Christmas Special (Episode 39 ~ The Christmas Martian)

Merry Christmas! We're here with a special episode for this special time of year, and with quite the movie for you. We continue with the Canadian Tales For All movie series with the proto-version made a decade earlier in 1971. That would make this one of the earliest movies we've covered on the show proper, though there's a good reason for that. It's finally time for The Christmas Martian, which would be Tales For All #0.

Check out today's episode and learn just how strange it can get!

Randy's Score: 3/5

JD's Score: 3/5

Spotify link here!

Up Next: The Dog Who Stopped the War!

Halloween Spectacular VII! (Episode 30)

Welcome back to our seventh Halloween special since starting Cannon Cruisers! If you're wondering what the sixth special was last year, it ran from summer from the start of winter. That was a big one, but this year we decided to do something a bit more traditional.

Like most other years we decided to take on a classic Hollywood franchise from back in the day. Our choice? One of the heavy hitters from the 1970s: The Exorcist!

However, much like our Psycho episode, we decided to skip the most well known film everyone already knows about and has talked on incessantly over the years. It's great, you know it's great, what else can we add? Instead we decided to cover the following two entries in the series. And boy are they different!

Don't worry, though, there is plenty of talk of the original (and we even give our scores for it) as we go into what makes this sequels succeed or fail. It's quite the journey!

We've got much to cover so I won't waste your time here. Anyway, strap in and enjoy in this extra long special episode!

As always, have a Happy Halloween and a great All Saints Day!

The Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)

Randy's Score: 1/5

JD's Score: 1/5

The Exorcist III: Legion (1990)

Randy's Score: 3/5

JD's Score: 4/5

Spotify link here!

Up Next: Gymkata!

Episode 170 - Cannon Countdown: Top 100 Cannon Movies! [Part 5]

This is it! We've finally made it to the end!

This is our 300th overall episode, and our last traditional Cannon Cruisers episode. In this one we finally settle on the Top 25, as well as give out each of our own personal lists for Top 25 Cannon movies. It's an extra long finale as we wrap up the old series with style.

What comes next? Well, keep your eyes on the blog for that. Over the next two weeks I will be putting up new posts on the blog putting up the text version of our lists and then a more detailed description of what we'll be doing next.

Long story short, Cannon Cruisers will still be around, just in a slightly different form. But that will come later.

For now, enjoy this finale episode. It's been a long time coming. Thank you for sticking with us over the years! It's been a blast and we can't wait to show you what comes next.

Keep cruising that Cannon (and Non-Cannon) catalog, and we'll see you soon!

Up Next: A post featuring all the Cannon lists!

Episode 169 - Cannon Countdown: Top 100 Cannon Movies! [Part 4]

Welcome back to out final list of Cannon movies! This episode is a bit shorter than the last few as we narrow down the list leading up to the Top 25 films. You can think of this one as more of an episode where we sweep it up.

There isn't much longer to go, however. After today all that is left is to assemble our Top 25 Cannon Films and decide just what belongs where. So jump on in and listen as we struggle to figure out how to get there. It's a blast.

Once again, thank you for spending so many episodes with us. We never thought we'd make it this far, and yet here we are. Only just a bit further to go!

Up Next: The finale!

Episode 168 - Cannon Countdown: Top 100 Cannon Movies! [Part 3]

One again we dive into this list of ours, and seek to find some organization among the madness, Today we seek some clarity among the 50 titles we have left. How does one even start to imagine what will make it higher? This is the point where we start making more difficult decisions and really digging into why we like them.

Since we've been doing this since 2017, we've watched a lot of Cannon movies and related movies and we've learned an appreciation for films of that era. It's hard to imagine even being able to have this conversation at all back then, never mind choosing the flicks to do today. It took this long just to truly get why we look doing what we do.

As always, check out today's episode to find out just what we think about these movies from infamous studio whose reputation only improves by the year. There's still two more episodes to go. Tune in to learn just what makes the list!

Up Next: Part 4!

Episode 167 - Cannon Countdown: Top 100 Cannon Movies! [Part 2]

Welcome back! In this second episode of our special countdown episodes we finally reach our consensus on the bottom 50 as we decide what doesn't quite make the cut from last time. With this episode we are more or less halfway there!

This episode is a bit less controversial than last time, but we still make some surprising additions I didn't quite expect when cobbling this together.

As always check out today's much longer than usual episode to figure out just what we consider makes the divide on our list between the top and bottom Cannon movies of all time! You might be shocked.

Up Next: Part 3!

Episode 166 - Cannon Countdown: Top 100 Cannon Movies! [Part 1]

Welcome to the Cannon Countdown!

In this episode we go over what we would consider our favorite movies Cannon Films put out! We go over all the Cannon movies we have covered in the over six years we've been doing this and decide which ones will make the list.

That's right, it's time to decide, what are the 100 best Cannon movies? Join us in this first edition as we go over the basic list to choose what does and doesn't make the first round of cuts. Do your favorites make it? Tune in and find out!

This is going to take a few episodes!

Up Next: Part 2!

Non-Cannon ~ Episode 130 - Our Top Twenty-Five Non-Cannon Films!

We're going back deep! This is the final Non-Cannon episode! What will make the cut? In this episode we discuss our favorites from the past half decade+ of Cannon Cruisers to decide just what is the best of the best!

Our lists might surprise you!

For those who wish to see the full list in print, you can find it below. Thank you for listening and enjoy today's extra long episode! We did not expect it to be so long.

Randy's favorite Non-Cannon movies

1. Used Cars

2. Tombstone

3. Heat

4. Groundhog Day

5. Assault on Precinct 13

6. Innerspace

7. Romancing the Stone

8. Tremors

9. Toy Soldiers

10. Gremlins 2

11. Halloween 3: Season of the Witch

12. Radioactive Dreams

13. Deadly Games Dial Code Santa Claus

14. Highlander

15. Midnight Run

16. Poltergeist

17. Big Trouble in Little China

18. Heavyweights

19. Alien Private Eye

20. New York Ninja

21. The Lost Boys

23. Extreme Prejudice

22. The Hidden

24. Manhattan Project

25. In the Mouth of Madness

JD's favorite Non-Cannon movies

1. Streets of Fire

2. Tombstone

3. Assault on Precinct 13

4. Heat

5. Big Trouble in Little China

6. The Warriors

7. Commando

8. The Hidden

9. The Miami Connection

10. Cobra

11. Groundhog Day

12. Radioactive Dreams

13. Tremors

14. Extreme Prejudice

15. Lone Wolf McQuade

16. In the Mouth of Madness

17. Innerspace

18. Romancing the Stone

19. Escape from New York

20. Highlander

21. Road House

22. Gremlins 2: the New Batch

23. Camp Nowhere

24. Sidekicks

25. Eliminators

Up Next: Our Big 5-part Cannon Finale!

Episode 160 - Season 08 Wrap-Up! [Part Two]

 

Welcome to the second half of our long season ending episode! In this one we cover near 25 films. It was a very, very long season as we went through so many movies, so stick around for the back half of this lineup to see what you might have missed.

This is an extra stuffed episode, so please enjoy. After this we will be doing a new special series to prepare for out big finale to come. Thank you for sticking around so long and we will see you next week for more movies!

Cannon Cruisers is not quite done yet!

Up Next: Maximum Overdrive!

Episode 159 - Season 08 Wrap-Up! [Part One]

That's write, this hour long episode is only part one in our big season finale for Cannon! Since we covered over 50(!) movies in this season alone, we decided to split this episode in half. Next week you will be able to hear the rest of our conversation as we delve into the best and worst Cannon movies in this extra long never-ending season!

I promise the episode is nowhere near as endless as the season itself was. No, we had a pretty good time talking. We covered just about everything we could over these fifty films and as brief a coversation as possible.

Check out today's episode to see just how it went!

Up Next: Season 08 Wrap-Up Part 2!

Non-Cannon ~ Episode 116 - Season 08 Wrap-Up!

We've finally made it to the end of this incredibly long eighth season of Cannon Cruisers! Instead of our usual Cannon movie round up, we decided to first start with our Non-Cannon episodes. Those (yes, it's more than one) will be saved for next week. In this episode the two of us cover 30+ Non-Cannon movies and talk for an hour!

Hope you're ready to settle in. It's a long one!

Up Next: Season 08 Cannon Wrap-Up Part One!

Christmas Special (Non-Cannon ~ Episode 107)

Merry Christmas! We have a surprise special episode for you this week!

This year we decided to do something very different and for the first time also chose to talk about a movie slightly outside of our usual place. Deadly Games: Dial Code Santa Claus is a French movie, but one clearly inspired by Hollywood trends of the time, most notably b-movie Cannon style exploitation horror and action. It has a different take on the, by now, rather played out "Killer Santa" trope featuring many dualities between adulthood and childhood and what it means to grow up. What is fascinating is that it does all of this without remembering to entertain first, making it truly feel like the sort of film Cannon Cruisers would normally cover regardless.

Check out today's very special episode and you might understand why we chose to cover it. Deadly Games: Dial Code Santa Claus is of a surprising quality you might not expect from the title. It doesn't get more recommended by us than this.

And no, Home Alone did not rip this movie off. Anyone who has actually watched both movies will tell you that, vague premise similarities aside, they are completely different movies. but both are certainly worth watching.

Randy's Score: 5/5

JD's Score: 5/5

Up Next: Seed of Innocence!

Halloween Spectacular V! (Non-Cannon - Episode 104)

Welcome back to our fifth Halloween Spectacular since starting Cannon Cruisers! It's been a long year since the last one, and we decided this time to finish off covering the big slasher franchises from the time period by tackling the Friday the 13th series for the first time since we started years ago.

The difference is that we decided not to start with the original movie, for reasons mentioned in the episode, but instead jumped ahead to what are regularly considered the best instalments of the series with Friday the 13th, Part IV and Friday the 13th, Part VI! For those who have seen them, you understand why. For those who don't, check out today's special!

The 1980s were a bizarre time in the saga of horror stories, and you'll see just why when you learn just how different these movies are from on another. For a series based around a slasher villain killing people, you would be surprised how inventive they got with it. And they did it four and six movies in, respectively.

That said, they are still straightforward slasher movies, so don't expect a Lifeforce or The Hidden out of them. Despite that, you would be surprised as to how ambitious they were with such a basic and tired premise. That makes them worth talking about today! Horror doesn't have to be pure throwaway and these simple, old franchise movies, of all things, show you how that can be the case.

Happy Halloween, and have a great All Saint's Day!

Friday the 13th, Part IV: The Final Chapter (1984)

Randy's Score: 3/5

JD's Score: 3/5

Friday the 13th, Part VI: Jason Lives! (1986)

Randy's Score: 3/5

JD's Score: 4/5

Up Next: Lifeforce (Revisited)!

Non-Cannon ~ Episode 85 - Season 07 Wrap-Up!

Finishing up our work from 2021, check out our end of season episode for the Non-Cannon movies we covered! We decided to split this into two episodes to make them more digestible, but they are nonetheless each packed with plenty of content.

After our big summer special we decided it might be best to give a look back its own individual special to focus on, on top of the other Non-Cannon episodes we covered. As always, check the episode above for our full thoughts!

That is all for season 7! We will be taking the next two weeks off to hopefully get a new backlog of episodes for you to enjoy. Season 8 is just around the corner!

Until then, have a good January!

Up Next: The Warriors!

Episode 107 - Season 07 Wrap-Up!

Welcome to 2022!

For our first episode of the year, we present to you our season finale for season 7! It was a long road to get here where we covered a lot of films this year. In 2021, we actually covered more movies in a year than we ever have before. Because of that, we decided to split our Non-Cannon movies off into another episode that will be up next week. Today, it's Cannon only!

We once again want to thank you for tuning is for over four years, and hope you'll stick with us to the bitter end. It's been a long road, and we've still got some ground left to cover. Thanks for sticking around through 2021.

Here's to a great new year!

Up Next: Non-Cannon Wrap-Up!

Christmas Special (Non-Cannon ~ Episode 84)

Merry Christmas! This year we decided to record a kind of joke episode for you based on a notorious horror movie from back in the day.

You've probably heard of this one before, and if not you're in for a treat, but we thought something silly would be apt after a difficult year for a lot of people. We had a lot of fun watching and recording this episode, so hopefully you have a good time listening to it.

The movie might be completely loopy, but it isn't without any merit. Find out why in today's episode on Silent Night, Deadly Night 2 from 1987.

Randy's Score: 3/5

JD's Score: 3/5

Up Next: Season 7 Wrap-Up!

Special Episode: New York Ninja (1984/2021) [Non-Cannon ~ Episode 81]

This is a movie that is weird to talk about since it is essentially a long lost b-movie action flick that was found and finished in 2021. Is it modern or vintage? Well, either way it made a good topic for Cannon Cruisers since it is exactly the type of film we cover here. Does it stack up to the Cannon classics or is it a movie that would have been better off left on the shelf?

Check out this extra long discussion in this special episode of Non-Cannon where we go into the final product. Is New York Ninja worthy of the hype? You'll have to listen in and find out. If you are an '80s action movie aficionado then this episode is for you!

It isn't as if we get to talk about interesting projects like this one all too often on here. We were definitely more than happy to do it.

Randy's Score: 4/5

JD's Score: 4/5

Up Next: American Cyborg: Steel Warrior!

Halloween Spectacular IV! (Non-Cannon - Episode 80)

Welcome back to a new year of Halloween specials! Last year we took a side-detour with yours truly covering some movies we probably wouldn't have covered on the main series. This year we return to the old setup of a longer special episode dedicated to a small series of films. And of course we ended up choosing something off the wall.

What did we choose? The two Guyver movies from the early '90s, based on a darker Japanese tokusatsu/superhero franchise with roots back in the 1970s. How do they relate to horror and Halloween? Well, you'll have to tune in and find out.

It was a bizarre time as we also looked into a bit of the old series and source material to see how it compares and by the end we were all Guyver'd out.

Nonetheless, have a watch and stay safe on this spooky Halloween. All Saint's Day is just a stone throw away!

The Guyver (1991)

Randy's Score: 3/5

JD's Score: 3/5

Guyver: Dark Hero (1994)

Randy's Score: 3/5

JD's Score: 3/5

Up Next: Rescue Me!

Episode 91 - Season 06 Wrap-Up

We finally made it!

After over a year in production, and many real world events, Cannon Cruisers season 6 has finally been brought to a close. It's been a long journey, and we are glad to finally move on to the next season and bit of Cannon Films history.

Check out this extra long episode as we wrap it up in style. Can we even remember everything we covered? you'll have to tune in to find out!

As for what's next, we will be taking a two week break before returning with another short special. Pay attention to the episode above if you wish to have a hint as to what it might be. If you've been watching since the beginning then you might have guessed this was coming.

Until then, have a good two weeks. We'll be back before you know it.

Up Next: Assault on Precinct 13!

Special: "The Cannon Film Guide, Volume 1: 1980-1984" Review!

Find it Here!

Surprise! This week I wanted to do something special as we are still between seasons and recording new material. The wheels are rolling again! So I decided to record a review I made on my other blog for a project that will excite anyone who listens to Cannon Cruisers. You can find the original post I read from here. This side episode is all about The Cannon Film Guide, and then some!

Suffice to say, it's a bit long. Sorry if you like it brief!

It's a bit rambly since I'm not used to talking for so long uninterrupted, and I'm dying in a heated room in the middle of summer, so please excuse the quality. Nonetheless, I think this is a review you're going to want to hear! Anyone who has an interest in Cannon Films should look into this new book. It is exactly what you've been waiting for.

JD's rating: Recommended




Up Next: Commando!