Great Scott! This week on Alcohollywood, Justin Gerber of Consequence of Sound and James Thompson of Geekspotting stop by to go back in time and learn the power of love with 1985’s Back to the Future! Bob Zemeckis' 80s sci-fi comedy classic sees slacker Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) jumping in a retrofitted DeLorean created by his creepily-close mad scientist friend Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) and zipping back to 1985, contending with 50s nuclear family politics, the prospect of getting back to his own time, and making sure his parents fuck so they can make him.
For a movie that needs no introduction, we find a surprising amount to talk about, from the fanbase’s crazy conspiracy theories (9/11! Benghazi!) to the intriguing Reagan-era conservative links between Future and Forrest Gump and so much more. Flip on the flux capacitor to 1.21 jiggawatts, crank the engine up to 88 miles per hour, and check out our custom cocktail and drinking rules!
Related Links:
Kooky 9/11/JFK Back to the Future Video
The Power of Love Music Video
The Worlds of Back to the Future (a cool book of critical essays on the films, if you're into that sort of thing)
B To The F, a Tumblr deconstructing the novelization of the film
Konban wa, listeners! This week, Ele from Our Fair City and Wildclaw Theatre joins us to talk the Japanese cult film Battle Royale – the tale of a group of kids forced to participate in a punitive government program to punish bad students by making them fight to the death on a deserted island with random weapons. Of course, since the students have apparently not heard of this at all, what’s the point of Battle Royale if it doesn’t sufficiently scare people into doing better at school? Still, we have a lot of fun with it, involving discussions about Beat Takeshi’s sweet tooth, the importance of basketball, and so much more. Don’t forget to check out our custom cocktail and drinking game below!
(This episode is sponsored by Cards Against Humanity as part of the Chicago Podcast Cooperative.)
Erin go bragh, listeners! We’re gearing up for St. Patrick’s Day along with returning guest David Rheinstrom of Twenty Questions Tuesday (and Our Fair City) as we tackle the 1959 Disney film Darby O’Gill and the Little People! The third in our unintentional trio of Robert Stevenson Disney musicals after Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Darby follows the titular character (Albert Sharpe), an old coot living in a quaint Irish village who finds himself in a series of folksy shenanigans. Involved are his daughter Katie (Janet Munro), a young Dubliner (a young Sean Connery), and, of course, some leprechauns.
Join us as we fawn over Connery’s Bing Crosby-esque singing voice, and try to figure out just where those little leprechaun-sized horses come from! (Don’t forget to enjoy our custom cocktail and drinking rules as well.)
(This episode was sponsored by Basecamp, in conjunction with the Chicago Podcast Cooperative.)
Greetings, listeners! Grant from Chip & Ironicus and the Six Feats Under podcast network joins us in our new and improved Alcohollywood Labs 2.0 to talk the 1995 cyber-thriller Virtuosity! Years before they’d meet up in American Gangster, Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe face off in this cyber-thriller that sees an ex-cop convict with a robot arm (Washington) tracking down the anthropomorphized version of an AI serial killer named Sid 6.7 (Crowe, hamming it the hell up). What follows is all of the best, misguided clichés about virtual reality and future technology, wrapped up in an loud neon bow of explosions and techno music. It has to be seen to be believed, but we do our best to sum it up for you, along with our custom cocktail and drinking rules!
(This episode was sponsored by Busy Beaver Button Co. as part of the Chicago Podcast Cooperative.)
Greetings, listeners! Sorry about the long wait, but this just means you’ll get two episodes this week! Ryan Bond of Our Fair City joins us to talk about 1985’s Young Sherlock Holmes, written by Chris Columbus and directed by Barry “Men in Black” Levinson. Taking a Muppet Babies approach to literature's greatest detective, the film follows tween Sherlock and Watson as they solve a supernatural mystery involving a mysterious Egyptian cult, as well as solving the mystery of their changing bodies and his newfound interest in girls.
Columbus’ footprints are all over this, as the movie plays out much like the first two Harry Potter movies (complete with a blonde bully for Sherlock). Still, we found it tremendously charming, and we’ve got some drinking rules and a custom cocktail to wash down all the adolescent intrigue!