Uncut Gems Podcast

In this episode of the show we are closing our March string of 80's sci-fi comedies (and the entire quarter called Fantastic Winter) with an excellent and bodacious conversation about Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure . Over the course of our chat you will hear us talk about how this movie stands a little bit to the side of the comedy mainstream of the late 80's, how it synthesizes...

In this bonus episode we are tying into our month-long discussions about 80s sci-fi comedies we are turning our attention to the revered cult classic directed and written by the spoof legend Mel Brooks, Spaceballs . Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about how this movie connected with audiences and alienated critics, and why that might have been the case, how Brooks who was...

In this episode of the show our brief expedition into 80s sci-fi comedies gets physical as we discuss the Joe Dante-directed Innerspace . Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk - and argue passionately - about Joe Dante's brand of filmmaking that bridges Spielbergian blockbuster sensibilities, attempts at a spoof and a thick filter of Looney Tunes comedy that some of us see...

In this episode of our 80s Icons series we are jumping into our time machines and get ready for an epic discussion about the 1985 Back to the Future ! Over the course of our conversation you will hear us recount the convoluted history of how this movie came together, attempt to find what made it so culturally sticky, how this movie relates to life as we know it today, how and why it is referred to...

In this episode of the show we are discussing the seminal Marvel movie, the 1986 Howard the Duck . Over the course of our sprawling conversation you will hear us talk about the complex genesis of this movie going all the way back to George Lucas and his love of the comic book upon which this movie was based on, the trials and tribulations of putting the production together and the self-fulfilling...

In this episode of our continuing Mike Nichols Marathon we are sitting down to talk about Primary Colors . Over the course of our conversation you will hear us do our level best to circumnavigate the problematic nature of this movie which is based on the 1992 Bill Clinton primary campaign but is wholly dramatized and filled with fictitious, and oftentimes composite, characters. We talk about how N...

In this episode of the show we are changing gears slightly as we embark on a month-long journey through a selection of 80s science-fiction comedies. And we begin with the 1986 Short Circuit . Over the course of our chat you will hear us talk about how Short Circuit owes its existence to E.T. and a little bit to Wargames , whether Number 5 is a likable hybrid of E.T. and R2D2 and how the film's...

In this episode of the show we are putting a bow on the February jaunt through 80s sci-fi dystopias with a John Carpenter double-header of Escape from New York and They Live . Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about Carpenter's love of westerns distilling into Escape, how Kurt Russell loved the character of Snake Plissken and based his performance on Clint Eastwood and...

In this bonus episode of our show we are tying into our February debates about 80s science-fiction dystopias with our take on the 1987 Robocop . Over the course of our conversation you will hear us weave our way through the complex and rich history of how this movie got made, what makes it iconic and potentially problematic and how it adds to the canon of 80s genre heroes. We also talk about Verho...

In this episode of the show we are taking our 80s dystopia abroad as we discuss the 1988 anime classic Akira . Over the course of our conversation you will hear us try to understand this dense movie and tease out what it says about Japan at the time and the world at large. We then take a bit of a deep dive to try to learn more about how storytelling archetypes native to Japanese audiences are slig...

In this second episode of our 2026 series about iconic movies from the 1980s, we are sitting down to discuss the seminal action movie of the decade, The Terminator . Over the course of our sprawling conversation you will hear us talk, among others, about how the movie came together in an unlikely way and became a word-of-mouth hit, how it cemented Arnold Schwarzenegger's status as the action m...

In this episode of the show we are exploring the maximalist dystopia directed by Terry Gilliam, Brazil . Over the course of our conversation you will hear us carefully retrace the complicated history of how Brazil came together, how it was a nightmare to release in the US and how it became a cult classic despite meddling from studio moguls. We also talk about Gilliam's signature kitchen sink a...

In this episode of our ongoing Mike Nichols Marathon we are discussing the 1996 The Birdcage . Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about this movie being a massive comeback for Mike Nichols and a triumph of Elaine May's screenwriting. We touch on the many talents of the film's diverse cast that included Robin Williams in an out-of-character calm role, Nathan Lane as t...

In this episode of the show we are transitioning from discussing 80's fantasy to our February deep dive into 80's dystopian science-fiction. And you couldn't really ask for a better movie to kick off this series than the Ridley Scott-directed Blade Runner . Over the course of our conversation, which was just as ethereal and meandering as the movie itself, you will hear us talk about th...

In this episode of the show, our January series of 80s fantasy movies comes to a close with a discussion about the 1986 Highlander . Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about how this movie fits into the landscape of the 80's fantasy trend, whether it stands to the side of it or if it heralds the imminent arrival of change. We talk about the many influences packed into th...

In this episode of the show we are diving into the Ridley Scott-directed Legend as part of our short exploration of 80s fantasy movies. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about how the movie came together as an original vision driven by visuals and aesthetics, how Ridley Scott's background in commercial work shows in the finished product and how its dark fantasy provenan...

In this inaugural bonus tie-in podcast for the year 2026, which also happens to be the year of the 1980's for us on the show, we are tying into our January debates on 80's fantasy trend with our take on the 1988 Willow . Over the course of our conversation you will hear us retrace the oral history of how this movie came together and how it all led back to George Lucas and Star Wars . We ta...

In this episode of the show, which also happens to fall close to the fifth birthday of the podcast, we are diving further into the world of sword and sorcery with a conversation about The Beastmaster . Over the course of this chat you will hear us talk about how The Beastmaster originated as an adaptation of a series of fantasy novels and then ended up warped to become a competitor to Conan the Ba...

We are officially kicking off our brand-new Patreon podcast series where we will be talking about some of the biggest, most-remembered and revered movies from the decade that also may or may not tie into our monthly themes. And we decided to begin by discussing the 1987 The Princess Bride . Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about how the movie came together, wonder what its...

In this episode of the show we are venturing even further into the world of 1980's fantasy by discussing two movies directed by Jim Henson: The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth . Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about Jim Henson as a tech-driven filmmaker, and storyteller keen on applying the "X with Muppets" to other contexts. We talk about The Dark Crystal functi...

In this show, we are extending our ongoing Mike Nichols Marathon as our journey through his filmography takes us deeper into the 1990's where we finally take on the 1994 Wolf . Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about this movie's positioning among other classical horror archetypes explored by other filmmakers (such as Dracula directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Kennet...

Boom! Our 2026 journey through the 1980's begins right here and now with! We are officially embarking on the first of four seasons of the year - Fantastic Winter - with a month-long survey through 80's fantasy movies. Naturally, some tough choices had to be made, but we settled on a great roster of movies tugging and pulling at this genre from different directions and we begin with the 198...

In this episode of the show, our December retrospective of Ben Affleck's directorial efforts comes to a close. It also puts a bow on the entire year of going through a Director Zodiac of sorts and sets the stage for the next year as well. But more on that later. In this conversation you will hear us talk about Air , the 2023 brand-o-pic about the creation of the iconic shoe for Michael Jordan...

THIS PODCAST IS AVAILABLE IN FULL FOR FREE ON OUR PATREON!!! (patreon.com/uncutgemspod) In this final episode of our 2025 series in which we explored some of the most iconic movies from 1975 and 1995 we are finally rolling the dice with Martin Scorsese's Casino . Over the course of our conversation, which (expectedly) is just as sprawling and widespread as the movie itself, you will hear us ta...

In this episode of the show our December retrospective of Ben Affleck's works behind the camera continues with Live by Night . Over the course of our conversation you will hear us discuss the challenges of adapting Dennis Lehane's sprawling gangster epic, the possibility that Affleck might have bitten more than he could chew at the time and that imitating Scorsese is much more difficult th...