Winslow Leach is a young man who wants to create heavenly music, even if he has to descend to the depths of hell to do it. Brian DePalma's (Scarface) Glam Rock reinterpretation of the Phantom of the Opera is a perfect encapsulation of 70s musical culture in all it's campy, stylized glory. In this episode we'll discuss the film, as well as the cultural influences that play into it's story. Despite being a box office, and critical failure Phantom of the Paradise has over the years ...
Jun 30, 2023•53 min
Continuing Season 3 after a hiatus with the John Cusack action comedy Grosse Pointe Blank. A film that dares to ask what's scarier, fighting for your life against international hitman trying to steal your contract or going to your high school reunion to face the girl you stood up at prom? Host Wyndham Jennings discusses whether John Cusack should be in action movies. Why didn't Minnie Driver become a bigger star? Is there anyone better suited to playing a lecherous Douchecanoe than Jerem...
Jun 16, 2023•29 min•Season 3Ep. 75
A mix of Dirty Harry and Robocop with gratuitous nudity, over the top violence, criminal furries, and demonic gun running nuns? And it was written by the creator of Ben 10 and directed by one of the founding members of Slipknot? Why is this film not a cult classic already? This week Wyndham patrols the mean streets with Officer Downe, the LAPD's secret weapon in the war on crime. Thanks to dark science he's stronger, faster and tougher than anyone else on the force, and if he does get taken out?...
Feb 16, 2023•36 min•Season 3Ep. 2
We're back! (The podcast, not that horrible animated dinosaur film.) To kick off Season 3 host Wyndham Jennings dives into the 1998 Tobey Maguire, Reese Witherspoon comedy Pleasantville. The story of 2 modern teens trapped in a 1950s sitcom who wind up changing it forever and learn something about themselves along the way. Learn a little history about toilets in television shows. Find out why Don Knotts is a perfect example of stunt casting. See how a fun film from the 90s would be a political a...
Feb 09, 2023•35 min•Season 3Ep. 1
Quick update on the podcast, and what's been going on for the past two months. It's a bit rambly, and chaotic but I'm getting divorced AND buying a house simultaneously so I'm a little frazzled. Until I can get in somewhere permanent I'm going to post these minisodes that will help me get back into podcasting again, and maybe cover some stuff that I can't touch on the regular episodes. This week I lay out all 5 (6? 7?) different timelines that make up the Halloween(1979) franchise, and what movi...
Aug 31, 2022•21 min•Season 2Ep. 69
It's a movie! It's a European capital! It's a psychological syndrome! Ethan Hawke(Gattaca) plays a bank robber who takes Noomi Rapace(Lamb) hostage in this 2018 heist comedy. Based on the actual events from 1973 the hostages eventually take the side of the robbers versus the police, which leads to the coining of the phrase Stockholm Syndrome to explain the psychology behind it. Host Wyndham Jennings will talk about the actual robbery, other cases of Stockholm syndrome, Steve McQueen's Mustang, a...
Jun 16, 2022•38 min
It's a Musical-Comedy Film, based on a Broadway Musical, based on the actual Chicken Ranch that inspired a song by ZZ Top! It's chickens all the way down! Combining the biggest Country star of the 80s with the biggest leading man of the 80s leads to one of the biggest musicals of the decade. Dolly Parton(Steel Magnolias) plays the madam of The Chicken Ranch, a brothel just outside of a small Texas town. Burt Reynolds(Stroker Ace) plays the sheriff who turns a blind eye to the goings on at the Ra...
Jun 09, 2022•43 min
Sylvester Stallone (Demolition Man, Rocky) is an action star with a long list of successful films. So imagine everyone's surprise when he teamed up with John Landis (Blues Brothers, Coming to America) for a screwball comedy about a Prohibition Era gangster trying to go straight. Based on the French play by Claude Mangier, already made into a film back in 1967, Stallone must contend with rival gangsters, a rebellious daughter (Marisa Tomei in one of her earliest roles), and henchmen who would rat...
Jun 02, 2022•37 min•Season 2Ep. 68
A Heavy Metal, Horror-Comedy from New Zealand that finds two teens having to stop a demon they accidentally summoned by playing the ultimate metal song from bringing about the end of the world. Lots of blood, gore, and killer music to enjoy. A film in the tradition of Bad Taste and Dead Alive that manages to balance several genres and still sneak in a bunch of Easter Eggs for metal fans. Join Wyndham Jennings as he tells the story of the film from contest entry through being renamed so Wal-Mart ...
May 26, 2022•32 min
Murder! Genetic Monstrosities! Adultery! Chickens! No, seriously lots of chickens. More chickens per minute than any other giallo in history. Anna's husband has a strange hobby, murdering prostitutes in a roadside hotel. She doesn't notice because she's too busy trying to breed the world's first boneless chicken. Her cousin, and secretary, Gabrielle decides she wants Anna's chicken farm and conspires to kill her and frame Marco for it by dressing the corpse as a prostitute. From director Giulio ...
May 19, 2022•32 min•Season 2Ep. 66
Caleb Cotton gets more than he bargained for when a little bite on the neck gives him a fatal allergy to the sun. Forced to join an undead band of criminals as they leave a trail of crashed vehicles, burned out buildings, and broken bodies across the American Southwest, Caleb struggles to retain his humanity. Told he must kill within one week or the group will end his newfound immortality themselves, he must decide between an eternity of hedonistic carnage or a mortal life. The night, comes at a...
May 12, 2022•38 min•Season 2Ep. 65
After the death of Josef Stalin the members of his committee plot and scheme to hold on to their positions, win the heart of the Soviet people, and most importantly survive the transition of power. This dark, satirical comedy from Armando Iannucci (Veep, In the Loop) draws some of it's most absurd elements from the historical record. Join Wyndham Jennings on a stroll through the Cold War era and a hysterical look at how power corrupts in this week's episode of Celluloid Fever Dreams. Do it, or b...
May 05, 2022•36 min•Season 2Ep. 64
A satire of pop culture at the turn of the 21st century Josie and the Pussycats flopped hard at the theaters upon it's release. (But the soundtrack went gold!) Host Wyndham Jennings walks you through the surprising origins of the title characters, the impact they had on pop culture, and the troubled development of the film. He then attempts to figure out how a great cast, witty script, and pitch perfect soundtrack failed to blow up at the box office, and why it's started surging back as a cult c...
Apr 28, 2022•43 min•Season 2Ep. 63
Office Space meets Battle Royale in this James Gunn(Slither) and Greg McClean(Wolf Creek) action/horror. The employees of Belko industries find themselves locked inside their office building while a voice over the P.A. informs them they must kill 2 employees in the next two hours or the company will detonate the bombs implanted in their skulls and kill 4 employees. as the day goes on and the demands for more deaths continue the whole building devolves into a free-for-all with everyone determined...
Apr 21, 2022•27 min
Another dollar movie find 2014's The Dead Lands follows Hongi, the last survivor of his tribe, as he chases Wirepa, the warrior who lead the massacre across the titular place. The lands are said to be haunted by a demon warrior who devours everyone who enters. Can Wirepa escape both Hongi and The Warrior? Can Hongi convince The Warrior to join him? What terrible secret does The Warrior carry with him? A story of pre-colonial Maori told entirely in Te Reo, The Dead Lands is a fantasy film that sh...
Apr 14, 2022•29 min•Season 2Ep. 61
We're back! This week it's the unromantic comedy Eagle Vs Shark. The first feature film from Taika Waititi, follows Lily, a introvert who's life has hit a dead end and Jared, an absurdly overconfident loser as they fall in love. A darkly comic tale with a warm heart that takes a look at being in love when it's not really a good time to be in love and they're probably not someone you should be in love with anyway.
Apr 07, 2022•29 min•Season 2Ep. 60
Seconds is about Arthur Hamilton, a man who is given a second chance at life by The Company. Reborn through surgery, and outfitted with a new name, occupation, and purpose as Tony Wilson. But is it what Arthur really wants? Was his old life really that bad? Is there a way for him to go back? Rock Hudson, and Salome Jens star in this sci-fi thriller about identity, desires, and the truth of self. Directed by John Frankenheimer, and considered the last part of his Paranoia Trilogy, Seconds is a su...
Mar 03, 2022•36 min•Season 2Ep. 59
This dark comedy adventure follows Ivan Dragomilof and Sonya Winter as they travel across Europe, avoiding assassins and trying to prevent the outbreak of WWI. Starring Oliver Reed, Diana Rigg, and Telly Savalas. One of many films made in the 60s that revisited Edwardian times, how does it hold up today? Host Wyndham Jennings will give his answer as well as talk about the novel that inspired the film. He'll also dive into the idea of the ethical assassin, and how no one in this film could be cal...
Feb 24, 2022•30 min•Season 2Ep. 58
This week we talk about the based on a true story, kinda, but not film Kumiko the Treasure Hunter. Rinko Kikuchi anchors this film based on a Japanese office worker who flies to America in search of a lost treasure she's convinced she knows the location of. Simultaneously tragic and uplifting, with a dark humor this is a movie that will stay with you long after the credits roll. Host Wyndham Jennings talks about the movie, the homages it makes to Fargo(1996) and the sad story that inspired it, a...
Feb 17, 2022•34 min•Season 2Ep. 57
This week we travel back to the 80s for a pair of Horror-Comedies made by the team behind Friday the 13th. House sees writer Roger Cobb dealing with metaphorical, and literal, ghosts from his experiences in the Vietnam War while trying to solve the mystery behind his son's disappearance. Then we head across the street for House II, which has a young man inheriting his Great-Great Grandpa's house complete with Mayan warriors, puppy-caterpillar hybrids, pterodactyls, and his zombified Great-Great ...
Feb 10, 2022•42 min•Season 2Ep. 56
We're back with the 80s classic The Secret of NIMH. The first feature from Don Bluth Studios(An American Tail, All Dogs Go To Heaven) it's the story of Mrs Brisby, a field mouse who must move her home before the farmer's tractor destroys it with the spring plowing. Her quest to save her family will lead her into uncovering her dead husband's secret past, and straight into the escaped lab rats from the mysterious NIMH. Full of dark beauty, betrayal, magic, murder, and sword fights it's hard to be...
Feb 03, 2022•45 min•Season 2Ep. 55
It's taken a while but we finally dive into the John Waters filmography with his first studio film, Polyester(1981). Starring Divine as Francine Fishpaw, a poor housewife who's life is in a downward spiral, and 50s heartthrob Tab Hunter as Todd Tomorrow, the man who sweeps her off her feet. This is Water's first attempt at an almost mainstream film. Discover the film's influences, the effects it had on Hunter's career, and more in this episode of Celluloid Fever Dreams Films mentioned in the epi...
Jan 06, 2022•41 min•Season 2Ep. 54
Imagine a fighting tournament of the world's most dangerous monsters. Wolfman versus Zombie! Frankenstein's Monster versus Dracula's Daughter! Cyclops versus...Wait, Cyclops?!?! Who invited him? This isn't Krull! Anyway, quit imagining it and check out Monster Brawl, this week's film. With tongue firmly in cheek this independent, Canadian, Horror/Comedy is a blend of Mortal Kombat and the WWE. But it must still face the Ultimate Question! Was it Entertaining? Other films mentioned in the episode...
Dec 30, 2021•23 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Mini-sode about the only Christmas film worth watching this year! (Besides Love Actually, and A Christmas Story) Rare Exports follows a father and son trying to survive in rural Lapland, Finland when an American company digs up the original Santa Claus. Unlike the jolly, old, elf we all grew up with this horned being and his army of dwarves round up bad children and devour them. Can Pietari and his dad rescue the children and stop Santa before he becomes a threat to the whole world? Host Wyndham...
Dec 23, 2021•15 min•Season 2Ep. 4
Wyndham takes a look at the dark comedy Corporate Animals this week. Starring Demi Moore, Karan Soni, and Jessica Williams, it's about a group of co-workers on a team building exercise that get trapped in a cave in. Secrets are revealed, relationships are destroyed, and not everyone makes it out alive. Does the film live up to the promise of it's trailer? Is this another cringe humor masterpiece from Sam Bain(Peep Show)? Most importantly of all, Is It Entertaining? Films mentioned:Deadpool...
Dec 17, 2021•28 min•Season 2Ep. 3
This week is an Academy award winning film, Birdman, and no it's not about the Hanna Barbera/Adult Swim character. Michael Keaton plays an actor trying to regain respect and relevance by staging a Broadway play. But he's haunted by the superhero role that brought him to the heights of fame over twenty years ago, and overwhelmed by the stress of rehearsals, previews, combative co-stars, a failing relationship, and a daughter struggling with life fresh out of rehab. Can he pull it off, or will a v...
Dec 09, 2021•38 min•Season 2Ep. 2
We're back!(Is an awful movie. Don't torture your kids with it.) But also CFD is back with Season Two and it's kicking off with my favorite film of all time, The Blues Brothers. I'll dive into the origin of the band, the troubles the production faced, and the absolute legends they managed to talk into appearing in the film. This is one of the greatest comedies of all time, and a must watch in my opinion. So join me for a brand new season and let me explain why letting the Illinois Nazi's drive F...
Dec 01, 2021•45 min•Season 2Ep. 1
It's a Clint Eastwood Western...musical? 1850 California sees a mining camp of 400 men spring up around a gold strike. Ben Rumson(Lee Marvin) and Pardner(Clint Eastwood) work a claim together. Things take a turn when a passing Mormon sells his least favorite wife to Ben who is convinced every man in the camp wants her. Pardner reveals his feelings for Ben's wife Elizabeth(Jean Seberg) and so the three of them decide to live together in marriage. Based, loosely, on the 1951 musical of the same na...
Nov 18, 2021•45 min•Season 1Ep. 48
A parody/homage to grindhouse films of the 70s, Voodoo Apocalypse features everything you need! A cop seeking revenge for his partner's death! Kung Fu! Voodoo! Lucha Libre! The Mafia! A rock song that turns people into zombies! And did we mention the whole thing was shot in Spain? But don't worry, it's all in English... except for the Kung Fu master, and the part set in Mexico... and the Italian-American family of one of the cops. So it's 80% in English but 100% in insanity. Another Dollar Bin M...
Nov 11, 2021•27 min•Season 1Ep. 47
How did a cartoon that only lasted 17 episodes in 1967 become one of the biggest films of 1997? Did it have anything to do with Brendan Fraser running around in nothing more than a loincloth? Is this a lost classic, or just a film best forgotten? Join Wyndham Jennings for a look at the absurd, campy, and ridiculous George of the Jungle and discover the impact the film had on pop culture, as well as some theories on why it became a sleeper hit. As always we'll then pose the Ultimate Question, Is ...
Nov 04, 2021•33 min•Season 1Ep. 46
