Shat the Movies: 80's & 90's Best Film Review

Episode 500 is here! To celebrate this milestone, the Shat Crew commemorated the occasion with a limited-edition Episode 500 Mission Patch , created as a special thank-you to listeners who helped us reach 500 movies. Get yours at www.shatpod.com/movies/patch  while supplies last. For the 500th episode of Shat The Movies, Gene and Big D lace up their inline skates and head to Cincinnati for Airborn...

James Woods is a con man you desperately want to punch, Louis Gossett Jr. fights 10 men at 48 years old, and Gene somehow thought this was a New Jack City knockoff. This week, Steven M. commissions the 1992 sports comedy con film Diggstown , and we ask the question: Is it actually clever, or does everybody in the room just think they are? We break down the complicated long con, the overcrowded cas...

This week on Shat the Movies, we're signing on with Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), the war comedy that promised nonstop laughs and delivered something stranger, sadder, and more complicated. Robin Williams turns in one of his most electric performances as Armed Forces Radio DJ Adrian Cronauer, bringing chaos to the airwaves and headaches to his superiors. Gene and Big D break down the comedy, the c...

This week, Gene and Big D tackle a commission with a personal touch: Zach — a top 0.5% Shat the Movies listener and fitness industry pro — was gifted a review of the 1995 Disney comedy Heavyweights . Written by Judd Apatow and Steven Brill, the film follows a group of boys at Camp Hope who rebel against the unhinged fitness entrepreneur Tony Perkis Jr. (Ben Stiller) after he takes over their belov...

This week on Shat the Movies, we're revisiting American Pie (1999), the movie that launched a thousand awkward teen comedies and permanently changed how people look at baked goods. Gene and Big D break down the friendships, bad decisions, late 90s soundtrack, and whether this coming-of-age comedy still works or feels trapped in another era. Does the heart and humor hold up, or should some memories...

This week on Shat the Movies, we're breaking down Double Jeopardy (1999), where Ashley Judd gets framed for murder and then finds out she can get away with it… at least in theory. Gene and Big D dig into the cross-country revenge plot, Tommy Lee Jones doing his best fugitive impression, and whether this legal thriller actually makes any sense. Is it a smart twist on the system or just nonsense wit...

This week, Shat The Movies heads to Chicago for The Negotiator , the 1998 hostage thriller that asks a simple question: What happens when the best hostage negotiator in the city takes hostages of his own? Starring  Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey in a battle of wits, the film turns a police corruption investigation into a tense, talk-heavy showdown filled with double-crosses, suspicious cops, a...

Shat The Movies hits the open road with  The Hitcher , the 1986 horror-thriller that transformed an ordinary highway drive into pure nightmare fuel. Starring Rutger Hauer as the terrifying and impossibly calm John Ryder, the film follows a young traveler who makes the mistake of picking up a hitchhiker—and spends the rest of the movie trying to survive the consequences. Gene and Big D break down w...

This week, Shat The Movies steps into the crossfire with Rapid Fire , the 1992 action thriller that gave Brandon Lee his best showcase as a leading man. Commissioned by listener Rob H., this early-'90s cult favorite blends Chicago mobsters, Chinese Triads, and some of the most inventive martial arts choreography of the decade. Listener Rob calls it "an absolute belter" and wonders how big Brandon...

This week, Shat The Movies dives into Jerry Maguire , Cameron Crowe's 1996 romantic dramedy that gave us mission statements, sports agents, and more endlessly quoted lines than almost any movie of the decade. Tom Cruise stars as Jerry, a high-powered agent whose sudden moral awakening costs him everything except one loyal client, one overwhelmed single mom, and one very intense kid obsessed with t...

This week on Shat the Movies, we're revisiting True Colors (1991), where friendship and ambition collide in a very 90s way. John Cusack and James Spader play college friends whose paths split as one chases power in politics and the other tries to hold onto his ideals. Gene and Big D break down the betrayals, the moral gray areas, and whether this drama still feels relevant today. Does it land as a...

This week on Shat the Movies, we're diving into The Way of the Gun (2000), where kidnapping goes sideways and nobody is as smart as they think they are. Ryan Phillippe and Benicio del Toro play low-rent criminals who stumble into a job way over their heads, and things get messy fast. Gene and Big D break down the brutal realism, awkward silences, and a shootout style that feels way too grounded to...

This week on Shat the Movies , we're strapping in for Apollo 13 (1995) where everything goes wrong, and somehow it still becomes one of the greatest space stories ever told. Gene and Big D break down the tension, the teamwork, and Tom Hanks calmly telling NASA, "Houston, we have a problem." Does this real-life disaster still keep you on the edge of your seat, or does knowing the ending take away t...

It's the annual Shat The Movies Fantasy Football Champion's Commission! In this episode, we dive deep into Rocky beyond the punches and training montages. Gene Lyons and Big D explore Adrian's subtle transformation, the complex dynamics of consent in Rocky's apartment scene, and Rocky's unconventional approach to fighting Apollo Creed. We unpack: Adrian's growth from self-doubt to quiet confidence...

This week on Shat the Movies , we're suiting up for Men in Black (1997), where aliens live among us, the government knows everything, and Will Smith learns the hard way not to touch the red button. Gene and Big D break down the perfect mix of sci-fi, comedy, and '90s cool, from Tommy Lee Jones' deadpan delivery to Vincent D'Onofrio's bug-eyed nightmare performance. Does this blockbuster still feel...

This week, Shat The Movies puts on the sunglasses and uncovers John Carpenter's They Live , the cult classic that turns Reagan-era paranoia into a full-blown alien conspiracy. Starring "Rowdy" Roddy Piper as a drifter who discovers the world is secretly controlled by skull-faced elites, this 1988 sci-fi satire pulls no punches—and barely bothers with subtlety. Gene and Big D dig into Carpenter's b...

This week on Shat the Movies , we're asking the important question: what if Bigfoot was just… a really hairy houseguest? Harry and the Hendersons (1987) brings us a giant, gentle creature, a suburban family, and way more emotional damage than anyone signed up for. Gene and Big D break down the mix of slapstick, heart, and surprisingly heavy moments that somehow made this a childhood staple. Is Har...

Shat The Movies heads to New York City for Quick Change , the 1990 crime comedy starring Bill Murray as a master planner who pulls off the perfect bank robbery… only to discover escaping Manhattan is the real heist. Directed by Murray and Howard Franklin, the film pairs Murray's signature dry frustration with a city that seems determined to sabotage every step of the getaway. Gene and Big D break...

This week, Shat The Movies tackles one of the most bafflingly successful high-concept comedies of the '80s: Twins , the movie that asked, "What if Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito were genetically engineered brothers?" and somehow convinced the world to buy a ticket. Gene and Big D revisit Ivan Reitman's unlikely buddy comedy to examine Arnold playing against type as a naive, hyper-intellige...

This week, Shat The Movies heads behind the Iron Curtain—or at least a Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker version of it—with Top Secret! , the absurdist spy spoof that introduced the world to Val Kilmer as a legitimately charismatic movie star who could also sing, dance, and commit fully to absolute nonsense. Long before Top Gun or The Doors , Kilmer was playing it dead serious in a movie where cows wear boot...

This week, Shat The Movies parks the surveillance van and cracks open Stakeout , the 1987 buddy-cop hit that proved Richard Dreyfuss could be both wildly neurotic and a believable romantic lead. Gene and Big D revisit this Reagan-era crowd-pleaser to figure out how a movie about police spying on a civilian somehow became a rom-com, a workplace comedy and an action-thriller all at once. The guys di...

This week, Shat The Movies heads into the Pacific Northwest wilderness with Shoot to Kill , the late-'80s thriller that blends serial killers, mountain survival, and peak "competent adult movie" energy. Starring Sidney Poitier, Tom Berenger, and Kirstie Alley, this 1988 sleeper feels like the kind of grown-up studio thriller Hollywood simply doesn't make anymore. Gene and Big D break down Poitier'...

This week, Shat The Movies heads to rural Iowa for  Field of Dreams , the baseball fantasy that turns whispered voices, cornfields and unresolved daddy issues into cinematic magic. This episode is especially meaningful as it marks the first episode edited by our first-ever intern, Elias, officially ushering in a new era for the show. If you build it… apparently Elias will cut it. Gene and Big D re...

Shat The Movies unsheathes the katana and heads to modern-day Japan for  The Hunted , a mid-'90s action oddity that asks a very important question: What if Christopher Lambert was a reluctant samurai caught in a centuries-old ninja blood feud? Released in 1995 and promptly forgotten, this movie blends corporate intrigue, mystical warrior clans, and neon-lit Tokyo alley fights into one very strange...

This week, Shat The Movies heads to Prohibition-era Chicago with Brian De Palma's The Untouchables , a glossy crime epic that somehow combines operatic violence, moral absolutism, and one of the most iconic staircases in movie history. Featuring Kevin Costner at his most upright, Sean Connery at his most Oscar-winning, and Robert De Niro going full scarface-with-a-bat, this film has long been cons...