Cherry Bombs - The Underappreciated Movies Podcast

TREKKIES/THE OFFICE director and friend of the show Roger Nygard returns to discuss his extraordinary new book about making documentaries! Join us as Roger spills the kind of insider secrets and practical filmmaker advice that industry gatekeepers don't want you to know. Along the way he'll discuss the making of TREKKIES, his stint on the classic 80's horror anthology series MONSTER...

This month we're taking you back to the theater to listen in with us on a fascinating conversation with iconoclast director Werner Herzog. Straight from the stage at this sold out, members only screening at the American Cinematheque, Herzog discusses his beautiful and rarely seen Cherry Bomb FAMILY ROMANCE LLC, shot nearly solo in Japan and out of pocket for under 20,000 dollars. He also dish...

This episode we return to Beyond Fest 2023 and grant you an audience with the Emperor himself, Malcolm McDowell, to discuss the revelatory reconstruction of notorious Cherry Bomb CALIGULA! Recorded live at the world premiere of CALIGULA: THE ULTIMATE CUT at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica and moderated by Steven Farber.  Almighty Caesar says... never apologize for the movies you love!

Cherry Bombs attended the Beyond Fest 2023 screening of The Abyss at the Regency Westwood Village with James Cameron in person! Here's the full Q&A straight from the theater tonight! Cameron talks test screening regrets, punching a safety diver, Mary Elizabeth's breakdown and the upcoming 4k bluray and gets snippy about getting an Avatar question at an Abyss screening. We love you Ji...

This month there's plenty of time for love as we prepare for Dial of Destiny by revisiting the greatest Indy adventure of all, INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM! Despite its controversial reputation, TOD endures as an unrelentingly fun cartoon spectacular and the unrivaled high bar of action adventure filmmaking. Join us as we watch this divisive classic in the child-like spirit Spielberg...

This month our Spring of Prequels concludes with space opera at its most operatic, STAR WARS EPISODE 3: REVENGE OF THE SITH! George Lucas sticks the landing but not without crashing through more fan expectations and assumptions. Join us as we  complete our evolutionary journey through a trilogy we've come to respect and maybe even love. DO IT!

Our Spring of Prequels continues as we reconsider the most maligned Star Wars entry, ATTACK OF THE CLONES! Begun, the Clone Wars have as George Lucas doubles down on his bold vision for Star Wars and a digital cinema future with this sometimes clunky but always admirably defiant chapter. Join us to find out if we truly, deeply love AOTC or if the dark side still clouds everything!

This month our focus determines our reality as we kick off Cherry Bombs' Spring of Prequels with the movie that brought us together, STAR WARS EPISODE 1: THE PHANTOM MENACE! Despite decades of critical bashing and toxic fandom, it's proven as seminal and essential as the original trilogy. We'll work through our complicated feelings for a film we've loved and loathed in equal me...

We've pulled a never before heard lost "episode" from the vaults. Recorded in mid-December 2022, it features previous guests Jon and Al in a casual roundtable discussion of AVATAR: WAY OF THE WATER. Though never intended as a released episode, we hit the record button for posterity. What resulted was an unstructured, unmoderated hangout-style chat between those of us who loved Avata...

This month we ring in the New Year by spraying GHOSTBUSTERS 2 with a copious amount of positively charged slime! Join us as we defend the often dismissed but more than worthy sequel that struggled to stay afloat in a typhoon of blockbuster sequels. We'll compare it to more recent series entries, extol the genius of Peter MacNicol and provide a PSA on the dangers of Hardees' deadly Ghostb...

Tis the season for our annual Christmas commentary episode! Get out your Life Day balls and gather round the Tree of Life as we watch the not underrated but maybe a little over-hated 1978 STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL! It's a non-denominational seasonal celebration highlighted by the festive rhythms of Jefferson Starship,  the bitter magic of Bea(trice) Arthur and some good old fashioned virtual...

This Halloween the monster comes out of the closet as we celebrate a landmark in queer horror cinema, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2: FREDDY'S REVENGE! Defying expectations and breaking all the rules, Elm Street 2 alienated Freddy fans on release but, like Halloween 3 before it, stands out years later as a fresh, provocative step away from the sequel formula. So turn up the heat, assume the posi...

This month there's a peck with an acorn pointed at our hearts as we declare love for 1988's WILLOW! Too often maligned as a pale Star Wars retread, George Lucas' mythic adventure has defied critics and endured thanks to the loyal fanbase that grew up with it. We'll trace Willow's long journey to the screen, discuss the iconic cast and crew and uncover shocking  on-set secr...

This episode we wrap up our Summer of Commentaries series with one of the most (unfairly) hated movies of all time,  BATMAN AND ROBIN! Drag performer/Youtube fragrance guru Alex Pearl joins us as we reconsider Joel Schumacher's universally despised comic book confection and find a lot to love.  A gloriously over the top 60's throwback, 1997's not-so Dark Knight adaptation finds new...

Our summer of commentaries continues as we struggle through LAST ACTION HERO! Have we finally picked a bomb that's not cherry? Go down the multiverse rabbit hole as Last Action Fanboy Jon leads us on a hero's journey through a movie we desperately want to love.  Can he help us resolve our complicated 29 year relationship with this deeply flawed but stubbornly likeable flop or is the whol...

This episode we shift gears to recap our experience at Star Wars Celebration 2022! Join us as we discuss reuniting in person after 3 years, the wild Ewok Movie panel, meeting the man behind Krull's creatures, hanging out with Nien Nunb, getting snubbed by C3PO, the mystery of Darth Elvis, shopping for Star Wars underoos and the unfortunate twist ending to an otherwise awesome convention weeke...

Our Cherry Comms summer commentary series kicks off with 1982 HBO staple and childhood favorite, The Pirate Movie! This episode we'll explore our complicated history with the swashbuckling rock musical that sparked our earliest sexual awakenings. It's a movie that truly has it all. Action! Romance! Singing! Sword fighting! Crotch kicking! Lightsabers! Spyglass erections!  Monocle humor!...

Dustin & Nik discuss the upcoming summer of bonus episodes and preview the next season of Cherry Bombs!

This is rumor control, here are the facts: Alien 3 rules! This month Dustin & Nik celebrate the 30th birthday of David Finchers misunderstood first born. Disowned by its director, hated by fans and cursed by Michael Biehn, we cant blame Alien 3 for wanting to jump into a vat of hot lead. But we're here to rehab its reputation and make the case for why Alien 3 is the most optimistic Alien...

This month Dustin & Nik celebrate Mother's Day with the biggest mother of them all, Mommie Dearest! Join us for a Mother's Day brunch of bloody steak, Pepsi-Cola and violent mood swings. Leave the wire hangers and bring the axe as we discuss the deranged genius of Frank Perry's biopic monster movie and dish about The Notorious F.A.Y.E.  We love you, Mommie Dearest. We really mea...

In this special Oscar month bonus episode, Dustin and Nik are joined by some favorite Cherry Bombs guests to watch the 1998 Academy Awards broadcast in it's entirety (complete with commercials)! It's the year Oscar got it mostly right, from Titanic's rightful sweep to a bonkers Men in Black interpretive dance number, "the exciting" Michael Bolton going the distance and mul...

This month we're crashing the Academy Awards and correcting some of the biggest snubs from 94 years of Oscar voting! We'll explore 21 categories, from Best Picture to Visual FX, Best Actress to Sound Editing. Hide your Oscars, "Gandhi"! Lock your doors, "Cider House Rules"! Hand it over, "English Patient"! We're plucking gold statues from mantels and re...

There can be no light without darkness and no Cherry Bombs without LEGEND! This month we hose ourselves down with glitter and declare our love for the Tangerine Dream US theatrical cut of Ridley Scott's rock opera fairy tale. Down a fistful of allergy pills and join us as we frolic through a pollen-choked forest, crush on twinky Tom Cruise and gothy Mia Sara, fend off a horny sprite and get B...

It's Christmas commentary time again as Dustin & Nik trim the cherry bomb tree and watch the 1985 mega-budget Kris Kringle origin story, Santa Claus The Movie! What other Christmas classic opens with Santa Claus, his wife and reindeer freezing to death in a blizzard and closes with John Lithgow tumbling to a nightmarish death in the cold, lonely vacuum of space? Superman producers Alexand...

This month Cherry Bombs travels to Arrakis, also known as... wait for it... Dune! Join Dustin and Nik as they pay tribute to natural treasure David Lynch and his criminally underpraised detour into big budget franchise moviemaking, 1984's Dune! Along the way we'll take a pug into battle, try on some full body desert diapers, defend Sean Young's audition tactics, cook quinoa with Dav...