Rogues Gallery

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Case File 012: Pamela Voorhees (Friday the 13th) Dec 18, 2019

Show notes

No hockey mask. No machete. No Jason (at least not the way we're used to seeing him). Despite the fact that it kicked off one of the most popular horror franchises of all-time, the most notable thing about the original Friday the 13th is how little it has in common with the glut of sequels that followed it. The filmmakers have never been shy about the fact that this was quickly cobbled together to capitalize on the success of Halloween - and it certainly did. Considering what this series evolved into and all of the other films it influenced, it's fascinating to go back to the source and examine what an outlier this entry truly is. Topics include: the difference between capitalizing on a trend vs simply exploiting it, Betsy Palmer's reaction to the finished film and her iconic character, the appeal of slasher films and the assumptions people make about audiences who enjoy them, how the original crew felt about where the franchise went after this, some ways they might be able to bring Pamela back into the series, and much more!

Case File 011: The Overlook Hotel (The Shining & Doctor Sleep) Dec 04, 2019

Show notes

On this episode, we're checking into The Overlook Hotel and investigating all of the different interpretations of The Shining and its sequel, Doctor Sleep.

We cover all of it - Stephen King's original novel, Stanley Kubrick's wildly divergent film adaptation, the more faithful (and somewhat maligned) 1997 miniseries, and the incredible hat trick that Doctor Sleep director Mike Flanagan pulled off by crafting a new movie that somehow honors all of these disparate iterations. Topics include: our first introductions to King's book and Kubrick's film, the key differences between them and how they each play to the strengths of their format, whether or not Nicholson's version of Jack really is crazy from the jump, the surprisingly poor box office performance of Doctor Sleep, the possibility for other stories to be told in this universe, a round of Ultimate Match-Up, and so much more!

Case File 010: Annie Wilkes (Misery) Nov 20, 2019

Show notes

With Annie's arrival on the second season of Castle Rock, it wound up being a great time to revisit Stephen King's novel Misery and Rob Reiner's 1990 film adaptation. Topics include: the real life rogue who may have indirectly influenced King's book, how that came back to haunt him many years later, key differences between the novel and the movie, what creators actually owe their fans, and much more!

Case File 009: Lex Luthor (Superman: The Movie) Nov 06, 2019

Show notes

This week we're opening a case file on one of the greatest criminal minds of our time. But... is he? Gene Hackman's take on Lex Luthor in Superman: The Movie is markedly different from the way he'd been depicted in the comics up to that point, but also a far cry from how the character would continue to evolve.

Topics include: this iteration's inferiority complex and how Hackman's refusal to shave his head wound up playing into that, why Christopher Reeve's pitch-perfect portrayal of the man of steel contrasts so well with what this version of Lex is after, Hollywood's transition from the auteur-driven era of filmmaking into blockbuster spectacles and where Superman fits into that, some comparing and contrasting to other depictions of these characters, and much more!

Case File 008: Michael Myers (Halloween 1978) Oct 23, 2019

Show notes

The Shape. The Bogeyman. Michael Myers. Whatever you want to call him, he's the reason for the season and on this episode we're investigating John Carpenter's 1978 classic Halloween. From the production's inauspicious beginnings to the film's now-legendary status, we track the incredible journey of a ragtag group of filmmakers who set out to make a low budget horror flick and wound up changing the modern movie landscape. Topics include: Carpenter's somewhat contentious relationship with the label "master of horror", the unlikely list of filmmakers he was drawing inspiration from, why every attempt to explain what makes Michael evil falls flat on its face, the choose-your-own-adventure continuity of this franchise, how the more cynical knock-offs misread what made this so successful, and much more!

Case File 007: Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare on Elm Street) Oct 09, 2019

Show notes

Slasher movies were certainly de rigueur in the early 80s, but when writer/director Wes Craven created A Nightmare on Elm Street, he had more on his mind than simply churning out another Halloween ripoff. This wasn't just a paradigm shift in the established formula for this sub-genre, it also birthed one of the most iconic horror villains of all-time. On this episode, we're focusing exclusively on the first entry in the franchise and investigating how Craven, Robert Englund, and the rest of the cast & crew helped create an indelible modern myth with the character of Freddy Krueger. Topics include: the real life incidents that inspired Craven's screenplay, the original actor they hired to play Freddy, how Englund's casting fundamentally changed certain aspects of the character, how tension between Craven and the head of the studio effected the finished film, our favorite behind-the-scenes stories, another round of Ultimate Match Up, our plans for covering the rest of this series, and much more!

Case File 006: Biff Tannen (The Back to the Future Trilogy) Sep 25, 2019

Show notes

When you're dealing with a franchise as beloved as Back to the Future, there aren't many unexplored avenues left to cover. There is, however, an unsung hero of this series who often gets overshadowed. So on this episode, we're shining a much-deserved spotlight on actor Thomas F. Wilson and putting together a case file on his most iconic role... Biff Tannen. Join us as we investigate the deceptively simple exterior of Biff and all the clues that hint at a much more layered character, why Wilson is the actor that this trilogy demands the most from and how he rises to the occasion, the additions to his backstory made by expanded media like the cartoon and video games, why there's never been a Back to the Future IV, where the franchise could go from here if they absolutely had to extend it, and much more!

Case File 005: Khan Noonien Singh (Star Trek) Sep 11, 2019

Show notes

On this episode, we're comparing and contrasting three very different iterations of one of Star Trek's most iconic villains - Khaaaaan! Although Space Seed is certainly a beloved episode of the original series, it was really the feature film The Wrath of Khan that established this character as one of the franchise's most formidable (and memorable) foes. Since then, there have been numerous attempts to recapture that same lightning in a bottle with other Trek adversaries and the results have been... mixed. Join us as we investigate what makes The Wrath of Khan the high water mark of this series and why so many of its imitators have fallen short.

Case File 004: Candyman Aug 28, 2019

Show notes

Candyman was one of the first rogues on our list when we started this podcast and with the reboot hitting theaters next year, this seemed like an ideal time to go back to where it all began. We delve into the character's first appearance in Clive Barker's short story The Forbidden, how Bernard Rose expanded upon that mythology for his feature film adaptation, the reason some of those changes were controversial, and why Candyman comes across like more of a straightforward boogeyman in the sequels. We also discuss what it was like growing up here in Chicago and hearing stories about Cabrini Green, how keeping the franchise focused on the way folklore evolves and changes could have helped sustain it, what we're hoping to see in the new Candyman, and much more!

Case File 003: Raoul Silva (Skyfall) Aug 14, 2019

Show notes

After Quantum of Solace took some of the wind out of the newly rebooted Bond franchise's sails, the pressure was on for Skyfall to deliver a return-to-form just in time for the series' 50th anniversary. To say the film was a success would be a massive understatement. Skyfall remains the highest grossing James Bond movie to date and many critics heralded it as one of the top-tier installments. A lot of that praise was directed at Javier Bardem's portrayal of Raoul Silva - a villain carefully constructed to stand apart from most of 007's previous foes. On this episode, we examine those differences and why a certain segment of Bond fandom was resistant to them. We also discuss the franchise at large, the Bond/M relationship, how the next film undermined so much of what worked here, and where we'd like to see the series go once Daniel Craig vacates the role.

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