Our movie of the Month for September is a Back to School Special for all the really bright Lambs out there. If you are not so bright, you will probably enjoy it as well. The film is “Real Genius” from 1985. It’s one of three films opening within a two week span in 1985 classified as Teen Sci Fi Comedies. Those of us on the show this week, would largely agree that this one wins “Best in Show”.
Val Kilmer stars as Chris Knight, a senior at a prestigious tech college modeled after Cal Tech. His devil may care attitude may be influencing fifteen year old Freshman Mitch, who has been brought to the University early to assist Professor Jerry Hathaway in completing a high intensity laser project. Hathaway is played by everyone’s favorite 1980s douchebag William Atherton.
Of course college hijinks, especially at a science based technical institution like “Pacific Tech”, takes some interesting forms. Will the pressure break Mitch?, Will Chris manage top graduate? Will their Laser Tech be weaponized? Will the bad guys get a comeuppance? This is a 1980s comedy, so you won’t be too surprised at the answers to those questions, but you will enjoy hearing the film’s Champion, Jeanette Ward, lead a discussion with Rachel Wagner and James Wilson. Not everyone laughed as hard as the others, but everyone was pleased that the film had a sweet heart and less bullying than is typical in an 80s teen film.
Get ready for the tanning party and your descent into the steam tunnels to discover exactly how you can scam a contest from Frito-Lays and get the girl. Jeanette has a great, simple game that you can play along with, and the exit question let’s us talk briefly about some other college based films. There’s a better than 37.5% chance you will love the show.
Introductions
Jeanette Leads the Discussion 2:57
“Hey is Val Kilmer in This?” The Game 47:50
Exit Question 1:04:17
Plugs 1:10:24
James Blogging By Cinema Light
Rachel Rachels Reviews Hallmarkies
Jeanette J.Ward Adventures (The Mundane Adventures of a Fan Girl)
Richard KAMAD
The show can be found, of course, via iTunes – just do a search for “LAMBcast.” Also, I always post a link to the show on the LAMBcast’s Facebook page, and there’s a player there if you’d like to listen online. Find the show here:
https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/lambcast/episodes/2023-09-11T11_01_05-07_00
If you’d ever like to catch up on back episodes, go there. If you’re interested, you too can be a LAMBcaster – we love new blood! For more information on the LAMBcast, check out the topic at the LAMB Forums. Music provided royalty-free by Kevin MacLeod’s Incompetech website. Big thanks to Kevin for providing this service. Closing song by Cake. The LAMBcast loves feedback, too – if you’d like yours read on a future show, leave it in the comments section at the LAMB. Please visit and like our Facebook page, and finally, we’re on iTunes, and would still love a review, even if it’s a bad one. Thanks for listening!