one, but it can be nice to revisit the past, and you can too, just tune in!

Episode 123: Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace featuring Ethan Sarezky

Artists, siblings, and musicians (check out their band Double Deüce) Toby Goodshank and Angela Carlucci are with us this week to talk about one of their household staples: The Dark Secret of Harvest Home (1978).  This Leo Penn folk-horror miniseries brought chilly, earthy horror to the masses via NBC’s nightly broadcast.  It tells the tale of a city family who moves to an idyllic, pastoral community where they (gasp) discover it has a dark underbelly.  It’s also got Bette Davis fastidiously protecting and maintaining The Ways, a very young Tracy Gold wiping blood on her face and participating in a ritual, a young Rosanna Arquette, and of course, so many uses for corn.  It’s a metaphor, a tithe, takes the place of a corpse, it’s a great way to accost a banished member, etc.  Also, it’s very horny, so there’s that, and even that is sort of corn-adjacent.  We’re out there in the fields on this one, and we think you should join our coven, so tune in!

Episode 122: The Dark Secret of Harvest Home featuring Angela Carlucci and Toby Goodshank

 1. AP, host of the podcast Dove Whether, is sitting down with us today and they’re offering an old form of escape with Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017).  Luc Besson attempts to relive the glory of The Fifth Element by adapting a French comic into an epic Science Fantasy.  What we got was a sort of limp, boring adventure of two pretty people (Dane Dehaan and Cara Delevingne) who can’t really pull off being in the military trying to… get to a particular location on a ship, while protecting an offscreen creature and CONSTANTLY discussing whether or not they should marry each other? Also Ethan Hawke, Rihanna, Clive Owen, and Herbie Hancock are there too, but they’re not done any favors, nor are they doing us any.  It’s not very good, but it’s just the sort of film this podcast is all about.  It’s not a guilty pleasure, it’s just love and you can find out why, so tune in!

Episode 121: Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets featuring AP

Peter Speer is back to discuss an offbeat gem with Deadbeat at Dawn (1988).  Self-funded and shot guerilla style, this action film is the first feature of Jim Van Bebber and has come to be known for its intense action and over-the-top gore.  Van Bebber is the star, seeking revenge for the death of his girlfriend all while navigating former and rival gangs and the sinister side of Midwest dissolution in Dayton, Ohio. Despite the meager budget, the film shines with deliberate choices and thoughtful execution to deliver something that not only punches well above the weight of your standard shot-on-the-weekends actioner, but it also leaves an impression that is truly unforgettable.  We’re very excited to talk about this one, so tune in!

Episode 120: Deadbeat at Dawn featuring Peter Speer

Matt Finnegan is sitting down with us again and they’re taking us back to space with Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.  After two successful directing attempts by Leonard Nemoy, William Shatner was given the reins and what we were given was a larf-a-minute romp about three chums (Shatner, Nemoy and DeForest Kelley) having to deal with a job out in space using a ship that’s so exasperatingly not ready that the whole crew (also including James Doohan, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, and George Takei) is having just a hell of a time and everybody keeps getting abducted/and or subdued.  Also, they have to go to the center of the universe to find God, allegedly.  It’s not the kind of thing you’d expect from a Trek, and audiences weren’t having it at the time and largely still don’t.  That, however, is just the sort of thing that we will gladly beam up, so tune in!

Episode 119: Star Trek V: The Final Frontier featuring Matt Finnegan

Joe DeAngelis, a friend of the show, is with us and they’ve got a mission of vital importance: Armageddon (1998).  Yes, it’s the classic Michael Bay sci-fi actioner that wowed the audiences of 1998 with an all-star cast that included Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Live Tyler, Billy Bob Thornton, Micheal Clarke Duncan, Steve Buscemi, Owen Wilson, Peter Stormare, Will Patton, and William Fichtner.  It’s about oil drillers tasked with saving the Earth by blowing up an asteroid and it makes about as much sense as it sounds like it makes.  Granted, no one should watch this one expecting something too sensical, but can the numerous explosions still hold the attention after all these years or has some of the powder fallen out of the keg?  There’s an amount of disagreement, but all can honestly say that its societal imagery feels ahead of its time.  We’re getting into it all, so tune in!

Episode 118: Armageddon featuring Joe DeAngelis

Christie Admiral is back and she’s brought something special from childhood with her: Heavyweights (1995). This Steven Brill directed family comedy tells the story of a fat camp that comes under new management at the last minute, turning everyone’s summer into a nightmare.  Things could have been a lot worse with that premise, but the main issue is handled fairly well and Ben Stiller gives a knock-out performance as the insane camp leader Tony Perkis.  Other comedy greats old and burgeoning grace this cast and crew including Kenan Thompson, Paul Feig, Jeffrey Tambor, Tim Blake Nelson, both of Stiller’s parents and it even scored Judd Apatow as a writer.  It manages to hold up fairly well, but we’ll be interrogating it, laughing with it and getting into some further discussion of Brill’s connection to the Star Wars universe.  You won’t want to miss it, tune in!

Episode 117: Heavyweights featuring Christy Admiraal

JJ Bersch, researcher for the podcast Blank Check, is with us today and they’ve brought a prior piece of “research” with Uncle Drew (2018).  Based on a viral Pepsi Max internet campaign, this Charles Stone III adaptation sees Little Rel Howery losing his team for the Rutger Classic and so he relies on the likes of Kyrie Irving, Shaquille O’Neal, Chris Webber, Reggie Miller and Nate Robinson to fill out his new roster.  The catch: they’re all playing old people.  There are plenty of real-world actors and players supporting this picture including Lisa Leslie, Tiffany Haddish, J.B. Smoove, Mike Epps and Nick Kroll in the role he was born to play: Kooky Villain You Love To Hate.  JJ originally saw it for the product placement “research” (and there’s a lot), but was won over by the quirky, light-hearted fun of a bunch of non-actors having a great time on screen together. It’s been a pleasant surprise for the whole panel and you can share it too, just tune in!

Episode 116: Uncle Drew featuring JJ Bersch

Sharon Cunningham is back after being forced to watch Powder twice, but this time she’s put her own money down on Hot to Trot (1988).  Bobcat Goldthwait makes both his debut and departing role as a leading man with this Michael Dinner directed comedy about a man getting vengeance on his evil stepfather via the talking horse he inherited. Dabney Coleman and some prosthetic teeth are that stepfather and John Candy is that horse. Also, Virginia Madsen is playing one of our favorite roles: a female in a film. A troubled production (including some wild prior attached stars) led to a luke-warm response at the box office. However, time and constant repeats on cable have softened the audience to this one, but can this horse still beat the competition with its one-liners? To find out, just tune in!

Episode 115: Hot to Trot featuring Sharon Cunningham

Michael McDaniel, co-host of the podcast Your Roots Are Showing, is showing their roots with The Beastmaster (1982).  After the success of Phantasm, Don Coscarelli moved onto a swords and sorceries epic.  Adapted from the book The Beast Master, It stars Marc Singer as our Oil and Tanned Protagonist, Dar, who’s fighting the evil forces of Rip Torn’s Maax who’s sacrificing a lot of babies and gumming the scenery to death while croaking with vocal chords made of wood.  Luckily Dar can talk to animals and see through their eyes, which is perfect for the task?  He makes it work and his ferrets are just the best.  There’s also a hawk, a black tiger and human sidekicks played by Tanya Roberts, John Amos, and Joshua Milrad.  It’s a riot out there in wherever it is that Dar lives and we’re loving it.  We have a feeling you might too, so tune in!

Episode 114: The Beastmaster featuring Michael McDaniel

Chris Andersen (@christhefriend) · Zencastr

Chris Andersen (@christhefriend)

Join your hosts Chris, Anna, and Greg as they dare to ask the question, "If this movie is so bad, why do you like it so much?". Special guests bring us their own personal favorite bad movies and we figure out what is up with the movies we love to hate and hate to love. 



linktr.ee/favoritebadmoviepod

Your Favorite Bad Movie Podcast