So I did my first podcast! It went well I thought, even if I completely botched my pitch/description for Bewitched, one of my favorite HK movies ever. I’m so ashamed of myself.
Anyway, if you couldn’t tell from the post title, the show is all about movies from our birth years. I was born in 1981, so I was tasked with coming up with my Top Five Favorites from that year. Everyone else on the show (Jay Cluitt, Dan Heaton, Joel Burman, & Bubbawheat) was born in a different year, too, so there’s a whole lot of movies from the ’70s and ’80s briefly discussed.
If you want to listen to the show, the LAMBcast can be found on iTunes if you search for LAMBcast. Or if you feel like listening to it right here, right now, then click this link and away you’ll go into a magical land of mystery! Or not. Click the link and find out!
And as always, I love feedback, so if you listen to the show let me know what you think! And feel free to tell me I’ve got it all wrong about 1981 or share your thoughts on your Top Five from Your Birth Year, as well!
Thanks for listening!
Well, we conveniently share birth years, so I guess I can spew out my own top five for 1981. We have a few similarities going on here.
5:Evil Dead
4:Bremen 4
3:Adieu Galaxy Express 999
2:Raiders of the Lost Ark
1:Excalibur
A few caveats to mention, though. I haven’t seen Raiders or Evil Dead since high school, so my memories are really blurry, and even worse, thoroughly mixed with the other films in their respective trilogies. This makes it pretty awkward to adequately judge them in any way.
I know you’ll have something to say about putting Evil Dead so low, but that’s really just my lack of love for horror showing through, and my love of epic fantasy with regards to Excalibur taking the number one spot.
I am also very glad I managed to see Bremen and Adieu not so long ago, since that drastically increased my options for the top five. I’ve seen very few films from 1981. In fact, I have only seen six. The one film that I shoved off the list is Heavy Metal, and lets face it, it would have been a tragedy if I had been forced to put that in the top five list.
Hope you enjoyed your fist foray into the podcast world. Maybe you’ll jump back in for their horror stuff for October?
Ah man, you haven’t seen Raiders since high school? That’s a long time! Definitely watch it again if you have time. It’s soooooo good. And fun. I’m actually surprised Evil Dead is even on your list, given that lack of horror love you have (Heathen!). I guess only having seen 6 movies puts it into perspective, though. And if I may suggest a few 1981 films: An American Werewolf in London, Escape from New York, The Road Warrior, Time Bandits, Dragonslayer (although I haven’t seen this one since I was a little kid).
I liked Excalibur a lot when I saw it. Only saw it the one time, roughly 10 or so years ago. I should definitely re-watch it.
Haven’t seen Heavy Metal, but I was always curious about it. Doesn’t sound like you like it much, though.
I did enjoy my first toe-dip into podcasting, but I know I can do better. I’ll get my chance again this Sunday when I record a Filmwhys on the 80s/90s Batman movies! I would love to do some horror podcasts, but the LAMB ones seem all filled up already. I do have my name in for one as a backup, and I’m definitely doing a Hobbit trilogy show in Dec.
Ah, some films to keep in mind, then! And anything called Dragonslayer sounds great to my fantasy loving side.
Heavy Metal is… weird. And at least mildly embarrassing. I can’t really say it’s a bad movie, but high quality is not what you’re going to find. It’s really just an animated exploitation flick with a lot of attitude. It’s all about getting laid, getting high, and getting killed in as explicit ways as possible. I also recall it having some pretty shoddy production values.
It does have a good supply of creativity, though, with some flat out insane stuff going on. The opening credits have an astronaut hop out of a space shuttle and go through reentry in a ’50’s? ’60’s? red Chevy? convertible (can’t really remember the details there), all while blaring Sammy Hagan’s Heavy Metal, because what else could you possibly use as a theme song for that movie. That scene permanently cemented that song in my brain as pure awesome.
But an awkward plot, clunky animation, and overly sex-adled focus keep it from being anything I would put on a top five list. Top five guilty pleasures? Possibly. But top five best films of the year? Not so much. I’m also not sure just how creeped out I should be when the ten-year-old girl spontaneously transforms into a buxom half-naked femme fatale for no reason. Like I said, it’s… weird.
You might like it, though. It’s got lots of that B-movie charm you love so much. Am I being a little too snobby with it? Maybe. It, too is a film I haven’t seen in over a decade, and I’m not sure I ever saw it all the way through in one sitting.
I’m looking forward to seeing (er, hearing) your stuff on Batman, and especially that one on The Hobbit! Will that be before or after the third film is out? I’m assuming after, so you can talk about it.
Hahaha, all I remember about Dragonslayer is this HUGE dragon animatronic that the dude fights (and presumably slays). I was maybe five or six, and I thought it was one of the coolest movies I’d ever seen. I really want to check it out these days.
Heavy Metal definitely sounds like something I have to see at some point. I don’t know that I’ll like it, but it does sound like it has a lot of weird, fun elements.
Yes, the Hobbit podcast will be on all three of them so it’ll most likely be full of spoilers. I won’t be surprised if I’m the only person who likes them, as it seems like whenever I see a review or something it’s always negative. There will also be another podcast somewhere in Oct with Bubbawheat, but we haven’t nailed that down yet. I’m looking forward to that as I think I’ll be more myself in a one-on-one setting.
Nice job on the podcast. It was fun to talk about so many different movies.
Thanks, Dan! It was definitely fun and I look forward to doing it again! It was surreal for me to listen to all of your voices which I’ve heard many times before, but also be able to talk and interact. I’m sure that will fade with time.