February 26

The Breakfast Club, 1985

The fellas are back yet again for an all new edition of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers! Dion Baia and J. Blake are taking on a movie that, on the outset, looks to be your typical teen-angst drama, depicting the day-to-day trials and tribulations of young adults. But actually, it has layered within some pretty smart and frank commentary about adolescent ascension to adulthood and all the insecurities and pressure that accompany that transition. We are of course talking about the quintessential 1980’s teen film, The Breakfast Club, from 1985 written and directed by the great John Hughes.

breakfast club

After the boys settle in and reminisce about “the very serious episode” of some of their favorite childhood shows and about their mutual hobby of making some very serious home movies with their friends while growing up, they segue into all things Brat Pack and John Hughes. Playing the ‘what if’ game that Blake and Dion so enjoy doing on the podcast, who were originally slated to play the principles and who actually switched roles to accommodate Hughes? Was his first cut really over two and a half hours? And did Hughes also originally intend for this film to be the first in a series that would chronicle the lives of these characters every ten or so years? And did Dion actually sympathize with Paul Gleason‘s character, high school administrator and teenage nemesis Dick Vernon? All these tantalizing questions will be answered in this all new, radical and bodacious installment of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers!
Extras:
Have a look at the original theatrical trailer, which shows an omitted scene.
Check out these deleted scenes from the film!
Here’s a great Q&A with the cast from the 25th Anniversary showing of The Breakfast Club.
Take a look at the Simple Minds‘ music video for Don’t You (Forget about Me)
Here’s a look at the 1999 music video for the A*Teens cover of Dancing Queen, which was made as a tribute to The
Breakfast Club, and has Paul Gleason reprising his role as Dick Vernon!
September 25

Batman, 1989

This week is a celebration here at Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers because we’ve turned ONE year old!

To usher in the monumental anniversary, J. Blake and Dion Baia have recorded a podcast that could be their most EPIC yet, presenting a film that played a huge role in their upbringing and practically revolutionized Hollywood moviemaking and marketing in the late 20th century; basically the 1977 Star Wars of their generation. If you haven’t guessed it already, we are speaking about 1989’s Batman, directed by Tim Burton.

batman

Dion and Blake start off by reflecting on turning a year old, and the humbling experience it has been to hear from the fans they’ve gained who share the same love for movies as they do. The fellas chat about being part of a nostalgic generation, and attempt to set-up what it was like for them to be 10 year-olds living in a pre-Batman era and then live through that unbelievable summer of 1989, a perfect storm which has been dubbed in the annuls of history as Batmania.

Then they get into all things Batman: The lads go back and setup the history of comic books, from dime-store novels, pulp magazines to comic strips, and detail the elements in the culture that helped Bob Kane and Bill Finger create the Dark Knight. The boys proceed to go through the various eras of Batman, from the post WWII 50’s era Fredric Wertham crusade to clean up comics, to the ‘Pop1966 show that defined an era, to the ’70’s and ’80’s push to bring the character back to his roots. Once they get to the main course, Tim Burton’s 1989 tour de force, they track the 10-year journey of getting the film made, the various casting challenges posed (with Dion and Blake playing the BIGGEST version of their ‘What If ? Game EVER), and even tackle the argument of who was a better JokerJack Nicholson or Heath Ledger? Not to mention the 26 year-old surprise that could ultimately send them both to the HOSPITAL to get their stomach’s pumped!

Yes, as epic as this description is, it barely scratches the surface of this MEGA podcast to commemorate Saturday Night Movie Sleepover‘s one year anniversary. Go ahead and have a spin today!

EXTRAS:

(As of this recording, some great news has been released about Bill Finger finally receiving the Batman credit he deserves!)

(Straight out of the Saturday Night Movie Sleepover’s Archive, here is an original sketch by none other than Bob Kane himself!)

(As mentioned in the podcast, another straight out of the SNMS’s Archive is an ultra-rare, one of a kind original piece of art done by the Hanna Barbara legend Bob Singer of Batman and Robin with Scooby and Shaggy.

(To READ MORE on artist Bob Singer and his role in developing Hanna Barbara’s cartoon library, please read this EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW the boys did for Podwits.com) 

(Check out the TRAILER that started it all, released Christmas of 1988 to build excitement for the June 23rd 1989 premiere)

(Have a look at various 1989 commercials to promote all things Batman, including toys, Nintendo games, the *cereal*, Michael Gough as Alfred in a Diet Coke commercial, and many more! Wow it brings back memories!!)

(Here’s an VERY RARE Warner Bros. Industrial Short [courtesy of 1989Batman.com] part of the 1988 press kit, which some say was made to show the stockholders how the tone and look of the film would be, which was shot while the project was still in preproduction, and has in-depth interviews with Production Designer Anton Furst, Director Tim Burton, SFX man John Evans, among many others.)

(For all everything else related to the 1989 Burton film among other things, check out 1989Batman.com)

(HERE and HERE are some photo’s of the actual cereal box the boys opened on set and tried during the recording of their Batman 1989 podcast.)

(As referenced to in the podcast, have a gander at the 2011 Podwits article Dion did arguing Tim Burton‘s Batman films over Christopher Nolan‘s trilogy. )

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