Demand Euphoria!
Tuesday, April 14, 2026
Monday, April 13, 2026
Stylite —
- one of a class of solitary ascetics who lived on the top of high pillars or columns
Not to be confused with The Stylistics - a 70s R&B group that sang mainly in Philadelphia and not on the top of high pillars or columns.
Demand Euphoria!
Sunday, April 12, 2026
Saturday, April 11, 2026
ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour (484)
Thank you for joining us today
Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with another Looney Tunes cartoon, the 1939 Scalp Troublestarring Porky Pig and Daffy Duck directed by Bob Clampett . This short seldom airs any more on television due to heavy Native American stereotyping.
Friz Freleng remade this short five years later as the color Merrie Melodie Slightly Daffy and reused some of the animation and gags.
This past week was a very tense week for everyone in the world. The staff of The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour staff desperately needed a laugh. We found a clip from Nick Offerman's 2014 comedy special, American Ham. And we thought we'd like to watch it with you -
It's amazing how pertinent his comedy still is
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 1989 comedy-drama The Unbelievable Truth, directed by Hal Hartley (in his directorial debut) and starring Adrienne Shelly, Robert Burke, Christopher Cooke, Julia McNeal, Gary Sauer, Mark Bailey, David Healy, Katherine Mayfield, Edie Falco, and Matt Malloy.
The Unbelievable Truth is a comedy of errors surrounding a beautiful, college-bound girl disturbingly preoccupied with the threat of nuclear destruction. Nevertheless, she falls in love with a handsome ex-con who is rumored to have murdered, many years before, the father of his high school sweetheart. The film was made on a shoestring budget and shot in just 11 days. It was a modest financial success and was critically well received. It won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and also screened at Cannes.
Hal Hartley’s early films were important in creating a cinematic identity for Long Island during a time when indie film on the East Coast was largely centered around New York City, thanks to figures like Spike Lee and Jim Jarmusch (to whom Hartley was frequently compared early in his career). Long Island has long been considered the unofficial sixth borough of New York City, and Hartley plays on that connection. The number of independent films produced and given theatrical distribution from 1990 to the end of the century was extraordinary; Hartley stands as one of the few meaningfully independent filmmakers of his era.
Please find a comfortable chair, dim the lights, and join us here at The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour as we watch this thought-provoking comedy: The Unbelievable Truth.
This film marked the feature debut of Adrienne Shelly, who played the teenager Audry, though she was 22 at the time.
Demand Euphoria!
Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with another Looney Tunes cartoon, the 1939 Scalp Troublestarring Porky Pig and Daffy Duck directed by Bob Clampett . This short seldom airs any more on television due to heavy Native American stereotyping.
Friz Freleng remade this short five years later as the color Merrie Melodie Slightly Daffy and reused some of the animation and gags.
This past week was a very tense week for everyone in the world. The staff of The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour staff desperately needed a laugh. We found a clip from Nick Offerman's 2014 comedy special, American Ham. And we thought we'd like to watch it with you -
It's amazing how pertinent his comedy still is
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 1989 comedy-drama The Unbelievable Truth, directed by Hal Hartley (in his directorial debut) and starring Adrienne Shelly, Robert Burke, Christopher Cooke, Julia McNeal, Gary Sauer, Mark Bailey, David Healy, Katherine Mayfield, Edie Falco, and Matt Malloy.
The Unbelievable Truth is a comedy of errors surrounding a beautiful, college-bound girl disturbingly preoccupied with the threat of nuclear destruction. Nevertheless, she falls in love with a handsome ex-con who is rumored to have murdered, many years before, the father of his high school sweetheart. The film was made on a shoestring budget and shot in just 11 days. It was a modest financial success and was critically well received. It won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and also screened at Cannes.
Hal Hartley’s early films were important in creating a cinematic identity for Long Island during a time when indie film on the East Coast was largely centered around New York City, thanks to figures like Spike Lee and Jim Jarmusch (to whom Hartley was frequently compared early in his career). Long Island has long been considered the unofficial sixth borough of New York City, and Hartley plays on that connection. The number of independent films produced and given theatrical distribution from 1990 to the end of the century was extraordinary; Hartley stands as one of the few meaningfully independent filmmakers of his era.
Please find a comfortable chair, dim the lights, and join us here at The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour as we watch this thought-provoking comedy: The Unbelievable Truth.
This film marked the feature debut of Adrienne Shelly, who played the teenager Audry, though she was 22 at the time.
Demand Euphoria!
Friday, April 10, 2026
Thursday, April 9, 2026
Wednesday, April 8, 2026
Tuesday, April 7, 2026
Monday, April 6, 2026
Sunday, April 5, 2026
Saturday, April 4, 2026
ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour (483)
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 1939 Looney Tunes Polar Pals directed by Bob Clampett
When Porky Pig takes a shower, he uses a towel marked Grand Hotel, the title of a 1932 MGM movie
We are in the middle of Passover and Easter is almost upon us. The staff of The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour is either still digesting Aunt Sadie's leaden Matza Balls or taking meticulous notes about where they are going to hide the Easter eggs, (they don't want a repeat of the 2008 missing eggs disaster - don't ask.) We figured why not get a bit of religious instruction from our old pal Robin Williams -
It's hard to believe that he's been gone for these 12 years. (We can only imagine what he'd have to say about our fearless leader.)
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 1989 comedy-drama Do the Right Thing, directed by Spike Lee and starring Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Spike Lee, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, John Savage, Martin Lawrence, and Rosie Perez. The film was a major critical and commercial success, grossing $37.3 million worldwide against a production budget of $6.2 million. Spike Lee became the first person of color to be nominated for both Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay at the Academy Awards.
During the 1990 Oscar ceremony, while announcing the Best Picture nominees, Kim Basinger caused controversy when she departed from her scripted remarks and said, “We’ve got five great films here, and they’re great for one reason: because they tell the truth. But there is one film missing from this list that deserves to be on it because, ironically, it might tell the biggest truth of all—and that’s Do the Right Thing.” Spike Lee later thanked her in a 2019 episode of the podcast Unspooled.
Please find a comfortable chair, dim the lights, and join us here at the ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour as we watch this thought provoking movie: Do the Right Thing.
According to Spike Lee, the casting of Rosie Perez came about during a birthday party he was hosting at a club in Los Angeles. When the R&B song Da Butt by Experience Unlimited from Lee’s previous film School Daze started playing, a spontaneous “butt contest” broke out. Lee noticed Perez dancing on top of a speaker and told her to come down, fearing she might fall and injure herself - and that he might be sued. Security eventually had to step in to get her down, after which she unleashed a stream of profanity at Lee. He was struck by her voice and soon discovered that they were both from the same part of Brooklyn. On the spot, he offered her the role of Mookie’s girlfriend, deciding the character would be Puerto Rican.
Perez, however, has told the story differently in interviews. She claims that Lee himself started the contest to see which Black woman had the biggest butt. She also said she initially thought Lee was hitting on her and ignored him, not realizing until later that he was offering her a role in one of his films.
Demand Euphoria!
When Porky Pig takes a shower, he uses a towel marked Grand Hotel, the title of a 1932 MGM movie
We are in the middle of Passover and Easter is almost upon us. The staff of The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour is either still digesting Aunt Sadie's leaden Matza Balls or taking meticulous notes about where they are going to hide the Easter eggs, (they don't want a repeat of the 2008 missing eggs disaster - don't ask.) We figured why not get a bit of religious instruction from our old pal Robin Williams -
It's hard to believe that he's been gone for these 12 years. (We can only imagine what he'd have to say about our fearless leader.)
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 1989 comedy-drama Do the Right Thing, directed by Spike Lee and starring Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Spike Lee, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, John Savage, Martin Lawrence, and Rosie Perez. The film was a major critical and commercial success, grossing $37.3 million worldwide against a production budget of $6.2 million. Spike Lee became the first person of color to be nominated for both Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay at the Academy Awards.
During the 1990 Oscar ceremony, while announcing the Best Picture nominees, Kim Basinger caused controversy when she departed from her scripted remarks and said, “We’ve got five great films here, and they’re great for one reason: because they tell the truth. But there is one film missing from this list that deserves to be on it because, ironically, it might tell the biggest truth of all—and that’s Do the Right Thing.” Spike Lee later thanked her in a 2019 episode of the podcast Unspooled.
Please find a comfortable chair, dim the lights, and join us here at the ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour as we watch this thought provoking movie: Do the Right Thing.
According to Spike Lee, the casting of Rosie Perez came about during a birthday party he was hosting at a club in Los Angeles. When the R&B song Da Butt by Experience Unlimited from Lee’s previous film School Daze started playing, a spontaneous “butt contest” broke out. Lee noticed Perez dancing on top of a speaker and told her to come down, fearing she might fall and injure herself - and that he might be sued. Security eventually had to step in to get her down, after which she unleashed a stream of profanity at Lee. He was struck by her voice and soon discovered that they were both from the same part of Brooklyn. On the spot, he offered her the role of Mookie’s girlfriend, deciding the character would be Puerto Rican.
Perez, however, has told the story differently in interviews. She claims that Lee himself started the contest to see which Black woman had the biggest butt. She also said she initially thought Lee was hitting on her and ignored him, not realizing until later that he was offering her a role in one of his films.
Demand Euphoria!
Friday, April 3, 2026
Thursday, April 2, 2026
Wednesday, April 1, 2026
Tuesday, March 31, 2026
Monday, March 30, 2026
Sunday, March 29, 2026
Saturday, March 28, 2026
ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour (482)
(Please note - this is a pre-recorded post I'm currently working at VersoFest 26. Hope you're there. Remember ask for me - I owe you a beer)
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 1939 Looney Tunes Kristopher Kolumbus Jr. directed by Bob Clampett
This short has seldom aired on American television due to prominent Native American stereotypes.
For whatever reason the staff of The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour has been thinking about David Bowie a great deal this week. For Poetry Day, we used the Tracy K. Smith poem, Don't You Just Wonder Sometimes? Traveling further down the intraweb, we found this wonderful cover by Bowie of the Simon and Garfunkel classic, America .
Something we never realized before - there are no rhymes in this song, which is quite a feat of songwriting.
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 1989 drama Drugstore Cowboy, directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Matt Dillon, Kelly Lynch, James LeGros, Heather Graham and a special appearance by William S. Burroughs. Based on the unpublished novel of prison inmate James Fogle, who was convicted of pharmaceutical robberies, Drugstore Cowboy is a deep dive into the myths and cultural patterns of addiction subculture seen from the inside, neither glamorizing nor imposing outside values on it.
Please find a comfortable chair, dim the lights, and join us here at The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour as we watch this cult classic: Drugstore Cowboy.
One thing that can be said for the script is that the drug lingo is accurate. Bobby's conversation with Father Murphy (William Burroughs, who really was a notorious junkie in his day) gives us: being "sick", which is the immediate craving the drug, "holding" means you have some, "stepping" on a drug means diluting it, "scoring" is obtaining dope, a "croaker" is a doctor, and "writing" refers to doctors who are willing to give out prescriptions to addicts.
Demand Euphoria!
Thank you for joining us today
This short has seldom aired on American television due to prominent Native American stereotypes.
For whatever reason the staff of The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour has been thinking about David Bowie a great deal this week. For Poetry Day, we used the Tracy K. Smith poem, Don't You Just Wonder Sometimes? Traveling further down the intraweb, we found this wonderful cover by Bowie of the Simon and Garfunkel classic, America .
Something we never realized before - there are no rhymes in this song, which is quite a feat of songwriting.
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 1989 drama Drugstore Cowboy, directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Matt Dillon, Kelly Lynch, James LeGros, Heather Graham and a special appearance by William S. Burroughs. Based on the unpublished novel of prison inmate James Fogle, who was convicted of pharmaceutical robberies, Drugstore Cowboy is a deep dive into the myths and cultural patterns of addiction subculture seen from the inside, neither glamorizing nor imposing outside values on it.
Please find a comfortable chair, dim the lights, and join us here at The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour as we watch this cult classic: Drugstore Cowboy.
One thing that can be said for the script is that the drug lingo is accurate. Bobby's conversation with Father Murphy (William Burroughs, who really was a notorious junkie in his day) gives us: being "sick", which is the immediate craving the drug, "holding" means you have some, "stepping" on a drug means diluting it, "scoring" is obtaining dope, a "croaker" is a doctor, and "writing" refers to doctors who are willing to give out prescriptions to addicts.
Demand Euphoria!
Friday, March 27, 2026
Thursday, March 26, 2026
Wednesday, March 25, 2026
Tuesday, March 24, 2026
Monday, March 23, 2026
Sunday, March 22, 2026
Saturday, March 21, 2026
ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour (481)
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 1939 Looney Tunes Porky and Teabiscuit directed by Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton.
The horse's name, Teabiscuit, is a play on that of Seabiscuit, a real-life thoroughbred racehorse, ungainly and mistreated in his early life, who was rehabilitated by an empathetic trainer and, by the time of this cartoon, had gone on to become a racing champion and a sentimental favorite of the American public. The cartoon's story is an affectionate screwball parody and celebration of Seabiscuit's rise to fame.
The staff of The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour, as well as many of you, have often wondered why the Professor could manufacture many modern conveniences and yet could not help the castaways get off the island. And wow, the folks at Amazing Fun Facts have seemed to answered the question. Please join us in watching their video.
I'm guessing that if you were stuck on an island with Ginger and Mary Ann, why would you want to leave?.
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 1989 drama Glory, directed by Edward Zwick and starring Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes, and Morgan Freeman. Glory was well accepted by both critics and most audiences. Denzel Washington won both a Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the movie.
The film covers the history and impact of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry regiment, the first African American regiment in the Civil War. It highlights the relationship between the white officer Robert Gould Shaw and his men, the regiment’s formation, the soldiers’ trials with unequal pay to their white counterparts, and their fight to establish respect for the United States Colored Troops. Though the regiment is best known for attacking Fort Wagner, the 54th Massachusetts continued to serve through the remainder of the war. At the Battle of Olustee, Florida, members of the regiment pushed a broken down train loaded with wounded Union soldiers for 13 miles with the assistance of horses.
Please find a comfortable chair, dim the lights, and join us here at the ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour as we watch this rousing drama: Glory.
Edward Zwick claimed that, for the flogging scene, Denzel Washington was lashed at full contact with a special whip that would not cut his back, but still stung. For the final take of the scene, Zwick hesitated to call "Cut!" to signal the flogging to stop, and the result was Washington's spontaneous tear down his cheek.
Demand Euphoria!
Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with another Porky Pig Looney Tunes cartoon, the 1939 Looney Tunes Porky and Teabiscuit directed by Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton.
The horse's name, Teabiscuit, is a play on that of Seabiscuit, a real-life thoroughbred racehorse, ungainly and mistreated in his early life, who was rehabilitated by an empathetic trainer and, by the time of this cartoon, had gone on to become a racing champion and a sentimental favorite of the American public. The cartoon's story is an affectionate screwball parody and celebration of Seabiscuit's rise to fame.
The staff of The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour, as well as many of you, have often wondered why the Professor could manufacture many modern conveniences and yet could not help the castaways get off the island. And wow, the folks at Amazing Fun Facts have seemed to answered the question. Please join us in watching their video.
I'm guessing that if you were stuck on an island with Ginger and Mary Ann, why would you want to leave?.
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 1989 drama Glory, directed by Edward Zwick and starring Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes, and Morgan Freeman. Glory was well accepted by both critics and most audiences. Denzel Washington won both a Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the movie.
The film covers the history and impact of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry regiment, the first African American regiment in the Civil War. It highlights the relationship between the white officer Robert Gould Shaw and his men, the regiment’s formation, the soldiers’ trials with unequal pay to their white counterparts, and their fight to establish respect for the United States Colored Troops. Though the regiment is best known for attacking Fort Wagner, the 54th Massachusetts continued to serve through the remainder of the war. At the Battle of Olustee, Florida, members of the regiment pushed a broken down train loaded with wounded Union soldiers for 13 miles with the assistance of horses.
Please find a comfortable chair, dim the lights, and join us here at the ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour as we watch this rousing drama: Glory.
Edward Zwick claimed that, for the flogging scene, Denzel Washington was lashed at full contact with a special whip that would not cut his back, but still stung. For the final take of the scene, Zwick hesitated to call "Cut!" to signal the flogging to stop, and the result was Washington's spontaneous tear down his cheek.
Demand Euphoria!
Friday, March 20, 2026
Thursday, March 19, 2026
Wednesday, March 18, 2026
Tuesday, March 17, 2026
Monday, March 16, 2026
Sunday, March 15, 2026
Saturday, March 14, 2026
ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour (480)
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 1939 Looney Tunes Chicken Jitters directed by Bob Clampett
In the redrawn version, "Stalling" is misspelled as "Staliling", and "Vive Risto" is misspelled as "Vivi Risto".
The weather this week has been crazy - 80 degrees one day, 39 degrees and hailing another day. The staff of The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour had been fooled into thinking spring had gotten here. we all went outside for lunch, which led us to discuss our favorite things to eat for lunch. Please join us in watching this video about how so many great things to eat originated in NYC.
We like all of these items except for Cronuts. They just leave us cold.
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 1988 comedy-drama The Accidental Tourist, directed by Lawrence Kasdan and starring William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, and Geena Davis.
We're running very late today, so find a comfortable chair, dim the lights, and join us here at the ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour as we watch this endearing comedy-drama: The Accidental Tourist.
Though actually a major significant leading role in the picture, Geena Davis won her Oscar in the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award category, and was not nominated in the Best Actress section. Several years later, Davis would be Oscar nominated for the Best Actress in a Leading Role Academy Award in 1992 for Thelma & Louise but would lose out to Jodie Foster for The Silence of the Lambs.
Demand Euphoria!
Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with another Porky Pig Looney Tunes cartoon, the 1939 Looney Tunes Chicken Jitters directed by Bob Clampett
In the redrawn version, "Stalling" is misspelled as "Staliling", and "Vive Risto" is misspelled as "Vivi Risto".
The weather this week has been crazy - 80 degrees one day, 39 degrees and hailing another day. The staff of The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour had been fooled into thinking spring had gotten here. we all went outside for lunch, which led us to discuss our favorite things to eat for lunch. Please join us in watching this video about how so many great things to eat originated in NYC.
We like all of these items except for Cronuts. They just leave us cold.
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 1988 comedy-drama The Accidental Tourist, directed by Lawrence Kasdan and starring William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, and Geena Davis.
We're running very late today, so find a comfortable chair, dim the lights, and join us here at the ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour as we watch this endearing comedy-drama: The Accidental Tourist.
Though actually a major significant leading role in the picture, Geena Davis won her Oscar in the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award category, and was not nominated in the Best Actress section. Several years later, Davis would be Oscar nominated for the Best Actress in a Leading Role Academy Award in 1992 for Thelma & Louise but would lose out to Jodie Foster for The Silence of the Lambs.
Demand Euphoria!
Friday, March 13, 2026
Thursday, March 12, 2026
Wednesday, March 11, 2026
Tuesday, March 10, 2026
Monday, March 9, 2026
Spaghettification —
- the theoretical stretching of an object as it encounters extreme differences in gravitational forces, especially those associated with a black hole
Demand Euphoria!
Sunday, March 8, 2026
Saturday, March 7, 2026
ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour (479)
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 1939 Looney Tunes Porky's Movie Mystery directed by Bob Clampett
Porky Pig as "Mr. Motto" is a parody of the fictional character, Mr. Moto, created by John P. Marquand.
It's been a long week. The staff of The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour needs a bit of a laugh. Please join us in watching the comedy styling of the late, great John Pinette
It so very sad the John passed away so young. He was truly one of the best working stand-up comedians of his generation.
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 1988 drama Distant Voices, Still Lives, directed by Terence Davies and starring Freda Dowie, Pete Postlethwaite, Angela Walsh, Dean Williams, and Lorraine Ashbourne. For the director, cast, and crew, making Distant Voices, Still Lives was truly a labor of love. The film’s very low budget meant that it had to be shot intermittently over a period of two years, often at weekends when equipment was cheaper to hire - or even free. This quiet, unassuming film about the lives of working-class families in Liverpool during the 1940s and early 1950s is now widely regarded as a forgotten British masterpiece.
Freda Dowie had already been in Terence Davies’ thoughts for the role of the Mother after he had seen her in several television roles. One day, while reviewing potential casting, Davies asked a colleague to toss him a copy of Spotlight for Actresses. When the book landed on the floor, it fell open directly to Dowie’s page. Davies took this as a good omen and confirmed the casting.
After their first meeting, Davies felt that Pete Postlethwaite was not particularly impressed with him as a director, nor with the modest setup of the production. Davies became convinced the actor would decline the role. However, the film’s producer reassured him not to worry. When Postlethwaite was shown the trilogy of earlier short films Davies had made, he agreed to take part in the project.
So find a comfortable chair, dim the lights, and join us here at the ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour as we watch this visually stunning drama: Distant Voices, Still Lives.
Postlethwaite initially found it difficult to believe that Terence Davies’ father - on whom his character was based - could have been so violent and cruel to his family. It was only after Davies asked his sister to describe being beaten in the cellar with a broomstick by their father (an incident depicted in the film) that Postlethwaite accepted that the story was true. Davies later admitted that the reality of his father’s behaviour and family life had actually been far worse than what was portrayed on screen, but he felt that audiences might not have believed it.
Demand Euphoria!
Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with another Porky Pig Looney Tunes cartoon, the 1939 Looney Tunes Porky's Movie Mystery directed by Bob Clampett
Porky Pig as "Mr. Motto" is a parody of the fictional character, Mr. Moto, created by John P. Marquand.
It's been a long week. The staff of The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour needs a bit of a laugh. Please join us in watching the comedy styling of the late, great John Pinette
It so very sad the John passed away so young. He was truly one of the best working stand-up comedians of his generation.
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 1988 drama Distant Voices, Still Lives, directed by Terence Davies and starring Freda Dowie, Pete Postlethwaite, Angela Walsh, Dean Williams, and Lorraine Ashbourne. For the director, cast, and crew, making Distant Voices, Still Lives was truly a labor of love. The film’s very low budget meant that it had to be shot intermittently over a period of two years, often at weekends when equipment was cheaper to hire - or even free. This quiet, unassuming film about the lives of working-class families in Liverpool during the 1940s and early 1950s is now widely regarded as a forgotten British masterpiece.
Freda Dowie had already been in Terence Davies’ thoughts for the role of the Mother after he had seen her in several television roles. One day, while reviewing potential casting, Davies asked a colleague to toss him a copy of Spotlight for Actresses. When the book landed on the floor, it fell open directly to Dowie’s page. Davies took this as a good omen and confirmed the casting.
After their first meeting, Davies felt that Pete Postlethwaite was not particularly impressed with him as a director, nor with the modest setup of the production. Davies became convinced the actor would decline the role. However, the film’s producer reassured him not to worry. When Postlethwaite was shown the trilogy of earlier short films Davies had made, he agreed to take part in the project.
So find a comfortable chair, dim the lights, and join us here at the ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour as we watch this visually stunning drama: Distant Voices, Still Lives.
Postlethwaite initially found it difficult to believe that Terence Davies’ father - on whom his character was based - could have been so violent and cruel to his family. It was only after Davies asked his sister to describe being beaten in the cellar with a broomstick by their father (an incident depicted in the film) that Postlethwaite accepted that the story was true. Davies later admitted that the reality of his father’s behaviour and family life had actually been far worse than what was portrayed on screen, but he felt that audiences might not have believed it.
Demand Euphoria!
Friday, March 6, 2026
Thursday, March 5, 2026
Wednesday, March 4, 2026
Tuesday, March 3, 2026
Monday, March 2, 2026
Smorgasbord —
- a buffet meal of various hot and cold hors d’oeuvres, salads, casserole dishes, meats, cheeses, etc.
Demand Euphoria!
Sunday, March 1, 2026
Saturday, February 28, 2026
ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour (478)
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 1939 Looney Tunes Porky's Tire Trouble directed by Bob Clampett
When Flat Foot Flooky emerges from the rubberizing solution he molds his face into caricatures of Edward G. Robinson, Edna May Oliver, Clark Gable, and Hugh Herbert.
Traveling along the dark shoals of the intraweb to bring you, something interesting, dear Bunkies, the staff of The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour was thinking about Radiohead's classic Creep. I'm guessing many of you didin't realize that this was the bands' first single, released in the UK in September 1992. It flopped, and they rather reluctantly included it on their debut album, Pablo Honey, in February 1993. To their surprise, it started getting some airplay and found an audience, so their label re-issued it in September 1993 and it rose to #7 in the UK.
According to the book Radiohead: Hysterical and Useless, this song was inspired by Thom Yorke's obsession with a stranger. He was infatuated with a woman who was out of his league, who he'd never met but frequently saw in bars, and he found himself following her around.
On the album version, Thom Yorke sings, "You're so f--king special." For radio, he recut it as, "You're so very special." Yorke regrets changing the line for the radio version, saying it disturbed the "sentiment of the song." According to him, the song lost its anger as a result. Billie Eilish and her brother-producer Finneas have long credited Radiohead as one of their musical inspirations. Billie Eilish demonstrated her love for Radiohead during a recent tour stop.
During a performance at Coachella 2008, Prince did a cover of Creep. Later on Prince requested that all of his live footage from the Coachella show be removed, including the cover of Creep, to which Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke responded “Well, tell him to unblock it. It’s our … song.”
We bet you didn't know; The song is musically similar to a 1972 song by The Hollies called The Air That I Breathe, written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood, whose publishers took legal action. Radiohead acknowledged that the songs were similar and agreed to share some of the songwriting royalties and add Hammond and Hazlewood to the writing credits.
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 1988 landmark feature Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Stubby Kaye, and Joanna Cassidy, with Charles Fleischer providing the voice of Roger Rabbit. The film was very expensive to produce. With an estimated budget of $70 million, it was the most expensive film made in the 1980s and featured one of the longest on-screen credit sequences of its time. The first test audience, composed largely of 18- and 19-year-olds, hated it. After nearly the entire audience walked out of the screening, Zemeckis, who had final cut, said he wasn’t changing a thing. The film opened to critical acclaim for its visuals, humor, writing, performances, and groundbreaking combination of live-action and animation. It went on to gross over $351 million worldwide.
During production, one of the biggest challenges was figuring out how to make the cartoon characters interact convincingly with real on-set props. This was ultimately achieved in two ways. Certain props (such as Baby Herman’s cigar or the plates Roger smashes over his head) were moved on set using motion-control machines operated by technicians who manipulated the objects precisely as needed. In post-production, the animated character was then drawn over the machinery. The second method involved puppeteers. This technique is most clearly seen in the scene set in the Ink & Paint Club. The glasses held by the octopus bartender were controlled by puppeteers positioned above the set, while the trays carried by the penguin waiters were attached to rods operated from below. The wires and rods were later removed in post-production, and the animated characters were added in.
Every frame that combined live-action and animation had to be printed as a still photograph. An animator would draw the illustration for that specific frame on tracing paper placed over the photograph. The outline drawing was then hand-colored before being composited back into the original frame using an optical printer.
A total of 326 animators worked full-time on the film. Altogether, 82,080 frames of animation were produced, including storyboards and concept art. Animation director Richard Williams estimated that well over one million drawings were created for the movie.
So find a comfortable chair, dim the lights, and join us here at The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour as we enjoy this animated classic: Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Producer Steven Spielberg was able to convince Warner Bros. to allow Zemeckis to include several of their Looney Tunes characters in what was otherwise a Disney production. Warner Bros. agreed, provided certain quality-control and screen-time conditions were met and that their characters were treated respectfully by the animators. Several years later, while in pre-production on the live-action/animated crossover film Space Jam, Warner Bros. asked Disney to return the favor by allowing a major Disney character to appear as a special guest during the film’s final game. The Walt Disney Company (by then under new management) refused. Warner Bros. accused Disney of breaking an almost decade-old gentleman’s agreement and declared they would no longer cooperate with the studio. As a result - and despite initial threats of legal action - Space Jam reportedly included several barbed jokes aimed directly at Disney.
Demand Euphoria!
Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with another Porky Pig Looney Tunes cartoon, the 1939 Looney Tunes Porky's Tire Trouble directed by Bob Clampett
When Flat Foot Flooky emerges from the rubberizing solution he molds his face into caricatures of Edward G. Robinson, Edna May Oliver, Clark Gable, and Hugh Herbert.
Traveling along the dark shoals of the intraweb to bring you, something interesting, dear Bunkies, the staff of The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour was thinking about Radiohead's classic Creep. I'm guessing many of you didin't realize that this was the bands' first single, released in the UK in September 1992. It flopped, and they rather reluctantly included it on their debut album, Pablo Honey, in February 1993. To their surprise, it started getting some airplay and found an audience, so their label re-issued it in September 1993 and it rose to #7 in the UK.
According to the book Radiohead: Hysterical and Useless, this song was inspired by Thom Yorke's obsession with a stranger. He was infatuated with a woman who was out of his league, who he'd never met but frequently saw in bars, and he found himself following her around.
On the album version, Thom Yorke sings, "You're so f--king special." For radio, he recut it as, "You're so very special." Yorke regrets changing the line for the radio version, saying it disturbed the "sentiment of the song." According to him, the song lost its anger as a result. Billie Eilish and her brother-producer Finneas have long credited Radiohead as one of their musical inspirations. Billie Eilish demonstrated her love for Radiohead during a recent tour stop.
During a performance at Coachella 2008, Prince did a cover of Creep. Later on Prince requested that all of his live footage from the Coachella show be removed, including the cover of Creep, to which Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke responded “Well, tell him to unblock it. It’s our … song.”
We bet you didn't know; The song is musically similar to a 1972 song by The Hollies called The Air That I Breathe, written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood, whose publishers took legal action. Radiohead acknowledged that the songs were similar and agreed to share some of the songwriting royalties and add Hammond and Hazlewood to the writing credits.
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 1988 landmark feature Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Stubby Kaye, and Joanna Cassidy, with Charles Fleischer providing the voice of Roger Rabbit. The film was very expensive to produce. With an estimated budget of $70 million, it was the most expensive film made in the 1980s and featured one of the longest on-screen credit sequences of its time. The first test audience, composed largely of 18- and 19-year-olds, hated it. After nearly the entire audience walked out of the screening, Zemeckis, who had final cut, said he wasn’t changing a thing. The film opened to critical acclaim for its visuals, humor, writing, performances, and groundbreaking combination of live-action and animation. It went on to gross over $351 million worldwide.
During production, one of the biggest challenges was figuring out how to make the cartoon characters interact convincingly with real on-set props. This was ultimately achieved in two ways. Certain props (such as Baby Herman’s cigar or the plates Roger smashes over his head) were moved on set using motion-control machines operated by technicians who manipulated the objects precisely as needed. In post-production, the animated character was then drawn over the machinery. The second method involved puppeteers. This technique is most clearly seen in the scene set in the Ink & Paint Club. The glasses held by the octopus bartender were controlled by puppeteers positioned above the set, while the trays carried by the penguin waiters were attached to rods operated from below. The wires and rods were later removed in post-production, and the animated characters were added in.
Every frame that combined live-action and animation had to be printed as a still photograph. An animator would draw the illustration for that specific frame on tracing paper placed over the photograph. The outline drawing was then hand-colored before being composited back into the original frame using an optical printer.
A total of 326 animators worked full-time on the film. Altogether, 82,080 frames of animation were produced, including storyboards and concept art. Animation director Richard Williams estimated that well over one million drawings were created for the movie.
So find a comfortable chair, dim the lights, and join us here at The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour as we enjoy this animated classic: Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Producer Steven Spielberg was able to convince Warner Bros. to allow Zemeckis to include several of their Looney Tunes characters in what was otherwise a Disney production. Warner Bros. agreed, provided certain quality-control and screen-time conditions were met and that their characters were treated respectfully by the animators. Several years later, while in pre-production on the live-action/animated crossover film Space Jam, Warner Bros. asked Disney to return the favor by allowing a major Disney character to appear as a special guest during the film’s final game. The Walt Disney Company (by then under new management) refused. Warner Bros. accused Disney of breaking an almost decade-old gentleman’s agreement and declared they would no longer cooperate with the studio. As a result - and despite initial threats of legal action - Space Jam reportedly included several barbed jokes aimed directly at Disney.
Demand Euphoria!
Friday, February 27, 2026
Thursday, February 26, 2026
Wednesday, February 25, 2026
Tuesday, February 24, 2026
Monday, February 23, 2026
Sunday, February 22, 2026
Saturday, February 21, 2026
ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour (477)
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 1939 Looney Tunes It's an Ill Wind directed by Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton
Both Dizzy Duck and Porky's pet dog bear a passing resemblance to animated characters from rival studio Disney.
Hey bunkies, the staff atThe ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour want to share with you another fantastic mash-up from Bill McClintock -
This one really is amazing! Who would think of Sade and Ratt (and Santana) in the same universe as well as the same song.
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 1988 seminal dystopian anime Akira, directed by J Katsuhiro Otomo. A landmark in Japanese animation, Akira is widely cited as an influential work in the development of anime, adult animation, and Japanese cyberpunk. The film is widely credited with breaking anime into mainstream Western audiences. Akira's final budget was $10 million (¥1.1 billion), making it the most expensive Japanese animated film before Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away released in 2001.
Set in a neon-soaked, post-apocalyptic Tokyo in 2019, the story centers on the volatile friendship between Tetsuo Shima and his longtime friend Shotaro Kaneda - a rivalry that escalates from teenage rebellion to psychic catastrophe. While much of the character design and world-building comes directly from Ôtomo’s sprawling 2,182-page manga, the film’s narrative was radically streamlined. Entire arcs were condensed. Characters vanished. The result is leaner, faster, and charged with kinetic intensity.
Katsuhiro Ôtomo initially had no intention of adapting his manga for the screen. But when the opportunity arose, he became “very intrigued.” He agreed - on one non-negotiable condition: complete creative control. (A lesson learned from his earlier work on Harmagedon.) Legend has it he filled roughly 2,000 pages of notebooks with ideas and designs. The final storyboard alone ran 738 pages.
So find a comfortable chair, dim the lights, and join us here at The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour as we dive headlong into one of the most influential animated films ever made: Akira.
The iconic shot of Kaneda’s red bike sliding to a stop, sparks flying, framed from behind during the opening chase. It may be the most imitated shot in animation history. Homages have appeared in Teen Titans, Genndy Tartakovsky’s Star Wars: Clone Wars, Samurai Jack, Batman: The Animated Series, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Adventure Time, The Simpsons, and even Pokémon.
Demand Euphoria!
Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with another Porky Pig Looney Tunes cartoon, the 1939 Looney Tunes It's an Ill Wind directed by Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton
Both Dizzy Duck and Porky's pet dog bear a passing resemblance to animated characters from rival studio Disney.
Hey bunkies, the staff atThe ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour want to share with you another fantastic mash-up from Bill McClintock -
This one really is amazing! Who would think of Sade and Ratt (and Santana) in the same universe as well as the same song.
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 1988 seminal dystopian anime Akira, directed by J Katsuhiro Otomo. A landmark in Japanese animation, Akira is widely cited as an influential work in the development of anime, adult animation, and Japanese cyberpunk. The film is widely credited with breaking anime into mainstream Western audiences. Akira's final budget was $10 million (¥1.1 billion), making it the most expensive Japanese animated film before Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away released in 2001.
Set in a neon-soaked, post-apocalyptic Tokyo in 2019, the story centers on the volatile friendship between Tetsuo Shima and his longtime friend Shotaro Kaneda - a rivalry that escalates from teenage rebellion to psychic catastrophe. While much of the character design and world-building comes directly from Ôtomo’s sprawling 2,182-page manga, the film’s narrative was radically streamlined. Entire arcs were condensed. Characters vanished. The result is leaner, faster, and charged with kinetic intensity.
Katsuhiro Ôtomo initially had no intention of adapting his manga for the screen. But when the opportunity arose, he became “very intrigued.” He agreed - on one non-negotiable condition: complete creative control. (A lesson learned from his earlier work on Harmagedon.) Legend has it he filled roughly 2,000 pages of notebooks with ideas and designs. The final storyboard alone ran 738 pages.
So find a comfortable chair, dim the lights, and join us here at The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour as we dive headlong into one of the most influential animated films ever made: Akira.
The iconic shot of Kaneda’s red bike sliding to a stop, sparks flying, framed from behind during the opening chase. It may be the most imitated shot in animation history. Homages have appeared in Teen Titans, Genndy Tartakovsky’s Star Wars: Clone Wars, Samurai Jack, Batman: The Animated Series, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Adventure Time, The Simpsons, and even Pokémon.
Demand Euphoria!
Friday, February 20, 2026
Thursday, February 19, 2026
Wednesday, February 18, 2026
Tuesday, February 17, 2026
Monday, February 16, 2026
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