THIS WEEK: Truth or Dare?: A Critical Madness (1986), Killing Spree (1987), and Creep (1995) Shawn Glinis is back for another OpBOOism VacSCREAM October. We're kicking things off this year with a look at regional horror filmmaker and reigning king of Florida gore, Tim Ritter. Join as as we look at his early slasher films, discuss the incomparable Asbestos Felt, and try to keep Miros from howling like a cartoon wolf every time Kathy Willets is on screen. Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon...
Oct 05, 2023•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 253
THIS WEEK: Dark of the Sun (1968), The Wilby Conspiracy (1975), Raid on Entebbe (1977) Optimism Vaccine sets sail for the mother continent to talk sweat soaked colonizers, blood diamonds, Sidney Poitier and if Yaphet Kotto is a better Idi Amin than Idi Amin. Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon
Sep 29, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 252
THIS WEEK: Undeclared War (1990), Burning Paradise (1994), Full ALert (1997) When people speak glowingly of the Hong Kong New Wave or the great Hong Kong action directors, Ringo Lam is usually the first auteur left on the cutting room floor. Yeah, you've seen City on Fire and know it's great, but some of Lam's greatest films were also his biggest critical and commercial failures. Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon
Sep 22, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 251
THIS WEEK: Bad Cat (2016), First Person Shooter (2022), Cinnamon (2023) Brought to you by our patron poll, it's original films from the best damn streaming platform in the world. Will Tubi offer us the slick style of a Netflix production? Of course not. You will get a Turkish CGI Garfield that smokes and swears though so count your blessings. Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon
Sep 14, 2023•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 250
THIS WEEK: Cube (1997), Triangle (2009), Sphere (1998) We're not naming names, but someone with a toddler's brain took too many edibles and thought it would be a great idea to talk about movies about shapes. Or at least movies with shapes in the name? When was the last time you thought about Dustin Hoffman's performance in Sphere? Yeah, we never had either. Anyway, SHAPE CAST. Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon
Sep 08, 2023•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 249
THIS WEEK: Pompeii (2014), Hercules (2014), and Gods of Egypt (2016) We've looked at genre classics and Italian knockoffs, but where does the sword and sandals genre stand today? We're not sure, but let's pretend contemporary means "ten years ago" and we'll tell you. Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon
Aug 31, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 248
THIS WEEK: Ator The Fighting Eagle (1982), Ator 2: The Blade Master (1984), Alfonso Brescia's Iron Warrior (1987), Quest For The Mighty Sword (1990) When you're looking for greatness (or maybe just a cheap Italian knockoff of the Conan series) look no further than Joe D'Amato's Ator series. A master class in the power of muscular men in loin cloths interacting with live animals and abysmal special effects. Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon...
Aug 25, 2023•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 247
THIS WEEK: Jason and the Argonauts (1963), The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973), and Clash of the Titans (1981) Ray Harryhausen was the king of stop-motion animation, the inventor of countless special effect techniques like DYNAMATION, and the only man who can claim to have influenced Killer Instinct and Stephen Spielberg while paving the way for future innovators like Phil Tippet. He also made some damn good sword and sandals films. Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon...
Aug 17, 2023•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 246
THIS WEEK: Hercules in the Haunted World (1961), Hercules, Prisoner of Evil (1964), Hercules (1983) Hercules is the buffest hunk in classical Roman mythology so it makes sense that the Italians made roughly one billion cheap movies about him. We chose three. The best three? It's difficult to say, but we were able to squeeze in Mario Bava, Ruggero Deodato, and Luigi Cozzi, which is an all-star lineup by our standards. One of the movies has Lou Ferrigno throwing a bear into space too—the universal...
Aug 10, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 245
THIS WEEK: Conan the Barbarian (1982), Conan the Destroyer (1984), Red Sonja (1985) Like Christ before us, Optimism Vaccine is wandering the desert this month. Will we succumb to the temptations of the flesh? Almost certainly. Our journey begins with an able guide: Arnold Schwarzenegger. Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon
Aug 03, 2023•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 244
THIS WEEK: Who Wants to Kill Jessie (1966), Happy End (1967), Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea (1977) One film runs in reverse, one has a man who brings superheroes to life with his horny dreams, and a third has sort of sci-fi disco Hitler time travel thing going on. What do they all have in common? They're all Czech comedies in a Patreon-request episode (and they're damn good movies). Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon...
Jul 27, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 243
THIS WEEK: The Witches of Eastwick (1987), The Witches of Breastwick (2005), Popatopolis (2009) Jim Wynorski and George Miller have a lot in common when you really stop to think about it. Just a couple of guys making little movies about witches with a few stars in them. Although, only one of these filmmakers has worked with future president sex haver, Stormy Daniels. Tune in to find out which one! Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon...
Jul 20, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 242
THIS WEEK: Violent Cop (1989), Boiling Point (1990), A Scene at the Sea (1991) We take a look at Takeshi Kitano's transition from TV funnyman to impromptu director to one of the greatest filmmakers of the 1990s. Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon
Jul 14, 2023•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 241
THIS WEEK: Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), Cobra (1986) and Tombstone (1993) Depending on who you ask, George P. Cosmatos is either a master of blockbuster action and horror cinema or just a yes man for Sly Stallone. Only Optimism Vaccine knows the truth. Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon
Jul 06, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 240
THIS WEEK: Sonatine (1993), Kids Return (1996) and Hana-bi (1997) The third time is the charm in our exploration of Takeshi Kitano. We've finally ventured beyond his odd late career dalliances and into the 90s, when Kitano felt like the most vital filmmaker on the goddamn planet. Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon
Jun 29, 2023•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 239
THIS WEEK: Hellzapoppin' (1941) and Date Movie (2006) When a Patreon subscriber requests one of the best slapstick meta-comedy musicals of all time we are contractually obliged to pair it with one of the most maligned comedies of all time. If this were a video podcast you'd see us whipping ourselves like Flagellant Christians looking for penance. Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon
Jun 22, 2023•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 238
THIS WEEK: Outrage (2010), Beyond Outrage (2012), Outrage Coda (2017) Takeshi Kitano does an about-face from his self destructive introspection and returns to the world of stone-faced Yakuza violence and double crosses. Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon
Jun 15, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 237
THIS WEEK: Gone With The Pope (2010), Grizzly II: Revenge (2020), and New York Ninja (2021) We have plenty of stories of dusty 35mm film reels rescued from obscurity and finally given the reverence and restoration they deserve. It's far rarer when a film that was never completed is rescued and reconstructed. This week, we're looking at three unique approaches to film reconstruction. From Bob Murawski's slick editing and commitment to director Duke Mitchell's vision, to a three-decade-long journe...
Jun 08, 2023•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 236
THIS WEEK: Takeshis' (2005), Glory to the Filmmaker (2007), Achilles and the Tortoise (2008) What do you do when you’re Takeshi Kitano, Japan’s ubiquitous, wildly successful TV and film star, and you begin questioning your own value as an artist? You get introspective introspective and try your best to self-destruct in the most interesting way possible. Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon
Jun 01, 2023•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 235
THIS WEEK: The Hand (1981), Body Parts (1991), Idle Hands (1999) What do Oliver Stone, the guy who wrote The Hitcher and Timothée Chalamet’s uncle have in common? They’ve all made films about killer limbs. Is this loose theme enough to carry an episode? Maybe! Or maybe this was just an excuse to watch another movie starring Jeff Fahey. Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon
May 25, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 234
THIS WEEK: House (1985), House II: The Second Story (1987), House III: The Horror Show (1989), House IV (1992) You might remember House as the dusty VHS tape at your local video store with the creepy finger ringing a doorbell. Maybe you remember House II because of the brilliant subtitle, THE SECOND STORY. Perhaps you caught House III on TV years ago because you spent a solid 20 minutes believing it was Wes Craven's Shocker . And you absolutely don't remember House IV so don't try to act like yo...
May 18, 2023•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 233
THIS WEEK: Ringmaster (1998) and Citizen Verdict (2003) Jerry Springer survived the Holocaust and then grew up to become a sleazy, salacious gift who graced our TV screens and local multiplex/dvd bargain bin. Jerry taught us that you shouldn't pay for a prostitute with a personal check, but if you do, you can still be mayor of Cincinnati. He also taught us that it's cool to punch your mom in front of a live studio audience if she slept with your boyfriend. Most of all, he taught us that no matte...
May 11, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 232
THIS WEEK: Ghosthouse (1988), Witchery (1988), Beyond Darkness (1990) While noted coward and layabout Sam Raimi was busy not making Army of Darkness , the brave and noble Italian film industry stepped in with three Evil Dead sequels of their own. The La Casa series proves once and for all that with the power of Claudio Fragasso, Umberto Lenzi, Fabrizio Laurenti, and Joe D'Amato, anything is possible. Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon...
May 04, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 231
THIS WEEK: Fuck The Devil (1990), Frostbiter: Wrath of the Wendigo (1995), and Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell Adam Miros returns from his heroic effort to boost Renfield's box office by seeing the film 5 times a day and demands we watch the new Evil Dead film, Evil Dead Rise . Instead, OV takes on three Evil Dead knock-offs from around the globe: A german SOV amateur nightmare, A Japanese super-8 splatterfest, and a goofy Raimi-inspired horror flick shot in the snowy woods of Michigan. Suppo...
Apr 27, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 230
THIS WEEK: Black Christmas (1974), When A Stranger Calls (1979), When A Stranger Calls Back (1993) Jake just moved into a new house so it seems like a great time to remind him that psychopaths are always hiding in your attic so they can do terrible shit and then call you up and tell you about it. As a bonus, we got to watch a couple of classic horror flicks and a long gap made-for-tv sequel that is inexplicably great. Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon...
Apr 21, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 229
THIS WEEK: A Letter From Death Row (1998) and No Code of Conduct (1998) Wassa goin' on? Our Patrons have spoken. That's wassa goin' on. And by "spoken" we mean they voted in a cryptic poll that lead to us watching the films of Bret Michaels this week. From singing for the 80s hair metal band Poison to winning Celebrity Apprentice and starring in his own reality TV dating show, Bret Michaels has done it all. He even formed his own film production company with Charlie Sheen in the 90s to show the ...
Apr 13, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 228
THIS WEEK: Daisies (1966) and Freddy Got Fingered (2001) When it comes to films that are dialed in on extreme provocation and destruction, it's hard to beat Věra Chytilová's landmark Czech New Wave classic, Daises or Tom Green's unfairly maligned 2001 magnum opus, Freddy Got Fingered. One is a complex takedown of patriarchal norms and authoritarianism. The other has Rip Torn getting covered in elephant cum. Tune in to figure out which one is which! Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon...
Apr 06, 2023•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 227
THIS WEEK: One Cut of the Dead (2017) and Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (2020) Ace producer Colin steps in for Adam "The Absent Father" Miros this week as we cover a pair of single shot (or pseudo-single shot) micro-budget films from Japan: Junta Yamaguchi's criminally underseen Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes and Shin'ichirô Ueda's acclaimed meta-zombie comedy, One Cut of the Dead. Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/optimismvaccine...
Mar 30, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 226
THIS WEEK: Brainscan (1994), Virtual Seduction AKA Cybersex (1995), Cyber Vengeance (1995) What would you do if you had access to the power of true, immersive 90's VR? Would you call tech support to complain about a video game? Would you become a virtual prison guard? Would you try to sleep with your dead ex-wife? Or maybe you'd just hang out with Edward Furlong (hopefully not). The choice is yours to make. Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/optimismvaccine...
Mar 23, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 225
THIS WEEK: The Lawnmower Man (1992) and Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace AKA Lawnmower Man 2: Jobe's War (1996) It seemed downright irresponsible to engage in hollow awards discourse while the world is in the midst of a VR apocalypse, so we've instead opted to delve into the prophetic Books of Jobe in the hopes of uncovering the genesis of the sinister Net. Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/optimismvaccine...
Mar 17, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 224
