Welcome back to Not A Bomb, the podcast where we resurrect cinema’s most infamous box office disasters and ask the burning question: is it a bomb? This week, Troy and Brad grab their Power Gloves, hop in a stolen truck, and hit the road with 1989's Nintendo-powered adventure, The Wizard.
On the surface, The Wizard is a movie about a troubled young boy with an incredible talent for video games who runs away from home with his brother and heads across the country toward the biggest video game competition in America. But underneath the cartridges, Game Boys, Nintendo Power magazines, and what might be the most famous Power Glove in cinematic history, there is actually a pretty solid road movie trying desperately to escape.
Troy and Brad dig into the strange mix of family drama, cross-country adventure, and shameless corporate advertising that makes The Wizardsuch a fascinating artifact of late 1980s cinema. Somewhere in this movie is a genuinely interesting Beau Bridges and Christian Slater road movie about a father and son trying to reconnect while chasing their runaway family across the country. Unfortunately, that movie keeps getting interrupted by Nintendo reminding everyone that Super Mario Bros. 3 exists.
Of course, no discussion of The Wizardwould be complete without talking about its legendary product placement. This is a movie that does not gently incorporate Nintendo into its story. Nintendo basically grabs the steering wheel, drives the movie into the nearest electronics store, and tells everyone to look at the Power Glove. But somehow, despite being one of the most obvious feature-length advertisements ever made, The Wizard has developed a nostalgic charm that is hard to deny.
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Check out the trailer for The 80s: A Motion Picture Special
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We're committed to hearing your feedback and suggestions. If there's a cinematic flop you'd like us to delve into, please reach out to us at NotABombPod@gmail.com or through our contact page. Your reviews and feedback are what drive us. If you enjoy our content, consider leaving a review on Apple Podcast or Spotify.
Welcome back to Not A Bomb, the podcast where we resurrect cinema’s most infamous box office disasters and ask the burning question: is it a bomb? This week, Troy and Brad shrink down, suit up, and dive headfirst into the wild, high‑concept sci‑fi comedy Innerspace from 1987. It’s one of those movies that sounds absolutely unhinged when you describe it out loud, yet somehow becomes charming, energetic, and weirdly heartfelt once you hit play.
That’s the Joe Dante magic. In the hands of a less capable director, Innerspace could’ve been a complete mess. The premise alone, a hotshot pilot miniaturized and accidentally injected into a hypochondriac grocery store clerk, is the kind of thing that could collapse under its own absurdity. But Dante threads the needle, blending cartoon logic, sci‑fi spectacle, slapstick comedy, and genuine sweetness into a film that shouldn’t work but absolutely does. It’s insane in the best way, and charming in a way only Dante seems able to pull off.
Troy and Brad dig into the film’s chaotic energy, its inventive effects, and the pitch‑perfect performances from Dennis Quaid and Martin Short, who somehow make the whole thing feel grounded even as it spirals into sci‑fi lunacy. And of course, they take a moment to appreciate Meg Ryan, because 1987 Meg Ryan was peak Meg Ryan. She lights up every scene she’s in, adding warmth and charisma that elevate the movie even further.
The guys also explore how Innerspace has evolved from a modest box office performer into a beloved cult favorite, why its blend of genres feels so unique today, and how Dante’s playful filmmaking style keeps the movie from ever tipping into chaos.
Grab your lab coat, avoid the rogue scientists, and prepare to get very, very small.
Want to help support the show? Head over to the Not A Bomb Tee Public store and check our merchandise. Special thanks to Ted Blair for the amazing designs!
We're committed to hearing your feedback and suggestions. If there's a cinematic flop you'd like us to delve into, please reach out to us at NotABombPod@gmail.com or through our contact page. Your reviews and feedback are what drive us. If y
Welcome back to Not A Bomb, the podcast where we resurrect cinema’s most infamous box office disasters and ask the burning question: is it a bomb? This week, Troy and Brad descend into the gritty, morally tangled world of Sidney Lumet’s 1981 neo‑noir crime epic Prince of the City. It’s one of those underseen gems that cinephiles whisper about, critics champion, and everyone else somehow missed entirely.
Prince of the City follows a narcotics detective pulled into a sprawling corruption investigation, and the deeper he goes, the more the film tightens its grip. At the center of it all is Treat Williams, delivering a performance so raw, so committed, and so quietly devastating that it’s honestly a “treat” to watch him work. This is the kind of role actors dream about, and Williams attacks it with a mix of vulnerability and intensity that feels almost dangerous. If you ever needed proof he was one of the most underrated actors of his era, this is the movie.
Troy and Brad dig into Lumet’s meticulous direction, the film’s sprawling cast of morally compromised characters, and the real‑life case that inspired the story. They also explore how Prince of the City became overshadowed by Lumet’s more famous crime dramas, why it deserves to be mentioned alongside Serpico and Dog Day Afternoon, and how its reputation has quietly grown among fans of hard‑boiled, character‑driven noir.
And because the guys can’t resist calling out cinematic injustices, they make it very clear that Criterion needs to get on making a 4K edition of this film. Prince of the City deserves the restoration, the essays, the spine number, the whole treatment. It’s long overdue.
Grab your badge, question your morals, and settle in. This is one crime saga worth revisiting.
Want to help support the show? Head over to the Not A Bomb Tee Public store and check our merchandise. Special thanks to Ted Blair for the amazing designs!
We're committed to hearing your feedback and suggestions. If there's a cinematic flop you'd like us to delve into, please reach out to us at NotABombPod@gmail.com or through our contact page. Your reviews and feedback are what drive us. If you enjoy our content, consider leaving a review on Apple Podcast or Spotify.
Welcome back to Not A Bomb, the podcast where we resurrect cinema’s most infamous box office disasters and ask the burning question: is it a bomb? This week, Troy and Brad strap into the chaotic, nitro‑fueled world of the 2001 racing epic Driven. And before we go any further, yes, Troy is back from surgery and only slightly a little high on pain medication, which honestly might be the perfect state of mind for revisiting a movie this unintentionally wild.
Driven arrived during the era when Hollywood believed the cure for every script problem was “more CGI, more speed, more Stallone.” The film promised high‑octane racing, intense rivalries, and behind‑the‑scenes drama in the world of CART. What audiences got instead was a dizzying mix of digital car mayhem, melodramatic speeches, and physics‑defying crashes.
Troy and Brad dig into the film’s over‑the‑top action sequences, the baffling script choices, and one of the worst displays of “acting” this podcast has ever seen…. cough, cough - KIP! They also explore how the film’s reputation has evolved, why some viewers have embraced its unintentional charm, and whether Driven deserves a second look or remains a cautionary tale about letting Stallone write his own sports movies.
Buckle up, avoid the flying manhole covers, and prepare for a ride that makes absolutely no sense. This is one cinematic spinout worth revisiting.
Want to help support the show? Head over to the Not A Bomb Tee Public store and check our merchandise. Special thanks to Ted Blair for the amazing designs!
We're committed to hearing your feedback and suggestions. If there's a cinematic flop you'd like us to delve into, please reach out to us at NotABombPod@gmail.com or through our contact page. Your reviews and feedback are what drive us. If you enjoy our content, consider leaving a review on Apple Podcast or Spotify.
This week’s experiment: a double feature of shark movies that proves the ocean isn’t the only place where danger lurks. First up is Sharks N Da Hood, a movie that asks, “What if sharks invaded the streets?” and then seemingly forgot to ask literally any other question during the filmmaking process. What follows may be one of the most spectacularly awful movies ever made: baffling choices, painful dialogue, questionable acting, and a level of chaos that makes you wonder if anyone involved ever stopped to watch what they were creating.
Then comes Bad CGI Sharks, which, despite a title that sounds like a warning label, is actually a surprisingly fun little low-budget shark movie. The CGI is exactly as advertised, the premise is ridiculous, and yet the movie understands something that Sharks N Da Hood apparently missed: if you're making a movie about absurd killer sharks, you should probably try to have some fun with it.
The guys dive into both ends of the bargain-bin shark movie spectrum. One film is a cinematic shipwreck of nearly historic proportions. The other is goofy, self-aware entertainment that manages to rise above its limitations through sheer enthusiasm and a willingness to embrace the ridiculous.
Expect terrible sharks, bad decisions, questionable effects, and one of the strangest double features to ever wash up on Breaking Brad.
Be sure to subscribe to the Gentlemen’s Guide to Midnite Cinema to hear more of Sammy. Also, check out Jose’s podcast - Watch/Skip+ • A podcast on Anchor. Both are highly recommended.
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Cast: Brad, Troy, Jose, Sammy