80s Flick Flashback

For the month of March, I am taking a break from recording new episodes so that I can highlight some of the other fantastic podcasts that I have had the privilege of being a guest co-host on. For this one, I will be replaying part of an episode of Totally Rad Christmas with host Gerry D. This was actually the first first time I was asked to guest co-host on another '80s-themed podcast, and Gerry a...

Famed movie critic Roger Ebert said that this 80’s flick was the best movie about love that he’d seen in a long time. His original reviews states “Maybe that's because it's not about ‘love’ as a Hollywood concept, but about love as growth, as learning to accept other people for who and what they are. There's romance in this movie…but what makes the film so special is that the (romance) and everyth...

If you’re a fan of eighties action movies, you should know The Cannon Group. Run by Israeli cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, in the eighties they cranked out a slew of low-budget action movies, most of which were hated by critics. Yet, every once in awhile they made a legitimately great movie that would even make the critics sit up and take notice. One such as this 80’s flick directed by An...

Countless world upon worlds. Worlds without end. In these galaxies every possible reality exits. And what is reality in any new world is mere fantasy in all others. Here, all is real and all is illusion. What is, what was and what will be start with this once maligned 80’s flick. So travel with us to Cleve-land as we jam out to Cherry Bomb’s greatest hits. But be on the look out for the DARK OVERL...

It seems strange at first that the producers of the Superman movies would move on to an epic about Santa Claus. But in a way it makes sense. Both Superman and Santa are legendary superheroes, able to cure our pains through magical intervention. Both of them can fly through the air. Both have large supporting casts: Superman has Lois Lane, Jimmy Olson and Perry White, while Santa has Mrs. Claus, th...

Since the publication of Charles Dickens’s  A Christmas Carol  nearly 200 years ago, the story of  Ebenezer Scrooge  has become familiar fodder for adaptations of all sorts—from ballets to operas to a mime performance by Marcel Marceau. But this 80’s flick adaptation has one thing that sets it apart from the rest: Comedy. So prepare to be transported by a time-traveling taxi-cab, a violent but joy...

Little Orphan Annie has been a part of American pop culture for nearly a century now—first as a comic strip which made its debut in the summer of 1924, then as a popular radio show in the 1930s, which spun off into a couple of film productions later in that decade and a hit Broadway musical in 1977. Though the musical version has been adapted to the big-screen a few times over the years, most rece...

1930. Prohibition has transformed Chicago into a City at War. Rival gangs compete for control of the city’s billion dollar empire of illegal alcohol, enforcing their will with the hand grenade and the tommy gun. It is the time of the Ganglords. It is the time of Al Capone. And now its time for Tim Williams and guest co-host Nicholas Pepin, from "Pop Culture Roulette" Podcast to discuss “The Untouc...

We don't normally sway away from our regular 80's Flicks only podcast formula, but when "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story" premiered on the Roku Channel this past weekend, we had to cover this 80's icon and the hilarious film that parodies biopic movies from the king of pop music parodies.  Tim Williams and guest co-host Nicholas Pepin, from "Pop Culture Roulette" Podcast (who is a long-time "Weird Al...

As of October 2022, there have been 11 films that continue or reimagine the story of the character known as “The Shape” that was first laid out in John Carpenter’s  Halloween released in 1978. At this point in its history, the  Halloween  franchise has been rebooted once (by Rob Zombie in 2007) and retconned twice (by  Halloween H20  in 1998 and then by Halloween  in 2018), creating no less than f...

After working together on the first three "Friday the 13th" movies, Steve Miner and producer Sean S. Cunningham re-teamed for something a little more kooky. From a story by Fred Dekker and a screenplay by Ethan Wiley, this forgotten 80’s flick is a full-tilt comedic-horror movie that throws in more demons, ghosts and ghouls than you can handle. So take down the "For Sale" sign, stay out of the poo...

In terms of werewolf horror, 1981 is still the year to beat. Theatrically, the year saw the release of  Wolfen ,  The Howling , and this 80’s flick which set the bar high for lycanthropic transformation sequences. The last to arrive on the big screen, it demonstrated how to approach a horror-comedy, emphasizing both the laughs and the scares in equal measure. More importantly, the stunning special...

Do you ever find yourself reminiscing about the past and remembering something you would love to go back and change, a mistake that haunts you on a regular basis. Well that is what this 80’s flick is all about, a man who for 13 years has regretted dropping the ball in a High School Football game and holds himself responsible for the town he lives in being in the doldrums ever since. So fire up the...

Molly McGrath is the adult daughter of a famed football coach who is desperate to be the head coach of her own team. When her wish is finally granted, Molly leaves her job coaching girls' track at an affluent high school to take over a football team at an inner-city Chicago high school —the kind of place where guard dogs are needed to patrol the campus. At first the new coach's idealism and optimi...

In the late 80’s the American action movie was reaching its zenith. The genre had produced several bona fide superstars and was bringing big money to the box office. Action movies were the perfect vehicle for unknown talent to prove themselves. An actor that audiences had never seen before could be the lead if he had the right moves, hair, and one-liners. This 80’s flick, that introduced us to the...

Taking aim squarely at the popular theme of the working man’s struggle against the in- equities in the system, this forgotten 80’s flicks tells the story of a mystery rebel in New York City whose popularity reaches almost mythic proportions before the internet, social media, and hashtags became the norm for spreading a protest message. So grab some spray paint, jump on your military motorcycle wit...

Based loosely on David Morrell's 1972 novel of the same name, this 80’s flick was the first of a decades long franchise. Unlike the following sequels which were war adventure films set in foreign countries, this was a post-Vietnam War psychological thriller set in the United States that lacks the gore and violence that would later become a trademark of the series. So journey back with us to the sm...

For those who were not born before 1962, the beach party movies were a series of chaste comedies in which clean-cut teen idols hung out on the beach, rode the big waves, necked a little and tried to defend their lifestyle against the old fogies who were always trying to ban rock 'n' roll. The financially successful teen movies were a tie between harmless and brainless. This 80’s Flick was a musica...

No one was overly surprised when this 80’s flick dominated the 1989 Academy Award ceremony. It featured one of America's biggest movie stars showing a little gravitas as a self-absorbed hustler who learns the importance of family. It had an Oscar mainstay going deep into affliction, playing a character with a disorder that not many everyday moviegoers knew much about at the time. And at the helm,...

Undeniably, the best of the mini-cycle of body-swap comedies from late eighties, this is the flick that revealed that Tom Hanks was capable of much more than just one-dimensional idiotic comedic roles. His transformation into the floppy walk and wide-eyed enthusiasm of a 13 year old boy is a masterclass in physical acting. It also proved that Penny Marshall was a bonafide blockbuster movie directo...

What's more traumatizing for a teenage boy than having to pack up his life and move to a new town with his brother and newly divorced mom? Nothing, other than the local gang initiation. Which, in Santa Carla, may just involve dropping from a train overpass, racing motorcycles near the cliff, and drinking blood instead of wine. Though we’ve been engulfed in some, dare I say toothless vampire entert...

This 80’s flick is sometimes described as “Better Off Dead Goes To The Beach” because it reunites young leading man John Cusack with writer-director Savage Steve Holland for a tale of teenage angst and the quest to find love. This time the quest takes us to Nantucket where our lead gets involved with cute and fuzzy bunnies, snobby preppies, insane mechanics, a killer dolphin with rabies, and a hip...

Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads. Its time to pick up where things left off as Tim Williams is joined by the "Hill Valley Save the Clock Tower Committee" (aka the Co-Host Panel) as they continue their discussion on the "Back to the Future" Trilogy for this episode of the 80’s Flick Flashback! Panel Includes Charlie Cotter, Chad Sheppard, and Laramy & Bethany Wells ("Moving Panels"...

In the Summer of 1985, one of the most influential sci-fi comedies ever made landed in theaters nationwide and took moviegoers on a time-traveling thrill ride while shattering box office expectations. This 80’s flick sparked a trilogy that, like most, has its hits and misses, but is still one of the most beloved trilogies in cinematic history! So climb into the DeLorean, check the flux capacitor,...

Like “Major League”, “The Natural” or even “Field of Dreams”, this 80’s flick is one of those sports movies that always seems to be on one of the many basic cable TV channels every Spring and Summer. It doesn’t matter whether it’s two in the afternoon or two in the morning, somewhere in the outer reaches of cable TV, the main characters can be found bickering about baseball and who’s taking who to...