It's that holly jolly time of year, which means it's time for Sean to introduce Lyndsey to what he alone considers one of the great Christmas movies of the 20th century. 1986's Cobra stars Sylvester Stallone as hero cop Marion "Cobra" Cobretti who must face down an aimless psycho cult during the holiday season. The film co-stars Stallone's then-wife Brigitte Nielsen, Brian Thompson, Reni Santori, and Marco Rodriguez as the extremely memorable Supermarket Killer. "It's the way of the new world!" *Axes clank*
Posts filed under Holiday Episodes
Episode 58: THE SANTA CLAUSE
It's the Christmas season, which means it's time for Lyndsey to unwrap her VHS copy of Disney's 1994 hit The Santa Clause, starring Tim Allen, Eric Lloyd, Wendy Crewson, David Krumholtz, and Judge Reinhold. Together, the Tapeheads dissect the logistics of becoming Santa Claus, the 90's fascination with absentee fathers, and whether or not 1-800-SPANK-ME is a real phone sex number.
Episode 57: THE CRAFT
Gather up the coven, turn off the lights, and pop in this classic 90's VHS selection starring Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell, Rachel True, and Skeet Ulrich. Topics include abuse of witchcraft, Sean's childhood obsession with Neve Campbell, and the theme music to Charmed.
Episode 56: PRACTICAL MAGIC
Hold on to your broomsticks! On this special Halloween episode of Tapeheads, Lyndsey selects her VHS tape of the 1998 supernatural family drama Practical Magic, starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman!
Episode 40: ELVES
A chain-smoking department store Santa must stop a Nazi plot to create a new master race of two-foot elves on Christmas Eve! No, we're not making this up. It's 1989's Elves, starring Dan Haggerty (Grizzly Adams), a deep cut from Sean's holiday VHS collection. Topics include the trailer for Alien Seed, incest, rape culture, conspiracy theories, weirdo professors, cover art, and our favorite VHS Instagram accounts.
Episode 36: HALLOWEEN / HALLOWEEN II / HALLOWEEN H20 (1978-1998)
Dee-doo-doo-dee-doo-doo-dee-doo-dee-doo! This time we're doing not one, not two, but THREE spooky VHS selections with Sean's own specially curated "chillogy" (or "thrillogy") of select films in the Halloween series, specifically John Carpenter's classic 1978 original, Rick Rosenthal's direct sequel Halloween II, and Steve Miner's polished Halloween: H20, all starring Jamie Lee Curtis in her breakout role of Laurie Strode. Topics include Dean Cundey's beautiful cinematography, Donald Pleasance as Michael Myers' deranged hype man Dr. Loomis, the music, the masks, those other sequels, and so much more!
Episode 14: DIE HARD
Christmas is here, so we're breaking out the egg nog and putting Santa hats on dead European terrorists as we watch Sean's holiday favorite, Die Hard, starring Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia, Alexander Gudonov, Reginald VelJohnson, Robert Davi, and William Atherton.
Talking points: Violence brings the family together. Die Hard as the perfect Christmas movie. The Fly II is gross. A Fish Called Wanda. The perfect action movie? John McClane as the mortal hero. The Die Hard legacy. Simple but effective. Alternate casting. The shirt color change. Limo vs. ambulance. The rose bushes. The balance of grimness and humor. Running on glass. Economic storytelling. Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber. Memorable henchmen. Sgt. Al Powell. The sequels. Argyle. Late 80's tech. The media as a villain. Holly McClane as a believable hero. Ellis. Blowing up the roof. The music. Christmas trappings. Buy it/rent it/tape over it. Die Hard drinking game. Chloe Schildhause.
