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Talking Pondo: That Thing You Do! and The Hollywood Knights
Description
In this episode, Marty gives Clif the film The Hollywood Knights to watch and Clif gives Marty That Thing You Do! to watch.
First up is Tom Hanks' That Thing You Do! (1996) extended edition, following a small-town Pennsylvania band whose catchy one-hit wonder sends them from local gigs to the big time. Marty and Clif debate whether the extra footage adds welcome character moments or simply gives us more performances of that relentlessly catchy song. They also get into Jimmy's questionable choices, Guy's rise within the band and Marty's theory that the movie is a surprisingly personal allegory for Tom Hanks' own journey through Hollywood. And remember: keep on playing.
Then it's on to The Hollywood Knights (1980), a rowdy Halloween-night teen comedy about a Beverly Hills car club facing the last night of its beloved drive-in. Marty and Clif revisit the movie's outrageous antics, it's impressive collection of future familiar faces and the kind of jokes that make you wonder who thought they were a good idea, while you're laughing at them. Beneath the crude humor and chaotic shenanigans, Marty also finds a more wistful story about a fading era, with the Hollywood Knights still raising hell on the eve of a very different world.
Along the way: Connecting the dots between both films, old favorites on cable and VHS and the strange magic of movies that capture the last night before everything changes.
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Season One
Theme Song "The Rain" by Russ Pace
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