Games? Must we? This week we're leaving Spooktober behind us and kicking off No-Theme-ber with a bang, as King Bob frontman and Roxy Fever host Jackson McDonald returns with our second Hitchcock in just three weeks as he redeems himself by bringing a cross-country spy thriller to the table that set the template for summer thrills for everything that's come after it. Yes, it's 1959's North by Northwest, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, written by Ernest Lehman, and starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Leo G. Carroll and Martin Landau. A classic mistaken identity thriller, Hitchcock is recombining story elements from a number of spy films of his past, leaving one final stamp on the genre before turning his focus back to horror. The end result is a movie that has its fingerprints all over not just the Mission: Impossible franchise, but what we expect from blockbuster entertainment period. Plus: Jackson and JMo combine for theatrical field trips to The Wild Robot and Venom 3: The Last Dance, while Hayley's still buzzing over a visit to the Video Stop in Watrous, Saskatchewan.

Listen to King Bob's new album, Rookie: linktr.ee/allhailkingbob

Other works referenced in this episode include The Birds, The Stand, Longlegs, Us, Shutter Island, Malignant, The Thing, Star Wars, Fargo, High Fidelity, The Black Phone, Invitation to Hell, Casa Bonita Mi Amor, 6 Days to Air, Where We Call Home, Super Mario Party Jamboree, Vertigo, Rear Window, Secret Window, Trap, Koyaanisqatsi, Family Guy, Mad Men, Rope, Charade, Big Trouble in Little China, Total Recall, Hail Caesar!, Burn After Reading, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, The Maltese Falcon, Jaws, Rebecca, and The 39 Steps, among others.

We'll be back next week as No-Theme-ber continues with the Steve Martin rom-com Roxanne, famously filmed in Nelson, BC (or at least famously in this part of the world), a selection brought to us by beloved guest Rachel Hadaway, who will be joining us for that one. Until then, we'll see you at the movies!!

ADHD-DVD - 86 - North by Northwest (with Jackson McDonald)

This week, like the sand-people of Arrakis and Beetlejuice audiences before us, we're afraid of worms (worms!) as guest Rachel Hadaway (of Rachel's Chart Chat on The People Are The Enemy) goes for a steeply inclined stroll with us to breathe the mountain air in beautiful Nelson, Washington as circle back to the coziness of the Steve Martin rom-com. It's 1987's Roxanne, directed by Fred Schepisi, written by Steve Martin, and starring Martin opposite Daryl Hannah, Shelley Duvall, Rick Rossovich, John Kapelos, Fred Willard, Michael J. Pollard, Damon Wayans and of course Nelson, British Columbia, which almost played itself! A landmark 80s film for Canadians seeing their country onscreen, north of the border it seems more beloved for its locations than its clever reworking of Cyrano de Bergerac for a modern context. But this is a funny movie with a romance that works, brought to us from the dusty DVR box of a long-time booster of our show who we were happy to finally bring on! Plus: As we put Halloween season behind us, Justin goes deep on the truly terrible Blade: Trinity.

If you'd like to watch the movie before listening along, Roxanne is not currently available to stream in Canada, but can be found on Amazon Prime in America at the time of publication.

Other works referenced on this episode include Saturday Night, Challengers, Wicked, Blade, Blade II, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, The Witches of Eastwick, Practical Magic, V/H/S/94, So I Married An Axe Murderer, A Serious Man, The Creature From The Black Lagoon, The Reality Show Show, 8 Mile, The Lonely Guy, Review, Police Academy, The Muppet Babies, Set It Up, and Looney Tunes among others.

We'll be back next week as No-Theme-ber continues... with what? We don't actually know yet. So keep it locked here to find out. Until then, we'll see you at the movies!!

ADHD-DVD - 87 - Roxanne (with Rachel Hadaway)

This week, we're headed to Harvard Law (what, like it's hard?) as J Mo cashes in a recent thrift store pick-up so we'd have something light and breezy to discuss in the wake of recent events. It's 2001's Legally Blonde, directed by Robert Luketic, and starring Reese Witherspoon, Luke Wilson, Selma Blair, Matthew Davis, Victor Garber, Holland Taylor, Jennifer Coolidge, Ali Larter, Osgood Perkins, Raquel Welch and Linda Cardellini. A box office hit that spawned a sequel, a broadway musical (with accompanying talent search reality show), and apparently a forthcoming prequel TV series, and launched its charming lead as a certified household name Movie Star after winning turns in Pleasantville and Election.

Plus: both hosts have been to the theatre this week, and have field trips to report on for Conclave and Heretic. And we go deep into overtime after the end credits with a littany of thoughts on the first trailer for Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning.

If you'd like to watch the film before listening along to our discussion, Legally Blonde is currently streaming for free on Tubi in Canada at the time of publication, and is also available via MGM.

Other works referenced in this episode include The Saint, I Saw The TV Glow, The Transporter, I Know That Voice, Casa Bonita, Mi Amor!, Martha, Shawshank Redemption, My Old Ass, The Fallout, The Fog, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, A Perfect Circle's album Mer de Noms, cable TV, Longlegs, X-Men, Walk The Line, Walk Hard,  Animal House, Cruel Intentions, The Time Machine, Olympus Has Fallen, It's Complicated, American Pie, Barbie, the entire Mission: Impossible series, No Time To Die, The Dark Knight Rises, North by Northwest, Interstellar, The Fast and the Furious franchise, and John Wick among others.

We'll be back next week as we've lined up the No-theme-ber schedule to coincide with the release of one of the last anticipated major release of the year. No, not Wicked. We're circling back to 2000's eventual Best Picture winner, Ridley Scott's Gladiator with Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix, which can be found streaming north of the border currently on Netflix and Paramount+. Until then, we'll see you at the movies!! Hamburger.

ADHD-DVD - 88 - Legally Blonde

This week, as Gladiator II hits the theaters to repeat the same beats of its predecessor and prove that what we do in life truly does echo in eternity, we circle back to the original to cross a movie off of Hayley's list and get her hyped to see some hunks on the IMAX screen. It's 2000's Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, and starring Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed, Richard Harris, Derek Jacobi, Djimon Hounsou, Tommy Flanagan and Spencer Treat Clark. A somewhat controversial Best Picture winner at the time, it has remained one of Scott's most celebrated pictures despite hardly being his best. While it may not match the heights of his sci-fi output, it is unquestionably the high-water mark of his Medieval Mode, very much in line with subsequent efforts like Kingdom of Heaven, Robin Hood and The Last Duel, and is still a hugely entertaining sword-and-sandal revenge epic that lifted its two lead actors to another level of stardom. Plus: We get pissed off about the Coca-Cola AI Christmas commercial.

If you'd like to watch the movie before listening along to our discussion, Gladiator is currently streaming (in Canada at least) on both Netflix and Paramount+ at the time of publication.

Other works discussed on this episode include Past Lives, Stop Making Sense, Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Alien, Blade Runner, Prometheus, Alien: Covenant, Aliens, In Cold Water: The Shelter Bay Mystery, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, The X-Files (S5E04 "Detour"), Good Bones, Super Mario Party Jamboree, The Holdovers, The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Red One, The Brave Little Toaster, Traffic, Erin Brockovich, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Shadow of the Vampire and Crash, among others.

We'll be back next week to wrap up No-Theme-ber with our monthly canon consideration, as Hayley's got the keys to the vault this month and is using them to induct the Coen Brothers' 2007 crime classic No Country For Old Men, which is currently streaming north of the border on both Netflix and Amazon Prime. Until then, we'll see you at the movies!!

ADHD-DVD - 89 - Gladiator

This week, we're fixin' to do somethin' dumber than hell but we're gonna do it anyway, as we close out No-Theme-ber by circling back to the coin-flip best movie of 2007, a gravely serious and barbed-wire-taut neo-western crime thriller that the Coens still manage to sneak an enormous amount of low-key goofy comedy into. It's 2007's No Country For Old Men, written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, based on the book by Cormac McCarthy, and starring Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones, Woody Harrelson, Kelly Macdonald, Garrett Dillahunt, Tess Harper, Barry Corbin, Beth Grant and Stephen Root. It's Hayley's nomination for November's canon consideration as we use the last Friday of the month to induct another classic into the pod pantheon. Plus: J Mo's trip to Gladiator II has us recounting memorable bad audience behavior from our years of going to the theater.

If you'd like to watch this week's movie before listening to our discussion, No Country For Old Men is now streaming on both Amazon Prime and Netflix in Canada at the time of publication.

Other works referenced in this episode include Wicked, The Stand (1994), The Stand (2020), Station Eleven, Bridesmaids, Ghostbusters: Answer The Call, Super 8, Star Trek Into Darkness, The Fabelmans, The Holdovers, Transformers One, Jack Reacher, Robin Hood (2010), Abigail, Maximum Overdrive, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Mad Max: Fury Road, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, The Blues Brothers, The Big Lebowski, Grindhouse, There Will Be Blood, Inherent Vice, W. and Deadpool 2 among countless others.

We'll be back next week to kick off another theme month as the last month of 2024 sees the return of A DePalmber to ReMalmber! That's right, we're going back to the well for DePalmber: Part De, which begins next Friday with The Untouchables, and continues with Body Double and our December canon entry, Blow Out. (We'll take a quick break from DePalma to celebrate Shaqmas with Shaquille O'Neal in Blue Chips.) Until then, we'll see you at the movies!!

ADHD-DVD - 90 - No Country For Old Men

It's the final month of year, which means it's time again to celebrate the reason for the season and make it another DePalmber to ReMalmber as we fire up another Brian De Palma series, DePALMBER: PART DE, with 1987's The Untouchables, directed by De Palma, written by David Mamet, and starring Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Andy Garcia, Charles Martin Smith, Robert De Niro, Billy Drago and Patricia Clarkson. A 1930s Chicago gangland drama about the prohibition war on Al Capone, it's a quintessential Dad Movie that found second life as a classic video store rental in the decade-plus after its release, and this week J Mo finally catches up with a movie that was the talk of the schoolyard some 25 years ago now. Plus: No trips to the theater to discuss this week, but we look to streaming for an in-depth report on the Taylor Swift / Travis Kelce fanfic Lifetime Original holiday film, Christmas In The Spotlight.

If you'd like to watch the movie before listening to our discussion, The Untouchables is currently streaming on Paramount+ at the time of publication.

Other works discussed in this episode include Constantine, Sweethearts, When Harry Met Sally..., Kiss The Girls, Our Little Secret, Den of Thieves, Under Paris, Downtown Owl, Anthony Jeselnik: Bones and All, American Gangster, Dear Santa, Smile 2, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, Josie and the Pussycats, That Thing You Do!, Blow Out, Mission: Impossible, Air Bud, The Departed, Infernal Affairs, and The Naked Gun 33 & 1/3 among others.

DePalmber: Part De continues next week with Brian in full erotic thriller mode as we check out 1984's Body Double, which unfortunately at present is not available to stream in Canada but can be rented on YouTube and Cineplex. Until then, we'll see you at the movies!!

ADHD-DVD - 91 - The Untouchables

This week we're auditioning for the role of a lifetime as DePALMBER: PART DE continues with another example of what feels like well-worn territory for our man of the month: an erotic thriller in which a working class man in show business is forced to be an unlikely hero as he becomes entangled in a murder. It's 1984's Body Double, directed, produced, and co-written from a story by Brian De Palma, and starring Craig Wasson, Melanie Griffith, Gregg Henry, Deborah Shelton, Guy Boyd and Dennis Franz. As De Palma's immediate follow-up to Scarface, it's a brazenly bizarre swing on what was surely a blank check opportunity, and we have to admire the effort. Dripping in Hitchcockian influence with a plot that plays like Rear Window and Vertigo at the same time, it's another terrific showcase of that 80s cool De Palma style that would be pillaged decades later in the Grand Theft Auto video games. Plus: J Mo goes knives out on Wicked, having been held hostage by it for nearly three hours.

If you'd like to watch the movie before listening to our discussion, Body Double is not currently streaming in Canada but can be rented on YouTube for $5.

Other works referenced in this episode include The Producers (2005), Avengers Endgame, The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, Doubt, The Manchurian Candidate (2004), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), The Fog (2005), Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Super 8, The Fablemans, West Side Story (2021), Rory Scovel: Religion, Sex & A Few Things In Between, Batman Returns, Batman & Robin, The Game, North by Northwest and Deep Water, among others.

We take a quick break from De Palma next week, as our final release before Christmas Day means it's time to celebrate Shaqmas once again! Our annual holiday tradition of covering a selection from the filmography of Shaquille O'Neal continues this year with what is surely the best movie he ever made: 1994's Blue Chips, directed by William Friedkin and co-starring Nick Nolte. And our DePalmber Canon Entry at the end of the month is 1981's Blow Out! Until next week, we'll see you at the movies!!

ADHD-DVD - 92 - Body Double

MERRY SHAQMAS, EVERYONE! We hit pause on DePalmber: Part De this week and pick up our annual Christmas tradition of exploring the filmography of basketball player / actor Shaquille O'Neal, here making his acting debut in a Nick Nolte-helmed character drama loosely based on notorious college coach Bobby Knight. It's 1994's Blue Chips, directed by William Friedkin, and starring Nolte, Shaq, Mary McDonnell, Ed O'Neill, J.T. Walsh, Alfre Woodard, Penny Hardaway, Anthony C. Hall and Bobby Knight. This was Friedkin's return to the fold after 20 years of banishment at Paramount, following a serious falling out with the studio during the production of (previous episode fodder) Sorcerer, and while the movie is far more of a one-for-us more so than a one-for-you, the prolific director still brings so much more life to the sports drama genre than this sort of thing is typically infused with. Plus, contrary to what we were led to believe from watching Steel last year, Shaq actually can act, and shows star-quality comedy chops and an earnest vulnerability that he would snuff out in later years while leaning into cartoon shtick.

Sadly, Blue Chips is not available to stream on Paramount+, or anywhere for that matter, but can be rented for about $5 on YouTube. And it's worth checking out!

Other works discussed on this episode include The Last Voyage of the Demeter, Kraven The Hunter, The Producers (2005), The Producers (1967), Young Frankenstein, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Scrooged, Office Christmas Party, It's In the Game: Madden NFL, Ready or Not, Bad Boys: Ride of Die, V/H/S, Hustle and Civil War.

We'll be back next week to close out 2024 with our DePalmber: Part De canon consideration, as we put De Palma's 1981 show biz crime thriller under the microscope and finally dedicate an entire episode to John Travolta and Nancy Allen in Blow Out! Blow Out is currently streaming for free (in Canada at least) on the people's streamer, Tubi. Until then, we'll see you at the movies, and a happy Shaqmas to all!!

ADHD-DVD - 93 - Blue Chips

For one last time in 2024, we're closing out DePalmber: Part De by opening the vault door and welcoming another of our beloved classics into the podcast canon, this time a bleak noir thriller about a foley artist in the film industry who winds up recording proof of a political murder conspiracy while out grabbing sounds for a new low-end horror picture, and gets swept up into a dark world of intrigue where no one is safe. It's 1981's Blow Out, written and directed by Brian De Palma and starring John Travolta, Nancy Allen, Jon Lithgow, Dennis Franz, Peter Boyden, John Aquino and Deborah Everton. Like Michael Mann's Thief (released just four months earlier), it feels like a visionary director establishing countless trademark flourishes in an early outing before really hitting their stride as the decade continued. And just like Thief, that early outing may prove to be a high-water mark neither man ever cleared again. Plus: without any theatrical outing to report on to end the year, we're vibing out with hoarfrost and the music of Waxahatchee.

If you'd like to watch the movie before listening along to this conversation, and we loved this movie so we strongly recommend you do, Blow Out is currently streaming for free on Tubi (at least in Canada) at the time of publication.

Other works discussed in this episode include Sonic The Hedgehog 3, Nosferatu, The Last Voyage of the Demeter, Abigail, The Brutalist, The Order, Blue Chips, Air, Hustle, Hoosiers, Moneyball, Glory Road, Miracle, The Way Back, The Holdovers, Knives Out, Glass Onion, Law Abiding Citizen, I Saw the TV Glow, Monkey Man, Biggest Heist Ever, Joker: Folie à Deux, A Christmas Story, Black Christmas, Baby Geniuses, The Karate Dog, A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas, Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle, To Grandmother's House We Go, New York Minute, Scarface, Body Double, Pulp Fiction, Gotti, The Fanatic, Dexter, Conclave, Cliffhanger, Nightcrawler, and Nope among many more.

We'll be back next week to kick off 2025 with the Bernie Mac baseball comedy Mr. 3000, to celebrate J Mo crossing the 3000 films watched lifetime milestone at some point in the year that was 2024. That's as good a reason to watch it as any I suppose, and you can find Mr. 3000 streaming for free on Hoopla at the moment. Until then, we'll see you at the movies!!

ADHD-DVD - 94 - Blow Out

As J Mo rapidly approaches (or has perhaps already passed?) 3000 films watched all-time on Letterboxd, it felt fitting to kick off a new year with the story of another man who thought he'd hit the 3000 plateau only for it to be taken away from him on a technicality, as we try to whip ourselves back in to game-shape for 2025 by watching a sports comedy that's a little too light on laughs. It's 2004's Mr. 3000, directed by Charles Stone III, and starring Bernie Mac, Angela Bassett, Michael Rispoli, Dondré Whitfield, Paul Sorvino, Chris Noth, Keegan-Michael Key, Dane Cook and Tom Arnold. While the movie never really finds its groove comedically, it's still a charming sports twist on the cocky-hothead-gets-humbled archetype that does a great job of using existing teams, leagues and sports TV shows to make the whole thing feel somewhat real. This is to say nothing of Bernie Mac, who has more than enough charisma to carry this even when the script isn't entirely where it needs to be. Plus: we take a good half-hour off the top of the first show of the new year to countdown our duelling lists of the Top Ten Films of 2024.

If you'd like to watch the movie before listening to our discussion, Mr. 3000 is currently free to stream in Canada on Hoopla.

Other works discussed in this episode include The Substance, Juror No. 2, Twisters, Will & Harper, Civil War, Longlegs, Hit Man, I Saw The TV Glow, The Wild Robot, The Fall Guy, Conclave, Love Lies Bleeding, La Chimera, Dune: Part Two, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Challengers, Woman of the Hour, Carry-On, Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro, Cuckoo, Red One, Ladder 49 and National Treasure, among countless others.

We'll be back next week with a little ADHD-VHS, as Hayley puts her newly-acquired VCR to work watching a movie on tape that is new to her: 1993's The Fugitive, with Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones, that is currently streaming north of the border on Starz. And later in the month, we'll be circling back to our man Bernie Mac as January's canon consideration is 2001's Ocean's Eleven! Until then, we'll see you at the movies!!

ADHD-DVD - 95 - Mr. 3000

Co-Host / Producer / Engineer of the Real Good Show and Top Marks podcasts. Sports Announcer. Board Op / Producer @ Sportsnet 650. Formerly a play-by-play voice for the BCHL, NWJHL, and BasketballBC. Former Music Director and afternoon host on Peace FM in Chetwynd and Dawson Creek.

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