Everything Coming to Now Playing Podcast in April 2020
With movie theaters around the globe shuttered and the COVID-19 pandemic postponing new releases for months, the Now Playing Podcast team has been rearranging its April 2020 (and beyond) schedule in order to keep up with the changes.
The fourth month of 2020 will see Now Playing Podcast debuting its “Viral Outbreak” retrospective, a deep dive into Hollywood’s most memorable pandemic and medical disaster dramas. Part “exposure therapy” and part history lesson, the series will examine the realistic (and often unrealistic) portrayals of virus movies on screen; and kicks off with Elia Kazan’s 1950 noir drama Panic In the Streets. In the weeks ahead, the retrospective will jump from decade to decade, showcasing films such as The Andromeda Strain, Outbreak, and Contagion.
While listeners get their “viral” fix on the main feed, Now Playing Podcast will continue its “Tom Cruise: Star of the 80s” retrospective as part of its Spring/Summer 2020 donation drive. Donors at the Gold Level will have already heard reviews of Losin’ It and Risky Business in March; with All the Right Moves arriving on April 3.
Here’s everything coming to Now Playing Podcast in April 2020.
April 3 – All the Right Moves
Hunky jock Tom Cruise butts heads with curmudgeonly coach Craig T. Nelson while romancing 80s icon Lea Thompson. Need we say more? All the Right Moves hit theaters in 1983 but the legacy lives forever, especially if you pause it just right. At least, that’s what we heard.
April 7 – Panic in the Streets
Elia Kazan directs the story of a New Orleans community overcome by paranoia (and panic) as a flu-like illness begins to spread. Like many films in the 1950s, there are underlying themes and metaphors woven throughout the production. The film kicks off Now Playing Podcast’s “Viral Outbreak” retrospective.
April 10 – Legend
Alien director Ridley Scott cast Cruise as the hero of his 1985 fantasy film, which is notable for Tim Curry’s “Lord of Darkness” makeup and its many different cuts. Legend is also notable for being the last Cruise film before Top Gun, when he became Tom Cruise, Movie Star.
April 14 – The Satan Bug
Loosely based on the novel of the same name, 1965’s The Satan Bug focused on a bioweapon with the potential to wipe out all life on the planet. To tell you anymore would give the plot away!
April 17 – Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 Cold War satire is one of the most acclaimed films of its era, and the April 17 review arrives courtesy of Now Playing Podcast listener Clark Fisher, who chose the film through the show’s Podbean platform. Although a comedy, Dr. Strangelove’s examination of Cold War paranoia struck several nerves in its day, and still resonates nearly 60 years later.
April 21 – The Andromeda Strain
Virus movies took a turn into the realm of science fiction with Michael Crichton’s The Andromeda Strain. The 1971 thriller, based off of Crichton’s novel, followed the spread of an alien germ after it attaches to a satellite and crashes in the New Mexico desert.
April 24 – Top Gun
Crank up the Kenny Loggins, because Now Playing heads to the “Danger Zone” on April 24. Top Guncemented Cruise’s star status when it hit theaters in 1986, and the film’s devoted following paved the way for this year’s sequel – still scheduled to be released on June 24, although the date may change.
April 28 – Warning Sign
One of the lesser known entries in Now Playing’s “Viral Outbreak” series will surely be 1985’s Warning Sign, which chronicles the release of a biological weapon inside a secret laboratory and the panicked, violent reaction of those inside. The film, which did not make an impact at the box office, stars Sam Waterston, Kathleen Quinlan, Yaphet Kotto, Jeffrey DeMunn, and GW Bailey.
As Release Dates Shift, Now Playing Podcast Remakes 2020 Schedule
As governments work to contain the global pandemic caused by Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Hollywood studios are swiftly reorganizing their release schedules, postponing anticipated new releases indefinitely and locking down new dates later in 2020 and 2021. As of March 12, major releases including the 25th James Bond film, No Time to Die, Disney’s The New Mutants, Paramount’s A Quiet Place Part II, and Universal’s F9: The Fast Saga had all seen their release dates changed; while studios and theater chains pondered just how long the industry would feel the impact of the still-spreading virus.
With the aforementioned quartet of new releases now off the release calendar, Venganza Media’s Now Playing Podcast moved quickly to fill in the gaps in its weekly podcast schedule, as well as its previously announced Spring/Summer 2020 Donation Drive.
The latter, which was to feature A Quiet Place, A Quiet Place Part II, and Sandra Bullock’s Bird Box at the Platinum donation level, has now been pushed back to August. In its place, the Tom Cruise: Man of the 80s Gold level retrospective will kick off earlier and include a ninth film featuring the star.
March 20 – Losin’ It
March 27 – Risky Business
April 3 – All the Right Moves
April 10 – Legend
April 24 – Top Gun
May 1 – The Color of Money
May 15 – Rain Man
July 3 – Top Gun: Maverick
July 10 – Born on the Fourth of July
Additionally, Now Playing Podcast is responding to listener demand and adding a Viral Outbreak retrospective series that will take a thoughtful approach to Hollywood’s disease-driven disaster film format.
“This pandemic is not a laughing matter, and these films are not ‘end of the world’ comedies,” explains show creator and host Arnie Carvalho. “The idea behind our Viral series is to examine a film from each decade, going back to the 1950s, and look at how Hollywood and the moviegoing public responded to the threat of a pandemic.
“In each decade, you can see how cultural and political beliefs and fears shaped the storytelling process for each of these films. It’s a discussion worth having and one that many of our listeners have asked to hear.”
The Viral series will begin April 7 and include seven films:
April 7 – Panic In the Streets (1950)
April 14 – The Satan Bug (1965)
April 21 – The Andromeda Strain (1971)
April 28 – Warning Sign (1985)
May 12 – Outbreak (1995)
May 26 – The Andromeda Strain (2008)
June 2 – Contagion (2011)
A complete list of upcoming shows can be found on the Now Playing Podcast website.
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