Reel Poppycock

"Hey! You're talking bout our (podcast) all wrong. It's the wrong tone. Do it again, and we'll stab you in the face with a soldering iron." That hilarious quote, belted out by the iconic Christopher Walken, may be the high point of the firework-filled fan-selected-film "Joe Dirt" that we are tackling today; but there might just be more to this movie than meets the eye. Written by David Spade, who...

In honor of Juneteenth, today Reel Poppycock covers the 1984 film "A Soldier's Story." Charles Fuller adapted the screenplay from his own Pulitzer Award winning "A Soldier's Play," and it was directed by Norman Jewison. "A Soldier's Story" stars Howard E. Rollins Jr. and Adolph Caesar, also featuring early career turns from Denzel Washington, Robert Townsend, David Alan Greer, and more.     00:01:...

On June 6th, 1944 the Allied invasion of nazi-occupied France took place, known colloquially as D-Day. This mission was also referred to as Operation Overlord, and Reel Poppycock is honoring that important WWII event on its 82nd anniversary by covering the 2018 film "Overlord." Trevor considers himself an amateur World War 2 buff, and he was all too excited to cover another movie set during D-Day,...

We're taking it way back to 1953, and touching on film noir with our new episode covering "Vice Squad."   Directed by Arnold Laven , KC rightly calls this flick out as being highly influential for "cop-a-ganda" style TV shows.   Trevor dives deep into two fascinating golden age stars in the Reel Basic Facts: gangster prototype Edward G. Robinson, m'yeah see; and Paulette Goddard, who Ed labels as...

Some movies are bad. Some movies are so bad, that they're actually good, but it is a delicate balance.   How self-aware were the filmmakers? Do the filmmakers have talent, and how much budget was involved? Ultimately the most important question: is the final product entertaining?   A movie can be completely ridiculous, or full of Poppycock as we'd say, and still be heaps of fun at the same time.  ...

Grab your 20 sided dice, fill up your favorite mug of too-hot tea, and pop on this percolating new episode of Reel Poppycock!   Today we celebrate host KC's birthday by covering the 2023 film "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves," written and directed by Johnathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley.   Reel Poppycock attempts to answer the movie and life's hard questions like: • Does Rule 34...

What do Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, and Reel Poppycock all have in common? - Indulging in the zeitgeist of an arcade game influenced source material for a movie.   Today the crew tackles "The Last Starfighter" from 1984. Directed by Nick Castle, this film will have arcade fans foaming at the mouth with nostalgia.    But there is fun to be found for everybody in this episode, with lots of laughs...

Whip up your whipped creamed bikini, rally after puking in a washing machine, grab that pigskin and fire a high heater right into your Pops' noggin, cause it is time for "Varsity Blues" dammit! In the previous installment of Reel Poppycock, your hosts picked 3 fan-chosen-flicks from a hat, and this week we cover the 1999 James Van Der Beek starring football sex comedy drama "Varsity Blues," which...

Join your Poppycock hosts as we take a trip down memory lane by discussing the first 21 months of the podcast, and how we reached it all the way to episode number 50. This isn't a traditional installment of Reel Poppycock, but it is a fantastic episode for new viewers and listeners to hop onto the Poppycock train. We talk about where this all came from, where we are going, and why you should tune...

Finishing up our celebration of Black Filmmakers for February, Reel Poppycock features the phenomenal film "Sorry To Bother You" as the pick to round out our unit. Written and directed by Boot Riley, 2018's "Sorry To Bother You" is a surrealist and scathing anti-capitalist masterpiece of movie making. The Poppycock crew delves deep into the hidden meanings behind Detroit's iconic earrings, and the...

Even 48 episodes in, Reel Poppycock can break into uncharted territory, as this week's installment on "Fear of a Black Hat" marks the first mockumentary the crew has covered so far. Hitting the film festival circuit in early 1993, the Rusty Cundieff written and directed "Fear of a Black Hat" does to hip-hop what "This Is Spinal Tap" did to heavy metal back in the 80's. This episode was a KC pick t...

Welcome back film friends! That's right, Reel Poppycock returns ripping & roaring out the gate with the premier episode of Season 4. Ed chose the 1995 movie "Higher Learning," written and directed by John Singleton, to kick off our celebration of Black Filmmakers. As KC says, Black History Month is *every* month of the year, so our celebration will certainly push past the end of February. Boas...

You wanted Poppycock for our Season 3 finale? Well you'll have *plenty* of Poppycock to point out in the piping-hot pile of pure cinematic paraquat that is "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets." Directed by dirtbag Luc Besson, and featuring one of the least charismatic protagonists in the history of film, plus a complete lack of chemistry between the two romantic leads, "Valerian..." was c...

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL? Today (Jan 8th) and tomorrow, are the College Football Playoff Semifinals (Go IU!!!) Then Sat-Sun-Mon kick off the NFL Playoffs with Wildcard Weekend. Reel Poppycock has your pigskin dreams on lock, as we cover the 1986 football film "Wildcats." Starring Goldie Hawn as the new coach of the inner city Central High football team, "Wildcats" also features the first bi...

Whether you get knee deep in the Christmas spirit, or have a bit of Scrooge, or the Grinch, or Ed's x-mas sweater of Oscar the Grouch saying "Bah Humbug!" in you, there is something seasonally splendid to satiate your ear holes in Reel Poppycock's episode on the 2003 film "Bad Santa." Directed by Terry Zwigoff, and starring Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Lauren Graham, John Ritter, and Bernie Mac,...

Unzip your Brunswick bowling ball bag, drop off the "ringer" filled with your dirty undies, grab a couple oat-sodas, and get ready to roll with Reel Poppycock as we wrap up our 3 film unit on the Coen Brothers by discussing their highly quotable masterpiece of a movie: "The Big Lebowski." Set in 1991, but released in 1998, and packed with wild situations and wonderful weirdos coming out of the woo...

Unpack your cowboy hats, dust off your silenced shotguns, and get ready for Reel Poppycock's episode covering the 2007 film "No Country for Old Men." Based on the novel of the same name by Cormac McCarthy, this is the 2nd installment in our 3 film unit covering movies directed, written, produced, and edited by the Coen Brothers. Does Javier Bardem's character of Anton Chigurh represent the best de...

Are you feeling that holiday hangover? Maybe heat up some roasted gopher leftovers, and then pop on this episode of Reel Poppycock covering the year 2000 film "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" This is the first of a 3 film unit on the Coen Brothers, and we are bringing the heat right out of the gate with vocal harmonies, hilarity, heaps of insight, and enough Dapper Dan to keep all of our beautiful hai...

Reel Poppycock ponders the potential side-effects of covering the 1979 mega-meta-movie "Effects." This episode is a KC hidden gem pick, and *hidden* certainly describes "Effects," because this film basically didn't exist to be seen anywhere from 1979 until a DVD release occurred in 2005. The *gem* aspect is more up for discussion, because plenty of poppycock was poppin' off all over this picture....

Reel Poppycock brings a special guest into the studio, the immaculate Kat Fitzpatrick from the Fake Ass Bookclub Podcast, to discuss the 1986 James Cameron directed sci-fi / action classic "Aliens." Sigourney Weaver's badass character of Ripley survived some wild events with a Xenomorph in "Alien," but will Kat survive her spot on the hot seat in the Poppycock Pop-Quiz? Lots of insight, lots of la...

Do you enjoy action? Do you enjoy explosions? Do you enjoy Dolph Lundgren / Grace Jones orgy stories from the 80's? Well then look no further than Reel Poppycock's episode on the 1990 movie "Dark Angel," also known as "I Come In Peace." Directed by Craig Baxley, this A-grade B-movie was brought to us courtesy of Ed, who chose it as his *Hidden Gem* flick-pick. And hidden gem it was, as KC and Trev...

Happy Halloween to all you horror-hounds and non-horror-hounds alike! Reel Poppycock rounds out their 2025 Spooky Season collection of movies with the first entry in what would become a multi B-B-Billion dollar franchise. That is correct, today we delve into the jump-scare jubilee "The Conjuring," released in 2013, and directed by James Wan. K.C. did a lot of research into Ed & Lorraine Warren...

Reel Poppycock's *Spooky Season* continues with 2023 horror comedy "The Blackening." Directed by Tim Story, and written by Tracy Oliver and Dewayne Perkins, "The Blackening" was an Ed choice for his Halloween month movie. This film is a piece of sharp satire, while also being very aware of how referential it is to films that have come before. "The People Under the Stairs," "Scream 2," and "Texas C...

Welcome to the 2025 Spooky Season kickoff episode of Reel Poppycock! Are you ready to see a "Living Dead Girl," or do you prefer them "More Human than Human?" We're bound for bloody good times as we discuss writer/director Rob Zombie's 2005 film "The Devil's Rejects." Each host will be choosing one horror film to discuss for this unit, and "The Devil's Rejects" was a Trevor pick. So will Trevor's...

Reel Poppycock's love for "Jackie Brown" and Pam Grier is cranked to the MAX; as we CHERRY pick some of our favorite scenes, songs, and performances to analyze from the 1997 film. This is the third and final installment of our 3 film unit on director Quentin Tarantino. Ed says "they don't make em like that anymore" when talking about the classic track "Across 110th St." by Bobby Womack, and KC rep...