Polymaths | Ep #08

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This week James Franco takes time out of his busy schedule to school us on Renaissance men and women, including field trips to 17th-century France, Oprah's couch, Mathmagicland, and Westworld. 

Show Notes:  

01:35 There are two kinds of people... 
05:30 James Franco sings with drag queens
06:34 James Franco reads in bed and destroys a room
08:40 Professor Franco's polymath course
09:57 Interlude: Franco on Jimmy Kimmel Live

10:50 The Renaissance

12:40 Leonardo "Dah-Vinnchi"

14:25 The Vitruvian Man

23:15 Oprah Winfrey

26:10 Scilebrities and Celebritists

27:01 Carl Sagan

27:42 Interlude: Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot

30:55 Walt Disney

33:07 Donald in Mathmagicland

36:45 Interlude: The Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow

38:40 The Bo Jackson Regime

40:41 Bo Knows

45:30 Interlude: Pro Stars Opening Theme

46:50 Michael Crichton

48:42 Westworld

50:15 Francobots are the future 

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Polymaths | Ep #08

Modern Movie Monsters | Ep #07

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After being locked in the Hourchive during a nuclear explosion, we emerge with hideously profuse knowledge of Godzilla, cryptozoologic creatures, and the trick to getting around that "no eating after midnight" rule (hint: just don't wear a watch!). 

Show Notes:  

02:18 Modern monsters (when gluing fur on your face just doesn't cut it)
04:30 Children of the bomb: Japan's atomic monsters
13:05 Misties
18:33 "Gonna need a weapon" (Attack the Block)
19:01 The Attack the Block creatures
21:30 It's a movie with a monster, not a monster movie (The Host | Cloverfield) 
27:09 Cryptozoology primer 
33:50 Interlude: Tenacious D: "Sasquatch"

34:42 Slashers

37:54 "Glove Guy" Special feature standbys

42:25 The Wizard Master 

44:27 The Citizen Kane of slasher movies 

45:16 Interlude: Dokken: "Dream Warriors" 

46:36 Gremlins and the PG-13 rating

53:49 Gremlins Go to the Movies: Snow White | Hulk Hogan

57:55 Tremors 
1:02:02 Xenowhats?

Related:
Classic Movie Monsters 

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Modern Movie Monsters | Episode #07

Special Features | Ep #06

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The opinions expressed in the following audio commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, and spoiler alerts do not necessarily reflect the views of Hourchive management. But they probably do.

Show Notes:

02:12 From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga
03:30 Inside Jabba's tail
05:26 What do you mean by "bonus?"
07:30 Double-features
11:25 Trailers: special or not?
14:00 Interlude: Psycho trailer (1960)
13:20 The Making-Of VHS Phenomenon (Jurassic Park / Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
25:25 Interlude: The surfer animator soliloquy
26:10 The "Big" Laserdisc Era
27:56 The Powers of 10 (Science!)

30:03 DVDs ("Let's see how these do.")

31:10 Special feature standbys

37:02 Interlude: Schwarzenegger on Total Recall (Best. Commentary. Ever)

37:50 The Criterion Collection (Read along with Drew!)

47:00 Favorite special features:

Drew: The Making of The Phantom Menace / Lord of the Rings Extended Edition behind-the-scenes / Mallrats audio commentary

John: "The shark is not working" (Jaws) / Sex Pistols on Bill Grundy (Sid & Nancy) / Evil Dead II commentary

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Special Features | Ep #06

Classic Movie Monsters | Ep #05

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From our laboratory in the castle east -- which has some pretty lousy acoustics -- we bring you the first half of a two-part creature feature on movie monsters. In this installment we stitch together some background on the classic Universal Studios monsters, consult Consumer Reports on the best ways to become a werewolf, and discover that the secret to a good story is a dude who eats flies. 

Show Notes:

01:03 Pogs
02:30 The A-listers
06:00 Nosferatu
07:35 Expressionist horror
09:30 The Lugosi Dracula
12:35 Abbot and Costello legimize everything
13:20 Second-stringers and one-night stands
15:45 Nuc-u-lar mu-tants and mid-century monsters
16:40 Interlude: Puttin' on the Ritz (Young Frankenstein)
18:10 The logistics of monster-making

19:58 Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

25:05 Bram Stoker's Dracula ("Are you sure there wasn't a cowboy?")

32:20 Teen Wolves

33:22 Werewolves ("Bust some science on me.")

41:16 Interlude: The Monster Squad

41:43 The mummy -- it sounds good on paper

42:20 The vampire slump

Related:
Modern Movie Monsters 

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Classic Movie Monsters | Ep #05

Toy Stores | Ep #04

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To celebrate the most wonderful time of the year, we save up our allowance and set off in search of the great American toy store, with stops along the way to trade punches over Power Wheels and find out what happened to all of those postcards we sent in to Nickelodeon in 1989.

Show Notes:

04:05 The annual toy crop
07:00 Broken teeth and Cabbage Patch Kids(supply and demand)
09:22 Children’s Palace
13:14 The jingles (Drew is wrong)
14:30 A catalog page you can live in (the Toys ‘R Us legend)
27:02 May the (FAO) Schwarz be with you
37:20 Skeletor Live and In-Person (DJ Jazzy Dork)
41:25 Babies ruin everything
46:20 That’s not a toy store (hobby shops / flea markets / novelty stores)
52:47 The super toy run

Show Links:

Cabbage Patch Chaos

Children’s Palace

The Fisher Price Turtle

Kay Bee Toys
Toys ‘R Us
Pro-Play Home Arcade
Power Wheels
FAO Schwarz
Big Piano Scene
John's Favorite Novelty Stores (Caufield's / Spunky Monkey / Archie McPhee)
Nickelodeon's Super Toy Run

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Toy Stores | Ep #04