Mary Versus the Movies

16/08/2024

An Atlantic City oyster-schucker and an aging gangster are on the run after her ex-husband rips off a Philly drug-running operation. Filmed as the Jersey Shore opened up to gambling, it captures a city under the wrecking ball of an uncertain future.

Starring Burt Lancaster, Susan Sarandon, Kate Reid, and Robert Joy. Written by John Guare. Directed by Louis Malle.

Episode 155 - Atlantic City

https://sites.libsyn.com/398906/episode-155-atlantic-city-1980

09/08/2024

Reggie hits the beach

Check out maryvsmovies’s video.

09/08/2024

A Malibu dirtbag is recruited by three older men to teach them how to pick up chicks, and a parade of topless women ensues. A world of s*x, female bodybuilding, and hair metal opens up for our trio of losers, until one of them takes it too far, and our young dirtbag suddenly has to grow up and grow a pair.

Starring Grant Cramer, Courtney Gains, Roberta Collins, Gary Wood. Written by Eric Alter, Steve Greene, and Mark Griffiths. Directed by Mark Griffiths.

Episode 154 - Hardbodies

https://sites.libsyn.com/398906/episode-154-hardbodies-1984

02/08/2024

A young Amish boy witnesses a murder by corrupt Philadelphia cops, leaving a rogue detective to protect the boy and his family from their wrath while hiding in the Pennsylvania countryside. A dreamlike mix of brutal noir, romantic longing, and pastoral comedy, it’s one of the rare films that let Ford stretch out as an actor during his action heyday.

Starring Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis, Lukas Haas, and Danny Glover. Written by Earl W. Wallace and William Kelley. Directed by Peter Weir.

Episode 153 - Witness

https://sites.libsyn.com/398906/episode-153-witness-1985

26/07/2024

Just in time for the 2024 Paris Olympics, we visit the 1924 Paris Olympics and the true story of two runners who overcome discrimination—antisemitism, class differences, and religious devotion—to become a team and win the gold. With its iconic Oscar-winning synth score by Vangelis, it also won Best Picture, Screenplay, and Costumes.

Starring Ben Cross, Ian Charleson, Nigel Havers, Alice Krige, Ian Holme, and John Guilgud. Directed by Hugh Hudson. Written by Colin Welland.

Episode 152 - Chariots of Fire

https://sites.libsyn.com/398906/episode-152-chariots-of-fire-1981 by Colin Welland.

19/07/2024

John Candy just wants to take his family to the lake for a summer vacation, the last thing he needs is Dan Ackroyd tagging along, humiliating him, and stealing his money. But that’s family for you. This feels like an unused National Lampoon’s Vacation script, and it turns out, thats exactly what it is.

Starring John Candy, Dan Ackroyd, Stephanie Faracy, and Annette Benning. Written by John Hughes. Directed by Howard Deutch.

Episode 151 - The Great Outdoors

https://sites.libsyn.com/398906/episode-151-the-great-outdoors-1988

12/07/2024

A computer programmer gets sucked into the mainframe of his former employer and does battle with a malevolent artificial intelligence in a futuristic world right out of a black-light poster. One of Walt Disney Pictures’ better forays into science fiction brings us a visually-dazzling world, but that doesn’t quite make up for a story that’s both nonsensical and a bit of a slog.

Starring Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, David Warner, Cindy Morgan, and Barnard Hughes. Written by Steven Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird. Directed by Steven Lisberger. Music by Wendy Carlos.

Episode 150 - Tron
https://sites.libsyn.com/398906/episode-150-tron-1982

05/07/2024

An arrogant New York shock-jock’s fall from grace is tempered by the debt he owes to an eccentric unhoused man, the woman he loves, and a search for the Holy Grail in Terry Gilliam’s magical-realist tale of redemption.

Starring Jeff Bridges, Robin Williams, Mercedes Ruehl, Amanda Plummer, and Michael Jeter. Written by Richard LaGravanese. Directed by Terry Gilliam.

To hear the entire episode, join the Mary Versus the Movies patreon for $3/month to hear this and the entire series Hollywood Avalon: https://www.patreon.com/maryvsmovies.

Episode 15 - The Fisher King
https://sites.libsyn.com/398906/hollywood-avalon-episode-15-the-fisher-king-1991

21/06/2024

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.

Episode 149 - The Bad News Bears
https://sites.libsyn.com/398906/episode-149-the-bad-news-bears-1976

14/06/2024

A book editor witnesses a murder during a cross-country trip, and is plunged into a Hitchcockian world of murder and intrigue. Eventually Richard Pryor shows up, and we get some unfortunate blackface. What can I say, it’s the 1970s.

Starring Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, Jill Clayburgh, Patrick McGoohan, Ned Beatty, Ray Walston, Scatman Crothers, and Richard Kiel. Written by Colin Higgins. Directed by Arthur Hiller.

Episode 148 - Silver Streak
https://sites.libsyn.com/398906/episode-148-silver-streak-1976

07/06/2024

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.

Episode 147 - Hard Boiled
https://sites.libsyn.com/398906/episode-147-hard-boiled-1992

01/06/2024

Young lovers Anna and Françoise, freshly graduated from college, find themselves in a mysterious forest, where they fall prey to Morgan le Fay, the fairy queen of Avalon who rules her magic island as a savage, Sapphic nightmare. For a sleazy erotic horror film, it’s much better than it deserves to be—surprisingly atmospheric, with authentic elements of fairy lore, folk horror, and medieval literary tropes amidst the soft-core action.

Starring Dominique Delpierre, Mireille Saunin, Michèle Perello, and Alfred Baillou. Written by Bruno Gantillon and Jacques Chaumelle. Directed by Bruno Gantillon.

This is a preview of our Patreon-only series Hollywood Avalon: An Arthurian Film Podcast. To hear the entire episode, join the Mary Versus the Movies patreon for $3/month to hear this and the entire series Hollywood Avalon: https://www.patreon.com/maryvsmovies.

Hollywood Avalon, episode 14 - Morgan’s et ses nymphes/Girl Slaves of Morgana le Fay

https://sites.libsyn.com/398906/hollywood-avalon-episode-14-morgane-et-ses-nymphesgirl-slaves-of-morgana-le-fay-1971

31/05/2024

A sheet-music salesman’s life spirals out of control during the Great Depression, but that doesn’t stop him from daydreaming about a better life through song. A film noir plot dressed up as a big, Busby Berkeley-style musical comedy, this remake of a British tv series was a massive box-office bomb, but has become a cult favorite.

Starring Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Jessica Harper, and Christopher Walken. Written by Dennis Potter. Directed by Herbert Ross.
Episode 146 - Pennies from Heaven
https://sites.libsyn.com/398906/episode-146-pennies-from-heaven-1981

23/05/2024

Sorry, no episode this week due to scheduling conflicts. We will be back next week with our episode on the Steve Martin musical “Pennies From Heaven”, as well as the next Hollywood Avalon episode, the French erotic horror movie “Morgane et ses Nymphes”.

17/05/2024

Dennis's Comics - Steve Albini

17/05/2024

In a world where dancing is banned, only one boy has the courage to stand up to the religious fanatics denying his magical feet. Or something. I guess.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t really dig this one.

Starring Kevin Bacon, John Lithgow, Lori Singer, Diane Weist, and Christ Penn. Written by Dean Pitchford. Directed by Herbert Ross.
Episode 145 - Footloose

https://sites.libsyn.com/398906/episode-145-footloose-1984

10/05/2024

Bored suburban kids get into trouble, hassled by the cops until it turns deadly, and ending in an o**y of destruction—a pretty familiar American story. Sitting somewhere between low-budget exploitation films and more thoughtful, nervy fair, this cult movie pulls off having its cake and eating it, exploring the root causes of juvenile delinquency while having some awesome explosions.

Starring Michael Kramer, Matt Dillon, Pamela Ludwig, Vincent Spano, and Harry Northup. Written by Charles S. Haas and Tim Hunter. Directed by Jonathan Kaplan.

Episode 144 - Over the Edge
https://sites.libsyn.com/398906/episode-144-over-the-edge

03/05/2024

A gambler’s cousin shows up from Hungary and suddenly turns his dirtbag life upsidedown, sending them on a roadtrip around America.

Unsurprisingly, I absolutely loved this movie.

Starring John Lurie, Eszter Balint, and Richard Edson. Written and directed by Jim Jarmusch.
Episode 143 - Stranger Than Paradise
https://sites.libsyn.com/398906/episode-143-stranger-than-paradise-1984

02/05/2024

Episode might be late this week, might come out Friday night instead, sorry about that.

But hey, if you haven’t watched “Stranger Than Paradise” yet, this gives you a chance before our episode posts.

01/05/2024

We return to Camelot with a look at the 1967 film production of the Lerner & Loewe musical, again starring Richard Harris as King Arthur. At three hours, it’s an overly-long production that loses steam in its third hour, but the first two are lush and often inspired, and possibly the best-looking movie we’ve covered for the show.

Starring Richard Harris, Vanessa Redgrave, Franco Nero, David Hemmings, and Lionel Jeffries. Written by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe. Directed by Joshua Logan.

This is a preview of our Patreon-only series Hollywood Avalon: An Arthurian Film Podcast. To hear the entire episode, join the Mary Versus the Movies patreon for $3/month to hear this and the entire series Hollywood Avalon: https://www.patreon.com/maryvsmovies.

Episode 13 - Camelot, Part II
https://sites.libsyn.com/398906/hollywood-avalon-13-camelot-part-ii

We return to Camelot with a look at the 1967 film production of the Lerner & Loewe musical, again starring Richard Harris as King Arthur. At three hours, it's an overly-long production that loses steam in its third hour, but the first two are lush and often inspired, and possibly the best-lookin...

26/04/2024

For those who don’t know, this is the obnoxious groundhog mascot I mention in the Eating Raoul episode. There are dozens of commercials with him.

Gena Burghoff and Gus the Groundhog

26/04/2024

Yeah, it only took 142 episodes to make a page.

26/04/2024

A black comedy about a s*xually-repressed couple who fund their dream of opening a restaurant by posing as s*x workers and robbing and murdering Los Angeles swingers. When a local thief worms his way into the scheme, everything goes haywire, jeopardizing their chance at the American Dream.

Starring Paul Bartel, Mary Waronov, Robert Beltran, Susan Saiger, Buck Henry, Ed Begley Jr., John Paragon, and Edie McClurg. Written by Paul Bartel and Richard Blackburn. Directed by Paul Bartel.

Episode 142 - Eating Raoul (1982)

https://sites.libsyn.com/398906/episode-142-eating-raoul-1982