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By Lee Pfeiffer

Like many boys who grew up in the 1960s, I was addicted to Mad magazine. It's sarcastic satires of politicians and pop culture figures were all the rage and the magazine was a showcase for some truly impressive writers and artists. Mad pushed the envelope in some regards but publisher William Gaines still maintained a family-friendly facade. In 1970, I entered high school a few months after another satire magazine, National Lampoon, published its premiere issue. The first issue I saw featured a striking cover by artist Frank Frazetta that spoofed those old jungle movies. It depicted a courageous white guy saving a scantily clad white woman from a hoard of African natives. It was titled "White Man's Wet Dream". I was hooked before I opened the magazine. National Lampoon became a "must-read" for young people of the era. Unlike Mad, there were no holds barred when it came to off-limits subjects.

Fred Willard, best known for his roles in Best in Show, This Is Spinal Tap, Everybody Loves Raymond, and Modern Family, died of natural causes at the age of 86, according to Variety.

“It is with a heavy heart that I share the news my father passed away very peacefully last night at the fantastic age of 86 years old,” his daughter Hope Willard tweeted on Saturday. “He kept moving, working and making us happy until the very end. We loved him so very much! We will miss him forever.”

Willard first came into national consciousness as the sidekick to Martin Mull’s host on the nightly Fernwood 2 Night. He is well known as part of the revolving troupe of actors – including Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy – assembled by director Christopher Guest.

“How lucky that we all got to enjoy Fred Willard’s gifts,” Guest’s wife,...

It’s been 40 years since the release of “National Lampoon’s Animal House.” That means “Animal House” is older now than the events of “Animal House” were when “Animal House” came out. It’s part of our history now, along with “National Lampoon’s Vacation” and “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” Each of these films are considered comedy classics, or at least extremely influential, because of their eagerness and skill at capturing an idea of America — both the country and its culture — that we think is real, but never existed, and possibly never should have.

But these are just the best-known “National Lampoon” movies. The brand has been used on many motion picture comedies over the years, including many theatrical releases and more straight-to-video schlock than most people realize. With the 40th anniversary of “Animal House” on the horizon, and the 35th anniversary of “Vacation” the same week, we’re...

It’s a very special Christmas episode of Movie Madness. Against the norm, we will not be talking Christmas films or even pitching a sequel. Instead, we pitch our very own original Christmas movie, with a little help from some random elements chosen from envelopes. Suffice to say, it becomes something very special.

Theme music: Funky Sting by Twin Musicom (twinmusicom.org)

Listen via the player below or alternatively you can download via iTunes.

Warning! Contains spoilers and strong language.

https://ia601509.us.archive.org/35/items/XmasSpecial2/Xmas%20Special%202.mp3...

One of Quentin Tarantino’s best films is the focus for this episode of Movie Madness. Tom & Jonno talk about favourite scenes, quotes, music and play a game they have dubbed Equal Sequel Wars where each must pitch their own sequel.

Theme music: Funky Sting by Twin Musicom (twinmusicom.org)

Listen to the episode via the player below or alternatively you can download via iTunes.

Warning! Contains spoilers and strong language.

https://ia601501.us.archive.org/28/items/Series4Episode6PulpFiction/Series%204%20-%20Episode%206%20-%20Pulp%20Fiction.mp3...

Our comedy podcast about all things film, Movie Madness, has returned for a fourth series. Hosts Tom and Jonathan talk about some of the most significant films of their lives, discussing favourite scenes, quotes, music and playing a game they have dubbed Equal Sequel Wars where each pitch their own sequel to that episodes film. Hilarious results ensue.

This episode Tom and Jonathan become Made Men as they infiltrate the mobsters underworld and talk about the Martin Scorsese masterpiece, Goodfellas (1990).

Theme music: Funky Sting by Twin Musicom (twinmusicom.org)

Listen to the episode via the player below or alternatively you can download via iTunes.

Warning! Contains spoilers and strong language.

https://ia801506.us.archive.org/34/items/Series4Episode1Goodfellas/Series%204%20-%20Episode%201%20-%20Goodfellas.mp3...

” Is this your wife? What a lovely throat!”

There’s nothing better than silent films accompanied by live music and I’d go as far as saying there’s nothing better than silent films accompanied by the Rats and People Motion Picture Orchestra. And I’ll go even farther by saying that there’s nothing better than the 1922 silent spooker Nosferatu accompanied by the Rats and People Motion Picture Orchestra which is an event that will be taking place Thursday night, October 18th at Urban Chestnut Brewing Company’s Midtown Brewery & Biergarten (3229 Washington Ave, St. Louis 63103). Doors open at 6pm and the movie unspools after dark!

Admission Is Free !!!

I’ve seen Nosferatu with live music before and have even shown a 25-minute cut of the film at my old monthly Super-8 Movie Madness show with live keyboard accompaniment (by the talented Linda Gurney), but seeing the full-length version near...

Another WolfCop? Yes. “Another” means that director Lowell Dean’s howlin’ mad midnighter is indeed a sequel, and a ravenous one at that. Back again is Leo Fafard, playing Canada’s favorite donut-scarfing Lycan lawman; a fluffy beast whose moonlight methods are animalistic to the max. Criminals find themselves torn limb from limb with WolfCop once again […]

The post ‘Another WolfCop’ Review: B-Movie Madness Reigns Supreme in a Very Silly Sequel [Fantasia Film Festival] appeared first on /Film.

Miss the Madness?! It’s Back – but one night only!

It’s this Saturday, August 5th at 8 Pm at The Way Out Club (2525 Jefferson in St. Louis)

Summer’s here and the time is right for Radioactive Creature Features!!!

Shadow Thieves are back with a brand new, full on audio assault of over the top Alt Rock that will thrill and shock! We’re giving you a night to remember of the best local/indie/underground music in all of olde St. Lou teaming up with our partners in crime Gary Robert & Community, who will be tearing it up with their brand of badass and brutal Punk!

But wait, there’s more!

The Return of Super 8 Movie Madness!!! Tom Stockman has resurrected his zombie robot movie projector and will be screening a selection of Sci Fi reels between sets, featuring some of the most far out crazed creatures ever to tear up downtown Tokyo!

“They said you was hung!”

“They was right!”

Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles screens this Friday and Saturday nights (July 7th and 8th) at midnight at the Tivoli Theater as part of their ‘Reel Late at the Tivoli’ Midnight series.

I showed the condensed Super-8 version of Blazing Saddles, appropriately enough, at my Super-8 Politically Incorrect Movie Madness show a few years ago at The Way Out Club and there are enough N-words in the 18-minute edit alone to make Paula Dean blush, but damn, this movie just keeps getting funnier as it ages!

Blazing Saddles is my favorite Mel Brooks comedy. Yes, even more than Young Frankenstein – it’s hard to believe Brooks produced both yuk-fests the same year. I just watched his 1977 follow-up High Anxiety on 16mm last weekend for the first time since it was new and Yikes! – I see why it was a critical disaster – didn’t laugh once!

Join us for some old-school 16mm Movie Madness! – It’s our monthly 16Mm Double Feature Night at The Way Out Club (2525 Jefferson Avenue in St. Louis)! Join Tom Stockman and Roger from “Roger’s Reels’ for complete films projected on 16mm film. The show is Tuesday May 2nd and starts at 8pm. Admission is Free though we will be setting out a jar to take donations for the National Children’s Cancer Society.

First up Is Mighty Joe Young (1949)

The producer –director team of Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack attempted to recreate the magic of King Kong in 1949 with Mighty Joe Young, which followed the Kong story closely but this time with more humor, affection and a big ape that kids could see as a hero. Again Robert Armstrong leads a safari to an isolated land to find a new attraction and again discovers a giant ape attached...

Worlds where powerful women rule just to be dethroned.

In classic sci-fi from the 1950s and 60s, there’s a very specific subgenre that deals with alien planets or hidden worlds populated entirely by women. In the video store where I used to work in Portland, Or, Movie Madness, we called this subgenre “Male Chauvinist Fantasies/Nightmares,” because that’s usually how these flicks go: male astronauts/explorers discover a world where the only inhabitants are lovely alien ladies who’ve gone too long without the company of men. This works itself out in one of two ways: it’s a fantasy world of a commitment-less sex and blind idolatry on the part of the women, or it’s a nightmare, the women are alone for a reason, and that reason usually revolves around breeding men to death. Either way there’s a lot of sex implied, but the connotations fluctuate.

We...

Join us for some old-school 16mm Movie Madness! – It’s our monthly 16Mm Double Feature Night at The Way Out Club (2525 Jefferson Avenue in St. Louis)! Join Tom Stockman and Roger from “Roger’s Reels’ for complete films projected on 16mm film. The show is Tuesday April 4th and starts at 8pm. Admission is Free though we will be setting out a jar to take donations for the National Children’s Cancer Society.

First up Is First Blood (1982)

First Blood was the original Rambo film before he became known as a one-man army as shown in the sequels, Sylvester Stallone plays Ex-Green Beret and Vietnam War veteran John Rambo who’s passing through a small town after learning of the death of a member of his unit, and all he wants is something to eat. The local sheriff (Brian Dennehy) doesn’t take too kindly to him, however, and after he breaks out of jail,...

Join us for some old-school 16mm Movie Madness! – It’s our monthly 16Mm Double Feature Night at The Way Out Club (2525 Jefferson Avenue in St. Louis)! Join Tom Stockman and Roger from “Roger’s Reels’ for complete films projected on 16mm film. The show is Tuesday March 7th and starts at 8pm.

Admission is Free though we will be setting out a jar to take donations for the National Children’s Cancer Society.

First up Is Arthur (1981)

Dudley Moore’s (Oscar-nominated) greatest performance carries the heart-warming romantic comedy Arthur (1981) about a ridiculously wealthy man who does what he wants whenever he wishes, but lacks the happiness he craves. Arthur’s life looks up though when he meets waitress Linda (Liza Minnelli), but he’s already engaged to the rich Susan (Jill Eikenberry) so that’s a major problem since his rich granny threatens to cut him out of the will.

Join us for some old-school 16mm Movie Madness! – It’s our monthly 16Mm Double Feature Night at The Way Out Club (2525 Jefferson Avenue in St. Louis)! Join Tom Stockman and Roger from “Roger’s Reels’ for a double feature of two complete films projected on 16mm film. The show is Tuesday February 7th and starts at 8pm. Admission is Free though we will be setting out a jar to take donations for the National Children’s Cancer Society.

First up is Trading Places

Trading Place is a beloved fish out of water comedy from 1983. The filthy rich Duke brothers (Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche) conduct a cruel experiment on two completely opposite (and completely oblivious) young men to prove that they could quite easily and successfully trade places.

Dan Aykroyd plays business executive Lewis Winthorpe III, a wealthy snob who works for the callous Duke brothers, and Eddie Murphy is Billy Ray Valentine,...

Join us for some old-school 16mm Movie Madness! – It’s our monthly 16Mm Double Feature Night at The Way Out Club (2525 Jefferson Avenue in St. Louis)! Join Tom Stockman and Roger from “Roger’s Reels’ for complete films projected on 16mm film. The show is Tuesday January 3rd and starts at 8pm. Admission is Free though we will be setting out a jar to take donations for the National Children’s Cancer Society.

First up Is Bonnie And Clyde (1967)

Faye Dunaway is Bonnie Parker and Warren Beatty is Clyde Barrow in Arthur Penn’s violent, sexually charged and deeply influential crime drama, a nostalgic look back at notorious outlaws filmed with the passion and zeal of filmmakers who were beginning to explore the boundaries of their craft. With a legendary screenplay by writers Robert Benton and David Newman, Bonnie and Clyde features supporting performances by an exemplary cast that includes Gene Wilder,...

Join us for some old-school 16mm Movie Madness! – It’s our monthly 16Mm Night at The Way Out Club (2525 Jefferson Avenue in St. Louis)! Join Tom Stockman and Roger from “Roger’s Reels’ for complete films projected on 16mm film. The show is Tuesday December 6th and starts at 8pm. Admission is Free though we will be setting out a jar to take donations for the National Children’s Cancer Society.

First up we have three 30-minute classic TV episodes:

The Brady Bunch – “Kitty Karry-All is Missing” The kids are torn over whom to believe when Cindy’s favorite doll, Kitty Carry-All, disappears, and she says that Bobby took it.

The Beverly Hillbillies – “Granny Learns to Dive” Granny’s driving and Ellie’s cooking makes a policeman and a cab driver think that the Clampett Mansion is a mental institution.

Johnny Socko And His Flying Robot “Opticon Must Die” A...

Join us for some old-school 16mm Movie Madness! – It’s our monthly 16Mm Double Feature Night at The Way Out Club (2525 Jefferson Avenue in St. Louis)! Join Tom Stockman and Roger from “Roger’s Reels’ for a double feature of two complete films projected on 16mm film. The show is Tuesday November 1st and starts at 8pm. Admission is Free though we will be setting out a jar to take donations for the National Children’s Cancer Society.

First up is The Entity (1982)

The Entity is a very intense powerful supernatural thriller from 1982 about an invisible presence grabbing every opportunity to attack and sexually assault the main character played by Barbara Hershey, a single mom with a checkered sexual past. One night after coming home to her kids, she is attacked and raped by an invisible intruder she can’t see. Later that night the house starts vibrating, so Carla...

” Is this your wife? What a lovely throat!”

There’s nothing better than silent films accompanied by live music and I’d go as far as saying there’s nothing better than silent films accompanied by the Rats and People Motion Picture Orchestra. And I’ll go even farther by saying that there’s nothing better than the 1922 silent spooker Nosferatu accompanied by the Rats and People Motion Picture Orchestra which is an event that will be taking place Thursday night, October 20th at Urban Chestnut Brewing Company’s Midtown Brewery & Biergarten (3229 Washington Ave, St. Louis 63103). Doors open at 6pm and the movie unspools after dark!

Admission Is Free !!!

I’ve seen Nosferatu with live music before and have even shown a 25-minute cut of the film at my old monthly Super-8 Movie Madness show with live keyboard accompaniment (by the talented Linda Gurney), but seeing the full-length version near...

Join us for some old-school 16mm Movie Madness and a tribute to a beloved movie star – 16Mm Double Feature Night at The Way Out Club presents A Tribute To Gene Wilder! Join Tom Stockman and Roger from “Roger’s Reels’ for a double feature of two complete films projected on 16mm film. The show is Tuesday October 4th and starts at 8pm. Admission is Free though we will be setting out a jar to take donations for the National Children’s Cancer Society. The Way Out Club is located at 2525 Jefferson Avenue in St. Louis

“Hey, where are the white women at?”

First up at 8pm is Gene Wilder as ‘The Waco Kid’ in Mel Brooks uproarious 1974 comedy classic Blazing Saddles.

The Ultimate Western Spoof. A town where everyone seems to be named Johnson is in the way of the railroad. In order to grab their land, Hedley Lemar (Harvey Korman(R.

Join us for some old-school 16mm Movie Madness! – It’s our monthly 16Mm Double Feature Night at The Way Out Club (2525 Jefferson Avenue in St. Louis)! Join Tom Stockman and Roger from “Roger’s Reels’ for a double feature of two complete films projected on 16mm film. The show is Tuesday August 2nd and starts at 8pm. Admission is Free though we will be setting out a jar to take donations for the National Children’s Cancer Society.

First up is Dirty Mary Crazy Larry

If entertaining ‘70s car culture movies with great chases are your thing, then check out Dirty Mary Crazy Larry. In 1974, John Hough delivered a fast paced, and surprisingly entertaining film. Peter Fonda is Larry Rayder, a down and out race car driver with dreams of driving in the big-time Nascar circuit. Along with his mechanic, Deke Sommers (Adam Roarke), they rob a supermarket to finance their dreams,...

My guest for this month is Christa Mrgan, and she’s joined me to discuss the film she chose for me, the 2001 surreal horror-comedy film The Happiness of the Katakuris. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly.

Show notes:

Takashi Miike has made an astonishing 90 films in his career, but none quite like this one Thematically it would be hard to have two films as different as this one and our last episode on Ozu’s An Autumn Afternoon Arcadia, California was home to at least one video store, in 2004 It really is quite hilarious that both An Autumn Afternoon and this were released by Shochiku, how the world changes Shochiku were, of course, also the sometime home to films by Nagisa Oshima, and Mikio Naruse As well as the phenomenally goofy films of their horror period, so brilliantly captures by Criterion in the When Horror Came to Shochiku...

Join us for some old-school 16mm Movie Madness! – It’s our monthly 16Mm Double Feature Night at The Way Out Club (2525 Jefferson Avenue in St. Louis)! Join Tom Stockman and Roger from “Roger’s Reels’ for a double feature of two complete films projected on 16mm film. The show is Tuesday August 2nd and starts at 8pm. Admission is Free though we will be setting out a jar to take donations for the National Children’s Cancer Society.

First up is King Kong Vs Godzilla (1962)

Lets get ready to rumble!!!!!!!!!! In the far corner of Tokyo, weighing in at 127 tons. 407 feet tall. Wearing a rubber lizard suit. He represents the island nation of Japan. He is the slayer of the shipping lanes! The smasher of cities! The self-proclaimed King of All Monsters! The one and only………Godzilla!!!!!! *Applause*. In the other corner wearing the world’s largest ape suit…..he represents the United States.

Join us for some old-school 16mm Movie Madness! – It’s our monthly 16Mm Double Feature Night at The Way Out Club (2525 Jefferson Avenue in St. Louis)! Join Tom Stockman and Roger from “Roger’s Reels’ for a double feature of two complete films projected on 16mm film. The show is Tuesday July 5th and starts at 8pm. Admission is Free though we will be setting out a jar to take donations for the National Children’s Cancer Society.

“Klaatu barada nikto!”

First up is: The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)

The sci-fi parable The Day The Earth Stood Still starring Oscar winner Patricia Neal tells the story of Klaatu, a visitor from another world (played by Michael Rennie) with his allmighty robot Gor who land unexpectedly at the White House to stop people from expanding the human violence beyond frontiers of the planet Earth. When he sees that he cannot...

Join us for some old-school 16mm Movie Madness! – It’s our monthly 16Mm Double Feature Night at The Way Out Club (2525 Jefferson Avenue in St. Louis) ! Join We Are Movie Geeks‘ Tom Stockman and Roger from “Roger’s Reels’ for a double feature of two complete films projected on 16mm film. The show is Tuesday June 7th and starts at 8pm. Admission is Free though we will be setting out a jar to take donations for theNational Children’s Cancer Society.

First up is Young Frankenstein

Mel Brooks hit all nails right on the head in his black & white classic from 1974. Taking its themes from the Mary Shelley novel and providing some spot-on homage/parody to the James Whale classic Bride Of Frankenstein (and plenty of references to Son Of Frankenstein as well), Young Frankenstein is a breathless laugh and a half. In a weak comedy, you have the entire...

Join us for some old-school 16mm Movie Madness! – It’s our monthly 16Mm Double Feature Night at The Way Out Club (2525 Jefferson Avenue in St. Louis) ! Join We Are Movie Geeks‘ Tom Stockman and Roger from “Roger’s Reels’ for a double feature of two complete films projected on 16mm film. The show is Tuesday May 3rd and starts at 8pm. Admission is Free though we will be setting out a jar to take donations for the National Children’s Cancer Society.

First up is The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

The Poseidon Adventure is the breathtaking story of a cruise ship capsized by a tidal wave, the result of an undersea earthquake. At the time of the disaster, many of the ship’s passengers are celebrating New Year’s Eve in the Grand Ballroom of the ocean liner. The film then details the trials of ten survivors as they desperately make their...

Join us for some old-school 16mm Movie Madness! – It’s our second monthly 16Mm Double Feature Night at The Way Out Club (2525 Jefferson Avenue in St. Louis) ! Join We Are Movie Geeks‘ Tom Stockman and Roger from “Roger’s Reels’ for a double feature of two complete films projected on 16mm film. The show is Tuesday April 5th and starts at 8pm. Admission is Free though we will be setting out a jar to take donations for the National Children’s Cancer Society.

First up is The Mighty Peking Man

The Mighty Peking Man is one of the worst movies ever made…thus making it one of the best movies ever made. Everybody who loves awful movies, must go see The Mighty Peking Man when it screens in glorious 16mm April 5th. This is basically a jaw-dropping riff on King Kong. The special effects are not-so-special. There are animals that are mean one minute,...