Nighthawks' Podcast

We're back in Black with a double-dose of Downey. In a follow up to our Black Friday episode, this is our Black Christmas. When first we discussed Shane Black the writer, now we explore him as a writer-director.First off, the criminally underrated black comedy noir (forgive the literal redundancy) KISS KISS BANG BANG. A petty thief accidentally catches the attention of a talent agent in LA. When he's taking "Detective Lessons" from a real Hollywood P.I., the thief and the detective become wrapped up in a steamy and salacious case.We then switch gears and take up arms to defend a blockbuster film that the Nighthawks feel was unfairly maligned. Iron-Man is back to the skies and fighting off a vast terrorist organization in IRON MAN THREE. But when Tony Stark finds himself trapped in the Midwest without his trademark suits, it takes the Stark ingenuity to investigate the crime, and find the culprit. Of course, true to Black form, both films take place during the Christmas season.

On the Nighthawks' 6-month anniversary, and they're letting you know what's hot on Netflix at the tail-end of November 2015, coming into December.

It's the day after Thanksgiving, and that means it's time for the BIGGEST SHOPPING DAY OF THE YEAR!!!Alas, we have no consumer wares to peddle to you, at rock-bottom prices. So, The Nighthawks decided that they would ring in the holiday with a retrospective of the Christmas films of Shane Black.Shane served as writer for the two movies in Episode 9. The first is the best buddy-cop action comedy of all time: Lethal Weapon. Followed that up with the criminally overlooked, and oft underrated THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT.Black was, at one point, the highest-paid writer in Hollywood, due in no small part to the success of LETHAL WEAPON and by a huge payday for THE LONG KISS GOOD NIGHT. Later, Shane would try his hand at directing, but that's another story for another day...

It's Thanksgiving time, and that's means it's time for families. But before you head to twitter to compete for the dysfunctional family Thanksgiving award, give this episode a listen. You thought your family caused problems when they get together? They've got nothin' on the families in this episode.First up is Jeremy Saulnier's sophomore film, BLUE RUIN. A tight, noir-ish thriller starring the talented Macon Blair. Dwight is a character mourning for his murdered mother and father. When the man who was convicted of the crime is released from jail, the awkward and quiet Dwight decides to take a vengeance most savage.Following that: John Hawkes and Jennifer Lawrence team up in this Ozark Mountain sleuthing noir. A years-ahead-of-her-age teen must track down her delinquent father or risk losing the family home. It's the Oscar nominated WINTER'S BONE rounding out this episode.

Who wins, Max Von Sydow vs. The Devil?What happens when Max Von Sydow *is* The Devil?We don't have the answers for you. What we do have is two movies about The Devil, as November's vanguard brings Monstoberfest to a close.First up, Trevor and Matt sample a slice of the classic William Friedkin horror masterpice: THE EXORCIST. The guys watched the movie and they have thoughts they'd like to share. Specifically if THE EXORCIST manages to get past Matt's predisposition to disliking demon-posession films? Von Sydow plays an elderly priest and archeologist, who is asked to help rid a young girl of her literal demons.Second on the docket: Max Von Sydow takes up arms against the other side. In NEEDFUL THINGS, Von Sydow plays the charismatic and manipulative Leland Gaunt, proprietor of a small-town antique store. However Gaunt isn't as he appears to be, he's actually doing a great bit of schemeing and tempting, leaving it up to Ed Harris to get to the bottom of things. Does The Devil make us do bad things, or

This week at the Nighthawks Cafe, Monstoberfest continues. Trevor and Matt invade their coffee and pie session with a discussion of two later additions to the intergalactic menace canon. First up is the 1982 Masterwork of paranoia and practical monster effects, John Carpenter's THE THING. Following that, the 2011 debut film from Joe Cornish, featuring a pre-THE FORCE AWAKENS starring role for John Boyega, ATTACK THE BLOCK.Earth may never be the same.

Enter the Nighthawks cafe on this Spooky October night. The Monstoberfest celebration continues with an examination of some of the most recognizable, but not so cinematically represented Halloween season monsters.Trevor and Matt will have to pick up every stitch, as they embark on the season of the witch.Witches and witch craft will be under inspection, today. First up, a classic silent film from 1922, that examines witch folklore and history as a pseudo-reenactment documentary. Straight from the Criterion collection, it's HAXAN.Following that, a movie heavily inspired by HAXAN; about three college students wandering into the forests of Maryland in search of a legendary witch. But as the protagonists find themselves hopelessly lost, they encounter something that can't be identified. Getting to the bottom of the mystery only gets replaced with the desire to survive in THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT.

We're back from hiatus and ready to hit the Halloween season with both fists. This month we'll be focusing specifically on MONSTERS! But the end of the month is just scant days away! How do we plan to cram all these monsters into the remainder of the month? Easy! In this episode we knock several monsters out in one fell swoop, using only two films. Now THAT is economy. If THE AVENGERS is the big sweeping cross-over to bring all the superheroes together, then there are two films that can do the same for some of the most famous monsters in film history. First up, we have WAXWORK, a cheesy 80's romp where a spooky wax museum isn't exactly what it might first seem. If Hollywood has taught us anything, it's that all wax museums harbor dark secrets, in WAXWORK it's that the tableaus are alive and they want you to become a part. We get The Mummy, we get The Wolfman, we get Dracula and many more under one roof! Lovingly curated by the sinister David Warner, this 1988 gem is sure to be a good fit at your next party. A

The Nighthawks hit the cafe nursing their coffee and their hangovers following 8 days of film shenanigans at Fantastic Fest. Matt and Trevor give you some of the second-half highlights and keep you up to date on what movies to watch, and what movies to miss.

A very special episode recorded on location in the one-and-only Austin Texas, with audio from inside the Alamo Drafthouse, the epicenter of the nation's largest genre film festival: Fantastic Fest.Matt has made the perilous 20-hour journey cross-country from Utah to Central Texas to attend this year's Fantastic Fest with Trevor.You'll hear not only from the Nighthawks themselves, but also from Fantastic Fest regulars about the bonkers experience courtesy of Tim League and Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas.

We unfortunately lost one of the true Masters of Horror at the tail-end of August. Wes Craven was responsible for some of the great horror movies in the lexicon of any tried and true horror fan. Among Craven's body of work were two iconic franchises of the slasher sub-genre: SCREAM and A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET.In this session of coffee and pie at the Nighthawks' cafe, Trevor and Matt talk about the two Craven helmed entries in the NIGHTMARE series: A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET and WES CRAVEN'S NEW NIGHTMARE. One of them is a refreshing and original twist on 80's slasher films, the other film is a wonderful experiment in meta filmmaking.For more on this episode, see our show notes at FanboyTV.com.

We leave the comfort of the brick-and-mortar Nighthawks Cafe, and embark to consume our coffee outside the Nighthawks' trailer cafe.To further drive the belabored allusion home, this week it is our 10th episode, and to celebrate we have an extra long episode where we are talking about movie trailers.In the first half, it's the art of the movie trailer. What makes it tick and how it works. What are somethings we look for in trailers, what are some things we like to see avoided.In the second half we take our newly founded criteria and apply it to some trailers for up-and-coming movies yet to see release, including: BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: THE DAWN OF JUSTICE, CRIMSON PEAK, STAR WARS EPISODE VII: THE FORCE AWAKENS, DEADPOOL, and others.For links to all the trailers, check out our show notes at FanboyTV.com

It seems a shame that at the dawn of his career that the very intelligent, athletic, and talented Dolph Lundgren was handed roles that didn't fully utilize his arsenal. However, he did the best he could with what he had, and we couldn't be more pleased. This particular evening, under the flickering lights of the all-night Nighthawks Cafe, Matt and Trevor discuss two films from Lundgren's early career: ROCKY IV and THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE. One a generation-defining exercise in American propaganda during the Cold War, and the other a notorious attempt to cash-in on a commercial property that would help to bankrupt a production house.Full disclosure, we chose two Dolph Lundgren movies from our past, as a way to satisfy a listener request. Unfortunately, after re-watching these films, we feel that Dolph might have gotten the raw end of this deal, since these movies truly fail to encompass a truly remarkable human being. So, we'll probably be seeing a DAY OF THE DOLPH episode sometime down the road. We'd

Hoist anchor and keep an eye on the cockswain. It's the age of piracy, but Johnny Deep need not apply this time around. Instead of buccaneers traversing the Caribbean in search of plunder, these pirates steal the public airwaves and hijack them to play rock and roll.In this episode we discuss two films about broadcast piracy: PIRATE RADIO (aka THE BOAT THAT ROCKED) starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans, and Nick Frost; a fiction about a real time in history when British airwaves were conquered by radio stations broadcasting from boats in international waters.Following that, the sleek and sexy Christian Slater vehicle that defined the early 90's, PUMP UP THE VOLUME. A film that was oddly prophetic about a teenager taking to the air in order to fight against a corrupt school system, and to lay down some sick Leonard Coen tracks.

After taking a week off, please join us in welcoming Alamo Drafthouse Founder and C.E.O. Tim League as our first guest in the Nighthawks Cafe.This week we talk a little bit about what makes The Alamo Drafthouse theatre chain a household name among cinephiles and a pilgrimage destination for all true-blood movie fans. However, beyond that, we discuss FANTASTIC FEST, the United States' largest genre film festival. We talk with Tim who is the festival's co-founder about what sets FANTASTIC FEST apart from other film festivals in the country and why Matt and Trevor have earmarked this festival in particular as the first one we cover on the podcast.So join us as we begin getting excited for this wonderful time of the year, at Ground-Zero Austin, TX; then join us this September when FANTASTIC FEST lands and lays the Nighthawks to complete waste.

Getting out there, trying new things, keeping an open mind, knowing yourself, and being comfortable with the skin you live in (or the skin that's been foisted upon you.) Some heavy themes from a couple of cult classic films are being discussed in the Nighthawks Cafe. First up is the 1975 THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, a rock musical that takes a couple of unsuspecting virgins into the clutches of an alien transvestite mad scientist, the final destination? A world of absolute pleasure.Then a story of duality, questioning of the self, personal identity, and more Rock and Roll. John Cameron Mitchell is the title character of HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, another rock musical, the film follows a person struggling to find sexual and gender identity in a world of love, loss, fame, greed, sex, and some pretty slick one-liners. Hedwig and her band travel the country telling Hedwig's challenging story of change, self, and broken hearts.

This will be the final episode for the Nighthawks before the 4th of July weekend, so they decided to honor the birthday of the U.S.A. in a special way. Finding INDEPENDENCE DAY a little on-the-nose, and not wanting to corner themselves into the uber-patriotic or the uber-cynical films about the country, of which there are many of both, Trevor and Matt decide to look at a uniquely American institution:Rock and Roll.For this coffee and pie date at the Nighthawks' cafe, the boys watch the psychedelic and trippy rotoscope-animated AMERICAN POP. Following that the excellent semi-autobiographical film ALMOST FAMOUS from filmmaker Cameron Crowe.

It is Father's Day in the United States, and the Nighthawks sit down at the cafe diner for a piping hot cup of films about pabulum and patres familias, diet and dads, food and fathers.First up is the John Favreau passion vehicle CHEF, a heart-warming film about a man who must learn to sift his love of cooking, to find the ingredients of bonding with his son.Similarly, the documentary JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI is about the world's greatest sushi chef who not only must perfect his craft, but pass his knowledge down to the next generation.Gang, fair warning: don't watch these films with an empty stomach.

For their first supplementary episode, the Nighthawks discuss the divisive Jurassic World. The fourth film in a franchise that hasn't really seen a good entry since the original. Does the latest entry, starring Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Bryce Dallas Howard (Terminator: Salvation,) manage to live up to it's ancestor?Well...

In this episode, Matt and Trevor dim the lights of the Nighthawks cafe, remove their hats, and raises their glasses to the recently departed Sir Christopher Lee.In his honor, the boys watched the 1958 Hammer Films' production of DRACULA (aka THE HORROR OF DRACULA), Sir Lee's first time playing a role that would become iconic in his career.