December 6

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, 1989

It’s that time of year again! J. Blake and Dion Baia are getting ready for the holidays at Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers and bringing down the decorations from the attic! They have on deck, an iconic film that has become an absolute cult classic, and one that turns 30 this year. So, this week the boys are taking on Chevy Chase‘s National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, from 1989!

Dion and Blake jump right in, exploring the history of National Lampoon Magazine, and how it went to presenting movies, and how a short story by a young writer named John Hughes morphed into an epic and iconic franchise. So come listen to the fellas put the Christmas lights up outside on the house, in this all new exciting, informative, and hilarious edition of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers!

And thank you to this week’s sponsor, Skillshare!

(*In the cast Dion mentioned that Chevy Chase left SNL after the First Season– in fact, he did perform in a handful of episodes of Season 2 before he jumped ship.)

Extras!

Check out the original short story by John Hughes that appeared in 1980 in Nation Lampoon called Christmas ’59, that was the basis for the 1989 feature film!

February 17

A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3: Dream Warriors, 1987

Welcome back to another edition of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers! This week Dion Baia and J. Blake are dipping into a horror classic, one of the most iconic and famous characters within the genre and what better place to start than right in the middle of the series… that’s right, the boys are talking Freddy Krueger and specifically the 30th anniversary of A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3: Dream Warriors, from 1987.

A Nightmare on Elm St Part 3: Dream Warriors

That’s right, Blake and Dion start smack in the middle of the franchise, and after touching on the mysterious world that exists for children inside department store circular-coat racks, they jump right into the Elm Street lore; utilizing a largely forgotten Tobe Hooper directed episode of the 1988 series Freddy’s Nightmares, A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Series which delves deep into Freddy’s backstory, something that was still really unexplored up until that time. They jump into Dream Warriors, discussing the Wes Craven‘s involvement and the original script he submitted, then deemed too dark and subsequently changed due to the subject matter. Dion and Blake get into the controversial topics that are presented in the film, which were still very taboo to cover in the 1980s, topics like depression, self-harm and teen suicide. So, how was this installment as a sequel; did it accomplish what it needed and set out to do? As an effects-heavy film, how do these practical FX hold up nowadays? How does this stack up in relation to the other A Nightmare on Elm Street movies? And what’s Dion‘s funny story about meeting actor Robert Englund back in 2009 and the autograph he asked for? Well all these intriguing and mind-blowing questions get answered, so grab some coffee or a Red Bull, because whatever you do, you don’t want to fall asleep during this week’s all new episode of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers!

Extras!

As discussed in the podcast, check out this rare episode of Freddy’s Nightmares, A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Series, that explores the child murder Freddy Krueger’s nefarious history in coming the demonic villain we know him as today.

Here are both the original Wes Craven script deemed too dark by the studio, and the one that was ultimately filmed.

Check the Dokken music video for their song Dream Warriors, for the 3rd Elm Street film.

Have a look at the original trailer for A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3: Dream Warriors.

Take a look HERE and HERE at the photos of the unused SFXs of Freddy’s head on the nurse’s body.

As discussed in the podcast, check out J. Blake‘s appearance on the WrongReel Podcast, talking about the great Buster Keaton.

Here is the photo of Dion meeting Robert Englund in 2009.

Also brought up in the cast, here is the fascinating book The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, by Malcolm Gladwell.

Lastly, also talked about, check out the amazing PBS American Experience documentary entitled The Lobotomist, about neurologist Walter J. Freeman and his once exulted way of dealing with our mentally ill in this country, by way of transorbital lobotomies.

 

June 5

Weekend at Bernies, 1989

The guys kick-off the summer season with a cult classic, a ‘must’ for all those summer comedy fans, Weekend at Bernie’s from 1989!

Weekend at Bernie's

Dion and J. Blake have their hands full this time around! They reminisce on the long-forgotten ‘beach comedy’ genre and explore their favorite entries into this ’80’s phenomenon. Why don’t we see films like this anymore? Could this style of movie even be done nowadays? And speaking of phenomenons, the boys also get into the great time period when New York City based comedies would satirize the crime-ridden Big Apple of the ’70’s and ’80’s, an element which now may seem forgotten by some but very nostalgic for thoses generations who lived through it. And is the director, Ted Kotcheff, who also helmed (Rambo) First Blood, actually of one the most versatile directors as Blake purports? Well come on down and have a listen to a brand new, summer extravaganza, on this installment of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers!

Have a look at veteran actor Terry Kiser on The Actor’s Arena, explaining a lesson from his teacher, legend Lee Strasberg‘s emotional recall exercise, for crying on cue.

Check out Rom/Com author Jenny Colgan‘s hit book, Looking For Andrew McCarthy!

And here’s our very own J. Blake, hanging out with Terry Kiser, aka Bernie Lomax!

November 26

Planes, Trains and Automobiles, 1987

In this week’s Thanksgiving edition of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers, Dion Baia & J. Blake pick the iconic comedy classic Planes Trains and Automobiles, released on Thanksgiving Eve, 1987.

Planes_trains_and_automobiles

The boys reminisce about their memories connected with the film, discuss the legendary careers and lasting legacies of writer/producer/director John Hughes and actor John Candy, and the imprint the film made on our culture. They also get into the other comedy films of the 1980’s, and the popular comedy genre films that were big at the time. So please come have a listen to one of the rare Thanksgiving Holiday films, and a comedic classic!

(Check out the only available deleted scene from the film, where Del O. Griffith waxes about various Airline food.)

(Have a look at the various influences Planes, Trains and Automobiles have had on the TV show Family Guy)

*Wagon’s East was in fact the last film John Candy was making in Mexico when he passed away; the forgettable 2010 film Due Date was the comedy released that was compared and questioned as a remake to this 1987 classic.

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