Tag: bitterkarella

130 – Loose Cannons

Jen and Tim enlist favorite guest Mike Rosen (bitterkarella on Twitter) to explicate the inexplicable Dan Aykroyd/Gene Hackman buddy cop comedy, Loose Cannons!

Not to get all fact check dot org on you all, but the Dissociative Identity Disorder website has science-based information on what was misrepresented as “multiple personality disorder” in the movie.

Busy Inside is a compassionate documentary about people with DID.

Read an article about the Southern California Sorcerers, a writer’s group which included future Loose Cannons scribe Richard Matheson and some other guys like Rod Serling, Ray Bradbury, and Harlan Ellison. Excelsior!

Hear the closing theme sung by Katey Sagal (!), ripped “straight from the uncompressed Laserdisc track.”

107 – Krull

Ken Marshall wields the Glaive in Krull (1983)
literally who cares what this thing is called shut the hell up

Mike Rosen returns to fight Tim on the merits (or lack thereof) of cult 80s sci-fantasy film Krull! Jen moderates to the best of her ability!

Krull hit screens in 1983 and failed to make its money back, although it is beloved by the kind of people who liked Ready Player One.

For exhaustive contemporary coverage of Krull, visit the Internet Archive’s scanned copy of Starlog issue 76, from November 1983.

Special effects makeup artist Nick Maley seemed to enjoy making the film, judging by his reminisces.

One valiant effort to market the movie: Krull-themed weddings! To our knowledge, none of the brides or grooms have come forward to admit to their participation. But it’s hard to see how the movie missed with marketing concepts this good:

One [marketing gimmick] suggests approaching the local bakery about creating special pastries in the shape of the Glaive and dubbing them the punny ‘Krullers’. “Everyone knows what a cruller is…a tasty glazed donut. Now comes the Kruller…a tasty Glaived donut.

Tim Kirk via The Moving Arts Film Journal

For another fantasy misfire and more of guest Mike Rosen, try our episode on Ron Howard and George Lucas’s Willow!

098 – Willow

Warwick Davis in Willow

Mike Rosen joins Jen and Tim to discuss that movie you really liked as a kid and then revisited as an adult and realized it wasn’t that good. That’s right, it’s Willow, from 1988! George Lucas perhaps wisely handed off directing duties to Ron Howard, but results are still mixed at best.

Speaking of Ron Howard, Jen and Tim depart significantly on his legacy as a director. We briefly discussed his daughter Bryce Dallas Howard in our Antichrist episode.

Tim alluded to the very fine podcast 372 Pages We’ll Never Get Back. If you’d like to hear their take on the Shadow Moon series, start here!

For another fantasy misfire, try our episode on Krull!

091 – Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

Key art for Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)

Jen and Tim welcome back Mike Rosen so he can carve up Joss Whedon like the turkey he is and also to discuss an affectionate satire of the slasher genre.

Offensive Films by Mikita Brottman

Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film by Carol J. Clover

For more Mike, listen to our episode about a truly wretched Dan Aykroyd comedy, Loose Cannons!

078 – The Doomsday Machine

You know how sometimes a movie just sucks and is lazy and stupid and sexist? That’s The Doomsday Machine, all right! Mike Rosen joins us to discuss!

Hear the whole episode at our Patreon and get access to more than 50 bonus episodes!

You can watch The Doomsday Machine in its entirety on YouTube, but why would you? Try the very funny Cinematic Titanic version instead!

This is actually the second movie starring Bobby Van (a favorite actor of Jen’s) we’ve covered on the show. The first was lumbering musical Lost Horizon—listen to our episode about it here.

031 – Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure

Jen welcomes Mike Rosen to discuss a traumatic event from his childhood: Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure! In other words, an ill-fated animated feature directed by Richard Williams.

The Animator’s Survival Kit website is a fine tribute to Williams, an undisputed master of the animation. This guide for the aspiring animator is possibly his greatest legacy.

Here’s the screencap Jen mentions in the episode. Make of it what you will.

Babette the Doll from Raggedy Ann and Andy

For more of Mike, listen to our Nothing But Trouble episode!

016 – ABBA: The Movie

Jen and Mike discuss the clean-cut beat of ABBA: The Movie, starring the enduringly popular Swedes and directed by Lasse Hallstrom. Note: this is the second film we’ve discussed that stars a convicted child molester. Hmm.

Sure, you could watch Lasse Hallstrom’s polite middlebrow films, or you could enjoy all the videos he made with ABBA over on their official YouTube channel! We suggest the latter!

For more musical confusion, listen to our episode on Under the Cherry Moon!