The Complete Works Podcast

This week, Elijah Wood stars alongside one of Mike D's hometown heroes: Ed Burns, who also wrote and directed today's film, ASH WEDNESDAY! Also starring Rosario Dawson, the film is a crime thriller about two brothers, one of which is believed to be dead. When he returns, he has to retrieve his wife and escape Hell's Kitchen once again. And you better believe it's all happening on Ash Wednesday!

It's time for a Spooky Season Mike Makes Mike Watch! This time around, Mike Smith is making Mike D catch up with what is apparently the scariest movie of all time according to science, Scott Derrickson's SINISTER! Meanwhile, Mike D is making Mike Smith watch Chuck Russell's visual effects spectacular, 1988's remake of THE BLOB!

We're not getting to return to Middle-Earth quite yet, but Elijah Wood did pop up in another fantasy epic in 2002 that we're sure is just as good as The Two Towers - it's time to discuss the direct-to-video animated film THE ADVENTURES OF TOM THUMB AND THUMBELINA! Also featuring a cast that includes Jennifer Love Hewitt, Peter Gallagher, Jon Stewart, and more, this relic of mid-2000s home video entertainment has nostalgia for some... and not much else. Come join us in the Mole King's Lair to talk about it!

Thanks to a Ko-Fi donation, this week Mike and Mike are celebrating spooky season with the final film directed by Mel Brooks, DRACULA: DEAD AND LOVING IT! Is it as good as the best Mel Brooks comedies? Absolutely not - but there's fun to be had here! Leslie Nielsen plays Dracula, Mel Brooks plays Van Helsing, and Peter Scolari plays Renfield in this send-up of the classic Bram Stoker tale.

It's time for a monumental moment in the career of Elijah Wood, as the Mikes begin their journey through Middle-Earth with the epic fantasy film THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. Based on J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved book, FELLOWSHIP was a huge hit, the second-highest-grossing movie of 2001, and nominated for 13 Oscars. LOTR fan Nick Wermuth returns to the podcast to discuss the beginning of one of the greatest blockbuster trilogies of all time!

The Montana Film Festival is here once again! Mike Emmons, Artistic Director of MTFF and Programming Director of The Roxy Theater, returns to the podcast to run down everything playing at this year's fest!

MTFF runs from October 22nd through 25th. Tickets and information can be found at montanafilmfestival.org.

It's time for a first here on the Complete Works - we're covering a movie we've done on a previous season! And this one's about a cast of characters who've seen Better Days: we're revisiting CHAIN OF FOOLS! Elijah Wood pops up alongside an ensemble cast that includes Steve Zahn, David Cross, Salma Hayek, David Hyde Pierce, Tom Wilkinson, and of course, Jeff Goldblum in this little-seen crime comedy/Tarantino knockoff that we can't help but be a little bit charmed by.

It's time for another Ko-Fi donation episode! Thanks to a $50 donation from Dave, Mike and Mike are watching the 1985 adventure film REMO WILLIAMS: THE ADVENTURE BEGINS starring Fred Ward. The studio was trying to set up an American James Bond - and even brought in a director and screenwriter who made many Bond films! But something didn't click with audiences. Was it the white actor playing an Asian man? It's possible that had something to do with it.

This week, Elijah Wood appears in BLACK AND WHITE, a documentary-style film from director James Toback that explores white suburban teens obsessed with black culture. The movie's got an insane cast that includes Robert Downey Jr., Brooke Shields, Gaby Hoffman, Mike Tyson, several members of the Wu-Tang Clan playing themselves, Ben Stiller, Brett Ratner, Jared Leto, and it's the film debut of Michael B. Jordan! Boy, do we wish this one was better!

It's time for another Mike Makes Mike Watch! This week, Smith is making Mike D catch up with the classic John Frankenheimer thriller THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE; meanwhile, Mike D is making Smith fill a '90s action blind spot with the Sylvester Stallone vehicle DAYLIGHT!

This week, Elijah Wood is paired up with Rachel Leigh Cook in the little-seen hospital drama THE BUMBLEBEE FLIES ANYWAY! Mike and Mike are asking the important questions in this one like, "Is this actually a stealth sequel to RADIO FLYER?"

We got a Ko-Fi donation this week to finish out a (sort of) trilogy from our listener David. At the beginning of this year, he laid out three actors for him to select movies for us to watch, and we've reached the last one: Stanley Tucci in UNDERCOVER BLUES! The 1993 comedy from the director of FOOTLOOSE which stars Kathleen Turner, Dennis Quaid, and Tucci as Muerte... or is it Morty?

This week, Elijah Wood leads a huge ensemble cast that includes Jordana Brewster, Clea Duvall, Josh Hartnett, and more in the 1998 cult classic THE FACULTY! Doing for alien invasion movies what SCREAM did for slashers, the film is directed by Robert Rodriguez, written by Kevin Williamson, and features tons of fun visual effects and movie references!

It's time for an Off Mike Discussions episode! This week, Mike D recaps his experience at the All-Nighter Horror Marathon at the Cinema Arts Center in New York, while Smith talks new releases like TONY, COYOTE VS. ACME, TEENAGE SEX AND DEATH AT CAMP MIASMA, and gets really into the new HBO series LANTERNS!

This week, the Mikes are bringing in Disaster Movie Expert Producer Collin to discuss Elijah Wood's first real foray into big blockbuster filmmaking, Mimi Leder's 1998 film DEEP IMPACT! Famously released around the same time as Michael Bay's ARMAGEDDON - a movie with a similar plot - this boasts a huge cast that includes Morgan Freeman, Tea Leoni, Robert Duvall, and more, all of whom are counting down the days until an asteroid collides with Earth.

This week, Elijah Wood stars as The Artful Dodger in the Wonderful World of Disney TV movie version of OLIVER TWIST! Also starring Richard Dreyfuss as Fagin - and if you watch it on YouTube, you can see it as it was originally broadcast, with vintage commercials intact!

This week, Elijah Wood begins transitioning from family films into more adult-oriented roles in Ang Lee's THE ICE STORM! As part of a large ensemble that includes Sigourney Weaver, Kevin Kline, Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci, Katie Holmes, David Krumholtz, and more, the film follows several families exploring the sexual morays of the 1970s. A melancholy film while also surprisingly funny, this is easily one of Elijah's best films of the '90s!

This week, longtime Mike and Mike staple Laura Colaneri returns to the podcast after a long absence to talk about - what else? - a horror movie! She's helping us dig into 1976's THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and deeply rooted in American history and the cultural morays of its time!

This week, Mike and Mike are joined by the members of the Original Montana Film Guide podcast to talk about Elijah Wood in 1996's FLIPPER! Also starring Paul Hogan and Jonathan Banks, the famous dolphin of 1960s TV was reimagined for a '90s audience, leaving us with important question like, "Did Elijah ever get to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers in concert?"

It's time for another Mike Makes Mike Watch! This week, Mike D is making Smith watch the Ridley Scott war film with an insane early 2000s cast, BLACK HAWK DOWN! Meanwhile, Smith is making Mike D experience Chevy Chase in the classic comedy noir FLETCH!