150 Zardoz

We were going to get around to discussing Zardoz sooner or later, and now is the time! Matt and Mark review this most awesome Boorman cult classic and wade deep into the questions its Sci-Fi world creates. Zardoz plays wit the idea of utopia and immortality in a way that makes us question humanity's relationship with the death. What is life without death? So boring you'll pray for the sweat death, apparently, even if meted out by a gang of mankini wearing Brutals from the Outlands.

Download: 150 Zardoz

149 Beetlejuice

This week Matt and Mark review the Tim Burton breakout Beetlejuice, a surreal ghost story that explores the mechanics and absurdest bureaucracy of being dead. A showcase for Burton's imaginative film making, many dismissed the film as gag-driven and style-over-substance (including a one R.Ebert). Matt and Mark disagree. To make work, even awkwardly, some of Beetlejuice's bizarre spectacle is to succeed. Must we regurgitate Dante every time we conjure the afterlife? The answer is "Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse".

Download: 149 Beetlejuice

148 Buckaroo Banzai

This week we tackle the beloved Buckaroo Banzai on The Cult of Matt and Mark. Unarmed with its plentiful quotes and sound drops, Matt feels we may have let the fanboys down on this one. Mark however takes a more measured and less apologetic approach. Just because Banzai might not occupy your childhood nostalgia, does not mean this fecund space farce's Tolkien-esque mythology cannot be respected and enjoyed. So monkey boys, head into the way-back machine and enjoy the 80's pop-rock stylings of the Hong Kong Cavaliers.

Download: 148 Buckaroo Banzai

147 Legend

Matt battles the forces of nostalgia to defend the honor of Legend against the mediocre reviews it received at the time, while Mark debates the Lili characters quest-worth. Ridley Scott's Legend is an astounding visual feast the brings to bear the best of the pre-CGI era practical effects. Intended to be a 'live action' Disney-like film ala Snow White, it succeeds. However, its ability to craft like-able characters in its heightened landscapes falls short. But one thing we can all agree on is that the teenage Mia Sara lit the fires of many proto-goth boys back in the 1980s with her black lipstick moodiness.

Download: 147 Legend

146 Top Gun

This week we review the Tim Robbins classic Top Gun (yes, Tim Robbins was in Top Gun!... Merlin?... check the credits!) on The Cult of Matt and Mark. A cultural phenomena that encouraged thousands of young men to serve aboard aircraft carriers performing duties far less awesome than flying an F-14 Tomcat. Matt and Mark are of Ebert's opinion on this one, when in flight Top Gun soars, when on the ground, the film crashes and burns. So take a ride in to the danger zone of Cold War era machismo and enjoy.

Download: 146 Top Gun

145 The Princess Bride

This Barbara Streisand vehicle is even better than seeing Babs live!! ... wait... no? This isn't The Prince of Tides? That was a close one. This week we review the 1987 classic The Princess Bride. A bit of a split review this go 'round, Mark finds the deft care Rob Riener takes with the characters memorable and endearing while Matt lacks the proper nostalgia to truly embrace this quirky and nuanced film. One thing we both can agree on is that it takes a rare individual to seek out a Billy Crystal performance.

Download: 145 The Princess Bridge

144 In Bruges

Finishing out our Christmas movie theme, we review the nearly perfect In Bruges directed by Martin McDonagh. Matt and Mark both agree, that the film achieves what the likes of Quentin Tarantino set out to do with conversation-based character driven crime stories in the 90's. However, unlike QT's recent bombastic over-the-top cinematic daring, In Bruges relies on expansively 3D dimensional characters with tactful nuance. All actors are firing on all cylinders including the memorable supporting cast. So, kick back, enjoy the fairy-tale shit, and take in the medieval marvel of Bruges!

Download: 144 In Bruges

143 Lethal Weapon

Matt and Mark apologize in advance for the quality of this week's podcast. Mark's single malt exhaustion coupled with Matt's daycare sponsored cold has made the coherence and vocal quality of this review possibly annoying. Anyway, excuses aside, we indulge a watershed moment in 80's action film with this Richard Donner 48 hour power punch of mania. Gibson is always a treat, especially when he's playing a half-crazed (possibly "Mad") cop acting out from the recent loss of his wife, while Glover, who finally comes into his own in a leading role, anchors this adept cop buddy classic. So put in the mousse and tease that mullet out for Lethal Weapon! Oh yeah... and Merry X-mas!

Download: 143 Lethal Weapon

142 The Machinist

Can one's conscience inflict a more tortured justice than that of society's? Christian Bale in The Machinist delivers a portrait of masochism in the form of madness. A Hitchcockian film, it is a nod to the psychological thriller of old (right down to the use of the theremin in the soundtrack). Bale, one of the greater actors of our generation, puts his health at risk to depict a man transformed not just mentally, but physically by his guilt. So drop a few NoDoz, stay up for a week or so, and enjoy the world of The Machinist.

Download: 142 The Machinist

141 Bubba Ho-Tep

Matt and Mark are in the house (literally) when we both manage to co-occupy the same room for this week's review of Bubba Ho-Tep, a rare collector's edition podcast, if you will. We delve into the high concept wackiness which manages to meld myth with legend and conspiracy theory. Tossing aside the Elvis cliches, director Coscarelli and cult film actor Bruce Campbell paint a respectful portrait of Elvis as a regretful nursing home patient facing the reality all of us will at one point face. That reality, of course being one where you're forced to fend off a 5000 year old mummy from a soul sucking onslaught.

Download: 141 Bubba Ho-Tep

140 Starship Troopers

Can there be a fascist utopia? Such a question is usually never entertained in polite company (knowing what we know today), but Paul Verhoeven serves up such an idealist future in 1997's Starship Troopers, while wrapping it in a nice Leni Riefenstahl bow (with tongue firmly in cheek). True to form, Verhoeven manages to insinuate nuanced philosophical musings into a bombastic sci-fi action film. A satire that baits the educated liberal class, Starship Troopers is a film that continues to gain appreciation as it ages.

Download: 140 Starship Troopers

139 Robocop

"Domo arigato Mr. Roboto!" Matt and Mark review the Verhoeven classic, Robocop, a move that spawned a franchise that continues to this day. As usual, Verhoeven transcends the sci-fi high-concept and makes a prescient film packed with big ideas served it up with a beautiful does of satirical humor. Robocop's future is our present, a cornerstone of the cyberpunk zeitgeist, not only with its predictions of man/machine technologies, but also with its notions of politics and our exploitative media culture.

Download: 139 Robocop

138 Halloween

Matt and Mark's Halloween movie marathon "The horror... the horror... " concludes this week with the the titular 1978 classic by John Carpenter. A definitive slasher film if there ever was one, John Carpenter uses minimalism to his advantage with "now you see him/now you don't" camera shots that highlight paranoia and dread. The masked Michael Meyers is what Dr. Loomis dubbed the embodiment of evil, however a more fearful notion still is that Michael Meyers has decoupled from a human soul so completely, "good and evil" no longer hold meaning. Happy Halloween everybody!!

Download: 138 Halloween

137 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Our penultimate pick for our October "The horror... The horror.." marathon is the cult classic 1974 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. A film that adds family life to the derangement of your standard slasher-killer horror film standby, TTCM is the inspiration for arguably better fair such as Rob Zombie's House of a 1000 Corpses. Sadly, most of the film is consumed in tedious chase scenes and waits until its last 20 minutes to truly reveal is genius. Worth a watch none-the-less.

Download: 137 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

136 Killer Klowns from Outer Space

The Horror... The Horror... continues this week when we review the highly regarded B-movie Killer Klowns from Outer Space, a movie that sets your expectations low by its premise. Matt retells his childhood clown trauma while Mark patiently listens, trying to provide healing. Why are these clowns so creepy? Partly, its the monster movie in reverse. You see them in all their gratuity at the outset, and as its silliness wears off, the disturbia settles in.

Download: 136 Killer Klowns from Outer Space