Hello, fantastic podcast fans. Welcome back to another thrilling episode of the top five podcasts. I'm your host, Kris McPeak and today my co-host is my one and only. I will say youngest sister. So it's not to insult her further by calling her my baby sister, Annie Mayer Pruitt.
[00:00:50] Are we doing Annie or lean Anne? We are joined today by Annie Pruitt, who is my youngest sister who has been probably the sibling in my life that I have the tightest connection of pop culture with, and was the first person that signed on to say, I wanna do this show with you. So Annie, welcome. And how are you on this fine day?
[00:01:15] Fantastic. Fantastic. Now these two, the two topics, the two show topics that we're gonna do were your idea. If I remember correctly,
[00:01:25] I think so.
[00:01:26] I think they were too. So will, oh, actually first let me go back and share, um, this show, this fantastic new show concept has been inspired by the fantastic film, high fidelity.
[00:01:40] So props two, both John Cusack and Nick Hornby for creating this amazing screenplay and props to Todd Luo, Jack Black and John QSAC for creating amazing characters that brought this whole concept of a top five. To life. Whereas in the movie, they basically just focus on songs, theme related songs we are in this show, we are covering all aspects of popular culture and today's theme is Annie, would you like to do the honors?
[00:02:11] We're gonna do the top five cult classics, cult, cult, classic
[00:02:15] movie films. All right. Yes. So who goes first? You or. You are totally
[00:02:21] going first. I'm totally
[00:02:22] going first. Okay. That sounds good. Yeah, you have the experience. So I gotta play off of, I gotta, I gotta see it done well first, so. Okay.
[00:02:30] Fair enough. I, I shall go first.
[00:02:32] I, the oldest as well. Yeah.
[00:02:34] Okay.
[00:02:40] Number five cult classic films. I'm starting off on the bottom with empire records. Okay. This is a somewhat goofy, silly look on high school craziness. The world of retail and the world of has been. Pop stars and our relationships with all of them life working in a record store, which funny enough is also what high fidelity is about.
[00:03:08] Um, but this film to me is a cold classic because it made zero money in the movie theaters and got panned by pretty much every film critic that ever walked on this planet. But I, I think personally that it is one of the funniest. And most quotable films out there. There's the casting is fantastic. It's clever.
[00:03:30] It it's goofy. I mean, you know, who would've thought that the biker guy from Greece two was gonna make a huge comeback in a film about a record store wearing a sat me purple suit and blue underwear, um, and really bad hair and really bad hair. And your new haircut sucks and we all hate the new album. So, uh, that's where I'm going.
[00:03:53] Number five is empire records. If you haven't seen it, you're a big fatty loser. So go see it. Um, number four on my list is from 1994. Kevin Smith's first movie, uh, clerks again. Small film clerks actually did do very well in the, in the box office, comparatively speaking. But this makes my list because this is an example, probably the greatest example I can think of, of true independent filmmaking.
[00:04:25] He filmed this movie, which is based on his own life and growing up, working in a convenience store in New Jersey, they filmed the film. In the actual convenience store he worked at, there's no real actors in this movie at all. And, um, yeah, he paid for it with credit cards and then, uh, Harvey Weinstein.
[00:04:48] Well, Miramax came along. Let's not give Harvey Weinstein any more credit than he needs came along and brought this movie to Sundance. And the rest is history. Another completely hilarious look at not so much high school teenagers, but you know, post-college and college aged folks. So, uh, here I am already kicking off, uh, two films in a row that are all about retail and coming of age.
[00:05:15] So now let's take a really big, deep, dark dive into a whole other world. My number three cold classic film is 1977 eraser head. The first film directed by major quirky O tour David Lynch, who one could argue all of his films are called classics. Um, This one makes the list for me, because again, it, it was an incredibly unique film for the time.
[00:05:47] Um, and you don't even really know what it's about. One could sit and watch this movie a hundred times and go, okay. What just happened. He had really funny hair and there was a chicken and it kind of moved around and he cut into it and all this black shit came out and it, it, yeah, I've only seen it twice, but indelibly, it sticks with you and kind of makes you go, huh?
[00:06:10] Okay. Weird. So that's that's number three on my. Okay. And Annie feel free to chime in and, and comment or, or share any, any thoughts as I'm going along here?
[00:06:22] Yeah, so, well, so far we got no repeats, which is a good thing. Um, and yeah, erased her head. I definitely had the huh. Like I, but every, like every college student, like has to say that they saw it.
[00:06:34] It's kind of like a, a coming it's like. Yeah. It's like college coming of age. Extremely. You have to watch. If you go to college, you have to watch a movie erase your head
[00:06:43] and Mo most likely, unless you went to college where we went to college, um, there was probably a midnight showing of this film somewhere in your community.
[00:06:52] Just not where we went to school. Um, I had to wait until I lived in St. Louis and took a class on David Lynch to see this. And in all honesty, I probably would not ever have seen this film if I had not taken that. Um, okay. Would not have seen a lot of films if I hadn't taken that class. So we have no repeats so far.
[00:07:10] That's fun.
[00:07:11] No. Yeah. Okay.
[00:07:12] Uh, and I think that is very much about to change number two from 1975, Rocky horror picture show.
[00:07:22] Yes, you are correct.
[00:07:23] And this made my list, um, for all, all of. It feel it fills in all of the feels. So this is probably the classic midnight movie experience, which I can't say I've had myself, but, um, it.
[00:07:40] It created a culture that you can't really explain. Uh, audience participation like takes a whole new, takes a whole new role in, in this film. Um, and the music is actually really good and the film's highly entertaining, although it's super strange and super weird launched the career. Of a bunch of people who went on to be mega superstars, um, Susan strand in particular.
[00:08:07] And I mean, Tim Curry is like the king of the cult classic, if you think about it, but he's gone on to do things as. Normal as like, what is, uh, not Crimson tide hunt for red October. Mm-hmm he plays the political officer on hunt for red? No, he plays the doc. Yeah. Not the political officer. Um, but anyway, so yeah, Rocky horror, definitely.
[00:08:30] And I was very close to Rocky horror being my number one, but okay. Um, when it, when all is said and done. Number one has to go to from 1971, a clockwork orange. Okay. To this day, the only rated X film. No, that's not true. Cause uh, midnight cowboy was a rated X film that won best picture. So it was the second movie that had been rated X to ever be nominated for a best picture.
[00:09:02] Oscar. Um, I go down the deep dark rabbit hole with this movie. Um, I've been watching this film since I was in the sixth grade, much to the chagrin of, um, more so our stepmother than, than our father. Um, but opened a lot of doors for me, at least in what I would consider now to be true. Film appreciation. I had a best friend growing up whose brother was obsessed with the O tour directors.
[00:09:33] So Hitchcock, Ric, uh, COA, all of that. And so all of those movies that would've been taboo to anybody else's kid, um, were, you know, wide open for me and, and Linda and I would, you know, When Dennis would be at work, we'd go in his room and steal his beta. Max cassettes sometimes bring them to our house, sometimes watch them at her house.
[00:09:57] But, um, yeah, I watched a clockwork orange before. I, I obviously really was old enough to completely understand what it was all about. Um, since then I I've probably seen the movie well over a hundred times, I've I've read the book. I've listened to the audio book about five times. Um, and I, yeah, I have a, a real appreciation of the concept of that film and what it, what it's all about, cuz it's not just about the ultra violence.
[00:10:26] It's about politics. It's about what we deem as I guess important in the world of, I don't know, where am I going with this? What we deem important in terms of, uh, society and. And what it means, I guess, to be a good citizen, a good individual mm-hmm and Alex's quest to try to be good, which we, we all know was, was faked.
[00:10:56] Um, but we still cheer for him and we still want him to win if you will. And I've done air quotes about eight times now. So, um, apologies that you can't see that. Um, so yeah, that's, that's my list. And. Sister, my darling. Any, any thoughts about anything else that I've spewed out here right now?
[00:11:16] So I'll so a clockwork orange.
[00:11:18] I'm gonna tell you, so I'm gonna make it. It'll be my number five. Okay. So I that's a good segue. Right? Beautiful. The reason it's my number five is, um, like I'm older now. And nowadays when I look at it and like anything that glorifies rape is harder to watch that's cause that's, you know, you're, you're cheering for.
[00:11:40] Very disgusting person, but it's, it's like, uh, it was kind of like what, uh, kinda like reading Lolita, you know, I can't believe that they've, they've written this character so well that I actually want him to succeed. Mm-hmm but then when you think about it, it's so disturbing. So that's why that's part of, I think what makes it, the writing so incredible.
[00:12:00] Um, the story is the story is incredible because it's, it can turn your emotions like that. It can twist, it can make you question, you know, Well, you're what you're, you're watching when you're watching it. When you realize what you're, what you're watching, it's like, well, now I'm a little disturbed, but I still really want Alex to, to win in the end, you know?
[00:12:20] Yeah. So that's, uh, that's why, it's my number five, uh, that as a writer, um, having developing this whole like sub language, uh, was so creative for me. Yes. Um, and. That. So that's why I, that's why it's my number five. Um, I, I find it fascinating also that you see it in, in other pop culture. Mm-hmm when you see Bart Simpson, you know, basically mimicking Alex in a, in a Simpsons episode and you see that's like, do they realize what they're, you know, some people don't even realize that they're referencing this movie and they have no idea where, where origin of it.
[00:13:00] So I think that's funny. So that's my number five. Um, and it's a good, so a good connection to my number four, uh, American psycho. Oh, that's
[00:13:15] a great choice.
[00:13:17] Yeah.
[00:13:18] So yeah, you know, a guy who, you know, you're. He's he's a maniac. He's killing people. He's, uh, raping people. Well, not raping, but I mean, he is just like, he's a disgusting, disgusting person.
[00:13:32] Mm-hmm uh, but you absolutely love him. And then I'm not gonna give away any kind of twist ending. I'm not gonna give that up. Um, but talk again, very quotable and I did not get the years to these movies, so I apologize for that. That's OK. Um, I believe Americans
[00:13:46] very quota came out in 2000. Yeah,
[00:13:49] I think, um, I I'm very, uh, I'm very liberal with, with my kids, which, uh, with watching movies, just like, you know, I think I saw clockwork orange when I was in like sixth grade.
[00:14:00] So I've not, I don't shield them necessarily. So my 15 and 17 year old have watched American psycho of me quite a few times. Uh, my daughter like, like loves the, loves the hip to be swear scene. It's one of her favorite scenes of all time. It's yeah. Um, So that would be, that's why that's my number four. Um, and
[00:14:24] pretty, that's a great selection.
[00:14:26] And that, that film had not even crossed my mind as going on this list. Okay.
[00:14:30] Okay. Um, I'm gonna have to go. Just because it was your number two. I'm gonna, I'm gonna, Ugh, this is hard. I wanted to avoid musicals and horror, but it's really hard to do so I'm gonna try say Rocky horror. I'm with you. It was a tough, that was a tough one.
[00:14:48] That's another one. Kids love it. Um, we, we do the time work in the, you know, in the, in the living room all the time, we've introduced it to all the friends. Uh, all their friends now are Rocky horror, fanatics um, that the music is fantastic. I'm actually kind of glad that they don't do the midnight shows anymore.
[00:15:09] Mm-hmm because the audience participation, if you actually go back and read like the script to what the audience participation dialogue is, it's super. Like super raunchy. I mean, I'm talking like if, have you ever seen it?
[00:15:25] I'm aware of some of it. Um, I I've never experienced it in person, but, um, okay. And I'm not,
[00:15:33] is it?
[00:15:36] Yeah. I mean, they talk about, sorry, you know, JS and, you know, you know, to that, to that, just like that, just super du raunchy. So I'm kind of glad that my, that I don't want, I don't want experience that repeating those, you know, that kind of stuff because, uh, I just like, they, they appreciate the creative aspects of the movie.
[00:16:02] Yeah. The music is super fun. Um, it's, you know, it's a little ridiculous. But that's why that's one of the reasons I love it. And it's, it's kind of a, like for generationally, like the fact that what you said came out in 77, 75, 75, um, with the, with gender roles now, you know, people identifying and understanding gender roles a lot more these days, and the fact that Rocky, um, or the Rocky horror, you know, Dr.
[00:16:32] Franken is this fantastic, beautiful, you know, Transvestite mm-hmm and, and he plays it like he, like with no shame whatsoever, right? Yeah. Like, I don't think I've, I don't think I have seen since other than maybe, you know, John, John Waters, you know, with, uh, with his movies, like pink flamingos mm-hmm , but where, uh, a character pulls it off that well, with that much confidence and, and that, and that he's sexy.
[00:17:02] Yeah. He's sexy
[00:17:03] as hell.
[00:17:04] Yeah. So. . Yeah. Um, so that's my number three. That's good. Um, so my number two is gonna have to be Monte Python in the search, the holy grail. Beautiful. Um, that's good. It's it's timeless. I don't know the year off the top of my head. Um, again, I, I relate to, you know, how well. How, how much do they transcend, you know, generations?
[00:17:30] Because this was, uh, you know, our brother introduced us to Monte Python. Yeah. And then when the fact that my kids can watch it as teenagers and it's still like a. It holds up. It's still, it's still, uh, it's still meaningful. Uh, it's still funny. Yeah. So it's still extraordinarily quotable. So I mean, everybody, you know, can, can, can quote a, a part of it, even if they've never seen the movie.
[00:17:57] Yeah. Um, and clever and, and silly. Um, so I think that's why that's my number two. Um, that's a good one. I have a lot of before I give you my number one, I have some honorable mention.
[00:18:12] Go for it. Let's hear. I love it. Yes. Let's do some mentions.
[00:18:16] So honorable mentions and it's like a, kind of a tie seven and fight clubs to two Brad Pitt movies, kinda they're they're close.
[00:18:23] They're kind of, you know, they're, they're up there, but I think they need another generation of, uh, I don't know. I think they they're close. Let's just put it that way. They're they're knew David
[00:18:32] venture directed both of those, right? Yes. Yeah,
[00:18:36] exactly. Oh, okay. Yeah. Um, There were some musicals. So like the wall and Willie Wonga, you know, they're on a lot of people's lists, but they, um, I don't know that, that they didn't, they didn't make the cut for me, but I can see how they'd be in somebody else's
[00:18:53] top vibe.
[00:18:54] Yeah. If you were to Google called classic films, you'll likely. See both of them.
[00:19:00] Yeah.
[00:19:01] Willie Wolf is an interesting idea. I, I, that would not have, yeah, but I, I can see that too, because it is a very odd film. Parts, um, not really so much a kids' film as, as much as we would want for it to be. Yeah. Um, very adult themes in that version anyway.
[00:19:25] Yeah. Um, when we do our, our horror movies, I almost like we're gonna have to do a horror movie one, um, because. Evil dead two should be my number one, but I almost, I wanna save it for like my, my top five horror comedies. okay.
[00:19:42] That horror comedy. Yeah,
[00:19:43] shoot. I can, cause I can do that too, but evil dead two is what introduced the horror comedy.
[00:19:48] Okay. And it is, it's probably, it's a lot of people's number one. Um, and I, I mean, I. Who can't hear the word groovy and not think of, you know, evil, dead too.
[00:20:00] I can't, I've never seen it.
[00:20:03] Okay. So, so ch challenge, you have to watch that, or maybe you just wait for my next visit and we'll watch it together.
[00:20:10] Why is evil dead too?
[00:20:12] And not the first one?
[00:20:15] Interesting that we can tell you what we could binge. All three of 'em. We can go one, two, and then army adopt this and you'll see why.
[00:20:21] Okay. Fair enough. And you'll see why.
[00:20:23] Okay. So that was, that was my other, that was my, my honorable mention. So my number one, um, is the movie Heather's Christian Slater, his breakout performance, trying to pull off.
[00:20:34] Trying to pull off a little bit of a Jack Nicholson vibe with his, the way his, the way he talked in that movie. Mm-hmm but when Noah writer talk about, so you wanna talk about high school angst yeah. And teenage drama, but that movie tackled some like significant, serious issues. Mm-hmm um, with between peer pressure and being, uh, sexual.
[00:21:00] Sexual escapades, sexuality, um, violence and suicide. So, and also really depression. Cuz when you think about a Christian Slater's character is very, very depressed mm-hmm . And now with like this is being mental health awareness month and we see a, a lot of mental health issues with our, with our kids, our kids these days and across, you know, across the generations.
[00:21:22] So I think that one, if you were to go back and analyze it again to really see all of the problems. The, uh, even, you know, the mean girls, but the Heathers, the, the wi you know, the, the teenagers themselves all have serious issues. They have eating disorders eating. They have. Yeah. So, uh, that's why it's, it's my number one.
[00:21:44] Um, and I love, I love that, uh, I love the message it sends in the end. So again, I don't wanna give up the ending. Yeah. But I love how I love that at the end of the movie, you walk away thinking, I, I think I can talk to somebody about this. I have a, I think I have a problem. I think I can talk to somebody, but as far as like cult classic movie goes, it is like, Everybody knows corn nuts from Heather's everybody.
[00:22:11] There's so many quotables. Um, and it's my number one. It, it launched me into loving cult plastic movies. Ah, okay. That was my launch. Yeah. Nice. So that's my number one. So there's our there's there's my top five. That's a beautiful
[00:22:28] list. Well, okay, so we had two. Crossovers. Yeah. Um, okay. So to recap my list, I had empire records at number five clerks at number four.
[00:22:39] Erase your head at number three, Rocky horror, number two, and a clockwork. Orange is number one. And then before top five list was I
[00:22:49] went clockwork, American psycho, Rocky horror. Monty Python, holy grail, and then Heathers with a whole lot of honorable mention. We could have, we could have done a top 30 cold classic.
[00:23:06] Yeah, I mean, but so five was hard. Um, and I still have, I still have more written down on my note.
[00:23:12] Well, you mentioned pink Flamingo, although that wasn't on either of our list and for that matter, not a, not a single John Waters film on either of our lists. No, that would probably be on somebody else's top five list, probably any, any John Waters film for that matter.
[00:23:27] Um, and some of the other, you know, lynching things, blue velvet, twin peaks. Yeah. Wild at heart. Um, Not so much the elephant man, but yeah. Dune perhaps. And now you have two versions of dune to kick around if you
[00:23:43] want. Yeah. And there's a lot of like cheesy comedy that, that couldn't made the list, like, uh, raising Arizona mm-hmm or big travel, little China.
[00:23:52] Yeah. Which those to me were mainstream enough to not be a cult classic. Cause I kind of see it as, um, none of these were. None of these were blockbusters, um, true necessarily that they, they gained their popularity through. Word of mouth. And just by, just through generations of people loving these either movies that are so bad.
[00:24:15] They're good. Yeah.
[00:24:16] Um, which is, which is another episode in itself. But, uh, Chris corral already claimed that one. So yeah.
[00:24:23] Yeah. I don't think, I don't think I could get through that one because I saw show girls on, on somebody's list. I'm like, oh my God. just know.
[00:24:32] I, I have, I have. Lists started. Um, I have three movies on there.
[00:24:38] I have not finished. So that's
[00:24:40] well that, one's not a, that one's not as so bad. It's good. That's just a, it's a so bad. It's
[00:24:44] bad. Oh, I, we, well, we called it movies that are so bad. They're
[00:24:48] classic. Oh, okay.
[00:24:50] I don't know. We'll see. We'll see how that goes. We haven't recorded that one yet, obviously, so, yeah. OK, cool.
[00:24:56] So, um, If you want to, well, the show doesn't have a website yet, but if you want to learn more about me and my other shows, you can go to Chris MC peak.com. Annie is going to be a regular cohost with this show. So you'll hear from her a lot more, any parting thoughts on cult classics?
[00:25:17] Um, I think. I think the thing about cult classics, any, any lover of, of movies, if you ha you know, if you don't gain appreciation for, you know, some of the things that influence your favorite filmmakers, um, it's kinda like, it's kinda like with musicians, if you don't know, like don't know that, you know, Jimmy Hendricks influenced the Beatles, you know, it gives you a better apprecia, greater appreciation for, for the, for Jimmy Hendrix.
[00:25:40] So knowing that like some of our favorite filmmakers today, Were influenced by, by some of these earlier works, you know, Ric is every, everybody could say, you know, cupric influenced them. Um, any, anybody can say, you know, Monty Python. Absolutely. It crosses every generation. There's no, you know, there's nothing, uh, there's nothing particularly seventies about it, you know?
[00:26:08] Yeah. Yeah, sure. So my closing thoughts are that one of the reasons I. Cult classics it's cuz it, for me, I I'm a total nerd. Um, I, I love connecting with people that look at things creatively from a different perspective. And I like that with these movies, uh, and raising my kids, I give them that same kind of appreciation for, uh, other, other art forms and other ways of looking at at the world and, and just there's some really, you know, interesting and creative ways to express your.
[00:26:41] Through, uh, through film that way. Yeah,
[00:26:45] totally. And your kids are gonna be very well read scholars of popular culture by the time they reach their twenties and their thirties. Um, oh yes, they will obviously. I mean, and we had access to a lot of stuff when we were young. Yeah. Um, they will have forest surpassed.
[00:27:02] What we've had access to with the oh, Lord technology that we have today, so, okay. You have been listening to the top five podcast and we are signing off, so we'll catch next time.
[00:27:13] See ya.