At the end of the 80s, the Oscars found themselves short on meaningful, artful, epics, tried to find some heartwarming story about ending racism, and settled for Driving Miss Daisy. Meanwhile, Hollywood began to pay attention to the worldwide box office instead of just the US, and we have our first split between domestic and international box office champions. Batman and Indiana Jones battled for box office supremacy, and who are we to pick a favourite? Munsi Parker-Munroe returns to help Claire, Erin, and Dan dissect whether Driving Miss Daisy is actually a bad movie or just disliked as an Oscar winner, how Burton's Batman holds up, and whether Last Crusade is the best of the Indys (which Dan's Extra Credit Corner is here to rank). Crank the Batdance and come join us!

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It's the one Joint Champion of the 1980s, as neither Oscars nor audience can resist Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise teaming up for the road movie Rain Man, which also serves as perhaps the first major pop culture depiction of autism. Here to help Claire, Erin, and Dan break down the movie's efforts to examine neurodivergence is Dan's big brother Dr. Chris Gibbins, psychologist specializing in this exact topic, so a fun break from work for Chris. How are the medical professionals depicted this time around, and which is the favourite? What would the 2024 version of this look like? Are we sure Tom Cruise's character isn't also on the spectrum? Join us as we cover all things Rain Man before it's time for Wapner.

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In 1987, both Academy and Audience were making questionable choices in very different directions, so Kevin Weir's back to help Erin, Claire, and Dan get into it. The Oscar went to The Last Emperor, chronicling the uniquely tragic life of China's final emperor Puyi, and the gang accidentally watches the longest possible version. The audience goes far lighter with Three Men and a Baby, about three bachelors trying to take care of a baby left at their door... while also in a cat-and-mouse game with the mafia? Comedy! Your hosts search for the exact right Three Men to helm the remake Disney may yet still be considering. Listen in for a discussion that almost certainly probably doesn't go off the rails repeatedly.

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In 1986, Hollywood was in two minds about the military. Oliver Stone won an Oscar for his ground-level examination of the destruction and darkness of the Vietnam War, via one idealistic recruit being ground down by perpetual horror and atrocity. Tony Scott went another way, with whizz-bang planes that go fast and hot shot fighter pilots flying and fighting and erotically playing beach volleyball in Top Gun, which won over the crowds and made Tom Cruise a bona fide Movie Star. It's dumb and fun vs smart and soul-crushing: who won the hearts of our hosts? Tune in and find out!

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It's 1985 and the tonal gap between Academy winners and Audience favourite isn't getting smaller. The Oscar goes to Meryl Streep and Robert Redford's languidly paced, ill-fated romance in Out of Africa. Returning guest Gina Stewart joins Erin, Claire, and Dan to explain how the actual Karen Blixen's memoir of life in colonial Africa was mutated into an Oscar-bait romance. The audience turned out stronger for the unhinged sci-fi comedy Back to the Future, which would pave the way for a generation's worth of comedic hot takes, but does it still work as a movie? And what's Dan got to share in Extra Credit Corner? Tune in and find out!

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It's buddy cops and classical music frenemies as Academy Vs Audience reaches 1984! First off, the Oscar goes to Amadeus, a film version of the what-if story proposing a deadly rivalry between composers Mozart and Salieri... a rivalry only one of them knows about. Erin, Claire, and Dan dig into it, the music, the wig-game, and if it's as gripping as film reddit insists. While that happened Eddie Murphy cemented himself as a movie star in Beverly Hills Cop, and we look at which parts aged more gracefully than others. Is Amadeus still a classic? Is Beverly Hills Cop still a certified good time? Listen and find out!

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It's 1983, and the big movies are all about difficult parent/child relationships. The Oscars went to Terms of Endearment, a mother/daughter story conceived, written, and brought to the screen by men, and Erin, Claire, and Dan have a lot of questions and notes on its success. Audiences, however, needed to see how Han Solo got out of the carbonite, and flocked to Return of the Jedi, which would seem to be the end of Star Wars. It wasn't, but nobody knew that. Lots of hot takes on bad names, bad relationships, and unnecessarily sexy alien lounge singers, so strap in!

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While Erin and Claire are busy with the all-new theatrical experience of Riverona, travel back with us to 1944 and what Dan insists against all opposition is "one of the three most criminally underrated Best Pictures in history," the cask-stength comfort viewing of Going My Way. But first, for All 80s Summer, Erin has a speed-run review of George Miller's Mad Max saga, since we don't live in a just world and will not have a 2024 episode on Best Picture Furiosa and Box Office Champion The Fall Guy. That's on us as a society. Join us in reminiscing on Father Chuck O'Malley, whose unflinching love and support could rebuild the world.

Find all of our episodes and the rest of Writing Therapy Productions' various entertainments at www.writingtherapyproductions.com