Gremlinology for the Holidays! w/ Robbie Martin

On this holiday edition of Parallax Views, Robbie Martin of Media Roots Radio and the documentary A Very Heavy Agenda returns to spread the holiday cheer of a Christmas classic... the 1984 Joe Dante/Steven Spielberg collaboration Gremlins! Yes, Gremlins is a Christmas movie, especially if Die Hard is considered a Christmas movie! It's a festive conversation about the little green monsters that terrorized our nightmares as kids and the furry little guy we all wanted as a pet that Furby ripped off! Robbie admits he used to confuse E.T.: The Extraterrestrial and Gremlins. J.G. tries to avoid getting the horny police called on him while talking about his early childhood crush Phoebe Cates. Robbie explains the use of cats in Jerry Goldsmith's score and pitches his prequel idea that'd call back to Phoebe Cates' eerie, spooky, chilling monologue about why she hates Christmas. We chat about Corey Feldman showing up dressed as a Christmas tree, the greatest movie scene to ever utilize Do You Hear What I Hear?, Gremlins' blending of horror and comedy, the holiday spirit in Gremlins, "That Guy" character actor Dick Miller as Murray Futterman, and the eternal question of whether Gremlins is racist, is Gremlins a critique of capitalism and/or consumerism, and more

Then we switch gears to the completely absolutely off-the-wall, insanely zany sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Robbie and I talk about the meta/parody nature of the movie, the revenge of Dick Miller's Murray Futterman, Star Trek's Robert Picardo, John Glover as an eccentric billionaire modeled after Ted Turner and Donald Trump (who manages to be so insanely energetic and naive that the originally meant-to-be-villainous role become something else entirely), Joe Dante and his love of cartoons and animation (including the Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck short), Zach Galligan's character Billy Peltzer getting a sexually harassed by boss vis-a-vis an under-the-table foot job attempt, the two different "breaking the fourth wall" interruptions for the theatrical and VHS releases of the movie, Hammer Studios horror legend Christopher Lee as a mad scientist, a blink-and-you'll miss it cameo from John Addams of Gomez Addams fame, the cameos from pro wrestler Hulk Hogan and movie critic Leonard Maltin, how the satire of TV was so ahead of its time that some jokes don't even hit the same anymore, the movie's lampooning of technology, Gizmo the Mogwai getting the Baby Yoda treatment, Rambo and Gremlins 2, and more!

We then end discussing the films of Joe Dante, the director behind both movies. We talk Burying the Ex, Innerspace, Matinee with John Goodman, Dante's two Masters of Horror episodes, the little seen TV movie The Second Civil War with Phil Hartman as the President of the United States, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, and, of course, Small Soldiers.