Everything Coming to Now Playing Podcast in June 2020
Having wrapped its Viral Outbreak retrospective, a last minute programming shift prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, Now Playing Podcast is easing back into familiar territory in the month of June. While theaters remain closed, at least until Christopher Nolan’s Tenet arrives in July, Now Playing is continuing its long-running Stephen King retrospective, plotting an “escape” with filmmaker John Carpenter, launching a new, long in-demand retrospective, and celebrating its 1,000th episode on June 23.
And that’s just the half of it. Here’s everything coming to Now Playing Podcast in June 2020.
June 2 – The Dark Half
Stephen King properties have been a fixture in Hollywood since the 1970s, but the author’s name alone didn’t always guarantee big box office. Exhibit A: 1993’s The Dark Half, based on King’s 1989 novel. Even with Night of the Living Dead director George A. Romero at the helm, this story of an author terrorized by his evil doppelganger failed to find a wide audience.
June 5 – Candyman
Now Playing’s 2020 Spring/Summer donation drive continues with the long-requested Candymanretrospective. The series, which began in 1992, adapts the character of Clive Barker’s The Forbidden and features horror icon Tony Todd in his star-making turn as a murdered 19th century artist who returns as a ghost to haunt and kill those who say his name five times in the mirror. Bernard Rose directed the first Candyman, which also stars Virginia Madsen, Xander Berkeley, and Vanessa Williams.
June 5 – Now Playing Summer Movie Series: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Musical? Comedy? Fantasy? Horror? Since 1971, fans have adored Gene Wilder’s performance of Willy Wonka in the adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, while also questioning whether this beloved “children’s film” has a deeper, more sinister message. On June 5, Now Playing Podcast will host a live Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory watch party on Hot Mic. Listeners can download the app, signup with invite code NOWPLAYING, and chat along with the hosts as they stream the film on Netflix. Every film in the Now Playing Summer Movie Series is chosen by one of the show’s hosts, with Willy Wonka chosen by Brock.
June 9 – Escape from New York
In 1981, filmmaker John Carpenter unveiled his vision of a dystopian future in which America’s largest city is transformed into the nation’s largest prison; a place that only Kurt Russell’s eyepatch-wearing antihero Snake Plissken can penetrate after the president’s plane goes down inside the walls. Escape from New York remains one of Carpenter’s most acclaimed films – one that Now Playing Podcast listeners have wanted the hosts to discuss for years. Thanks to the support of one listener, Now Playing will review Escape from New York and its sequel, Escape from L.A., on June 9 and 16, respectively.
Meanwhile, over at sister podcast Books & Nachos, listeners can get even more Snake Plissken with reviews of the 1981 Escape from New York novelization, as well as the graphic novels based on the film.
June 12 – Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh
The sequel to Candyman moves the action to New Orleans and further explores the origins of Tony Todd’s villain, with gruesome flashbacks depicting how the character ended up with a hook for a right hand. Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh was not as financially successful as its predecessor, but the sequel has endured and received praise for adding sympathetic elements to Candyman’s backstory.
June 16 – Escape from L.A.
Snake Plissken returns for a new escape, this one set 15 years after the events of Escape from New York. John Carpenter’s sequel feels a lot more like a remake in a different city, and Escape from L.A. remains a polarizing entry for fans who disliked the poor special effects and campy, comedic elements of the plot. The June 16 episode marks the first time Now Playing examines a film Carpenter made in the 90s, a period in which he struggled to expand his audience with films such as In the Mouth of Madness, Village of the Damned, and Memoirs of an Invisible Man.
June 19 – Candyman: Day of the Dead
A second, low-budget sequel to Candyman was released in 1999, starring Baywatch actress Donna D’Errico and A Nightmare on Elm Street alum Nick Corri alongside Tony Todd. The film was not well received, and the character went into hibernation for the next two decades. The Candyman: Day of the Dead review will be the penultimate entry in Now Playing’s Candyman retrospective, with the series going on hiatus until the Jordan Peele-produced sequel hits theaters on September 25.
June 19 – Now Playing Summer Movie Series: Jakob’s Pick
Now Playing Podcast returns to Hot Mic on June 19 with another live watch party. This time, Jakob makes his pick, inviting fellow hosts and listeners to join the fun. Download the app, signup with invite code NOWPLAYING, and chat along with the hosts as watch.
June 23 – Now Playing’s 1,000 Episode
On June 23, Now Playing Podcast celebrates a milestone 13 years in the making. The podcast’s 1000th review – the title of which won’t be revealed until release – will give the hosts and listeners a chance to celebrate how far Now Playing has come since its first review of Spider-Man 3, released on May 4, 2007.
June 30 – The Hunt for Red October
What’s this? A new Now Playing Podcast retrospective? For years, listeners have been asking for the show to explore the film adaptations of Tom Clancy’s spy novels. With the upcoming release of Without Remorse, the first Clancy adaptation that doesn’t revolve around Jack Ryan, Now Playing will oblige. The retrospective begins with a review of The Hunt for Red October, starring Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin, on June 30. Future episodes in the series include Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, The Sum of All Fears, and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.
June Patron Show: Real Genius
It’s finally happening. For years, Now Playing Podcast creator and host Arnie Carvalho has mentioned his love of 1985’s Real Genius on the show, and at last, the film will be reviewed during the month of June. Real Genius is a Podbean patron exclusive review, chosen by a Now Playing Podcast listener.
John Carpenter’s “The Fog” Getting a 4K Theatrical Re-Release
As Halloween fans wait patiently for this year’s John Carpenter-endorsed sequel, word comes that a bonafide Carpenter original is coming back to the big screen with a full 4K restoration.
Rialto Pictures will showcase the director’s Halloween follow-up, 1980’s The Fog, in a limited run beginning October 26 at New York’s Metrograph theater, Landmark’s Nuart in Los Angeles, and The Music Box Theatre in Chicago.
For those who missed the film when it first screened in theaters, and for those who only know of the its much-maligned 2005 remake, The Fog stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Atkins, Hal Holbrook, and Janet Leigh as residents of a coastal California town that is besieged by the titular fog, which carries with it a crew of ghosts bent on revenge for a 100-year-old sleight.
Carpenter filmed the picture for $1.1 million, and it grossed more than $21 million in theaters.
Following its October 26 re-release, Rialto Pictures will screen The Fog in select Alamo Drafthouse and other specialty theaters.
The announcement comes on the heels of Now Playing Podcast’s planned Fall 2018 Donation Drive, which includes The Fog as part of Jamie Lee Curtis-centric “Scream Queen” retrospective.
‘Halloween’ 40th Anniversary Convention Announced
Halloween fans crossing off the days until October 19 need to circle a few more dates on their calendars.
Longtime series producer Trancas International Films announced on Monday that the 40th anniversary Halloween convention, “Forty Years of Terror,” is set for Oct. 12-14 at Pasadena Convention Center, just blocks from where John Carpenter’s original film was filmed in 1978.
The fourth official gathering of fans, cast, and crew since 2003, “Forty Years of Terror” is set to be the biggest convention in series history, coming one week before the eleventh film – a direct sequel to Halloween ‘78, and again starring Jamie Lee Curtis – bows in theaters.
Pasadena has hosted the convention – celebrated every five years – since 2003. For the 2018 show, Trancas and fan favorite con promoters HorrorHound will take over an expanded area of the Convention Center for, “more exciting vendors – including notable Halloween licensees – and a number of not-to-be missed events, such as a special Horror’s Hallowed Grounds filming location tour, special gallery offerings, cast Q&As, exclusive H40 and Halloween merchandise offerings” and professional photo ops.
Guest announcements for the 40th anniversary convention will trickle out in the coming weeks, although fans will focused on two names: Jamie Lee Curtis and John Carpenter. While neither appeared at 2013’s “35 Years of Terror,” it would not surprise anyone to see the pair on stage as part of the promotional blitz for the upcoming sequel.
The nine years between 2018’s Halloween and the last film released in the series – Rob Zombie’s Halloween 2 – is the largest gap between entries in the 40-year-old franchise. Historically, fans could always count on a new film within five years of the last.
“Forty Years of Terror” marks the first convention held during the year of a new Halloween release. Previous conventions in 2013, 2008, and 2003 occurred in “off” years, but have been well attended by stars of the series.
Ticket prices (including VIP packages) will be announced “within the month,” according to Trancas, on the Halloween 40 website.
Questions for the new ‘Halloween’ and 6 trailer Easter eggs to look for
By eschewing the nine(!) sequels separating John Carpenter’s Halloween from the 2018 follow-up, the latter group of filmmakers (which includes writer/director David Gordon Green, writer Danny McBride, producer Jason Blum, and Carpenter himself in an executive producer role) have freed themselves from four decades of the slasher series’ tangled canon.
Audiences are simply asked to forget the events of Rob Zombie’s 2007 remake (and its lesser sequel), the “Cult of Thorn” arc that link Halloween’s 4-6, and even the well-received 20th anniversary Halloween H20, itself a sequel that ignored the events of four prior films.
That’s not easy to do, though it should be noted that fans have likely erased their memories of H20’s follow-up, Halloween: Resurrection, in which series villain Michael Myers faced off with a karate-kicking Busta Rhymes.
Yet, by making the new Halloween a direct follow-up to the 1978 original, Green and company are raising questions that will deserve answers once the film bows on October 19.
Chief among them: How was Michael Myers captured following his disappearance at the end of the first film? For those who haven’t gone back recently, in the climactic moments of Carpenter’s Halloween, Myers was shot by his psychiatrist, Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasance), and fell from the second-floor balcony of a home in which he’d cornered Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode.
However, when Loomis goes to inspect the body he finds Myers gone, setting up the first sequel, which picks up at that very moment.
The 2018 Halloween trailer opens with a pair of investigative journalists visiting Myers in a prison/asylum. How he ended up there? Only the filmmakers know, for now.
On that note, how will the sequel explain Loomis’ fate? Pleasance’s character is referenced in the trailer, and if he wasn’t killed at the end of 1981’s Halloween II (again, it’s been wiped from canon), the new film should reference what became of Loomis.
Judging by the trailer’s approach to Laurie Strode – she’s armed and waiting for Myers to escape – it appears the one-time “final girl” has assumed Loomis’ role as the series’ Van Helsing, the hunter/harbinger, prepared to face her mortal enemy while warning the rest of fictional Haddonfield, Illinois of their approaching doom.
For fans who still hold the sequels (or at least, some of them) close to their hearts, they can take comfort in the fact that this new Halloween is peppered with homages and Easter eggs they’ll surely recognize, if they’re paying attention.
Here are six that stood out from the first trailer:
Courtesy: Universal Pictures
1. Wandering Patients
Myers’ escape in the sequel is the result of a yet-to-be explained bus accident. The trailer shows a family in their car braking suddenly when the killer and his fellow asylum patients are wandering in the road.
The scene bears resemblance to the opening of the 1978 film, in which Pleasance’s Loomis and Nancy Stephens’ Nurse Chambers come upon the escaped patients of Smith’s Grove Sanitarium.
2. Sibling Rivalry
While Laurie Strode’s connection to Michael Myers initially felt forced in the first Halloween sequel – the two are brother and sister, with Laurie put up for adoption after he committed murder as a 6-year-old – the familial bond went on to become a critical thread in chapters 4-8 and Zombie’s films.
In the new trailer, a character hints at the relation between killer and survivor, until Strode’s granddaughter, Allyson (Andi Matichak) responds, “that’s something that people made up.”
Unless there’s a curveball coming in the finished film, this is just another way Halloween’s writers are tipping their caps to the series’ fans.
Courtesy: Universal Pictures
3. Restroom Horror
In the trailer, Myers is seen terrorizing one of the investigative journalists inside a gas station restroom. Fans of the series will immediately be reminded of a scene in Halloween H20 in which Myers stalks a mother and daughter in a restroom, only to steal the keys to their car.
The scene could also be a reference to Zombie’s Halloween, in which Myers acquires his familiar coveralls in a to-the-death fight with Ken Foree’s Joe Grizzly.
4. Watch Where You’re Going
Another trailer callback to the first Halloween occurs when a pair of trick-or-treaters run into Myers on the sidewalk. The scene in the trailer (at 2:00) even makes use of Carpenter’s original score, and mirrors the moment in 1978’s Halloween when young bully Ritchie Castle (Mickey Yablans) runs into Myers.
A similar scene occurs in Halloween II when a young boy carrying a boom box (Lance Warlock) accidentally crosses paths with Myers.
Courtesy: Universal Pictures
5. Ghosting
One of the iconic scenes in Carpenter’s Halloween sees Myers approaching his victim in the guise of her boyfriend, wearing a “ghost sheet” with two eyeholes cut out.
The trailer shows a similarly dressed shape waiting in a chair as Will Patton’s cop surveys a bedroom. We’ll have to wait until October 19 to see who’s under the sheet.
6. Silver Shamrock is Back!
The decision to abandon the Michael Myers character and go with a brand new storyline for 1982’s Halloween III: Season of the Witch is one that flummoxed critics and audiences back in the day.
Those in line to see babysitters stalked by a killer were instead treated to a somewhat incomprehensible plot to murder the children of the world using Silver Shamrock brand Halloween masks fitted with microchips and pieces of Stonehenge.
It’s a Twilight Zone-meets-Body Snatchers plot that never quite comes together and derailed the franchise just as Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street would begin to dominate the 80s slasher scene.
Decades later, Season of the Witch has found its cult audience, and fans looking closely at the just-released trailer will notice — for a split second at 2:07 — children running in fear wearing the classic Silver Shamrock masks.
What other Easter Eggs did you spot in the trailer? Let us know and revisit the series with Now Playing Podcast’s Halloween retrospective.
Now Playing Podcast to Deliver Summer of Sci-fi
Now Playing Podcast announced its Spring 2016 Donation Series last week, a lineup of film reviews bookended by two highly requested comedy franchises along with a motley crew of cult classics from the summer of 1986. The latter series, dubbed “Sci-Fi of Summer 1986” should appeal to some of the show’s longtime fans who have been lobbying for those films that they may have missed in theaters but grew up watching on USA “Saturday Nightmares” or Joe Bob Briggs’ “Monstervision.”
As is tradition, donors will get to choose between Silver, Gold, and Platinum tiers.
Silver
The Silver Level series ($10 or more) features Will Smith in his prime, headlining Now Playing Podcast reviews of the Men In Black franchise, along with Independence Day and its upcoming sequel.
Gold
“Invaders from Mars” ad from 1986.
The Gold Level series ($25 or more) is where things get really interesting. For the first time, the Now Playing hosts will dissect a series of non-franchise releases with no connection to one another: Critters, Tobe Hooper’s Invaders From Mars, SpaceCamp, Labyrinth (starring Jennifer Connelly and the late, great David Bowie), John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China, and Night of the Creeps. While none were blockbusters in 1986, they still have their fans, most notably Big Trouble and Creeps, which listeners have long requested Now Playing review.
While there is no official Carpenter retrospective, the Big Trouble review will check off another title in the director’s filmography. The Now Playing hosts have previously reviewed Halloween, The Thing, Prince of Darkness, and They Live, with Christine somewhere on the show’s future calendar as part of the Stephen King retrospective. We can all cross our fingers for The Fog or Escape from New York someday, but in the meantime it’s more than a gift to have the director writing the foreword to Now Playing’s first book, “Underrated Movies We Recommend.”
Platinum
When the summer is in full swing, the donation series will focus on one of the greatest comedies of all-time, its pretty great sequel, and the controversial remake/reboot that arrives July 15. A Platinum Level donation of $35 or more will deliver all of the aforementioned reviews, and the Ghostbusters retrospective. The director of Bridesmaids and Spy helms the latest incarnation of the New York-based paranormal investigators and eliminators, and following a mixed reception to the first trailer, it will be fascinating to see if this new Ghostbusters can amass the kind of fan following the first films earned.
The Now Playing Podcast Spring Donation Drive runs from April 1 to July 31, with the first review scheduled for release on April 22. Sign up now to get all of these bonus shows!
Halloween 35th Anniversary Blu-Ray: The Night HE Looks Better Than Ever!
Review copy provided courtesy of Anchor Bay
If Psycho is the granddaddy of the slasher film, Halloween is the father of modern horror. While the 1970s had its fair share of horror films, including The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Black Christmas in ‘74, Carrie in ‘76, Dawn of the Dead in ‘78 and so many more, it was Halloween’s critical and box office success that put a new spotlight on horror cinema.
For many the Halloween season is a time to rewatch Halloween the film, and this year you can watch John Carpenter’s classic like never before. On Tuesday, September 24th, Anchor Bay releases the 35th Anniversary Edition of Halloween on Blu-ray.
Halloween has been released to home video many times. I personally have bought DVDs of the original cut, the longer cut with the TV footage added, the 25th Anniversary Edition DVD, and the original 2007 Blu-ray release. Given that I’ve spent so much money on Halloween, and that I already owned it on Blu-ray, I was skeptical that another release would be worth the purchase. It felt like another “double dip” Blu-ray release.
I quickly learned how wrong I was when I looked at the disc in person. Bound in a gorgeous, gold embossed DVD case, the video boasts an all new commentary with Carpenter and star Jamie Lee Curtis. There is also a new documentary following Curtis as she makes a rare appearance at a fan convention. These are great new bonus features for fans of the film. Additionally, as bonus features, you get an older featurette and the extra footage shot for the TV release.
I rarely find bonus features worth the repurchase of an entire movie, so despite the quality of these new additions I was still unmoved that a new copy was worth a buy. Special features, commentaries, these are items I watch once at most; it’s the film itself that gets played time and again in my home theater and which motivates my purchases. So could this new release impress me enough, especially since I already own a copy of Halloween in 1080p?
The answer is an unequivocal “YES!” With the 35th Anniversary Blu-ray you can see this horror classic at home like never before. I have seen Halloween in theaters at conventions and in the above listed DVDs and Blu-rays. With all of those in mind, I say without a doubt it has never looked better to me than it does on this video release. The picture is crisp and the motion smooth, as I have come to expect from high-grade Blu-rays. But often on even quality Blu-ray releases I’ve noticed colors that are too saturated or a picture that has had too much grain removed, giving the entire film a blurry quality. None of those earmarks of Blu-ray audience pandering are on this disc. This Blu-ray contains a brand new transfer of the film overseen by Dean Cundy, the movie’s original Director of Photography. You are now, for the first time, able to see this movie the way Cundy envisioned it as it was shot, and the difference is marked. The colors are more muted than I’ve come to expect, and the result fits both that 70s vibe as well as the film’s atmospherem. The color timing was a point of contention for many with the original Halloween Blu-ray release, and Anchor Bay has certainly corrected it here. Anchor Bay did this film a great service in hiring Cundy to oversee the video.
Additionally the audio is perfect, with a mono score for the purists, as well as a 7.1 TrueHD lossless soundtrack. Carpenter’s haunting piano and synth score has never sounded as good as it does here, and the movie audio is rich and immersing. The effects are a bit center-channel heavy, which is common for upmixes of older films, but it’s a great effort for those of us who prefer multi-channel audio.
All that said, there are a few areas where I wish this release was beefed up. There are many bonus features that were released previously, including older commentaries and documentaries, that are not included here. As such, for bonus feature collectors, this release is not a one-stop shop. Additionally, the bonus made-for-TV footage is presented in an ugly DVD resolution with colors much more saturated than the actual film. I would have liked to see the TV footage given the same treatment as the movie and a branching option available to watch both the movie’s extended cut, with those scenes reintegrated, as well as the original theatrical cut. But while these are features that would have been nice to have, they are not requirements. As I’m certain this is not the last time HE will come home on video, perhaps these bonuses are being held back for a future release.
But as stated, the true value of this disc, the “feature” I’ll revisit again and again, is the movie, and now owning this disc this is the only version of Halloween I will ever rewatch. The transfer, the audio, the overall production values, are exceptions. So Trick-or-Treat yourself to this movie, available today.
As for the movie itself, you can hear Stuart, Arnie, and Brock review Carpenter’s original Halloween as well as all the sequels, remakes, and sequels to remakes in the franchise, in the archives at NowPlayingPodcast.com
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