Nighthawks' Podcast

It’s a simple question.

What do movies mean to you?

It’s the answers that aren’t always so simple.

For this episode we asked this question of fourteen guests, and their answers are as varied as they are. Big thanks to these folks for making this special episode extra special.

Mark Ball (Podcaster- Doing the Nasty, Action Figure Photographer; Chris Bucheit (Chef, Musician- Middle Class Joe); Susan Burke (Comedian, actor, director, writer- Southbound, Stan Against Evil); C. Robert Cargill (Novelist, podcaster, writer- Marvel’s Doctor Strange, Sinister); Rebecca Frost (Podcaster, critic); Steven DeGennaro (Podcaster, writer, director- Found Footage 3D, Stop); Lucas Lee Graham (Producer, director, cinematographer- Escape from Tomorrow)
Cameron Maris (Oscar Czar, musician- Middle Class Joe)
Matt Peters (Comedian, actor- Orange is the New Black, Weeds)
Maxim Pozderic (Video clerk, live trivia game show host)
Charity O’Haodagain (Podcaster, previous Nighthawks guest)
Scott Schalchlin (State of Texas, previous Nighthawks guest)
Nicholas Don Smith (Comedian, host- Dungeons and Comedy)
Kristal Starr (Comedian)
Special guest appearance by Cadence (Small child)

FEATURING AN ALL-NEW SINGLE BY NIGHTHAWKS HOUSE BAND: MIDDLE CLASS JOE

Editorial Note: After the interviews were conducted for this podcast, but before production was complete, one of our guests suffered some very unfortunate news. Because of the economic impacts of COVID-19, Vulcan Video; Austin, Texas video store; will shutter completely. We have spoken with Max since then, and he is in good spirits but very sorry about the closure.

From all of us at the Nighthawks’ conceptual diner to all of our loved ones at Vulcan Video: Our love to you.

It was bound to happen sooner or later and a collision of streaming coincidence allowed us to get this done in our first hundred episodes.

Matt is an old aficionado of the Robert B. Parker Spenser novels, a fan of the television series Spenser: For Hire, and he has strong opinions about the made-for-TV Spenser movies from the 90s and early aughts. He’s going into the 2020 Netflix offering, Spenser Confidential, with a keenly hewn fandom and a careful critical mind.

Trevor hadn’t consumed ANY Spenser properties when he finally sat down and socially distanced himself with Spenser Confidential. But after watching the new film with Mark Wahlberg, Winston Duke, and Iliza Shlesinger Trevor did his homework and read some Robert B. Parker to beef up for the episode.

The streaming gods did also smile upon Matt and Trevor, bestowing them with an unexpected and very welcome gift- three seasons of Spenser: For Hire on ImdbTV, a free-with-commercials service.

So in this episode the guys talk about Robert B. Parker’s work, Spenser: For Hire the series, and the dessert is a no-spoiler discussion of the latest R-Rated action comedy that debuted on the Netflix charts and still is hanging in there several weeks later.

Folks, a take on Parker’s Spenser is one we really wanted to do. It was intended mostly to be a larf, and something to check off the Nighthawks’ bucket list. But in these times, when we’re stuck inside and have nothing better but to watch a movie, the Nighthawks would like to encourage you to reach out and try something new.

Maybe one of the Spenser properties is for you. Maybe they aren’t. We recorded this episode with you folks in mind, hoping to give you the context needed to decide if a few seasons of Robert Urich and Avery Brooks are worth your time (I mean…how could that not be worth your time?) Maybe a few hours watching Alan Arkin be a crotchety fart is in your wheelhouse (again, whose wheelhouse is that NOT in?)

Hunker down. Stay healthy. We are always with you in the Nighthawks Diner.

In the meantime… episode 100 is fast approaching, and the recent coronavirus caused COVID-19 global pandemic has put a hitch in how we were planning to handle the content of that episode. With that being said we’ve resumed appropriately distant production, and hope to bring you a really special 100th episode very soon.

Welcome to the 80s!

Tortoiseshell glasses, with smoky lenses, Texas tech impresarios and Silicon Valley Dudes programing the latest hit video games.

As technology began to explode into the American home, the world struggled with how to interpret this new way of life. Inevitably the artistic medium of our times saw a pretty incredible attempt to imagine the world from within technology itself.

This is Disney's TRON, a 1985 science fiction film starring Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, and David Warner. The movie would become and infamous flop, and a bold new bar in the world of technology and animation.

A harbinger of things to come, not only narratively, but in the film industry; love it or hate it, TRON has grist for the Nighthawks' Diner conversation.

Pull up a seat and join us.

It's official. South Korean Director Bong Joon Ho ties Walt Disney for the most Oscar statuettes taken home in a single night, as Parasite walks away the literal winner, and the metaphorical winner.

Oscar Czar and House Musician Cameron Maris checks in with Matt and Trevor, as the Nighthawks record their first Oscar reaction episode, and what a year to do it.

A lot of love gets thrown around in this episode and very, very little shade.

But a little shade.

A comprehensive UNCENSORED special, exploring the 92nd Annual Academy Awards

Matt and Trevor have pulled Cameron out of cold storage, after an extra-long bout in the Nighthawks Diner's walk-in freezer- where he is stored between awards seasons.

And to save ourselves a headache in the edit for our 3 hour episode...This episode is uncensored for profanity and content.

We drop F-Bombs.

After taking the 91st Annual Academy Awards off, the Co-Hosts and the Oscar Czar make up for lost time with a special triple-long episode, that's STILL SHORTER THAN THE IRISHMAN!!!

In this episode we discuss (pulls out banjo): Dolemite is My Name; Toy Story 4; How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World; Mulan; The Little Mermaid; Missing Link; I Lost My Body; Rocketman; Harriet; Breakthrough; Frozen II; Joker; Little Women; Marriage Story; Bombshell; 1917; Jojo Rabbit; The Irishman; The Two Popes; Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker; What We Do In The Shadows; Uncut Gems; American Factory; Knives Out; Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood; Judy; Ford v Ferrari; A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood; and Parasite.

(All clips from films are used for educational and -sometimes- satire purposes.

It's a new year, and the guys in the Nighthawks diner are coming back from their holiday vacation having watched a special "Christmas Movie."

No. Not Die Hard. Die Hard is soooo 1986. (Just kidding, we love you, Die Hard.)

This holiday season, the boys checked in with director Harold Ramis and actors John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Platt, and Randy Quaid for a freezer-burned caper, in a Christmas time noir.

In the Ice Harvest, the boys find a fantastically dark film, based on a novel from Scott Phillips. The heist has already happened, all our characters have to do is behave themselves, and they can get away.

But sometimes, failing is the best way to succeed.

Also in this episode, an extra-long Trailer Talk concerning Ghostbusters Afterlife, the upcoming sequel to the original Ghostbusters franchise, starring (you guessed it) Harold Ramis.

Ghostbusters Afterlife trailer:

https://youtu.be/ahZFCF--uRY

Star Wars 1977 - 2019

Rest in Peace

In episode 94 of the Nighthawks Podcast we discuss Episode IX of the Third Star Wars trilogy, and marking a future uncertain for the franchise.

While opinions are starkly divided and battle lines have been drawn on social media- we humbly offer what we believe is a very mature, even-handed, and fair look at the movie.

Like everyone else, we have our opinions, but we are able to discuss the opinions of others without insulting their mothers.

The boys celebrated Black Friday, not by going out and spending, but by staying in and watching a movie.

Honoring the holiday, Matt and Trevor made this Friday especially Black by talking about a Black Movie. Shane Black, to be precise.

The subject of Nighthawks Episodes 21 and 22 is on deck, and Matt and Trevor are talking about his 1970s period detective comedy The Nice Guys.

First up though, the guys have been watching The Mandalorian on Disney+ an have a few spoiler free thoughts.

Also with an equipped spoiler curtain in place the Nighthawks examine another writer/director turn by Shane Black.

This isn't Black's latest turn in the director's chair, also briefly discussed is The Predator and the scandal involving Black hiring a known sex offender.

Those wanting more information on those reports can begin here. These are historical articles and are presented here for information and context purposes:

Olivia Munn Says Fox Didn’t Return Her Call Initially After Reporting ‘Predator’ Sex Offender (Variety)

https://variety.com/2018/film/news/olivia-munn-says-fox-didnt-return-her-call-initially-after-reporting-predator-sex-offender-exclusive-interview-1202933315/

Shane Black Apologizes Again for ‘Stupid Decision’ to Hire Sex Offender for ‘The Predator’ (Variety)

https://variety.com/2018/film/news/shane-black-apologizes-predator-sex-offender-1202940839/

Fox Deletes Scene From ‘The Predator’ With Registered Sex Offender (Variety)

https://variety.com/2018/film/news/fox-deletes-sex-offender-predator-1202929542/

Victim of 'The Predator' Sex Offender Comes Forward to Thank Olivia Munn for Taking a Stand (Hollywood Reporter)

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/predator-sex-offenders-victim-comes-forward-thanks-olivia-munn-1143004

As day breaks on this year's extended Monstoberfest coverage, we send the 2019 horror season off by taking another stab at a boss monster.

And we mean "boss" both as "superlative" and "in charge."

In 2015's Nighthawks Episode 3, Matt and Trevor discussed the incomparable Christopher Lee and his first turn as Dracula in 1958's DRACULA from Hammer Films (distributed in the US as THE HORROR OF DRACULA).

During that episode, the boys found the Hammer treatment changed a great deal from the source material and elevated it for then-contemporary audiences. This, despite Trevor's shocking confession that he doesn't like the Dracula novel all that much.

This time around, in 1992's BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA, director auteur Francis Ford Coppola uses older and time-honored production techniques to craft a well-executed and out-of-time look and feel for a story that was originally published in 1897.

BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA features legendary makeup, costumes, and performances from Gary Oldman and Anthony Hopkins.

Also featured: not-our-favorite performance from Hollywood sweetheart Keanu Reeves.

Is the fresh 1992 polish enough for the boys in the diner to get over their Dacula property hump?

Cinch a garlic garland around your neck, and join us as we resurrect DRACULA for another battle with good.

For more information on Dracula, see Episode 3: https://bit.ly/2OuWJrN

For more information on SOME Dracula, but not exclusive to Dracula, also see Episode 14: https://bit.ly/2QCqc5S

The Monster is back, baby!

As things in the Nighthawks Diner are often conceptual, so goes the Gregorian Calendar. The Spawn of Monstoberfest knows no bounds!

As our Monstoberfest coverage bleeds into Monstember, we want to thank you for staying with the spooky coverage.

Listen, we’ll be frank. When faced with the choice of jettisoning our Monstoberfest coverage vs sitting on our Telluride coverage for later release… WE DID NEITHER. OUTLAW COUNTRY!!!

The gimmick is fun, but the thesis is stronger than the fun of the calendar gimmick. We promise.

Hot on the heels of watching 2010’s A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, the boys turn the PLATINUM DUNES clock back a year and watched the re-make/boot/hash/imagining of the 1980 slasher classic FRIDAY THE 13th.

Jared Padalecki stars in this non-supernatural (ahem) chapter of the hockey-mask-wearing killer Jason Voorhees. Was this another tired remake, or did the 2009 edition bring something to the table?

The Redux of Monstoberfest continues.

For our original discussion on Friday the 13th from Episode 51, click here: https://bit.ly/2K5ZKxq

Also discussed in this episode- since we’re talking everything relaunches, what’s up with that Ghostbusters teaser from January? And what did the guys think of the Paul Feig reboot?

The January 2019 teaser for Ghostbusters 2020 can be found here: https://youtu.be/g4lT3LEimWk

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