Shat the Movies: 80's & 90's Best Film Review

This week, Shat The Movies heads to Chicago for The Negotiator, the 1998 hostage thriller that asks a simple question: What happens when the best hostage negotiator in the city takes hostages of his own?
Starring Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey in a battle of wits, the film turns a police corruption investigation into a tense, talk-heavy showdown filled with double-crosses, suspicious cops, and enough flashbangs to outfit a small army.
Gene and Big D revisit a late-'90s thriller that feels like a mashup of Die Hard, The Fugitive, and a Chicago tourism commercial gone horribly wrong. The guys debate whether Danny Roman's plan is brilliant or completely insane, marvel at the film's stacked supporting cast, and discuss why every Chicago movie seems to feature cops making catastrophically bad decisions.
Along the way, they break down David Morse's hard-nosed performance, the film's escalating paranoia, and the rare action movie that wins battles with conversation instead of gunfire.
Is The Negotiator an underrated thriller from the golden age of adult action movies, or a wildly implausible conspiracy held together by charisma, shouting, and Samuel L. Jackson's ability to dominate every room he's in?
Full movie info below
When a respected Chicago police hostage negotiator is framed for corruption and murder, he seizes a government office and takes hostages in a desperate attempt to uncover the real conspiracy. With the city closing in, he turns to another elite negotiator to help expose the truth before time runs out.
Subscribe Now
Android: https://www.shatpod.com/android
Apple/iTunes: https://www.shatpod.com/apple
Help Support the Podcast
Contact Us: https://www.shatpod.com/contact
Commission Movie: https://www.shatpod.com/support
Support with Paypal: https://www.shatpod.com/paypal
Support With Venmo: https://www.shatpod.com/venmo
Shop Merchandise: https://www.shatpod.com/shop
Theme Song - Die Hard by Guyz Nite: https://www.facebook.com/guyznite

Shat The Movies hits the open road with The Hitcher, the 1986 horror-thriller that transformed an ordinary highway drive into pure nightmare fuel. Starring Rutger Hauer as the terrifying and impossibly calm John Ryder, the film follows a young traveler who makes the mistake of picking up a hitchhiker—and spends the rest of the movie trying to survive the consequences.
Gene and Big D break down why Hauer's performance feels less like a human villain and more like an unstoppable force of nature, debate whether C. Thomas Howell's Jim is incredibly unlucky or catastrophically stupid, and revisit the movie's bleak, sweaty atmosphere that makes every gas station and desert highway feel hostile. Along the way, the guys discuss the film's infamous truck sequence, the bizarrely useless police force, and why this movie permanently convinced an entire generation never to pick up hitchhikers.
Full movie info below
While transporting a car across the Southwest, a young man picks up a mysterious hitchhiker who quickly reveals himself to be a sadistic killer. Framed for a string of brutal murders and hunted by police, the driver is forced into a deadly game of survival across endless desert highways.
Subscribe Now
Android: https://www.shatpod.com/android
Apple/iTunes: https://www.shatpod.com/apple
Help Support the Podcast
Contact Us: https://www.shatpod.com/contact
Commission Movie: https://www.shatpod.com/support
Support with Paypal: https://www.shatpod.com/paypal
Support With Venmo: https://www.shatpod.com/venmo
Shop Merchandise: https://www.shatpod.com/shop
Theme Song - Die Hard by Guyz Nite: https://www.facebook.com/guyznite

This week, Shat The Movies steps into the crossfire with Rapid Fire, the 1992 action thriller that gave Brandon Lee his best showcase as a leading man. Commissioned by listener Rob H., this early-'90s cult favorite blends Chicago mobsters, Chinese Triads, and some of the most inventive martial arts choreography of the decade. Listener Rob calls it "an absolute belter" and wonders how big Brandon Lee might have become had tragedy not cut his career short.
Gene and Big D revisit Lee's undeniable screen presence, Powers Boothe's mustache-free oddness, and a string of brilliantly staged fight scenes that turn restaurant pillars, cutlery drawers, and even laundry racks into weapons. Along the way, they debate whether Rapid Fire is a gritty action gem, a glorified Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie without the turtle suits, or simply the finest use of a clothing rail in cinematic history.
Is Rapid Fire the forgotten martial arts classic that proved Brandon Lee was destined for stardom—or just a formulaic early-'90s thriller elevated by charisma, choreography, and pure ass-kicking energy?
Full movie info below
After witnessing the murder of his father during the Tiananmen Square protests, a college student with elite martial arts skills is drawn into a deadly war between federal agents, the Chicago mob, and Chinese drug traffickers when he becomes the key witness in a major criminal case.
Subscribe Now
Android: https://www.shatpod.com/android
Apple/iTunes: https://www.shatpod.com/apple
Help Support the Podcast
Contact Us: https://www.shatpod.com/contact
Commission Movie: https://www.shatpod.com/support
Support with Paypal: https://www.shatpod.com/paypal
Support With Venmo: https://www.shatpod.com/venmo
Shop Merchandise: https://www.shatpod.com/shop
Theme Song - Die Hard by Guyz Nite: https://www.facebook.com/guyznite

This week, Shat The Movies dives into Jerry Maguire, Cameron Crowe's 1996 romantic dramedy that gave us mission statements, sports agents, and more endlessly quoted lines than almost any movie of the decade.
Tom Cruise stars as Jerry, a high-powered agent whose sudden moral awakening costs him everything except one loyal client, one overwhelmed single mom, and one very intense kid obsessed with the human head.
Gene and Big D revisit Cuba Gooding Jr.'s explosive Oscar-winning performance, debate whether Jerry is genuinely changing or just professionally spiraling, and unpack why this movie somehow works as a sports film, romance, workplace drama, and midlife crisis all at once. Along the way, the guys discuss Cruise's impossible charisma, Renée Zellweger's emotional heavy lifting, and whether "You complete me" is one of cinema's most romantic lines—or one of its biggest emotional red flags.
Full movie info below
After a crisis of conscience gets him fired from a major sports agency, Jerry Maguire starts his own firm with only one client and one coworker, forcing him to rebuild his career, relationships, and sense of purpose from the ground up.
Subscribe Now
Android: https://www.shatpod.com/android
Apple/iTunes: https://www.shatpod.com/apple
Help Support the Podcast
Contact Us: https://www.shatpod.com/contact
Commission Movie: https://www.shatpod.com/support
Support with Paypal: https://www.shatpod.com/paypal
Support With Venmo: https://www.shatpod.com/venmo
Shop Merchandise: https://www.shatpod.com/shop
Theme Song - Die Hard by Guyz Nite: https://www.facebook.com/guyznite

This week on Shat the Movies, we're revisiting True Colors (1991), where friendship and ambition collide in a very 90s way. John Cusack and James Spader play college friends whose paths split as one chases power in politics and the other tries to hold onto his ideals. Gene and Big D break down the betrayals, the moral gray areas, and whether this drama still feels relevant today. Does it land as a sharp look at ambition, or just a polished soap opera? Tune in and find out.
Full movie info below
True Colors (1991) is a political drama directed by Herbert Ross and starring John Cusack, James Spader, Imogen Stubbs, and Mandy Patinkin. The film follows two friends from law school whose careers take very different directions, leading to a clash of ethics, loyalty, and personal ambition. Set against the backdrop of American politics, it explores how far someone will go to succeed and what gets lost along the way.
Subscribe Now
Android: https://www.shatpod.com/android
Apple/iTunes: https://www.shatpod.com/apple
Help Support the Podcast
Contact Us: https://www.shatpod.com/contact
Commission Movie: https://www.shatpod.com/support
Support with Paypal: https://www.shatpod.com/paypal
Support With Venmo: https://www.shatpod.com/venmo
Shop Merchandise: https://www.shatpod.com/shop
Theme Song - Die Hard by Guyz Nite: https://www.facebook.com/guyznite