Merry Christmas from the Sweeties! We're only doing one Christmas movie this year and we picked one we're not too fond of but know a lot of people are obsessed with! From 1983, A Christmas Story was (is?) played all day long on Christmas Day and boy did we hate it! We always felt this movie was schlubby due to its 1940s time period and also couldn't give a fudge about Ralphie and pining away for a bb gun. However, we do understand its place in Christmas cinematic history and how if your family was one of the ones who watched it all day on Christmas, you'd have a nostalgic twinge every time you hear "you'll shoot your eye out kid!". We'll talk about our #1 present coveted on Christmas, why we think this is largely a boy movie, and Sweety does a great impression of if Jack Nicholson played the role of Ralphie's Dad! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
Who knew that Son in Law qualifies as a Thanksgiving movie!? From 1993 and starring 90s cultural icon Pauly Shore, Son in Law is a fish out of water/outsider fixes everyone's problems kind of movie that we are here for! Sure, Pauly Shore's effeminate, hippy/surfer/LA ladies man/gay best friend schtick can be a bit much sometimes, we grew to love Crawl and all his wacky mannerisms. We'll chat about LA in the 90s, mud wrestling, and how Brad from Teen Witch is in this but plays an evil dude. Plus Kelly Kapowski as the town slut/amateur stripper?! Well, thank god I'm a country boy!
This week we watched Tim Burton's alien invasion spoof from 1996, Mars Attacks! Starring literally everyone in Hollywood! In the mid 90s, it was all about aliens and Burton capitalized on the trend by creating this kooky film which pokes fun at some of the campier alien invasion films from the 50s and 60s. Basically martians come to Earth and the dumb dumb leaders are confused about their intentions. We weren't! Anyone with any sense could tell those suckers were trouble, just from their giant exposed brains. We'll talk about some our other favorite alien films, why we think we haven't had an actual alien invasion in the history of the planet (or have we??), and shout out to Sweeti Jimi who chuckled through the entire thing! Ack, ack, ack!
As our favorite warlock says ... anything can happen on Halloween! And for Laurie Strode, that includes having the worst night of babysitting of your life! John Carpenter's spooky classic rounds out our scary movies for the month of October! Like Freddy Krueger, 80s and 90s kid couldn't escape the visual image of the pale Michael Myers mask nor the 8000 sequels the 1978 original spawned. The original Halloween is still creepy AF and we're here to talk about it! We'll talk about horror movie tropes and why this movie is borderline tits soup by the end, whether virginity is the only way to beat the killer, and how there is no way in HELL Michael Myers could drive like a champ after being in an insane asylum since he was 6!
Our second spooky movie for October is A Nightmare on Elm Street, which brought scary AF Freddy Krueger to life, but only in our dreams, right? Wrong! This is about as classic as horror movies get - creepy scary villain, loads of blood, a plucky heroine, and ... Johnny Depp! This Wes Craven classic predates the birth of the Sweeties by a couple of years, but it definitely shaped our and everyone's childhood in the sense that no one could look at a red and green striped sweater the same again. We'll talk about some of Wes Craven's inspirations for the film, what's the deal with hall passes, and how sweater vests should be brought back now that fall includes 80 degree days where you're sweating your balls off by noon.
Happy Halloween Sweeties! We're gearing up for one of our favorite months by watching some 80s classics that used to scare the poop out of us when we were little. First off, the 1988 killer doll classic--Child's Play! Even though Chucky swearing was mostly funny, this movie still put us off dolls for a looong time. And while we have some qualms about Karen Barclay's decision to buy a toy for her son from a 'peddler' (aka a homeless crackhead in the alley), she's still a badmass mom and we love her in this!
Happy 5th Anniversary to us! That's right ... LMSU has been around for 5 years now and with 275+ episodes, we cannot frickin' believe it! Back in 2016, we were just two sisters with a dream talking about Jurassic Park, so we only thought it would be fitting to celebrate our 5 year with a re-watch and re-record of the dino blockbuster. Will we talk about the same things we did 5 years ago or will 5 years of wisdom and maturity bring us new insight? Come and find out! As the great Samuel L. Jackson aka Mr. Arnold says ... Hold onto your butts!
1993 brought us What's Eating Gilbert Grape, a tale of a lonely 20 something mid Westerner (Johnny Depp) living in a go nowhere town with a lot of weight on his shoulders; taking care of his mentally disabled teenage brother Arnie, his recluse mother who hasn't left the house in seven years, an on going affair with the local unhappy married mother of two, trying to woo the new, cool girl that comes to town via RV, and a really poor hair color choice! Seriously what was with that hair color? Trying to make JD look schlumpy? This is a sweet movie with some themes we totally didn't get as young kids, but we sure do get now! Ahh what wisdom aging brings! We'll talk about how Leo's performance was received by the autistic community, choose our favorite Johnny Depp movie, and go into a sweet tangent about self service salad bars. RIP (Thanks Covid!).
1989's Loverboy is another vehicle for 80s era Patrick Dempsey, who is gangly AF as Randy, a 20 year old college student desperate to earn money for his college tuition once his dad shuts down the money train after his grades tank. Randy gets a job at Senor Pizza delivering pizzas and eventually orgasms once he stumbles upon the idea of selling his body and time to the lonely married women of the LA area desperate for companionship since all their husbands are big time losers. Believe it or not, this movie about male prostitution is kind of sweet and silly and the 80s LA vibe is really fun to watch. We'll talk about the acting career of Patrick Dempsey - from geek to McDreamy, what the point of a negligee is, and randomly talk about the rebranding of the brussel sprout from gross veg to the side dish of the decade! This podcast ain't just about movies, folks!
What a zany ride St. Elmo's Fire is! Written and directed by Joel Schumacher, 1985's St. Elmo's Fire features several actors of "Brat Pack" fame and delves into the topic of what happens to friends after college when you can still drink like a fish but uh oh, have to hold down a steady job and start to contemplate the meaning of life?! This movie is ridiculous in the best way possible - the characters are all terrible people, there's tons of cocaine, talk of "Arabs", and one friend's big dream is to become a professional saxophone player! We'll talk about how we made this month unintentionally Rob Lowe month, why Kirby needs a serious mental health check (yoooo stalker), and how The Man in Motion theme song is actually about a guy in a wheel chair and NOT Jule's cool convertible jeep!
1983's The Outsiders is Francis Ford Coppola's film adaptation of the young adult classic by S.E. Hinton and despite an ensemble cast of 80s heartthrobs, The Sweeties had never seen it! Starring nearly every famous movie star guy 20 and under (okay sorry Pat Swayze was 29, old fogie!), The Outsiders delves into the white class divide in 1950s Oklahoma and what's it's like to have to grow up too fast because you're poor AND if you're Dad thought it would be fun to name you Ponyboy. Tough break kid, tough break. Fun fact there are actually two versions of this movie floating around - the original from 1983 and then the updated "novel" version in which Francis Ford Coppola was bullied by his granddaughter to reinstate many scenes cut from the original and that were integral to the book version. We talk about both movies but also try to unravel the paradox of tough guys who like wrestle each other and cry a lot, whether Ponyboy looks better as a blonde or brunette, and how Tom Cruise's Steve is the most annoying character ever.
So we're back from our "maternity leave", Sweetie Jr. is here and we're ready to switch over to mother-daughter movies! Jk - but we did cover Freaky Friday, the 2003 version with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan! We were quite enamored with this movie when it came out - LL was all the rage, the soundtrack was full of bangers, and we had a crush on Chad Michael Murray. Actually, no thanks to those greasy, parted in the center locks thank you very much! We'll talk about our history covering body swap movies - do yourself a favor and watch Vice Versa immediately, ponder why there is always some mystic Eastern magic involved which seems pretty darn racist, and reminisce about the days when Lindsay Lohan had a singing career with that pretty wretched song Rumors.
Our final movie for Baby Month is Three Men and a Baby, a gem from 1987 directed by none other than Spock himself, Leonard Nimoy! We've always been a fan of the sequel to this movie - Three Men and a Little Lady, but the original is awfully cute and features three great lead actors (Selleck! Guttenberg! Danson!), a cute baby, and a some what nonsense drug side plot that seems to be pretty integral to 80s movies, let's be real. We'll talk about a major movie urban legend with this one about a ghost boy in the window, how we were glad this wasn't soley about men being completely clueless about taking care of children, and Tom Selleck's short shorts, obvi. We'll be taking a little hiatus as Sweetie pops out Sweetie Jr. but hope to be back in a couple weeks with our new co-host baby!
Guys, what IS this movie and why does it exist? From 1994 and directed by Ivan Reitman, Junior stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny DeVito, and Emma Thompson and involves men having babies, some really terrible stereotyping of women and pregnant women and Aerosmith being used as a red herring? Yeah, it's weird guys! We think these movies are made as some sort of bone thrown to women - hey look guys CAN understand what you're going through ... isn't that wonderful? But really it just makes us look even worse, let's be honest. We'll talk about the complicated thing where women scientists can either be ice queens or ditzy klutzes, how much suspension of actual science/biology is too much, and why does Hollywood make women cut their hair into unfortunate mom cuts once they pop out a baby?
Baby Month continues here on LMSU and as Sweetie is now nine months pregnant, we thought it fitting to watch Nine Months! From 1995 and starring Hugh Grant in his first Hollywood featured film AND directed and written by Chris Columbus of Adventures in Babysitting and Home Alone fame, Nine Months tackles the question men often ask themselves ... am I ready for a baby to uproot my totally awesome, non children life? What luxury to be able to ask yourself that AFTER you knock up your girlfriend of five years by accident! Too late pal! Also starring Julianne Moore as perfect but baby crazy gf Rebecca, Joan Cusack and Tom Arnold as a couple friend trying to convince them that kids are GREAT and Jeff Goldblum as toxic bachelor friend with an unfortunate earring. Oh and don't forget Robin Williams as the crazy Russian OBGYN! Sweetie will try to tackle some of the pregnancies myths trotted out in this film, we'll talk about how all these pregnancy films are through the dude's POV, and men with earrings in the 90s and beyond!
June is officially Baby Month here at Large Marge Sent Us as we prepare to welcome Sweetie Jr. into the club oh so soon! So to start off we watched Father of the Bride Part II, probably one of our favorite baby centric movies and really a near perfect sequel. All the favs from the original come back, Annie is married and pregnant and surprise, Nina, mother of the bride is too! This is A LOT for poor George Banks to handle as he oscillates between guy going through a mid life crisis because he's about to be a grandfather and guy going through a crisis because he's about to be a dad thrice over at the age of 56. Whew, poor guy. We'll talk about some of the Hollywoodisms surrounded pregnancy, labor and delivery, how George Banks' level of obsession with his daughter is borderline creeper, and what we think of the name Chloe Dankman for a baby name! Every party has a pooper guys!
This year marks the 30th anniversary of Thelma and Louise, the Ridley Scott directed movie about two women who have HAD ENOUGH! Amen sisters! Fuck that patriarchy! 30 years later, we're still a bit light on the female centric action films for our taste, but let's toast these bad ass bitches for proving that women can lead at the box office! Starring Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon as besties on the run after they shoot a would be rapist, who lets be honest totally deserved it. Diiiiiick. We'll talk about some alternate casting for this movie, Baby Brat Pitt's tanned naked chest, and why Michael Madsen is scary but also hot? Confusing!
In 1998 The Truman Show was released as perhaps a cautionary tale about the dangers of reality TV! Did we listen? No! As now, nearly half of TV programming these days seems to be reality shows. We are obsessed! Jim Carrey stars as oblivious Truman, born into a reality show and watched 24-7 by the world unbeknownst to him until literally the sky falls one day - or stage lights - and he begins to question what is his reality? We saw this movie in the theaters as we were want to do with anything Jim Carrey and it was fun to revisit it as it's a really clever film and showcases JC's first foray into the more serious roles he'd see in the future. We'll talk about reality shows, how Sweety legit had Truman Syndrome and thought she was on her own reality show in elementary school, and how important it was to find that perfect first day of school outfit - even though looking back gosh what were we thinking with those fashion choices?
Time for another late 80s rom com! Her Alibi stars the man with the best mustache EVER, Tom Selleck and Paulina Poriskova a hot model turned actress with REALLY long hair. We'll blame Carol and our older sister Liz for getting us into this movie - probably forever swayed by Tom Selleck's looks - and we remember loving it as a kid, but man this movie is kind of thin! Selleck is crime writer Phillip Blackwood, whose talents are suspect and when he gets writer's block, he decides to be the alibi for a hot lady maybe killer who he spotted during arraignment court. She has to go live with him at his sick house in Connecticut (okay that's a little creepo) and he thinks she's hot but also thinks she might be trying to kill him. Turns out she's just a clown on the run. So yeah wild movie! We'll talk about whether Tom Selleck with a beard AND mustache is a good idea, how it might be fun to get hit with a cream pie, and some fun 80s things like connected computer paper and our favorite, the car phone!
Like many kids of the 80s, after seeing the Ewoks make their appearance in Return of the Jedi, we couldn't get enough of them! Luckily there were the made for TV movies that came out all about Ewoks starting in 1984, with Ewok Adventure: Caravan of Courage and we were hooked! It's been a good 30 years since we've seen this movie, and wow what a nostalgic gem. Sure, Mace is an annoying loser and they maybe didn't get into some major plot points as much as they could have, but holy shit was that Gorax scary AF! We'll go over key words to learn in Ewokenese to impress your friends (Lurdo!), try to figure out WHY the Gorax was keeping Mace and Cindel's parents in a bone cage, and get to the bottom of his various accessories.
We finally caved to Sweeti Jimi's wishes and watched Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, one of his favorite movies but one the Sweeties have never seen! I think we can all do a pretty good gnarly dude, Bill and Ted impression, but who knew this movie was about time travel and the importance of a world history survey class! We were pleasantly surprised how cute this movie was, though pretty absurd. We'll talk about how we continue to fall more in love with Keanu every day, what historical figures would we squish into a phone book and take to the local mall, and what was the deal with those urban legends about getting sucked into escalators if you weren't careful when you were a kid?!! Also, Sweeti Jimi gets a cameo in this episode as he tells us why he loved Bill and Ted's so much and does he still love it today.
Part of the popular late 90s teen horror series, I Know What You Did Last Summer from 1997 features all the hot stars from the time (coincidently most with three names? Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prince Jr.) and a script by Scream and Dawson's Creek creator Kevin Williamson. While inferior to the much beloved Scream, IKWYDLS has some solid gore and a couple of good jump scares that still make it pretty worthwhile. We'll talk revenge/vendetta horror films and why this one is not really that successful in our eyes, how the boobs in this movie deserved their own billing and how Ryan Phillipe seems to bug the shit out of us in every single movie he's in!
Disney's Swiss Family Robinson from 1960 is a classic desert island tale about a Swiss family escaping the tyranny of Napoleon Bonaparte's ever growing empire and filled with evil pirates, dangerous jungle animals and many different varieties of hats woven from banana leaves! Sweeties was OBSESSED with this movie when she was little and nearly wore the bootleg VHS version we had as kids. Nowadays, the movie comes with (what is becoming an often seen modifier from Disney+) warnings about culturally insensitive portrayals and stories about terrible animal cruelty on the set! Bogus! But hey we still think Fritz is a HOTTIE, question how no one knew Roberta was a girl, and still hate annoying Frances with a passion!
We've gotten a lot of requests over the years to watch 1995's A Goofy Movie, and we finally took the plunge! A spin off of the popular animated tv show, Goof Troop, A Goofy Movie follows the lives of single dad Goofy Goof (?) and his 14 year old son Max as they navigate the tricky waters of adolescence! It's a sweet movie with a sound track full of bangers straight out of the mid 90s, Bobby Brownish pop era. We'll talk about our confusion with this world in which people are dogs, but kind of also look like people (?), how seeing Goofy sad is the worst thing ever, and ponder whether there were hot animated animal characters that boys used to have crushes on.
1985 brought us Sesame Street's first foray into the movie scene with Follow that Bird, a cautionary tale about the dangers of segregation and why the diversity always practiced on Sesame Street is the only way to go! Starring Big Bird and the love-able cast of muppets from Sesame Street, their human friends, and then some random movie stars like Chevy Chase and John Candy thrown in there! Sweetie used to watch this at her friend's house when she was six year olds and the mean bird lady Miss Finch scared her to bits! We'll talk about who are favorite resident of Sesame Street is and that we're confused that Big Bird is actually supposed to be a child aged bird, what we think it would be like to work on a children's show, and why you should never, ever show muppet legs if you can help it. Spooky man, spooky.