Hey, friends! Welcome back to HDYR! We reunited for this special episode to discuss one of the most requested titles we never got to during our original run... E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ! Topics include: the project's origins as a horror/thriller called Night Skies , all of the incredible tricks used to bring E.T. to life, deleted characters and subplots, the alternate ending, proposed sequels and other follow-ups, and much more! Merch | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | X | RSS...
Dec 20, 2024•2 hr 55 min
After eight years, it's time for Chris, Donna, and Carlos to say farewell. So on this episode, they're taking off the rose-tinted glasses for their own show and reminiscing about all of the ups and downs HDYR has experienced over the course of its run. They each highlight different episodes that stand out to them, share behind the scenes stories, and talk about how their own lives were changing as the show evolved. This chapter may be coming to an end, but if you'd like to stay connected with us...
Mar 19, 2021•1 hr 56 min
The next episode of HDYR is going to be our last (for now), so we thought it would be fitting to take a look back at some of our favorite series finales and discuss what made them so satisfying. Merch | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | X | RSS | E-mail About The Show
Mar 05, 2021•1 hr 47 min
After complaints that Batman Returns had been too traumatizing for younger viewers, Warner Bros. set a clear mandate for the next film in their flagship franchise: lighter, brighter, and more fun. Desperate to move away from the gloomier aesthetic of Tim Burton’s first two entries, the studio turned to Joel Schumacher - a director whose pop sensibilities were more in line with pushing happy meals and action figures. Batman Forever was an absolutely massive hit at the box office in the summer of ...
Feb 19, 2021•2 hr 59 min
An important announcement from the HDYR gang.
Feb 09, 2021•9 min
Carpe Diem, friends! The three of us all remembered the iconic lines and moments peppered throughout Dead Poets Society , but not much else. It turns out there's a pretty good explanation for that. Peter Weir's film is a stacked deck in terms of its cast (especially the Oscar-nominated performance of Robin Williams), but does it actually engage with any of the ideas it espouses in its numerous sentimental platitudes? And does that ultimately even matter if there are so many other aspects of this...
Feb 05, 2021•1 hr 57 min
We're having the time of our lives with one of the most requested titles in the history of this podcast. Yes, we swear - it's the truth! And we owe it all to you. Topics include: how the director wound up using the real life tension between stars Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey to the film's advantage, the adverse conditions the production faced and where that's reflected in the movie, how many elements of this the screenwriter pulled from her own life, some mixed feelings about the inclusion o...
Jan 22, 2021•1 hr 28 min
It’s a holiday classic that’s become quintessential viewing every holiday season, but at the time Warner Bros. wasn’t even sure they wanted another Vacation movie. After the lukewarm response to European Vacation, the studio spent several years dragging their feet on the prospect of a second sequel. After they realized that 1989 had a surprising lack of holiday-themed movies from their competitors, they finally came around on the idea of getting the Griswold clan back together for Christmas Vaca...
Dec 18, 2020•1 hr 39 min
It's time to dig into this year's cinematic turkey and you'd be hard-pressed to find a more deserving title than Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot . It wasn't just a commercial disappointment upon its initial release, it's also still widely regarded as one of the worst films ever made. So what exactly went wrong here? The film was certainly never going to be amazing, but it had all the ingredients to at least be fun and enjoyable. It has all the posturing of a broad studio comedy and plenty of solid se...
Nov 26, 2020•1 hr 24 min
It should have been the next E.T. Instead, Explorers is a film that many of you have probably never even heard of. How is it that a sci-fi/adventure movie from the director of Gremlins and featuring the big screen debuts of Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix hasn't garnered more notoriety? The answer unfortunately arrives once the film enters its final act. Explorers was taken away from Dante during post-production and as a result, nearly an hour's worth of material wasn't just excised... it was neve...
Nov 13, 2020•1 hr 31 min
Happy Halloween, friends! This year we're headed to the coastal town of Southport for a look back at I Know What You Did Last Summer. Loosely based on Lois Duncan's novel of the same name, it was the second smash hit for Scream creator Kevin Williamson. The impressive box office numbers were offset by less-than-favorable reviews, especially in comparison to Williamson's more sophisticated debut. And although IKWYDLS was just the first of many teen-centric horror films that tried to capitalize on...
Oct 30, 2020•1 hr 34 min
The Breakfast Club and Weird Science were both released in 1985 and it's sort of apparent which one writer/director John Hughes was more invested in. Although he was well known for having an insanely fast turnaround time on his screenplays, it sounds like he would have been the first to admit that this one could have used a little bit more work. The accelerated production schedule was part of an overall deal he made with Universal and the experience definitely took a toll on him. It may also hav...
Sep 11, 2020•1 hr 19 min
The marketing for A Knight's Tale sold the film as a raucous, rock 'n roll jousting movie. Although its anachronistic soundtrack features some pretty catchy needle drops, all of us walked away from this one feeling like we didn't really get the movie we were promised. It sort of bails on that main conceit halfway through, but the good news is that there's still a lot about this that works as a more straightforward period piece. Topics include: the director's explanation for utilizing a more mode...
Aug 28, 2020•1 hr 30 min
This one's probably a deep cut for some of our listeners, but there are probably just as many of you out there who remember when this was in constant rotation on The Disney Channel. The Boy Who Could Fly has some surprisingly heavy subject matter considering its target demographic, but even more surprising is how effectively the film manages to hold all of that together. Thanks to some incredibly deft direction, what could have easily spun out into melodrama instead feels genuine and pretty darn...
Aug 14, 2020•1 hr 33 min
Since we had to scrap the episode that we'd originally planned to release due to technical difficulties, we thought this was a fitting subject to explore. Hollywood history is loaded with so many interesting stories of roads not taken. There have been so many films that were announced, developed, and sometimes even started shooting that just never made it across the finish line for one reason or another. On this episode, we're highlighting some of the most tantalizing examples of this. And as me...
Aug 04, 2020•1 hr 8 min
The show will be back next week, but in the meantime we wanted to release something to help hold you over. This is one of our Off The Clock bonus episodes from Patreon where we each took turns suggesting movies that pair well with one another. And if you're already a patron, we've got something new for you as well. The latest episode of Off The Clock just went up last night so check your feeds! Check it out! You can now get HDYR merch exclusively through TeePublic! Patreon / iTunes / Stitcher / ...
Jul 22, 2020•54 min
Twins wasn't technically Arnold Schwarzenegger's first foray into comedy, but it was the first time he was deliberately playing against type after establishing himself as an icon in the action genre. He also knew this was all a little outside his wheelhouse, so he really stacked the deck when it came to the director, his co-stars, and an unlikely mentor that helped him hone his comedic chops. Topics include: an investigation into this film's unusual connection to Suburban Commando , how Twins wo...
Jun 26, 2020•1 hr 9 min
Home Alone 's meteoric success in the winter of 1990 took John Hughes by surprise. It also (for better or worse) set the latter half of his career down a slightly different path. So in some ways, 1989's Uncle Buck represents the end of an era. On this episode, we examine how Hughes and his frequent collaborator John Candy straddle the line between the writer/director's golden age of output and the type of comedy that would define the next decade of his career. Topics include: Hughes' original (a...
Jun 12, 2020•1 hr 23 min
When we revisited Judge Dredd for the podcast, we couldn't help but notice how much of it seemed like a less successful version of Demolition Man . Since then, we've been anxious to rewatch this one to see how accurate that assessment was. "Prescient" is not a word you'd expect to use when describing one of Stallone's overblown early 90s blockbusters, but it turns out Demolition Man is full of surprises. Topics include: the film's origins as a fairly straightforward sci-fi movie and how it evolv...
May 29, 2020•1 hr 48 min
M. Night Shymalan has become a somewhat controversial figure and he's certainly had his share of ups and downs as a filmmaker, but way back in 1999, no one was walking into The Sixth Sense with any preconceived notions or expectations. In fact, it was probably the last time that would be the case for any of his movies. The twist ending played like gangbusters and the resulting word of mouth transformed this modestly-budgeted thriller into the second highest grossing film of the year. Of course, ...
May 15, 2020•1 hr 29 min
It's taken almost 25 years to get a Space Jam sequel off the ground and if you're wondering why Warner Bros. just wouldn't let it go, consider this - when you factor in all of the merchandising and licensing deals, this movie has generated around SIX BILLION DOLLARS worth of revenue! If you were a kid in the fall of 1996, this was probably the biggest thing happening in your world. Doubly so if, like us, you grew up in the Chicagoland area and were already invested in the Bulls and Michael Jorda...
May 01, 2020•1 hr 32 min
The mid-90s saw a wave of cyber thrillers that seemed fearful and paranoid about the decade's emerging new technology - The Net, Johnny Mnemonic, Disclosure, Virtuosity, etc. At first glance, Hackers probably seemed like it was just trying to cash-in on that trend. The reality is that had the studio not gotten cold feet, it would have been the first one out of the gate. There's no guarantee that would have helped it fare any better at the box office, but it might have prevented the film from get...
Apr 03, 2020•1 hr 28 min
Back in 1998, hearing that the team responsible for Independence Day was now mounting a big budget American remake of Godzilla was actually pretty exciting. There was a great teaser trailer, a chart-topping soundtrack album, and a genuine curiosity about this top secret new creature design they were keeping under wraps. And then we saw it. To say Godzilla was a disappointment would be a massive understatement. Fans quickly dubbed this new iteration G.I.N.O. (Godzilla In Name Only) and poor word ...
Mar 20, 2020•2 hr 5 min
Quite frankly, this franchise was a bit of a blur for all of us. Seven movies, a TV series, a Saturday morning cartoon... at a certain point it all starts to run together a little bit. And yet, this original film does have a few key differences from everything else that would follow - not the least of which is its R-rating. Police Academy was initially conceived as a way to capitalize on the success of raunchy comedies like Bachelor Party and Porky's , but the director wasn't a fan of that style...
Mar 06, 2020•1 hr 27 min
We didn't intentionally pick two Amy Heckerling movies back-to-back, but it certainly made for an interesting comparison. On this episode, we're revisiting her imminently quotable debut feature - Fast Times at Ridgemont High . Although this frequently gets lumped together with certain John Hughes movies and other popular 80s teen comedies, Fast Times actually has a fairly different tone than a lot of those films. That's one of the reasons the three of us weren't exactly sure what to make of it o...
Feb 21, 2020•1 hr 34 min
The late 80s and early 90s saw a deluge of movies and TV shows focused on working, single moms. Few films were able to capitalize on that niche as successfully as Look Who's Talking . On the surface, it's a broad comedy about a talking baby - but because writer/director Amy Heckerling was drawing from her own experiences as a new parent, it managed to tap into something a lot more genuine and heartfelt as well. Topics include: why most of the major studios passed on the script, the risk involved...
Feb 07, 2020•1 hr 49 min
Considering that this original film wasn't a gigantic hit at the box office, you might be surprised to learn that the Tremors franchise is now six films deep (with a seventh on the way). Like the Graboids themselves, this shockingly long-running series has operated mostly underground - it was one of the first major properties to take full advantage of sequels designed specifically for the burgeoning direct-to-video market and as a result, it's been quietly serving a fairly fervent fan base ever ...
Jan 24, 2020•1 hr 24 min
For those of us that were traumatized by this as kids, Return to Oz felt more like a shared psychosis than an actual movie. The whole thing just seemed too crazy to be real. But real it was. And unfortunately for the filmmakers, Disney decided to market this as a direct sequel to The Wizard of Oz despite the fact that it was never intended to be. So audiences went in expecting munchkins, lollipops, and rainbows and instead got electroshock therapy, wheelers, and disembodied heads. It had been ag...
Jan 10, 2020•1 hr 24 min
After the commercial disappointment of his second feature film Singles , director Cameron Crowe couldn't help but notice how many fair weather friends were disappearing now that he was no longer the hot new kid in town. That realization lit the spark for what would become his next project - Jerry Maguire . It took several years before the initial idea evolved into a finished script and there were a lot of interesting changes along the way. We explore how a filmmaker with no interest in professio...
Dec 30, 2019•1 hr 37 min
We were all just a little bit too old for this one when it came out, but we always receive so many requests for it this time of year. As you'll soon discover, we didn't even really choose this one... it chose us. Topics include: the much darker version of this film peeking out around the edges, what our version of the Turbo Man toy was when we were kids, the direct-to-video sequel, why you should never drink eggnog lattes, whether this movie really deserves the reputation it has, and much more! ...
Dec 13, 2019•1 hr 35 min
