Hey, Do You Remember...? - TopPodcast.com

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Space Jam May 01, 2020

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It's taken almost 25 years to get a Space Jam sequel off the ground and if you're wondering why Warner Bros. just wouldn't let it go, consider this - when you factor in all of the merchandising and licensing deals, this movie has generated around SIX BILLION DOLLARS worth of revenue! If you were a kid in the fall of 1996, this was probably the biggest thing happening in your world. Doubly so if, like us, you grew up in the Chicagoland area and were already invested in the Bulls and Michael Jordan. Although the idea of combining one larger than life brand (Jordan) with another (the Looney Tunes) goes back to the popular Hare Jordan Superbowl commercial, there was actually more to the timing of this film than meets the eye. We take a look at what was going on in Jordan's career leading up to this and how those events might help explain some of the choices they made with this movie. Topics include: the film's inescapable marketing campaign, the soundtrack, new (and bizarre) revelations about the Looney Tunes gang, why so many people in the industry were skeptical of this, how Bill Murray's one-scene cameo expanded into a bona fide supporting role, why it took so long to get a direct sequel made, the anthology approach they almost took instead, and much more!

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Hackers Apr 03, 2020

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The mid-90s saw a wave of cyber thrillers that seemed fearful and paranoid about the decade's emerging new technology - The Net, Johnny Mnemonic, Disclosure, Virtuosity, etc. At first glance, Hackers probably seemed like it was just trying to cash-in on that trend. The reality is that had the studio not gotten cold feet, it would have been the first one out of the gate. There's no guarantee that would have helped it fare any better at the box office, but it might have prevented the film from getting lumped in with its more pessimistic contemporaries. Because that's the key distinction with Hackers - this isn't a warning, it's a celebration. It has a genuine affection for this subculture and wants the audience to be just as excited about it as these characters are. That's a big reason the movie still has a following 25-years-later.

So what's the verdict? An ahead-of-its-time cult classic or a crash & burn? Let's find out. Topics include: the studio's unexpected support for casting unknown actors in the lead roles, the teen movie tropes that work against one of the larger themes they're exploring, why The Plague never really registers as a credible threat, the point where the film becomes concerned with plot over character, why this all still ultimately works in spite of that, and much more!

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Godzilla (1998) Mar 20, 2020

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Back in 1998, hearing that the team responsible for Independence Day was now mounting a big budget American remake of Godzilla was actually pretty exciting. There was a great teaser trailer, a chart-topping soundtrack album, and a genuine curiosity about this top secret new creature design they were keeping under wraps. And then we saw it. To say Godzilla was a disappointment would be a massive understatement. Fans quickly dubbed this new iteration G.I.N.O. (Godzilla In Name Only) and poor word of mouth contributed to a much lower than expected box office take.

All these years later, we had to find out if it was as bad as we remembered and whether or not its reputation was deserved. We also track the evolution of this project and how it transformed from a more faithful adaptation of the Japanese films into... this.

Topics include: why it took so long for an American version to get the green light, the original creative team that was involved and how their version of the movie fell apart, the reason Godzilla's rights holders signed off on such a revisionist take on the material, how an accelerated production schedule left them no time to revise their script or hold test screenings, the traps most Godzilla movies tend to fall into, and much more!

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Police Academy Mar 06, 2020

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Quite frankly, this franchise was a bit of a blur for all of us. Seven movies, a TV series, a Saturday morning cartoon... at a certain point it all starts to run together a little bit. And yet, this original film does have a few key differences from everything else that would follow - not the least of which is its R-rating. Police Academy was initially conceived as a way to capitalize on the success of raunchy comedies like Bachelor Party and Porky's, but the director wasn't a fan of that style of humor and tried to steer this in a less vulgar direction. As it turns out, you can definitely feel that struggle in the finished product. Topics include: the real life event that inspired the premise of the film, how the director's unfamiliarity with the genre both helps and hurts the movie, the scenes he (unsuccessfully) lobbied the producers to remove, why just sticking to the formula may have been the best course of action in this case, how this was sustained for six sequels, what a reboot might look like, and much more! Check it out! You can now get HDYR merch exclusively through TeePublic! Patreon / iTunes / Stitcher / RSS / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

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Fast Times at Ridgemont High Feb 21, 2020

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We didn't intentionally pick two Amy Heckerling movies back-to-back, but it certainly made for an interesting comparison. On this episode, we're revisiting her imminently quotable debut feature - Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Although this frequently gets lumped together with certain John Hughes movies and other popular 80s teen comedies, Fast Times actually has a fairly different tone than a lot of those films. That's one of the reasons the three of us weren't exactly sure what to make of it on our initial viewings. Opinions have shifted over time, however, and there might even be more to appreciate about this one now than when we were the age of these characters. Topics include: Cameron Crowe's original novel and the unbelievable method he used to write it, how this is almost two different movies unfolding simultaneously and the way Crowe & Heckerling make that work, what this gets right about high school cliques, our own stories about teenage awkwardness, and much more! Check it out! You can now get HDYR merch exclusively through TeePublic! Patreon / iTunes / Stitcher / RSS / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

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Look Who's Talking Feb 07, 2020

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The late 80s and early 90s saw a deluge of movies and TV shows focused on working, single moms. Few films were able to capitalize on that niche as successfully as Look Who's Talking. On the surface, it's a broad comedy about a talking baby - but because writer/director Amy Heckerling was drawing from her own experiences as a new parent, it managed to tap into something a lot more genuine and heartfelt as well. Topics include: why most of the major studios passed on the script, the risk involved with hiring John Travolta at this point in his career, whether or not this premise requires such a complicated set-up, the two sequels, the TV show Baby Talk, the possibility of a remake, and more! Check it out! You can now get HDYR merch exclusively through TeePublic! Patreon / iTunes / Stitcher / RSS / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

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Tremors Jan 24, 2020

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Considering that this original film wasn't a gigantic hit at the box office, you might be surprised to learn that the Tremors franchise is now six films deep (with a seventh on the way). Like the Graboids themselves, this shockingly long-running series has operated mostly underground - it was one of the first major properties to take full advantage of sequels designed specifically for the burgeoning direct-to-video market and as a result, it's been quietly serving a fairly fervent fan base ever since. So on this episode, we're going back to where it all started just in time for Tremors' 30th anniversary. The horror/comedy hybrid is a notoriously tough nut to crack and this one walks that line better than most. We knew there was a lot of love for this movie, but we were still pretty blown away by just how competently crafted it was. Topics include: how the premise is basically a series of inversions of traditional horror movie tropes, why Tremors 2 made us remember Burt being a bigger part of this one than he actually is, the unusual problem with the original Graboid design, the interesting way the next two films in the series expand on the life cycle of these creatures, our nostalgia for terrible straight-to-video sequels, and much more! Check it out! You can now get HDYR merch exclusively through TeePublic! Patreon / iTunes / Stitcher / RSS / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

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Return to Oz Jan 10, 2020

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For those of us that were traumatized by this as kids, Return to Oz felt more like a shared psychosis than an actual movie. The whole thing just seemed too crazy to be real. But real it was. And unfortunately for the filmmakers, Disney decided to market this as a direct sequel to The Wizard of Oz despite the fact that it was never intended to be. So audiences went in expecting munchkins, lollipops, and rainbows and instead got electroshock therapy, wheelers, and disembodied heads. It had been ages since any of us had seen it and we were excited to find out how this plays when you divorce yourself from any expectations and take it on its own terms. Check it out! You can now get HDYR merch exclusively through TeePublic! Patreon / iTunes / Stitcher / RSS / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

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Jerry Maguire Dec 30, 2019

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After the commercial disappointment of his second feature film Singles, director Cameron Crowe couldn't help but notice how many fair weather friends were disappearing now that he was no longer the hot new kid in town. That realization lit the spark for what would become his next project - Jerry Maguire. It took several years before the initial idea evolved into a finished script and there were a lot of interesting changes along the way. We explore how a filmmaker with no interest in professional sports turned that into the perfect backdrop for this story. Topics include: the other A-list movie star Crowe wrote the title role for, the decision to start this film where any other movie about this guy would have ended, how shocked they were that "show me the money" became a catchphrase, the line they thought was going to be the most quoted, the difference between this era of Cameron Crowe's work and his more recent output, how much plot gets crammed into the third act, why the iconic climactic scene might be the wrong ending for this movie, and much more! Check it out! You can now get HDYR merch exclusively through TeePublic! Patreon / iTunes / Stitcher / RSS / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

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Jingle All The Way Dec 13, 2019

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We were all just a little bit too old for this one when it came out, but we always receive so many requests for it this time of year. As you'll soon discover, we didn't even really choose this one... it chose us. Topics include: the much darker version of this film peeking out around the edges, what our version of the Turbo Man toy was when we were kids, the direct-to-video sequel, why you should never drink eggnog lattes, whether this movie really deserves the reputation it has, and much more! Check it out! You can now get HDYR merch exclusively through TeePublic! Patreon / iTunes / Stitcher / RSS / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

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