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This week on GLoP, it’s the 40th anniversary of the release of Animal House, one of the most important movies in the GLoP Character Universe (The GLoPCU, if you will). But lately, this great American movie is under attack for well, not being “woke” enough, like some sort of cinematic Confederate statue. But don’t worry, the Men of GLoP® are here to save the day and defend the movie from a societal fatal kiln explosion . Also, is collusion a crime? And on the occasion of Mission Impossible: Fallout‘s giant opening, we list our favorite Tim Cruise movies. Or try to.
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My brother, 13 at the time, talks about riding his bike to a local theater to see Rosemary’s Baby (1968) and being turned away by the ticket seller. So I assume that movie was R.
And Midnight Cowboy received an X rating in ‘69.
27 min into a 68 min podcast to get to the cultural part.
I keep hearing that the anti-Trump stuff is mostly gone from this Podcast. I must just be unlucky every time I decide to listen.
It all makes sense, the 20 minute criticism about how Trump “simplifies and worsens and exaggerates all the flaws of modern political culture and probably modern culture in general” followed by the unanimous admiration of Animal House for it’s transgressions and violations of accepted social and other imposed boundaries.
They just forgot that one of the GLoP culture mavens needed to link those two segments with the observation that the motion picture Animal House, while hilariously funny, is to a large degree why we have Trump.
Ha!
The MPAA didn’t expect the pornographers to highjack the “X” rating. It has since been replaced by NC-17.
I’m old enough to remember when, before the internet, pornographers ran ads for their movies in the newspaper along side the mainstream ones. As suburban malls opened multiplexes, it was the great movie houses in the downtown areas that turned to trash. And all made possible by the government’s antitrust actions against the studios, part of the law of unintended consequences.
Oh that makes it okay then. sarc/
A friend back home posted on Facebook a few nights ago that he was watching Aliens at the restored theater. I will happen to be home for work in the next two weeks, so decided to see if any other movies will be shown while I’m in town. Ghostbusters is next week and Animal House on the 16th. Two greats back on the big screen.
Yes.
Our fancy restored movie palace has 2001 and The Princess Bride coming up.
I’m probably missing something (IMBD knows all), but Rosemary’s Baby came out in June, and the rating system went into effect in November (I think). I wonder how that works.
Look, I love all y’all on the podcast, so please know that I intend this all as constructively as possible. With that in mind:
-I don’t listen to this podcast for political talk, unless it’s part of some pop-culture thing. Almost every other Ricochet podcast is political, so can’t this one eschew politics? Twenty minutes to get to the pop culture stuff, and then it’s immediately derailed for a few more minutes, when you returned to it for a few more. I’ve never skipped over content on this podcast before, but I skipped 20+ minutes of this one.
-Rob and John, I love you guys, but you two have got to let the other get to his flingin’ flangin’ point. It’s so frustrating to listen to you talk over each other for what seems like minutes at a time.
-John, you’re the best but you have got to get to your points quicker. Make the point and then provide the paragraphs of context, if necessary. And it’s usually not necessary.
Could it have opened in June in a few major cities, and then gradually, over several months, worked its way across the rest of the country?
This is why I am of the (probably minority/unpopular) opinion that the Substandard podcast is way more fun and listenable than GLoP. I enjoy both but the Substandard guys are scrupulous about avoiding politics. It’s so refreshing.
I heard that once you bring the Haunted House album into your home, if you ever get rid of it then YOUR becomes haunted. So…
Shout out to Tom Cruise in Edge of Tomorrow (a great sci-fi, action version of Groundhogs Day which should have used the title Live, Die, Repeat).
And the podcast is correct about Animal House. It is smut. But really funny smut.
Personally, I thought it was great that one of the others was doing it to John for once.
Smut is one thing. With smut one can indulge some vices. The people in Animal House are simply not appealing; who am I supposed to be identifying with? Certainly not the fat, lazy, stupid, selfish, nihilistic ne’er do wells; certainly not the uptight, jerky, legalistic, establishment frats; certainly not the corrupt and weaselly politicians and school administration. Does everyone have to be a caricature? I realize it is a comedy (or is it really a tragedy?), but comedy depends on some truth. These characters were so cartoonish as to be unrecognizable – God help anyone who did recognize real people in any of these characters.
I would’ve agreed with you until a few months ago, when it seems like he started to be a lot more on the receiving end of it.
I like the Substandard as well, but probably not more than GLoP. It’s true that they are pretty assiduous in avoiding politics, but there are compensating annoyances. For example, long discussions about places in suburban Philadelphia and New Jersey 30 years ago that are of no interest to anyone else, and similar discussions of current traffic conditions in the D.C./VA area. During those I’m begging for Vic to start talking about his woodworking class.
I always appreciate what Jonah has to say, and yet … and yet … this is the feeling I often get listening to him “go there”
“White Slavery”.
That’s a racial term? I thought it was the early 20th century term for what we now call sex trafficking.
Women of other colors can be sex-trafficked, too, so racist.
Thank you to all the brave souls who went before me and posted the time stamp of actual content in the episode. Saved me time on the commute home. If they hadn’t wasted half the show, Rob would have had time to tell his public transit story.
It makes me think of Biblical Egypt, Ancient Rome, Viking raiders, the Barbary slave trade, the Arab slave trade, the Ottoman slave trade, American Indian raiders, and Les Misérables galley convicts.
Unfortunately our shallow American culture and crappy schools enable 240 years of Anglo-American slavery (often rounded up to “400 years” because 1619-2019) in North America and the Caribbean to dominate the narrative.
I think Rob’s ‘dark’ mood is because he is finally coming around to the conclusion that…
SO MUCH WINNING!
That’s probably part of it. But I wouldn’t underestimate the impact of not currently having a high-paying TV-producer/writer job. And he probably figures Trump isn’t all that worried about helping Rob find a job.
I’ve gotten into the habit of making gifs from some of the movies I write about. Here are some select Animal House loops:
John told his personal connection to Animal House, so I’ll mention mine, which is far less personal, but always gives me a little kick right away: the second shot of the movie is the Carson dormitory at the University of Oregon, where I (improbably) lived as a freshman in college.
Am I alone in believing the most lasting contribution to the culture of the movie Animal House was starting the Toga Party craze? …. not a good or a bad thing …. just was (or is? …. do kids still do Toga Parties?)
(Sorry Dorrk I didn’t see you already had this one ….)
On Netflix now a doc about the origin of National Lampoon (you may be surpised to learn there is lewd content):