I'm on Episode 50 of the Matineecast

So, last week, Ryan McNeil of The Matinee asked me to do a podcast with him on War Horse and Steven Spielberg in general. I happily agreed and we had a fantastic talk last Wednesday, so good I feel guilty for rambling on and on well past his usual time limit thanks to my inability to condense myself. I am equally unable to listen to myself, so I don't know what the poor man cut out to make me look good, but know that it must have been a Herculean task to whittle down my incessant run-on thoughts into something approaching coherence. Ryan's a great guy, and I really appreciated the chance to chat with him.

Check out his latest podcast now over at his site.

Falling for the First Time: Gremlins

So I'm a guest at the Mad Hatter's The Dark of the Matinee today for his recurring series "Falling for the First Time," in which he discusses '80s and '90s films with those of us who, by age or neglect, never saw them. Believe it or not, I'd never sat down with Joe Dante's Gremlins, so we chatted about Dante's first big hit.

Though not on the level of his masterpiece, Small Soldiers, Gremlins is a lot of fun, and I had a great time talking about it with Hatter. So head on over to his site and read our discussion of this wicked parody of the studio system and '80s culture.