Gleaming The Tube

1994’s PCU, directed by Hart Bochner, tells the story of college life at the fictional Port Chester University, and represents "an exaggerated view of contemporary college life in the 90s" - according to the filmmakers. There are slobs, there are snobs, there is the specter of POLIITICAL CORRECTNESS and there is a little bit of skateboarding. The film features Jeremy Piven in his first lead role, a young Jon Favreau, David Spade, and George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars. Kevin and Mike talk about the weird Jeremy Piven performance at the center of this movie, whether or not they liked this movie, the things the movie gets wrong, the things the move got right (P-Funk being awesome, basically), and the dawn of inline skating - and there's a brief side discussion of Kevin's college radio show. So grab the t-shirt of the band you're going to go see and BE THAT GUY on the latest pulse-pounding episode of GLEAMING THE TUBE! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1989’s SHREDDER ORPHEUS is a dystopian science fiction skateboard retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Euridyce. And it's exactly as good as that description makes it sound. Kevin and Mike enjoy this movie in spite of itself and discuss the skateboarding, the connection to Hadestown, the Providence, RI rave scene of the early 1990s, and how their knowledge of members of Ronald Reagan's presidential cabinet is entirely due to Bloom County comic strips and/or Dead Kennedys songs. Join us as we dive into the genuinely bizarre SHREDDER ORPHEUS! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Minding the Gap is a 2018 documentary film directed by Bing Liu, which chronicles the lives and friendships of three young men growing up in Rockford, Illinois who are united by their love of skateboarding. Kevin and Mike watched this (pretty amazingly great) movie and discuss, in an atypically heavy episode of what is normally a deeply silly podcast, how the movie manages to weave together themes of cycles of violence, growing up in America, race, class, and more. We watch a lot of dumb movies for this podcast so it was a refreshing change of pace to be presented with something so well-made and meaningful. The movie also has a shit-ton of skateboarding in it, so we talk about that, too. This episode has a content warning for discussion of domestic violence. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2007’s HOT ROD tells the story of aspiring stuntman Rod Kimble, played by Andy Samberg, and his attempts to pull off his most impressive stunt yet to help raise money to save his stepfather, played by Ian MacShane. And there's some skateboarding. Kevin and Mike are joined by their pal Guy Benoit to discuss this deeply silly movie. So strap on your best false mustache and check out this exciting installment of Gleaming the Tube! Cool beans! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2007’s HOT ROD tells the story of aspiring stuntman Rod Kimble, played by Andy Samberg, and his attempts to pull off his most impressive stunt yet to help raise money to save his stepfather, played by Ian MacShane. And there's some skateboarding. Kevin and Mike are joined by their pal Guy Benoit to discuss this deeply silly movie. So strap on your best false mustache and check out this exciting installment of Gleaming the Tube! Cool beans! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There comes a time when you heed a certain call, like the call Kevin and Mike had to watch and discuss 2024’s THE GREATEST NIGHT IN POP - a documentary about the making of the iconic 80s charity single WE ARE THE WORLD, as told by the people who put it together. (Mainly Lionel Richie.) How'd it come together? Is the song any good? Where the eff are Prince and Madonna? What the eff is Dan Aykroyd doing there? How drunk was Al Jarreau? These questions and more are asked and answered in the latest pulse-pounding episode of GLEAMING THE TUBE! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2011’s CHALET GIRL stars future Rebel Alliance soldier Felicity Jones as a former skateboard champion who goes to work at a posh ski resort in the alps where she discovers snowboarding, romance, and montages about snowboarding and romance. Not necessarily in that order. Kevin and Mike talk about the film, the relationship between skateboard and snowboard culture, and why you should really just watch Blue Crush instead of this thing. Welcome to 2024 - it's an all-new episode of GLEAMING THE TUBE! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kevin and Mike take a break from the world of skateboard movies for the holidays to discuss some of their favorite Christmas specials - they're joined by Kevin Eldridge from The Flopcast to talk about the storied classics everyone knows (Rudolph, Charlie Brown), some lesser-known gems (A Cosmic Christmas, Muppet Family Christmas), and some holiday disappointments (looking at you, Opus special.) From the very first animated Christmas special ever shown on American TV (Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol) to otter jug bands to Pee-Wee's Playhouse we cover a whole lot of ground - give a listen to see if your favorite gets name-checked by the gang. We'll be back in 2024 with more skateboard movie action! Happy holidays, y'all! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The young stars of the 90s are middle aged men in the 80s in 2023’s AIR, a film based on the true story of the AIR JORDAN sneaker and NIke’s attempts to woo then-basketball rookie Michael Jordan. Kevin and Mike discuss the film, the one character in it who skateboards, how the Air Jordan sneaker fit into 1980s skateboard culture, and many, many other tangents. If you listen to one podcast episode this year that has two dudes who know next to nothing about basketball try and pontificate about the sport and one of its most famous players make sure it's this latest installment of GLEAMING THE TUBE! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kevin and Mike break format for another special episode in honor of the Halloween season and are joined by Hanako Ricks from the Fandom Hybrid Podcast and filmmaker and bon vivant Guy Benoit to discuss our favorite vampire films! Old, new, cult, and classic - Bram Stoker's Dracula, Blade, Near Dark, Underworld, The Lost Boys, Nosferatu, Horror of Dracula, Priest and more - our panel of film enthusiasts cover a lot of ground and discuss a lot of movies involving thinly veiled metaphors for sex and addiction in this vampire movie special edition of GLEAMING THE TUBE! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2014’s A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT, written and directed by Ana Lily Amirpour, was promoted as The first Iranian Vampire Western, although when I have been describing it to people I’ve said it’s the first Iranian Skateboarding Vampire Western. It’s in black and white, all the dialogue is in Farsi, and there's a skateboarding vampire. Kevin and Mike talk about the film, artsy vampire movies, and spend more time than is probably necessary on a tangent about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Happy spooky season, y'all! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This time out we discuss Eddie Murphy's late 80s hit Coming to America, a film that is packed with stars (James Earl Jones! Arsenio Hall! John Amos! Louie Anderson! Samuel L. Jackson!), packed with laughs, and packed with romance and heart. What it's not packed with is skateboarding but there's juuuuuust enough to justify our covering the film for this podcast. Our discussion also finds us discussing Eddie Murphy's career as a whole - his meteoric rise to fame in the 1980s and the highs and lows of his career since. Is Coming to America his best film? You'll have to decide for yourself after listening to the episode. Just make sure to sow your royal oats first. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1988’s BIG, directed by Penny Marshall, stars Tom Hanks as Josh Baskin, a pre-adolescent boy whose wish to be "big" transforms him physically into an adult. Kevin and Mike discuss Hanks' performance, the wave of "kids who turn into adults" films that swept cinemas circa 1987/1988, Hanks' made-for-tv classic of Dungeons & Dragons-related hysteria "Mazes and Monsters", and whether or not this movie is as good as we remember it being. Oh, and Tom Hanks skateboards in it at one point. Get out your most-bedazzled white tuxedo as GLEAMING THE TUBE discusses Big! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023’s BARBIE, directed by Greta Gerwig (who also co-wrote the film), is based on the long-running and popular doll line from Mattel. In the film Barbie (Margot Robbie) has to travel from Barbieland to the real world after suffering an existential crisis. And someone on Venice Beach has a skateboard. Kevin and Mike are joined by children's book author Phaea Crede to discuss the film, the toy, patriarchy, dream ballets, ninja turtles, why skateboarders look down their collective noses at in-line skates, Todd Haynes' Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, Pee-Wee Herman, and so, so much more. You can check out Phaea's great books at www.phaeacrede.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're joined by Joe Crowe, co-director of DragonCon's American Science Fiction Classics Track, to discuss 1984's Gremlins (an American science fiction classic if ever there was one)! Kevin, Mike and Joe discuss the film, the creation of the PG-13 rating, the movie's tie-in novelization, Joe's experience interviewing Zach Galligan onstage at DragonCon, Mike seeing Sha Na Na at age four and thinking it was the band KISS, and so much more, including the very tiny bit of skateboarding that one of the Gremlins engages in during the film. Turn off all the bright lights, don't get your player wet, and BE SURE not listen before midnight to GLEAMING THE TUBE's coverage of Gremlins! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2009’s Observe and Report, directed by Jody Hill, tells the story of mall security guard Ronnie Barnhardt (played by Seth Rogen), who is called into action to stop a flasher from turning a shopper's paradise into his personal peep show. But when Ronnie can't bring the culprit to justice, a surly police detective played by Ray Liotta is recruited to close the case. And there's a bunch of skateboarders in the mall parking lot. Kevin and Mike discuss the movie, the skateboarders, mall skateboarding in general, the movie's influences (Taxi Driver and King of Comedy, mainly), and whether or not this film is maybe a little too dark. There's also a whole tangent at the end about musical theater. A typical GLEAMING THE TUBE episode, in other words. Enjoy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1976’s THE SHAGGY D.A., the 19th and final film directed by Robert Stevenson for the Walt Disney Company, finds Dean Jones (the king of 60s and 70s live action Disney) playing Wilby Daniels who, for reasons too complicated to get into during this episode description, keeps transforming into a dog while trying to run for district attorney. And his son skateboards. This movie's got it all - pie fights, roller derby, a man in a dog suit punching Dick Van Patten in the face - and Kevin and Mike dive into its many delights, Disney's live-action films from this era, and Mike's childhood belief that D.A. stood for "duck's ass." So put down that magic ring, stop asking Tim Conway to list all 49 flavors of ice cream he's selling, and settle in for the latest exciting installment of GLEAMING THE TUBE! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kevin and Mike are taking a break from watching and discussing a terrible skateboard movie and instead invited their friend Christian Campagna from the Talk About the Passion podcast to join the show this week. The three of them then proceed to rattle off their top 5 instances of popular songs being played in films. It's a wide-ranging discussion that touches on some of our favorite films from the 1960s through the current millennium but (spoiler) we all wound up picking something from Wes Anderson's Rushmore. This being Gleaming the Tube, Mike then rattles off a list of his five favorite songs from skateboard videos. (We were not expecting Sade to make the cut.) So fire up the podcast-playing apparatus of your choice and, if you're like us, you might come out of the show with some new films to either check out or that may be due for a rewatch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1995’s GLORY DAZE tells the story of Jack Freeman, played by a young Ben Affleck at his most sour and unlikeable, and his four college housemates as they face graduation and make an attempt to prolong their carefree lifestyles before going their separate ways. At one point Affleck's character says “Wanna get a 12er and shred?" and then skateboards around to a New Bomb Turks song, hence why we're covering it. In addition to talking about all the things about this movie that don't work - from its copious use of terrible Warped Tour punk music to its writing, directing and performances - Kevin and Mike keep coming back to a movie they both love, Noah Baumbach's KICKING AND SCREAMING (not to be confused with the Will Ferrell soccer comedy) - a film that came out the same year as GLORY DAZE, is about basically the same thing, and yet manages to be great in every way the GLORY DAZE manages to be terrible. We know you'd rather be bowhunting, but pick up a 12er anyway and listen along as we shred GLORY DAZE to pieces. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1994’s THE CROW, based on the comic series by James O’Barr, tells the story of ERIC DRAVEN who is resurrected one year after he and his fiance’ were brutally murdered and does the only sensible thing: paint his face like a mime, don his tightest leather pants, and then exact revenge on those who done wronged him. Kevin and Mike are joined by Gary Mitchel from A Podcask of Amontillado to discuss the film (Gary loves it, Kevin and Mike aren't so sure), its legacy, influence and general gothiness, the tragic death of star Brandon Lee, the original comic, and why you should never, ever skateboard in the rain. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.