More animal scams uncovered -

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Another stray thought on a Tueday afternoon -

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Skedaddle —

- to run away hurriedly.



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I guess you're a lucky man then

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ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour (475)

Thank you for joining us today

Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with another Porky Pig Looney Tunes cartoon, the 1938 Porky the Gob directed by Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton



This is the first Looney Tune to have the 1938-41 opening rendition of The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down,


Hey Bunkies it's very cold outside. HBO Max has now become the home for Looney Tunes cartoons. The staff atThe ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour want to get very cozy and watch this compilation reel of some Bugs Bunny cartoons:



As some of you may know, I got paid to watch the entire Warner Bros. cartoon library and I never get tired of watching it again.


We’ve selected another entry from the excellent reference book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, edited by Steven Jay Schneider. Today’s film is the 1986 comedy Raising Arizona, directed by Joel and Ethan Coen and starring Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, John Goodman, and Frances McDormand. Raising Arizona received mixed reviews when it first opened but is now considered a comedy classic.

After the success of Blood Simple, the Coen Brothers planned for The Hudsucker Proxy to be their next film. Because the budget for that movie ($40 million) wouldn’t work for their producers at Circle Films, they wrote this instead. They decided that Raising Arizona should be the polar opposite of Blood Simple. As such, they made it more positive and upbeat, with sympathetic characters.

The relationship between Nicolas Cage and the Coen Brothers was respectful but turbulent. When he arrived on set, and at various other points during production, Cage offered suggestions to the Coens, which they largely ignored. Cage said that “Joel and Ethan have a very strong vision, and I’ve learned how difficult it is to accept another artist’s vision. They have an autocratic nature.” Joel replied that he understood why Cage would make that statement, saying that “it was a lot of fun working with Nic,” but that some of his improvisations clashed with their vision and had to be edited. However, the Coens clarified that they would much prefer working with an actor who, like Cage, possessed a “fertile imagination” over one whose performance needed to be “kick-started.”

Please find a comfy chair and join us here at The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour as we watch this very funny movie: Raising Arizona.



The cigar-smoking bird tattoo was originally the logo of Clay Smith Cams in the 1950s, a company that made high-performance engine parts. The logo, with its trademark clenched cigar, represents Smith himself and is known as “Mr. Horsepower.” Smith closed the business in the 1960s, and the logo was later adopted by what is now Tenneco for their Thrush muffler line.



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Hmmmm - interesting Super Bowl connection

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Be thankful it wasn't ICE

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Given how cold it's been - it makes sense

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Overheard during a phone conversation

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Sesquipedalian —

- given to using long words.



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Now I understand why this album was never released

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ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour (474)

Thank you for joining us today

Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with another Porky Pig Looney Tunes cartoon, the 1938 The Daffy Doc, (co-starring Daffy Duck,) directed by Bob Clampett



Neither Bob Clampett nor Chuck Jones cared much for this short, not because they thought it was bad, but because it used an iron lung as a gag prop at a time when polio deaths were on the rise.


Hey bunkies it's still cold outside nut it seems like we dodged another snow storm. The staff at The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour would like you to get very cozy and watch some TV with them. Why not join us in watching another one of our favorite comics - Lewis Blank and his latest Rantcast:



Lewis has perfected cranky to an art form.


We’ve selected another entry from the excellent reference book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, edited by Steven Jay Schneider. Today’s film is the 1986 coming-of-age drama Stand by Me, directed by Rob Reiner (based on Stephen King’s 1982 novella The Body) and starring Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell, and Kiefer Sutherland. Stand by Me was both a commercial and critical success. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and for two Golden Globe Awards, and it ultimately earned $52,287,414 - well above its $8 million budget.

Director Rob Reiner took important steps to ensure that his four young actors would bond with one another before filming and understand the time period and culture in which their characters lived. These steps included giving them tapes of late-1950s music and making sure they knew the era’s slang. Importantly, he also brought them to Brownsville, Oregon, where he led them in games and exercises drawn from Viola Spolin’s book Improvisations for the Theater. One exercise involved guiding one another blindfolded through their hotel lobby. The point of these exercises was to build trust and friendship so that, onscreen, they would be comfortable with one another and their group of friends would seem real.

Reiner credits much of his success with the cast to the fact that he had been an actor himself. Wil Wheaton said he did not realize it at the time, but that the experience of working with Reiner taught him the meaning of the term “an actor’s director.” Kiefer Sutherland said of Reiner, “Because he’s so proficient as an actor, he can allow you to discover a moment when, in fact, he’s telling it to you.”

According to Sutherland, the title of the film (changed from The Body, the name of Stephen King’s novella) may have come from an interaction he had with Reiner while he and River Phoenix were playing guitar together. Phoenix had been learning to play the instrument for some time, and Sutherland began playing “Stand by Me” on a whim, prompting Phoenix to remark that he loved the song’s melody. Sutherland began teaching Phoenix the tune on guitar, at which point Reiner walked by and commented that he loved the song as well. The original Ben E. King recording of the song was used over the end credits, and a music video featuring Phoenix (shown singing along and playing guitar) alongside co-star Wil Wheaton was also filmed.

Please find a comfy chair and join us here at The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour as we watch this touching movie: Stand by Me.



In an interview with Variety, Jerry O’Connell said that it was not until he had already been dating Rebecca Romijn (who would later become his wife) for many months that he learned she had been a devoted fan of the movie as a child—and she wasn’t the one to tell him. O’Connell said, “I’m married to Rebecca Romijn, a beautiful model. She’s way out of my league— a million times out of my league. About three months into dating, my wife is from Berkeley, and I went up there to meet her high school friends. We got a little drunk, and her high school best friend said to me, ‘You know, Stand by Me is Rebecca’s favorite movie of all time. You know she had posters of it all over her room growing up.’ She never told me that.”



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Inside thoughts, expressed aloud

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Remember sunscreen!

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You probably didn't know this

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Reading on a Tuesay afternoon

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Scrumdiddlyumptious —

- extremely tasty; delicious.



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Pshaw, that's the lineup of most bands

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ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour (473)

Thank you for joining us today

Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with another Porky Pig Looney Tunes cartoon, the 1938 Porky in Egypt, directed by Bob Clampett



Many of the tourists atop of the long camel are caricatures of Leon Schlesinger staff.


Hey Bunkies it's cold outside and we're waiting for the upcoming snow apocalypse. The staff at The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour want to get very cozy and watch some TV. Why not join us in watching one of our favorite comics - Craig Ferguson in one of his new comedy specials - Just Being Honest:



I know it won't happen but wouldn't it be great if Craig came back on TV after Stephen leaves Late Night.


We’ve selected another entry from the excellent reference book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, edited by Steven Jay Schneider. Today’s film is the 1986 comedic documentary Sherman’s March, directed by and starring Ross McElwee. Sherman’s March is a strange film - simultaneously about Ross McElwee’s search for love, his thoughts about nuclear war, and General Tecumseh Sherman. The film was well received when it premiered, winning the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at Sundance in 1987, and it was inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry at the turn of the millennium.

The movie is neither pretentious nor artsy. It’s hilarious from start to finish. McElwee’s dry wit later influenced director Michael Moore. The film’s subjects are as wacky as anyone found in documentaries like Gates of Heaven or Vernon, Florida. It’s as if one combined Vernon, Florida with the mockumentary 20 Dates. Throughout the film, McElwee is either romantically involved with women or meeting them as he tracks Sherman’s march. The film both reinforces stereotypes of Southern women and breaks them down. McElwee also takes time to tell the viewer a great deal about General Sherman.

The film demonstrates how our personal experiences and emotions draw us toward certain people and historical stories. McElwee’s personal journey is remarkably universal. The film addresses themes of “the search for love” and “the fear of death” in a humorous and intelligent way. It’s almost as if Woody Allen made a documentary. Please find a comfy chair and join us here at The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour as we watch this very funny documentary: Sherman’s March.



Throughout the film, McElwee employs several techniques reminiscent of creative nonfiction writers. Since the film is self-produced, McElwee remains behind the camera and is seen only in mirror reflections or during monologues in which he complains about sleepless nights.



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Even I'm confused

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Hey, it's one way to live

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The other thing bears do in the woods —

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Something we should all hear more often —

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Scrofulous —

- morally tainted.



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I don't think it's as good as Volume One

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ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour (472)

Thank you for joining us today

Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with another Porky Pig Looney Tunes cartoon, the 1938 Porky's Naughty Nephew, directed by Bob Clampett



Introducing nephews and nieces of an established cartoon character was common at the time. It was a way around the Hayes Code, which required marriage to be shown before children appeared...even in animated features. The characters could then show their parenting skills and family values without the need of having a regular spouse featured.


You know that the staff at The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour loves the holiday long form commercial format from our cousins across the sea. Two, three minutes of holiday cheer - that seems nice. Well, under the thought that more is never enough - here is a nearly 45 minute commercial about bourbon drinking:



Jim Gaffigan is the man who could carry a 45 minute commercial about drinking bourbon.


We’ve selected another entry from the excellent reference book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, edited by Steven Jay Schneider. Today’s film is the 1986 comedy The Decline of the American Empire (French: Le Déclin de l'empire Américain), directed by Denys Arcand and starring Rémy Girard, Pierre Curzi and Dorothée Berryman. The Decline of the American Empire was a critical success when it first opened. The film was a huge success in France and Canada, earning over $30 million during it's initial release. Ranking twice in the Top 10 Canadian Films of All Time list (both the 1993 and 2004 lists), the film was nominated for an Academy Award and winner of nine Genie Awards.

While the story is set in the world of academia, there’s nothing bookish or stuffy about the stories that emerge. Satirical and witty, The Decline of the American Empire evolves from a comedy of manners to a poignant and moving exploration of relationship and loss. Please find a comfy chair and join us here at The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour as we watch this intriguing comedy: The Decline of the American Empire .



Denys Arcand chose tenured university professors as the subject matter of his film as he felt that they would be less likely to have Quebecois accents. In the French speaking world, the Quebec accent is particularly noticeable and Arcand wanted his low budget film to at least have some chance of attracting an audience outside of Canada.



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I wish this was a joke

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Oh Uncle Moneybags, what are you doing?

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Another myth exposed -

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Another stray thought on a Tuesay afternoon

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Scintillating —

- sparkling or shining brightly.



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I forgot to play this for you during the holidays

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ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour (471)

Thank you for joining us today

Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with another Porky Pig Looney Tunes cartoon, the inspired 1938 Porky in Wackyland, directed by Bob Clampett



This short subject is celebrated for its surreal humor, such as when Porky is chasing the bird, it disappears and suddenly the Warner Bros. shield emerges from the horizon's vanishing point, as it typically did at every cartoon's beginning, and complete with the standard stretched "boing" of the steel guitar. The Do-Do comes from behind the shield to bop Porky on the head and we see the shield immediately turn to return to the horizon with the bird riding it there (with, consequently, the boing sound played in reverse).


The staff atThe ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour hope you can stomach one more holiday special. And what doesn't scream the holidays like forcing celebs to eat colon burning chicken wings. So let's all watch this year's holiday special from the folks at The Hot Ones, featuring Kristen Bell:



I have to say that she is a real trooper


We’ve selected another entry from the excellent reference book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, edited by Steven Jay Schneider. Today’s film is the 1986 comedy Down by Law, directed by Jim Jarmusch and starring Tom Waits, John Lurie, and Roberto Benigni. Down by Law was Jarmusch’s third feature film. His first, Permanent Vacation, was made right after he dropped out of film school, using his scholarship money instead of attending classes. He financed the film himself, taking out a bank loan he claimed was to buy a car, and using the check from his Louis B. Mayer scholarship, which was mistakenly sent to him instead of his film school. His second film, Stranger Than Paradise, followed a New York protagonist dealing with a visiting cousin from Budapest and starred (and was co-written by) Down by Law co-star John Lurie.

After Jarmusch began writing his Stranger Than Paradise follow-up - a “sketch of something” featuring Tom Waits and fellow actor-musician John Lurie; he met comedian Roberto Benigni while traveling in Italy and decided to make him the film’s “central character.” Jarmusch wrote his first treatment for the film in Rome, where he was able to confirm Benigni’s casting. Tom Waits’ record label, Island Pictures, later agreed to finance the film.

Apparently, Jim Jarmusch had never visited New Orleans or its surrounding bayous before writing the film, so he based the script on Tennessee Williams’ plays, pulp fiction, 1930s and 1940s crime films, and the Rhythm and Blues music that originated in New Orleans. While scouting locations, Jarmusch listened to Tom Waits’ songs and later claimed they influenced both the development of the script and the rhythmic tempo of the scenes. Conversely, John Lurie - known at the time for his band, the Lounge Lizards, a small jazz ensemble - composed and performed the film’s score. Jarmusch wrote detailed scripts but allowed room for improvisation.

Please find a comfy chair and join us here at The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour as we watch this dark comedy: Down by Law.



The title Down by Law is a reference to a colloquialism used in 1920s African American culture, particularly during the Great Migration northward from the Southern states. The phrase described the assimilation of recent arrivals - when people became confident navigating their new surroundings and gained a sense of control over their lives, they were considered “down by law.” Although the term later fell out of fashion, it was adapted into prison slang, where “down by law” came to mean that an individual is trusted and accepted as part of a gang.



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Avert your eyes children!

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This is only available in the adult version of the game

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Another Hollywood secret revealed

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A stray thought on a Tuesday

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Schmooze —

- to chat idly.



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I think I've read this book before

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ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour (470)

Thank you for joining us today

Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with another Porky Pig Looney Tunes cartoon, the 1938 Wholly Smoke, directed by Frank Tashlin



This is the final Looney Tunes cartoon that Frank Tashlin directed during his first stint at the studio (and thus his old unit that would later be given to Chuck Jones), as he would shortly depart later in 1938 for Disney and later Screen Gems for five years.


We were trying to figure out what to watch on the season premiere episode of The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour, It was solved immediately when we saw this Tiny Desk Concert from NPR:



Robert Plant, as always, sounded in great voice.


We’ve selected another entry from the excellent reference book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, edited by Steven Jay Schneider. Today’s film is the 1985 drama Kiss of the Spider Woman, directed by Héctor Babenco, based on the novel by Manuel Puig and starring William Hurt, Raul Julia, and Sônia Braga. The film was a critical success, winning several awards including a Best Actor Oscar for Hurt.

During rehearsals, the two actors had trouble finding the chemistry they needed for their scenes together. To better understand what each needed from the other's role, William Hurt suggested they try an experiment where they would switch roles, with Hurt as Valentin and Raul Julia as Molina. The role-switching rehearsal went so well that Hurt initially suggested to director Hector Babenco that they should switch parts for the film as well. Obviously, the switch did not occur, but Hurt states that it was a very useful experiment in helping them more fully understand their own characters.

Although the two lead actors worked out any difficulties they may have had with each other, tensions started early on in the process between William Hurt and Hector Babenco. Producer David Weisman later remarked that Hurt had a wonderful mastery of language and spoke in "great metaphorical ellipses that are hard to follow even if English is your native language." For Babenco it was impossible. He became frustrated by Hurt talking "for hours" and learned to just nod and pretend to agree in order to keep the conversations relatively short.

Please find a comfy chair and join us here at The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour as we watch this powerfully beautiful film: Kiss of the Spider Woman.



Initial screenings did not go well. Raul Julia was furious after watching the first cut: "What happened to the movie? What happened to all our great work?!" After seven months of post-production, the film was sent to the New York Film Festival. The selection committee rejected it without even watching the whole movie. William Hurt wasn't too concerned about this until he saw the first cut himself and realized why they dismissed it so abruptly. The fantasy film sequences were too long and overwhelmed the story of the relationship between the two men. He wanted to buy the print and burn it so it would never be released.



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Who know the Highway dept likes John McCrea?

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Life has no remote,

so wake up and change it.

Now that we have your attention - Let us all welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.

- from your friends at ACME, in business for over 100 years.



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