Optimism Vaccine

What is film? What is television? What is my life? What started as a potentially fun dalliance with R.L. Stine quickly devolves into Netflix-induced existential crisis as the OpVac crew examines the centuries-spanning franken-content opus: Fear Street. THIS WEEK: Fear Street: Part One - 1994 (2021), Fear Street: Part Two - 1978 (2021), and Fear Street: Part Three - 1666 (2021) Apparently Steve pro...

Nia DaCosta and Jordan Peele liked our podcast on Candyman (1992) from a few years ago so much, they decided to resurrect the series with a direct sequel! They also pulled the classic move of trying to erase the two poorly received sequels from the film's continuity. We can't simply stand back and accept Tody Todd erasure. Join us as we examine the new, critically acclaimed Candyman and dig back i...

With No Time To Die less than a month away, Jake and Jack take another Bond knockoff detour into Stephen Chow's 1994 Chinese spy comedy spoof, From Beijing With Love . Rate and Review Optimism Vaccine on iTunes:  https://bit.ly/OptimismVaccine Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/optimismvaccine

Stuart Paul has spent three decades creating mega-budget outsider art and his producer/agent brother, Steven, has been with him every step of the way. Turns out when he's not producing mega-blockbusters like Ghost in the Shell (2017) and Deadly Lessons (2006), Steven Paul is making films of his own. Is it possible that one man can make Jerry Lewis dull, Elliott Gould grating, and Michelle Pfeiffer...

It's a Caustic Content Crossover as we explore a selection of works from cult icon in the making Stuart Paul. Our panel attempts to answer such difficult questions as: Just how much money did Burl Ives make? How many times can one man cast himself as a flawed messiah? What's the deal with the Ku Klux Klan? Why is Rebel? Is this all gibberish? Yes. Yes it is. THIS WEEK: Emanon (1987), The Legend of...

Filmmaker, critic, and author Scout Tafoya (@Honors_Zombie) joins us for the final episode of our Tsui Hark retrospective series. We look at how Tsui Hark interprets the cinema of John Woo, discuss if a tiger and shirtless Mickey Rourke is the secret to creating the perfect film, examine the acting prowess of Rob Schneider, and touch on Hark's interpretation of big, populist blockbusters. THIS WEE...

We're continuing our Tsui Hark retrospective by returning to his early career to see how he transitioned from making a nihilistic masterpiece about kids blowing things up for fun to producing gorgeous post-war period romances and earning the title of the "Hong Kong Spielberg." Oh and then we just jump to his return to HK filmmaking in 2000 after a brief stint in America because it's our podcast an...

We probably ought to have started this series with Once Upon a Time In China, yeah? We're knee deep in Tsui Hark goodness in Part 2 of our journey back to Hong Kong. A lesser podcast would dedicate an entire episode to Wong Fei Hung's acclaimed series of epic adventures, but we got the gist after the first one and moved on to soup-stuffed fish. THIS WEEK: The Chinese Feast (1995), Love in the Time...

This week we're headed back to Hong Kong as we launch another multi-episode expedition into the kinetic, underseen, influential HK New Wave scene. This time around we're focusing on Tsui Hark, a man whose vast filmography stretches all the way from Wuxia to Van Damme. I'm sure your Twitter follows are convinced he's a sinister agent of Xi Jinping, but honestly, he's just a goddamn great director....

Forget being an agent for the British Secret Service - what if Bond was a super cool criminal (with a super sexy girlfriend, natch), who regularly overthrew bureaucratic structures to fuel his selfish desires? For Your Ears Only continues our journey through spin-offs, offshoots, and features influenced by the world of 007 with Mario Bava’s pop masterpiece, Danger: Diabolik. It’s a film so good, i...

We're in the middle of a national eviction crisis during a global pandemic and filthy rich landlords are getting wealthier exploiting working-class folks like you. So what can cinema teach us about the power of tenant solidarity? Quite a bit, actually. There's a lot you can learn from 90s Wes Craven and a 70s exploitation kung fu flick rescued from obscurity by Vinegar Syndrome. Turns out all you...

We decided to celebrate the 4th of July like true red-blooded Americans by watching three films that embody the spirit of the United States (or possibly just have USA in the title and involve blowing shit up). Jack, an Irishman, AKA what every American wants to be, even put together a fun American citizenship test to see who has earned the right to continue to live in this country. Please salute t...

Who needs James Bond when you've got a hunk like James Coburn? This week, For Your Ears Only checks out the original Bond parody franchise and looks at how the zany Derek Flint films stack up to their more serious 007 counterparts. THIS WEEK: Our Man Flint (1966) and In Like Flint (1967) Rate and Review Optimism Vaccine on iTunes: https://bit.ly/OptimismVaccine Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon:...

A lesser podcast might do a special Father's Day episode by curating a selection of DAD DAY FAVS and reminiscing about bygone moments with pops. Fuck that. We take Father's Day very seriously and very literally. We'll remember to call up dear old dad this year (doubtful) and do an episode where we watch any film with the title Father's Day . That means we'll be checking out the 1997 Ivan Reitman j...

Charles Grodin was one of the greatest comedic minds of the 20th century and the king of deadpan humor. This week, we're honoring the life and times of the almighty GRODES by revisiting some of his best cinematic moments. Join us as we break down three of his most iconic roles, ponder Grodin's level of support for a free Palestine, question The Ultimate Warrior's level of cocaine consumption, and...

We're wrapping up the To-down with four films that cover the full spectrum of Johnnie To cinema, from a classic Hong Kong crime thriller to an anti-capitalist musical. THIS WEEK: Running Out of Time (1999), Turn Left, Turn Right (2003), Mad Detective (2007), The Office (2015) Rate and Review Optimism Vaccine on iTunes: https://bit.ly/OptimismVaccine Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon: https://www...

The OV Johnnie To-down continues with four of the Hong Kong director's most acclaimed crime films. THIS WEEK: PTU (2003), Breaking News (2004), Election (2005), Drug War (2012) Rate and Review Optimism Vaccine on iTunes: https://bit.ly/OptimismVaccine Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/optimismvaccine

This week, we're joined by Ryan Swen (The Film Stage, Reverse Shot, Catalyst and Witness ) and taking a detour away from Johnnie To action flicks to look at how To's style translates to comedy, romance, and non-traditional genre films. Prepare to get deeply emotionally invested in a frog and have a man in a rubber muscle suit bring you tears. J. To isn't fuckin' around. THIS WEEK: Running on Karma...

Johnnie To is one of the most prolific filmmakers in the world. For four decades he's written, produced and directed everything from lighthearted romantic comedies to bleak and bloody action, creating a peerless filmography. Despite critical acclaim and success in his native Hong Kong, the majority of To's films remain overlooked and underappreciated in the West. This week, we're kicking off a mul...

Promising Young Woman just took home the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and critics can't stop telling us how IMPORTANT it is. But is Emerald Fennell's brand of sanitized lily-white feminism truly what we need to navigate our neoliberal hellscape? More importantly, why would you bother watching it in the first place when a deranged auteur-driven Day-Glo nightmare like Me, You, Madness exists?...

Kan you believe it's been over 25 years since the first Mortal Kombat film hit your lokal multiplex? Since then, we've had more games, kartoons, live aktion series, and films than any reasonable person kould ever hope to keep trakk of. If you're into komplex lore derived from the game that yells "toasty" while you spam upperkuts, well, I bet you're thrilled that the franchise has once again been r...

The glitz! The glamor! The discourse! That's right, it's Oscar season, and we're contractually obligated to discuss all of the bland prestige films that you'll completely forget about in another week. This year, we're broadcasting LIVE from your favorite left-of-the-dial AM radio station for a comprehensive breakdown of the 58th Annual Academy Awards with international film correspondent, Alistair...

There's plenty of knockoff James Bond films, but how many have a filipino agent 007 under three feet tall? Join us as we take another detour from the mainline Bond series and dip our toes into the world of Weng Weng; an unheralded cinematic superstar in the Philippines and arguably one of the greatest unofficial Bonds of all time. Rate and Review Optimism Vaccine on iTunes: https://bit.ly/Optimism...

Nothing brings us more joy than watching a big monkey and his lizard pal beat the shit out of some weird bugs, a dinosaur bird and maybe a robot. Plus, as true believers in the Hollow Earth Theory, it's nice to finally have a cinematic universe that represents people who know there's a whole jungle world to explore underneath the dumb dirt beneath our feet. So how did we end up with a Monsterverse...

For two long years, the Snyhard masses cried out to Warner Bros. for justice, and, against all odds, the impossibly dumb has become improbably real: #ReleaseTheSnyderCut has delivered us Zack Snyder's J ustice League. Now we can finally answer pressing questions like "Can doubling a bad film's runtime make it good?" This week we're diving into The Snyder Cut, comparing it to Joss Whedon's 2017 Jus...