Join two-time Emmy Award winner Javier Grillo-Marxuach (writer-producer of Lost, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, The Witcher and creator of The Middleman) and Paul Alvarado-Dykstra (co-founder of Fantastic Fest, the leading genre film festival in the US) as they travel back in time to revisit the summer movies that shaped their generation: movie by movie, weekend by weekend, and year by year. Starting with the legendary summer of 1982, movie experts Javi and Paul - aided and abetted by the long-suffering Producer Brad - take you on an unprecedented audio adventure from Memorial Day through Labor Day weekends, spanning iconic blockbusters and obscure curiosities that some may be surprised to learn even exist. Relive the joy of seeing these amazing movies with your pals on opening night as these longtime friends rewatch their childhood favorites and discuss both what it was like to see them in their teenage years, and how their perceptions have changed over the decades. It's a time machine, it's a nostalgia trip, it's a witty and incisive glance at a world of movies and memory: it's Multiplex Overthruster!
Multiplex Overthruster is produced by Bradley Dumont, who co-created the series with co-hosts Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Paul Alvarado-Dykstra. Logo and artwork is by acclaimed Marvel and DC Comics artist Afua Richardson. Theme music is by Mike McGuill / Pond5. Additional voice work by Russell Bentley The series is available on Apple Podcasts and most other major podcast platforms, as well as multiplexoverthruster.com and @mpotpod on social media.
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Join two-time Emmy Award winner Javier Grillo-Marxuach (writer-producer of Lost, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, The Witcher and creator of The Middleman) and Paul Alvarado-Dykstra (co-founder of Fantastic Fest, the leading genre film festival in the US) as they travel back in time to revisit the summer movies that shaped their generation: movie by movie, weekend by weekend, and year by year. Starting with the legendary summer of 1982, movie experts Javi and Paul - aided and abetted by the long-suffering Producer Brad - take you on an unprecedented audio adventure from Memorial Day through Labor Day weekends, spanning iconic blockbusters and obscure curiosities that some may be surprised to learn even exist. Relive the joy of seeing these amazing movies with your pals on opening night as these longtime friends rewatch their childhood favorites and discuss both what it was like to see them in their teenage years, and how their perceptions have changed over the decades. It's a time machine, it's a nostalgia trip, it's a witty and incisive glance at a world of movies and memory: it's Multiplex Overthruster!
Multiplex Overthruster is produced by Bradley Dumont, who co-created the series with co-hosts Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Paul Alvarado-Dykstra. Logo and artwork is by acclaimed Marvel and DC Comics artist Afua Richardson. Theme music is by Mike McGuill / Pond5. Additional voice work by Russell Bentley The series is available on Apple Podcasts and most other major podcast platforms, as well as multiplexoverthruster.com and @mpotpod on social media.
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Okay you hosers, so welcome to our podcast. So today we’re gonna chug a couple cold ones, put on our tuques and watch as comedy titans Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas take their beloved characters from television and comedy albums to the big screen in The Adventures of Bob and Doug McKenzie: Strange Brew! While it would have been perfectly acceptable for them to do their small screen schtick on the big screen and call it a movie, this ambitious duo instead decided to cast themselves as Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern in a brewski-themed remake of… Hamlet? Join Paul, Javier, and the ever sober Producer Brad as they brave the dark corridors of the haunted Elsinore Brewery, where the cyber-ghost of a murdered patriarch cries out for justice from a haunted coin-op video game console as the evil Brewmeister Smith - played by Ingmar Bergman regular Max Von Sydow in prosthetic buck teeth - plots to take over the world using mind-control beer and hockey-playing stormtroopers! Can our hapless duo stop this evil plot? All we can say is that any movie that features a climactic duel between Ming The Merciless and Gold Leader from Star Wars is a beauty way to go, eh!
Show Notes:
August 26, 1983 Weekend Box Office
Strange Brew Movie Box Office Results
Strange Brew AFI Catalog Entry
CBC Oral History of Kids in the Hall's "Headcrusher"
Globe and Mail "Best Canadian Comedies"
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Cavemen. Dinosaurs. Lasers. Robots. A mysterious medallion. A talking box. Choice meats! And oh that theme song. This barely begins to dip into the brain-bending fountain of wonders that is YOR, THE HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE. Javi, Paul and - intrepidly - Producer Brad have ventured to Yor’s World and returned forever changed by this Italian adaptation of an Argentinian graphic novel that was distilled from a four-hour television mini-series, and is criminally unavailable on any streaming service or for digital rental or purchase. But they would not be denied (thank you Internet Archive), even though it required Javi to heed the film’s counsel (“We will need a lot more hemp before we’re through.”), while Paul Plot was sent into a fugue state. Because while we’re all well-versed in spaghetti Westerns, this is a spaghetti fantasy that takes a stunning turn into spaghetti sci-fi, and somehow blurs the lines between bad and great, and stupid and genius — rendering this week’s episode an absolute fever dream. There is simply no way you can prepare yourself… for YOR!!!
Show Notes:
Yor, the Hunter from the Future (1983) [Internet Archive]
Yor's World (Theme Song) on iTunes and Apple Music
1983 Box Office - Box Office Mojo
August 19, 1983 Weekend Box Office
Archived Antonio Margheriti bio
Archived interview with Edoardo Margheriti, Antonio's son.
Fanbasepress article speculating on Antonio Margheriti connection to 2001: A Space Odyssey
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Behold the birth of the cinematic icon that is Nicolas Cage. Bask in the glory of his historic first on-screen freak-out. Witness his wondrous weirdness expertly unleashed by director Martha Coolidge, who made the most of a tiny budget, tight schedule, and tepid script to deliver a (sub-)cultural landmark by way of the Sherman Oaks Galleria. This week, Javi, Paul - and for sure, like totally, Producer Brad - pop their pastel polo collars as they venture valiantly into the strange suburban vortex of vapidity that is VALLEY GIRL. Demure Julie (Deborah Foreman) falls for pseudo-punk Randy (Cage) from the scary side of the Hollywood Hills, but when her high school social circle disdainly disapproves, she’s torn between lofty love and crushing conformity. Will peer pressure prune her passion? Or will she stop the world and melt with Randy a million miles away on Electric Avenue? Whether you’re in the mood for the valley or not, our hosts have got the vibe, even if their brains are bad news from that creepy clown doll. Have a nice flight!
Show Notes:
Valley Girl Weekend Box Office, April 29, 1993
Valley Girl Box Office, August 12, 1983
Valley Girl Box Office Results
AFI Catalog entry for Valley Girl
Roger Ebert review of Valley Girl
AFI Movie Club segment on Valley Girl with DP Frederick Elmes
NYT 2020 article on Valley Girl quoting Martha Coolidge exploiting nudity requirement loopholes.
Indie Wire article with quotes from Nicholas Cage praising Martha Coolidge.
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Put on your Ray-Bans, rev up the Porsche, and crank up the Tangerine Dream! It’s time for the movie that made Tom Cruise a star, which somehow Javi and Paul had never seen! Listen as they, with the help of ever-patient Producer Brad, get past their preconceived notions and are rewarded with a teen sex comedy that has more in common with Blue Velvet than Porky’s. Suburban high school senior Joel (Cruise), afflicted with anxiety about getting into Princeton and left home alone by his materialistic parents, is prodded by devil-on-his-shoulder pal Miles (Curtis Armstrong) down the path to some Risky Business in the form of call girl Lana (Rebecca De Mornay), who turns Joel’s home into a brothel. Is it a swooning love letter to capitalism, or subversive indictment of it, or both? Javi and Paul marvel and muse at this unexpectedly layered, nuanced, and finely crafted film rife with symbolism, sex positivity, delightful dream sequences, awesome needle drops, surprisingly positive trans representation, a crystal egg, and a young Joe Pantoliano as Guido the Killer Pimp. There is no substitute!
Show Notes:
August 5-7, 1983, Weekend Box Office
Risky Business Box Office Results
Hollywood Reporter excerpts from Curtis Armstrong's 2017 memoir, Revenge of the Nerd.
Top 100 Stars in Leading roles at the Domestic Box Office
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What is Krull? Who is Krull? Where is Krull? Why is Krull? These are all time-honored questions asked by no one - except those of us who have experienced the fantasy sci-fi would-be saga that is Krull. Join Paul, Javi, and the stalwart Producer Brad as they journey through space (they think) and time (maybe?) to experience the (it thinks) epic battle between a princess, her prince, and their rag-tag misfit army of actors who would go on to do far better work (Liam Neeson? What are you doing here?) against an intergalactic dictator (we guess) and his army of poorly-armed, partially-ambulatory stormtroopers (kinda). Thrill to the modest swordplay, marvel at the adequate production design, and let your spirit rise to the strains of one of James Horner’s minor soundtracks! It’s a deep (ish) dive into one of the lost (not really) classics (now we’re being generous) of the summer of ’83, so buckle your swash and get ready, because once you go Krull, you come back… uh, null?
Show Notes:
July 29,1983 Weekend Box Office
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Does it get any more ’80s than Flashdance? Luminous Jennifer Beals is a welder by day who dances at a bar by night, but must conquer imposter syndrome to achieve her ballerina dreams. It’s sort of a music video-esque Disney musical crossed with an inspirational sports drama (a la Rocky or Rudy), yet somehow Javi and Paul had never seen it, much to Producer Brad’s amusement. Join them in a world made of steel, made of stone (aka Pittsburgh) as they bask in the glory of Giorgio Morodor’s memorable music, wrestle with the film’s male-gaze-fantasy-meets-aspirational-female-empowerment dichotomy, and get pleasantly sucker-punched by this surprisingly sweet fairy tale about having faith in oneself (and dancing like you’ve never danced before). And did we mention it’s from the future director of Fatal Attraction, future screenwriter of Basic Instinct (and Showgirls), and action impresario Jerry Bruckheimer? (And is that Cynthia Rhodes playing her same character from Staying Alive?) Break out your leg warmers, Diet Pepsi and torn sweatshirt — it’s time to take your passion and make it happen!
Show Notes:
April 15, 1983 Weekend Box Office
July 22, 1983 Weekend Box Office
As mentioned by Paul, Angela Trimbur Dance classes!
USA Today Article Commemorating the 35th Anniversary of Flashdance
NYT Article on the dismissal of class action lawsuit over Polish jokes in Flashdance.
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John Travolta returns as sweaty strutting disco stud Tony Manero in this misguided sequel to Saturday Night Fever co-written and directed by… Sylvester Stallone? Tony makes a brazen leap from Brooklyn to Bizarro World Broadway (and from the ’70s to the ’80s) but soon finds himself not in a love triangle, but a love pentagon as he vies for the lead role in a dizzyingly demented Dante-meets-disco dance revue provocatively titled Satan’s Alley (not to be confused with Tropic Thunder’s monks-in-forbidden-love fake film). Javi, Paul and - divinely - Producer Brad embark on their most chaotic episode yet as they are relentlessly pummeled with headbands, leotards, lens flares, slow-mo, possible vampires, and the very apotheosis of The Frank Factor as director Stallone tries to turn this film into a career catapult for his brother to outshine the Bee Gees (who apparently didn’t appreciate this). In the immortal words of the film, “It’s a journey through hell that ends in an ascent to heaven. You might think it’s simple, but if it’s gonna work you gotta bust your asses!” And we did, so you don’t have to. Let’s strut!
Show Notes:
As Paul mentioned, Dennon and Sayhber, the choreographers for Staying Alive, offer classes. Here's the link to their site where you can sign up for dance classes.
We can't believe we forgot to discuss the trailer for Satan's Alley, the fake movie from the movie Tropic Thunder! You can watch the trailer here.
July 15, 1983 Weekend Box Office
Staying Alive Box Office Results
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You’ll believe a man can sigh as Supergeeks Javi, Paul and - indestructibly - Producer Brad discover the third time’s not the charm with Superman III, though it does offer one unforgettable high-concept scene (and a truly funny setup and payoff). Our hosts boldly bend format this episode by picking three scenes each to examine (one of which may or may not involve bowling vandalism via Super-sneeze) as they struggle to maintain their sanity against the artificial Kryptonite of this threequel’s seemingly never-ending inanities. In stark contrast to the wonders that Rocky III rewarded us with by adding iconic adversary Mr. T (as recounted in our very first episode!), here we get Superman vs. Supercomputer (that’s an Atari) as programming prodigy Richard Pryor is extorted into villainy by evil tycoon Robert Vaughn. Despite their combined talents (and a psychic nutritionist stand-in for Miss Teschmacher), they are no Lex Luthor, just as director Richard Lester is no Richard Donner (and composer Ken Thorne is no John Williams). Still, while Margot Kidder’s Lois Lane is conspicuously sidelined for most of the film, we’re treated to Annette O’Toole’s lovely Lana Lang, and Christopher Reeve gets to play a creepy, scuzzy new character (Man of Heel?). You will not believe a man can ski off a skyscraper and survive, but you will enjoy this episode full of love for Superman and our hosts’ entertaining exasperation at this misguided misfire.
July 8, 1983 Weekend Box Office
Superman III Box Office Results
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When Paul, Javi, and the audacious Producer Brad see a great movie, the result is a podcast full of mirthful entertainment… but when it’s a movie that crashes and burns, the result is UNMITIGATED SNARK GREATNESS. What happens when Burt Reynolds and Hal Needham, the star and director of the hit films “Smokey and the Bandit” and “Cannonball Run”, reunite for a putative romantic comedy about a deviant NASCAR driver and a church lady turned fried chicken chain ad exec? Our horrified hosts weave a wonderment of wordplay, yet still somehow manage to run out words for “atrocity.” Loni Anderson, Jim Nabors, Ned Beatty, Parker Stevenson and Bubba Smith were all somehow forced to do time in this carceral excruciation of a film - and the Multiplex Overthruster crew has nothing but elucidating empathy as they perform a much-needed autopsy of one of the low points of the Summer of ’83: “Stroker Ace”! Trust us, this episode is worth it for its odes to Cassandra Peterson’s captivating cameo and how an AVOD ad break can offer an unexpected oasis of comfort — plus don’t miss a startling post-credit bonus revelation!
July 1, 1983 Weekend Box Office
Superman III Box Office Results
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What happens when screen legends Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche play obscenely wealthy commodities brokers who wager on an insidious, impromptu nature-vs.-nurture experiment that subjects an unwitting Eddie Murphy and Dan Ackroyd to radical reversals of fortune? You get an ’80s screwball comedy update of The Prince and the Pauper that also showcases the great Jamie Lee Curtis and Denholm Elliott, along with a host of amusing cameos by the likes of Al Franken, Bo Diddley, and Giancarlo Esposito, all set to an Elmer Bernstein score built on the shoulders of Mozart. And it’s a Christmas movie! (Kind of.) Join Javi, Paul and - inscrutably - Producer Brad as they learn more than they ever wanted to about pork belly and concentrated frozen orange juice futures trading, navigate the film’s alarmingly casual racism and homophobia (not to mention a painful bit involving a gorilla), and behold the biggest smoked salmon ever to grace the silver screen.
For a better understanding of commodities, short selling, and The Eddie Murphy Rule, check out this great episode of Planet Money.
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For decades, Javi has maintained that Octopussy is a vastly underrated and quite entertaining entry into the James Bond oeuvre… now listen as this belief crashes in a malestrom of flaming regret as Paul and the ever patient and understanding Producer Brad bear witness to the end of one of Javi’s most cherished delusions! Octopussy may have been billed as “James Bond’s all time action high” but in this clear-eyed rewatch, the Multiplex Overthruster crew finds that surviving the experience of watching Octopussy may be as lethal, if not much more lethal, than James Bond’s travails as he tries to stop some rich bad guy from doing some awful things with a strange macguffin for no discernible reason… also there’s a woman with a really awkward nickname. On the plus column, there is a buzzsaw-yoyo wielding assassin, and a cool mini jet… which we wish we could have used to escape from this film! It’s Multiplex Overthruster’s all-time snark high as they enter the world of high stakes international espionage and emerge changed, but not entertained!
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The Grand Guignol of Geekery that is Paul, Javi, and - exasperatedly - Producer Brad’s deep dive into the final chapter of the first STAR WARS trilogy reaches its apotheotic conclusion in this, the second part of the first episode of our second season! Thrill as the intrepid Multiplex Overthruster crew braves not just the narrative wilds of one of the most anticipated movies of their childhood, but also the many decades of memories, opinions, and late night discussions of the saga that has defined popular culture for most of their lives! Marvel at Javi’s analysis of his misguided disdain for a movie he now realizes he loved all along! Witness in wild wonder as Paul’s gift for superlatives gets a workout for the ages! It’s a season premiere that will go down in Multiplex Overthruster lore - it’s RETURN OF THE JEDI!
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At long last, the Summer of ’83 is here, and kicks off with the most anticipated sequel of the decade, RETURN OF THE JEDI! And since this is probably the only STAR WARS film we’ll ever get to in this podcast, it demands our first ever (and likely last) two-part episode! Buckle up as Javi, Paul and - graciously - Producer Brad dive deeper than they’ve ever dived before (what, you thought we couldn’t go deeper than STAR TREK II?) to discuss with dizzying delight the original May 25, 1983 theatrical version (Lapti Nek! Yub Nub!) of the triumphant finale of the STAR WARS trilogy for our gloriously geektacular second season premiere.
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Welcome to our first ever spring special! As we approach the Summer of ’83, Javi, Paul and Producer Brad dive into Tony Scott’s extravagantly evocative and super stylish goth-punk erotic vampire thriller THE HUNGER, starring the gobsmackingly great-looking Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, and Susan Sarandon. Mod music video and commercial aesthetics collide with neo-noir cinema like never before in this creepy cool treasure trove of a time capsule set in ’80s NYC where vampires are real, but very different than any you’ve seen before. Moviegoers on April 29, 1983, were simply not ready for it, but late night cable viewers and adventurous VHS renters soon would be. You don’t want to sleep on this one, especially as we examine the film in context and contrast to other standout vampire fare such as LET THE RIGHT ONE IN and SINNERS.
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Welcome to our first ever holiday special! Having traversed the Summer of ’82, Javi, Paul and Producer Brad are back at the multiplex to witness the whirlwind of wonders that is Jim Henson’s phantasmagoric puppetpalooza THE DARK CRYSTAL. Audiences young and old were both captivated and confounded by the strange spectacle of this creepy creature feature inexplicably intruding upon their holiday season (who on earth thought it was a good idea to release it on Dec. 17?), but its meticulous magnificence cannot be denied! Join us as we soak in the cinematic sorcery conjured by Jim Henson, Frank Oz, illustrator extraordinaire Brian Froud, and Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz. And this episode is special in more ways than one, as Javi shares his amazing experience working on the film’s Emmy-winning prequel series he helped write and produce, THE DARK CRYSTAL: AGE OF RESISTANCE.
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All great institutions bestow awards… and now so does Multiplex Overthruster! It’s our first ever Multi Awards episode, in which Paul, Javi, and - mercifully - Producer Brad run down the nominees and winners from all of the films they watched during this most august of summer movie summers. In addition to naming their Best Picture, Director, Screenplay - and so on and so on - Producer Brad has also compiled a list of superlatives (“best character introduction of all time!”) and revisits them with the benefit of hindsight to see which stood the test of time! Will Javi stand by that thing he said about Captain Morgan in “The Sword and the Sorcerer”? We won’t spoil it here. Trust us, you don't want to miss the first ever Multi Awards! Listen and share so that it won’t be the last!
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The 1980s was not only a time of genre excellence, but also one of romantic comedies about surly tone-deaf white men and their indefatigable struggle to remain that way. To this semi golden age of toxic masculinity, we consign “Paul Mazursky’s Tempest,” in which an otherwise sensitive and big-hearted filmmaker somehow marshals the talents of John Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands, Susan Sarandon, Raul Julia, and (in her big screen debut) Molly Ringwald, to deliver some of the least likable characters in screen history. And it’s (vaguely) based on Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”, which only leaves Paul, Javi, and - indubitably - Producer Brad filling the much needed void with some of the finest comedy commentary of their careers!
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