Mary Versus the Movies

As a crossover with our other new show The Winners, we watch 1931's A Connecticut Yankee, which puts Will Rogers in the familiar Mark Twain story about a time-traveling inventor who ends up in King Arthur's court. This is actually one of the more faithful adaptations we've seen of Twain's story; being made during the Great Depression, it retains some of the social satire and class consciousness--and mechanized warfare--of the novel, while eliding a good deal of the plot.

Starring Will Rogers, Myrna Loy, Maureen O'Sullivan, William Farnum, Frank Albertson, and Heinie Conklin. Written by William M. Conselman and Owen Davis. Directed by David Butler.

This is a preview of the latest episode of our series Hollywood Avalon. To hear the entire episode, join the Mary Versus the Movies patreon for $3/month to hear this and the entire series Hollywood Avalon: https://www.patreon.com/maryvsmovies.

Giant worms destroy a town in Nevada. That's it, that's the movie. It's glorious.

Starring Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Finn Carter, Michael Gross, and Reba McEntire. Written by S.S. Wilson and Brent Maddock. Directed by Ron Underwood.

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We bring back Alana Phelan for our yearly horror-watch, and she brings us the not-great adaptation of every 12 year old girl's favorite forbidden gothic novel. It's the story of a family locked in an attic because the tree couldn't be bothered to fork. Fun stuff.

Staring Kristy Swanson, Victoria Tennant, Louise Fletcher, and Jeb Stuart Adams. Written and directed by Jeffrey Bloom from V.C. Andrews' novel.

Get the extended version and listen without ads when you join the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/maryvsmovies/

We cover the fourth Best Picture winner, Cimmeron: an epic history of the settling of Oklahoma that is, unfortunately, both slow-moving and mired in the racial prejudices of its time. Still, not unlike Killers of the Flower Moon a century later, it attempts to wrestle with the mistreatment of the Osage Nation.

We also watched The Front Page, the Ben Hecht/Charles MacArthur comedy about newspaper reporters, corrupt mayors, and an escaped prisoner. Front Page has been adapted several times, the most notable being the stunning His Girl Friday, and while this doesn't quite reach that film's heights (what could?), Lewis Milestone's direction and Duncan Mansfield's editing is fast and funny and pretty revolutionary for early sound film.

Finally, we watched a few more Silly Symphonies, "Spring", "Summer", "Autumn", and "Winter", the first three directed by Ub Iwerks before he left Disney.

This is a preview of the latest episode of our series The Winners. To hear the entire episode, join the Mary Versus the Movies patreon for $3/month to hear this and the entire series The Winners: https://www.patreon.com/maryvsmovies.

Twin gynecologists descend into madness in this claustrophobic psychological horror story about love, jealousy, misogyny, and body horror.

We talk with author Emma Cole about one of the greatest Canadian films of all time, and about her new book Love Never Dies: Romance in Horror Movies. Check out her work at https://editrixemma.com/

Starring Jeremy Irons and Geneviève Bujold. Written by David Cronenberg and Norman Snider. Directed by David Cronenberg.

Farmer Vincent and his sister Ida are just humble hoteliers and charcuterie aficionados. Is it really so bad they cut a few corners? And necks? Spooky month continues with this horror comedy about cannibalistic countryfolk and the people who cross their paths.

Starring Rory Calhoun, Nancy Parsons, Paul Linke, and Nina Axelrod. Written by Robert Jaffe and Steven-Charles Jaffe. Directed by Kevin Connor.

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Mary was sick this week, so she tapped friend of the show Josh Seybert to ask his Uncle Morty to step in and kick off Spooky Month with the aptly-named Spookies, a schlocky horror movie about squatters battling a warlock.

Starring Felix Ward, Dan Scott, Alec Nemser, and Maria Pechukas. Written and Directed by Thomas Doran, Brendan Faulkner, and Frank Farel.

Thanks again to Uncle Morty; check out Josh's many projects at https://screamingatclouds.libsyn.com/ and his show with Andy Mascola, Empathy at the Apocalypse: https://directory.libsyn.com/shows/view/id/8fee42d4-fe5b-4500-9db1-767a4e25b9f8

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In a Britain torn apart by civil war, with Christianity displacing the Old Religion, Queen Mab of the Faeries takes it upon herself to create Merlin, the greatest enchanter of all time, in order to reestablish people's worship of her and ensure her immortality. Merlin has other plans, though.

A surprising blend of high fantasy and historical romance, this TV miniseries is infinitely better than it has any right to be, thanks to a stellar cast, witty script, effects from the Jim Henson Shop, and designs by Alan Lee.

Starring Sam Neil, Miranda Richardson, Isabella Rossellini, Helena Bonham Carter, Rutger Hauer, and Martin Short. Written by Edward Khmara, David Stevens, and Peter Barnes. Directed by Steve Barron.

This is a preview of the latest episode of our series Hollywood Avalon. To hear the entire episode, join the Mary Versus the Movies patreon for $3/month to hear this and the entire series Hollywood Avalon: https://www.patreon.com/maryvsmovies.

Danny's an underdog, a poor Jersey boy suddenly dropped into Southern California, where he romances a rich girl and earns the wrath of her martial-arts-practicing bully of an ex. What's a boy to do, other than get the local handyman to teach him how to fight?

We celebrate our 250th episode with a movie Dennis loves and Mary remembered nothing about.

Starring Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue and William Zabka. Written byRobert Mark Kamen. Directed by John G. Avildsen.

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Mel Brooks takes on Alfred Hitchcock in this underrated comedy that lovingly blends Hitchcock and his imitators into a fizzy little mystery. If this had starred Gene Wilder as intended, it would've been remembered along side the best of Brooks's films.

Starring Mel Brooks, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Harvey Korman, Dick Van Patten, Ron Carey, and Howard Morris. Written by Mel Brooks, Ron Clark, Rudy De Luca, and Barry Levinson. Directed by Mel Brooks.

Listen without ads when you join the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/maryvsmovies/

Sleazy advertising, corrupt lawyers, inflation, an oil crisis--what is this, 1980 or 2026? This black comedy about the end of the Carter era--from the people who later brought us Back to the Future--has more than a few resonances with our current circumstances.

Starring Kurt Russell, Jack Warden, Gerritt Graham, Deborah Harmon, Frank McRae, David Lander, Michael McKean, and Joe Flaherty. Written by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale. Directed by Robert Zemeckis.

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A princess, her forest-dwelling boyfriend, and an assortment of fairies battle the devil after she accidentally leads a unicorn into an ambush by goblins. It's an uneven film, coming during the great 1980s fantasy boom, but we liked it in spite of ourselves.

Starring Tom Cruise, Mia Sara, Tim Curry, Alice Playten, David Bennett, and Billy Barty. Written by William Hjortsberg. Directed by Ridley Scott.

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We're doing something a little different this month; instead of covering a film or tv show, we're releasing a lecture given earlier this month. Also, we're releasing this episode widely, including on the main feed.

We were recently invited by Rev. Michael Dangler--a member of the Patreon here--to give a talk at the Summerlands Festival about Arthurian cinema. And so I wrote a short essay, titled "The Once and Future King: Paganism and Arthurian Cinema", which discusses the origins of seeking Pagan themes in Arthurian legend, followed by a discussion of several films, all of which have been covered on the podcast: Apocalypse Now, Excalibur, and the Mists of Avalon among other films are brought up.

Apologies for the sound quality; we had an equipment failure, and so we only had one recording make it through the presentation, so there's some ambient noise, and audience interaction is hard to hear clearly.

Once again, we'd like to thank Rev. Dangler for inviting us to speak, we had a wonderful time, and it was great to get our thoughts down on the subject. This is the second time I've been able to give a short talk on film (see our bonus episode on Joe Dante's The Movie Orgy for the other); hopefully it won't be the last.

For anyone interested, Rev. Dangler has his own Patreon as well: https://www.patreon.com/cw/chronarchy

A rogue Soviet submarine commander wants to defect to America, but first he's got to outlive being hunted by both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., and only one man can help him--Jack Ryan, CIA desk-jockey, in his first cinematic outing.

Starring Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Sam Neill, Tim Curry, Scott Glenn, James Earl Jones, and Stellan Skarsgård. Written by Larry Ferguson and Donald E. Stewart from Tom Clancy's novel. Directed by John McTiernan.

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A jewel thief tries to build the perfect life for himself, only to find he's in hock to more powerful gangsters in this stylish Neo-noir film that has one foot in 1970s American New Wave and another in the 1980s crime thriller.

Starring James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Robert Prosky, Willie Nelson, and James Belushi. Written and directed by Michael Mann.

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A young Dubliner puts together a band of working class musicians to play American soul music in this shaggy film based on Roddy Doyle's novel.

We talk about music, what it means to be a cover band, questions raised by white singers trying to sound "black", and whether we've lost touch with making art for yourself.

Starring Robert Arkins, Michael Aherne, Angeline Ball, Maria Doyle, Dave Finnegan, Bronagh Gallagher, Félim Gormley, Glen Hansard, Johnny Murphy, Andrew Strong, and Colm Meany. Written by Roddy Doyle. Directed by Alan Parker.

Listen without ads when you join the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/maryvsmovies/

Beach Month ends with the loving parody of the genre, where Frankie and Annette rekindle their marriage, their son falls in with punks, and their daughter falls in love with a genial surf bum. It's packed with cameos from 1960s sitcom stars, musicians, and a whole lot of green-screened surfing.

Starring Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Devin Sladin, Lauri Loughlin, Tommy Hinkley, Connie Stevens, Don Adams, Bob Denver, and Pee-Wee Herman. Written by Peter Krikes, Steve Meerson, and Christopher Thompson. Directed by Lyndall Hobbs.

The classic Arthurian story is given a Pagan spin, where the adherents of the Goddess of the Old Religion--lead by Vivian, the Lady of the Lake, and her chosen successor Morgaine--are at odds with the growing Christian religion of Glastonbury and Camelot. Everyone hopes that Arthur will be the one true king to unite the two faiths into one nation, but, well, we all know how that turns out.

This tv miniseries adaptation of Marion Zimmer-Bradley's extremely popular novel is lusciously designed for its time, but the story falls apart in the second half, not only skipping large portions of the book, but rewriting it in ways that I found frustrating.

Starring Julianna Margulies, Anjelica Huston, Joan Allen, Samantha Mathis, Edward Atterton and Michael Vartan. Written by Gavin Scott from the book by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Directed by Uli Edel.

CW: contains a brief discussion of the child sexual abuse allegations against Bradley and her ex-husband.

This is a preview of the latest episode of our series Hollywood Avalon. To hear the entire episode, join the Mary Versus the Movies patreon for $3/month to hear this and the entire series Hollywood Avalon: https://www.patreon.com/maryvsmovies.

Beach Month continues with no beach, no Frankie, and no Annette, but we do get a corpse in a creepy house who has to perform one last good deed in order to get into heaven, his evil attorney trying to cheat two young people out of a fortune, and the Bobby Fuller Four as the backing band. It's very silly, not remotely beachy, and a far cry from movies like Gidget or Beach Party, with the only continuity coming from the return of Eric Von Zipper and his biker gang. But it also has very strong Scooby-Doo vibes, so who are we to complain?

Starring Tommy Kirk, Deborah Walley, Basil Rathbone, Nancy Sinatra, Aron Kinkade, Quinn O'Hara, Harvey Lembeck, and Boris Karloff. Written by Louis M. Heyward and Elwood Ullmann. Directed by Don Weis.

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Beach Month continues with one of the weirdest of the Frankie & Annette beach party movies: skydiving, scheming managers, bikers, murderous pool sharks, a silent film star, and a mermaid take over the beach and make things hard for the perennial lovebirds.

Starring Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Deborah Walley, Harvey Lembeck, John Ashley, Jody McCrea, Linda Evans, Don Rickles, Paul Lynde, Buster Keaton, and Earl Wilson. Written by Leo Townsend and William Asher. Directed by William Asher