The Gen X Files

This time, we cover an obscure 1982 animated French feature from René Laloux and Moebius. It's The Time Masters, the super weird and quite amazing sci-fi adventure. The animation is fascinating, the story is simple, and it is insanely French.

Today, we cover what is definitely an adult animated film that inspired a ton of creators: Heavy Metal. From the magazine that was first published in the US in 1977, Ivan Reitman saw the value of adult animation and produced a pretty good anthology film. Featuring the voice talents of John Candy, Eugene Levy, and a ton of others! It's a classic! Now pass me the Plutonium Nyborg.

For our first foray into Teen Toons, we're covering what Ralph Bakshi considered to be a 'family film', the super weird Wizards. Combining cartoonish animation, rotoscoping, and a guest appearance from the worst dictator in history, Wizards is a movie you will never forget.

Happy Boxing Day! Join your ol' Stepdads as we discuss this month's Very Scary Christmas movies and what was our favorite movies and TV shows from the entire year.

Today, we cover the very '80s Christmas horror movie, Silent Night, Deadly Night! The advertising campaign caused such a stir that the movie was pulled after just a couple of weeks in the theaters. Starring Robert Brian Wilson, Lilyan Chauvin, and Gilmer McCormick with a script from Michael Hickey and direction by Charles Sellier. It's a fun Christmas thrill ride!

What happens when a child with a traumatic holiday event grows up and becomes obsessed with Santa Claus? Christmas Evil, the best Christmas movie you've never seen, according to John Waters. A psychological study of a man losing his mind, Christmas Evil (also known as You Better Watch Out), is sure to become your Christmas must-watch.

Welcome to a Very Scary Christmas! Today, we're going to cover the granddaddy of slasher horror films: Black Christmas. Directed by Bob Clark, starring Margot Kidder, Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, and John Saxon. Who is Billy and why is he terrorizing the sorority sisters at Pi Kappa Sigma? Christmas can be the scariest time of the year.

This week we celebrate 250 episodes! Listen to the sordid tale as to how the Back to the Future month almost didn't happen! Listen to our super special guest! Listen as people tell us how awesome we are! Listen to us blather on about movies and TV shows and video games! Listen to us get older by the second!

We finish out our Back to the Futures month with Back to the Future Part III, a welcome return to form for the franchise. Primarily a Western, the 1885 setting allows the film to calm down from the frenetic Part II. With the same cast and crew, with the addition of the amazing Mary Steenburgen, Back to the Future Part III sticks the landing.

Today, we explore the sequel to the perfect movie, Back to the Future, Back to the Future Part II! It picks up right were the 1985 original film left off, but with a few slight changes to the cast. The creative team of Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale stay the same, along with the cast of Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, and Thomas F. Wilson, but with the addition of Elisabeth Shue and...

Back to the Future is a classic. A must-see for anyone that grew up in the Gen X era. The story of how Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale managed to the get movie made is incredible. Starring Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Back to the Future: the movie that shouldn't have been made!

Join your ol' Stepdads as we explore one of the most underrated subgenres: horror comedies. You'll die laughing as we recap Student Bodies, House, April Fool's Day, and The 'Burbs! We'll also discuss some spooky movies we watched this month (including an insane film from 1983), TV shows we've been watching, and video games we've been playing.

Is The 'Burbs a Halloween movie? We think so! Join us as explore the movie, The 'Burbs, with Tom Hanks. A microscopic look at the mundanity of the suburbs and how easy it is to imagine your neighbors are up to no good, even if they actually are. Directed by Joe Dante, with Bruce Dern, Carrie Fisher, Rick Ducommun, and Corey Feldman.

No show this week. April Fool's! Today, we're covering a subversive dark comedy that may or may not be horror: April Fool's Day from 1986. Starring Thomas F. Wilson, Deborah Foreman, and Griffin O'Neal, it's a twisty-turny, what's-happening-next, slasher film.

Join us as we cover one of the forgotten horror movies of the 80s: House! The 1985 movie stars William Katt, George Wendt, Richard Moll, and Kay Lenz, with a story by Fred Dekker, screenplay by Ethan Wiley, and directed by Steve Miner, who directed Friday the 13th Part II! It's a great haunted house tale with some amazing practical effects.

What do horse head bookends, a gangly super bendy Gumby-like dude, and heavy breathing have in common? They're all parts of Student Bodies, the the first horror spoof movie, in the nature of Friday the 13th and Airplane!. Released in 1981 and written and directed by Mickey Rose, childhood friend of Woody Allen, it does a good send-up of the young slasher genre.

Join your ol' Stepdads as we discuss the new movies, TV, and video games that have been entertaining us this month, including Alien Earth on FX, Brightburn on Peacock, Haunted Hotel on Netflix, and Gotham Knights, No Man's Sky, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. We also have a very special guest to discuss Tron, Tron Legacy and Tron Ares!

This week, we cover one of the most ill-advised, weirdest adaptations of any kind: Super Mario Bros.! Released in 1993, this movie was a travesty of an adaptation of the NES Super Mario Bros games. Based on Super Mario World, having been recently released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, the movie barely resembles the bright, colorful world that everyone knew with the original Super Mar...

Join us as explore a sadly underrated gem, The Last Starfighter. It's every video game kid's dream: get so good at a video game that an alien comes down and asks you to save the universe. It also featured a ton of early CGI sequences. Directed by Nick Castle, starring Lance Guest, Dan O'Herlihy, Catherine Mary Stewart, and Robert Preston.

We dive head first into CompuKids month with our first entry: the original Tron from 1982! Starring Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, David Warner, and Cindy Morgan. Written and directed by Steve Lisberger. Find out the history of Tron before Tron Ares hits the theaters.

We wrap up our When Animals Attack month and welcome in a special guest. We also discuss the movies we've seen (we went to the theater!), TV shows we've been watching, and games we've been playing.

NO, NOT THE BEES!!!! Sorry, wrong movie. But the sentiment stands. The '70s were fraught with Killer Bee Phobia and The Swarm was the movie that ended it all. And the disaster genre. At least for a while. All orchestrated by Irwin Allen, master of The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno. The Swarm is a good indicator of how one needs to grow and change with society. Starring Michael Ca...

Today, we explore a world of runaway spiders, mostly tarantulas, that are killing everyone in sight! It's the super-weird Kingdom of the Spiders, starring William Shatner, Tiffany Bolling, Woody Strode, Altovise Davis, and Marcy Lafferty.

How do you make cute little bunnies terrifying? You don't. Or at least, the makers of Night of the Lepus never figured it out. But hey, they're huge and in slow motion and completely adorable. It's the eco-horror movie that couldn't: Night of the Lepus. Starring Stuart Whitman, Janet Leigh, Rory Calhoun, and DeForest Kelley.

For our first entry into When Animals Attack, we're featuring Frogs, a movie that doesn't have giant frogs nor frogs actually killing anyone. It's a great eco-horror film from 1972 starring Ray Milland, Sam Elliot (almost unrecognizable without his mustache), and Joan Van Ark.