The Flop House

We're joined by bestselling children's book author and illustrator Adam Rex , to discuss the misbegotten Dungeons & Dragons movie from 2000. What does he know about D&D, oh, we dunno... just that he was an illustrator for a little book called... THE MONSTER MANUAL (3rd edition)? Ever heard of it? (...plus a ton of other D&D manuals, Magic the Gathering cards, and other role playing and fantasy gam...

We're joined by Erik Marcisak , the man who holds a hallowed place in Flop House history, as the man who introduced Dan and Elliott to one another. We reminisce with Erik about the old days, doing shows in his tiny comedy theater; then we segue into a discussion of Nukie , one of the bad movies that bonded him with Elliott; and wrap up with Erik subtly hijacking the show to interview us for a litt...

Here's a new one -- two of the credited writers of Accidental Love (aka "Nailed," the movie that went through so many production issues that director David O. Russell asked for his name to be removed) actually PITCHED their own movie to us to cover. That's right, Elliott's colleagues, Matt Silverstein and Dave Jeser , join us to discuss this legendarily troubled film, and they seem just as baffled...

Scott Meslow , author of the soon-to-be-released (Feb 1st!) book "From Hollywood With Love: The Rise and Fall (and Rise Again) of the Romantic Comedy ," joins us to explain the surprising interconnectedness of Netflix's holiday romcom offerings. Praise for Scott's book: “ From Hollywood With Love  gives rom-coms the analysis and respect they finally deserve, especially since part of the snobbery a...

Up until now, Audrey has been like one of those sitcom characters who's oft-referenced, but remains unseen, but now it's time for her to take the spotlight! Did we mention that Dan married her in November? Mazel tov, etc. And for such a joyous occasion the boys have given themselves a break by watching a movie that many people have goofed on, but they were all pretty sure they'd actually enjoy --...

Author and host of Max Fun 's very own Feeling Seen podcast , Jordan Crucchiola , joins us to talk about Georgia Rule , the film she claims has the largest discrepancy between what the viewer expects the movie to be and what it actually is. CONTENT WARNING: includes references to sexual assault, a surprising element in the film's plot that certainly took us off guard, so we don't want you to have...

In what has become a mini-tradition, we kick off the new year with an examination of last year's biggest musical flop. Unfortunately this one has a lot fewer cats and a lot more lying to a grieving family, and it's called Dear Evan Hansen . Joining us for the discussion is noted bar owner, Stuart wife, and DEH-on-Broadway-hater, Sharlene Wellington ! Wikipedia entry for Dear Evan Hansen Movies rec...

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! Here's our gift to you -- a mini recorded LIVE from another special occasion: Elliott's birthday weekend! Before Omicron showed up to shut things down again, Dan and Stu and fam flew out to Los Angeles, to a beautiful house Elliott's wife had rented for the occasion, to celebrate four decades of that talkative special guy, Elliott Charles Kalan! We talk abou...

Is it Cagemas already? Seems like it comes earlier every year. At any rate, Saint Nicolas Cage has left us something awfully spicy beneath the tree this year. It's a giant slice of deep-fried southern ham, with big performances from Cage, KaDee Strickland, and Money Plane 's Kelsey Grammer. Dare you join us for a visit to Grand Isle ? Wikipedia entry for Grand Isle Movies recommended in this episo...

When last we left our doggie heroes, they had made their way inside the house, and thus far managed to protect the adorable kitten, Cutiepie -- but they STILL haven't scored any of that delicious chili, and their antics continue to threaten the farmer's daughter's wedding day. What will happen?!? Give a listen and see! (If you want to listen to the previous FlopTales RPG adventures, consider  beco...

The jolly bearded man himself, Alonso Duralde , writer of Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas and co-host of Max Fun's own Maximum Film , as well as many , many other things , joins us to talk about the LEGENDARILY strange 1985 would-be Christmas blockbuster Santa Claus: The Movie , along with the usual shenanigans. Wikipedia entry for Santa Claus: The Movie Movies recommended in this episode:...

Stuart leads Dan, Elliott, and friend of flop Zhubin Parang in part one (of two) of a short role-playing game. Listeners may already be familiar with the Hogsbottom Three from our appearance on The Adventure Zone, or from bonus episodes only available on the Maximum Fun member feed. (If you want to listen to the latter, consider becoming a MaxFun member! ) This adventure is kind of like those, exc...

Hey, remember Crocodile Dundee? Remember him? Croc? Ol' Mick Dundee? Remember? Crocodile? Crocky D? Anyone? Well, The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee is about how no one remembers Crocodile Dundee star Paul Hogan, and he's also somehow the most important star in Hollywood. Take this strange journey with us, and with our delightful guest Ben Harrison , of The Greatest Generation . Wikipedia entry for  Th...

Elliott ACTUALLY explains Adam Warlock. Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinflop

Here we are in No-vember, best known for having "no" theme. And we kick the month off with one of the most star-studded movies that absolutely made no cultural footprint whatsoever that you could hope to see -- Breaking News in Yuba County . Wikipedia entry for  Breaking News in Yuba County Movies recommended in this episode: Primal Rage Titane New York Ninja Dear Comrades Help support this show a...

Elliott talks to us about Adam Warlock. Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinflop

We're joined for a second Shocktober by Edgar Award-winning bestselling author, screenwriter, and secret bad movie fan Gillian Flynn , to discuss The Unholy , a horror movie about a Three's Company-level name misunderstanding. Paste  https://feeds.simplecast.com/EOAFriME  into iTunes (or your favorite podcatching software) to have new episodes of The Flop House delivered to you directly, as they’r...

Those who woke up early this morning got the wrong episode -- due to a glitch, Dan ended up with a duplicate of an old file on his desktop, and that old episode is what he accidentally uploaded. This is just a note to let you know that if you delete the old file, and re-download today's episode, you will get the proper version of Episode #354 – The Unholy, with Gillian Flynn. It's a great episode...

Stuart's most ostentatiously-named mini format makes a triumphant return, as he talks to us about the Emmys, and current TV in general. Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinflop

The star of the show has returned, to answer all of our questions about ghost-sightings, but also to discuss the somehow both boring and wild adaptation of Henry James's The Turn of the Screw , The Turning . Learn more about Max Fun's Block Party here ! Wikipedia entry for  The Turning Movies recommended in this episode: The Fly To Live and Die in L.A. Breakdown We Need to Talk About Kevin Help su...

The Super Mario Bros. live show had a thrilling, good-humored, and completely unexpected special guest in Parker Bennett, one of the film's (many) writers, who showed up in the chat purely to enjoy the show, but was happy to join us for a few minutes to talk about his experience making the movie. Time constraints prevented us from talking to him as long as we'd like, so we decided to have him on a...

Smalltember concludes with a doozy: Black Easter (previously titled Assassin 33 AD , in a slightly different edit) -- the movie that dares ask "What if someone killed Jesus? ...But not like, the people who ORIGINALLY killed Jesus. What if they were TIME TRAVELING MUSLIMS?" Content warning for all sorts of islamophobic and religious stuff, but honestly, this movie is WAY too silly for much of it to...

Dan the infernal gamemaster returns to quiz Elliott and Stu on big Hollywood movies that the world has mostly forgotten. Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinflop

America's foremost hedgehog expert , Jamelle Bouie , returns to usher in Smalltember (vember) 2021, with our discussion of the make-work project for Dean Cain and Tara Reid, Andy the Talking Hedgehog . LIVE SHOW ALERT!  — We’ll be doing another streaming live show, delivered directly to your computers or whatever you use for these things! Tune in on to watch us discuss the “classic” 1993 flop  Sup...

Elliott asks Stu and Dan questions about video game movies in the form of a retro video game of the mind. Don't worry; it makes sense when you listen. Mostly. And if you want more talk about video game movies, get tickets for our streaming live show about Super Mario Bros . by clicking HERE ! Extra thanks this week to our producer and musical genius Alex Smith for the video game soundscape, and th...