Nighthawks' Podcast

The Nighthawks' time is nighttime, and nighttime is NOW!Welcome to:MONSTOBERFEST 2021 aka MonstoberGUESTFor this episode, writer and renaissance man podcaster, T.C. De Witt stops by the conceptual diner to discuss his contribution to the lovingly created and crowdfunded Friday the 13th Vengeance. A not-for-profit fan film that dares to build on one of the best love slasher sagas of the 20th century, and does so very well.T.C. also talks about his process and the art of writing, as Trevor and Matt slurp down pie-shakes and hurl questions.Happy Halloween Season to y'all, hope you enjoy the podcast and the film, available on Youtube.Important Links: Watch Friday the 13th Vengeance The Studio Demands It! Podcast   More about T.C. De Witt Other Episodes Referenced in This Episode: Episode 51: Halloween (1978) and Friday the 13th (1981) Episode 88: A Nightmare on Elm Street (2008) Episode 91: Friday the 13th (2009) Episode 58: Galaxy Quest

Every sunset must have its twilight, and as Indiana Jones left into the sunset in 1989 and in the 2008 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull we pick him up in his twilight.As easy a target as Harrison Ford's age is, 19 years after the previous entry in the franchise, the actor shows that he still has what it takes to punch fascists, quest for relics, and get into some dangerous daring do.Indy is joined by Ray Winstone as Mac, Shia Le Beouf as Mutt, Karen Allen as Marion Williams née Ravenwood, John Hurt as Harold Oxley, and Cate Blanchett as Irina Spakov. The communists are trying to round up the mortal remains of travelers extraterrestrial to Earth, which have been venerated by human cultures as gods. Indy deals with being an abandoning father, trusting the wrong people, getting blacklisted during the Red Scare, and rescuing old friends from new enemies.The fourth and final (for now) episode in our Indiana Jones special promises chills, spills, groans, eyerolls, and sighs.

The third time is the charm and we're getting the family involved.From the legendary minds of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas comes the third chapter of the Indiana Jones saga, and subsequently the third episode in the Nighthawks Indiana Jones Special!In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade; our titular relic hunting archeologist is on the trail of the Christian Holy Grail with a soupçon of Arthurian Legend for flavor. The lesser-than-human Nazis are the bad guys once again and the race for one of Christianity's most sought after relics is on. Complicating things is the fact that Indy's Grail scholar father has fallen into enemy hands and it's up to him to rescue his patriarch and foil the Nazi's plan for global domination.Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade stars Harrison Ford as the heroic Indiana Jones and also features Allison Doody, Denholm Elliott, John Rhys-Davies, Julian Glover, and Sir Sean Connery.The Nighthawks go back for another helping of Jones and find that the third course may be the best? Join

The boys are back in town. The boys being The Nighthawks and that unflappable archeologist and relic hunter Indiana Jones.Tonight the boys discuss Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom!In this prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark, the titular Indiana Jones finds himself with Girl Friday Willie Scott and a plucky Chinese orphan as he embarks into the jungles of India in search of the lost Sankara Stones.The stones have magical properties precious to local villagers, but they are sought after by a mysterious Thugee cult that has occupied India's Pankot Palace. It's up to Indy, Willie, and Short Round to infiltrate the Temple of Doom, recover the stones, and emancipate the enslaved villager children.It's black magic and racial insensitivity from Steven Spielberg and George Lucas; in a film starring Harrison Ford, Cate Capshaw, Ke Huy Quan, and Amrish Puri...

For this episode, and the next several episodes, the Nighthawks Podcast embarks on a great quest that started in 1981.At the end of the 20th century, the world was introduced to a swashbuckling mid-century hero. Archeologist by day, relic-hunter and Nazi puncher by night.Harrison Ford stars as Indiana Jones whose first adventure started for the Lost Ark of the Covenant in the Steven Spielberg and George Lucas project Raiders of the Lost Ark. It's a juggernaut of a franchise that just won't die, the supporting cast features Karen Allen, John Rhys-Davies, Paul Freeman, and Alfred Molina.Slide into the conceptual Nighthawks diner for coffee, pie, daring-do, scandalous affairs, rival polymaths, and evil Nazis.

What have you been watching lately?With the Nighthawks gearing up for some special episodes over the summer, they decided to lead off with a whole episode devoted to the latest movies in Matt and Trevor's queue and some of the latest movies to hit theaters!Discussed in this episode: The Mitchells vs. The Machines,  Raya and the Last Dragon,  Those Who Wish Me Dead,  F9 (aka The Fast and the Furious 9,)  Marvel's Loki,  Vicious Fun,  Good On Paper,  Bo Burnham: Inside 

A 1950s Drive-In Classic starring Steve McQueen becomes a sloppy and violent 1980s practical effects slime-fest when it comes to the amorphous THE BLOB.Originally pitched as an episode covering the 1988 The Blob only, the Nighthawks both watched the 1958 The Blob for the first time, doing homework for this episode, and they can’t help but talk about it.In both movies an object crash lands from space outside a small town populated by small town folks. A poor old man happens upon the object, touches a bubbling mass inside, and is eventually and horribly consumed, as the mass pulsates, grows, expands, and begins to hunt down the delicious townspeople.In the 1950s it was about young teenagers who aren’t believed by the establishment, and the town that has to band together for survival.In 1988 the town’s teenagers are also the vanguard against The Blob, but at the heart of the story is a dark underplot involving shadowy government dealings and agents with unclear motives.Each movie has its value, and both are on t

A jolly old eccentric billionaire has created the world's most astounding theme park, filled with living, breathing, roaring, snorting dinosaurs.It's the movie that brought Dinosaurs into the modern age, and brought mainstream Hollywood films into the CGI age. Now nearly 30 years old, Jurassic Park is a film that captured the attention and the imagination of a generation, and spawned a franchise that still boasts a single continuity to this day.Directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Samuel L. Jackson, Wayne Knight, and Sir Richard Attenborough; this dinosaur adventure turned clone-a-saurus horror has become the gold standard for special effects, book to movie adaptations, and one of the most terrifying movie villains to grace the big screen.Join Matt and Trevor at the conceptual Nighthawks Diner and remember Petticoat Lane- Er... Jurassic Park.

The announcement of the Nighthawks 2nd annual Oscar pool is now... and none of our hosts won.Meanwhile it's the button-down discussion of the 2021 Oscar results. Some surprises, some upsets, some bad calls, some good plays.Discussed are the films Nomadland, My Octopus Teacher, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Minari, Promising Young Woman, and many others.Was this a year that "Oscar got it right?" Or maybe some folks could have waited before tying Meryl Streep...* shade thrown *Sit in, get comfy, review the Oscars, and review some of the most talked about films of the year.

It's that time of year again, for the glitz, the glamor, the pomp, the circumstance, the ceremony, the reaction shots from Meryl Streep...It's time for the 93rd Annual Academy Awards, otherwise known as The Oscars, hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.In the Nighthawks Cafe is Oscar Czar Cameron Maris, breaking the nominees down for Trevor and Matt, and one thing is undeniable: The Oscar nominees this year are great...and super depressing.Serve up the after dark coffee and pie and follow along on your Nighthawks Oscar Czar Unofficial Oscar Ballot, available at www.nighthawkspodcast.com

It's the title bout that you've been waiting for (since 1963).One is a giant killer man-eating gorilla with a heart of gold.One is a radioactive gila monster that is driven by unstoppable instinct.This is Godzilla vs. Kong.This is Lizard vs. Monke.Kong has been living larger, older, and grayer in captivity since 'Nam, and is held by the Kaiju study team Monarch. Kong wants out.Meanwhile Godzilla has come ashore in Florida and has shed his previously benevolent character developments.Millie Bobby Brown (booster for Godzilla) teams with her friend Josh and undercover conspiracy theory podcaster Bernie Hays, to find out why Godzilla has a case of the Mondays.A scientist, played by Alexander Skarsgård, must take Kong into the entrance of the fabled hollow earth, to find Kong's origins, and a source of energy that could tip the SCALES (pause for emphasis) out of Godzilla's favor and into humanity's.Brewing underneath is a millenia-old war between titans, a mortal rivalry between ancient Kings Kong and ancient Gods

The big news around the movie sphere is probably the release of the sought after, one time fabled, now real, Snyder Cut of WB's JUSTICE LEAGUE film, on HBOMax.Matt and Trevor are still digesting "The Snyder Cut," but they recorded this episode for you to release in the meantime. While y'all are talking about Justice League, we're spotlighting a movie that people SHOULD be talking about more.Hailed by critics and panned by segments of the fan base, Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn is a four-color, nose-crunching, leg-breaking brawler with a ridiculous sense of humor and an unreliable narrator.Is the movie all that bad? Is it all that good?Are the criticisms of the movie legitimate complaints about quality, or could they have been fixed with better marketing?Matt and Trevor follow Harley as she goes "Lemonade-ing" post break-up with Joker, and into a movie that proves that one of the most popular characters in the DC pantheon is NOBODY'S sidekick.Starring Margot Robbie, Rosie P

On the back of our discussion of Citizen Kane comes the discussion of a movie made nearly 80 years after Citizen Kane, about the making of Citizen Kane.Mank is the 2020 offering from director David Fincher, exploring the troubled and complex person that was Herman J. Mankiewicz. A man who would be the writer of a movie that man consider the best American film ever made.Mankiewicz must contend with William Randolph Hearst, Marion Davies, Orson Welles, and Louis B. Mayer on his journey to not only write the script while bedridden, but to advocate for his own credit on the film.An all star cast features Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins, Tuppence Middleton, and Charles Dance.Not for the uninitiated, Mank calls back to the movie that inspired it on a level that should remind listeners to give Citizen Kane a rewatch before digging into Mank.Joining Matt and Trevor in the Nighthawks Diner is Guest Co-Host Cameron Maris, who also is the Nighthawks Podcast Oscar Czar, and member of the Nighthawks House Band:

God and devilSinner and SaintCommunist and fascistCharles Foster Kane is many things to many people. And the world got to know him in 1941 when the Freshman film of Orson Welles hit a limited number of screens, but still managed to snag multiple Oscar nominations and one win.Citizen Kane is the portrait of a man, as painted by the people who knew him. Shown out of order and through hazy recollection. Equal parts American success story and American tragedy, the film is often considered among the best ever to come from the United States.With multiple battles brewing behind the scenes and more Hollywood folklore than you can shake an Academy Award at, the Nighthawks bring Oscar Czar Cameron Maris in to discuss the legendary Citizen Kane.

Yeah, what can we say about 2020 that isn't echoing off the walls of every living room in the United States right now?The best we can offer is some recommendations of new and upcoming films that we caught during our year in quarantine. Featured in this episode:Bill and Ted Face the MusicThe Invisible ManThe StylistThe Vice Guide to BigfootThe Mandalorian: Season 2After MidnightBirds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley QuinnThe Haunted SwordsmanAnd Many More!

There are ways in which mogwai and gremlins are like The Nighthawks, and ways in which they are unalike. For example:“Keep them out of bright light, especially sunlight. It will kill them.”This applies to both Nighthawks and the mogwai/gremlin population.“Don’t feed them after midnight.”This applies to mogwai, but not to Nighthawks. The Nighthawks actually prefer you DO feed them, regardless of the time of day.For this year’s Holiday Special, Matt and Trevor have tapped the 1984 Joe Dante Action Horror Comedy GREMLINS. A film about adorable creatures that turn into horrible monsters, and the people who are kind of horrible, and keep being horrible, but they get a stern talking to from an independent business owner.Considered a Christmas classic by the 21st century zeitgeist, the film seems to hold up as an alternative to the 40 new holiday offerings from Hallmark this year.I’m not kidding, Hallmark made 40 holiday films. This year.Dark and frightening by turns but this PG, should have been PG-13 slab of rib-t

Feeling that itch for more in the vein of Star Wars: The Mandalorian?Look no further, allow us to present: Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance. A Japanese film from 1972 that kicked off a six movie franchise, and was the first screen adaptation of the Lone Wolf and Cub manga by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima.Matt and Trevor watched Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance as a way to kick off our discussion about the grander Lone Wolf and Cub phenomenon. Joining them in the Nighthawks conceptual diner is the guys' favorite Asian cinema guru.Marc Walkow has worn many hats in his life including festival programmer, film distributor, defacto translator, producer, and lawyer. During his time working professionally in film, Marc produced some of the special feature content for the Criterion Collection's Lone Wolf and Cub boxed set.Marc gives Nighthawks listeners the inside scoop on the Lone Wolf and Cub series, the grander cultural touchstone that is the Kazuo Koike manga, director Kenji Misumi, produc

The Nighthawks have brought you space vampires and space demons in 2020, but what is space the most famous for?It is the dwelling of the ALIEN.The seminal outer space horror movie from 1979 is the movie that launched, not only its own franchises, but launched several imitators and franchises throughout the last 40 years.Sigourney Weaver is Lt. Ellen Ripley, a smart and tough space trucker running a mission with her coworkers, presented by Tom Skerritt, Yaphet Kotto, Harry Dean Stanton, Ian Holm, and Veronica Cartwright.What happens when the creature from beyond the stars is also a creature beyond human comprehension?Directed by Ridley Scott, ALIEN is a film that brings together stellar design, superb performances, acute technical prowess, and mastery of horror that is often strived for but never quite met.For the Mother of All Modern Space Horror, the Nighthawks bring in the Black Pope of Genre Film, Mark Ball, an action figure photographer, a stop-motion animator, podcaster, and horror movie super-fan.Ridley

Off we go, in the the black empty void of space.Trevor and Matt's second foray into 2020's MONSTOBERFEST IN SPACE takes them to the outer rim of the Solar System, and in orbit around Neptune.Elite space explorers and a radical scientist team up to investigate the derelict spaceship, Event Horizon, which has been missing for seven years. The faster-than-light vehicle has successfully managed to fold space, but while traversing dimensions, it seems to have brought something back.Folks. These aren't aliens.Event Horizon was directed by Paul W.S. Anderson and stars Sam Neill, Laurence Fishburne, Kathleen Quinlan, Jason Isaacs, Richard T. Jones, and Sean Pertwee. Trevor hadn't seen this movie in 23 years, and didn't care for it the first time around. Have two-plus decades managed to change his mind?

Content advisory: This film discusses the 1985 film named Lifeforce, not the 1986 video game Life Force (aka Salamander). Given the nature of the internet we felt it best to disclaim in advance.The horror comes from beyond the stars for MONSTOBERFEST IN SPACE, the celebration of horror movies that have a basis in the cosmos.During an Earth passby of Halley's Comet, daring British space exploration team makes a shocking discovery: a derelict alien spacecraft, with three naked humans in glass coffins.When the glass coffins are brought on board, there is a disaster in space, causing the deaths of all the British space explorers, save one American Colonel.Seemingly unharmed, the glass coffins are brought to earth where they are opened, and the psychic space vampires inside wreck havoc on London and the surrounding countryside.Notorious for containing a LOT of Mathilda May, Lifeforce also stars Steve Railsback, Peter Firth, Frank Finlay, and Sir Patrick Stewart.The naked space vampire movie that the guys thought t