Episode 068: Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls

Cold Open:
The historical inaccuracy of My Darling Clementine
John Ford: Master cat burglar and murderer

Gift:
“How to Make Good Movies” book

Oject d’Art:
Prescription pills

Craig’s Background LP:
The New York Dolls: s/t

Show notes:
• John Ford: Master cat burglar and murderer
• New images in credits sequence
• Our second X-rated film on the show (after Fritz the Cat)
• Stu makes an appearance as a soundtrack composor for the film
• Matt coins the colloquialism “Big Sleepies” for “Downers”. Craig comes up with “Droopy Dogs”
• “Spit in your bucket”
• Craig and Matt do another freeze-frame ending during the credits
• The debut of the Welcome To The Basement PO Box.
• Matt pays tribute to his recently passed cat, Tiger with a memorial montage.
• Matt calls out Craig for not being a music fan. Again.

Seen It:
Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy
Charade
Three Amigos
It Happened One Night
A Beautiful Mind

Closing Credits:
Craig dances too hard and Matt muses about a Russ Meyer-themed Family Feud topic.

Ernesto Stinger:
“This is my happening and it freaks me out!”

Episode 069: Romeo and Juliet

Cold Open:
Pre-Oscar discussion
The etiquette of movie theater applause
10-second Foxcatcher

Gift:
Romeo and Juliet Cliff’s Notes

Oject d’Art:
Flowers

Craig’s Background LP:
Frank Sinatra: “Songs for Swingin’ Lovers”

Show notes:
• For the 4th year in a row, Craig and Matt celebrate Valentine’s Day by watching a romantic tragedy.
• Matt promises not to bite his thumb at Craig. The promise is later broken with tragic results.
• Michael York: The Billy Zane of the 60s and 70s.
• Matt misuses the word “Wherefore”.
• A church bell is rung and Fitzcarraldo’s “I want my opera house!” is once again referenced.
• Thoutube
• Matt shows off his newly acquired vinyl copy of the Romeo and Juliet soundtrack.
• Matt and Craig sum up Whiplash by re-enacting a key scene.
• The “Spoiler Redacted” logo prevents the spoiling of the ending of Gone Girl.

Seen It:
(Oscars 2015)
The Lego Movie
Whiplash
Wild
Gone Girl
The Imitation Game

Closing Credits:
Craig questions Matt’s knowledge of editing with tragic results

Ernesto Stinger:
“A plague on both your houses!”

Episode 070: Car Wash

Cold Open:
Oscar “Predictions” (Matt and Craig congratulate the winners before the broadcast. The correct answers are dubbed in later)
Julianne Moore is a dead lock

Gift:
“Nerd soap”

Craig’s Background LP:
Peter Gabriel: 1 (“Car”)

Show notes:
• Our first film by a black filmmaker (for Black History Month)
• Richard Pryor’s third appearance on the show
• Craig is woefully ignorant of the lyrics to Rose Royce’s “Car Wash”
• Ernesto makes two cameo appearances.
• Matt discusses his Bill Duke fandom and his dislike of Jesse Eisenberg.
• Matt objects to being portrayed wearing a polo shirt in a piece of fan art.

Fan Art
Matthew Albanese
Wayne Dorrington’s full-sized “Thoutube” graphic (featured in Episode 069).

Seen It:
Nightcrawler
The Double
A Fantastic Fear of Everything
Obvious Child

Closing Credits:
Matt is enthusiastic about car washes and Ernesto makes an appearance.

Ernesto Stinger:
“You want to get down, you got to get up!”

Episode 071: The Bigamist

Cold Open:
Matt no longer knows what a bad movie is
St. Vincent and movie archetypes

Gift:
Giant Magnet

Oject d’Art:
Plastic heart

Craig’s Background LP:
The Rolling Stones “Some Girls”

Show notes:
• The first entry in Female History Month.
• A brief overview of the career of Ida Lupino (the third female director featured on the show)
• Craig reveals his dislike of Ronald Reagan
• Craig, like the Insane Clown Posse, does not understand how magnets work. Craig and Matt are featured in Juggalo make-up, courtesy of Wayne Dorrington.
• Matt and Craig discuss potential bigamy tactics. Tona is not amused.

Seen It:
(80’s Cable Roundup)
Porky’s
The Last Starfighter
3 O’Clock High
The Road Warrior

Closing Credits:
Craig dramatically reads the packaging of Giant Magnet

Ernesto Stinger:
“I despise you, and I pity you.”

Episode 072: Ishtar

Cold Open:
An appreciation of silent films
“They’re all dead!”

Gift:
Nik-l-nip wax bottle candy

Oject d’Art:

Craig’s Background LP:
An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May

Show notes:
• The second entry in Women’s History Month (our 4th female director)
• Craig doesn’t understand “box office losses”
• Elaine May tied for worst director at the Golden Raspberries with Norman Mailer, director of Tough Guys Don’t Dance (WTTB’s top viewed episode)
• We watched the director’s cut of the film (two minutes shorter than the theatrical version and supposedly better)
• Stu makes an appearance as a New York bartender
• Matt does a bad Dustin Hoffman impersonation
• The cinematic equivalent of an 1:45 minute swig of a Nik-l-nip
• Matt doesn’t like Warren Beatty (“The gold standard of Hollywood douchebags”)
• Matt warns Beatty to stay away from his wife (Tona concurs)
•

Seen It:
(“For The Ladies” – female directors)
Near Dark
An Education
Persepolis
Big

Closing Credits:
Matt attempts a Charles Grodin impersonation

Ernesto Stinger:
(Camel groan)

Episode 073: Catch-22

Cold Open:
Craig’s Chilean Vacation
“Whiplash” in South America

Gift:
Triangle golf-tee puzzle

Craig’s Background LP:
Sly and the Family Stone “There’s a Riot Goin’ On”

Show notes:
• Catch-22 was chosen as a companion piece to Elaine May’s Ishtar because it was directed by Mike Nichols, Ms. May’s former comedy partner.
• The film features a young Bob Balaban, or Bob Barelyrecognizable-ban, if you will. Also second appearance of Martin Sheen on our show (since the Badlands episode)
• Martin Balsam: the thinking man’s Ernest Borgnine.
• Charles Grodin’s second appearance in a row.
• Matt and Craig also have an in-depth discussion of Altman’s MASH (which came out the same year as Catch-22)
• Craig reveals his fondness for Austin Pendleton
• We receive our first missives from “Michael US Bonds” (via PO Box)

Fan art:
Headshots of a young man who bears a striking resemblance to Craig (thanks to Antonia Fraser)

Seen It:
Every Which Way But Loose
Man Bites Dog
The Loved One
Shadow of the Vampire

Closing Credits:
Matt launches into a rendition of a James Brown classic

Ernesto Stinger:
“You mean I can’t shoot whoever I want to?”

Episode 074: Three Cases of Murder

Cold Open:
Matt no longer knows what a bad movie is: a revision
“Anything bad is worth experiencing”

Gift:
“Gentle Country Moments” DVD. (later found out to be a CD in a DVD case)

Oject d’Art:
Meat cleaver

Craig’s Background LP:
Billy Bragg “Talking With The Taxman About Poetry”

Show notes:
• Craig and Tona kick off the episode with an impromptu rendition of the 80s song “All I Need” by Jack Wagner. Matt tells them to knock it off.
• The choice of this film was inspired by the recent April 15th Tax Day and the saying “There are only two certainties in life: death and taxes”
• Our first anthology movie.
• Orson Welles’ second appearance in a row
• One of the cases of murder was directed by Wendy Toye, our fifth female director.
• Matt and Craig inexplicably reference the lyrics to Smiths songs all throughout the episode. This culminates in an imagined Smiths single “Poor Little Docent” (along with graphic courtesy of Matt)
• “A Colder Side of Limbo” – Matt’s next rap album
• Craig imagines being trapped in a Piet Mondrian painting (with graphic courtesy of Wayne Dorrington). He also muses about murdering Renoir’s Boating Party
• Stu’s British cousin makes an appearance as a London bartender (his name is also Stu)
• George Burns makes a brief cameo
• Matt and Craig reminisce about the anthology movies of the 1980s. Also about the first edition D&D Monster Manual
• Matt and Craig pay fond tribute to Alec Guinness
• Soderberg’s Schizopolis inspires strange impersonations of Marlon Brando and Johnny Carson

Seen It:
The Ladykillers (1955)
Schizopolis
Barfly

Closing Credits:
Craig promises to invade Matt’s dreams and ruin them

Ernesto Stinger:
“I’ll never have another drink again as long as I live”

Episode 075: Phantom of the Paradise

Cold Open:
Persistence of Vision vs. Motion Perception
Matt’s theory of teleportation

Gift:
Slinky

Oject d’Art:
Mask

Craig’s Background LP:
Bauhaus “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” single

Show notes:
• Matt designates May as Audience Appreciation Month, where we will watch two frequently requested films.
• Matt introduces the film with music from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera
• Our second film to feature the music of Paul Williams (Ishtar being the first) and our second film to feature a Phil Spector-esque villain (the first being Beyond the Valley of the Dolls)
• Craig has a difficult time saying “Sing Sing”
• Matt prevents Craig from “Rickrolling” the episode
• The film is compared multiple times to The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Birdman
• Discussing To Kill a Mockingbird inspires a round of Gregory Peck impersonations
• Craig goes off on a rant about Pleasantville

Seen It:
The Hurt Locker
Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2
To Kill a Mockingbird
Pleasantville

Closing Credits:
Swan muses over different musical styles

Ernesto Stinger:
“You’d better get yourself a castrato for this, cause it’s a little out of my range”

Episode 076: The Holy Mountain

Cold Open:
Eerie crossword puzzle coincidences
Will Shortz: Welcome To The Basement fan?

Gift:
Weird eyeball ball

Craig’s Background LP:
Led Zeppelin “Houses of the Holy”

Show notes:
• Part 2 of “Audience Appreciation Month”
• In an attempt to imitate the end of the film, Craig has Tona pull back the camera, showing a rare wide shot of the Old Leather Couch.
• “I know I’m a pet owner. I’m not an assassin.”
• Matt and Craig have a passionate disagreement about John Wick
• Matt and Craig crown Alfie “Theon Greyjoy” Allen the new Paul Dano because we love watching him get beat up in movies.

Seen It:
Theme: Audience Appreciation [not an actual theme, just something Matt said to see if Craig was paying attention]
OSS 117: Cairo Nest of Spies
John Wick
The Duellists
Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

Closing Credits:
A married couple in the 70s decides to watch The Holy Mountain instead of The Sting. It doesn’t end well.

Ernesto Stinger:
“You are excrement. You can change yourself into gold.”

Episode 077: Dungeons and Dragons

Cold Open:
Mad Max: Fury Road
The lack of a Bruce Spence cameo

Gift:
A small castle figurine

Craig’s Background LP:
Rick James “Throwin’ Down”

Show notes:
• Craig is sporting a Death Records T-shirt – a homage to Phantom of the Paradise in Episode 075
• In anticipation of Sci-fi July, we watch a movie from “sci-fi’s sister genre”: Fantasy
• Matt continually mistakes the word “mage” for a distinctly more unsavory word

Seen It:
(Seen It, Own It)
300
Tropic Thunder
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
The Adventures of Prince Achmed

Closing Credits:
Craig and Matt provide commentary for a council scene

Ernesto Stinger:
(Jeremy Irons overacting)

Episode 078: Mazes and Monsters

Cold Open:
New kitten (Cici)
Craig names as many “cat” movies as he can (with mixed results)

Gift:
Boat in a bottle kit

Craig’s Background LP:
Television “Marquee Moon”

Show notes:
• Matt picks Mazes and Monsters to caution Craig about the dangers of role playing games (in reference to the previous episode, Dungeons and Dragons)
• Our first made-for-tv movie
• Matt names June “RPG month”
• Craig and Matt do a rendition of the Bosom Buddies theme song with Mazes and Monsters related lyrics
• The Lost Weekend Bat makes another appearance
• Cici makes several surprise appearances during the show
• Matt dons a hat to discuss hat-wearing protagonist, J.J.
• Grant University now offers a Mazes and Monsters major

Seen It:
Sneakers
Carnage
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

Closing Credits:
Ernesto and Cici wrestle

Ernesto Stinger:
“I drink to get through the day!”

Episode 079: Things To Come

Cold Open:
Movie Candy
The persistence of Milk Duds; The perfection of M&Ms

Gift:
R2D2 Candle

Craig’s Background LP:
Queen “News of the World”

Show notes:
• Matt gets angry at Craig for having already seen the film
• Matt muse about William Shakespeare hanging out in a video arcade (with accompanying image)
• Craig’s gift is the first in a series of Sci-fi franchise-related gifts that have nothing to do with the movies we are watching. This trend continues throughout July.
• There are continual references to fictional (or non-fictional) British department store chain “Sanderson’s” throughout the episode
• Once again “I want my opera house!” is referenced when Ralph Richardson rings a bell
• Cici makes her second appearance on the show
• “Benign Dystopia”
• Matt recounts his one experience at a “napping party” after experiencing the “cinematic sleeping pills” of Jean-Luc Godard’s Alphaville

Fan art
Steven Yaffe: “The Critics”

Seen It:
(The Future)
Silent Running
Interstellar
Alphaville

Closing Credits:
Matt and Craig sing “Brazil”

Ernesto Stinger:
“Stop this progress, before it is too late!”

Episode 080: Invaders From Mars

Cold Open:
“Movie Candy” – Musical biopics and time travel adventures
Craig is still traumatized by Beethoven’s Christmas Adventure

Gift:
Alien figurine

Craig’s Background LP:
Misfits “Walk Among Us”

Show notes:
• Our second film of Sci-fi July and our second film in a row by William Cameron Menzies
• Craig gets another piece of unrelated sci-fi merch for his gift. He is very captivated by it.
• Matt and Craig reference one of Matt’s favorite comedies – Young Frankenstein. “SEDAGIVE!”
• Our most tank-heavy film ever
• “Mu-TANTS!”
• Matt laments the lack of Martians in the movie
• Craig and Matt also watch the US ending of the film
• Matt lays out the best 5 action movies of the 80s: Terminator, Robocop, Die Hard, Aliens, Predator. Craig adds The Road Warrior to the mix

Seen It: (Invasions)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Under the Skin
Predator
Mars Attacks

Closing Credits:
A telescope crowns and a scientist claims a son

Ernesto Stinger:
“Mu-TANTS!”

Episode 081: Waterworld

Cold Open:
Craig and Matt visit the Drive-in
‘Inside-Out’ review

Gift:
Planet of the Apes jigsaw puzzle

Craig’s Background LP:
Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band “Trout Mask Replica”

Show notes:
• Matt recounts a bad Milk Duds “trip”
• Our third and final film of Sci-fi July 2015
• Craig gets another piece of officially licensed Sci-fi merch
• “Let’s open up a can of puzzle!”
• “Errol Fin”
• Craig mis-identifies Arnold Schwarteneggar as German (he is Austrian)
• The connection between Boogie Nights and Transformers: The Movie is revealed
• Matt reveals his hatred of wind chimes. Also reveals an odd connection between Boogie Nights and Transformers: The Movie
• Matt reveals the theme for the following month: A Look Back In August – a re-examination of some past themes. He draws them randomly from the Marvel comics dice bag and comes up with one of the Genre cards (from season 2). Craig draws Kung Fu.

Seen It: (Other Worlds)
Total Recall
Tron
Dune
Transformers: The Movie

Closing Credits:
Craig and Matt muse on the various epidemics of the 1970s (Typhoid, Quaaludes, Nixon, etc)

Ernesto Stinger:
“Smokers!”

Episode 082: Way Of The Dragon

Cold Open:
Favorite character actors
M. Emmet Walsh is not dead

Gift:
70s era pedometer (“your father’s fit-bit”)

Craig’s Background LP:
Massive Attack “Blue Lines”

Show notes:
• Craig: “Kung Fu movies are like vodka cranberries”
• Craig finally admits that he cannot read
• Stu’s Asian cousin makes an appearance
• “Numachukas! Wakka-wakka-wakka!”
• “Chuck Norris doesn’t lose a fight, the fight just lets him down”
• Craig muses about his past experiences with soup
• Matt shares two bizarre Bruce Lee death rumors from his childhood
• The film features a cat. Cici the cat shows up to give an evaluation of the cat’s performance (accompanied by a Tona cameo)
• Matt quotes Captain Beefheart in Customer Comments
• “If you’re in Rome, look for the corpse of Chuck Norris”
• Matt muses on the loss of wonder in adolescence and the return of wonder in the mid-teens. Craig recalls a friend’s traumatic reaction to Wild at Heart
• Craig’s two word review of This is Spinal Tap: “Spinal Sandwich”
• Matt draws another theme from the Marvel Comics dice bag for “A Look Back in August”. He draws “Hall of Fame” and gives Craig the task of choosing a movie featuring a Welcome To The Basement hall-of-famer for our next episode.

Seen It:
Signs
Being There
Wild At Heart
This is Spinal Tap

Closing Credits:
Gregory Peck shows up to plug his own film “Roman Holiday” (which, like Way of the Dragon, takes place in Rome)

Ernesto Stinger:
“You! You want to step outside?”
Episode 083: Premium Rush

Cold Open:
The merits of Animal House
D-day

Gift:
Band-aid tin

Craig’s Background LP:
Rush “Moving Pictures”

Show notes:
• Matt guesses the film before Craig reveals it, even going so far as to write it on a slip of paper and revealing it after Craig reveals the movie
• Craig persists in using the misnomer “big leather couch”. Matt continues to disapprove
• “She’s about to be covered by a thin layer of Levitt”
• Matt and Craig do a rendition of “Little Wiley” to the tune of “Little Willy” by The Sweet
• Craig dubs the film “Bicycle Porn”
• Matt dubs Joseph Gordon-Levitt “Jo-Go”
• Craig was annoyed by a “little old man” while watching Malcolm X at the theater
• Matt announces September’s theme: random dates. Matt draws two dates from the dice bag: 1945 and 1962.

Seen It: (Biopics)
Man on the Moon
Malcolm X
Lenny
Patton

Closing Credits:
Matt and Craig make poor attempts at Michael Shannon impersonations

Ernesto Stinger:
“Suck it! Ha ha ha!”

Episode 084: Tale of Zatoichi

Cold Open:
Straight Outta Compton
Fashions of the late 80s and early 90s

Gift:
Motorized sushi

Craig’s Background LP:
Stevie Wonder “Innervisions”

Show notes:
• Matt cops to seeing The Addams Family twice in the theater
• Matt references the obscure John Lurie show “Fishing with John”
• We draw more years out of the dice bag: 1935 and 2014. Craig picks the movie from one of those years for our next episode

Seen It:
Lawrence of Arabia
Taxi Driver
Shine
PI

Closing Credits:
Matt tries to goad Zatoichi into fighting

Ernesto Stinger:
“What’s so happy and wonderful about that?” (in Japanese)

Episode 085: She

Cold Open:
Movies we’ve walked out on
From The Hip

Gift:
Stuffed husky dog

Craig’s Background LP:
Yma Sumac “Voice of the Xtabay”

Show notes:
• The Spoiler Redacted logo is used (along with chimpanzee noises) to keep Craig from spoiling a key moment in From The Hip
• Matt attempts to kick Craig off the show for once liking Short Circuit
• Craig chose this movie over Triumph of the Will when he found out the latter actually came out in 1934
• Craig persists in using the mis-nomer “Big leather couch”
• Matt decides that he will name is stuffed husky dog after a character in the movie. He eventually decides on “Holly”
• Stu pays a visit and gets burned on a stove
• Craig: “I’m a very nice person because I know I’m going to die someday.”
• It is revealed that Cici the cat is not a girl, but a boy. He is renamed Cecil.
• The guys dub Pulp Fiction “the most important movie of the 90s”

Seen It:
(At the Theater)
Wayne’s World
Pulp Fiction
Saving Private Ryan
The English Patient

Closing Credits:
A very gradual door-opening sequence

Ernesto Stinger:
“Nago-dah!”

Episode 086: The Devil’s Rain

Cold Open:
Matt’s complicated relationship with horror movies
Craig’s childhood house of horrors

Gift:
Devil horns

Craig’s Background LP:
Fear “The Record”

Show notes:
• The first horror movie for the month of October
• Matt chose the movie based on viewer Maurie Giustini’s recommendation
• The second movie co-starring Ida Lupino, Eddie Albert, and a barely recognizable John Travolta.
• “I’m going to make them all into Satan’s lunchbox”
• Cecil makes an unexpected appearance during a particularly impassioned speech
• Craig cautions the audience against believing statistics: “50,000 is the scare number”
• The Devil’s Rain: the perfect make-out movie (?)
• Matt admits he hasn’t seen a “Seen It.” He has avoided “It Follows” because it is too scary (see cold open)

Seen It:
(Horror)
It Follows
Picnic at Hanging Rock
What We Do in the Shadows
Cabin in the Woods

Closing Credits:
Dr. Richards describes his home life, which is eerily similar to the plot of Green Acres

Ernesto Stinger:
Mark Preston scream

Episode 087: Day of the Dead

Cold Open:
Costumes: Z-man and Abdullah
Dream costumes from The Devil’s Rain

Gift:
Box of Zombies

Craig’s Background LP:
“Sounds to Make You Shiver” Sound Effects record

Show notes:
• As per Halloween tradition, Matt and Craig dress in costumes – this time from the films Car Wash and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
• Cecil the cat ends up being infected with the zombie virus and takes it out on poor Ernesto
• Craig tells the story of the fall of Constantinople
• Matt tells the story of his “meeting” with George Romero
• Mr. Rogers and the living dead
• Craig performs a dramatic monologue from Apocalypse Now
• Matt confesses that seeing Creature From the Black Lagoon in 3D might be one of the happiest moments from his childhood
• Matt introduces the theme for November: Glaring omissions. He challenges Craig to bring in a movie that represents a glaring omission.

Seen It:
(Horror Part II: The Revenge)
Creature From The Black Lagoon
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Night of the Living Dead
Poltergeist

Closing Credits:
A reggae classic is reimagined for Day of the Dead

Ernesto Stinger:
“Hellllloooooo!!!”

Episode 088: The Great Silence

Cold Open:
Bad movie ideas
The misguided biopic of a famous bluesman and an un-mountable epic

Gift:
Slouchy cowboy hat

Craig’s Background LP:
Tom Waits: “Foreign Affairs”

Show notes:
• The theme for November: Glaring omission. Craig alleges that every episode represents a “glaring omission”. Matt quickly shushes him.
• Our second film to feature Klaus Kinski
• “It’s a punchy-bunch”
• Matt “talks through his hat”

Seen It:
The Horse’s Mouth
The Hobbit (Rankin Bass)
Two Lane Blacktop
The Fly (Cronenberg)

Closing Credits:
Pauline searches her pantry for canned goods

Ernesto Stinger:
“I keep eatin’ and eatin’…and still I’m miserable…”

Episode 089: Back to the Future II

Cold Open:
Matt revisits the movie From the Hip
Movie soundtracks from the 80s are bad (“Saxophones! SAXOPHONES!”)

Gift:
Cosmic Jet Racer (balloon car toy)

Craig’s Background LP:
Neil Young: “Trans”

Show notes:
• Tona “fell asleep in self defense” while watching From the Hip
• Matt accidentally says “Welcome to the Blasement”
• Matt challenges Craig to summarize the first Back to the Future in 30 seconds. Craig does it in 26.
• Craig re-arranges the Huey Lewis hit “Back in Time” after he learns that we don’t have the rights to use the original
• Craig once again professes his love for bland character actor, Billy Zane
• Cecil sneaks into the background of a shot
• “Meow meow meow, paradox, meow meow…”
• M. Night Shyamalan’s “Unbreakable” inspires a redition of the theme song of “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”
• Matt offers Craig a St. Nicholas Day gift: he will choose one movie from a list that Craig provides to watch on the show

Seen It:
Unbreakable
Jackass
Dog Day Afternoon
The Stranger

Closing Credits:
Test runs of the balloon car (as the cats look on)

Ernesto Stinger:
“Now why don’t you make like a tree, and get out of here?”

Episode 090: Alfie

Cold Open:
Santa visits the basement. Craig isn’t happy about it.
Mr. Claus gives Craig his St. Nicholas Day gift and illustrates how he’s changed since the 1400s.

Craig’s Background LP:
The Smiths: s/t

Show notes:
• Santa stole one of Matt’s liquor bottles
• Santa’s gift to Craig was the movie “Alfie”
• WTTB Hall-of-famer Eleanor Bron makes an appearance
• The show achieves the “Alfred Trifecta”: Films that feature 3 Batman Alfreds: Michael Caine, Michael Gough and Alan Napier (“The Alfred Quinella” has already been achieved due to the upcoming “Batman Vs. Superman” which features WTTB alumnus, Jeremy Irons)
• “15 quince”
• Craig questions the definition of the word “snogging”
• There is a montage of “know what I mean”s from the movie.
• Cecil makes an appearance to underscore Craig’s assertion about the fickleness of movie critics (Tona also sneaks into the frame)
• Matt and Craig play a classic game of “Three Film Monte” (this time with cards). Craig’s three choices are “Miracle on 34th St.”, “Prancer” and “Black Christmas”. One of these will be the next movie.

Seen It:
Slacker
Boyz N The Hood
Wet Hot American Summer
American Graffiti

Closing Credits:
Craig and Santa discuss his gift prospects for next year

Ernesto Stinger:
“What’s it all about? Know what I mean?”

Episode 091: Black Christmas

Cold Open:
Craig visits Milwaukee’s own Oriental Theater
Brooklyn is attacked by Spectre

Gift:
Wooden back massager

Craig’s Background LP:
They Might Be Giants “Don’t Let’s Start” 12’’ Single

Show notes:
• “Margarita’s at the Oriental” – the next Wes Anderson film
• Our Christmas episode features the special Christmas theme music and title card
• The result of last episode’s game of 3 Film monte is revealed: Black Christmas
• Yet another appearance by The Lost Weekend’s Ray Milland and his bat
• Craig informs Matt that this is not the movie where “the call is coming from inside the house”. He is incorrect.
• On piano: “I can’t tell if this is bad or if it’s Eric Satie”
• Matt and Craig quote the Pixies song “Hey”
• Craig Johnson: Geographic detective
• Craig makes an erroneous claim that 2001: A Space Odyssey is a slasher movie
• Craig tries to take credit for remembering Lizzie Caplan’s name. Matt doesn’t let him

Seen It:
If…
Apollo 13
Cloverfield
The Blues Brothers

Closing Credits:
Matt and Craig discuss Milwaukee’s The Downer Theater

Ernesto Stinger:
“It’s me Billy…”

Episode 092: Star Wars, Buster Keaton, Dinosaur

Cold Open:
Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens
The future of Star Wars?

Gift:

Craig’s Background LP:
Neutral Milk Hotel “In The Aeroplane Over the Sea”

Show notes:
• Favorite movies of the year: Craig – The Holy Mountain, Matt – Phantom of the Paradise
• Least favorite movie: Dungeons and Dragons
• Craig compares the magnitude of how bad Dungeons and Dragons is to the destruction of the Tower of Babel
• Matt discusses the tragic aspects of Back to the Future II
• Craig draws a parallel between Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet and Hunger Games: Mockingjay
• Craig presents two shorts: Windsor McCay’s groundbreaking animated film “Gertie the Dinosaur” and Buster Keaton’s “The Electric House”
• Craig makes some unsavory insinuations about Gertie the dinosaur
• The new hall-of-famers are inducted: Bill Duke, Richard Pryor, William Cameron Menzies, Olivia Hussey and Bob Balaban. In the non-human category: Screaming (and a bonus inductee – Ernesto the cat)
• “He’s the smart one, with the duck puns…”
• Matt makes a new year’s resolution to watch the rest of the 25 Zatoichi movies in the new year. Craig resolves to watch one or possibly two (and The Red Shoes)
• Matt and Craig get Tona a bouquet of flowers for the end of the year
• Craig belts out a fairly convincing William Hurt impersonation off the cuff
• Craig professes his dislike of It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Matt professes his dislike of Milton Berle
• Craig forgets how to thumb kiss

Seen It:
(Revisited – movies we’ve previously discussed on Seen It)
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead
Dark City
It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Pulp Fiction

Closing Credits:
Matt and Craig do a variation on Jim Croce’s “Cat’s in the Cradle” plus a little cat action

Ernesto Stinger:
(scream)