Optimism Vaccine

THIS WEEK: Thriller: A Cruel Picture AKA They Call Her One Eye (1973) and Breaking Point (1975) Swedish director Bo Arne Vibenius may have gotten his start working with Ingmar Bergman, but he made his mark on cinema with the grindhouse classic, Thriller: A Cruel Picture . He's also the only director who has been breathlessly lauded by Quentin Tarantino and had multiple films completely banned in h...

THIS WEEK: The Guyver (1991) and Guyver: Dark Hero (1994) Brian Yuzna sure did make a pile money off of Honey I Shrunk the Kids. That's the only explanation for this franchise based on an incomprehensible manga that boldly toes the line between body horror and Barney. Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/optimismvaccine

THIS WEEK: Scanners 2: The New Order (1991), Scanners 3: The Takeover (1991), Scanner Cop (1994), and Scanner Cop 2: Volkin's Revenge (1995) We celebrate the release of Crimes of the Future by examining the only franchise to emerge from a David Cronenberg film: Scanners. Surely, each sequel will prove more cerebral than the last. Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/o...

THIS WEEK: RRR (2022) With Steve marooned on a godless island, we've called Jake Tropila away from his fatherly duties to discuss the best film of the... year? Decade? Century? All answers are valid. Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/optimismvaccine

THIS WEEK: Mad Dog Time (1996) and Hell Ride (2008) Larry Bishop rubbed shoulders with the Hollywood elite at a young age and made a name for himself among cult film fans with roles in classic biker exploitation movies like The Savage Seven and Wild in the Streets . So what happens when Larry cashes in his clout and connections to write and direct his own feature films? Support Optimism Vaccine on...

THIS WEEK: The Haunting of Morella (1990), The Demolitionist (1995), Amanda and the Alien (1995), and Blown Away (1993) Nicole Eggert was an American television mainstay with roles on Who's the Boss, Charles in Charge, and later alongside Pamela Anderson on Baywatch. TV made her a star but what happened when Eggert became a leading lady in feature-length films? Let's just say your mileage with her...

THIS WEEK: Father Stu (2022) Sometimes God calls you to do something extraordinary. Maybe he wants you to get blackout drunk and carbo load until you're accepted into the priesthood. Maybe he wants you to team up with Mel Gibson and his girlfriend to make the Catholic biopic every major studio has already declined. Either way, nothing beats mop top Marky Mark on the silver screen teaching us about...

THIS WEEK: The Laughing Dead (1989) and Shatter Dead (1994) From the fringe corners of the zombie film spectrum comes a pair of movies that might have "dead" in the title but couldn't be further from anything George A. Romero has cooked up. One is a bleak, shot-on-video masterpiece proudly proclaiming that "God hates you." The other is about catholic romance, kaiju battles, and basketball. Normal...

THIS WEEK: High Risk (1995) and The Red Wolf (1995) Steve is sick, Miros is hung over, and Jack is fending off a feral dog. Ideal recording conditions for discussing two Hong Kong Die Hard clones. Does one of them exist solely to spite Jackie Chan in surprisingly vulgar fashion? You betcha! Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/optimismvaccine

THIS WEEK: Champagne and Bullets AKA Geteven AKA Road to Revenge (1993) How do you measure greatness? When do you know you're watching an unimpeachable masterpiece? What is it like to touch the hand of God? The closest any of us can really get is John DeHart's 1993 movie, Champagne and Bullets . Originally released to little fanfare and then re-edited and re-released multiple times by writer/direc...

THIS WEEK: Snapdragon (1993), Raw Force (1994), Barb Wire (1996), Naked Souls (1996) From Playboy centerfold to first-run syndication starlet and tabloid fodder, only one woman can claim the title of THE definitive cultural icon of the 1990s: Pamela Anderson. Sure, you're probably familiar with Anderson's big-budget studio film, Barb Wire , but what about the rest of her cinematic oeuvre? Join us...

THIS WEEK: Fatal Exam (1990), Beyond Dream's Door (1989), Winterbeast (1992) From the crusty bowels of middle America to a crisp HD Vinegar Syndrome boxset, Homegrown Horror Volume 1 collects three regional horror films from the 80s and 90s. Join the OV boys as we wax poetic about goopy monsters shot on 16mm, claymation stop motion action, and hanging out with your St. Louis buds. Support Optimism...

THIS WEEK: Nothing But Trouble (1991), Cool As Ice (1991), Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991), Hudson Hawk (1991), and Dice Rules (1991) The morning zoo crew tackles the hottest awards show in tinsel town. Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/optimismvaccine

After seven years of podcasting and 18 years since Everybody Loves a Happy Ending, a day we never thought would come has arrived. There's finally a brand new Tears for Fears album. Steve and Stephen dive headfirst into The Tipping Point, share their initial impressions, expectations vs reality, and more. Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/optimismvaccine

THIS WEEK: Boardinghouse (1982) and Pathogen (2006) The OV Team turns their keen critical eyes to the world of shot-on-video horror films. First up, Boardinghouse, the film that dared to combine murder, music and man thongs. It also holds the distinction of being completely incomprehensible AND the first SOV film released theatrically. The chaser to this shot of 80's sleaze is Pathogen; a homegrow...

When inspiration fails to strike, the siren’s call of our unwatched physical media shelves beckons. Recently restored by Vinegar Syndrome, the OV gang examines a pair of early 90s actioners that co-star the indomitable Cynthia Rothrock in tales of broken familial bonds and illegal sports car smuggling. If our criminal justice system were to ever fail, rest easy, because a shape-shifting supercop o...

THIS WEEK: Man to Man with Dean Learner (2006), Submarine (2010), The Double (2013) I bet you saw the title of this episode and thought "Damn, the OV boys got Ayoade on the pod?" Boy, wouldn't that be great? But you should know better. This week, we're talking Ayoade's contribution to the world of film and television + maybe taking a brief aside to educate Miros on what Jeff Dunham's puppets mean...

THIS WEEK: Garth Marenghi's Darkplace (2004), A Gun for George (2011), The Snipist (2012), Smutch (2016), Possum (2018) Here at Optimism Vaccine, we've always loved the great tragedies: King Lear, The Poseidon Adventure, Superman 2. The greatest tragedy of all though is the lack of widespread respect and admiration for the work of writer, director and actor, Mathew Holness. Support Optimism Vaccin...

THIS WEEK: Who's Minding the Store? (1963), The Ladies Man (1961), Smorgasbord A.K.A. Cracking Up (1983) Jerry Lewis was the king of comedy and the only person named Jerry Lewis who didn't marry his 13-year-old cousin in 1958. He was also a cinematic pioneer and by the end of his career, a broken (but still hilarious) unchained lunatic.

Question: What do severed heads, secret stashes of marijuana, and Wings Hauser have in common? They are all featured in Tough Guys Don’t Dance, the film adaptation of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Norman Mailer’s murder mystery novel of the same name. What was once widely known as one of the first internet video memes has since been lovingly restored by Vinegar Syndrome, in all of its incomprehens...

We've got a detour from our usual film-centric content (and acceptable recording fidelity) for a very special episode. Stephen and Steve return to Discourse From The Big Chair after two years of slowly losing their minds during a global pandemic because a new Tears for Fears album is just weeks away. We've gushed about our favorite Tears For Fears songs and listened to what it sounds like when the...

2021 was a great year for roller skating ninjas, wholesome paternal love and people named Ryusuke Hamaguchi. Join us as we talk about the best films of 2021 and once again try to convince you to watch Me You Madness . THIS WEEK: New York Ninja (2021), Me You Madness (2021), Pig (2021), Titane (2021), The Worst Person in the World (2021), Drive My Car (2021), Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (2021), Re...

OV pours one out for comedic genius/movie anti-star, Norm MacDonald, and beloved sitcom dad/penguin voice, Bob Saget THIS WEEK: Dirty Work (1998), Screwed (2000), Half Baked (1998) Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/optimismvaccine

What exactly is a wife guy and why have they sacrificed their Hollywood careers (and a few film studios) to honor their ladies? The OV boys investigate the wife guy phenomenon to get to the bottom of how Renny Harlin bankrupted Carolco Pictures for love and John Derek avoided prison. THIS WEEK: Cutthroat Island (1995), Swept Away (2002), Bolero (1984) Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon: https://w...

After years of grinding Jake's soul into dust by making him watch a cornucopia of trash every week, we're finally giving you the episode of his dreams: David Lynch's (unofficial) Los Angeles trilogy. Join us as we gush about one of the greatest living American Filmmakers and try to determine if Robert Forester modeled his life after his character in Lost Highway . THIS WEEK: Lost Highway (1997), M...