Percolated Media

1983 was quite the year for fans of author Stephen King. That was the year they didn’t get one, or even two King adaptations for the screen. They got three. These consisted of The Dead Zone, Cujo, and Christine. The other two will get their just due on this podcast down the road. But today, we review The Dead Zone. A film touted as the teaming up of schlock director David Cronenberg (he wouldn’t make The Fly until three years later) and horror writer Stephen King. To top it off, Cronenberg tapped recent Oscar winner Christopher Walken to be this story’s lead Johnny Smith. Join the Three Men and a Retrospective Podcast as Garrett continues taking listeners, as well as Matt and Adam, along on his journey through all of King’s cinematic adaptations with this review of The Dead Zone. Does Cronenberg’s toned down style satisfy Matt, a long time fan of the director? Will Adam EVER come into a movie in this series after having actually seeing the film in question BEFORE having to watch and review it for this podcast? Listen below to find out! And come back next week, as the co-hosts once again get into plague territory with a long review of the CBS All Access 2020 adaptation of The Stand.

Much to two of their chagrins, podcast hosts are back to Stephen King! To kick off this set of reviews, they’re reviewing two adaptations of what many King fans STILL call his best novel. Ladies and gentlemen, we bring you The Stand. After years of trying to get a feature film adaptation of his beloved epic novel off the ground, King saw what ABC did with a miniseries adaptation of his novel It, and knew that’s how he wanted to adapt it. With King writing the script himself and future Shining miniseries director Mick Garris directing, King fans finally saw his magnum opus onscreen in a four night epic. Garrett leads the discussion as Matt and Adam watch the 1994 adaptation for the very first time. Will they be pleasantly surprised? Or will residual corn hate from the last time they visited King’s adaptations leave them cold

In 2024, armed with a script by Jason Fuchs (Ice Age Continental Drift and Pan), director Matthew Vaughn released Argylle. Denounced by critics and audiences alike, the $200 million film didn’t even gross half its budget back. Yet, the film has enjoyed a healthy presence on streaming, meaning there is a good chance Vaughn may get his wish and continue on with the Kingsman franchise. Which, this is only attached to because of its end credits scene. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be reviewing it. Join Matt, Garrett, and Adam as they conclude their first leg of Marvel by reviewing what many have called the worst film of 2024. Do they agree? Also, stay tuned as the co-hosts reveal what’s next on the Three Men and a Retrospective Podcast slate. Hint, Adam and Matt aren’t happy about it.

With The Golden Circle making almost as much as the original Kingsman movie, Fox felt like they had a franchise on its hands. Yet, director Matthew Vaughn had plans that had nothing to do with continuing the story of Eggsy. Instead, he wanted to pull a George Lucas and go back to the beginning. The result is 2021’s The King’s Man, a WW1 set prequel that tells the story about how The Kingsman came to be. Or does it? Join Matt, Adam, and Garrett as they review the perceived flop and determine whether the film is worth the derision it has received. And be sure to NOT play a drinking game to how many times Adam or Matt mention 2017’s Wonder Woman. Otherwise you will fall dead by the podcast’s end. Come back next week as the boys close out this leg of Marvel by reviewing 2024’s Argylle.

Two years after setting the box office ablaze with Kingsman The Secret Service, director Matthew Vaughn was back with Kingsman The Golden Circle. This time, he had a couple more Oscar winners (Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore) cast, as well as a certain flamboyant singer. So given he had everything he wanted at his disposal this time, it would seem Vaughn had successfully made his ‘Empire Strikes Back’. Or did he? Join Matt, Garrett, and Adam as they dissect a film whose script Vaughn has proclaimed to be the hardest he’s ever written. While the box office would say audiences still flocked to his zaniness, how do our podcast hosts feel about it? After all, Garrett is watching The Golden Circle for the very first time, while the two others had theatrical experiences associated with it. And be sure to come back next week, as The Three Men and a Retrospective Podcast continue this leg of Marvel by reviewing the Matthew Vaughn directed prequel, 2021’s The King’s Man.

After taking on Kick Ass and proving his worth with X-Men First Class, it would seem director Matthew Vaughn was primed for a career directing Marvel properties. But for reasons that are still unclear, Vaughn left X-Men Days of Future Past, and reunited with writer Mark Millar to come up with their own comic book called Kingsman. Before long, Vaughn had another property to take on and in 2015, he directed and released the feature (now) comic book film Kingsman: The Secret Service. Join Matt, Garrett, and Adam as they look at the film which has almost zero stars, yet grossed over $400 million and spawned a certified franchise. What do they feel about it, specifically Samuel L Jackson as main villain Valentine? This, and many more questions are answered in the podcast below. And come back next week as the boys continue their look at miscellaneous Marvel properties by reviewing the Kingsman sequel, 2017’s Kingsman The Golden Circle.

Time to take a quick detour into yet another movie that most don't associate with Marvel. Despite being part of Disney theatrical animated features, Big Hero 6 does indeed come from the comic world. To what extent is discussed on the show. Following up Disney's Frozen was no small feat either. How did this colorful futuristic superhero tale fare for our three hosts? Listen in and come back next week as we go back to Matthew Vaughn with the first entry into Kingsman.

While a sequel to Kick-Ass wasn't the unlikeliest occurrence, losing director Matthew Vaughn did create some concern. They also lost Nicolas Cage but gained an actor of similar stature in Jim Carrey. What they didn't plan on was for the later to walk back his involvement as the movie was about to come out. Did he have a point or was this sequel just as good as the original? Come back next week as we review 2014's Big Hero 6, which is indeed a Marvel adaptation!

After a few weeks of Marvel that the boys would love to forget, one thing is for sure about Kick Ass. It’s at least competent filmmaking. Or is it? Join Matt, Garrett, and Adam as they dive into director Matthew Vaughn’s controversial 2010 1st entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Does the gang think the controversy is warranted? Does Kick Ass still hold up? Just download the show and listen you cunts.

As the boys continue tredging through their Miscellaneous Marvel characters, this week they have run into a doozy. Man Thing is a character who hung out with Howard The Duck in the comics. But other than that, there’s not much identification with him apart from being a side show character made up right around the time DC’s Swamp Thing made its first appearance. So who better to bring it to the screen other than the one man who was sued by Children of the Corn’s creator Stephen King. That’s right, the boys already covered filmmaker Brett Leonard when they reviewed The Lawnmower Man last year. And here they’re doing it again, as Leonard brought an origin story with him, along with a horror aesthetic, and the chick from 2007’s Transformers. As Garrett, Adam, and Matt already covered the SciFi channel original Children of the Corn remake from 2009, will they still have any venom left for this other SciFi original, which was originally supposed to go to theaters. And oh yeah, was produced by future Marvel powerhouse producer himself Kevin Feige.

Full Moon Entertainment and comic book films are two subjects that fit together like a round peg in a square hole. After all, Full Moon was known for schlocky horror properties like the killer doll series Puppet Master, the vampire series Subspecies, and many others. So why the hell would studio head Charles Band try taking on the Marvel property Doctor Strange only to switch gears (and the name) in the midst of production. And the main question, was this ever intended to be Doctor Strange to begin with? Dig in with Matt, Adam, and Garrett as they review one of the Three Men and a Retrospective Podcast’s most bizarre ‘Marvel’ entries, the 1992 Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator) starring film Doctor Mordrid.

For years, the three of us have been asked when we were going to start covering Marvel films. After all, we did the two big DC characters over the span of a couple years. Why, in the years that we’ve been together, and Marvel has gone from being on top of the world to being just another Disney acquisition, have we not also dived right into the Marvel page to screen adaptations? Well, we get into all of this on this very podcast. But let’s just preface this show by saying, we have tried in the past, only to know we were going to get debunked. After all, we can’t just do Marvel proper. As the other podcasters have found out while covering Stephen King, Garrett needs to do it ALL. Which brings us to this week’s show. Listen to the boys discuss these exact reasons, as well as why they are starting with 1986’s Howard The Duck, and then, oh yeah, reviewing what is widely considered one of the worst films of all time. Do Garrett, Adam, and Matt agree? Keep coming back, as their journey moves on next week, and let’s just say the prospect of these movies getting better doesn’t look too good.

Well, we were going to get to it eventually. When Transformers One was released in the fall of 2024, we at Percolated Media were up to our eyes in Stephen King and Beetlejuice retrospectives. Garrett and Matt wanted to wait until the schedule was in between retros before finally reviewing the latest fighting robots film, this one directed by Josh Cooley (Toy Story 4). They weren’t the only ones who stayed away from the film while it was in theaters. Despite being amongst the best reviewed of the entire franchise, Transformers One underperformed at the box office. Was it deserved? Join Matt and Garrett as they once again bring Garrett’s fiancé (and only noted fan of the entire Transformers film franchise that they know) Jen to the third podcast seat, and the three of them review the Chris Hemsworth led film that details the origins of the relationship between Optimus Prime and Megatron. And if you listened last week, you know to be sure to come back next week, as Matt and Garrett are set to bring Adam back to finally get to their deep dive into Marvel productions. Where are they going to start? With Howard The Duck!

By the time 1998 rolled around, everyone involved in the Lethal Weapon franchise were on to other things. Most notably star Mel Gibson, whose directorial effort Braveheart had won multiple Oscars three years before. You’d think it would have taken an almost perfect script to reunite everyone for a fourth and final(?) installment of the bread and butter franchise that set up their careers. I said, you’d THINK the script would have to be perfect. Welllll…… Join Garrett, Matt, and Adam as they review Lethal Weapon 4, and Garrett & Adam recount when they saw it in theaters in May of 1998. Also stay tuned until the end, as Garrett talks about what he thought of the 2016 Fox TV show. Then, the boys talk about what’s next for the network. One, is a continuation of an old series Matt would like to see go away. The other? A series that is ten years in the making. Listen below to find out what it is!

After Lethal Weapon 2 came out and became the third highest grossing film of that year, producers wanted more. So Jeffrey Boam, along with his buddy Robert Mark Kamen (The Karate Kid) once again churned out a script, director Richard Donner came aboard, and everything was one big happy shoot! Of course, this isn’t the whole story. So download the show below to find out how Lethal Weapon 3 REALLY happened. Plus, what does Princess Leia have to do with it? How hard was it to get Joe Pesci signed on immediately after winning his Oscar? Why was Rene Russo brought in? Find out as Garrett, Adam, and Matt break all this down, as well as give their thoughts on one of 1992’s biggest action films. Also, come back next week as we close this series out and announce our next long form retro that will only rival Stephen King as far as length. Hint, it’s something we’ve been asked to do since we started ten years ago!

As we’ve already covered at other times on this podcast, 1989 was a golden year for film, specifically the action genre. Since we already reviewed Batman (1989) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), it is now time to cover that year’s third place box office winner, Lethal Weapon 2. Franchises weren’t really a thing yet, but after the splash the first Lethal Weapon made on video, not to mention the 80s action wave being cemented by Die Hard the year before, producer Joel Silver was adamant that it was time for a new Lethal Weapon. So he called his wonderkind Shane Black to write another one, which he did with his friend Warren Murphy. But director Richard Donner wasn’t too happy with what he came up with, so he once again brought in Jeffrey Boam to do some touch ups. Though if you ask Black, he had completely rewritten what he wrote. But the result, is a slam bang action romp that, as already established, was a box office hit. Do the boys enjoy where the series went? And besides ‘diplomatic immunity’, what is memorable about it? Download below to find out what Garrett, Matt, and Adam have to say about what many call a better film than the firs

Though we’ve done the Superman series (check our archives for those shows) we would be reminded if we did not cover the OTHER franchise director Richard Donner made into a successful series of films. With a script by a hot shot scriptwriter named Shane Black, Donner set off to turn Lethal Weapon into a slam bang stand alone film. We know how that turned out. But before we get to the sequels, we have to cover the 1987 original. Casting already covered by us in Mad Mad Mel Gibson and dramatic actor Danny Glover, Donner had to see the actors’ chemistry alone was going to make for a good time at the movies. Or did it? Listen to Garrett, Matt, and Adam as they go over the ways all of them discovered this franchise, before dissecting one of the 80s most beloved action films. Do all of them agree? Come on, you know us by now.

After 11 movies and almost 40 years, we are finally at the end of our Children of the Corn retrospective. We'll be closing the book on Night Shift and moving on to other King works later in the year. We have unfinished business to do as we rank all these movies at the end of this show and also divulge our first retro of 2025. Enjoy and thanks to both you all and our co-hosts for being troopers in completionism.

In the same year that another horror franchise made a legacy sequel to its original installment, Children of the Corn did the same thing. Is Runaway an improvement in an aspect from the vast majority of these entries? We'll be closing out this retrospective next time by reviewing 2020 as well as ranking every entry. Then we'll reveal our first retro of 2025. Enjoy!

Only two more to go before we can leave this franchise in Gatlin!