By the late ‘70s, Star Wars mania was so infectious, it jolted awake the slumbering, science-fiction-loathing Hollywood studios, as they scrambled to put together their own space-fantasy knockoffs or dust off dormant sci-fi IPs. Steven […]
NEW IN ACTION: JUNE 2021
Each month The Grumps bring you a selection of what’s new and now in the Action genre. Strap in for Round-house Round-Up! From Gimetzco!: Xtremo (2021) [new on netflix] With only a few films under […]
AUDIO FANFICTION: LIFE A QUARTER MILE AT A TIME
The Fambly is back with the ninth film in the main franchise and the 11th film that takes place in the Fast universe. In honor of the release of F9: The Fast Saga, today’s mixtape features 11 […]
OUT OF THE SKY: HOW ‘EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS’ (1956) CHANNELED WAR TRAUMA INTO CINEMATIC FANTASY
No single artifact is more synonymous with ‘50s sci-fi than the flying saucer. You see one and you can almost hear a theremin playing. And no single movie has done more to solidify the conventions […]
MIKE SNOONIAN DOESN’T LIKE TOY STORY 3
Grumpire 13, Toy Story 3 0 We’re excited to have our guest Mike Snoonian on the show this time not only because he is a warm, inviting, and analytical person in his own right, but […]
TONY RIPARETTI TALKS WORKING WITH ALBERT PYUN AND HIS SCORE FOR ‘CRAZY SIX’
Known best for his work scoring the majority of Albert Pyun’s films, Tony Riparetti has always blended elements of new wave synth and guitars, and soaring drums into his compositions for a signature sound integral […]
BHYH: LET’S GO SUMMER
BUT HAVE YOU HEARD is our occasional music recommendation column in which we dare to dive into the murky depths of Spotify, Bandcamp, Soundcloud, YouTube (and more) to bring you our most choice audio selections, […]
NEW IN ACTION: MAY 2021
Each month The Grumps bring you a selection of what’s new and now in the Action genre. Strap in for Round-house Round-Up! From Brian Miller: Crazy Samurai: 400 vs 1 (2020) [New on blu ray […]
‘AMER’ AS A REPRESENTATION OF OUR PSYCHOSEXUAL OBSESSION WITH DEATH
“Love, art thou sweet? then bitter death must be;Love, thou art bitter; sweet is death to me.O Love, if death be sweeter, let me die.” — Alfred, Lord Tennyson As a major motion picture, Amer […]
SIDESTROKE BUDDIES: On sexual naivete in Mario Bava’s ‘Hercules in the Haunted World’
“With the boys forget the girls / Boys with boys, girls get with the girls and / The boys with the boys / It’s only right and natural” — The Frogs It is amusing that […]
Brian De Palma’s Body Double: Shrewd Metatextual Masterpiece or Shameless Masturbatory Piece?
In a time when sexuality is frowned upon in a country already well-known for its puritanical attitudes, I’m shocked filmmaker Brian De Palma hasn’t been dragged away by an angry mob in a flurry of […]
‘BABY DOLL’: THE 1956 FILM for fans of JOHN WATERS
The first movie I intended to write about for this edition of “Weird Boners” was A Dirty Shame. I’ve been wanting to revisit John Waters’ films, and Tracey Ullman stuck a bottle of water up her […]
VICIOUSLY SEXY MERMAIDS: EROTIC VIOLENCE IN ‘THE LURE’
Before I dive headfirst into my Weird Boner selection (it’s about mermaids, so “dive”, get it?), I need to begin with my introduction to the phrase “weird boners” itself. I used to co-host a podcast […]
BE FRUITFUL: ‘SPECIES’ (1995) TACKLES THE SCARY AND THE SEXY OF (IN)HUMAN REPRODUCTION
Given that it’s ostensibly what sex is for, it’s surprising how the act of impregnation is the source of so much psychosexual drama. I know for most men, the thought of knocking someone up you […]
“OBSESSED WITH COMPUTERS”: THE SHATTERED MIND OF LILLIAN NEBBS IN ‘EDGE OF THE AXE’
“Stop it, Lillian! I’m not Charlie! You are!” On September 15th, 1989, Overseas FilmGroup released Edge of the Axe: a gory, Spanish-American slasher about townspeople in a small community called Paddock County, enjoying their summer […]