Episode 43 - Polyester (1981)

FromMary Versus the Movies

Start listening View podcast show

Episode 43 - Polyester (1981)

FromMary Versus the Movies

ratings:

Length:

42 minutes

Released:

Jan 28, 2022

Format:

Podcast episode

Description

"Indie Month" closes with a look at John Waters' breakthrough film Polyester, an homage to the "women's films" of the 1950s. We talk about kitsch, the suburbs, and Mary gets to gloat.

Released:

Jan 28, 2022

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

Sure, the 1980s were a great decade for film. But have you seen all of them? No, neither has Mary. In fact, some pretty big films passed her by, what with being in kindergarten at the time: A Nightmare on Elm Street, Moonstruck, My Neighbor Totoro... So it's time to fix that. Artwork, opening and closing themes by Dennis Lingg Produced and edited by Mary Jones

Skip carousel

Episode 1 - 9 to 5 (1980): In our first episode, Mary and Dennis tackle the 1980 workplace farce 9 to 5, starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton, and Dabney Coleman. It's a story of sex, revenge, and the power of collective action. It also completely missed Mary growing... by Mary Versus the Movies
32 min listen
Episode 4 - Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985): Even though she grew up watching the show, this is Mary's first time seeing Tim Burton's first film, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. Does its child-like star irritate, or is he the heir to Bugs Bunny? How much do we miss Phil Hartman? And just how many times... by Mary Versus the Movies
37 min listen
Episode 25 - Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982): We went into this fearing a sleazy teensploitation skin flick; instead, it's funny, frank look at young people surviving high school and learning about sex and relationships, all set to a killer early 1980s soundtrack. It's also a real "hey, it's that... by Mary Versus the Movies
56 min listen
Episode 17 - Shag (1988): We had mixed feelings about this forgotten coming-of-age story set in 1963 Myrtle Beach, SC. The film is enjoyable, but a combination of Southern Pride and 1980s sexual politics left us a little unmoored. CW: talking about an attempted sexual... by Mary Versus the Movies
36 min listen
Episode 7 - Desperately Seeking Susan (1985): Who knew this screwball comedy starring Rosanna Arquette, Aiden Quinn, Mark Blum, and most famously Madonna, would turn out to be a real gem of a movie? Definitely not Mary and Dennis, who were pleasantly surprised. Sit back, dream of a different... by Mary Versus the Movies
31 min listen
Episode 24 - ¡Three Amigos! (1986): We're back with another Steve Martin film, this time his homage to the singing cowboy pictures of from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Unfortunately, he's working with John Landis on the backside of his directing heights, and we end up with a... by Mary Versus the Movies
38 min listen
Episode 9 - Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982): As an homage to film noir and classic Hollywood, this movie was built for Mary. As a Steve Martin-Carl Reiner comedy, it was built for Dennis. Two great tastes are pretty tasty together in the 1982 film that mixes and matches films from all over the... by Mary Versus the Movies
38 min listen
Episode 19 - Johnny Dangerously (1984): This Amy Heckerling comedy starring Michael Keaton was a favorite film of Dennis's when he was younger--will it hold up to his own memories? Or will Mary be unable to see what's so funny about this gangster parody? by Mary Versus the Movies
32 min listen
Episode 3 - Moonstruck (1987): Did Cher totally deserve an Oscar for her performance? Is Nic Cage's performance turned to 11? Should Danny Aiello just stay in Sicily? Is this the best movie we've covered so far? Does the moon really hit your eye like a big pizza pie? The answers to... by Mary Versus the Movies
34 min listen
Episode 2 - Predator (1987): Mary muscles her way into Predator, and Dennis reminisces about the late, great premium cable channel PRISM. Also, choppers are gotten to. by Mary Versus the Movies
27 min listen
Episode 10 - Fitzcarraldo (1982): We were left pretty astonished by Werner Herzog's epic adventure film about the world most reckless opera fan. by Mary Versus the Movies
47 min listen
Episode 21 - Mystic Pizza (1988): "They don't make 'em like that anymore" is a very tired sentiment, but it's been a while since we've seen a movie in theaters about working class girls coming of age, and this is a good one. Come for the dissing of Connecticut's pizza, stay for the... by Mary Versus the Movies
32 min listen
Episode 47 - The Last Emperor (1987): Part II of "Hey, which is this, Empire of the Sun or The Last Emperor?" concludes with Bernardo Bertolucci's epic biography of the last emperor of China, who wasn't exactly a great argument for the institution of monarchy. by Mary Versus the Movies
45 min listen
Episode 13 - The Thing (1982): We go a little long on this one, but come on, it's John Carpenter's The Thing, one of the greatest sci-fi horror films of the last 50 years. The story of men stationed in Antarctica, trying to figure out which one of them is a shape-shifting alien, is... by Mary Versus the Movies
44 min listen
Episode 15 - Silverado (1985): Our first guest! Mary's sister Anne comes by to talk about 1985's Silverado, written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan, and starring Kevin Kline, Danny Glover, Scott Glenn, Kevin Costner, Brian Dennehey, and on and on and on. By the 1980s, the Western... by Mary Versus the Movies
30 min listen
Episode 40 - Down by Law (1986): Jim Jarmusch's Neo-noir-beatnik-comedy is a favorite film of Dennis's, and a staple of the 1980s indie film scene, so it's time for Mary to finally sit down and watch. Silly, stylized, and warm, "sad and beautiful" as one character says, it stars Tom... by Mary Versus the Movies
33 min listen
Episode 5 - Road House (1989): What is there to say? One of the most famous "bad movies" ever made, and somehow Mary has never seen it, not even while flipping channels on cable, which is where everyone else encountered the Patrick Swayze masterpiece, which flopped in theaters. by Mary Versus the Movies
35 min listen
Episode 18 - The Apple (1980): It's MTV meets Brave New World meets Rocky Horror meets the Bible in this 1980 musical extravaganza that we still can't make up our minds about, because wow, that ending really took us right out of it. And yet... we like it? We found so much to talk... by Mary Versus the Movies
51 min listen
Episode 6 - Maximum Overdrive (1986): Even Stephen King, who wrote and directed it, admits Maximum Overdrive is the worst film connected to his body of work. Do Mary and Dennis think he's right? Well, yeah, but only because Mary can't remember anything about the TV movie The Langoliers.... by Mary Versus the Movies
31 min listen
Episode 27 - Real Genius (1985): We wrap up Back To School month with 1986's Real Genius. It's a PG Animal House meets War Games in this comedy about college students building a weapon for their professor only to realize the horror of what they're actually doing. Lightly satirical,... by Mary Versus the Movies
40 min listen
Episode 63 - Valley Girl (1983): Finishing up our Cage Match, we have a special guest! We are joined by Jon Solomon, DJ at WPRB and head of Comedy Minus One records, to discuss the LA-centric romantic comedy starring Nicolas Cage and Deborah Foreman. We talk about music, teen... by Mary Versus the Movies
76 min listen
Episode 12 - Outland (1981): Sean Connery is a marshal investigating a rash of suicides in a space mining colony in this somewhat obscure 1981 sci fi film. Mary was pleasantly surprised by this story of corruption described as "High Noon in Space". Is this one of Connery's best... by Mary Versus the Movies
35 min listen
Episode 11 - Honky Tonk Freeway (1981): We didn't know what to expect with this obscure comedy from 1981; little did we know we had on our hands one of the biggest bombs in film history. A friend of the show called it "Nashville meets Cannonball Run", and she wasn't wrong. Is it good? Is it... by Mary Versus the Movies
42 min listen
Episode 23 - Sword of the Valiant (The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight) (1984): Timed to coincide with the current film The Green Knight, this episode has readings in Middle English, an increasingly-irate Mary expounding on the meanderings of medieval literature, and some truly terrible music. Medieval literature and Arthuriana... by Mary Versus the Movies
42 min listen
Episode 14 - My Neighbor Totoro (1988): Things get personal on this episode, which is a little shaggier than most. What happens when Mary decides to watch the beloved children's film My Neighbor Totoro, written and directed by the great Hayao Miyazaki, and is reminded of painful childhood... by Mary Versus the Movies
35 min listen
Episode 33 - Whoops Apocalypse (1986): This British satire is half a good movie and half a ham-handed play for an American audience unfamiliar with the tv series this was based on. The part of the film that posits the prime minister of the UK is a dangerous madman is a not-bad homage to... by Mary Versus the Movies
31 min listen
Episode 32 - Angel Heart (1987): This is the notorious film that got Lisa Bonet thrown off The Cosby Show. Initially rated X for a scene that honestly is pretty tame by today's standards, it's a fascinating blend of noir and horror, starring Mickey Rourke as a private eye collecting... by Mary Versus the Movies
37 min listen
Episode 20 - Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn (1983): This space-western that never goes into space, starring nobody in particular, and featuring all the crisp cinematography of an episode of Airwolf, is easily the worst film we've watched for this podcast. There's a lot of spleen-venting in this... by Mary Versus the Movies
31 min listen
Episode 8 - Dune (1984): We really don't know what to make of David Lynch's space-opera adaptation of Frank Herbert's cult sci-fi novel Dune. As critic Nathan Rabin would ask, is it a Failure, Fiasco or Secret Success? Too long? Too short? And why in the world was Sting cast?... by Mary Versus the Movies
47 min listen
Episode 45 - Ladyhawke (1985): We were surprised by how much we enjoyed Richard Donner's medieval fantasy about a knight who spends his night as a wolf and a lady who spends her days as a hawk. We just wish the music was very, very differernt. by Mary Versus the Movies
42 min listen

More Episodes from Mary Versus the Movies

Skip carousel

Hollywood Avalon, Episode 15 - The Fisher King (1991): An arrogant New York shock-jock's fall from grace is tempered by the debt he owes to an eccentric unhoused man, the woman he loves, and a search for the Holy Grail in Terry Gilliam's magical-realist tale of redemption. Starring Jeff Bridges, Robin... by Mary Versus the Movies
7 min listen
Episode 149 - The Bad News Bears (1976): A washed-up, alcoholic ex-ballplayer is recruited to coach the worst team in little league, and sets off to pull them together into a real team, where the star pitcher is a girl and the best player is a dirtbike-riding juvenile delinquent. It's a... by Mary Versus the Movies
60 min listen
Episode 148 - Silver Streak (1976): A book editor witnesses a murder during a cross-country trip, and is plunged into a Hitchcockian world of murder and intrigue. Eventually Richard Pryor shows up, and we get some unfortunate blackface. What can I say, it's the 1970s. Starring Gene... by Mary Versus the Movies
73 min listen
Episode 147 - Hard Boiled (1992): A Miami Vice-influenced cross between neo-Noir and over-the-top action, it’s the story of two cops—one an alcoholic detective, the other an undercover cop playing hitman—taking down some Hong Kong gangsters. It has gung-fu, babies in peril, and... by Mary Versus the Movies
33 min listen
Hollywood Avalon, Episode 14 - Morgane et ses nymphes/Girl Slaves of Morgana Le Fay (1971): Young lovers Anna and Françoise, freshly graduated from college, find themselves in a mysterious forest, where they fall prey to Morgan le Fay, the fairy queen of Avalon who rules her magic island as a savage, Sapphic nightmare. For a sleazy erotic... by Mary Versus the Movies
5 min listen
Episode 146 - Pennies from Heaven (1981): A sheet-music salesman's life spirals out of control during the Great Depression, but that doesn't stop him from daydreaming about a better life through song. A film noir plot dressed up as a big, Busby Berkeley-style musical comedy, this remake of a... by Mary Versus the Movies
63 min listen
Episode 145 - Footloose (1984): In a world where dancing is banned, only one boy has the courage to stand up to the religious fanatics denying his magical feet. Or something. I guess. Starring Kevin Bacon, John Lithgow, Lori Singer, Diane Weist, and Christ Penn. Written by Dean... by Mary Versus the Movies
45 min listen
Episode 144 - Over the Edge (1979): Bored suburban kids get into trouble, hassled by the cops until it turns deadly, and ending in an orgy of destruction--a pretty familiar American story. Sitting somewhere between low-budget exploitation films and more thoughtful, nervy fair, this cult... by Mary Versus the Movies
71 min listen
Episode 143 - Stranger Than Paradise (1984): A gambler's cousin shows up from Hungary and suddenly turns his dirtbag life upsidedown, sending them on a roadtrip around America. Starring John Lurie, Eszter Balint, and Richard Edson. Written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. by Mary Versus the Movies
77 min listen
Hollywood Avalon 13 - Camelot, Part II: We return to Camelot with a look at the 1967 film production of the Lerner & Loewe musical, again starring Richard Harris as King Arthur. At three hours, it's an overly-long production that loses steam in its third hour, but the first two are lush... by Mary Versus the Movies
9 min listen
Episode 142 - Eating Raoul (1982): A black comedy about a sexually-repressed couple who fund their dream of opening a restaurant by posing as sex workers and robbing and murdering Los Angeles swingers. When a local thief worms his way into the scheme, everything goes haywire,... by Mary Versus the Movies
41 min listen
Episode 141 - D.A.R.Y.L. (1985): A mysterous boy is adopted by a couple and soon shows himself to be unnervingly perfect. Is he really a robot? Maybe even a secret military project? Yeah, of course he is, this is the 1980s. It's not great. Starring Barret Oliver, Michael McKean, and... by Mary Versus the Movies
41 min listen
Episode 140 - Dream a Little Dream (1989): We welcome back Alana Phelan to the show to talk about a Corey Feldman-Corey Haim fantasy with weirdo philosopher Jason Robards inhabiting Feldman's body as he tries to romance Meredith Salinger. It's a very weird movie loved by this weeks' guest.... by Mary Versus the Movies
63 min listen
Episode 139 - Dragnet (1987): Dan Ackroyd's misguided take on the copaganda classic Dragnet was a huge disappointment when Dennis saw it in theaters back in 1987. Does his opinion hold up? Or is the film even worse than he remembers? Should he have talked Mary out of covering this... by Mary Versus the Movies
41 min listen
Hollywood Avalon, episode 12 - Camelot, Part I (1960/1981): We start the first of a two-part series examining the musical Camelot, the Broadway hit based on T.H. White’s The Once and Future King, which I recently re-read in preparation. For part one, we look at both the original cast recording from... by Mary Versus the Movies
5 min listen
Episode 138 - Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare (1987): We finish "Dennis versus the movies" with a very silly Canadian hair metal horror movie wherein Jon Mikl Thor battles a rubbery devil. It's the kind of goofy trash they used to show at 3 a.m. when we were a proper country. Starring Jon Mikl Thor.... by Mary Versus the Movies
43 min listen
Episode 137 - The Last Unicorn (1982): The Rankin-Bass adaptation of Peter S. Beagle's fairy tale about the last unicorn in the world and the small band of humans who help her is a melancholy story gorgeously animated by the Japanese studio Topcraft. This was a favorite movie of Mary's as... by Mary Versus the Movies
71 min listen
Episode 136 - After Hours (1985): "Dennis vs. the Movies" continues with a look at Martin Scorsese's black comedy about a yuppie who meets the wrong woman, is stranded overnight in Soho, and hunted by an angry mob. It's a comedic take on the country's feelings about New York,... by Mary Versus the Movies
63 min listen
Episode 135 - The Great Muppet Caper (1981) with special guest Zach Woliner: We kick off "Dennis versus the movies" month with a viewing of the second Muppet movie, The Great Muppet Caper, in which the Muppets go to England and get tangled up with Charles Grodin and a jewel heist. Joining us is our special guest, Zach Woliner,... by Mary Versus the Movies
81 min listen
Episode 134 - Wild At Heart (1990): David Lynch's violent romantic drama plays like William Faulkner had written The Wizard of Oz starring Elvis Presley--a strange, campy, Southern Gothic road trip through America that Lynch described as "a love story in Hell". Starring Nicolas... by Mary Versus the Movies
47 min listen
Episode 133 - Mona Lisa (1986): Neil Jordan's neo-noir romance about a jailbird driver, a high-priced escort, and the mob boss running everything is a bleak, sometimes-funny look at duplicity, delusion, and the seedy side of London. Starring Bob Hoskins, Cathy Tyson, Michael... by Mary Versus the Movies
44 min listen
Hollywood Avalon, Episode 11 - Unidentified Flying Oddball: From the nadir of Disney filmmaking comes yet another spin on Mark Twain's Connecticut Yankee, this time featuring Dennis Dugan as a NASA engineer accidentally sent back in time with his android twin Hermes. It's not the worst movie we've covered for... by Mary Versus the Movies
5 min listen
Episode 132 - My Beautiful Launderette (1985): Omar, a young Brit from a Pakistani family, and his boyfriend Johnny, a former skinhead, attempt to open the nicest laundromat in London while tackling issues of family, race, class, sex, crime, and Thatcher-era austerity. Starring Saeed Jaffrey,... by Mary Versus the Movies
42 min listen
Episode 131 -A Room With a View (1985): Merchant-Ivory's lush adaptation of E.M. Forster's novel of romantic struggle against Edwardian repression is the best possible version of those PBS dramas your mom likes to watch--better, even, because this one has full frontal male nudity. ... by Mary Versus the Movies
50 min listen
Episode 130 - Liquid Sky (1982): New York's hottest club is Liquid Sky. This club has everything: heroin, David Bowie impersonators, aliens, necrophelia, shrimp, cocaine, a Fairlight CMI synthesizer, Germans, murder, and anorgasmia. (A UFO causes havoc in the New York downtown... by Mary Versus the Movies
48 min listen
Episode 129 - Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989): It's a cyberpunk body-horror story of sex and violence, shot through with the kind of late 1980s indie movie aesthetics that we seriously miss, sitting somewhere between David Lynch and MTV. Starring Shinya Tsukamoto, Tomorowo Taguchi, and Kei... by Mary Versus the Movies
37 min listen
Hollywood Avalon - Episode 10 - The Green Knight: David Lowrey’s rewriting of the medieval poem Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight is well-acted, and has some lovely art direction, it ultimately misses the mark in several ways: the CGI is murky, the crucial section at Sir Bertilak’s castle is... by Mary Versus the Movies
6 min listen
Episode 128 - Misery (1990): Toxic fandom by way of Stephen King, with one of the most famous torture scenes in cinema. Look, our fans are great, and we're gonna keep saying that, please put down the hammer. Starring James Caan, Kathy Bates, Richard Farnsworth, Frances... by Mary Versus the Movies
53 min listen
Episode 127 - Matinee (1993): Joe Dante's love letter to the midcentury monster movie, nestled in a comedy about a William Castle-type director promoting a film in the Florida Keys during the Cuban Missile Crisis, is a deliriously silly movie that feels made for Mary and Dennis.... by Mary Versus the Movies
46 min listen
Episode 126 - Diner (1982): Barry Levinson’s first film, set in that quiet week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, is a surprisingly smart examination of young men and relationships, and why people should (or shouldn’t) get married. It’s nostalgic without being overly... by Mary Versus the Movies
62 min listen

Discover this podcast and so much more

Episode 43 - Polyester (1981)

Episode 43 - Polyester (1981)

Description

Titles in the series (100)

More Episodes from Mary Versus the Movies