Johnny closes out Shocktober with the film he deems scariest of all, based on childhood traumas. Andrew is ready for a Spielberg slice of fun. Will ET remain a terrifying figure for Adult Johnny? Will Halloween in lockdown be any fun whatsoever? What good is having an alien buddy if you can’t go around freaking folk out?
212 - DEATH OF A VLOGGER
On the time of FrightFest’s Halloween spooktacular, Johnny pays homage with another of 2019’s festival favourites, an indie Scottish found-footage-cum-shockumentary (shocking mockumentary) about a vlogger, a ghost, and a series of scares. Andrew spirals deeper into his own madness and commences naming HBO shows for 15 minutes, he’s doing fine, he’s doing fine, he’s...doing……….fiiiiiiiine.
BONUS - THE SOCIAL NETWORK COMMENTARY
Recorded on the 10th anniversary of the UK release, and celebrating Johnny’s 27th birthday, Andrew and Johnny dive into Fincher/Sorkin’s generation-defining masterpiece. There’s trivia games, fear of the fall of democracy, love of cinema and process, and lots of lockdown-re-entering japes in this special gift for all.
Sync up 5 seconds into the film, we begin the commentary at 0:19:02
211 - SINISTER
Johnny takes command of the episode and makes Andrew sit through a modern horror that he absolutely adores. Andrew prepares for the Ethan Hawke of it all, and finds ways to make horror less scary by turning Sinister into a Muppet movie. Johnny tries to remember his top 10 films of 2012, but there seems to be some cursed beast within the archives, unleashing its own sinister brand of evil. The bad guy of this film is named Mr. Boogie, by the way.
210 - REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA
It’s the cross pollination of musical month and Shocktober, as horror director Darren Lynn Bousman delves deep into the dingy world of operatic storytelling, and gets a pre-I’ll Kill Harvey Weinstein Paul Sorvino to perform, whilst Paris Hilton loses face and Anthony Head remains vastly underpaid for his services to cinema. Also, Andrew laments horror cinema and Johnny works through furloughed worker schemes, because that’s where we are mentally now!
209 - AN AMERICAN IN PARIS
The last week of Music Documentary Musical Month sees Andrew finally witness a Gene Kelly film he’s been meaning to watch for years, and Johnny witness the prowess of a dance god.
Also, some deep talk about trailer production for, I’d guess, nobody’s interest.
BACKSTAGE AT THE BLUEBIRD - 004 - WE LIVE IN TWO DIFFERENT WORLDS
In the aftermath of Juliette’s criminal activity, Andrew and Johnny recover by discussing the geography of the city of Nashville, problematic characters from the year 2012 and the ensuing political landscape that manifests in the mayoral race on a TV show from the start of the decade. This will be the last episode on the Are You Movie Mad? Podcast feed, we’re going solo from October.
208 - TOP HAT
Johnny loves The Green Mile but has been so obsessed with a scene in the film where Michael Clarke Duncan watches Top Hat in the cinema and cries. Now it’s time for Johnny to finally see the whole film, in context, and Andrew is dragged along despite his hatred of Fred and Ginger films. Will Top Hat be top of the hats, or some second thing that means bad?
BACKSTAGE AT THE BLUEBIRD - 003 - SOMEDAY YOU'LL CALL MY NAME
Things get a little crazy backstage this week, as Andrew and Johnny contemplate the amount of ‘Daddy’ talk in this week’s episode, forget names of characters, and continually engage in the ‘will they/won’t they’ of Rayna and Juliette’s upcoming tour prospects.
207 - THE LAST FIVE YEARS
What if Anna Kendrick was one of two leads in a romance drama musical? That runs 90 minutes? And came out in 2014?
Well, by rights it’d be a thing you’d at least have heard about, right? Thus, this is a film that 100% doesn’t exist. Yes it is another Johnny pick!
BACKSTAGE AT THE BLUEBIRD - 002 - I CAN'T HELP IT (I'M STILL IN LOVE WITH YOU)
Episode 2 of the Nashville TV Series re-watch show settles us in the world of the show, the dramatic nature of a music-themed statue, and of course more discussion about the use of the term ‘Daddy’. Stay for the coaster discussions and what it means to ‘songwrite’ with another person.
206 - THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
It’s another Andrew Lloyd Webber musical adaptation for another musical month, and this one sees the late Joel Schumacher cast Gerard ‘Punch The Weather’ Butler as the titular phantom. Andrew and Johnny come to it from two very different angles, but will their love of cinema bridge the vast gaps between them?
BACKSTAGE AT THE BLUEBIRD - 001 - PILOT
Johnny gets Nashville fever and brings Andrew to the ABC drama, all the country music pulls, Powers Boothe as Daddy and Chip Esten’s twin brother Charles dominate the discussion on the hit show’s pilot episode.
205 - BLUEBIRD
Musical/Music Documentary Month gets off to a singing start, as Johnny picks a doc about the Nashville institution that features the likes of Faith Hill, Charles (Chip) Esten, Taylor Swift, Garth Brooks and Kacey Musgraves. Andrew gets a hard indoctrination into modern country performance, and Johnny fondly recalls his travels to the landmark in the pre-pandemic world.
Finally, maybe, a new podcast is spawned from this episode? Keep your ears out!
BONUS - FRIGHTFEST DAY 4
Johnny wraps up FrightFest with a mysterious vampire co-host cracking wise throughout.
Hitting up the films The Swerve, Enhanced, AV: The Hunt and the short films Werewolf, The Motorist, Love Bite, The Gift, Wash, Fuel, Polvotron 500, Keith, Death Walks On Nitrate and The Afterlife Bureau.
BONUS - FRIGHTFEST DAY 3
Johnny lost the internet for a bit, but still he found the scares of FrightFest Day 3, including a whole pack of shorts.
We’re talking Clapboard Jungle, Hall, Aquaslash, Two Heads Creek and short films Bark, Jeff Drives You, Ouzo And The Blackcurrant, Breakfast, A Bit Of Fun, FLESH Control, Subject 3, Tarrare, Guest and The Beholder.
BONUS - FRIGHTFEST DAY 2
Hours after we recorded Day One we lost a modern cinema titan, and so tributes are paid to Chadwick Boseman, before heading into discussion on Day 2 of FrightFest online.
The films reviewed are The Columnist, The Horror Crowd, They’re Outside and Don’t Click.
BONUS - FRIGHTFEST DAY 1
Johnny catches Andrew and the audience up with FrightFest 2020’s digital event, including talk of pre-fest movie Sky Sharks, and Day One films I Am Lisa and 12 Hour Shift. Expect haunts and guffaws from two folk making it through a very bad time together. But… apart, socially.
204 - THE DRONE
It’s Frightfest weekend and Johnny wants to relive the glory of a former year, by choosing a film he himself gave 2 stars to on Letterboxd. Johnny insists The Drone is a good silly fun time, but will it warm the cold, broken heart of horror-un-liking Andrew?
203 - BLACK BOOK
Paul Verhoeven steps up to the podcast plate with a 2006 WWII thriller that seems to still fly under the radar. Will the isolation make the film stronger, or will 150 minute films seem like an impossible experience when time is meaningless?
