Retro Ridoctopus

We bring a friend on to discuss some seriously fantastic animated films that deserve more love. The thing is, not a one was made by Disney! Cartoon movies by Dreamworks, Don Bluth, Rankin Bass and more are covered in this sprawling discussion, so buckle up! ---------------------------------------- Retro Ridoctopus is: • Parasite Steve ( read ) • 8-Bit Alchemy ( listen ) • Nintenjoe ( subscribe ) -...

This week, in the damp, dark BRIG, we've tossed the multi-talented Killarney Traynor! Aside from having a crazy cool name, Killarney is a New England-born actress, novelist, stunt-woman, singer, director and martial artist, who has has written 8 novels and is a regular actress on the PNN web series as the chronically unimpressed Lenore! We chat all about the craft of writing and why she loves myst...

It's music time again, folks! Nintenjoe's popular recurring Themes From a Memory is BACK. This time, the mission was to choose title screen music from our favorite video games! And to do so, we welcome back our old pal (and 4th host of the first 2 seasons of this very show) Synopsis Grim AKA Boss Rush Mode! Later, we play an 11 minute long MEGA block of Retroid picks and 8-Bit Alchemy delivers a R...

Our good friend Rob Smales finds himself (and his pooch) locked in the BRIG! We have a sprawling discussion about his writing process, his two newest books, bad movies and horror books we loved as kids. And smashed in at about the halfway point, you'll find a reading from his new novella "Laundrylegs" which is absolutely not to be missed! Snag your copy of Rob's books, Laundrylegs and Wicked Sick...

We've all experienced the phenomenon of it feeling like a toy came out of nowhere to become the must have holy grail of kid property that absolutely every single person your age already had! In this episode, we'll be talking all about Toy Fads and to do so, we have some help from a first time contributor, Haley, who not only suggested the episode topic, she sent us two voice mails! ---------------...

Subscribe and experience BENEATH THE RED UMBRELLA on all major podcast platforms! And check out James Lamond's film work on the official It Came From The 508 website and follow them on Facebook ! ---------------------------------------- Retro Ridoctopus is: • Parasite Steve ( read ) • 8-Bit Alchemy ( listen ) • Nintenjoe ( subscribe ) ---------------------------------------- All original heavy met...

The fact is, not all gamers are looking for ACTION and MAXIMUM KILL COUNTS. For many, the Point and Click genre offered an alternative, relaxed experience with simple controls and puzzles that really made you think. In this episode, we'll sweep the mouse over the genre's initial heyday in the early 90s and follow it's trajectory all the way up to today! All that plus an OCTOPONDER before Parasite...

Our Icelandic, Twitch streaming, artistic pal Leikjarinn joins us for a third time! And with the help of Parasite Steve The Grey... the two abandon the comfort of the Shire and delve straight into vast expanse of Middle Earth! For around 90 minutes, you'll hear about all things Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit--books, movies, games and what your hosts love about them! Also, for anyone who has ever...

Long ago, in the early 2,000's... in a time before YouTube... The internet had these wacky things called FLASH PORTALS . Sites like like Newgrounds, CampChaos, Ebaumsworld, Albino Blacksheep and Homestar Runner became platforms where animators and other creatives could deliver their own unique brand of comedy in the form of short (sometimes musical) cartoons. It was the birth of a new form of ente...

Let's put video games on pause for a minute and throw some quarters into those types of games that spit out tickets! Skee-Ball, Whack-A-Mole, Coin Pushers and so many more! In this episode you'll learn the difference between a Redemption Game and a Merchandiser, as well as get some history on various mainstays of Chuck-E-Cheese and most any Carnival or Midway! Keep pumping in those coins, because...

This time, we have a true geek LEGEND, in the BRIG! Frank Connif is a writer and comedian best known as TV’s Frank from Mystery Science Theater 3000 and is the author of nine books! Currently he performs with Trace Beaulieu in the monthly live streaming movie-riffing show, The Mads Are Back! In true Ridoctopus style, we forcibly incarcerate our beloved guest and get him to chat about his career. F...

Heather Michele & Jason Ashcraft from the new Start Trek metal band OF ROMULUS transport directly into The Brig! In the Captain's chair is Nintenjoe, who gets ready to engage in an hour long gab session with his two musically inclined prisoners. Debriefing them on their time in Helion Prime and what led them to forming what may very well be the first Star Trek themed metal band! Buckle up, Tre...

In celebration of hitting 100 mainline episodes, we welcome former octo-host Boss Rush Mode (aka SynopsisGrim) as well as our very good friends, Ashes Von Nightmare, Taryn Barber, Ian Wallace, Linda The Gamer Gal, and Justin Cooper! Originally broadcast as a live stream on Apr 27, 2023, we did our best to turn this off-format monstrosity into an episode for our podcast listeners! For just around t...

Frank Dietz appeared in such 80s horror cult classics as "Zombie Nightmare" and "Black Roses" but tonight he comes on to talk about his new film "Rock and Doris (try to) Make a Movie"! PLUS, you'll also get to hear all about his extensive career in Tinseltown, from acting to becoming an animator on such Disney films as "Tarzan" and "Atlantis: The Lost E...

Caitlin is the award-winning author of three novels and a memoir. She worked as a SAG actress for 10 years while penning her memoir, "Lightning in My Wires". After the birth of her son, her family moved back to Boston, where she wrote her award-winning adventure-thriller, "The Last Cruz"! Her new one is called "Life of Cyn" and you can hear all about it and even a rea...

Captain Nintenjoe leads us on a three hour journey through space, as we ZOOM around, geeking out about various Science Fiction movies and TV shows! First things first, we get the two elephants out of the way, by devoting the first half of the episode to Star Trek, Star Wars as well as their famous creators. But after that, all Sabaq bets are off! Later on, 8-Bit Alchemy drops a themed Compose Yo's...

Comedian, producer Chris Gersbeck joins us for a hilarious interview about his show THE MADS ARE BACK. Starring Mystery Science Theater 3,000 legends, Trace Beaulieu & Frank Conniff, the show celebrates the duo's MST3K roots by live riffing a different terrible movie each month! Since launching The Mads Are Back as a ticketed livestream in July 2020, The Mads have released over twenty livestre...

This week, we are joined by our pals, Colleen the Conqueror and Santino "The San Man" Mancebo to geek out about the Japanese phenomenon called TOKUSATSU! Listen if you're a fan of Ultraman, Kamen Rider, Power Rangers, Beetle Borgs or anything of the kind! As well as delivering some heartfelt presentations, we manage to play a bunch of theme songs as well! SHUWATCH! ----------------------...

Larry Blamire returns again (for the first time) to talk all about his newest books "Still At Large" and "Flapjack Alley". One is out now, the other is on the way, but both as chock full of delightful absurdist humor that is sure to either split your side, or possible leave it in stitches. Later on, we get Larry to do the reminiscing thing about the early days of his career wor...

Blocks, bricks and other toys you build are the topic of the week on this episode of the Retro Ridoctopus cephalopodcast! We spend the first half of the episode on this history of LEGO, shining our headlamps on some of our favorite sets and more. Then, after constructing our Octoponder, we'll switch gears to present some lesser known building toys we loved over the years. Tune in and see how thing...

Richard Thomas is the award-winning author of seven books: three novels—"Disintegration", "Breaker", and "Transubstantiate" as well as three anthologies and over 150 published short stories! We locked him up in THE BRIG to talk about his newest release "Spontaneous Human Combustion" which has made the final ballot for the 2022 Bram Stoker Awards! The discuss...

Are all video game movies really that bad? Absolutely not! For this episode, we breakdown 6 films based on video games that we feel are worth talking about! Some are good, some are not so good, but our opinions on which ones are which might just surprise you! Later on, we read a metric ton of Retroid answers for this week's OCTOPONDER THIS and 8-bit Alchemy will drop a B-segment on your laps that...

Author, screenwriter, poet, professor and winner of all the awards, L. Marie Wood enjoyed her first stay in THE BRIG so much, she's back for a second round! We get to talking about her new books and how it feels to be nominated twice (same category, same year) for the Bram Stoker Awards! And later on, she reads her story "Upperville" from "The Tales of Time", proving there are...

I think we can all agree that biodegradable recreational foam has never been more fun than when its being fired at your best pal's face! That's why that in this episode of the Retro Ridoctopus cephalopodcast, we aim to lay down NERF history and pull the trigger on some cherished childhood memories all revolving around this classic toy line! After that, we'll switch to round table mode and present...

Hey kid. Do you wanna know about this thing called INERTIA? How about some of that cool WATER PRESSURE or maybe how to pick up an ICE CUBE with a piece of STRING?? Well you're in luck because this week on the Retro Ridoctopus cephalopodcast, we're talking all about SCIENCE SHOWS! The ole nostalgia ray is being aimed at Mr. Wizard, Beakman's World and of course, Bill Nye The Science Guy. We cover t...