Optimism Vaccine

THIS WEEK: Horror of Dracula (1980), Frankenstein Created Woman (1967) and The Devil Rides Out (1968) Did you know that in England, hammers are actually called bangers? Donate to Palestinian Medical Aid Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon

THIS WEEK: The Ninth Configuration (1980) and The Exorcist III (1990) A Shawntober without Shawn? I'm sure this won't devolve into reading Wikipedia synopses for various Popeye-themed horror films. Donate to Palestinian Medical Aid Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon

THIS WEEK: Crank (2006) and Crank: High Voltage (2009) This week, we re-visit a 90 minute Surge commercial. And it's sequel—a 90 minute Surge commercial for racists. Donate to Palestinian Medical Aid Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon

THIS WEEK: Atlas Shrugged: Part I (2011), Atlas Shrugged II: The Strike (2012) and Atlas Shrugged: Who Is John Galt? (2014) Who is John Galt? The answer may surprise you. Donate to Palestinian Medical Aid Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon

THIS WEEK: Megalopolis (2024) and MegaDoc (2025) Is this the one with Jet Jaguar? Donate to Palestinian Medical Aid Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon

THIS WEEK: Drop Zone (1994) and Terminal Velocity (1994) This Labor Day, let's get Xtreme. Donate to Palestinian Medical Aid Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon

THIS WEEK: The Noah's Ark Principle (1984), Joey AKA Making Contact (1985), Hollywood-Monster AKA Ghost Chase (1987) and Moon 44 (1990) Did you ever wonder what Roland Emmerich did before breaking into Hollywood? We have such sights to show you. Donate to Palestinian Medical Aid Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon

THIS WEEK: Universal Soldier: The Return (1999), Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009) and Universal Soldier III: Day of Reckoning (2012) Leave it to those Hyams boys to make a dead fish dance. Donate to Palestinian Medical Aid Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon

THIS WEEK: Universal Soldier (1992), Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms (1998) and Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business (1998) A tragic mistake by our unnamed director of programming led us to watching two original productions from The Movie Channel, starring a wad of chewed gum and directed by the man who (allegedly) started the Canadian wildfires. I'm not sure if that joke works, becau...

THIS WEEK: The Relic (1997), End of Days (1999) and A Sound of Thunder (2005) The slop you were promised. Donate to Palestinian Medical Aid Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon

THIS WEEK: Capricorn One (1978), The Star Chamber (1983) and 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984) If you're anything like us, you probably associate Peter Hyams with a particular brand of '90s schlock (and we'll get there), but there was a time when he was a bona fide genre auteur, kickstarting decades of moon landing conspiracies and tackling an impossible sequel to the most acclaimed science fi...

THIS WEEK: Shelby Oaks (2024), Obsession (2025), Iron Lung (2026) and Backrooms (2026) Cinema has passed you by, they said. Boomers, they called us. Hey, we know of the YouTube. The kids have officially arrived to dismantle the filmic apparatus in 2026. Should you be afraid? Tune in to find out! Donate to Palestinian Medical Aid Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon

THIS WEEK: The Passing (1983), Hard (1998) and Strangers Online (2009) John Huckert may not be a name you know, but it's a name you should. A generous patron asked us to take a look at his three decades of work on the fringes of the film industry. And while The Passing has gotten its due recognition, most of you listening won't even be able to source his other two features. Certainly not in any wa...

THIS WEEK: Uncle Sam (1996), Bicentennial Man (1999) and The Patriot (2000) We really should have posted this yesterday. Suddenly it feels downright disrespectful to discuss whatever the fuck Bicentennial Man is. Happy 250, America! Donate to Palestinian Medical Aid Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon

THIS WEEK: Pecker (1998), Cecil B. Demented (2000) and A Dirty Shame (2004) We're talking Minions and John Waters' late career attempt to recapture his degenerate underground aura... to varying degrees of success. Donate to Palestinian Medical Aid Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon

THIS WEEK: Monstrosity (1987), The Weirdo (1989) and Surgikill (1989) Milligan makes one last bid for fame and glory, as he moves to California to topple the Hollywood establishment. It doesn't go especially well, if you can believe it. Donate to Palestinian Medical Aid Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon

THIS WEEK: Hairspray (1988), Cry-Baby (1990) and Serial Mom (1994) Waters weathers the loss of his muse and becomes a true pop culture icon as we enter the 1990s. Also: Ponderosa. Donate to Palestinian Medical Aid Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon

THIS WEEK: Nightbirds (1970), The Body Beneath (1970) and The Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here! (1972) This week Andy boards the tube and crosses the Chunnel to lend a touch of American crass to the London film scene. Donate to Palestinian Medical Aid Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon

THIS WEEK: Female Trouble (1974), Desperate Living (1977) and Polyester (1981) Did John Waters predict the fame addiction that arose in the wake of social media? Absolutely. But his version was a lot more fun. Divine/Massey 2028! Donate to Palestinian Medical Aid Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon

THIS WEEK: Torture Dungeon (1969), Fleshpot on 42nd Street (1972) and Blood (1973) This week we're looking at Milligan's most prolific period and his partnership with William Mishkin, as he abandons any arthouse ambitions for a slew of barely legible grindhouse cheapies. Donate to Palestinian Medical Aid Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon

THIS WEEK: Mondo Trasho (1969), Multiple Maniacs (1970) and Pink Flamingos (1972) We've decided that the best way to break up our Andy Milligan venture is by looking at a far more gleeful trash peddler. It's well past time that we dug into the Manson-obsessed cinematic underbelly of Baltimore and the inimitable John Waters. Donate to Palestinian Medical Aid Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon

THIS WEEK: Vapors (1965), Seeds AKA Seeds of Sin (1968) and The Ghastly Ones (1968) Steve has finally bullied us into covering his matinee idol, Andy Milligan. Does he live up to his reputation as one of the worst filmmakers in the history of the medium? Well, he's certainly one of the angriest. Donate to Palestinian Medical Aid Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon

THIS WEEK: Find the Lady (1976), Volunteers (1985) and Only the Lonely (1991) Remember these John Candy classics? We sure don't. Donate to Palestinian Medical Aid Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon

THIS WEEK: Class of 1984 (1982), Class of 1999 (1990) and Class of 1999 II: The Substitute (1994) This one goes out to the dads and grads. Donate to Palestinian Medical Aid Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon

THIS WEEK: Taffin (1988), Fatal Deviation (1998), Moving Target (2000) We're celebrating Jack's return from his homeland with some hard-hitting martial arts-ish action straight from the Emerald Isle. Does Ireland's version of Road House hold up? Is Pierce Brosnan the most beautiful man in the world? Can a half dozen Irish farm boys make a convincing Jean-Claude Van Damme tribute film? All will be...