Cameron H.

Cover Girl was released in 1944. Xanadu was released in 1980. Is there any chance that in 2016, Michael Beck will reprise his role as Sonny Malone (a la Mark Hamill in the upcoming Star Wars sequels) and pass ownership of Xanadu to the next generation? Some dub-step kid could run into him roller skating down Venice Beach, Greek mythology happens, musical fusion, and...You know what? I don't think I need to write anymore. This shit writes itself.

Fantastic episode! One thing that killed me about Sonny was when he quits to open Xanadu, he tells Simpson, "I've worked like a dog to make Tuesday Wednesday," and all I could think was..."did you?" To break it down, Sonny gets hired back after what we are led to believe was him unceremoniously walking out on his boss. Three minutes into his first day back at work, he fucks off to go find some random woman he just met, and then fucks off work AGAIN to listen to records with some weird clarinet playing guy. We are told that he is constantly late for work and his very presence is absolute poison for morale. He is always talking back to his boss, a man who was not only nice enough to give him another shot, but a man that explicitly states that he believes Sonny has the talent to be more than just a record cover painter. Finally, to drive the point home as to what an entitled little prick he is, he breaks into the strange "inspiration studio" thing to impress some girl with his roller skating skills, only to damage the expensive looking "motivation machine." And after all that, not only does he not get fired, he spits it back in his boss' face like a dildo! What the hell? As a side note, it also doesn't help that Sonny's acting style seems to be: "I am from another country and don't speak your language, so I will just nod and smile based on your facial cues and the tone of your voice."

No. Those were LOL and Glitter. The whole gang will be there!

Well shit, as long as you're granting wishes, would it be gauche of me to ask for money?

I want to play this game! Does anyone know how to create an 8-bit version of the Nerd Poker theme song?

Not to mention Double Team! However, in his defense, Scheer did sound like he may have been on his second glass of absinthe for the evening so I think we can cut him some slack.

No worries! Paul didn't say you couldn't have someone else do it for you. Happy New Year, you get to keep your butt play!

Just thought I would post this here so we can all compare and contrast a coke-fueled vision of "Xanadu" versus an opium-fueled one. Oddly enough, I don't see too many similarities. For one, there are far fewer roller skates in Coleridge's version. Fucking poser... "Kubla Khan" BY Samuel Taylor Coleridge In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea. So twice five miles of fertile ground With walls and towers were girdled round; And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills, Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree; And here were forests ancient as the hills, Enfolding sunny spots of greenery. But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover! A savage place! as holy and enchanted As e’er beneath a waning moon was haunted By woman wailing for her demon-lover! And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething, As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing, A mighty fountain momently was forced: Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail, Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher’s flail: And mid these dancing rocks at once and ever It flung up momently the sacred river. Five miles meandering with a mazy motion Through wood and dale the sacred river ran, Then reached the caverns measureless to man, And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean; And ’mid this tumult Kubla heard from far Ancestral voices prophesying war! The shadow of the dome of pleasure Floated midway on the waves; Where was heard the mingled measure From the fountain and the caves. It was a miracle of rare device, A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice! A damsel with a dulcimer In a vision once I saw: It was an Abyssinian maid And on her dulcimer she played, Singing of Mount Abora. Could I revive within me Her symphony and song, To such a deep delight ’twould win me, That with music loud and long, I would build that dome in air, That sunny dome! those caves of ice! And all who heard should see them there, And all should cry, Beware! Beware! His flashing eyes, his floating hair! Weave a circle round him thrice, And close your eyes with holy dread For he on honey-dew hath fed, And drunk the milk of Paradise.

Honestly, in my opinion, it's about the same, so take that as you will. I still enjoy the show and listen every week, but I do agree with a lot of what has been written on this thread. I am glad that Steve and Dan are regulars now, I just wish they would roll their own characters instead of just continuing with Winter and Lyra--who never had much in the way of development anyway--so I don't think they'd be missed too much. My theory as to the change in the show is that, when Blaine took over as DM, I believe it was always intended to be a temporary thing. In fact, I believe they said at the start that they would just do a "danger room" (I think that is the term...I don't play D&D, but I imagine it is an encounter driven game rather than a story driven one) until Sark possibly returned. Therefore, I don't think Blaine ever had much in the way of a story to begin with, and once it became evident Sark would be out indefinitely, he has been more or less winging it. I do think he has tried to inject some story, but since the guys tend to go off the rails, all plans tend to get shot down pretty quickly. In fact, the whole reason Sark was going to do a postmortem on his campaign was because of this kind of derailment. If I were to make an educated guess, I would say that when NP first aired, Sark had plenty of time (and experience) to hammer out a map of his world and story, so if they ever went rogue he could figure out a way to get them back on the right path. For instance, I recall them sinking the Collector ship at the start of the campaign, and I 100% guarantee you that is not what he thought they would do--hence drifting at sea for an episode or two. But, since his world had some structure, he was able, without too much difficulty, to get them back in the game. He was also pretty rigid (in a good way) of keeping it moving, by employing the timer. He still let them go off on tangents, but never for too long. Conversely, Blaine was never really afforded the same time or luxury to really prepare much of anything, and honestly, he never pretended that he did. Consequently, he has no real reason to reign them in like Sark did, because, in many cases, I am sure he is just as surprised as they are with what happens next. I hope that didn't come off too critical...I really do still enjoy NP a lot.

Oh! And just so you all don't think I am letting Emma Thompson's character off the hook (whom I love as an actress, despite the fact that she is dressed like a male extra out of Anne of Green Gables throughout the majority of this film), doesn't she at one point admit to Arnold that she once had the hots for her cousin? Look, I'm not here to judge, but I think that may be a nugget you may want to keep in your pocket a little longer than the second date into a new relationship.

I have a few character observations to make, I will try to keep it as brief as possible. Concerning both Arnold and DeVito's characters, why are they even in their chosen fields? They both seem to hate doing what they do. Initially, Arnold S. is an emotionless robot who we are lead to believe has reoccurring nightmares about being around babies, and Danny D. has the bedside manner of a hobgoblin. At the beginning of the movie, DeVito goes to check up on a very pregnant patient and she says, "I feel like I am about to burst" and he tells her "Not in here your not!" What?? That's not a very reassuring thing for an OB/GYN to tell his patient. I mean, I know they are not in a proper hospital, but she is in a clinic, with her OB/GYN, and surrounded by a (presumably) highly trained medical staff. Wouldn't that be almost the ideal place to go into labor? Wouldn't it be better if he had said, "Well, don't worry. If you do, we got it covered." I mean, they are both in highly specialized fields and I am sure they both went through years of schooling, so at some point we have to assume that the following thoughts went through their heads: Arnold--"Y'know, babies kind of give me the creeps--I think I'll specialize in fertility so I can help make more of them," Danny--"Gee, I have a pretty abrasive and caustic personality. I know that patients visiting an OB/GYN would ideally want someone nurturing and kind, but fuck it! I'm gonna do that." In addition to this, did anyone else catch the fact that DeVito's character is a straight up sociopath? When he finally admits to Arnold that he stole Emma's egg and Arnold gets angry about it, his rebuttal is, "If you had just let me abort it we wouldn't be in this situation!" What the fuck?? So, in his mind, stealing an egg from a woman who is saving it so she can have a child one day is neither the problem, nor a deplorable act in and of itself. To him, the problem is not aborting it in time to cover up the theft and experiment. Fuck you, movie!

Wow...so I did it! I finally finished both the movie and the episode! In the end, I have to say my opinion of it was very much like Jason's: a horrible beginning that gets moderately better toward the end. To Paul's point of whether or not this should be classified as a comedy, I would say, yes, but only as defined by Shakespearean/Elizabethan standards. Shakespeare comedies, which don't necessarily rely on "jokes" like modern comedies, are rather lighthearted romps with happy endings and often include cross dressing, the lead characters getting married, and a party at the end--a birthday party in this case. This is dramatically opposed to Shakespearean tragedies that end with the cast bathed in blood. But this may offer an explanation as to why Emma Thompson is in it as she had starred in Much Ado About Nothing the year before and probably thought, "This is modern day Shakespeare!" So, I guess if we don't like it we are just a bunch of uncultured cave people. It just blows my mind though, as there were so many missed opportunities at jokes in this movie. I am not saying they would be GOOD jokes, but jokes that would have lightened up the first half of the movie. For instance, when Danny is chasing Arnold through the airport and gets stopped by security, why doesn't he yell out, "I want you to have my baby!?" Then a couple of elderly nuns could look shocked and do the sign of the cross, or something. The next scene would be at a nice dinner (by "romantic" candlelight, of course) where Danny lays out the plan and convinces Arnold to go through with it. They could then go back to Danny's place where he "knocks him up." I know these aren't great ideas, but as a person who is neither a professional comedian nor a professional writer, I was able to come up with that in less than a minute. Also, to the ladies out there in forum land, did any of you find it at all insulting that the movie implies that one of the apparent side effects of estrogen is that it causes you to want to be a stereotypical homemaker that gets peeved when your "man" isn't home on time to eat the dinner you cooked? Hated the movie, loved the episode! Looking forward to the 200th! It should drop sometime in 2019 or 20.

I have to say, that so far, my favorite part was just after the Universal logo and the opening shot in the library. The first credit appears on the screen, my two-year-old son groans, and in the most despondent way you can possibly imagine, says "Oh, no..." He then put his hands over his eyes and shook his head. 51 mins in and we have both given up completely. We are now playing with cars (I get the red one) and I am finding it to be an infinitely more rewarding use of my time.

Thanks Quasar! Yeah, when I was binge listening to HDTGM there were movies I have not seen--and still haven't seen, in fact (e.g. Gooby, 88 Minutes)--and these are some of my favorite episodes. I try to watch along as best I can now that I am caught up, but I don't know...there is just something about Junior that I can't wrap my head around. It's weird. It is a visceral response. I wish I could point to a single thing about this particular film that makes me not want to watch it, but I am not coming up with anything, which makes my trepidation all the more frustrating. It's not like it is Tyler Perry's Temptation where I can see why someone wouldn't want to watch it. This is a stupid Schwarzenegger comedy about a pregnant man! Not exactly heavy stuff... I think I will just have to bite the bullet and watch it tonight. Having a new episode of HDTGM ready to listen to for 3 days now, and not listening to it, is killing me.

Honest question for the boards... This is the first time since binge listening to all the episodes and getting caught up that I am seriously wondering if I need to watch the movie they are covering. I mean, I love watching bad movies (I now own copies of Glitter, Rhinestone, and Xanadu for God's sake), but there is something about this one that gives me pause. Even though I know why they are doing it for their 100th, the whole premise of this movie just never appealed to me. Is it worth watching or should I just listen to the episode and give the movie a pass? Please, let me know what you think. I will let you all be my guide

Uh-oh! Paul better watch his back. It looks like he's got a little competition on his hands. I can't even begin to imagine what would happen if June read these honeyed words... Thankfully, "superbeautiful" people can't read, so I think their marriage is safe...for now.

Bond girl name: Cleo Torres

I was going to bring this up as well. I was watching with my wife, and she commented on it. She couldn't understand how she couldn't see it. I mean, it IS a pretty big blimp. I was about to make an excuse for the movie (why, I don't know) and say, "Well, I guess blimps are pretty quiet," when, suddenly, the blimp's engines start ROARING! And I was like, "Oh, it is only quiet when it's convenient to the plot." Stupid Ninja blimps...

Pro tip: If any of you have not had hot, passionate sex while listening to Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake you are missing out on a truly transcendent experience. Personally however, I think performing oral sex to "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies" just edges it out. What I'm saying is, everyone should go home tonight, mix it up, show some class, and do it to some classical music. Just remember, you have to commit. Let the music move you. Oh, and I also have an Old Man Bond Alert. Just after he has sex with the KGB agent and he is listening to the tape, he actually writes down on a post-it note: SILICON VALLEY IN THREE DAYS MAINSTRIKE. Are we to believe that Bond can't remember three simple details without writing them down?

Especially when you consider "California Girls" isn't even about surfing, so it even makes less sense. They might as well played "God Only Knows."

He is the best! I love me some "angry" Bond.

Okay, here's are a couple issues I had with the film. First of all, Bond meets with Zorin in his office and is ID'd by a hidden video camera. So establishing that a) the technology exists and b ) Zorin already has hidden cameras in his house, why does he rely solely on bugging Bond's room, which--as evidenced in the film--can be easily faked out with a pre-recorded cassette tape? My second point is, right after meeting with Zorin, Bond sends Tibbett out to contact M and put a trace on a check. He tells him to do it as quickly as possible. Tibbett, who is washing the car, asks what he should say if they ask where he is going. Bond replies, "Tell them you need to get the car washed." At which point I think the sound editor missed a real opportunity to add a sad trombone as Tibbett dumps the dirty water all over the car. Anyway, he gets out, drives to the city, and the first thing he does is...get the car washed?? I think Tibbett may be too deep into his cover. Yes, there was someone in the phone booth and Yes, he is being followed, but I wouldn't exactly consider either of these things insurmountable issues. Maybe drive around the corner and find another phone FIRST, and then worry about washing the goddamn car. And, why is he even being followed?? May Day is crouched down in the backseat of the car. You can't get anymore "followed" than that! But of course this all leads to Tibbett being killed and my favorite exchange in the movie. BOND: Killing Tibbett was a big mistake. ZORIN: I am about to make the same mistake twice. So...you're going to kill Tibbett again? That seems a bit redundant.

I work hard, yet I choose to watch terrible movies. Is there something wrong with me?

I have honestly tried to come up with another one and just can't. I guess one thing is for sure, the PUN-isher I am not.

Yes, I agree with you, and, yes, Bond movies are misogynistic. That's nothing new. However, usually the women are shown to be into him too, if not initially, they are either won over by his "charm" or the plan is to seduce him to kill him or whatever. At no point in the movie does she show any interest in him and even looks as though the very idea kind of disgusts her*. If at the auction there was a shot of her giving him the once over, then I wouldn't mind as much; that would just be a Bond movie being a Bond movie. However, I'd argue that most Bond women are supposed to represent some kind of male sexual wish fulfillment. In this case the wish seems to be, "Wouldn't it be awesome for Bond to have sex with a woman, not because she thinks he is suave or handsome or because she thinks he's an okay dude, but because she has no choice?" In this regard, I think May Day is set apart from your typical Bond woman. *I am editing to concede, that the problem is probably the assumption that Bond is just that awesome that ALL women, even if they hate him or want to kill him, want to bone Bond. Which brings me back to Shariq's original post where he said there is no universe where Grace Jones and Roger Moore (well past his prime) would have sex. In which case, the problem is a casting issue. Moore, at this point in his career as Bond, has no chance in Hell of pulling that off.