School just started, but we're already ready for a couple of skip days! First off, we're joining Riff Randell (PJ Soles) and The Ramones to take on Principal Togar (Mary Woronov) and her fascist high school administration in this cult classic midnight movie from executive producer and B-movie godfather Roger Corman. We discuss the surprisingly long and complex process of script development, director Allan Arkush's musical pedigree, high school rebellion, lots of behind-the-scenes stories, movie connections and influences, and of course, the music and on-set antics of The Ramones. Come make a black mark on your permanent record with us!

We've got a golden ticket! For the second of our duo of kids' classics, we're indulging in a sweet treat - Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory! We discuss Roald Dahl's wildly imaginative source novel, art director Harper Goff's fantastical visual interpretations of Wonka's candy factory wonderland, the unforgettable soundtrack, the real-life candy bar tie-in to the film, and the incredible cast, including the absolutely incomparable Gene Wilder, who brought heart, soul, and just the right amount of insanity to the title role. Come with me, and you'll be in a world of pure imagination!

I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore... This month, we're talking about kids' classics, and it doesn't get much more classic and comforting than The Wizard of Oz! Claire from Why the Flick podcast joins us to discuss the (occasionally dark and dangerous) history of this landmark movie, the challenges of producing a Technicolor fantasy musical for children in early Hollywood, Judy Garland's megawatt star power, the immeasurable influence of Oz on the movie landscape, and our own personal experiences with The Wizard of Oz as kids and now. Follow us down the yellow brick road and give it a listen!

For the second film in our war movies month, we're staying with WWII but heading over to the Pacific theater to discuss Terrence Malick's modern classic, The Thin Red Line. Unlike its film peer Saving Private Ryan, which came out the same year, The Thin Red Line has not always received universal acclaim, with mixed reactions from viewers and critics alike. It's a totally different type of war movie, realistic in some ways, but even more impressionistic, allegorical, symbolic, and philosophical. For these reasons, Georgia counts it as her favorite war film (and she's in good company, joined by the likes of Gene Siskel and Martin Scorsese). In this episode, we attempt to unlock the film through close character study, allegory, and examination of elemental symbolism, and we also discuss Malick's uniquely holistic approach to filmmaking, the casting that combined Hollywood veterans with unknown newcomers, the score that mixed Hans Zimmer with Melanesian choirs, and John Toll's artistic cinematography and use of natural light. Join us for a deeply philosophical exploration of the meaning of life and art!

Can a war film also be a comfort film? This month we're exploring that question. First up this week, special guest Martin Harries of Film Vs. Film Podcast joins us to discuss one of his favorite comfort picks and a perennial rewatch around the holidays with family, The Guns of Navarone. We talk about the paradox of comforting war films; Carl Foreman's script, which placed mythmaking far above historical fact; J. Lee Thompson's directing style, which balanced blockbuster action sequences with philosophical and moral quandaries; the stellar cast, featuring David Niven, Anthony Quinn, and Gregory Peck in a surprisingly morally grey role; and we make connections between The Guns of Navarone and the many films that borrowed from its formula, including The Dirty Dozen, Star Wars, the James Bond films, and Guardians of the Galaxy. Join our team of specialized film analysts and come on a mission with us!

Have you ever wanted to go back in time to right a wrong? Whether it's correcting an injustice, avoiding a mistake, or preventing an accident, all of us would love to get a second chance to make things right. In Frequency, John Sullivan (Jim Caviezel) gets to live that fantasy, when a freak solar storm causes a disturbance in earth's magnetic field that allows him to communicate with his father Frank (Dennis Quaid) thirty years in the past. Messing with time does have its consequences though, and the ripple effect of their initial change causes many other problems that Frank and John have to race to correct before their window of communication closes forever. In this episode (part of our dads defying space-time month), we talk about Toby Emmerich's screenplay, which flawlessly combines multiple genres; Gregory Hoblit's directorial approach, which grounds sci-fi/fantasy elements with real science; the end credits song by Garth Brooks that ties it all together; and our personal experiences with the film, including Georgia's essay in World Film Locations: Toronto. Come surf the radio waves with us!

To celebrate Fathers' Day in June, we're turning our attention to a pair of films about dads and time travel. (It's a niche, but there are more options than you think!) For our first selection, we're going with Christopher Nolan's Interstellar, which combines complex theoretical physics concepts with a deeply emotional story of a father and daughter, whose bond crosses time and space to quite literally save the world. We do our best as liberal arts kids to discuss the work of physicist Kip Thorne, wormholes, black holes, the effects of the relativity of time on space travel, and time as a physical dimension, while we also explore topics closer to our comfort zone, like the implicit humanism in Hans Zimmer's beautiful score, Matthew McConaughey's deeply emotional turn as Cooper, and Jonathan Nolan's beautifully balanced screenplay. Prepare to board the Endurance and cross the universe with us!

What happens when Star Wars superfans make a Star Wars movie? Rogue One - the missing piece of the Star Wars saga we never knew we needed. It started as a pitch for a standalone Star Wars story from an ILM Visual Effects Supervisor, got a director who had vacationed in Tunisia to visit Star Wars sets and always wanted to be a member of the Rebel Alliance, and was cast with a diverse group of Star Wars fans from all around the world. As a prequel to Star Wars: A New Hope, Rogue One ties in perfectly with the original trilogy, teaching us that the hope started with a ragtag group of rebels on a very personal mission to steal Death Star plans from an Imperial data vault. We're a couple of Star Wars hope junkies from way back, so this one hits us right in the feels. Come save the dream with us!