January 26/27, 1966

The Joker "springs" himself from jail in time to exact revenge on the curators of a museum exhibit on comedy legends.  He's upset that he wasn't included in the exhibit.  But Batman's on the scene to stop him with the aid of his trusty utility belt.  The Joker swears never to fall for the gimmicks of the belt by fighting fire with fire and creating his own.  The belt proves to be a match for the Dynamic Duo as the city of Gotham begins to lose faith in them as they fall for the pranks from the Joker's utility belt.

Joining John for the first appearance of The Joker is Geek Radio Daily's Billy Flynn.

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The Wonderful Billy Flynn brings the funny each week on Geek Radio Daily! His daytime alter ego is mild-mannered (well, that part is a stretch) radio station personality at WLEE in Virginia.   He actually gets paid to sit on his butt and run his mouth! His “edumacation” is from UNC-Wilmington, the Columbia School of Broadcasting, and University of Phoenix. When he is not gracing the podcasting airways with his comedic stylings, you can find Billy Flynn on Xbox Live (flynn71), rockin’ out on Guitar Hero or Rock Band, watching movies, reading comics, working out, or posting on the forums at geekradiodaily.com (ding!).

We're playing catchup as we never completed the episodes for August.  Stay tuned for the rest of the week as we have two more to go there before hitting our September episodes starting on Saturday.

August 10, 2013
0:29 - Epic Podcast Promo
5:01 - The Adventures of Superman - "Happyland Amusement Park", part 5 - July 16, 1940
16:08 - Theater Five - "The Fun Party" - August 17, 1964
37:44 - The Avengers - "Too Many Oles", part 5

Somewhere in Riddick (Vin Diesel), the fugitive criminal with the crazy, glowing eyes that can see in the dark, exists a character engaging enough to build a film franchise around. Somewhere in RIDDICK, the third film featuring the antihero, is evidence of a wise move to put the guy into a tighter, more stripped-down scenario better suited to him than the bloated, Robert E. Howard pastiche that was THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK. Unfortunately, stranding Riddick on a hostile alien world and tasking him with the challenge of outwitting two teams of bounty hunters — headed up by Jordi Mollà and Matt Nable and including Katee Sackhoff  — for one of their spaceships hasn’t quite elevated this entry above the misconceptions of character and plotting that the first film, PITCH BLACK, neatly sidestepped.

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Cinefantastique Online’s Steve Biodrowski, Lawrence French, and Dan Persons differ in opinion on how seriously RIDDICK is undone by its flaws. In a lively conversation, they discuss writer/director David Twohy’s conception of the character, whether the mantle of Nietzschean superman rests comfortably on Riddick’s shoulders, and the difficulty in creating adversaries able to maintain their credibility while being outwitted by the protagonist. Most pressing, they also debate who in this scenario is the roadrunner, and who’s the coyote?

Then: Steve gives his impressions of the comedic horror film HELL BABY and a preliminary impression of DEAD BEFORE DAWN, and Dan provides a capsule review of the post-apocalyptic, comic book actioner, BOUNTY KILLER. Plus, what’s coming to theaters next week.

Comment on the episode here or write podcast@cinefantastique.com or call 888-866-9010. Take a moment to rate the episode by using our star system at the bottom of this entry.

Dan Persons says:

Name a genre, and John Badham can tell you tales about it. He mixed the musical with incisive social observation in SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER — arguably the only disco movie worthy of being watched as serious film — dealt in the worlds of speculative fiction with such cautionary tales as WARGAMES, and has notched his action creds with everything running from BLUE THUNDER all the way up to TV’s NIKITA. All through, he’s worked with stars ranging from John Travolta, Johnny Depp, Mel Gibson and Bridget Fonda. Bottom line: When the guy talks about the craft of filmmaking, you know it comes from experience.

Which is a good thing, because Badham has just released a new book, John Badham on Directing: Notes from the Sets of Saturday Night Fever, War Games, and More. In it, he draws on forty plus years in the industry to provide budding filmmakers with practical tips on working with actors, staging action scenes, and making sure that the film playing in their heads finds its way onto the screen as accurately as possible. At the same time, the book is so chock-full of anecdotes and insights — not just from Badham, but also from such colleagues as Steven Soderbergh and Oliver Stone — that even those not planning a career behind the lens will want to check it out for its compelling glimpse behind-the-scenes.

Sponsor: Audible.com 30 Day Free Trial. Get John Badham on Directing at Audible.com. 

Badham was kind enough to sit down with us, and we got his thoughts on some of his classic films, on taking advantage of the medium’s technical advances, on the difference between directing for feature films and for TV, and on the motivations for putting this book together. Click on the player to hear the show.

Comment on the episode here or write dan@mightymoviepodcast.com or call 888-866-9010. Take a moment to rate the episode by using our star system at the bottom of this entry.

The Summer of the Rift continues as we feature this interview with author Ellen Kushner from Arisia 1993.

Please take a moment by commenting on the episode here or by writingjohn@chronicrift.com, or by calling 888-866-9010.