Ruined Childhoods

In this season finale, Dan and Jon celebrate the 1992 comedy classic Stay Tuned , in which two suburbanites are zapped into the underworld by means of their television. Dan and Jon remember their first time seeing the film, honor it’s near perfection, and come up with fresh ideas on how it could be revisited. Watch on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠...

You know who directs bangers? Sergio Leone directs bangers. And 1971’s Duck, You Sucker! is definitely a banger, emphasis on the BANG! Dan and Jon celebrate this Spaghetti Western bromance and imagine how it could be revisited for a modern audience. Watch on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Next episode: Stay Tuned (1992)• The 4th s...

It’s something familar and something peculiar as Dan and Jon celebrate the 1966 Richard Lester musical farce, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum . And although it doesn’t quite hold up today, there’s plenty to acknowledge for why it’s one of the great musicals of the 20th century. Dan and Jon also share their thoughts on how it could be brought back *respectfully* in the modern era. Wa...

Technically a sequel to Brian De Palma’s 1968 film Greetings , 1970’s Hi, Mom! takes us on another Jon Rubin adventure in the seedy streets of New York City. Starring Robert De Niro in an early role, Hi Mom! is a experiments with its audience’s expectations, exploring the realities of deception and exploitation in support of getting your point across. It’s brave social satire and helped launch the...

A true cult classic, But I’m A Cheerleader is remembered fondly by Gen Xers & Millenials as a pivotal relic of LGBTQIA+ Cinema. Not only does it star indie stars Natasha Lyonne and Clea DuVall , we also get early performances from Melanie Lynskey , RuPaul , and Dante Basco . Dan and Jon celebrate this film, queer cinema, and imagine new ways to revisit this classic in the present day. Watch th...

Named for a Talking Heads song and featuring a cameo from David Byrne , This Must Be The Place could be confused for a movie about the band. Instead, it follows Chayenne, a fictional aging rock star who is haunted by his past. Dan and Jon celebrate the film’s unique approach, masterful direction, and one-of-a-kind performances from the stacked cast. They also suggest some new ways to revisit the f...

Nipping at the heels of Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie , 2014’s We Still Kill The Old Way tells the story of a group of retired London gangsters who regroup to hunt down and kill the young gangster responsible for the death of their friend & gang leader’s brother. Dan and Jon try to find the joy in this joyless crime thriller and come up with a few ideas for how it could be revisited today....

We recently lost legendary action star Chuck Norris , who Hollywood allowed to be in dozens of movies to show off his martial arts prowess depite being a dull actor. In 1978, Norris’s star was on the rise and played John T. Booker in the conspiracy action thriller, Good Guys Wear Black , and Jon & Dan are here to discuss some memorable scenes and imagine new ways for it to be revisited in the...

In 1989, we were all wondering one thing - WHO’S HARRY CRUMB? John Candy leads an amazing cast in this zany comedy, showcasing Candy as a disguise-wearing private investigator. Dan and Jon share their memories of experiencing this film after it’s release and share fun ways for the movie to be revisited today. Watch on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠...

The 3rd film in his directorial career, Rob Reiner’s Stand By Me celebrates it’s 40th anniversary this year. And what better way to celebrate than to cover it on Ruined Childhoods’ 4th season, which features films that have complete sentences for titles? Dan shares his thoughts on how the film compares to Stephen King’s Novella, The Body , and Jon goes deep on the film’s legacy before they both sh...

Gus Van Sant may be better known from films like Good Will Hunting , Milk , My Own Private Idaho , or Drugstore Cowboy . But nesteled in his early career, Gus made a strange movie about a woman with such long thumbs, she knew it was her destiny to hitchhike adapted from a Tom Robbins novel. Dan and Jon celebrate the weirdness of Even Cowgirls Get The Blues , which stars Uma Thurman , Rain Phoenix...

Since the 1930s, Hammer Films has produced and distributed dozens of mystery and horror films, providing cinema lovers fresh alternatives to the big Universal monster movies. One of Hammer’s biggest stars was Grand Moff Tarkin himself, Peter Cushing . For Hammer, The Cush brought to life characters such as Van Helsing, The Sheriff of Nottingham, and Baron Victor Frankenstein. This episde explores...

Known for a knockout performance from then newcomer Leonardo DiCaprio , What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? became synonomous with his portrayal of an intellectually disabled teen living in rural America and the older brother who is responsible for him, famously played by Johnny Depp . Jon and Dan celebrate the film for the captivating on-screen realness, unforgettable performances, and its amazing title...

After his 1980 Popeye film didn’t wow critics or audiences, Robert Altman did a run of stage dramas-turned-films. The first is his 1982 drama, Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean , and on this week’s episode, Jon and Dan celebrate the film and imagine new ways to extend its legacy. Watch on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

One of Hollywood's greatest feuds directly ties to one of cinema's greatest questions, " What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? " This sibling thriller marks the crescendo of a lifetime of psychological manipulation, substance abuse, and the lingering effects of child actor psychosis - and yes, it's even more fun than it sounds. Dan and Jon celebrate the magic of Bette Davis and Jo...

On our next episode exploring movies with full sentence titles, we're joined by our brother Scott to talk about the 2000 stoner comedy, Dude, Where's My Car? Unlike most podcasts that talk about this film, we celebrate it for what makes it a memorable, special, time capsule for the year 2000. Watch on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Ne...

This seaon of Ruined Childhoods, each episode features a movie with a full sentence title, so how could we pass up Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot ? This 1959 comedy follows Tony Curtis & Jack Lemmon has musicians on the run from gangsters, so they go undercover as women in a traveling all-female jazz band. Dan and Jon share their thoughts and explain how they would bring it back for a mod...

It's season 4! Each movie this season will have a title that's a complete sentence, and we're kicking it off with Macon Blair's 2017 hit, I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore . The film stars Melanie Lynskey and Elijah Wood as two loners taking justice into their own hands. Dan and Jon have a few ideas for how this movie could be revisited, despite being only 9 years old....

It's the Season 3 Finale! Over the past 52 episodes, Dan and Jon have trekked up the alphabet in movie titles from A to Z and then went back from Z down to A. This episode, the 2nd A movie, is the 1990 Frank Marshall Comedy Thriller Arachnophobia , starring Jeff Daniels , John Goodman , Julian Sands , and a hell of a lot of spiders. They're also joined by Nomfanelo Moloi, the host of Redis...

It's the penultimate episode of Ruined Childhoods SEASON THREE and this one's a banger. Dan and Jon celebrate the 1988 comedy sensation, Big , the story of a boy who becomes an adult overnight and the grown ups he impacts while he and his best friend find a way to turn him back into a kid. They also share their thoughts on how the movie could be thoughftully brought back in the present day...

The mid-90s were a huge era for the presence of serial killers in pop culture. With this element combined with the star power of Sigourney Weaver , Holly Hunter , and Harry Connick, Jr , the film Copycat would certainly be a smash box office hit. Dan and Jon celebrate it's unique mark made on cinama and imagine new ways it could be revisited in the present day. Watch on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠...

We are almost through our third season, a 52-episode year-long journey up and down the cinematic alphabet. This episode is our final D episode and we are thrilled to discuss 1990's Darkman , directed by Sam Raimi and starring Liam Neeson . Dan remembers his first time seeing the film and Jon shares childhood experiences encountering Darkman ephemera in 1990. And of course, they share their ide...

RIP Robert Redford (1936-2025) Dan and Jon pour one out for legendary actor, Robert Redford AKA Fort Red Border (iykyk). They honor his life by celebrating his career and gabbing about Sydney Pollack's 1979 anti-capitalist film, The Electric Horseman . Though it's not remembered as one of Redford's best, it is another pairing with the iconic Jane Fonda and also features Wilford Brimley and Willie...

With a screenplay by Dan Gilroy and a above average supporting cast, ( Rene Russo , Anthony Hopkins , Mick Jagger , Jonathan Banks , Amanda Plummer , Frankie Faison ) Freejack should have been a home run. But questional direction and a lackluster performance from Emilio Estevez make the film fall short. Nevertheless, the story is smart and it's a hell of a good time to watch. Dan and Jon, as a...

Rock Hudson , Elizabeth Taylor , and James Dean take over Marfa, TX in this film that would become a treasure for the state. For a film that spans 30 years and runs for 3 hours, it feels relevant as always...but there's always room for a revisitation. Dan and Jon share their thoughts on how it could be brought back today. Watch on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Next epi...