October 25

Tales From The Darkside: The Movie, 1990

Welcome to week four of the 2019 Horror Movie Extravaganza on Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers! Dion Baia and J. Blake decided to continue down the same route and do another anthology that has been related to the others they’ve profiled this past month, covering the cult classic Tales From The Darkside: The Movie, from 1990!

The boys unpack the iconic 1980’s series Tales From The Darkside, and set the stage for how the 1990 feature film came about. Blake discusses his interviews with composer and (this film’s) director John Harrison– about the backstory involving George A. Romero and Stephen King, and getting this film made, and how Creepshow and even Creepshow 2 were the catalyst. So make sure you don’t scare easily, because Dion and Blake are back to tell you some more spooky tales on this all new installment of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers!

Extras!

David Nelson is the name of the musician that played with David Johansen that Dion couldn’t remember, who is now a financial adviser (no relation to Ozzie & Harriet Nelson), who was with the singer post New York Dolls, in his solo years prior to Buster Poindexter.

Check out the original theatrical trailer!

August 12

Cruising, 1980

The boys are back, taking on a film that is legendary for it’s controversy, so much so that not only did it taint the actual production of the movie but also led to it being regarded as a ‘bomb’ at the box office, despite an entire cast and crew of A-list talent. Dion and Blake this week take a hard look at the Al Pacino classic, Cruising from 1980, by the auteur William Friedkin.

Cruising poster

Now the fellas are the first to admit that this wouldn’t top their list as the perfect nostalgic vehicle that a group of twelve or thirteen year old friends would knowingly rent (due to the subject matter) and watch at a sleepover back in the day, but they are also in agreement that Cruising has gotten a terribly raw deal ever since it’s first day of production. Blake and Dion start off by relating the facts of the real case that this film was partly based on, directly from the horse’s mouth so to speak, by chatting with their friend, former NYPD Detective turned actor, producer, stuntman and technical consultant Randy Jurgensen, who in real life was the one who actually went undercover into this world to solve a case, in an SNMS exclusive. They explain the backstory and the original book of the same name, and how it got into director William Friedkin‘s hands, eventually becoming a film he helmed. They lay-out the outcry that came from the gay community about the film and it’s subject matter, and the concerns behind that worry. Dion and Blake delve in and really dissect the plot, trying to flesh out all the twists and turns this noir thriller takes. So WHY was Cruising so controversial for Hollywood and the gay community in particular, and for the public at large? How “X-Rated” was this when it was first released? What about the new pseudo-documentary co-directed by actor James Franco called Interior. Leather Bar., and how much of it really focuses on Friedkin’s film that it was supposedly inspired by? What other personal and exclusive incite do the boys have from speaking with Paul Sorvino, Ed O’Neill and the great forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden about Cruising? And why the heck would the boys ever think of cosplaying with this film?! Well, come on down to find it all out, on an all new, highly informative and exciting episode of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers!

(Dion mistakenly referred to 1970 Cruising novel author Gerald Walker, as Gerald Butler…who knows why.)

EXTRAS:

Here’s the original trailer for Cruising!

Have a look at the rare TV trailer!

Check out this featurette on the making of Cruising !

Take a listen to the great soundtrack to this film, courtesy of YouTube!

Here’s our very own Dion Baia with legendary forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden around 2011.

This is the very rare Kenneth Anger film the boys referred to in the cast, called Scorpio Rising, from 1964.

Have a look at a great alternate, original poster for Cruising!

Here’s William Friedkin talking about the James Franco film Interior. Leather Bar.

 

August 28

The Warriors, 1979

Get Ready! Dion Baia and J. Blake have picked a whopper of a movie for this week, which could be their BIGGEST podcast yet! Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers is putting on their jean jackets, leather vests, face paint, bandanas, and grabbing some subway tokens, because they’re screening the cult classic gang film, Walter Hill’s The Warriors, from 1979.

The Warriors

The boys attempt to find a logical order to their excitement while trying to dissect this classic. Having read the 1965 Sol Yurick novel of the same name, Blake and Dion compare the differences from book to film (like for example the gang not even actually being called The Warriors, but instead the Coney Island Dominators!). They try to give a historical context as well, speaking about the real gangs of the era, that in some cases were even more frightening than those in the film. And speaking of contexts, what about the historical Greek story Anabasis by Xenophon from 401 BC, and how it influenced both the author Yurick and subsequentially the director. And what of Walter Hill’s 2005 Director’s Cut (which seems to be the only version available to view this film nowadays); how does the Lucas-esque changes made compare to the original theatrical cut? Well, Dion and Blake try to fit as much as they can into this brand new edition of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers! So spread the word! Cause we’ll be ‘boppin’ our way right through this podcast! Now… can you dig it?!

(Check out the New York City locations that were used to film, from then and now, in this GREAT site found Here1, Here2 and Here3!)

(Here’s some more locations to have a look at.)

(Look at the deleted scenes from the film and see if you agree with their exclusion from the final product!)

(Take a gander at the UK site devoted to The Warriors, which is indispensable to any hardcore fan!)

(Have a look at the trailer to the brand new documentary entitled Rubble Kings, about the real gangs in NYC in the 1970’s, and how close they actually resembled the fictional ones in The Warriors, and how a real truce and organization almost came to be by the real life Cyrus!)

Here’s a link to the HUGE Reunion at Coney Island of The Warriors planned to happen Saturday, September 13th, 2015!

 

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