The Transformers – Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers

Cody Carpenter – SNMS Presents: Movie Lovers

We are back with the 2nd installment of our new feature called MOVIE LOVERS and this week Blake sits down with the son of sleepover movie royalty, (John Carpenter and Adrienne Barbeau‘s son) Cody Carpenter! The two discuss Cody’s new album ALTERNATE UNIVERSE, recording & touring with his dad and his love of movies. They reminisce about a few sleepover classics that have been featured on the regular SNMS podcast, as well as the work of animator/director Ralph Bakshi. They chat about the music of composer Vince Dicola and the Italian progressive rock band Goblin and Cody patiently sits through & answers a barrage of questions about his father…questions that did uncover some (arguably) revealing details about the patron-saint of sleepover movies, John Carpenter.

Which mid-eighties kids movie is “more than a movie” to Cody Carpenter? Who was Cody paying homage to when he composed the score to his father’s Masters of Horror episode Cigarette Burns? What moment did Blake & Cody (then strangers) share in Washington D.C.? What is Cody’s favorite ‘Carpenter film?’ Did Adrienne Barbeau like to ‘tape’ things off of TV? Did John Carpenter take his son to see the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Coming Out of Their Shells tour? Which guilty pleasure movie gets screened in the Carpenter household every time it is on TV? You will find the answers to these questions, and so many more, on this all new and exciting installment of SNMS PRESENTS: MOVIE LOVERS!

Follow Cody Carpenter on Twitter @ludium.

You can download Cody’s new album, Alternate Universe on iTunes, Amazon and at ludrium.bandcamp.com.

Check out an awesome video of Cody playing a track from the film Christine, with his dad John Carpenter, live in concert by CLICKING HERE.

Check out the official music video for the track “Distant Dream” from the album Lost Themes II, by CLICKING HERE.

Check out the official music video for the 2016 re-recording of theme to Escape from New York, by CLICKING HERE.

Check out the classic Coupe De Ville’s music video for the Big Trouble in Little China theme song, by CLICKING HERE.

Check out the trailer for Ralph Bakshi’s Wizards, by CLICKING HERE.

Follow Blake & his book Scored to Death on Twitter @ScoredtoDeath.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Category: Fantasy, Film, Interview, Movie Lovers, Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers Exclusive | 4 Comments

April 22

Smokey and the Bandit, 1977

Hey all you gear-jammers, welcome back to another exciting and hilarious episode of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers! This week J. Blake and Dion Baia are taking a trip down South and covering a film that endeared a generation to Trans Ams, CB Radios, Trucking, and Coors Beers. We’re of course talking about the comedic essential, the 2nd film behind Star Wars in 1977, the original Smokey and the Bandit, starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jerry Reed, Paul Williams and Jackie Gleason.

The fellas go in depth with this beloved classic, unpacking for the listener the era this movie was released within, and set up the context for this all-star cast coming together to appear in stuntman Hal Needham‘s directorial debut film. Dion an Blake clear the air and actually spell out the details about why Coors Beer at the time wasn’t sold East of the Mississippi, and the reasons why Coors had such a short shelf life (a HUGE piece of this plot). The boys get into the nuts and bolts of the 70’s CB craze, even breaking down the various vehicles used in the movie for all those motorheads out there. How was Burt Reynolds‘ involvement integral in turning this into an A-list movie? How much of Jackie Gleason‘s dialogue was adlibbed? And what seen was entirely his idea? Why did the studio not want Sally Field? How cool is it to have singer/song writers Jerry Reed and Paul Williams in the same film together? And how does the remastering of these older film’s soundtracks into 5.1, sometimes actually muck up the original film’s sound? Well sit back and stretch out those legs because the boys are gonna put that hammer to the floor and give ’em hell, in this all new edition of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers!

EXTRAS:

For further reading on Jackie Gleason‘s forgotten but still legendary foray into music, check out this informative article penned by SNMS’ own Dion Baia, for Podwits.com

Have a look at Hal Needham talking about directing, Smokey and the Bandit.

Here’s the January 2016 Barrett-Jackson auction of the 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am from Smokey and the Bandit.

Check out Burt Reynolds explaining the backstory for the Trans Am that sold at the 2016 Barrett-Jackson Auction.

Take a look at this great 2015 video of the then and now locations for Smokey and the Bandit.

Have a gander at this brand new interview with Burt Reynolds and director Jesse Moss, whose 2016 film The Bandit documents the friendship between Reynolds and stuntman and director Hal Needham, and their journey to make Smokey and the Bandit!

Here’s episode three of television’s American Trucker, entitled Bandit and the Snowman, where the hosts retrace the 1,330 mile bootleg run from Atlanta to Texarkana and back in a replica of the movie’s star truck.

Have a look at this episode of GearZ, where they showcase and drive a 1977 Bandit Pontiac Trans Am Burt Reynolds Edition car.

Watch this short little featurette called Snowman, What’s Your 20?, a CB tutorial for the terms used in the film.

And lastly, but certainly not least, here is a long-lost and just discovered ORIGINAL teaser trailer for Smokey and the Bandit 3, whose original concept and way it was shot (and then scrapped), was having Jackie Gleason in the roles of both Sheriff Buford T. Justice AND The Bandit. Yep… that’s what we said. AND he’s an ultra rare, long-lost on-set photo of Gleason, as The Bandit.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Category: Action, Adventure, Classic, Comedy | LEAVE A COMMENT

January 30

G.I.Joe the Movie, 1987

Straight out of Hasbro, toy’s with attitude, Dion Baia and J.Blake are back for a spontaneous Part 2 of their momentous Podcast to ring in the 2015 New Year, deciding to take on the supremely unrated G.I.Joe the Movie, from 1987.

G_I_-Joe-The-Movie-Poster-1987

Following up Part 1 where they went head to head with the super-iconic 1986 favorite Transformers the Movie, J. Blake and Dion flip the record over and check out side B of that Marvel/Hasbro late-80’s film mash-up, screening yet another childhood classic. They dissect and analyze, while peppering historical context and lightly salt with some personal reflections regarding the film and the era it was released. Had Joe been released prior to Transformers, would Optimus Prime still have died? What would that have said then about Duke’s fate? While bringing up a third and largely unknown venture that was released and hence sealed the fate for the now defunct Sunbow Animation Studios, Dion learns for the first time on tape exactly what “Bronies” are and how the heck they relate to Autobots or Cobra. And how did this new film along with Transformers the Movie ultimately nix a theatrical release for G.I.Joe a year later? Well grab your notebooks, VCRs, and your hats because the boys are chatting up another fun one for this new edition of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers!

Here’s an ultra rare VHS promo for G.I.Joe the Movie!

Check out a chance to win your very own Sgt. Slaughter figure! (Full disclosure, offer expires January 31st, 1987)

And do you remember all your friends having the ‘The Refrigator’ Perry toy except you?!

Finally, here is the complete, super-rare vintage 1980’s G.I.Joe commercials for the Marvel Comic books, complete with original animation done for selling the books!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Category: Action, Adventure, Animation, Childrens, Comic Books, Martial Arts, Marvel, Television, toys, Uncategorized | Comments Off

January 16

Transformers the Movie, 1986

Dion and J. Blake usher in 2015 with an absolute cult-classic from their childhood, the 1986 feature film Transformers the Movie.

transformers the movie 1987

This fact-filled podcast sizes up the 1986 adaptation of a beloved daily TV show’s journey from the small to the silver screen, taking on the HUGE elephant in the room- the ramifications on the toy industry, children’s psyches, and future cartoon properties regarding the hugely controversial death of Optimus Prime. What the heck were the Execs thinking? Also the boys attempt to fill in some plot holes and see if the film still holds up; finally dispel some of the myths that had been linked to the film like the Orson Welles controversy, this being his last theatrical performance; and compare it on a whole to the recent Michael Bay franchise reboot. Well, if you were a fan of Transformers or cartoons like G.I.Joe in your childhood or you still geek out on the timeless Cybertonions galactic battles, you’ll love the 2015 Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers debut.

(Have a read of a great recent interview with the scriptwriter Ron Friedman)

(Check out another great interview with writer and story editor Flint Dille)

(Here are the legendary and hilarious outtakes of Orson Welles ripping producers, writers, and engineers alike in a VoiceOver session for a British Frozen Peas Commercial)

(Finally, check out the late great actor Chris Latta [aka Chris Collin in this clip] who voiced Starscream, Gung-Ho and Cobra Commander among others, doing his passion, stand up comedy.)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Category: Adventure, Animation, Fantasy, Marvel, Sci Fi, Television, Uncategorized | Comments Off