August 10

The Blues Brothers, 1980

Welcome to a very special episode of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers! This week J. Blake and Dion Baia are covering a classic Chicago-centric film and to ground them and give it some historical city context and for this gigantic sleepover, they brought in the Windy City’s very own, Mighty-Mighty Mike Vanderbilt to lend a hand. We’re all ‘on a mission from God’ this go-around when we take on the musical phenomenon The Blues Brothers, from 1980!The Blues BrothersHaving Mike Vanderbilt over is very exciting for Dion and Blake, and after a quick catch up, they all jump right in. Mike and Blake bring an added layer to the conversation as they are gigging rock and blues musicians themselves with their own bands, and they talk shop about fronting various groups and their gear preferences when performing live at various venues (Dion tries to add his input as he played the alto saxophone in 4th grade, and the drums for 4 years in elementary and middle school). The fellas then focus in on the significance of this film and the history of The Blues Brothers and Jake & Elwood, discussing their roots on Saturday Night Live, and the direction of John Landis on the 1980 film. Mike brings his unique Chicago input, giving some great context to the various locations that highlight the Windy City, making it almost a third star of the film. So, make sure you’ve got your converted 1974 Mount Prospect Dodge Monaco gassed up, your cheese whiz, and your Night Train Wine, ’cause the boys have a long ride back, as they examine another classic, on an all new fantastic Chicago-edition of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers!

EXTRAS!

Please check out J. Blake’s musical endeavors here, as he keeps the blues arrive in New York City!

Please check out Chicago‘s very own, Mike Vanderbilt on TWITTER, on FACEBOOK,  at The A.V. Club where he is a writer and contributor, at The Daily Grindhouse where he is an editor, and tending bar at the Rock Island Public House!

Take a look at this fabulous documentary on the making of The Blues Brothers.

Here’s a playlist of the deleted scenes from the iconic film!

Have a look at The Blues BrothersFull Concert at the Winterland, on December the 31st, 1978!

July 15

Ghostbusters, 1984

The boys are back with another exciting episode of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers! This week and Dion and Blake take on a popular favorite from their childhood that has stood the test of time and is regarded now as a cult classic. Of course we’re talking about the spook and goblin-filled spectacular, Ghostbusters, from 1984!

Ghostbusters, 1984

After briefly dipping back into last podcast’s discussion on the ‘Wold Newton Universe‘ theory by bringing up the companion ‘Tommy Westphall Hypnosis‘, and after also playing another exciting addition of what-has-Blake-brought-back-from-his-parent’s-house-to-surprise-Dion-with? game (which ends up playing brilliantly into this week’s choice of movie), the boys attempt to dissect the origins of the Ghostbusters by laying out the backstory and various incarnations of the script. They play their patented what-if’ game, and discuss the many people who were originally envisioned to play the now famous characters. They also talk about Elmer Bernstein‘s score and his issues with unused portions of his compositions for the film, leading to a bigger chat about other legendary music cues in cinema that have went unused, or completely omitted scores altogether (see Lalo Schifrin‘s notorious rejected Exorcist soundtrack), and then the eventual legal problems that Ray Parker Jr‘s now iconic song saw. So what was the idea for the potential third installment in the series that Dan Aykroyd outlined in the 1990s involving a ‘ManHellTown‘? Was the original Ecto-1 really supposed to be a different color and fly? What about the bigger world that was fleshed out by the NOW/Marvel UK comics, and the fabulous cartoon? How about that elephant in the room, an explanation to what the heck was the difference between The Real Ghostbusters cartoon series and the Filmation Company’s live-action 1970s Ghostbusters show and it’s subsequent 1986 cartoon reboot?(which ended up confusing the heck out of all of us kids at the time!) So prepare for an eerie, mysterious and terrifying journey as Dion and Blake try to do the Ghostheads some justice, as they throw on their jumpsuits and proton packs, jump into their converted ‘59 Cadillac Miller-Meteor, and embark on another edition of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers!

EXTRAS:

As discussed in the cast, take a look at some of the deleted scenes from the original film!

Have a look at the original full Ghostbusters television commercial with the cast from the 1984 film.

Here’s a great 1984 interview with Harold Ramis about the film.

Check out this vintage 1984 commercial for the Ghostbusters toys.

Watch this EXTREMELY RARE the behind-the-scenes video from the voice recording sessions of The Real Ghostbusters cartoon show featuring the legendary Frank Welker, alongside fellow voice acting great, Maurice LaMarche!

Take a look at the classic Ray Parker Jr. music video for his song Ghostbusters.

Have a look at London’s Waterloo Station and see what has invaded!

Here’s the picture Dion snapped of the new Ecto-1 parked in Manhattan.

These are Blake’s original 1984 Ghostbuster pinsHERE and HERE!

Lastly, here’s the progression of selfies Blake and Dion attempted to take wearing their pins, as Dion’s Yorkshire Terrier Babe wanted in on the action: HERE, HERE, and HERE!