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

Mitch Watson
Emmy award winning show runner Mitch Watson discusses some of the movies he saw when he was a kid that ruined him for life.
Show Notes:
Movies Referenced In This Episode
A History Of Violence (2005)
On The Border (1998)
Hollywood Boulevard (1976) – Jon Davison’s trailer commentary
Gremlins (1984) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review, TFH’s Mogwai Madness celebration
E.T. The Extraterrestrial (1982)
Santa Claus Conquers The Martians (1964)
Harold and Maude (1971) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary
Witchfinder General (1968) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s review
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)
Shampoo (1975) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review
Swashbuckler (1976)
Jaws (1975) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, TFH’s Shark Attack At Hero Complex Gallery
The Neverending Story (1984)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) – Adam Rifkin’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing
Videodrome (1983) – Mick Garris’s trailer commentary
Don’t Look Up (2021)
Starship Troopers (1997)
They Live (1988)
Magic (1978)
Dead Of Night (1945) – Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review
Return To Oz (1985)
Sucker Punch (2011)
The Wizard of Oz (1939) – John Badham’s trailer commentary
The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T (1953) – Joe Dante’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s review
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) – Adam Rifkin’s trailer commentary
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
Bugsy Malone (1976) – Karyn Kusama’s trailer commentary
Big (1988)
Ender’s Game (2013)
The Lego Movie (2014)
Faces of Death (1978)
I Spit On Your Grave a.k.a. Day of the Woman (1978)
The Last House on the Left (1972) – Darren Bousman’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Fitzcarraldo (1982) – Dennis Cozzalio’s Werner Herzog guide
Other Notable Items
Scooby-Doo
Duckman TV series (1994-1997)
Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated TV series (2010-2013)
Harlan Ellison
All Hail King Julien TV series (2014-2017)
Big Nate TV series (2022- )
Paramount+
Netflix
Beware The Batman TV series (2013-2014)
David Cronenberg
The Institute of Oral Love in Los Angeles (a real place)
“Big Mac” McKenna
Phoebe Cates
Steven Spielberg
Eerie, Indiana TV series (1991-1992)
Super Chicken
Warner Brothers
MeTV
Pia Zadora
KTLA Channel 5
Larry ”Seymour” Vincent
Tom Savini
The Conqueror Worm poem by Edgar Allan Poe (1845)
Charles Tyner
Paul Newman
Bud Cort
Hal Ashby
Jim Carrey
Sean Young
Robert Shaw
Geoffrey Holder
Robert Conrad
The Wild Wild West TV series (1965-1969)
Peter Boyle
Beau Bridges
Our pals at Movies Unlimited!
The Three Stooges
James Woods
The Adam McKay podcast episode
Paul Verhoeven
TFH Guru Ed Neumeier
Casper Van Dien
Gabriel Byrne
Stephen Rea
Peter Medak
John Carpenter
Anthony Hopkins
The Magic Castle
Lidsville TV series (1971-1973)
Sid and Marty Krofft
Candice Bergen
Edgar Bergen
Disney+
Walter Murch
Zack Snyder
The Oz children’s novel series L. Frank Baum
Dr. Seuss
Vincent Price
Vincent Van Ghoul
Maurice LaMarche
Johnny Depp
Alan Parker
Scott Baio
Jodie Foster
Tom Hanks
South Park TV series (1997- )
Sam Koji Hale
Doug TV series (1991-1999)
Looney Tunes
Cartoon Network
This list is also available on Movies Unlimited and Letterboxd.
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.