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Stand By Me Feb 15, 2019

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We've been getting requests for Stand By Me since this podcast launched and it's easy to see why. This is a film that seems tailor made for the premise of this show. One of the benefits to holding off on it for this long is that we've already covered so many of the other "kids on an adventure" movies from this era and now we can really highlight what sets this one apart. So grab your gear and follow us down the tracks. Don't worry, we brought the comb. Topics include: realizing that Stephen King didn't just write horror stories, differences between this and his original novella, the tragedy of River Phoenix, why Teddy was the most difficult character to cast, how this becomes a completely different film the older you get, the very different version of this that almost materialized before director Rob Reiner got involved, 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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The Mask Feb 01, 2019

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1994 was a very good year for Jim Carrey. Ace Ventura,The Mask, and Dumb & Dumber were all released within the span of eleven months and established him as a comedic force to be reckoned with. Although it might be argued that the other two films have had more resonance, The Mask was the most critically and commercially successful at the time. Which is why it's pretty crazy to consider that it was almost a completely different movie altogether. Based on a hyper-violent splatterpunk comic of the same name, New Line Cinema initially saw The Mask as a successor to their A Nightmare on Elm Street series. They even tapped Nightmare 3 director Chuck Russell to helm it. Like the title character, however, it eventually transformed into something else entirely. So join us as we investigate the property's comic book origins, its journey to the big screen, and why this is maybe one occasion where diverging this dramatically from the source material was a good decision. Topics include: some of the more unusual approaches to the film before they settled on an overtly comedic tone, why Carrey was still a risky proposition at this point, who else they considered for the role of Stanley, the one scene the studio really wanted them to cut, key differences between the film and the original comic mini-series, some of the surprising elements that carry over, the planned sequel that Carrey bailed on, 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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Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi Jan 18, 2019

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It's time to bring this saga to a close. We conclude our retrospective of the original Star Wars trilogy by trying to decide how successfully Return of the Jedi sticks the landing. For some, this is still an above-average entry in the franchise. For others, it's the first sign of George Lucas' worst impulses as a storyteller and a harbinger for what was to follow. No matter which camp you fall into, there's probably a lot about how this concluding chapter came together that might surprise you. So buckle up and prepare for the jump to lightspeed... this one goes deep. Topics include: the early drafts of the original Star Wars that Lucas mined for ideas when writing this film, why they settled on another Death Star as the central threat when there were more intriguing options, all of the lingering story threads from The Empire Strikes Back that were just abandoned, Lucas' first choice for a new director, the real problem with the Ewoks, the truly great story that's peeking out from around the edges of this script, and much more! Patreon / iTunes / Stitcher / RSS / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

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Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer Dec 21, 2018

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Happy Holidays, friends! This year the HDYR gang meets up with a few other misfits in Christmastown for a look back at the Rankin/Bass claymation classic, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer. It's aired on CBS every single year since 1964, but there have been quite a few nips, tucks, additions, and subtractions in that time. We go over all of the different versions, some of the more problematic elements that modern audiences might get hung up on, and debate how successfully they expanded on the premise of a pretty threadbare poem/song. Topics include: Burl Ives and his grudge against storks, the grumpiest little Santa Claus this side of the North Pole, the problem with having everyone behave like a monster towards Rudolph, the oddly cruel ending for the film's actual monster, whether or not the island of misfit toys should have been saved for their own movie, the other Rankin/Bass holiday specials, and much more! Patreon / iTunes / Stitcher / RSS / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

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Spider-Man Nov 30, 2018

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On our Batman & Robin episode, we mentioned how part of the fallout of that film was that suddenly these adaptations were a little apprehensive about getting too comic book-y. To that end, movies like Blade and X-Men wound up taking some pretty extreme liberties with their source material. They were dark... they were fairly humorless... and there was this sense that the people behind them were maybe a little embarrassed of their origins. It was into that landscape that Sam Raimi's original Spider-Man was released - a film so loud and proud in its faithfulness to the comics that it took a lot of us by surprise. Not only did it stand in stark contrast to its contemporaries, it also laid the groundwork for the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it today. But that was sixteen years ago. Where does this one fit in now that this character has appeared in eight live-action films where he's been played by three different actors? Does it still pack the same punch that it did back in 2002 or has the genre evolved too far past this point? Topics include: a tribute to Stan Lee, other filmmakers who were approached about directing this and what their version might have looked like, the era of Spider-Man comics that Raimi was drawing from and how those differed from some of the more modern interpretations, reservations about the Green Goblin's costume and other ways they could have taken it, how we feel about Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst in the lead roles, why these movies were always in such a hurry to get Peter out of high school, how this set the template for the Marvel films that followed it, and much more! Patreon / iTunes / Stitcher / RSS / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

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Street Fighter Nov 16, 2018

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For a movie called Street Fighter, there aren't many streets and there's even less fighting. When it comes to liberties taken with the source material, however, that's only scratching the surface. After the meteoric success of the Street Fighter II video game, a live-action feature film was all but inevitable - but Capcom's guiding hand in the movie's development quickly became a clenched fist that suffocated all the life out of this once-promising project. For this Thanksgiving's cinematic turkey, we breakdown all of the pitfalls, poor decisions, and bad luck that plagued this production every step of the way. Grab your forks and knives because you're in for a feast. Topics include: why no iteration of this was ever going to be a tournament movie, the desire to streamline the roster of characters for the sake of clarity and why that didn't happen, the inexplicable decision to make Guile the main character, the catastrophic effect Raul Julia's illness had on their shooting schedule, the real reason each character doesn't have their own unique fighting style, what the Mortal Kombat movie understood about these types of adaptations, and so much more! Patreon / iTunes / Stitcher / RSS / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

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Election Nov 02, 2018

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The HDYR gang is off to the polls with a look back at Alexander Payne's subversive comedy Election. Nearly every step of the way, the film (and the novel it was based on) faced the same problem - the perception that it was a more run-of-the-mill teen comedy. The marketing department wasn't sure how to sell the movie and as a result, the film tanked at the box office. In the years since its release, Election's reputation has continued to grow. It's influenced other writers, directors, actors, and even some fairly notable politicians. How does it play twenty years later? How much has changed? And how much has remained eerily the same?

Topics include: the real life events that inspired the novel, the surprising and charming story of how Chris Klein was cast in the film, the original choice for the role of Tammy, how this film masters the difference between showing vs telling, the total lack of any wasted screen time, and so much more! Patreon / iTunes / Stitcher / RSS / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

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Bonus Episode: Halloween (2018) Oct 26, 2018

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Bonus Episode! Kristen & Mike from The Sunnydale Stacks podcast join Chris for a conversation about the brand new Halloween. Which is not to be confused with Halloween (1978). Or Halloween (2007). And even though this is technically Halloween II, it has nothing to do with Halloween II (1981). Or Halloween II (2009). Join us as we traverse all the twists, turns, tricks, and treats of this choose-your-own-adventure franchise!

Topics include: the pros & cons of the decision to ignore all of the other sequels, the unproduced scripts that were commissioned before this one was greenlit, the inevitable comparisons to H20 and where we stand on the matter, John Carpenter's score, where the franchise goes from here, and much much more! Patreon / iTunes / Stitcher / RSS / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

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Psycho Oct 19, 2018

Show notes

Psycho is the film (and maybe the one scene) Alfred Hitchcock is most identified with, despite the fact that it's something of an anomaly on his filmography. Deliberately pulpy and shot on the cheap, it would go on to become the legendary director's biggest success - as well as a masterclass in misdirection. These days, it's tough to find anyone who isn't familiar with all of the big twists and iconography, even if they've never actually seen this. There's also the fact that all of the material that was regarded as so dangerous and shocking in 1960 is downright quaint now. And yet... Psycho still packs a formidable punch. Why is that? Join us as we check into the Bates Motel to see if we can uncover some of the secrets hidden in that house on the top of the hill. Topics include: all of the imitators that made Hitchcock feel like he needed to reinvent himself, how hard Paramount tried to get out of this, the major deviations the screenwriter made from the novel, the two actors Hitchcock really loved and the two he really didn't, the many sequels, Gus Van Sant's controversial remake, the TV series, and much much more! Patreon / iTunes / Stitcher / RSS / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

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Interview with the Vampire Oct 05, 2018

Show notes

We begin our run of Halloween episodes with a look back at Neil Jordan's adaptation of Anne Rice's bestselling novel Interview with the Vampire. The film was a big hit back in 1994, but efforts to capitalize on its success and turn The Vampire Chronicles into a franchise were somewhat in vain (get used to vampire puns btw). Which leaves this one, at least for the time being, as something of an anomaly. So has it aged as well as its lead characters? Have the numerous knock-offs or glut of other vampire fiction softened the edges of material that felt so shocking at the time? Topics include: Rice's objections to Tom Cruise being cast as Lestat, why Brad Pitt felt betrayed by the script, key differences between the film and the novel, what went wrong with the follow-up Queen of the Damned, a simple fix for the somewhat sluggish second half, whether or not TV is a better medium for this series, and much much more! Patreon / iTunes / Stitcher / RSS / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

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