We start the podcast this week chatting about a recent movie marathon Adam hosted for his family, and the screening of three classic 80s movies that fit well together. We also talk about the new Strandbeest exhibit in San Francisco’s Exploratorium museum, and Adam’s meeting with artist Theo Jansen!
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The C3PO of dogs! Hah!
Excellent pronunciation of “strandbeest” guys!!
Cheers from the Netherlands.
Looking forward to the strandbeest build! That is going to be very interesting.
I didn’t know that the pvc pipe that Jansen uses for the strandbeests is not readily available in the US, since it is such a common material in the Netherlands and very cheap too. From what I remember it’s less than €0.50 per metre, so it’s a great material for making. When I was a kid we used to make blowpipe/blowguns (dutch: blaaspijp) out of it and shoot berries or paper darts with it. They also make bent pieces, so we got pretty interesting shapes of blowguns with it.
Two other good Karl Urban movies: Chronicles of Riddick, and Doom. Okay, maybe “good” is an exaggeration.
Oh man, we used to make the most bad ass looking dart guns with PVC pipe. We were a menace, running around the neighborhood shooting paper darts (rolled from TV guide magazines) all over the place! 😀
Never at people, though. We must have been very annoying, but we were responsible…
Also, if you guys really want to commit to the Dutch pronunciation, you should start using the correct plural, which is StrandbeestEN not StrandbeestS 🙂
Don’t forget RED and bourne supremacy
When are we going to see Tested-CON. I feel like it’s something you are naturally moving towards. Builds and props in the day with related movies and guests in the evenings.
Pretty much a complete rundown of my favorite movies/actors.
80’s/early 90’s movies are great, lots of good ones left to watch.
Tango & Cash / Lethal Weapon / Point Break (I know this is an early 90’s one but great all the same)
Bull Durham / Field of Dreams / For the Love of the Game (1999 but it sure rounds out the Kevin Costner Baseball trilogy)
Commando / Running Man / Total Recall
Big Trouble in Little China / The Golden Child
If you’re going to stick with early 80s movies and do early Arnie, then John Milius’ 1982 Conan The Barbarian should be at the top of the pile.
Sure, it has a lot of unknown actors delivering cheesy dialog poorly, but it is somehow greater than the sum of its parts. Due entirely to Basil Poledouris’ masterpiece of a film score. If you could mute the dialog track the score would be all you need to tell the story.
Then there are the practical effects – some are lackluster, but Thorgrim’s giant snake is still impressive.
I love pairing movies, here’s a few 80’s pics I enjoy:
Beverly Hills Cop with Fletch add in the sequels and make a day of it.
Better Off Dead with One Crazy Summer
Better Off Dead with Hotdog
Scanners with Videodrome
Gremlins 1, Ghoulies 1 Critters 1 and Tremors great 80’s practical creatures
Once Bitten, Fright Night 1, and Lost Boys
Fright Night and 976 Evil.
Creepshow with Cats Eye with Twilight Zone
Nightmare on Elmstreet with Hellraiser 1
Meatballs with Wet Hot American Summer add in Moonrise Kingdom for a run of several decades of the genre.
Vacation with Summer Rental
Uncle Buck with Adventures in Babysitting
Police Academy with Armed and Dangerous
Spaceballs with Space Pirates
Weird Science with Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure
Cannonball Run with Smokey and the Bandit
ok,,, I could probably do this forever
as a electrician and someone who has been in the usa lots of times i’m surprised you don’t use these tubes to put cables in. how do you put cables in the wall then?
Also, can’t wait to see the bike adam is going to make.
I got curious about Steve Rogers’ different lists and looked it up myself. Here it is, to save some googling:
http://imgur.com/a/qM5iw
Interesting you mentioned Cobra, it is said that was the script to Beverley Hills Cop before Eddie Murphey was cast.
The Thing, Directors cut of Alien, Outland with Sean Connery
In my house, when my kid was old enough we did a grouping of quintessential 80’s action comedies.
Remo Williams
Buckaroo Banzai
Big Trouble in Little China
Escape From New York, The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China – Russell and Carpenter
Red Heat, Night Hawks, The French Connection – fear of foreigners
Blue Thunder, Firefox, Stealth – fears of future tech
Top Gun, Days of Thunder – basically the same story
Beverley Hills Cop 2, Lethal Weapon 2, Another 48 Hours – buddy cops
Black Rain, Blade Runner, Alien – in that order or reverse, it’s like travelling through time.
Terminator, Robocop
Outland, 2010
3 Days of the Condor, Day of the Jackal, Odessa File
Soylent Green, Planet of the Apes, Omega Man
I saw the Strandbeest exhibit here in Chicago and it was amazing.
So stoked to hear that you’re building your own, Adam!
What about a strandbeest that creates 3d printed strandbeest
Here’s the Captain America notebook differences. Had no idea!
http://comicsalliance.com/captain-america-the-winter-soldier-movie-international-list-differences/
I would have liked to see
the garage sale for Premium members
Yeah, so true about needing limitations. I think better work is always produced within constraints.
I’d include the original Star Wars in this idea.
Brian Eno talks about this sort of idea with music as well: http://blog.andreaskoller.com/2013/05/brian-eno-on-the-importance-of-limits/
Die Hard and The Fugitive I are a good pair to go for.
hmm, whenever i curate any kind of combination, i get the feeling i’m only able to produce somewhat off-kilter stuff. here goes:
the archosaurs escape from ny & die hard
two ends of a spectrum, or not the duellists & conan the barbarian
and if i’m allowed to go a little off the 80s action genre:
war madness the deer hunter, platoon, apocalypse now (oh boy, if you wanted to fit these in one evening, it’s gonna be exhausting, but i get the feeling that apocalypse now profits from watching it with a somewhat pre-mushed head)
that brand of dark fantasy labyrinth, legend, the dark crystal
and also a film that held up better than anticipated: teenage mutant ninja turtles
Just an idea:
It was mentioned before, the idea of Adam providing commentary for movies.
I would love to have Adam choose a movie a month to do that. It would be very interesting to get his insight on how intricate iconic scenes were made (or, perhaps, how simply). Perhaps, Adam could instruct viewers to pause the movie to give himself more time to elucidate.
For your action movie-thon, you can’t do better then going straight to the source… Shane Black.
Cherry pick his filmography to not only get the best action films from the 80’s but you also see the arc of him growing as a screenwriter and artist and see the ideas he keeps revisiting and refining.
Lethal Weapon, Lethal Weapon 2, Last Boy Scout, Long Kiss Goodnight, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and yes, even Last Action Hero which, despite it’s many faults is still entertaining and an insightful look into Shane deconstructing the tropes and genres he created.
Don’t forget he also acted in the original Predator so add that to the list too.
I didn’t realize how much of a fan I am of his work until I saw that he was the thread that runs through so many of my favorite movies.
In the US, electrical lines in buildings must be carried inside a grounded metal conduit because of the building codes. They’re usually thin galvanized steel pipe. I believe it’s for fire safety, but you’d have to ask an actual electrician to be sure; it also serves as a faraday cage, at any rate.
As a Gen-X compatriot, I would also suggest film pairings that track an actors’ arc across Several of their films. For example…
Rutger Hauer (The Hitcher, Ladyhawke, and no, not that Ridley Scott vehicle he’s known for. Rather, pick Nighthawks with Sylvester Stallone, or perhaps a B-movie entry with Blind Fury).
Include Christopher Walken
Gary Busey (don’t laugh, there’s three good films out there, including Big Wednesday, the Buddy Holly Story, and others, take your pick, I won’t IMDB you to death).
Maybe a Golan Globus fest? Some great stuff there…
Chuck Norris (Octogon, Lone Wolf McQuade, Missing in Action -such good 80’s schlock)
After swimming through the 80’s, I’d go to the 70’s and pair theme pieces (Norman Jewison’s Rollerball, Logan’s Run, Woody Allen’s Sleeper).
Yeah, I could do this for days.
Jeremiah Johnson, The Missouri Breaks, Little Big Man. The ideas abound.
Masters of the Universe, Flash Gordon and maybe Conan and/or Beastmaster. I absolutely love 80s sci fi ridiculousness.
Another great piece of Karl Urban work is the Lonsome Dove prequel ‘Comanche Moon’ , together with Steve Zahn, they both absolutely nail their characters.
man, i sit down and watch Jeremiah Johnsn at least once a year.