Shows
Multiplex OverthrusterValley GirlBehold the birth of the cinematic icon that is Nicolas Cage. Bask in the glory of his historic first on-screen freak-out. Witness his wondrous weirdness expertly unleashed by director Martha Coolidge, who made the most of a tiny budget, tight schedule, and tepid script to deliver a (sub-)cultural landmark by way of the Sherman Oaks Galleria. This week, Javi, Paul - and for sure, like totally, Producer Brad - pop their pastel polo collars as they venture valiantly into the strange suburban vortex of vapidity that is VALLEY GIRL. Demure Julie (Deborah Foreman) falls for pseudo-punk Randy (Cage...2025-08-101h 53
Multiplex OverthrusterRisky Business: Summer of '83Put on your Ray-Bans, rev up the Porsche, and crank up the Tangerine Dream! It’s time for the movie that made Tom Cruise a star, which somehow Javi and Paul had never seen! Listen as they, with the help of ever-patient Producer Brad, get past their preconceived notions and are rewarded with a teen sex comedy that has more in common with Blue Velvet than Porky’s. Suburban high school senior Joel (Cruise), afflicted with anxiety about getting into Princeton and left home alone by his materialistic parents, is prodded by devil-on-his-shoulder pal Miles (Curtis Armstrong) down the path...2025-08-022h 10
Multiplex OverthrusterKrull: Summer of '83What is Krull? Who is Krull? Where is Krull? Why is Krull? These are all time-honored questions asked by no one - except those of us who have experienced the fantasy sci-fi would-be saga that is Krull. Join Paul, Javi, and the stalwart Producer Brad as they journey through space (they think) and time (maybe?) to experience the (it thinks) epic battle between a princess, her prince, and their rag-tag misfit army of actors who would go on to do far better work (Liam Neeson? What are you doing here?) against an intergalactic dictator (we guess) and his army...2025-07-241h 34
Multiplex OverthrusterFlashdance: Summer of '83Does it get any more ’80s than Flashdance? Luminous Jennifer Beals is a welder by day who dances at a bar by night, but must conquer imposter syndrome to achieve her ballerina dreams. It’s sort of a music video-esque Disney musical crossed with an inspirational sports drama (a la Rocky or Rudy), yet somehow Javi and Paul had never seen it, much to Producer Brad’s amusement. Join them in a world made of steel, made of stone (aka Pittsburgh) as they bask in the glory of Giorgio Morodor’s memorable music, wrestle with the film’s male-gaze-fantasy-meets-aspirational-female-empowerment dichotomy...2025-07-212h 10
Multiplex OverthrusterStaying Alive: Summer of '83John Travolta returns as sweaty strutting disco stud Tony Manero in this misguided sequel to Saturday Night Fever co-written and directed by… Sylvester Stallone? Tony makes a brazen leap from Brooklyn to Bizarro World Broadway (and from the ’70s to the ’80s) but soon finds himself not in a love triangle, but a love pentagon as he vies for the lead role in a dizzyingly demented Dante-meets-disco dance revue provocatively titled Satan’s Alley (not to be confused with Tropic Thunder’s monks-in-forbidden-love fake film). Javi, Paul and - divinely - Producer Brad embark on their most chaotic episode yet as the...2025-07-101h 55
Multiplex OverthrusterSuperman III: Summer of '83You’ll believe a man can sigh as Supergeeks Javi, Paul and - indestructibly - Producer Brad discover the third time’s not the charm with Superman III, though it does offer one unforgettable high-concept scene (and a truly funny setup and payoff). Our hosts boldly bend format this episode by picking three scenes each to examine (one of which may or may not involve bowling vandalism via Super-sneeze) as they struggle to maintain their sanity against the artificial Kryptonite of this threequel’s seemingly never-ending inanities. In stark contrast to the wonders that Rocky III rewarded us with by add...2025-07-031h 37
Multiplex OverthrusterStroker Ace: Summer of '83When Paul, Javi, and the audacious Producer Brad see a great movie, the result is a podcast full of mirthful entertainment… but when it’s a movie that crashes and burns, the result is UNMITIGATED SNARK GREATNESS. What happens when Burt Reynolds and Hal Needham, the star and director of the hit films “Smokey and the Bandit” and “Cannonball Run”, reunite for a putative romantic comedy about a deviant NASCAR driver and a church lady turned fried chicken chain ad exec? Our horrified hosts weave a wonderment of wordplay, yet still somehow manage to run out words for “atrocity.” Loni Anderson, J...2025-06-261h 32
Multiplex OverthrusterTrading Places: Summer of '83What happens when screen legends Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche play obscenely wealthy commodities brokers who wager on an insidious, impromptu nature-vs.-nurture experiment that subjects an unwitting Eddie Murphy and Dan Ackroyd to radical reversals of fortune? You get an ’80s screwball comedy update of The Prince and the Pauper that also showcases the great Jamie Lee Curtis and Denholm Elliott, along with a host of amusing cameos by the likes of Al Franken, Bo Diddley, and Giancarlo Esposito, all set to an Elmer Bernstein score built on the shoulders of Mozart. And it’s a Christmas movie! (Kind...2025-06-192h 20
Zombie StrainsMultiplex Overthruster: PoltergeistMultiplex Overthruster is a podcast dedicated to the summer movie's of the 80s. It is hosted by Javier Grillo-Marxuach (writer of Lost, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, The Witcher, and creator of The Middleman), Paul Alvarado-Dykstra (co-founder of Fantastic Fest, the leading genre film festival in the US), and produced by Zombie Strain's Producer Brad. Enjoy this episode on Poltergeist, the 1982 film directed by Tobe Hooper and produced by Steven Spielberg. This ingenious phantasmagoria features beautiful analog VFX wizardry by ILM, a refreshingly functional family, and one of the greatest expository monologues in genre cinema.2025-06-181h 33
Multiplex OverthrusterBlue Thunder: Summer of '83What happens when you put the director of Saturday Night Fever together with the star of All That Jazz? Sadly, it’s Blue Thunder. No it’s not Tropic Thunder, and it’s not Thunder From Down Under. It’s Blue Thunder. What is Blue Thunder? A depressed meteorological phenomenon? Nope, it’s a weaponized high tech surveillance helicopter that could be out there right now, surveilling you with weaponized high tech or something. It could have been a paranoid thriller from the 70s - a timely warning about the danger of blurring the line between the police and the milita...2025-06-121h 51
Multiplex OverthrusterOctopussy: Summer of '83For decades, Javi has maintained that Octopussy is a vastly underrated and quite entertaining entry into the James Bond oeuvre… now listen as this belief crashes in a malestrom of flaming regret as Paul and the ever patient and understanding Producer Brad bear witness to the end of one of Javi’s most cherished delusions! Octopussy may have been billed as “James Bond’s all time action high” but in this clear-eyed rewatch, the Multiplex Overthruster crew finds that surviving the experience of watching Octopussy may be as lethal, if not much more lethal, than James Bond’s travails as he tries...2025-06-052h 29
Multiplex OverthrusterWarGames: Summer of '83SHALL WE PLAY A GAME? The Multiplex Overthruster crew has faced many dangers - wrathful space dictators, power-hungry fantasy wizards, horny suburban teenagers - but now they face their greatest challenge! Is it the artificial intelligence playing the titular War Games? Is it the military industrial complex that kept them in fear of the mushroom cloud for their entire childhoods… well, yes, it’s those things but it’s also (dun-dun-dun) NOSTALGIA! Marvel as Javi rediscovers his love for a pre-internet world that has long passed us by, thrill as Paul negotiates a much-needed social media detente with Javi, and wi...2025-05-292h 02
Multiplex OverthrusterReturn of the Jedi (Part 2): Summer of '83The Grand Guignol of Geekery that is Paul, Javi, and - exasperatedly - Producer Brad’s deep dive into the final chapter of the first STAR WARS trilogy reaches its apotheotic conclusion in this, the second part of the first episode of our second season! Thrill as the intrepid Multiplex Overthruster crew braves not just the narrative wilds of one of the most anticipated movies of their childhood, but also the many decades of memories, opinions, and late night discussions of the saga that has defined popular culture for most of their lives! Marvel at Javi’s analysis of his...2025-05-231h 47
Multiplex OverthrusterReturn of the Jedi (Part 1): Summer of '83At long last, the Summer of ’83 is here, and kicks off with the most anticipated sequel of the decade, RETURN OF THE JEDI! And since this is probably the only STAR WARS film we’ll ever get to in this podcast, it demands our first ever (and likely last) two-part episode! Buckle up as Javi, Paul and - graciously - Producer Brad dive deeper than they’ve ever dived before (what, you thought we couldn’t go deeper than STAR TREK II?) to discuss with dizzying delight the original May 25, 1983 theatrical version (Lapti Nek! Yub Nub!) of the triumphant finale o...2025-05-222h 28
Multiplex OverthrusterWelcome to the Summer of '83!Your favorite cinematic podcast time machine is back in action! This Memorial Day weekend, Season 2 kicks off our journey through the Summer of '83 with Return of the Jedi - our first and probably (hopefully?) only two-part episode ever! Meanwhile, all episodes of Season 1 spanning the Summer of '82 are available now for your binge-listening or selective sampling pleasure, including several never-before-released episodes. Tell your friends and enemies! Like, follow, review, and share! Feast upon our works and bask in the glory that is MULTIPLEX OVERTHRUSTER! Follow us!InstagramBlueskyemail...2025-05-2200 min
Multiplex OverthrusterThe Hunger: Summer of '83 Spring SpecialWelcome to our first ever spring special! As we approach the Summer of ’83, Javi, Paul and Producer Brad dive into Tony Scott’s extravagantly evocative and super stylish goth-punk erotic vampire thriller THE HUNGER, starring the gobsmackingly great-looking Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, and Susan Sarandon. Mod music video and commercial aesthetics collide with neo-noir cinema like never before in this creepy cool treasure trove of a time capsule set in ’80s NYC where vampires are real, but very different than any you’ve seen before. Moviegoers on April 29, 1983, were simply not ready for it, but late night cable viewers and adve...2025-05-221h 55
Multiplex OverthrusterThe Dark Crystal: Summer of '82 Holiday SpecialWelcome to our first ever holiday special! Having traversed the Summer of ’82, Javi, Paul and Producer Brad are back at the multiplex to witness the whirlwind of wonders that is Jim Henson’s phantasmagoric puppetpalooza THE DARK CRYSTAL. Audiences young and old were both captivated and confounded by the strange spectacle of this creepy creature feature inexplicably intruding upon their holiday season (who on earth thought it was a good idea to release it on Dec. 17?), but its meticulous magnificence cannot be denied! Join us as we soak in the cinematic sorcery conjured by Jim Henson, Frank Oz, illustrator extr...2024-12-122h 23
Multiplex OverthrusterSummer of '82 Multi Awards!All great institutions bestow awards… and now so does Multiplex Overthruster! It’s our first ever Multi Awards episode, in which Paul, Javi, and - mercifully - Producer Brad run down the nominees and winners from all of the films they watched during this most august of summer movie summers. In addition to naming their Best Picture, Director, Screenplay - and so on and so on - Producer Brad has also compiled a list of superlatives (“best character introduction of all time!”) and revisits them with the benefit of hindsight to see which stood the test of time! Will Javi sta...2024-09-051h 55
Multiplex OverthrusterTempest: Summer of '82The 1980s was not only a time of genre excellence, but also one of romantic comedies about surly tone-deaf white men and their indefatigable struggle to remain that way. To this semi golden age of toxic masculinity, we consign Paul Mazursky’s Tempest, in which an otherwise sensitive and big-hearted filmmaker somehow marshals the talents of John Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands, Susan Sarandon, Raul Julia, and (in her big screen debut) Molly Ringwald, to deliver some of the least likable characters in screen history. And it’s (vaguely) based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest, which only leaves Paul, Javi, and - indu...2024-08-291h 21
Multiplex OverthrusterThe Soldier: Summer of '82In the world of international espionage and Cold War intrigue there is no agent more secret than… The Soldier. This may perhaps be explained by the utter failure of this forgotten film. In this scintillating episode, a confounded Paul, Javi, and - serenely - Producer Brad investigate the first and only adventure of a would-be American James Bond in a desperate mission to uncover an international nuclear plot of international peculiar people hellbent on doing international terrible things. Sigh. It’s not a good movie, or even a coherent travelogue, but it’s possibly our funniest episode, and also among...2024-08-222h 08
Multiplex OverthrusterThe Beastmaster: Summer of '82Behold! Paul, Javi, and - majestically - Producer Brad brave yet another sword-and-sorcery spectacular-ish in this story of a warrior on a quest to find… honestly, it’s hard to remember, but it definitely had something to do with a weird angry guy (Rip Torn) in a strange place with a thing. And some sort of large roasted animal leg. Oh yes, and the warrior not only has a big sword, tiny loincloth, and major sixpack, he can somehow also talk to animals. Mostly ferrets. He also talks to Tanya Roberts, in an apotheotic bid for 1980s genre queen stat...2024-08-151h 35
Multiplex OverthrusterFast Times at Ridgemont High: Summer of '82For the balance of the summer Paul, Javi, and - fearlessly - Producer Brad have braved one unbelievable movie premise after another: humanoid androids, murderous artificial intelligences, vengeful genetically engineered intergalactic dictators, the wastelands of the post-apocalypse, barbarian mercenaries with jet-powered swords… even singing sex workers have shown themselves to be no match for their laser-like analytical focus. But on the sixteenth weekend of the summer, our podcasters may have met their match with Amy Heckerling’s film of Cameron Crowe’s chronicle of 1980’s high school shenanigans “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”. What happens when three dyed-in-the-wool geeks face the unt...2024-08-081h 36
Multiplex OverthrusterThe Sword & the Sorcerer: Summer of '82After two perilous weeks of comedies about sex workers, Paul, Javi, and - inescapably - Producer Brad find themselves in more familiar territory with The Sword and the Sorcerer. It’s peak ’80s as the stars of both Matt Houston and Manimal cross swords and… uh, sorcery?… in this incredibly diverting low budget bacchanal of wizardry and bloodshed. Forget Conan The Barbarian, Prince Talon is here to slay some beasts, take down some tyrants, chomp on a roasted leg of cow, and buckle his swash with his three-bladed, rocket-powered sword. Get ready to rock the multiplex with the most...2024-08-012h 05
Multiplex OverthrusterNight Shift: Summer of '82The summer of ’82 continues to astound and confound Paul, Javi, and - inevitably - Producer Brad by serving up a SECOND romantic comedy about sex workers in as many weeks! After the soul-destroying pyrrhic victory that was “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas”, the Multiplex Overthruster crew trades in small town Texas for sleazy New York City for “Night Shift”! Though directed by Ron Howard and starring Henry Winkler and Shelley Long, this one is most memorable for giving future Beetlejuice and Batman Michael Keaton his first starring role: and what better way to start a movie career than in a comed...2024-07-251h 26
Multiplex OverthrusterThe Best Little Whorehouse in Texas: Summer of '82There comes a time when we are all tested to our very core. Paul, Javi and — unflappably — Producer Brad all thought that time had come six weeks ago with Grease 2. They were wrong; that time is now. Our faithful co-hosts face their darkest hour as they descend into the dungeon of despair that is The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, a film that makes Grease 2 look (and sound) like Singin’ in the Rain. Not even the divine gift of Dolly Parton can save this torturous endeavor, which somehow renders Burt Reynolds abrasively charmless. Join us as we brave o...2024-07-181h 17
Multiplex OverthrusterThe Road Warrior: Summer of '82Before Fury Road, before Furiosa, there was Max. Mad Max. The Road Warrior. Join Paul and Javi, and - without a doubt - Producer Brad as they board the last of the V8 interceptors and brave the dangerous domain of the Lord Humongous of the wastelands. That’s right, this week it’s George Miller’s seminal masterpiece “The Road Warrior” (or “Mad Max 2” for those of you not in the United States in 1982) - the film that damn near invented the post-apocalyptic car wars genre. It’s leather, shoulder pads, and gasoline galore at the multiplex this week… and you better watc...2024-07-111h 31
Multiplex OverthrusterTron: Summer of '82Two years before William Gibson’s novel Neuromancer coined the term “cyberspace” the Disney corporation unleashed a bold and daring vision of anthropomorphic distributed computing gone wild. Featuring a young and wildly talented Jeff Bridges, and more dance belts and BMX armor than you can shake a data disc at, Steven Lisberger’s ground-breaking proto-CGI extravaganza, Tron, is a bizarre and beautiful vision of a future that never came to pass! Join Javi, Paul, and - needless to say - Producer Dumont as they get digitized into the gaming grid to marvel at Syd Mead’s generation-defining production design, do battle wi...2024-07-041h 40
Multiplex OverthrusterConan the Barbarian: Summer of '82This week Paul, Javi, and - indubitably - Producer Brad contemplate Conan the Barbarian, John Milius’ sweeping, serpent-filled, and surprisingly soup-laden adaptation of Robert E. Howard’s legendary pulp hero, brought to laconic life by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the role that made him an icon. Crom commands you to heed this episode as we chronicle Arnold’s epic quest to deliver a monologue that measures up to those of his magnificently mellifluous co-stars James Earl Jones, Max Von Sydow and Mako! And did we mention the soup? (And yes, astute listeners, we realize we’re breaking continuity by reachi...2024-06-271h 24
Multiplex OverthrusterThe Thing: Summer of '82When John Carpenter sets a movie in a barren terrain of ice and snow, you can bet bucks to beans that the only thing colder than the setting is his regard for the human soul! Paul, Javi, and - indubitably - Producer Brad take on one of the greatest studies in fear and paranoia ever put to film: John Carpenter’s The Thing. Released on June 25, 1982, it's one of the rare remakes that outdoes the original in vision and enduring influence, this paragon of the horror genre continues to chill audiences to the bone to this day, and Multiplex Ov...2024-06-221h 09
Multiplex OverthrusterMegaforce: Summer of '82Though largely, and justifiably, forgotten since its release on June 25, 1982, Hal Needham’s Megaforce is a truly breathtaking experience. And we don’t necessarily mean “breathtaking” in a positive way. This week, Paul, Javi and — of course — Producer Brad take one for the team and come back much changed, chafed, and itching to chat through this grand guignol of gunfire, explosions and toxic masculinity. The manly men of Megaforce may live by the slogan “Deeds not words”, but so many of those deeds are duds, and we have witty, wise words of warning! It is truly one of the most mystifying...2024-06-211h 36
Multiplex OverthrusterBlade Runner: Summer of '82Los Angeles. November 2019. Paul, Javi, and - naturally - Producer Brad, kick off our epic triple feature weekend of June 25, 1982, by revisiting a sense-stunning vision of the distant future that is somehow now our recent past.One of the most influential films of all time, Ridley Scott’s towering masterpiece has been imitated, examined, recut, recut again, sequelized, and soon sequelized some more. Join us as we explore the mesmerizing multicultural megalopolis of BLADE RUNNER in its original theatrical cut (yes, with Harrison Ford’s reluctant narration), viewed through the lens of the revisionist versions that would (near...2024-06-202h 09
Multiplex OverthrusterFirefox: Summer of '82It is the height of the cold war and the Soviets have developed a fighter that defies radar detection and responds to its pilots thoughts! Naturally, the best man for the job of stealing this lethal next-gen weapon is a burned-out Vietnam war veteran who is prone to debilitating flashbacks! This week Paul, Javi, and - naturally - Producer Brad take the wayback machine to June 18, 1982, a simpler time when we as a nation knew who the bad guys were, we know where they were, and only Clint Eastwood could get in there to steal their most valuable weapon.2024-06-131h 39
Multiplex OverthrusterE.T. The Extra-Terrestial: Summer of '82Paul becomes Javi’s psychotherapist as we journey back to June 11, 1982, in this white-knuckle discussion of colonialism, media saturation, and the deservedly hallowed place that cinematic titan Steven Spielberg occupies in our popular culture — all of it musingly masquerading as a discourse on what would become (for the next decade) the biggest blockbuster of all time, E.T.: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL. Don’t miss our heaviest, most introspective episode, which ranges from a profoundly personal elegy for a suburban American childhood that will never again exist, to a rhapsodic ode to the exquisite magic of cinema. We’ll be right...2024-06-071h 28
Multiplex OverthrusterGrease 2: Summer of '82Javi and Paul descend into the labyrinth of the Dada-ist haiku that is GREASE 2 and ponder the imponderable. Is Rydell High actually haunted by ghosts as Javi theorizes, and is this somehow also a stealth remake of Richard Donner’s Superman? Could anyone other than the transcendent Michelle Pfeiffer have possibly pulled off her scenes, and holy crap is that teenage Pamela Adlon? Will either of our co-hosts emerge with their sanity intact? Tune in to find out — if you dare! — in our most deliriously deranged episode yet.Follow us!InstagramB...2024-06-061h 43
Multiplex OverthrusterStar Trek II: Summer of '82Boldly go into our most gloriously geektacular (and yes, longest) episode as Javi and Paul embark on an epic exultation of the soaring sacred text that is STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN. On June 4, 1982, Nicholas Meyer arguably saved the franchise by redefining it as a space opera mashup of Horatio Hornblower and Run Silent Run Deep, with a virtuosic score by the great James Horner. Instead of making sequel to 1979’s STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE, Meyer cunningly chose to forge a follow-up to the 1967 episode “Space Seed,” reuniting Ricardo Montalban with the iconic role of Khan, unleas...2024-05-312h 42
Multiplex OverthrusterPoltergeist: Summer of '82Prepare yourself for gooey geeky goodness as Javi and Paul travel back to June 4, 1982, to ponder POLTERGEIST in our spooktacular second episode! Tobe Hooper horror insidiously invades Spielbergian suburbia as a freaky little girl is sucked into a TV set via spectral static. This ingenious phantasmagoria features beautiful analog VFX wizardry by ILM, a refreshingly functional family, and one of the greatest expository monologues in genre cinema.Follow us!InstagramBlueskyemail: Multiplexoverthruster@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.2024-05-301h 31
Multiplex OverthrusterRocky III: Summer of '82On Memorial Day Weekend of 1982, Rocky Balboa’s latest and greatest challenger entered the cinematic pantheon. On this first episode, join Paul, Javi, and, of course, Producer Brad as they root for the Italian Stallion and his new nemesis, the legendary Clubber Lang, played by the formidable and inimitable 80s icon Mr. T. Can Rocky get back the Eye of the Tiger in time to defend all he has fought for? Come along with us to the multiplex for the answer - because we pity the fool who does not!Follow us!...2024-05-231h 26
Multiplex OverthrusterWelcome to the Summer of '82!Meet Javi and Paul, hosts of Multiplex Overthruster: Summer of '82.Follow us!InstagramBlueskyemail: Multiplexoverthruster@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.2024-05-1600 min