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A mismatched pair of conmen fleece the rich of the French Riviera, until a woman comes between them in this witty comedy about grifters living the good life. Starring Michael Caine, Steve Martin, and Glenne Headly. Written by Dale Launer, Stanley Shapiro, and Paul Henning. Directed by Frank Oz. Listen without ads when you join the Patreon: patreon.com/maryvsmovies

Introducing Oprah Looks Back at Her Best Surprises from The Oprah Podcast. Follow the show: The Oprah Podcast Surprise! Oprah is looking back on some of her favorite surprises from 25 years of The Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah shares how when she was surprised by her idol Mary Tyler Moore it sent her into the ugly cry. The time she’ll never forget surprising Tom Cruise’s biggest fan while standing in her robe, no makeup and her hair soaking wet from the shower. More surprises include Mariah Carey’s biggest fans, the iconic car giveaway - “you get a car, you get a car” - and the moment she surprised an entire audience they were all “going to Australia!” When The Oprah Show ended in 2011 she allowed her staff to surprise her over and over again at a star-studded event at the United Center in Chicago. 00:00:00 - Oprah on loving to surprise people on The Oprah Winfrey Show 00:02:15 - Oprah was surprised by Mary Tyler Moore 00:08:14 - The Tom Cruise Surprise 00:12:49 - The Weight Loss Surprise 00:16:10 - The Will and Grace surprise 00:18:36 - The Family surprise 00:20:50 - The Mariah surprise 00:24:00 - The You Get a Car surprise 00:29:20 - The biggest fans surprise 00:33:58 - The Surprise Trip 00:39:30 - Oprah’s 25 year surprise show Follow Oprah Winfrey on Social: https://www.instagram.com/oprahpodcast/ https://www.facebook.com/oprahpodcast/ https://www.instagram.com/oprah/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/oprahwinfrey/ Listen to the full podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/0tEVrfNp92a7lbjDe6GMLI https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-oprah-podcast/id1782960381 DISCLAIMER: Please note, this is an independent podcast episode not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in conjunction with the host podcast feed or any of its media entities. The views and opinions expressed in this episode are solely those of the creators and guests. For any concerns, please reach out to [email protected].

As a crossover with our other new show The Winners, we watch 1931's A Connecticut Yankee, which puts Will Rogers in the familiar Mark Twain story about a time-traveling inventor who ends up in King Arthur's court. This is actually one of the more faithful adaptations we've seen of Twain's story; being made during the Great Depression, it retains some of the social satire and class consciousness--and mechanized warfare--of the novel, while eliding a good deal of the plot. Starring Will Rogers, Myrna Loy, Maureen O'Sullivan, William Farnum, Frank Albertson, and Heinie Conklin. Written by William M. Conselman and Owen Davis. Directed by David Butler. This is a preview of the latest episode of our series Hollywood Avalon. To hear the entire episode, join the Mary Versus the Movies patreon for $3/month to hear this and the entire series Hollywood Avalon: https://www.patreon.com/maryvsmovies.

Giant worms destroy a town in Nevada. That's it, that's the movie. It's glorious. Starring Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Finn Carter, Michael Gross, and Reba McEntire. Written by S.S. Wilson and Brent Maddock. Directed by Ron Underwood. Listen without ads when you join the Patreon: patreon.com/maryvsmovies

We bring back Alana Phelan for our yearly horror-watch, and she brings us the not-great adaptation of every 12 year old girl's favorite forbidden gothic novel. It's the story of a family locked in an attic because the tree couldn't be bothered to fork. Fun stuff. Staring Kristy Swanson, Victoria Tennant, Louise Fletcher, and Jeb Stuart Adams. Written and directed by Jeffrey Bloom from V.C. Andrews' novel. Get the extended version and listen without ads when you join the Patreon: patreon.com/maryvsmovies

We cover the fourth Best Picture winner, Cimmeron: an epic history of the settling of Oklahoma that is, unfortunately, both slow-moving and mired in the racial prejudices of its time. Still, not unlike Killers of the Flower Moon a century later, it attempts to wrestle with the mistreatment of the Osage Nation. We also watched The Front Page, the Ben Hecht/Charles MacArthur comedy about newspaper reporters, corrupt mayors, and an escaped prisoner. Front Page has been adapted several times, the most notable being the stunning His Girl Friday, and while this doesn't quite reach that film's heights (what could?), Lewis Milestone's direction and Duncan Mansfield's editing is fast and funny and pretty revolutionary for early sound film. Finally, we watched a few more Silly Symphonies, "Spring", "Summer", "Autumn", and "Winter", the first three directed by Ub Iwerks before he left Disney. This is a preview of the latest episode of our series The Winners. To hear the entire episode, join the Mary Versus the Movies patreon for $3/month to hear this and the entire series The Winners: https://www.patreon.com/maryvsmovies.

Twin gynecologists descend into madness in this claustrophobic psychological horror story about love, jealousy, misogyny, and body horror. We talk with author Emma Cole about one of the greatest Canadian films of all time, and about her new book Love Never Dies: Romance in Horror Movies. Check out her work at https://editrixemma.com/ Starring Jeremy Irons and Geneviève Bujold. Written by David Cronenberg and Norman Snider. Directed by David Cronenberg.

Farmer Vincent and his sister Ida are just humble hoteliers and charcuterie aficionados. Is it really so bad they cut a few corners? And necks? Spooky month continues with this horror comedy about cannibalistic countryfolk and the people who cross their paths. Starring Rory Calhoun, Nancy Parsons, Paul Linke, and Nina Axelrod. Written by Robert Jaffe and Steven-Charles Jaffe. Directed by Kevin Connor. Listen without ads when you join the Patreon: patreon.com/maryvsmovies

Mary was sick this week, so she tapped friend of the show Josh Seybert to ask his Uncle Morty to step in and kick off Spooky Month with the aptly-named Spookies, a schlocky horror movie about squatters battling a warlock. Starring Felix Ward, Dan Scott, Alec Nemser, and Maria Pechukas. Written and Directed by Thomas Doran, Brendan Faulkner, and Frank Farel. Thanks again to Uncle Morty; check out Josh's many projects at https://screamingatclouds.libsyn.com and his show with Andy Mascola, Empathy at the Apocalypse: https://directory.libsyn.com/shows/view/id/8fee42d4-fe5b-4500-9db1-767a4e25b9f8 Listen without ads when you join the Patreon: patreon.com/maryvsmovies

In a Britain torn apart by civil war, with Christianity displacing the Old Religion, Queen Mab of the Faeries takes it upon herself to create Merlin, the greatest enchanter of all time, in order to reestablish people's worship of her and ensure her immortality. Merlin has other plans, though. A surprising blend of high fantasy and historical romance, this TV miniseries is infinitely better than it has any right to be, thanks to a stellar cast, witty script, effects from the Jim Henson Shop, and designs by Alan Lee. Starring Sam Neil, Miranda Richardson, Isabella Rossellini, Helena Bonham Carter, Rutger Hauer, and Martin Short. Written by Edward Khmara, David Stevens, and Peter Barnes. Directed by Steve Barron. This is a preview of the latest episode of our series Hollywood Avalon. To hear the entire episode, join the Mary Versus the Movies patreon for $3/month to hear this and the entire series Hollywood Avalon: https://www.patreon.com/maryvsmovies.

Danny's an underdog, a poor Jersey boy suddenly dropped into Southern California, where he romances a rich girl and earns the wrath of her martial-arts-practicing bully of an ex. What's a boy to do, other than get the local handyman to teach him how to fight? We celebrate our 250th episode with a movie Dennis loves and Mary remembered nothing about. Starring Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue and William Zabka. Written byRobert Mark Kamen. Directed by John G. Avildsen. Listen without ads when you join the Patreon: patreon.com/maryvsmovies

Mel Brooks takes on Alfred Hitchcock in this underrated comedy that lovingly blends Hitchcock and his imitators into a fizzy little mystery. If this had starred Gene Wilder as intended, it would've been remembered along side the best of Brooks's films. Starring Mel Brooks, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Harvey Korman, Dick Van Patten, Ron Carey, and Howard Morris. Written by Mel Brooks, Ron Clark, Rudy De Luca, and Barry Levinson. Directed by Mel Brooks. Listen without ads when you join the Patreon: patreon.com/maryvsmovies

Sleazy advertising, corrupt lawyers, inflation, an oil crisis--what is this, 1980 or 2026? This black comedy about the end of the Carter era--from the people who later brought us Back to the Future--has more than a few resonances with our current circumstances. Starring Kurt Russell, Jack Warden, Gerritt Graham, Deborah Harmon, Frank McRae, David Lander, Michael McKean, and Joe Flaherty. Written by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale. Directed by Robert Zemeckis. Listen without ads when you join the Patreon: patreon.com/maryvsmovies

A princess, her forest-dwelling boyfriend, and an assortment of fairies battle the devil after she accidentally leads a unicorn into an ambush by goblins. It's an uneven film, coming during the great 1980s fantasy boom, but we liked it in spite of ourselves. Starring Tom Cruise, Mia Sara, Tim Curry, Alice Playten, David Bennett, and Billy Barty. Written by William Hjortsberg. Directed by Ridley Scott. Listen without ads when you join the Patreon: patreon.com/maryvsmovies

We're doing something a little different this month; instead of covering a film or tv show, we're releasing a lecture given earlier this month. Also, we're releasing this episode widely, including on the main feed. We were recently invited by Rev. Michael Dangler--a member of the Patreon here--to give a talk at the Summerlands Festival about Arthurian cinema. And so I wrote a short essay, titled "The Once and Future King: Paganism and Arthurian Cinema", which discusses the origins of seeking Pagan themes in Arthurian legend, followed by a discussion of several films, all of which have been covered on the podcast: Apocalypse Now, Excalibur, and the Mists of Avalon among other films are brought up. Apologies for the sound quality; we had an equipment failure, and so we only had one recording make it through the presentation, so there's some ambient noise, and audience interaction is hard to hear clearly. Once again, we'd like to thank Rev. Dangler for inviting us to speak, we had a wonderful time, and it was great to get our thoughts down on the subject. This is the second time I've been able to give a short talk on film (see our bonus episode on Joe Dante's The Movie Orgy for the other); hopefully it won't be the last. For anyone interested, Rev. Dangler has his own Patreon as well: https://www.patreon.com/cw/chronarchy