ReconCinemation

This week, the ReconCinemation team unites to look back at another John Carpenter classic, STARMAN! Joined by resident Carpenter aficionado, J. Blake Fichera ("Scored To Death"), the team looks back at the career path of Carpenter post-THE THING, the early development of the project, the rise of Jeff Bridges, the under-appreciation of Karen Allen, and the beautiful score! Plus, early memories of t...

The Sizzling Summer of Cinematic Shenanigans concludes with a tribute to the great Treat Williams and a look back at one of his most purely entertaining films, DEAD HEAT! Joined by special guest Jarrod Burt, the baddest boys in podcasting celebrate the career of Treat, the development of DEAD HEAT, Mark Goldblatt's career as an editor and director, Joe Piscopo's rise in the early 80's and Vincent...

ReconCinemation's Sizzling Summer of Cinematic Shenanigans continues and this week the boys are getting weird with a look back at 'Weird Al' Yankovic and UHF! Joined by returning guest co-host Joe Cetta ("It Happened One Year" podcast), the lovely lads of podcasting take a deep-dive into 'Weird Al's career, his rise to prominence in the mid-80s, how big of a deal his albums were to the MTV generat...

Cancerous snakes, razor-lined Frisbees & handstand skateboarders are only the beginning! This week, the ReconCinemation team ventures into a land of bullets, bombs & babes. That's right, the team is taking on Andy Sidaris and his magnum opus, HARD TICKET TO HAWAII! Joined by special guest EK Wimmer (Laser Graves), Jon, David and Brent look back at a film that could never be made today, exa...

The Sizzling Summer of Cinematic Shenanigans continues with a look back at one of the best 80s summer movies: ONE CRAZY SUMMER! Join the ReconCinemation team for a deep-dive into the mind of Savage Steve Holland, leading man John Cusack, the rise of Demi Moore, the fun cast including Bobcat Goldthwait & Curtis Armstrong, and the overall zaniness of Holland's films! Plus, early memories of the...

It's the SEASON 6 PREMIERE and the ReconCinemation team is kicking it off with a doozy! Joined by new special guest co-host writer/director Michael Lander, the team unites to look back at the epic that was Hal Needham's MEGAFORCE! The gang discuss how this unique film came to be, Golden Harvest's financial investment, the Hal Needham run from the late 70s through the early 80s, the casting of Barr...

It's the Season 5 finale and the ReconCinmation team rewinds back to the glorious 1970s with a review of THE DAY OF THE JACKAL! Jon, David & Brent are looking back at this Fred Zinnemann classic to see how an assassin film from 1973 holds up in today's overcrowded market, the deliberate casting of Edward Fox & Michael Lonsdale (and why they add so much credibility to the film), early memories of t...

Season 5 is rapidly winding down and this week, the team unites to look back at the much maligned 1994 version of THE SHADOW! What could have been with this film! Was it too close in style to Batman?  Was the story not captivating enough? Was Russell Mulcahy the right storyteller for the job? Was this the right movie to continue the attempt to make Alec Baldwn a leading man? Jon, David & Brent tac...

If you've done nothing wrong, then you've got nothing to hide; he's back for revenge! And it's finally time for the ReconCinemation team to take a long look at the 1986 Charlie Sheen classic, THE WRAITH! With so much to cover with this cult favorite, where do Jon, David & Brent even begin? From Charlie's standing in 1986 to the development of the film by Mike Marvin to fans' bizarre fascination wi...

This episode, the ReconCinemation team gets extreme with a look back at the 1987 Walter Hill classic, EXTREME PREJUDICE! Jon, David & Brent take a very deep dive into the career path of Walter Hill, the origins of the story with John Milius, the fallout after 48 HRS., Nick Nolte's journey through Hollywood, and lots of love for Michael Ironside, Clancy Brown, Maria Conchita Alonso, and the rest of...

With the recent passing of Tom Sizemore, the ReconCinemation team comes together to look back at HEAT, Michael Mann's 1995 epic. Jon, David & Brent examine arguably the greatest crime drama of our generation, Michael Mann's long backstory coming into this film, the true origins of the story, the formation of one of the greatest casts in movie history, where Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino are in 1995,...

With the upcoming release of EVIL DEAD RISES, the ReconCinemation team unites to take a trip back to the cabin in the woods of Sam Raimi's mind with EVIL DEAD 2! This week Jon, David and Brent dive deeply into the early history of Raimi, Bruce Campbell and Rob Tapert's relationship, the development, production and success of the original EVIL DEAD film, the downturn afterwards and development of E...

This week, ReconCinemation goes to the theatre! Joined by special guest co-host Joe Cetta, the ReconCinemation team takes a deep-dive into the 1992's NOISES OFF... with a look back at the origins of Michael Frayn's play, how the film version came to be, where Peter Bogdanavich stood in 1992, and an analysis of the amazing cast -- including Michael Caine, Carol Burnett and John Ritter. Plus, early...

The birthday of our all-time favorite, Mr. Kurt Russell, is right around the corner so the ReconCinemation team unites to look back at one of his and John Carpenter's best: BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA! Jon, David, Brent and special guest Joe Cetta (of the It Happened One Year podcast) take a deep-dive into the origins of the story, the early creative direction by Gary Goldman & David Weinstein, Jo...

ReconCinemation talks family film this week, with a look back at the Amblin Entertainment 1987 classic, *BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED! Join Jon, David & Brent as they deep-dive into the creation of the script, Steven Spielberg's producorial hand in the 80s, the connection to Spielberg's AMAZING STORIES, the Hume Cronyn-Jessica Tandy teamups, the comparison of this film to other friendly extraterrestrial...

For the first time, ReconCinemation gets animated! In this groundbreaking episode, the team unites to look back at 1981's HEAVY METAL! There's a lot of meat on the bone with this one as time may or may not have been kind to much of its content. But the bad boys of podcasting dive in head first into Ivan Reitman, Harold Ramis, John Candy, Eugene Levy, John Vernon, rotoscope animation, sexism in ani...

The Wayback Machine's been set to 1992 and the ReconCinemation team gathers to look back at a hidden gem in the careers of Bill Paxton & Billy Bob Thornton: ONE FALSE MOVE! Jon, David & Brent unite to deep-dive into this neo-noir thriller, examining the career path of Bill Paxton, where Billy Bob Thornton stood in Hollywood, the discovery of the great Carl Franklin, Michael Beach, setting the tone...

Jason Voorhees! Telekinesis! Terry Kiser! The ReconCinemation team unites to look back at the next chapter in the Friday series: FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VII: THE NEW BLOOD! Jon, David & Brent deep-dive into what happened with the 7th installment into this beloved franchise. From the hiring of John Carl Buechler, the rebirth of Jason Voorhees with the casting of the amazing Kane Hodder, the MPAA's but...

Happy 2023!! We're kicking the new year off in a big way with a return to the Rocky franchise with a deep dive into ROCKY III! The ReconCinemation team unites to look back at Sylvester Stallone continuing to rocket to stardom in the early 80s, taking complete control of the Rocky series, how ROCKY III changes gears from the tones of the two previous films, the evolution of the recurring characters...

The holiday season has arrived and the ReconCinemation elves are jingling all the way to one of the all-time holiday classics!  It Happened One Year's Joe Cetta jumps on board the sleigh to look back at A CHRISTMAS STORY! Jon, David, Brent & Joe deep-dive into the origins of Jean Shepherd's classic story, compare the various novels (and the short stories within) to the film, discuss Bob Clark's ar...

It's getting cold out there and we're getting the blues... the Babysitting Blues! ReconCinemation goes back to 1987 with Chris Columbus's directorial debut ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING! Jon, David & Brent are looking back at this classic from the decade of decadence to see how it holds up today including a deep-dive into Columbus's evolution from writer to director, Elisabeth Shue's rise to stardom,...

Noirvember continues and ReconCinemation is leaving traditional noir behind for a more modern approach! The team is taking it to the 90s with a look back at L.A. CONFIDENTIAL! Jon, David & Brent turn the clock back to 1997 to deep-dive Curtis Hanson, Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe, Danny DeVito, Kim Basinger, how noir evolved after its initial period, exactly how noir is this film, Los Angeles location...

Noirvember begins and the ReconCinemation is kicking it off with a bang! The Wayback Machine is set all the way back to 1944 as the team looks back at arguably the greatest film noir of them all: DOUBLE INDEMNITY! Jon, David & Brent take a deep-dive into Billy Wilder's rise to success, Fred MacMurray's status prior to the movie, Barbara Stanwyck's iconic performance, the legend that is Edward G. R...

Shocktober 2022 come to an epic finale with a look back at not one but TWO entries into the storied Halloween franchise! First up, the boys continue their look back at the next entry of the series: HALLOWEEN 5: THE REVENGE OF MICHAEL MYERS! Jon, David & Brent dive deep into the film's quick launch and rush into production after HALLOWEEN 4, the creative challenges of working without a completed sc...

Shocktober rolls on at ReconCinemation! This week, the gang has a return visit from very special guest J. Blake Fichera (Scored To Death, Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers) to discuss our first look at a Stephen King film, CHRISTINE, directed by one of our favorites John Carpenter! Blake tells the gang about his amazing documentary project currently raising funds on Kickstarter and the boys talk abo...