Drive-in Saturdays

This week we contrast two incredibly gorgeous films about rescuing your younger sibling from owl fairies, 2014's Song of the Sea and 1986's Labyrinth. Join us for a look at potential alternate versions of Labyrinth; probably the only time we'll watch a movie with a major character named Saoirse; a discussion of the emotional reality of fantasy narratives; why the non-fictional Saoirse thinks Labyrinth is A Feminist Film (tm), and our usual share of digressions about Neil Gaiman, theatre history, and books we like. Music: David Bowie, Drive-In Saturdays, Underground, and Magic Dance Lisa Hannigan, Amhrán Na Farraige Altan, Dúlamán Loreena McKennitt, The Stolen Child   Menu*: - Fish and chips - Peach cake - Frothy meringue * Drive In Saturdays accepts no responsibility for any unforeseen consequences incurred by eating fairy food

Featuring special guest Newsies expert, our friend Laura! Interstitial music: David Bowie, Drive-In Saturday Newsies Cast, Seize the Day Pete Seeger, Union Maid Woody Guthrie, You Gotta Go Down And Join The Union Dolly Parton, 9 to 5 Dropkick Murphys, Which Side Are You On? I'm going to be honest with everyone, I'm sick of looking at, listening to, or thinking about this episode. In lieu of my usual description have some links: Factual Podcasts about the Newsies Strike: Bowery Boys (Episode 219) The Dollop (Episode 275) Newsies-Related Youtube Links Newsies Dance To Everything  F*cking Newsies parody trailer Blood Drips On Newsies Square New York History Recommended Reading, courtesy Laura: Timothy Gilfoyle's "The Pickpocket's Tale: The Underworld of Nineteenth-Century New York" Tyler Anbinder's "Five Points: The Nineteenth-Century New York City Neighborhood That Invented Tap Dance, Stole Elections and Became the World's Most Notorious Slum" David Nasaw's "Children of the City" Susan C

I'm posting this episode a little early this evening, because I don't know about you but I need to take my mind off the world for a while.   This week we dipped our toes into some of the work of international treasure Angela Lansbury, with classic thriller The Manchurian Candidate (1962) and forgotten Christie adaptation Mirror Crack'd (1980). Join us as we go off on a tangent about comic book legend Jack Kirby; accuse Harry Potter of murder; posit hypothetical Brooklyn 99 crossovers; discuss the generic conventions of the mystery vs. the thriller; and learn what Saoirse remembers from her mandatory Cataloguing class.   Menu: - Heinz ketchup - Tofu in Manchurian sauce - Daiquiris, hopefully without arsenic  - Tea and little sandwiches - Meat pies and/or pasties   Interstitial music: - David Bowie, Drive-In Saturday - The Sisters of Mercy, Dominion/Mother Russia - Loreena McKennitt, the Lady of Shallott - Tom Robinson, Murder at the End of the Day

You'll notice that this is not the 1950s creature feature we promised two weeks ago. As Patreon subscribers already know, we recorded a George Romero tribute instead, with somewhat obvious film choices Night of the Living Dead (1968) and Dawn of the Dead (1978). This is a long one (dare I say... a meaty one), because it turns out we have a lot to say about zombie culture; zombie survivalists; the allegorical power of zombies; what a cool band name 'The Goblins' is; violent white masculinity; and the time Saoirse went to a wedding on the set of the Dawn of the Dead remake.   Interstitial music: - David Bowie, Drive-In Saturday - Oingo Boingo, Dead or Alive - Robin Sparkles, Let's Go To The Mall (We can't take credit for this excellent joke, which we stole from fanvidder Jetpack Monkey) - Dario Argento and The Goblins, Dawn of the Dead theme - The Cranberries, Zombie   Menu: - Ham and sausages - A sundae with lots of chocolate syrup - 1970s TV dinners - A nice white wine

This week we finally got to an episode that's been on our list since the very start, comparing recent poorly-conceived waste of potential Jem and the Holograms to 12-year-old Saoirse's favourite film in the world Josie and the Pussycats. Two cartoon-and-comic-to-live-action-film adaptations about unknown girl groups who suddenly hit the bigtime; two very different film-watching experiences.  Interstitial Music: David Bowie, Drive-In Saturday Jem and the Holograms 2015, Youngblood Jem and the Holograms ft. The Misfits, Jem theme Josie and the Pussycats, Pretend to be Nice DuJour, DuJour Around The World The Runaways, Queens of Noise (note: while recording I thought I would use Kesha's recent single Praying; I didn't end up finding space for it here but you should all go look it up on the music streaming service of your choice because it's great.) Menu: - Kettle (tm) brand potato chips - Cotton candy - Gatorade and a big mac

Content warnings: Blood, gore, violence, body horror, self-injury, suicide, institutionalisation, needles... Uh. Lots of things. This week we explored one of my personal favourite film subgenres, adolescent girl horror, with 1999 Canadian cult classic Ginger Snaps and... less-beloved Jennifer's Body, from 2009. We pull out our fancy cultural studies words; complain about the misrepresentation of the emo subculture; get nostalgic about the fashions of our tween and teen years; fall in love with Mrs. Fitzgerald; and spend a whole lot of time telling Diablo Cody to shut up. Interstitial music: David Bowie, Drive In Saturday Jack Off Jill, Strawberry Gashes Hole, Jennifer's Body Oingo Boingo, I Was A Teenage Monster   Menu: - Witch's fingers cookies - Strawberry cheesecake - Sweet-and-sour chicken breast Commentary tracks for these films are up on our Patreon for subscribers at $5 or more!

We gave our eyes a break this week and didn't watch any new films. Instead, we devoted about an hour to a retrospective-- can you believe we've been doing this thing for a year? We can't really believe it ourselves. Join us for the answers to all-important questions like "What episode would you recommend to new listeners?"; "How far in advance do you plan your episodes?"; "How has doing this show changed the way you watch movies?"; and "Which character is the Worst Boyfriend?", as well as an overall version of our usual Favourites breakdown!   Interstitial music: - David Bowie, Drive-In Saturday - Cathy Carr, First Anniversary   Menu: - Popcorn - Birthday cake - Champagne   And finally, the important announcement... Drive In Saturdays is now Patreon-supported! If you like our show and have a bit of money to spare, please throw us a bone. Click the link above or listen to this episode to learn all about our exciting rewards and our goals for the future!

EDIT: Getting the weird error where only the first half hour of the episode is uploading correctly again. No idea why this happens. Direct download here if it still isn't working! Join us this week as we compare two 'princess' movies where the lead character is transformed into a semi-aquatic animal by a curse, 1994's The Swan Princess and 2009's The Princess and the Frog. In which we pitch a sequel to Chicken Run; discover Saoirse is a Rothbart apologist; form a Cinderella Defense Squad; go on a tangent about the later entries in the Shrek franchise; lament the death of the 2D Disney Animated Feature; pitch a sequel to Chicken Run; and just generally have a lot of feelings about feature film animation. Apologies to people who grew up with Swan Princess; neither of us did, really, and without nostalgia goggles the writing really doesn't hold up very well. Menu: - Venison - Red wine - Gumbo Interstitial Music: - Drive-In Saturday, David Bowie - Far Longer Than Forever, Regina Belle and Jeffrey Osborne - Almost

Major content warnings this week for abuse/gaslighting and forced institutionalisation. Dorian's been watching the FX series Feud, starring Susan Sarandon as Bette Davis and Jessica Lange as Joan Crawford, so we decided it was probably time to familiarise ourselves with two of the films that inspired the series. What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? starred Davis and Crawford, but their feuding got so bad that Crawford was replaced with Olivia De Havilland for the follow-up, Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte. Both are films about wealthy older women who experienced trauma in their youth and are kept in their big gothic mansions by their abusive relatives. For some reason, while Baby Jane is an iconic piece of cinema, Charlotte seems to have been comparatively forgotten, which is a shame because it turns out it's probably a better movie. Menu: - Gin - Strawberry ice cream - Sweet tea Interstitial Music: - Drive-In Saturday, David Bowie - Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, Bette Davis - Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte, Patt

This week we contrast two car-focused dystopias, both reboots of existing-but-dormant franchises reworked for a millennial audience. Mad Max: Fury Road broke exciting ground for a sci-fi piece, with a Best Picture nomination and multiple Oscar wins. Death Race 2050 was a direct-to-video release you'd be forgiven if you hadn't heard about. We evaluate how well they reflect the Millennial Experience; get very excited about worldbuilding; get distracted thinking about Lord of the Rings; and really try to pick apart what both films have to say about the geopolitical context of their creation. Also, I just really really love Death Race, you guys. Menu:  - Spaghetti bolognese - Champagne - Spring water - Fresh fruit Interstitial music: - Drive In Saturdays, David Bowie - DESTROYA, My Chemical Romance - Fast Car, Tracy Chapman - Shut Up And Drive, Rihanna  

Join us this week for two somewhat incoherent musicals about the 1960s anti-war movement! Ten years ago when it came out someone pitched Julie Taymor's Across the Universe to me as "Like the anti-Hair" so obviously now that I have a podcast about watching two movies, we decided to put that reading to the test. In which Hair manages to be both more and less coherent than its source material; Across The Universe's Jude may be our worst Bad Dude Lead yet; we discuss the relative depoliticization of both films; this whole podcast is Grease's fault; and we imagine the world in which Steve and Prudence are the heroes of their respective films. Menu: - Fancy canapes (ironically) - Strawberries (unironically) Interstitial music: - The title songs from both films. I feel like I don't need to explain that. - Draft Dodger Rag, Phil Ochs

Join us this week as we explore the vicious underbelly of Cool Teen culture with 2005's Mean Girls and 1989's Heathers. We look at how the two films do and don't represent our own high school experiences; why Mean Girls still resonates with Teens a decade later; how the melodrama of Heathers feels emotionally real; how teen movies changed between 1989 and 2005 (and how they didn't); and list a lot of favourite outfits. Menu: - Mock cosmos - Hot dogs - Protein bars - Spaghetti with oregano - A flight of shots, co-ordinated with your clique's outfits Interstitial Music: - David Bowie, Drive In Saturdays - Kesha, Backstabber - My Chemical Romance, Teenagers - Rough Trade, High School Confidential

Join us this week as we pay tribute to legendary horror comics artist Bernie Wrightson with a look at 1957's Curse of Frankenstein and 1982's Swamp Thing.  I did a lot of 'sending Dorian pictures to look at' this episode which is spectacularly bad radio, but here are the pictures so you can follow along-- Lab scene from Wrightson's Frankenstein Clearly Universal Frankenstein-inspired Wrightson creation The Patchwork Man Vlad Dracul's impressive moustache   Menu: Colourful bubbly cocktails Gimicky halloween party food Cajun chicken salad Psychotropic yams   Interstitial Music: David Bowie, Drive In Saturday New York Dolls, Frankenstein Charlie Daniels Band, The Legend of Wooley Swamp Oingo Boingo, Weird Science

This week, we decided to tackle Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Thelma and Louise, two very different films with the same ending. Join us as we overuse academic-type phrases like 'accepted response model' and 'construction of heteromasculinity'; go on a tangent about the price of wine; bring up Sondheim twice; contemplate what Thelma and Louise would look like with H. R. Giger influences; reveal which film scores figure skaters love; and watch characters written by William Goldman confront the inevitability of death. Menu: - Wild rice - Papas rellenas, which we don't know how to pronounce but would like to eat right the fuck now - All-day breakfast from a grungy diner - Wild Turkey - Margaritas

This week we explored the world of board game to film adaptations, with personal favourite and cult classic Clue (starring Madeline Kahn and Tim Curry) and the only other board game movie that came to mind, Battleship (starring Rihanna). Mostly this episode is about how much we love Clue. Because we love Clue.  Menu:  - Brandy, preferably un-poisoned - Soup - Monkey's brains - Whatever was trendy dinner party food in the 1950s - editor's note: while editing I realised the obvious joke we had missed-- Herring - Chicken burrito - Hawaiian/Japanese-Hawaiian food  

This week we watched two films made a year apart, with the exact same title. And the exact same premise: A man named Jack Frost gets killed in a car crash on Christmas and comes back to life as a snowman. Despite what Saoirse's childhood memories will tell you, only one of these is a horror movie. (The other, despite its bad critical reputation, is a perfectly adequate family movie starring a slightly-post-Batman Michael Keaton.)  Menu: - Coconut-oatmeal cookies, probably shaped into snowmen - Snow peas - Maple snow - Not antifreeze

We were both deeply saddened by the loss of Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds at the end of last year, so we decided to pay tribute in true Drive In Saturdays fashion: By revisiting their classic breakout roles and in the process admitting to the world what iconic and important films each of us had never seen. (Guess which one is which!) This is a long one, and we get very emotional in the final section, so if you're just here for fun movie talk, we've got an hour and a half of that as usual and you are welcome to skip the last part. Menu: - Raspberry cream cake - Astronaut ice cream - Cinnamon rolls

...vs the first half hour of Howard the Duck. If you've been having issues with our Christmas episode, the technical difficulty has now been resolved. So sure, we're late, but we're bringing you two new episodes! Join us this week for our first-ever Drive In Saturdays failure, a film so bad we couldn't sit through all of it; the broader existential implications of Roger Rabbit; all the specific points of Wreck It Ralph that made Saoirse cry; ruminations on the mystery genre in general; and a brief but horrifying glimpse into a world made of flesh. Menu:  - Banana cream pie - Bourbon - Cherry pie a la mode - Gingerbread cars

**** LINK FIXED *** Director Bob Clark (and some of his colleagues) made two films with 'Christmas' in the title, about a decade apart. They're uh. Very different films.   Menu: - Sherry - Probably something cooked in sherry? - Another trifle - Turkey dinner - Peking duck

For Dorian’s birthday, we watched two of his favourite films, both released in 1950! This week we mostly talk about actresses, including but not limited to: - Fictional actresses portrayed in the films (Norma Desmond, Margo Channing, and Eve Harrington) - Real actresses in the films (Bette Davis, Gloria Swanson, Anne Baxter, Celeste Holm, Nancy Olson, Marilyn Monroe) - Real actresses who were almost in the films (Tallullah Bankhead, Mae West, Mary Pickford, Gertrude Lawrence, and a very surprising one I don't want to give away here) - Actresses who have nothing to do with this film, we just like them (Patti LuPone, Elaine Stritch) Menu: - Champagne and caviar - Cake - Martinis - Honestly, most of what people put in their mouths in these two films is booze and cigarettes