Episode 320 - The Wizard
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.
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!
Check out the trailer for The 80s: A Motion Picture Special
Cinova - The future of Movie and TV
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 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 Wizard such 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.
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!
Check out the trailer for The 80s: A Motion Picture Special
Cinova - The future of Movie and TV
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.
Episode 275 - The Rules of Attraction
Welcome back to Not A Bomb! This is the podcast where we explore some of cinema’s biggest box office failures and decide whether they deserve a second chance. We are celebrating five years of discussing cinematic flops!
Episode 275 of Not A Bomb continues Listener Request Month with Troy and Brad diving headfirst into the chaotic, nihilistic world of Roger Avary’s 2002 dark comedy The Rules of Attraction. Adapted from Bret Easton Ellis’s novel, the film follows three emotionally fractured college students—Sean Bateman (yes, Patrick Bateman’s younger brother), Lauren Hynde, and Paul Denton—as they spiral through drugs, sex, and existential dread at the fictional Camden College.
While the marketing teased a cheeky American Pie-style romp, the film delivers something far darker: a transgressive, nonlinear fever dream built on split screens, rewound timelines, and surreal montages that mirror its characters’ moral decay. Critics weren’t laughing—many recoiled at its unflinching depictions of suicide, sexual assault, and emotional numbness—but Troy and Brad dig in, unpacking both the film’s stylistic bravado and its brutal honesty about youth culture.
⚠️ Trigger warning: This episode contains discussion of heavy drug use, sexual violence, and suicide, mirroring the film’s unflinching content.
The Rules of Attraction is directed by Roger Avary and stars James Van Der Beek, Shannyn Sossamon, Kip Purdue, Jessica Biel, Ian Somerhalder, Clifton Collins, Jr., Thomas Ian Nicholas, Swoosie Kurtz, and Kaye Dunaway
To celebrate the last 25 years of film, the Not A Bomb podcast is compiling a Top 25 list from the Not A Bomb community. If you would like to submit your own list, please use this form to enter your 25 choices. For a film to be eligible, it must have been released between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2025. Those are the only rules. Thank you for being a part of the community! Stay tuned for a special episode revealing the results in December. Head over to Not A Bomb 25 in 25 to fill out the form!
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! This is the podcast where we explore some of cinema’s biggest box office failures and decide whether they deserve a second chance. We are celebrating five years of discussing cinematic flops!
Episode 275 of Not A Bomb continues Listener Request Month with Troy and Brad diving headfirst into the chaotic, nihilistic world of Roger Avary’s 2002 dark comedy The Rules of Attraction. Adapted from Bret Easton Ellis’s novel, the film follows three emotionally fractured college students—Sean Bateman (yes, Patrick Bateman’s younger brother), Lauren Hynde, and Paul Denton—as they spiral through drugs, sex, and existential dread at the fictional Camden College.
While the marketing teased a cheeky American Pie-style romp, the film delivers something far darker: a transgressive, nonlinear fever dream built on split screens, rewound timelines, and surreal montages that mirror its characters’ moral decay. Critics weren’t laughing—many recoiled at its unflinching depictions of suicide, sexual assault, and emotional numbness—but Troy and Brad dig in, unpacking both the film’s stylistic bravado and its brutal honesty about youth culture.
⚠️ Trigger warning: This episode contains discussion of heavy drug use, sexual violence, and suicide, mirroring the film’s unflinching content.
The Rules of Attraction is directed by Roger Avary and stars James Van Der Beek, Shannyn Sossamon, Kip Purdue, Jessica Biel, Ian Somerhalder, Clifton Collins, Jr., Thomas Ian Nicholas, Swoosie Kurtz, and Kaye Dunaway
To celebrate the last 25 years of film, the Not A Bomb podcast is compiling a Top 25 list from the Not A Bomb community. If you would like to submit your own list, please use this form to enter your 25 choices. For a film to be eligible, it must have been released between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2025. Those are the only rules. Thank you for being a part of the community! Stay tuned for a special episode revealing the results in December. Head over to Not A Bomb 25 in 25 to fill out the form!
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.