The Retro Nostalgia Podcast

Is there any movie that epitomizes the term "cult classic" more than THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW!? Starring Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, and Barry Bostwick, this outrageous horror-comedy musical is now over half a century old, yet it's so unconventional you'd think it was made today! From its flamboyant characters and outrageous musical numbers to its unapologetic exploration of se...

In this EPIC 5-podcast crossover, seven panelists debate which horror movie franchise reigns supreme as the BEST of the 20th Century! All the A-list names are here: Freddy Krueger; Jason Voorhees; Michael Meyers; Chucky; Ash; and more monsters, ghosts, ghouls, zombies, and apparitions than you can count! Will the Champion be a well-known property like A Nightmare on Elm Street; Friday the 13th; or...

Horror-Comedy is an interesting subgenre when done right. We've already looked at several successful examples: GREMLINS, FRIGHT NIGHT, and THE LOST BOYS. However, this week we're looking at a mostly forgotten attempt: THE MONSTER SQUAD. The idea behind this movie was essentially THE GOONIES vs The Universal Monsters (Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Wolfman, and The Creature from the...

Chad grew up loving comic books and comedy; Cristina grew up as a fan of horror (and especially vampires). So it seems only fitting that THE LOST BOYS would be the perfect synthesis of their favorite genres! This was actually Chad's first time seeing the 1987 horror-comedy hybrid directed by Joel Schumacher. It stars Jason Patric, Kiefer Sutherland, Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, Jami Gertz and Di...

Last October we revisited the original Ghostbusters movie from 1984, so naturally we had to review GHOSTBUSTERS 2 this year. Ivan Reitman directs Bill Murray, Sigourney Weaver, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson all return in their respective roles to combat a new ghostly villain - Vigo The Carpathian. Many GenXers remember GHOSTBUSTERS 2 being a flop akin to Howard the Duck. But that'...

We're getting started on Horror Movie Month a little early this year. First up is FRIGHT NIGHT - a 1985 genre-defying film starring Chris Sarandon, Roddy McDowall, William Ragsdale and Amanda Bearse. It was Tom Holland's directorial debut (he'd go on to direct Child's Play, Amazing Stories, Tales From The Crypt and several Stephen King adaptations). FRIGHT NIGHT was one of Cristina...

A lot of podcasts have debated the greatest comedies of the 20th Century, but we decided to debate the greatest comedy FRANCHISES. It was an epic showdown between A-list properties such as Ghostbusters; Bill & Ted; Monty Python; Jay & Silent Bob; Home Alone; Austin Powers; The Naked Gun and more! We couldn't do this alone, so we brought in Mo and George from  @GenXGrownUp  and Amy from...

HOWARD THE DUCK has already gone down in cinematic history for being one of the biggest flops of all time. Not even STAR WARS creator George Lucas, nor the screenwriters from INDIANA JONES could make this thing work. Most people don't know it's actually based on a MARVEL comic book (which would technically make it the first entry in the MCU). We collab'ed with Mike and Christian from t...

Terminator 2 really needs no introduction. It's an EPIC Arnold Schwarzenegger action/scifi spectacle directed by James Cameron. As ground-breaking as the original Terminator film was, "Judgment Day" ups the ante to an extreme degree. Though its remembered for its mesmerizing "liquid metal" CGI; those SFX only add up to a few minutes of runtime. Everything else is practical effe...

We conclude "Animation August" with a modern classic of sorts: BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD DO AMERICA! This movie was penned and directed by Mike Judge who went on to create KING OF THE HILL, OFFICE SPACE, and IDIOCRACY among many other shows and films. Judge was also the creator of Beavis and Butt-Head, and provided their voices (along with many other characters). GenXers probably remember Beavi...

We're big fans of Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse. Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, and Dogma were favorites of ours back in the 1990s. So when CLERKS: THE ANIMATED SERIES was announced during the Super Bowl in 2000, fanboys like us totally geeked out over the idea that Dante & Randall and Jay & Silent Bob would be on NETWORK TV during prime time! Unfortunately, it really didn't...

Continuing with "Animation August," Cristina picked AN AMERICAN TAIL; Steven Spielberg's first foray into animation which was released in late 1986. This movie was directed by Don Bluth, who had a minor hit with "The Secret of NIMH" back in 1982. Much like NIMH, this movie uses all hand drawn animation and painted detailed backgrounds. However, the tone is a little lighter as i...

It's "Animation August" so Chad picked AKIRA - the 1988 cyberpunk fever dream that introduced Japanese animation (or anime) to mainstream American audiences. This is definitely one of the most influential films across a variety of genres and Chad and Cristina both agree it's got a timeless quality. If you've never seen Akira, it's rather difficult to describe because there...

Back in 1994 a show debuted on ABC that would pretty much define what it was like being a GenX/Millennial (Xennial?) of the day: MY SO-CALLED LIFE starring Claire Danes. Unlike other "teen dramas" of the day that were essentially prime time soap operas, this show took a fairly earnest approach of depicting life in the suburbs. The show centers around 10th grader Angela Chase and her relati...

There were a LOT of comedies in the 1980s about summer vacations gone awry. This niche sub-genre probably got its start in 1983 with NATIONAL LAMPOON'S VACATION. The movie stars Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo with a young Anthony Michael Hall and a then-unknown Randy Quaid. Written by comedy virtuoso John Hughes and directed by Harold Ramis, it launched a franchise of SIX* films! Vacatio...

There may have been buddy-cop movies before LETHAL WEAPON, but this franchise has outlived (and out-earned) them all! Mel Gibson and Danny Glover actually play it fairly straight in this first installment. Sure there are jokes and the usual action sequences, but compared to competitors like BEVERLY HILLS COP and DIE HARD; Lethal Weapon is quite dark and serious... so much so that it borders on bei...

Chad and Cristina head to Amity Island (wherever that is) to revisit Steven Spielberg’s 1975 classic, JAWS! Cristina has watched it every summer since childhood, while Chad came to the movie much later. We debate whether Jaws is a horror, thriller or drama; its rather titillating and gruesome PG-rated moments; the mayor’s questionable priorities; and whether that enormous shark could really swim i...

Any list of greatest summer blockbuster movies would have to include 1988's DIE HARD starring Bruce Willis. It's one of the few films of the genre that could perfectly balance explosions, gunfire and plenty of insane stunts with a rather lighthearted and comical approach. Believe it or not, Cristina had never seen DIE HARD until just now! In fact, she wasn't all that familiar with the...

Chad and Cristina revisit INDEPENDENCE DAY for its 30th anniversary and find out if this alien invasion classic is as fun to watch now as it was in 1996. It definitely was one of the biggest science fiction blockbusters of the 1990s (rivaling The Matrix and The Phantom Menace!). Starring Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Randy Quaid, Vivica A. Fox, Judd Hirsch, and Brent Spiner, INDEPENDENC...

Two weeks ago, Chad and Cristina reviewed the 1989 movie THE WIZARD featuring Fred Savage. Something that movie is best known for is its sneak preview of SUPER MARIO BROS 3. It seemed only natural that we would discuss that game for its own episode. But we had to bring in an expert in Nintendo NES games: James from  @BigOleWords . Chad had been following James since he initially launched his chann...

In this special crossover episode of The Retro Nostalgia Podcast, Chad and Cristina are joined by Don and Dude from  @AlbumNerdsPodcast  for a nostalgic music draft featuring some of the greatest one-hit wonders ever recorded! Using VH1's famous list of the 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders as our draft pool, each host builds a dream team of unforgettable songs from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Fro...

1989's THE WIZARD may not be a masterpiece, but it remains one of the most nostalgic movies ever made for Gen X gamers and Nintendo fans. In this episode of the Retro Nostalgia Podcast, Chad and Cristina revisit the cult classic starring Fred Savage, Christian Slater, Jenny Lewis, Luke Edwards, and Beau Bridges. Along the way, we relive the excitement of Super Mario Bros. 3, the Power Glove, N...

ROSEANNE Season 1 gets the Retro Nostalgia Podcast treatment as Chad and Cristina revisit the groundbreaking 1988 sitcom that viewers and critics both loved. From Dan and Roseanne Conner’s believable chemistry to the blue-collar realism of Lanford, Illinois; this deep dive explores why ROSEANNE connected with so many Gen X viewers. The discussion covers classic episodes; forgotten storylines; 1980...

MALLRATS (1995) gets the full Retro Nostalgia treatment as Chad and Cristina are joined by special guest Milo from  @The80sand90sCom  to revisit Kevin Smith’s cult comedy classic! In this deep-dive movie review and discussion, the hosts break down Jason Lee’s breakout performance, Stan Lee’s legendary cameo, the unforgettable 90s mall culture, the iconic alt-rock soundtrack, comic book references,...

Last week we reviewed the movie Clerks with our new friends Kelly, Steve and Eric from the Gen X Unfiltered podcast . This week the roles are reversed: we guest starred on their podcast and talked about our first jobs as teenagers in the 1990s. Here's how they described the episode: Remember the smell of deep-fryer oil, the struggle of a predawn paper route, or the "glamour" of 80s mal...