They Must Be Destroyed On Sight!

Lee is joined this week by two of his regular co-hosts on the Cape Sh!t podcast to talk about John Hughes' "Weird Science" (1985). Is it a classic of the 1980s? Does the film hold up at all, or is it just one big, dated misfire, full of rape, racism, and bad jokes? Somewhere in-between? The hosts ponder this and also tackle listener comments and talk about what they've watched as of late. "Weird S...

Lee, Greg and Kerry try and stay warm and one step ahead of their enemies, while touching upon what makes "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" (2014) one of the better entries in the MCU. The more low-key, yet deeper plot, the character work, and the action scenes are talked about, as well as if the Winter Soldier is worth a damn as a character. "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" IMDB  

It's time for another intermission episode, as Lee is joined by Paul to talk about two somewhat obscure slasher films that spent a lot of time on the shelf before getting anything approaching a proper release. First up it's the killer-in-the-woods slasher "The Final Terror" (1983), featuring a lot of future stars, and then they check out the supernatural slasher "Superstition" (1982), featuring a...

Lee and Daniel try not to be responsible for any war crimes this week as they dig into Oliver Stone's semi-autobiographical anti-war film, about his experiences in Vietnam, "Platoon" (1986). How well does the film hold-up? Does it suffer from being a 1980s Oscar-bait film? Or is it possibly the best film about the Vietnam war, even if it's flawed? Is Charlie Sheen any good in it? All of this and m...

Lee's been busy, so here's another grab bag of soundtrack and score selections featured on episodes of the They Must Be Destroyed On Sight! podcast. Big playlist, little talking = more value for the dollars you don't actually even pay for this hour of musical bliss. Enjoy! --All American Hero from "Flesh Gordon Meets the Cosmic Cheerleaders" (1990) --Terrea Smith (Episode 123) --Venus in Furs from...

Lee and Daniel find themselves knee-deep in the swamps of the American deep south this week as they tackle Walter Hill's "Southern Comfort" (1981). The conversation mostly is split into two parts, where the hosts try to give the film its fair shake as both a semi-survival horror/hicksploitation mash-up film, as well as a very obvious discussion about America's sins during the Vietnam war (even if...

The podcast has made it to episode 200, and thus it goes back to cover the last film in George A. Romero's original "Dead" trilogy - the trilogy where its name and mascot originated. That's right, the hosts have decided to time travel ahead from where they currently are in their reviewing schedule, and cover 1985's "Day of the Dead". Long lost host Paul has returned! In addition to this, podcaster...

Lee and Daniel found themselves in the talkies by mistake this week, but that didn't stop them from watching and giving their thoughts on "In Old Arizona" (1928) & "The Virginian" (1929), which are two post-silent era pre-code Westerns with a hell of a lot in common both good and bad. Things brought up include brown-face and bad stereotypical accents; the genre tropes of love triangles and the sch...

Lee is hunkered-down in his secret bunker this month (actually, it's every month), doing his best to avoid the Coronavirus. As serious as this situation is turning out to be, it doesn't mean we can't use it as inspiration for a playlist of film music, does it? Of course not! Wash your hands, cough into the crook of your arm, and eat up an hour of your social distancing with Lee. --Soundtrack Suite...

Lee and Daniel return to see if they can get a few chuckles out of Paul Leni's "The Man Who Laughs" (1928), featuring another signature performance from Conrad Veidt. Is this a horror film? Is this a true silent film? Duchesses having orgasms; facial scars; German expressionism; iron maidens being bullshit; perfumed wig-wearing fops; yawning in unison; and the rules for doing step sibling porn are...

Lee and Daniel take flight with "Wings" (1927). The first Oscar winner for Best Picture (although called Best Production at the time), does this epic mixture of amazing WWI action and technical expertise jive well with the love triangle, broad comedic elements, and fairly blatant homosexual themes? Is the amazing Clara Bow used to her full potential here? The conversation turns into a bit of a dog...

Lee and Daniel are still in the 1920s this week, and they each have a ticket good for one hell of a crazy train ride with Buster Keaton, in "The General" (1926). Much is said about Keaton's talents, especially his amazing (and very dangerous) stunt work, which is on display front and center here in a film that is very much part of the DNA of the modern action film. Other things brought up include...

Cinematic adaptations of H. P. Lovecraft's work have been pretty hit-or-miss over the years, but even a lot of bad adaptations have had some fine music attached to them. This month Lee digs through about 40 years of the notable examples. Get your ear buds in, your elder signs ready, and don't bloody well read from the Necronomicon, if you know what's good for you. --Opening Titles & Main Theme fro...

Lee and Daniel are joined by their friend and fellow podcaster Jack Graham to talk about "Battleship Potemkin" (1925); the Sergei Eisenstein-directed, state-funded Russian propaganda film about a real-life mutiny aboard the titular Russian warship in 1905. Having Jack on, who knows a thing or two about communism, socialism, and Russian history, the hosts dig deep into some of the history behind th...

Lee and Daniel cover some big-time early silent westerns this time out, both focused on events that helped build America and the mythology that arose around it. These two films - the top earners at the box office for their respective years - re-energised and also influenced the entire western genre to come afterwards. This time it's "The Covered Wagon" (1923) & "The Iron Horse" (1924). Topics incl...

Lee and Daniel are back again to cover some more silent film. This time out they look at two films that are considered all-time classics. First up they get sleepy and stabby with what is possibly the most famous example of German expressionism on film, "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (1920). Then they line up to kiss the Devil's ring of fire in the docu-drama "Häxan" (1922). Mental illness on film;...

Lee returns for a second look at music from films inspired by "Alien" and "Aliens". While there are a billion of these rip-off films, Lee quickly discovered when attempting to source the music, most of these films just don't have available soundtracks/scores, and even the ones that do usually only come from sources of dubious quality. That equals a bit less music than usual, and more talking from...

Lee and Daniel return to look at some more silent films. This week it's two very notable examples of early films dealing with race relations. First off it's D.W. Griffith's "Broken Blossoms" (1919), and then they tackle Oscar Micheaux's "Within Our Gates" (1920). How drunk does Lee have to get in this recording in order to handle some of the awful things that pop up in both films? Topics include G...

Lee and Daniel are back with more silent film this week. This time they tackle the surviving version of "The Perils of Pauline" (1914), which is a series that's famous for establishing tropes it actually had little or nothing to do with, like the cliffhanger. Repetitive plots; fun stunt work; silly women wanting agency; blackface; and strange family relations are just a few of the topics brought u...

Dan, Lee, Kerry and Greg are back to talk about the much-maligned second Thor film, "Thor: The Dark World" (2013). For a film that was plagued with many production problems, is there anything worth praising in it? Talk of space elves, long shafts, and red space splooge are just a few of the things touched upon in this episode. "Thor: The Dark World" IMDB   Check out Greg's YouTube channel here   C...

In this episode Lee and Daniel talk about three short silent films from the 1900s - two of which, at the very least, are considered highly influential classic of cinema. The films are "A Trip to the Moon" (1902); "The Great Train Robbery" (1903); and "The Airship Destroyer" (1909). Some brief background information about what film was and how it was watched in this era is covered, before getting i...

Lee and Daniel take a quick detour from their plans for 2020, which is to cover film selections from the 1900s to the 2010s in chronological order, in order to break down Quentin Tarantino's latest film "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" (2019). Both hosts come in to this one with some different views on the film, which makes for a fun chat. Also covered: listener comments and what the hosts have...

"Alien" (1979) and its sequel "Aliens" (1986) have influenced countless films in their wake. They both have possibly created, and definitely have made previously existing tropes popular, cementing them into pop culture to the extent that one can easily recognise an "'Alien' formula" in many different films, regardless of setting. In this episode Lee explores the soundtracks and scores of films tha...

2019 is over and done with, but that means there needs to be some talk about what the hosts of TMBDOS! (and guest host Cameron Sullivan) thought were their best and worst first-time watches of the year. There are some surprises in this episode to be sure. They even read a sent-in list from listener Jeff Williams and respond to a YouTube comment, (because of course there was one of those). Check ou...

It's the 2019 Christmas episode! Daniel and Lee are half in the bag, their guest Jack Graham is living on Airstrip One, and they are returning to the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes to talk about the Holmes Christmas episode, the adaptation of "The Blue Carbuncle" from 1984. Very little editing in this one, folks. Lots of asides; bad jokes; what the hosts have watched; and listener comments are all i...