In the origin story of Michael Myers, the slasher killer from the legendary Halloween series of horror films, young Michael sees his sister….. Wait, what? Oh, this is Dennis the Menace? In which a little slingshot punk from the 1950s rides around on a tricycle in 1993 and torments an innocent old man? And you're telling me it’s not about Michael Myers, it was just directed by the man who originally played Michael Myers in John Carpenter’s Halloween (Nick “The Shape” Castle)? Gotcha. I see where the confusion started.

Unregardless, here is our long-awaited discussion of the 1993 Dennis the Menace starring Walter Mathau as Mr. Wilson and Christopher Lloyd as a hobo killer who rides the rails and skins children alive, even though we never get to actually see that. And this was written and produced by John Hughes, during his “Let’s just do Home Alone again and again and again” period.

Laci loves it, Matt does not, so this is the two-hour therapy session that results.

 

Next week: Our October Extravaganza begins with Interview with the Vampire (1994)! 

 

Bonus video: Matt and Laci reveal their blindspots from the IMBD Top 250 movies of all time list - https://youtube.com/shorts/_wTbG4t4NEo 

 

Out now on the Patreon: Matt, Wade, and Patrick dive deep into Nickelodeon’s Doug, discussing its history and reviewing the episodes “Doug Can’t Dance” and “Doug’s Garage Band.” https://bit.ly/3KdBuvg 

 

Time stamps:

• 00:03:15 — We read this week's Dennis the Menace newspaper comics
• 00:11:08 — Opening thoughts on Dennis the Menace (the movie)
• 00:17:30 — History segment: The Dennis the Menace comic strip created by Hank Ketcham and its long afterlife; the 1950s Dennis the Menace sitcom; the production of the 1993 movie and John Hughes’s pivot to cranking out family movies with very similar premises
• 00:39:45 — Movie discussion
• 02:00:20 — Final thoughts and star ratings

 

Source:

• "Dennis the Menace and ADHD" by Matthew Smith | Psychology Today (2018) - https://bit.ly/4niObDH

 

Artwork by Laci Roth.

 

Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (https://bit.ly/48WBtUa), Apple Music (https://bit.ly/3Q6kOVC), or YouTube (https://bit.ly/3MbU6tC).

 

Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode:

• “Your Ambition” - https://youtu.be/ZHudVTCkrQY
• “Winston-Salem” - https://youtu.be/-acMutUf8IM
• “Snake Drama” - https://youtu.be/xrzz8_2Mqkg
• “The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” - https://youtu.be/k7wlxTGGEIQ 

 

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