On this episode, we continue our look back at the 1980s movies of iconoclastic director Susan Seidelman as we pull the curtain back on the film she felt was an appropriate follow-up to her breakthrough film Desperately Seeking Susan, the sci-fi romantic comedy Making Mr. Right, starring John Malkovich and Ann Magnuson.
May 12, 2025•10 min•Season 7Ep. 3
On this episode, we speak with modern day renaissance man Todd Downing about his five favorite fantasy films of the 1980s.
Apr 30, 2025•54 min•Season 7Ep. 2
On this episode, our first episode of our seventh season and first in more than six months, our host apologizes for baiting and switching episodes, explains the long delay, and talks about the only movie ever made to star comedian and talk show host Jay Leno.
Jan 30, 2025•15 min•Season 7Ep. 1
On this episode, we’re going to continue with our series on the 1980s movies of director Susan Seidelman, talking about her biggest hit film, 1985’s Desperately Seeking Susan.
Jul 11, 2024•15 min•Season 6Ep. 6
We pause our retrospective on the 1980s movies of director Susan Seidelman to examine Andrew McCarthy new Hulu documentary about the Brat Pack and how a single article in 1985 may or may not have affect his career and the careers of many of his co-stars and friends.
Jun 21, 2024•12 min•Season 6Ep. 5
On this episode, we’re going to start a miniseries on the 1980s films from director Susan Seidelman. Like last year, with Martha Coolidge, I want to highlight at least one female filmmaker each year from the decade that made a significant impact on filmmaking and culture as a whole, and Ms. Seidelman definitely fits that description.
Jun 12, 2024•17 min•Season 6Ep. 4
On this episode, we’re going to tackle a movie from the early 1980s that, if made today with the same pedigree, would cause movie geeks and cinephiles to lose their freaking minds over. But because this was made early in their careers, most people are only tangentially aware of its existence, let alone have actually seen it. We’re talking about the 1986 Sam Raimi/Coen Brothers collaboration, Crimewave.
May 27, 2024•21 min•Season 6Ep. 3
Our first episode returning from paternity leave takes us back to 1983, and one of two sequel bombs Universal made with Jackie Gleason that year, Smokey and the Bandit Part 3. ----more---- TRANSCRIPT From Los Angeles, California, the Entertainment Capital of the World, it’s The 80s Movies Podcast. I am your host, Edward Havens. Thank you for listening today. On this episode, we’ll be covering one of the oddest Part 3 movies to ever be made. Smokey and the Bandit 3. But before we do, I owe you, l...
May 13, 2024•24 min•Season 6Ep. 2
Welcome to the first episode of our sixth season, the first of three episodes to begin the new year before our two month hiatus. This episode, we do our first ever Listener Freebie, letting Lee Thompson, one of our biggest supporters in the United Kingdom, pick the movie we cover this episode. Lee chose the 1984 British television drama Threads, and we are proud to talk about this hidden gem.
Jan 12, 2024•25 min•Season 6Ep. 1
For our final episode of 2023, the podcast takes a look back at the history of one of the best and most popular films of the decade, 1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Dec 29, 2023•34 min•Season 5Ep. 28
On this week's episode, we talk about a movie that was buried by one of the major American distributors back in 1984, due to its similarity to a Clint Eastwood movie they were making at the time, and how it's finally going to get a second chance with viewers forty years later. Tony Garnett's Deep in the Heart.
Dec 01, 2023•17 min•Season 5Ep. 27
This week, we go back to the 1984 summer movie season, with one of the most forgotten movies of the decade, for good reason: Chattanooga Choo Choo, starring Barbara Eden, George Kennedy, Melissa Sue Anderson, Christopher McDonald, Joe Namath, and Joe Namath's 1969 Super Bowl III championship ring.
Nov 26, 2023•13 min•Season 5Ep. 26
On this week's episode, we talk about a rarity amongst 80s movies, one that is an oldie, a goodie, an obscurity, and one of the best reviewed movies of all the years it was released. John Binder's 1980 debut, UFOria. Or is it 1984? Or 1985? 1986? Listen in and find out.
Nov 10, 2023•25 min•Season 5Ep. 25
This week, we look back at another three films for whom their releases would be the only theatrical release for their respective distributors. It's Part 6 of our ongoing series, The Orphans. Would you like to know more? ----more---- This week's films are: Heartbreaker (1983, Frank Zuniga, from Monarex) Hells Angels Forever (1983, Leon Gast and and Kevin Keating and Richard Chase, RKR Releasing) Mother Lode (1982, Charlton Heston, Agamemnon Films)
Oct 26, 2023•22 min•Season 5Ep. 24
On this episode, we’re going to do something we haven’t done in nearly a year and a half. Dedicate a show to films for whom their release was the only release ever done by a particular distributor. The Orphans. Since it’s very hard to do a full show on a distributor that only ever released one movie, I collect these orphans like a crazy cat person collects felines, and every so often unleash them grouped together so they can have their moment in the spotlight. Would you like to know more? ----mo...
Oct 19, 2023•22 min•Season 5Ep. 23
This week, we spend a bit of our time on Motion Picture Marketing, the oddly named early 80s independent distributor who made their name repackaging European horror films from the 1970s with new titles and new graphics to make them feel new. This policy was so successful, so quickly for them, they could jump right into producing their own films within a year of their founding. Would you like to know more?
Oct 09, 2023•49 min•Season 5Ep. 22
We finally complete our mini-series on the 1980s movies released by Miramax Films in 1989, a year that included sex, lies, and videotape, and My Left Foot. ----more---- TRANSCRIPT From Los Angeles, California, the Entertainment Capital of the World, it’s The 80s Movies Podcast. I am your host, Edward Havens. Thank you for listening today. On this episode, we complete our look back at the 1980s theatrical releases for Miramax Films. And, for the final time, a reminder that we are not celebrating ...
Sep 15, 2023•55 min•Season 5Ep. 21
We continue our miniseries on the 1980s movies distributed by Miramax Films, with a look at the films released in 1988. ----more---- TRANSCRIPT From Los Angeles, California, the Entertainment Capital of the World, it’s The 80s Movies Podcast. I am your host, Edward Havens. Thank you for listening today. On this episode, we finally continue with the next part of our look back at the 1980s movies distributed by Miramax Films, specifically looking at 1988. But before we get there, I must issue anot...
Aug 24, 2023•42 min•Season 5Ep. 20
On this week's episode, we remember William Friedkin, who passed away this past Tuesday, looking back at one of his lesser known directing efforts, Rampage. ----more---- From Los Angeles, California, the Entertainment Capital of the World, it’s The 80s Movies Podcast. I am your host, Edward Havens. Thank you for listening today. Originally, this week was supposed to be the fourth episode of our continuing miniseries on the 1980s movies released by Miramax Films. I was fully committed to making i...
Aug 12, 2023•22 min•Season 5Ep. 19
This week, we continue out look back at the films released by Miramax in the 1980s, focusing on 1987. ----more---- TRANSCRIPT From Los Angeles, California. The Entertainment Capital of the World. It’s the 80s Movie Podcast. I am your host, Edward Havens. Thank you for listening today. On this episode, we are continuing our miniseries on the movies released by Miramax Films in the 1980s, concentrating on their releases from 1987, the year Miramax would begin its climb towards the top of the indep...
Aug 04, 2023•30 min•Season 5Ep. 18
On this episode, your intrepid host falls down a rabbit hole while doing research for one thing, and ends up discovering something "new" that must be investigated further, the 1987 action/comedy Oklahoma Smugglers. ----more---- TRANSCRIPT From Los Angeles, California, the Entertainment Capital of the World, it’s The 80s Movies Podcast. I am your host, Edward Havens. Thank you for listening today. You were probably expecting the third part of the Miramax Films in the 1980s series, and we will get...
Jul 27, 2023•15 min•Season 5Ep. 17
On this episode, we are continuing our miniseries on the movies released by Miramax Films in the 1980s, specifically looking at the films they released between 1984 and 1986. ----more---- TRANSCRIPT From Los Angeles, California. The Entertainment Capital of the World. It’s the 80s Movie Podcast. I am your host, Edward Havens. Thank you for listening today. On this episode, we are continuing our miniseries on the movies released by Miramax Films in the 1980s. And, in case you did not listen to Pa...
Jul 14, 2023•33 min•Season 5Ep. 16
On this episode, we’re going to start a miniseries that I’ve been dreading doing, not because of the films this company produced and/or released during the 1980s, but because it means shining any kind of light on a serial sexual assaulter and his enabling brother. But one cannot do a show like this, talking about the movies of the 1980s, and completely ignore Miramax Films. ----more---- TRANSCRIPT From Los Angeles, California. The Entertainment Capital of the World. It’s the 80s Movie Podcast. I...
Jun 22, 2023•22 min•Season 5Ep. 15
Our miniseries on the 1980s movies of director Martha Coolidge ends with a look back at her 1988 film Plain Clothes. ----more---- TRANSCRIPT From Los Angeles, California, the Entertainment Capital of the World, it’s The 80s Movies Podcast. I am your host, Edward Havens. Thank you for listening today. On this episode, we’re going to complete our miniseries on the 1980s films of director Martha Coolidge with her little seen 1988 movie Plain Clothes. When we last left Ms. Coolidge, she had just see...
Jun 08, 2023•9 min•Season 5Ep. 14
On this episode, we continue our informal miniseries on the 1980s movies of director Martha Coolidge with a look back at her 1985 under appreciated classic, Real Genius. ----more---- TRANSCRIPT From Los Angeles, California, the Entertainment Capital of the World, it’s The 80s Movies Podcast. I am your host, Edward Havens. Thank you for listening today. Before we hop in to today’s episode, I want to thank every person listening, from whatever part of the planet you’re at. Over the nearly four yea...
May 18, 2023•12 min•Season 5Ep. 13
This week, we continue with the Martha Coolidge lovefest with her one truly awful movie, Joy of Sex. ----more---- TRANSCRIPT From Los Angeles, California, the Entertainment Capital of the World, it’s The 80s Movies Podcast. I am your host, Edward Havens. Thank you for listening today. Last week, we talked about Martha Coolidge and her 1983 comedy Valley Girl, which celebrated the fortieth anniversary of its release this past Saturday. Today, we’re going to continue talking about Martha Coolidge’...
May 05, 2023•13 min•Season 5Ep. 12
This week, we take a look back at a movie celebrating the fortieth anniversary of its theatrical release this coming Saturday, a movie that made a star of its unconventional lead actor, and helped make its director one of a number of exciting female filmmakers to break through in the early part of the decade. The movie Martha Coolidge's 1983 comedy Valley Girl, starring Nicolas Cage and Deborah Foreman. ----more---- TRANSCRIPT From Los Angeles, California, the Entertainment Capital of the World,...
Apr 27, 2023•16 min•Season 5Ep. 11
On this episode, we do our first deep dive into the John Landis filmography, to talk about one of his lesser celebrated film, the 1985 Jeff Goldblum/Michelle Pfeiffer morbid comedy Into the Night. ----more---- TRANSCRIPT From Los Angeles, California, the Entertainment Capital of the World, it’s The 80s Movies Podcast. I am your host, Edward Havens. Thank you for listening today. Long time listeners to this show know that I am not the biggest fan of John Landis, the person. I’ve spoken about Land...
Apr 20, 2023•20 min•Season 5Ep. 10
This week's episode takes a look back at the career of trailblazing independent filmmaker Robert Downey, father of Robert Downey, Jr., and his single foray into the world of Hollywood filmmaking, Mad Magazine Presents Up the Academy. ----more---- TRANSCRIPT From Los Angeles, California, the Entertainment Capital of the World, it’s The 80s Movies Podcast. I am your host, Edward Havens. Thank you for listening today. On this episode, we follow up on a movie based on a series of articles from a hum...
Apr 06, 2023•17 min•Season 5Ep. 9
On this episode, we talk about the great American filmmaker Robert Altman, and what is arguably the worst movie of his six decade, thirty-five film career: his 1987 atrocity O.C. and Stiggs. ----more---- TRANSCRIPT From Los Angeles, California, the Entertainment Capital of the World, it’s The 80s Movies Podcast. I am your host, Edward Havens. Thank you for listening today. On this episode, we’re going to talk about one of the strangest movies to come out of the decade, not only for its material,...
Mar 23, 2023•50 min•Season 5Ep. 8