The Literary License Podcast

Season 7: Episode 326 - ANTHOLOGIES: Fantasia (1940)/Fantasia 2000 (1999)

Fantasia is a 1940 American animated musical anthology film produced and released by Walt Disney Productions, with story direction by Joe Grant and Dick Huemer and production supervision by Walt Disney and Ben Sharpsteen. The third Disney animated feature film, it consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra. Music critic and composer Deems Taylor acts as the film's Master of Ceremonies who introduces each segment in live action.
 
Fantasia 2000 is a 1999 American animated musical anthology film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Produced by Roy E. Disney and Donald W. Ernst, it is the 38th Disney animated feature film and sequel to 1940's Fantasia. Like its predecessor, Fantasia 2000 consists of animated segments set to pieces of classical music. Celebrities including Steve Martin, Itzhak Perlman, Quincy Jones, Bette Midler, James Earl Jones, Penn & Teller, James Levine, and Angela Lansbury introduce a segment in live action scenes directed by Don Hahn.
 
Opening Credits; Introduction (1.00); Background History (15.06); Fantasia (1940) Film Trailer (18.19); Opening Presentation (21.15); Let's Rate (41.33); Introducing Our Second Feature (43.40); Fantasia 2000 (1999) Film Trailer (46.11); Lights, Camera, Action (48.12); How Many Stars (1:19.57); End Credits (1:24.29); Closing Credits (1:25.46)
 
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
 
Closing Credits:  The Age of Not Believing  by Angela Lansbury.  From the album Bedknobs and Broomsticks Original Soundtrack.  Copyright 1971 Disney Records
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Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast. 
 
All rights reserved.  Used by Kind Permission.
 
All songs available through Amazon Music.

Season 7: Episode 325 - DOCTOR WHO: The Web Planet/The Crusades/Doctor Who and the Daleks (1965)

The Web Planet
​
13 February – 20 March 1965
 
The First Doctor (William Hartnell) and his travelling companions Ian Chesterton (William Russell), Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill), and Vicki (Maureen O'Brien) ally themselves with the Menoptra, the former inhabitants of the planet Vortis, as they struggle to win back the planet from the malignant Animus (Catherine Fleming) and its Zarbi slaves.
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The Crusades
​
27 March – 17 April 1965
 
The First Doctor (William Hartnell) and his travelling companions Ian Chesterton (William Russell), Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill), and Vicki (Maureen O'Brien) arrive in 12th century Palestine during the Third Crusade and find themselves entangled in the conflict between King Richard the Lionheart (Julian Glover) and Saladin (Bernard Kay). They also meet King Richard's sister Lady Joanna (Jean Marsh) and Saladin's brother Saphadin (Roger Avon).
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Dr Who and the Daleks (1965)
​
is a 1965 British science fiction film directed by Gordon Flemyng and written by Milton Subotsky, and the first of two films based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who. It stars Peter Cushing as Dr. Who, Roberta Tovey as Susan, Jennie Linden as Barbara, and Roy Castle as Ian. It was followed by Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966).
​
The story is based on the Doctor Who television serial The Daleks, produced by the BBC. Filmed in Technicolor, it is the first Doctor Who story to be made in colour and in a widescreen format. The film was not intended to form part of the ongoing story-lines of the television series. Elements from the programme are used, however, such as various characters, the Daleks and a police box time machine, albeit in re-imagined forms.
​
 
 
Opening Credits; Introduction (.43); The Web Planet Synopsis (1.27); Television Thoughts (4.25); Let's Rate (25.04); Introducing The Crusades (27.04); The Crusades Synopsis ( 34.41); Discussing the Episode (38.15); Rating the Episodes (47.42); Film:  Doctor Who and The Daleks (1965) (53.08); Doctor Who and the Daleks (1965) Trailer (54.14); Lights, Camera, Action (57.24); How Many Stars (1:09.59); End Credits (1:14.56); Closing Credits (1:21.53)
 
Opening Credits– Doctor Who Theme. composer Ron Grainer and realised by Delia Derbyshire at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Copyright 1963 BBC World Music.
 
Closing Credits:  We’re Not Gonna Take It by Twisted Sister.  Taken from the album Stay Hungry.  Copyright 1984 Atlantic Records
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Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast. 
 
All rights reserved.  Used by Kind Permission.
 
All songs available through Amazon Music.

Season 7: Episode 324 - DARK FAMILIES: Pufnstuf (1970)/The NeverEnding Story (1984)

Pufnstuf (also known as Pufnstuf Zaps the World) is a 1970 American comedy fantasy musical film produced by Sid and Marty Krofft Enterprises and released by Universal Pictures. It is based on the children's television series H.R. Pufnstuf, a show that features a cast of puppets on a "living island."
 
The NeverEnding Story is a 1984 fantasy film co-written and directed by Wolfgang Petersen (in his first English-language film), and based on the 1979 novel The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. It was produced by Bernd Eichinger and Dieter Giessler, and stars Noah Hathaway, Barret Oliver, Tami Stronach, Patricia Hayes, Sydney Bromley, Gerald McRaney and Moses Gunn, with Alan Oppenheimer providing the voices of Falkor and Gmork (as well as other characters). It follows a boy who finds a magical book that tells of a young warrior who is given the task of stopping the Nothing, a dark force, from engulfing the wonderland world of Fantasia.
 
At the time of its release, it was the most expensive film produced outside the United States or the Soviet Union. It was the first in The NeverEnding Story film series. It adapts only the first half of the book, and consequently does not convey the message of the title as it was portrayed in the novel. The second half of the book was subsequently used as a rough basis for the second film, The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter (1990). The third film, The NeverEnding Story III: Escape from Fantasia (1994), has an original plot not based on the book.
 
Opening Credits; Introduction (1.22); Background History (13.09); PufnStuf (1970) Trailer (29.44); Our Opening Presentation (16.29); Let's Rate (55.07); Introducing Our Next Feature (1:00.40); NeverEnding Story (1984) Trailer (1:02.11); Lights, Camera, Action (1:03.30); How Many Stars (1:41.31); End Credits (1:49.16); Closing Credits (1:51.23)
 
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
 
Closing Credits:  NeverEnding Story by Limahl.  Taken from the album Don’t Suppose.  Copyright 1984 EMI Records/Zap the World by Billie Hayes and Martha Raye.  Taken from the album PufnStuf.  Copyright 1970 Capitol Records
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Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast. 
 
All rights reserved.  Used by Kind Permission.
 
All songs available through Amazon Music.

Season 7: Episode 323 - BATMAN: I Am The Night/Off Balance/The Man Who Killed Batman/Mudslide

I Am The Knight
 
Batman falls into the depths of depression after Commissioner Gordon is shot by the Jazzman during a botched raid. Batman was meant to be present but was delayed by thugs while paying his annual visit to the site of his parents' murder. With Gordon hospitalized and near death, the Dark Knight becomes consumed by self-doubt.
Only when the Jazzman escapes custody and attempts to murder Gordon does Batman snap out of his funk. His spirit is further renewed when he encounters a young man, he'd previously given up hope on, now on the road to reform and grateful for Batman's intervention.
 
Off Balance
 
While following Count Vertigo's trail, Batman encounters comes across a mysterious woman called Talia, who was sent by her father to prevent the capture of a sonic drill that the Count stole from Wayne Enterprises. On their quest to stop Vertigo, Talia learns Batman's identity and they are forced to work together in order to fight Vertigo's effects, but the more they collaborate, the more doubts Batman has about Talia's loyalties.
 
 
The Man Who Killed Batman
 
While a third-rate mob stumble-bum Sidney Debris was acting as look-out for drug runners, Batman surprised him on a warehouse roof.  The two struggled, and Sid’s bumbling caused Batman to pitch off the roof and into a shed of explosive gas.  After the ensuing fire, the only thing found was Batman’s cape and cowl.  It seemed Sidney had done the impossible and become the man who killed Batman. 
 
 
Mudslide
 
Clayface is falling apart – literally.  His clay like body is virtually disintegrating.  Fortunately, Stella Bates, a woman scientist he knew from his movie star days, tries to stabilise Matt’s decaying form by using a rare isotope stolen form Wayne Enterprises – the irony being that Bruce Wayne would gladly help if given the chance.  But Clayface is too hateful to yield, and winds up falling into the sea, where he dissolves into nothingness. 
 
Opening Credits; Introduction (.56); Episode One:  I Am The Night (49.49); Episode Two:  Off Balance (57.29 ); Episode Three: The Man Who Killed Batman (1:09.54); Episode Four: Mudslide (1:18.28); Favourite and Least Favourite Character (1:37.30); Favourite Episode (1:49.17); End Credits (1:51.40); Closing Credits (1:52.50)
 
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
 
Closing Credits:  Off Balance by Victor Ray.  Taken from the album Off-Balance.  Copyright 2023 ZOZO records. 
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Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast. 
 
All rights reserved.  Used by Kind Permission.
 
All songs available through Amazon Music.

Season 7: Episode 322 - ONCE UPON A TIME: The Little Mermaid (H C Anderson) (1987)

The Little Mermaid is a literary fairy tale written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, first published in 1837 as part of a collection of fairy tales for children. The story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a human soul.
 
The original story has been a subject of multiple analyses by scholars such as Jacob Bøggild and Pernille Heegaard, as well as the folklorist Maria Tatar. These analyses cover various aspects of the story, from interpreting the themes to discussing why Andersen chose to write a tragic story with a happy ending. It has been adapted to various media, including musical theatre, anime, ballet, opera, and film. There is also a statue portraying the mermaid in Copenhagen, Denmark, where the story was written and first published.
 
The Little Mermaid is a 1989 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 28th Disney animated feature film, it is loosely based on the 1837 Danish fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen. The film was written and directed by John Musker and Ron Clements and produced by Musker and Howard Ashman, who also wrote the film's songs with Alan Menken. Menken also composed the film's score. Featuring the voices of Jodi Benson, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Pat Carroll, Samuel E. Wright, Jason Marin, Kenneth Mars, and Buddy Hackett, The Little Mermaid tells the story of a teenage mermaid princess named Ariel, who dreams of becoming human and falls in love with a human prince named Eric, which leads her to make a magic deal with the sea witch, Ursula, to become human and be with him.
 
The Little Mermaid was released to theaters on November 17, 1989, to critical acclaim, earning praise for the animation, music, and characters. It was also a commercial success, garnering $84 million at the domestic box office during its initial release, and $235 million in total lifetime gross worldwide. Along with the major success of both Disney's 1986 animated film The Great Mouse Detective  and the 1988 Disney/Amblin live-action/animated film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Little Mermaid is given credit for breathing life back into the art of Disney animated feature films after some films produced by Disney were struggling. It also marked the start of the era known as the Disney Renaissance. The film won two Academy Awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song ("Under the Sea").
 
Opening Credits; Introduction (1.19); Background History (14.13); The Little Mermaid Plot Synopsis (15.17); Book Thoughts (21.47); Introducing a Film (58.50); The Little Mermaid (1989) Film Trailer (1:02.28); Lights, Camera, Action (1:03.49); How Many Stars (1:50.42); End Credits (1:52.10); Closing Credits (1:53.48)
 
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – Copyright . All rights reserved
 
Closing Credits:  In Harmony by Jodi Benson.  Taken from the Little Mermaid Television Soundtrack.  Copyright 1992 Disney Records.  Kiss The Girl by Ashley Tidsdale.  Taken from The Little Mermaid Soundtrack  Copyright 2006 Disney Records.
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Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast. 
 
All rights reserved.  Used by Kind Permission.
 
All songs available through Amazon Music.
 

Season 6: Episode 321 - M&M: A Ghost Story (2017)/Coco (2017)

A Ghost Story (2017)
​
A Ghost Story is a 2017 American supernatural drama film written and directed by David Lowery. It stars Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara, Will Oldham, Sonia Acevedo, Rob Zabrecky, Liz Franke and Kesha. Affleck plays a man who becomes a ghost and remains in the house he shares with his wife (Mara).  The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2017, and was released by A24 on July 7, 2017. A Ghost Story received positive reviews from critics.
Coco (2017)
 
Coco is a 2017 American computer-animated fantasy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Based on an original idea by Lee Unkrich, it is directed by him and co-directed by Adrian Molina. The film's voice cast stars Anthony Gonzalez, Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach, Renée Victor, Ana Ofelia Murguía and Edward James Olmos. The story follows a 12-year-old boy named Miguel who is accidentally transported to the Land of the Dead, where he seeks the help of his deceased musician great-great-grandfather to return him to his family among the living and to reverse his family's ban on music.  The concept for Coco is inspired by the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead. The film was scripted by Molina and Matthew Aldrich from a story by Unkrich, Jason Katz, Aldrich, and Molina. Pixar began developing the animation in 2016; Unkrich and some of the film's crew visited Mexico for research. Composer Michael Giacchino, who had worked on prior Pixar animated features, composed the score. With a cost of $175–225 million, Coco is the first film with a nine-figure budget to feature an all-Latino principal cast.
 
Opening Credits; Introduction (1.05); Background History (25.56); A Ghost Story (2017)  Trailer (27.08); The Original (29.19); Let's Rate (1:17.37); Introducing the Double Feature (1:23.44); Coco (2017) Film Trailer (1:25.58); The Attraction (1:28.07); How Many Stars (1:53.14); End Credits (2:02.33); Closing Credits (2:04.10)
 
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – copyright 2021. All rights reserved
 
Closing Credits:  Proud Corazon by Anthony Gonzalez/Remember Me (Duo) by Miguel.  Taken from the soundtrack Coco.  Copyright 2017 Disney Records.
​
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast. 
 
All rights reserved. Used with Kind Permission.
 
All songs available through Amazon Music.

Season 6: Episode 320 - MAKE/REMAKE: The Last Man On Earth (1964)/I Am Legend (2007)

The Last Man on Earth (1964)
 
The Last Man on Earth is a 1964 post-apocalyptic science fiction horror film based on the 1954 novel I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. The film was produced by Robert L. Lippert and directed by Ubaldo Ragona and Sidney Salkow, and stars Vincent Price and Franca Bettoia. The screenplay was written in part by Matheson, but he was dissatisfied with the result and chose to be credited as "Logan Swanson". William Leicester, Furio M. Monetti, and Ubaldo Ragona finished the script.  The Last Man on Earth was filmed in Rome, with scenes being completed at Esposizione Universale Roma. It was released in the United States by American International Pictures. In the 1980s, the film entered the public domain. MGM Home Video, the current owners of the AIP film catalog, released a digitally remastered widescreen version of the film on DVD in September 2005.
 
I Am Legend (2007)
 
I Am Legend is a 2007 American post-apocalyptic action thriller film loosely based on the 1954 novel of the same name by Richard Matheson. Directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by Akiva Goldsman and Mark Protosevich, the film stars Will Smith as US Army virologist Robert Neville. It is set in New York City after a virus, which was originally created to cure cancer, has wiped out most of mankind, leaving Neville as the last human in New York, other than nocturnal mutants. Neville is immune to the virus, and he works to develop a cure while defending himself against the hostile mutants. It is the third feature-film adaptation of Matheson's novel following 1964's The Last Man on Earth and 1971's The Omega Man.
 
Opening Credits; Introduction (.37); Background History (29.11); The Last Man On Earth (1964) Film Trailer (30.43); The Original (33.43); Let's Rate (55.39); Introducing the Double Feature (1:27.22); I Am Legend (2007) Film Trailer (1:30.10); The Attraction (1:32.44); How Many Stars (2:14.10); End Credits (2:322.03); Closing Credits (2:32.41)
 
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – copyright 2021. All rights reserved
 
Closing Credits:  Mr Lonely by Bobby Vinton.  Taken from the album Roses are Red.  Copyright 1962 Epic Records.
​
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast. 
 
All rights reserved.  Used with Kind Permission.
 
All songs available through Amazon Music.

Season 6: Episode 319 - BATMAN: Terror in the Skies/Almost Got’Im/Birds of a Feather/What is Reality?

Terror in the Sky
 
When a giant-sized bat ransacks Gotham harbor, Batman suspects that Dr. Kirk Langstrom is up to his old tricks, taking the Man-Bat formula again. Batman isn't the only one. Kirk's wife, Francine, is so distrustful of her husband that she decides to leave him. After further investigation, Batman discovers that this Man-Bat is not Kirk, but someone else, and thus he shames Francine's father into permanently destroying the formula.
 
Almost Got'im
 
The Joker, Killer Croc, the Penguin, Two-Face, and Poison Ivy all meet at a poker table, each telling a tale of times when they almost defeated Batman. At the same time, Harley Quinn is about to kill Catwoman after she rescued Batman from the Joker's electric chair, and Batman must save her.
 
Birds of a Feather
 
Veronica Vreeland is looking for a way to create a splash with her next party, and arrives at the idea of having a former criminal in attendance — especially if there is one whose manners would create a stir. The Penguin, who has recently reformed, fits the bill perfectly. In the process of convincing the Penguin to come to her party, Veronica finds she likes the corpulent little guy. For his part, the Penguin begins to fall in love with her, until he overhears that he is merely being used.
 
What is Reality?
 
Seeking to prove once and for all that his is the superior mind, the Riddler lures Batman into a riddle-solving contest inside the virtual reality of a computer game in order to save Commissioner Gordon's life. In the course of solving the riddles and escaping the Riddler's traps, Batman learns that he is able to manipulate the virtual reality landscape much like the Riddler does.
 
Opening Credits; Introduction (1.24); Episode One: Terror In The Skies (57.04); Episode Two:  Almost Got ‘Im (1:04.30); Episode Three:  Birds of a Feather (1:12.19); Episode Four:  What is Reality?  (1:20.15); Favourite Episode (1:28.10); Favourite Character (1:36.40); Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel (1:53.01); Closing Credits (1:53.50)
 
Opening Credits– Batman Animated Theme by Danny Elfman.  Copyright 1992 Warner Music 
 
Closing Credits:  Alone Pt II by Alan Walker & Ava Max.  Taken from the album World of Walker.  Copyright 2019 MER/Sony Records.
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Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast. 
 
All rights reserved.  Used with Kind Permission.
 
All songs available through Amazon Music.

Season 6: Episode 318 -DOCTOR WHO: The Rescue/The Romans

The Rescue
​
02 - 09 January 1965
 
On the planet Dido, the Doctor, Ian, and Barbara encounter Vicki and Bennett, two survivors of a space crash who are awaiting a rescue ship. They live in fear of Koquillion, a bipedal inhabitant who is stalking the area. The Doctor enters Bennett's room, and follows a trap door to a temple where he unmasks Koquillion as Bennett. Bennett reveals he killed a crewmember on board the ship and was arrested, but the ship crashed before the crime could be radioed to Earth. He has been using the Koquillion alias so that Vicki would back up his story, and had hoped the planet would be destroyed when his version of events was given. Just as Bennett is about to kill the Doctor, two surviving native Didonians arrive and force Bennett to his death over a ledge. With no living family and nothing left for her on Dido, Vicki is welcomed aboard the TARDIS.
​
The Romans
 
16 January – 6 February 1965
 
The First Doctor (William Hartnell) and his new companion Vicki (Maureen O'Brien) investigate intrigue surrounding the death of a lyre player en route to perform at the palace of Nero (Derek Francis) in Rome, while companion Ian Chesterton (William Russell) travels to Nero's palace to save his fellow schoolteacher Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill), who had been sold to Nero's wife Poppaea (Kay Patrick) as a slave.
 
Opening Credits; Introduction (1.27); Background History:  The Rescue (4.57); The Rescue: Plot Synopsis (5.22); Let's Discuss (7.43); Overall Thoughts (15.39); Let's Rate (17.10); Background History:  The Romans (19.38 ); The Romans:  Plot Synopsis (19.57); Let’s Discuss (22.52); Let’s Rate (34.18); Tune In Next Time (35.30); Closing Credits (37.11)
 
Opening Credits– Doctor Who Theme. composer Ron Grainer and realised by Delia Derbyshire at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Copyright 1963 BBC World Music.
 
Closing Credits:  Rescue Me by OneRepublic.  Taken from the album Human.  Copyright 2019 Interscope/Motley Records.
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Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast. 
 
All rights reserved.  Used with Kind Permission.
 
All songs available through Amazon Music.

Season 6: Episode 317 - AMERICA GOES DARK: Flowers in the Attic (VC Andrews) (Film: 1987)

Book:  Flowers in the Attic
             By V C Andrews
 
Film:    Flowers in the Attic (1987)
 
Flowers in the Attic is a 1979 Gothic novel by V. C. Andrews. It is the first book in the Dollanganger Series, and was followed by Petals on the Wind, If There Be Thorns, Seeds of Yesterday, Garden of Shadows, Christopher's Diary: Secrets of Foxworth, Christopher's Diary: Echoes of Dollanganger and Christopher's Diary: Secret Brother. The novel is written in the first-person, from the point of view of Cathy Dollanganger. It was twice adapted into films in 1987 and 2014. The book was extremely popular, selling over forty million copies world-wide.
 
Flowers in the Attic is a 1987 American psychological horror film directed by Jeffrey Bloom and starring Louise Fletcher, Victoria Tennant, Kristy Swanson, and Jeb Stuart Adams. Its plot follows four children who, after the death of their father, are held captive in the attic of their abusive grandmother's sprawling estate by their cruel and manipulative mother. It is based on V. C. Andrews' 1979 novel of the same name. At one point Wes Craven was scheduled to direct the film, and had completed a screenplay draft. Producers were disturbed by his approach to the incest-laden story, however, and Jeffrey Bloom ended up with writing and directing duties.
 
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.30); Background History (13.20); Flowers in the Attic Plot Synopsis (14.25); Book Thoughts(20.23); Let's Rate (41.09); Introducing a Film (54.33); Flowers in the Attic (1987) Film Trailer (55.54); Lights, Camera, Action (57.53); How Many Stars (1:19.18); End Credits (1:24.36); Closing Credits (1:26.13)
 
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – copyright 2021. All rights reserved
 
Closing Credits:  Flowers on the Wall by the Statler Brothers.  Taken from the album Flowers On The Wall.  Copyright 1965 Columbia Records.
​
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast. 
 
All rights reserved.  Used with Kind Permission.
 
All songs available through Amazon Music.

Season 6: Episode 316 - M&M: The Orphanage (2007)/Personal Shopper (2017)

The Orphanage (2007)
​
The Orphanage (Spanish: El orfanato) is a 2007 Spanish gothic supernatural horror film and the debut feature of Spanish filmmaker J. A. Bayona. The film stars Belén Rueda as Laura, Fernando Cayo as her husband, Carlos, and Roger Príncep as their adopted son Simón. The plot centers on Laura, who returns to her childhood home, an orphanage. Laura plans to turn the house into a home for disabled children, but after an argument with Laura, Simón goes missing.  The film's script was written by Sergio G. Sánchez in 1996 and brought to the attention of Bayona in 2004. Bayona asked his long-time friend, director Guillermo del Toro, to help produce the film and to double its budget and filming time. Bayona wanted the film to capture the feel of 1970s Spanish cinema; he cast Geraldine Chaplin and Belén Rueda, who were later praised for their roles in the film.
 
Personal Shopper (2017)
 
Personal Shopper is a 2016 supernatural psychological thriller film written and directed by Olivier Assayas. The film stars Kristen Stewart as a young American woman in Paris who works as a personal shopper for a celebrity and tries to communicate with her deceased twin brother.  An international co-production between Belgium, Czech Republic, France and Germany,  the film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. At Cannes, Assayas shared the Best Director Award with Cristian Mungiu, who directed Graduation. The film was released on 14 December 2016 in France and 10 March 2017 in the United States. The film received positive reviews from critics, with particular praise for Stewart's performance.
 
Opening Credits; Introduction (1.04); Background History (28.25); The Orphanage (2007) Film Trailer (30.11); The Original (32.05); Let's Rate (1:09.51); Introducing the Double Feature (1:16.31); Personal Shopper (2017) Film Trailer (1:17.36); The Attraction (1:19.40); How Many Stars (2:07.37); End Credits (2:18.01); Closing Credits (2:19.08)
 
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – copyright 2021. All rights reserved
 
Closing Credits:  My Immortal by Evanescence.  Taken from the album Fallen.  Copyright 2002 Wind-Up Records.
​
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast. 
 
All rights reserved.  Used by Kind Permission.
 
All songs available through Amazon Music.
 

Season 6: Episode 315 - MAKE/REMAKE: True Grit (1969/2010)

Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – copyright 2021. All rights reserved
 
Closing Credits:  Where Have All The Cowboys Gone by Paula Cole.  Taken from the album This Fire.  Copyright 1996 Imago/Warner Brothers Records.
​
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast. 
 
All rights reserved.
 
All songs available through Amazon Music.

Season 6: Episode 314 - BATMAN: The Joker’s Wild/Tyger Tyger/Moon of the Wolf/Day of the Sumari

Joker’s Wild
 
Cameron Kaiser builds a casino hotel modeled after the Joker, called "The Joker's Wild". The Joker sees this on the news and, enraged, escapes from Arkham again, with one thought on his mind: destroying the casino, unaware that this is exactly what Kaiser wants him to do as part of an insurance claim.
 
Tyger Tyger
 
Selina Kyle is kidnapped by the villainous genetic engineer Dr. Emile Dorian (a former comrade of Man-Bat) and becomes his latest experiment to provide his man-cat hybrid named Tygrus with a mate. Batman learns of this and comes to the island to rescue Selina. He is captured and forced into a deadly game of cat-and-flying mouse as Tygrus hunts Batman through the island's jungles.
 
 
Moon of the Wolf
 
Batman investigates the appearance of a werewolf-like creature in Gotham, not realizing that the monster happens to be one of Bruce Wayne's associates — Anthony Romulus, ex-Olympic champion. Behind the scheme is twisted chemist Professor Milo.
 
 
Day of the Samuri
 
Kyodai Ken kidnaps Kairi Tanaga, star pupil of Yoru Sensei, the martial arts instructor who taught both Kyodai and Bruce. The ninja's ransom for her is a scroll that teaches the location of the fabled Death Touch.
 
Opening Credits; Introduction (1.29); Episode One Joker’s Wild (52.33); Episode Two:  Tyger Tyger (1:04.14); Episode Three:  Moon of the Wolf (1:13.42); Episode Four:  Day of the Samuri (1:40.41); Favourite Character (1:50.39); Favourite Episode (1:56.01); Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel (2:07.09); Closing Credits (2:08.37)
 
Opening Credits– Batman Animated Theme by Danny Elfman.  Copyright 1992 Warner Music 
 
Closing Credits:  Everybody Wants To Be A Cat by The Sketchy Leg Big Band.  Copyright 2019 The Sketchy Leg Big Band.  (2775) The Stretchy Legs Big Band - Everybody Wants To Be A Cat (from The Aristocats) - YouTube
​
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast. 
 
All rights reserved.  Used with Kind Permission.
 
All songs available through Amazon Music.
 

Season 6: Episode 313 - DOCTOR WHO: Planet of Giants/The Daleks Invasion on Earth

SEASON 2
​
Planet of Giants
 
31 October – 14 November
 
The Doctor, his granddaughter Susan Foreman and her teachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright  are shrunk to the size of an inch after the Doctor's time machine the TARDIS arrives in contemporary England.
 
The Dalek Invasion on Earth
​
21 November – 26 December 1964
 
The Doctor, his granddaughter Susan Foreman and teachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright  discover that the Earth in the 22nd century has been occupied by Daleks. They work with a human resistance group to stop the Daleks from mining out the Earth's core as part of their plan to pilot the planet through space.
 
Opening Credits; Introduction (1.24); Planet of the Giants Plot Synopsis (4.40); Let's Discuss (7.57); The Daleks Invasion on Earth Background History (1953); Plot Synopsis (20.24); Let's Discuss (23.22); Let's Rate (40.46); Tune In Next Time (42.10); Closing Credits (44.54)
 
 
Opening Credits– Doctor Who Theme. composer Ron Grainer and realised by Delia Derbyshire at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Copyright 1963 BBC World Music.
 
Closing Credits:  Giants by Calvin Harris and Rag-N-Bone Man.  Copyright 2019 Columbia Records
​
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast. 
 
All rights reserved.  Used with Kind Permission.
 
All songs available through Amazon Music.

Season 6: Episode 312 - AMERICA GOES DARK: Beloved (T. Morrison) (1998)

Book:  Beloved
            By Toni Morrison
 
Film: Beloved (1998)
 
Beloved is a 1987 novel by the American writer Toni Morrison. Set after the American Civil War, it tells the story of a family of formerly enslaved people whose Cincinnati home is haunted by a malevolent spirit. Beloved is inspired by an event that actually happened: Margaret Garner, an enslaved person in Kentucky, who escaped and fled to the free state of Ohio in 1856. She was subject to capture in accordance with the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850; when U.S. marshals burst into the cabin where Garner and her husband had barricaded themselves, she was attempting to kill her children, and had already killed her two-year-old daughter, to spare them from being returned to slavery.  Morrison had come across an account of Garner titled "A Visit to the Slave Mother who Killed Her Child" in an 1856 newspaper article published in the American Baptist, and reproduced in The Black Book, a miscellaneous compilation of black history and culture that Morrison edited in 1974.
 
Beloved is a 1998 American psychological horror drama film directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, and Thandiwe Newton. Based on Toni Morrison's 1987 novel of the same name, the plot centers on a former slave after the American Civil War, her haunting by a poltergeist, and the visitation of her reincarnated daughter.  Despite being a box office bomb Beloved received an Oscar nomination for Best Costume Design for Colleen Atwood, the film received mostly positive reviews, and both Danny Glover and Kimberly Elise received praise for their performances.
 
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.30); Background History (21.42); Plot Synopsis (23.37); Book Thoughts(28.10); Let's Rate (56.09); Introducing a Film (58.22); Film Trailer (59.35); Lights, Camera, Action (1:01.35); How Many Stars (1:57.01); End Credits (2:01.20); Closing Credits (2:02.35)
 
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – copyright 2021. All rights reserved
 
Closing Credits:  Something In My House by Dead or Alive.  Taken from the album Mad, Bad And Dangerous To Know.  Copyright 1986.  Epic Records.
​
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast. 
 
All rights reserved.  Used With Kind Permission.
 
All songs available through Amazon Music.
 

Season 6: Episode 311 - M&M: Monsters and Madmen: You’re Next (2011)/The Guest (2014)

You’re Next (2011)
 
You're Next is a 2011 American slasher film directed and edited by Adam Wingard, written by Simon Barrett and starring Sharni Vinson, Nicholas Tucci, Wendy Glenn, A. J. Bowen, Joe Swanberg, Barbara Crampton and Rob Moran. The plot concerns an estranged family under attack by a group of masked assailants during a family reunion.  The film had its world premiere at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival Midnight Madness program and was theatrically released on August 23, 2013, in the United States. The film grossed over $26 million from a $1 million production budget and has since gained a cult following.
 
The Guest (2014)
 
The Guest is a 2014 American thriller film directed by Adam Wingard and written by Simon Barrett. The film stars Dan Stevens and Maika Monroe, with a supporting cast that includes Leland Orser, Sheila Kelley, Brendan Meyer, and Lance Reddick. It tells the story of a U.S. soldier (Stevens) called David who unexpectedly visits the Peterson family, introducing himself as a friend of their son who died in combat in Afghanistan. After he has been staying in their home for a couple of days, a series of deaths occur, and the daughter Anna (Monroe) suspects David is connected to them.
 
 
Opening Credits; Introduction (1.05); Background History (15.49); You’re Next (2011) Film Trailer (16.54); The Original (18.57); Introducing the Double Feature (42.20); The Guest (2014) Film Trailer (44.32); The Attraction (1:40.59); How Many Stars (1:18.40); End Credits (1:22.18); Closing Credits (1:23.15)
 
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – copyright 2021. All rights reserved
 
Closing Credits:  Perfect Day by Lou Reed.  Taken from the album Transformer.  Copyright 1972 Trident Records.
​
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast. 
 
All rights reserved.  Used With Kind Permission.
 
All songs available through Amazon Music.
 

Season 6: Episode 310 - MAKE/REMAKE: Halloween (1977/2007)

Halloween (1978)
 
Halloween is a 1978 American independent slasher film directed and scored by John Carpenter, co-written with producer Debra Hill, and starring Jamie Lee Curtis (in her film debut) and Donald Pleasence, with P. J. Soles and Nancy Kyes appearing in supporting roles. The plot centers around a mental patient, Michael Myers, who was committed to a sanatorium for murdering his babysitting teenage sister on Halloween night when he was six years old. Fifteen years later, he escapes and returns to his hometown, where he stalks a female babysitter and her friends, while under pursuit by his psychiatrist.
 
Halloween (2007)
 
Halloween is a 2007 American slasher film written, directed, and produced by Rob Zombie. The film is a remake of the 1978 horror film of the same name and the ninth instalment in the Halloween franchise. The film stars Tyler Mane as the adult Michael Myers, Malcolm McDowell as Dr. Sam Loomis, Scout Taylor-Compton as Laurie Strode, and Daeg Faerch as the young Michael Myers. Rob Zombie's "reimagining" follows the premise of John Carpenter's original, with Michael Myers stalking Laurie Strode and her friends on Halloween night.  Working from Carpenter's advice to "make [the film] his own”, Zombie chose to develop the film as both an origin story and a remake, allowing for more original content than simply re-filming the same scenes. Despite mixed reviews, the film, which cost $15 million to make, went on to gross $80.3 million worldwide in unadjusted U.S. dollars. Zombie followed the film with a sequel, Halloween II, in 2009.
 
We are joined by C Derrick Miller, author, director and scriptwriter. 
 
Opening Credits; Introduction (.38); Background History (15.39); Halloween (1977) Film Trailer (17.31); The Original (20.20); Let's Rate (1:07.14); Introducing the Double Feature (1:16.54); Halloween (2007) Film Trailer (1:18.09); The Attraction (1:20.05); How Many Stars (2:19.58); Overall Thoughts (2:31.38); End Credits (2:36.51); Closing Credits (2:32.34)
 
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – copyright 2021. All rights reserved
 
Closing Credits:  Don’t Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult.  Taken from the album Agents of Fortune.  Copyright 1976 Columbia Records
​
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast. 
 
All rights reserved.  Used with Kind Permission.
 
All songs available through Amazon Music.

Season 6: Episode 309 - BATMAN: The Strange Case of Bruce Wayne/Heart of Steel Part 1&2/If You Are So Smart; Why Aren’t You Rich

The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne
 
After a prominent judge is injured during a struggle with some thugs demanding money from her in exchange for a strange tape, Bruce Wayne decides to take a trip to Yucca Springs, a resort where the judge had vacationed, and consult Dr. Hugo Strange, a psychiatrist. Bruce soon learns that Strange has invented a machine that extracts people's darkest secrets from their minds and transfers them to videotape — and now Strange has proof of Bruce's secret identity as Batman, and plans to auction it to three of Gotham's prominent crime bosses.
 
Heart of Steel Part 1
 
Several robberies take place at major companies, including Wayne Enterprises, and Bruce Wayne, as Batman, discovers the thief to be a mechanical briefcase. Bruce meets with his old friend, Karl Rossum, an expert in robotics who lost his daughter to a vehicle accident years ago. He also meets Rossum's assistant, Randa Duane, and Rossum's ultimate creation: a prototype A.I. known as Holographic Analytical Reciprocating Digital Computer (H.A.R.D.A.C.) Bruce invites Duane to dinner, and around the same time, certain civilians start acting strangely. Most surprising is when Duane unexpectedly leaves Wayne Manor while Bruce is on the phone, and the entire Batcave turns on Batman.
 
Heart of Steel Part 2
 
Batman manages to free himself from the Batcave's clutches, and brings it back under his control, although he fails to track Duane down. Barbara Gordon approaches Batman to inform him of her father's sudden change in behavior. A brutal fight between Batman and Detective Bullock ensues, during which Batman pushes Bullock onto the Bat Signal, and reveals him to actually be an android, meaning that the real Bullock and James Gordon have gone missing, and Batman knows who the culprit is: H.A.R.D.A.C. Batman must stop the evil supercomputer before it is too late.
 
 
If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich
 
Edward Nygma creates the video game The Riddle of the Minotaur for the company Competitron, but is fired by his superior Daniel Mockridge, who wants the profits for himself. Nygma vows revenge, and takes up the mantle of the Riddler two years later. While Batman sympathizes with Nygma, he and Robin find themselves forced to stop him before he kills Mockridge in a life-sized version of the Minotaur maze. Despite successfully rescuing Mockridge, who complete a deal to move his company to Gotham, the incident leaves him in a permanent PTSD - type all-consuming fear of Nygma's return for revenge.
 
Opening Credits; Introduction (1.28); Episode One: The Strange Case of Bruce Wayne (32.30); Episode Two and Three:  Heart of Steel Part 1 &2 (47.10); Episode Four:  If You Are So Smart; Why Aren’t You Rich (1:14.48); Favourite Episode (1:58.53); Favourite Character (2:03.03);Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel (2:03.06); Closing Credits (2:03.46)
 
Opening Credits– Batman Animated Theme by Danny Elfman.  Copyright 1992 Warner Music 
 
Closing Credits:  Question Me An Answer by Bobby Van.  Taken from the album The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Lost Horizon.  Copyright 1997 Razor & Tie Records.
​
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast. 
 
All rights reserved.  Used with Kind Permission.
 
All songs available through Amazon Music.

Season 6: Episode 308 - AMERICA GOES DARK: The Talented Mr Ripley (P.Highsmith)(1999)

Book:  The Talented Mr Ripley
             By Patricia Highsmith
 
Film:  The Talented Mr Ripley (1999)
 
The Talented Mr. Ripley is a 1955 psychological thriller novel by Patricia Highsmith. This novel introduced the character of Tom Ripley, who returns in four subsequent novels. It has been adapted numerous times for film, including the 1999 film of the same name.
​
The Talented Mr. Ripley is a 1999 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Anthony Minghella, and based on Patricia Highsmith's 1955 novel of the same name. It stars Matt Damon as Tom Ripley, with Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett and Philip Seymour Hoffman in supporting roles.  The novel was previously filmed twice. In 1957, a one-hour version was produced for the TV anthology series Studio One, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, though no recording survives. In 1960, a full-length film version was released, titled Purple Noon (French: Plein soleil) and directed by René Clément, starring Alain Delon in his first major role. Claude Chabrol's 1968 film Les biches ('The Does') uses many elements of Highsmith's novel but switches the gender of the main characters. The film was a critical and commercial success. It received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Law.
 
Opening Credits; Introduction (2.31); Background History (10.18); Plot Synopsis (10.53); Book Thoughts(15.40); Let's Rate (34.54); Introducing a Film (36.59); Film Trailer (37.48); Lights, Camera, Action (39.56); How Many Stars (1:14.52); End Credits (1:16.27); Closing Credits (1:17.27)
 
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – copyright 2021. All rights reserved
 
Closing Credits:  Tu vuò fà l'americano by Renato Carsone.  Copyright 1956 Pathe records.
​
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast. 
 
All rights reserved.
 
All songs available through Amazon Music.

Season 6: Episode 306 - M&M: Sinister (2012)/We Are Still Here (2015)

Sinister (2012)
​
Sinister is a 2012 American supernatural horror film directed by Scott Derrickson and written by C. Robert Cargill and Derrickson. It stars Ethan Hawke as a struggling true-crime writer whose discovery of videos depicting grisly murders in his new house puts his family in danger. Juliet Rylance, Fred Thompson, James Ransone, Clare Foley, and Michael Hall D'Addario appear in supporting roles.  Sinister was inspired by a nightmare Cargill had after watching the 2002 film The Ring.  Principal photography on Sinister began in Autumn of 2011 in Long Island, NY with a production budget of $3 million.[3] To add the authenticity of old home movies and snuff films, the Super 8 segments were shot on actual Super 8 cameras and film stock
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We Are Still Here (2015)
 
We Are Still Here is a 2015 American horror film written and directed by Ted Geoghegan and starring Andrew Sensenig and Barbara Crampton as grieving parents who find themselves the focus of an attack by vengeful spirits. The film had its world premiere on 15 March 2015 at South by Southwest.
 
 
Opening Credits; Introduction (1.04); Background History (10.02);Sinister  Film Trailer (12.00); The Original (14.29); Let's Rate (41.05); Introducing the Double Feature (44.43); We Are Still Here Film Trailer (45.33); The Attraction (47.08); How Many Stars (1:05.06); Overall End Credits (1:09.28); Closing Credits (1:10.56)
 
 
Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – copyright 2021. All rights reserved
 
Closing Credits:  Haunted by the Pogues.  Taken from the Sid and Nancy Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.  Copyright  1986 Epic Records
​
Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast. 
 
All rights reserved.
 
All songs available through Amazon Music.