EPISODE #17: WATERSHIP DOWN

Hazel, Dandelion, Blackberry and Clover? No, we’re not making a salad, instead we’re discussing the 1978 animated retelling of the Richard Adam’s novel Watership Down. Join us in episode #17 as we heed Fiver’s warnings and search for our new warren.

SHOWNOTES

• Watership Down - Criterion

• Director - Martin Rosen

  • The Plague Dogs (1982)

    • Theme Song - “Time and Tide”  by Alan Price (original keyboardist for The Animals)

      • The House of the Rising Sun

      • Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood

• Hazel - John Hurt (Died Jan 25, 2017)  (207 acting credits)

  • Alien (1979)

  • The Elephant Man (1980)

  • The Plague Dogs as Snitter (1982)

  • Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)

  • Hellboy (2004)

  • V for Vendetta (2005)

  • Melancholia (2011)

  • Doctor Who as The War Doctor in 3 episodes (2013)

  • Watership Down mini-series as General Woundwort (1999 -2000)

• Fiver - Richard Briers (Died Feb 17, 2013

• Bigwig - Michael Graham Cox (Died Apr 30, 1995)

• Captain Holly - John Bennett (April 11, 2005)

• Chief Rabbit - Ralph Richardson (Died Oct 10, 1983)

• Blackberry - Simon Cadell (Died March 6, 1996)

• Silver - Terence Rigby (Died August 10, 2008)

• Pipkin - Roy Kinnear (Died September 20, 1988)

• Dandelion - Richard O’Callaghan (Still Alive?)

• Cat - Lynn Farleigh (Still Alive?)

• General Woundwort - Harry Andrews (Died March 6, 1989)

• Cowslip - Denholm Elliott

  • Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

• Clover - Mary Maddox

• Kehaar (Bird) - Zero Mostel (comedian)

• The only black man (Clifton Jones) plays a character named “Blackavar”

• Watership Down references in the TV Show “Lost”

• Movies with similar stories / plots include Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Secret of NIMH

• Other movies mentioned:

  • Raiders of The Lost Ark

  • The Dark Crystal

  • Floyd Norman - An Animated Life

  • The Inbetweeners

EPISODE #16: THE BREAKFAST CLUB

A brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal walk into school… No this isn’t the beginning of a joke, it’s the opening of John Hughes trend-setting 1985 dramedy, The Breakfast Club. (starring Emilio Estevez, Paul Gleason, Anthony Michael Hall, John Kapelos, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy). Join us in episode #16 for a memorable Saturday detention at Shermer High School.

SHOWNOTES

• The Breakfast Club - Criterion

• John Hughes - Director

  • Sixteen Candles (1984)

  • The Breakfast Club (1985)

  • Pretty In Pink (1986)

  • Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)

  • Uncle Buck (1989)

• Emilio Estevez (as Andrew Clark)

• Anthony Michael Hall (as Brian Johnson)

• Judd Nelson (as John Bender)

• Molly Ringwald (as Claire Standish)

• Ally Sheedy (as Allison Reynolds)

• Paul Gleason (as Richard Vernon)

• John Kapelos (as Carl)

• A Charlie Brown Christmas dance

• All Psych episodes featuring cast members from The Breakfast Club

  • Judd Nelson

    • Season 4 Episode 13 - “Death is in the Air”

  • Molly Ringwald

    • Season 6 Episode 6 - “Shawn Interrupted”

  • Ally Sheedy

    • Season 3 Episode 16 - “An Evening With Mr. Yang”

    • Season 4 Episode 16 - “Mr. Yin Presents…”

    • Season 5 Episode 16 - “Yang 3 in 2D”

    • Season 7 Episode 15 - “Psych: The Musical”

  • Anthony Michael Hall

    • Season 7 Episode 14 - “No Trout About It”

    • Season 8 Episode 2 - “S.E.I.Z.E. the Day”

    • Season 8 Episode 4 - “Someone’s Got a Woody”

  • John Kapelos

    • Season 7 Episode 10 “Santa Barbarian Candidate”

    • Season 8 Episode 6 “1967: A Psych Odyssey”

• This American Life (episode 526, Act Three)

  • Molly Ringwald and her daughter watch The Breakfast Club together for the first time.

• Music

  • Don’t You Forget About Me - Simple Minds

  • Fire In the Twilight - Wang Chung

  • We Are Not Alone - Karla Devito

  • I’m The Dude - Keith Forsey

• The “naked blonde” joke that Bender tells himself (while in the ceiling) never had a punchline.

• Additional Movie references

  • David Margulies

    • As The Mayor in Ghostbusters

  • William Atherton

    • As Walter Peck in Ghostbusters

    • As Richard Thornburg in Die Hard and Die Hard 2

    • As Professor Jerry Hathaway in Real Genius

EPISODE #15: ELECTION

Corruption? Scandal? A rigged election? In episode #15 we discuss director Alexander Payne's high school political dramedy, Election (starring Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon).

SHOWNOTES

• Election - Criterion
  • Alexander Payne - Director
  • Citizen Ruth (1996) Starring Laura Dern
  • About Schmidt (2002)
  • Sideways (2004)
  • Paris, je t’aime (2006)
  • The Descendants (2011)
  • Nebraska (2013)
• Matthew Broderick (as Jim McAllister)
  • Also starred in Godzilla (1998) and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
• Reese Witherspoon (as Tracy Flick)
• Chris Klein (as Paul Metzler)
• Jessica Campbell (as Tammy Metzler)
• Mark Harelik (as Dave Novotny)
• Phil Reeves (as Principal Walt Hendricks)
• Delaney Driscoll (as Linda Novotny) - also played Ruth’s sister in Citizen Ruth
• Holmes Osborne (as Dick Metzler) - also played Donnie’s Dad in Donnie Darko
• Movie Trivia
  • Thora Birch, who starred in Ghost World (2001) was originally cast to play Tammy
  • Election was filmed in Papillion LaVista High School in Papillion, Nebraska
• Josie and The Pussycats (2001) was also a Universal Pictures/MTV Films production
• Unlike “Stadium High School” in 10 Things I Hate About You, the high school in Election seems pretty realistic
• Tom Perrotta (who originally wrote Election) also wrote the novel The Leftovers which was later turned into an HBO series starring:
  • Justin Theroux
  • Liv Tyler
  • Janel Moloney
  • Scott Glenn (not to be confused with David Carradine)
  • And written by Damon Lindelof
• Election - Alternate Ending
• Three Times A Lady - The Commodores
• Navajo Joe - Ennio Morricone (from the 1966 movie Navajo Joe starring Burt Reynolds)
• Mystery Men (starring Ben Stiller and Janeane Garofalo)
  • Wes Studi as Sphinx
• Paul falls asleep reading The Celestine Prophecy (by James Redfield)