TFH Presents
The Movies That Made Me
with your hosts Josh Olson & Joe Dante

Alex Tse
Writer Alex Tse (Watchmen, Wu-Tang: An American Saga) discusses a few of his favorite films with Josh Olson and Joe Dante.
Show Notes:
Movies Referenced In This Episode
RRR (2022)
Watchmen (2009)
Superfly (2018)
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Book Of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000)
Independence Day (1996)
Clueless (1995)
Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982) – Karyn Kusama’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review
William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet (1996)
The Goonies (1985)
Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom (1984)
Infested (2002)
Straw Dogs (1971) – Rod Lurie’s trailer commentary, Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s Criterion Blu-ray review, Joe Dante’s review
Altered States (1980) – Katt Shea’s trailer commentary
Return Of The Ape Man (1944)
Major League (1989)
The Sting (1973)
Angels In The Outfield (1951)
Rocky (1976)
Slap Shot (1977) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary
Eight Men Out (1988)
Heavy Metal (1981)
Fritz The Cat (1972) – Mick Garris’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review
The Killer Snakes (1974)
Zodiac (2007)
Se7en (1995)
Dirty Harry (1971) – Alan Spencer’s trailer commentary, Josh Olson’s trailer commentary
Fear Of A Black Hat (1993)
This Is Spinal Tap (1984) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
Death To Smoochy (2002)
CB4 (1993)
Prom Night (1980)
Other Notable Items
The Airwave Media podcast network
RZA
Wu Tang: An American Saga TV series (2019- )
James Cameron
S.S. Rajamouli
TCL Chinese Theaters
The other Alex Tse
The other Josh Olson
Michael Dante
Hulu
Michael Mann
The Nuart Theatre
TNT
Star Trek: The Next Generation TV series (1987-1994)
Brent Spiner
Bill Pullman
Alicia Silverstone
Aerosmith
Amy Heckerling
Succession TV series (2018- )
Natalie Gold
Dan Hedaya
Emma novel by Jane Austen (1815)
Baz Luhrmann
Romeo and Juliet play by William Shakespeare (1597)
Paul Rudd
Our pals at Movies Unlimited!
Grand Lake Theater in Oakland
Ke Huy Quan
Steven Spielberg
Emerson College
Rodney Whittenberg
Elvis Mitchell
Dustin Hoffman
Susan George
Off Mice And Men novella by John Steinbeck (1937)
Sam Peckinpah
Paddy Chayefsky
Tom Berenger
David S. Ward
Charlie Sheen
Cinema Speculation book by Quentin Tarantino (2022)
Sylvester Stallone
Zodiac book by Robert Graysmith (1986)
David Fincher
Northpoint Theatre in San Francisco
Fear Of A Black Planet album by NWA (1990)
Kasi Lemmons
Hollywood Pictures
In Living Color TV series (1990-1994)
This list is also available on Movies Unlimited and Letterboxd.
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About the Podcast
Filmmakers and entertainers discuss the movies that inspired them. Hosted by Oscar nominated screenwriter and TFH Guru Josh Olson and TFH Fearless Leader Joe Dante.
The Movies That Made Me is recorded live in Hollywood and engineered by film composer Don Barrett.
About The Hosts
Josh Olson was the only student in his second grade class to see The House That Dripped Blood. Many years later, he wrote and directed the no-budget horror film, INFESTED, a brutal assault on The Big Chill, with zombies. He went on to write the screenplay for A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE and was nominated for the WGA, BAFTA and Academy Awards for Best Screenplay. He kept losing to Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, but that’s okay.
He has written features and TV shows with Harlan Ellison, Walter Hill, Slash, Willie Nelson, and Mick Jagger. His Village Voice essay “I Will Not Read Your Fucking Script” became an internet phenomenon, getting upwards of five million hits.
The ten-part audio drama BRONZEVILLE which he wrote, starring Laurence Fishburne, Larenz Tate, Tracee Ellis Ross, Omari Harwicke and Tika Sumpter was a popular and critical hit, and is currently being developed for TV. He and John Brancato (THE GAME) recently wrote and sold the feature spec TRIGGER WARNING, which is being produced by Thunder Road.
Joe Dante is a director known for his satirical blend of horror and comedy viewed through the lens of grounded, relatable American life. his career in film began as a movie critic at age 12. A few years later, he conspired with Jon Davison to produce The Movie Orgy, an experimental exploration of ‘50s pop culture that metamorphosed into a hit phenomenon bringing Dante to college campus showings nationwide.
Soon after, he followed Jon to Hollywood where he edited trailers for producer Roger Corman before co-directing his first feature, Hollywood Boulevard. His first solo film, Piranha, successfully kickstarted his legendary career with titles like The Howling, Gremlins, The ‘Burbs, Innerspace, and more.
Joe’s dedication to preserving the history of cinema and his near encyclopedic knowledge of movies led to the creation of Trailers From Hell, a web series offering viewers a brief history lesson of movies discussed through their respective trailers.