Open Mic Night of the Living Dead

54: Jaws (1975) - Part Two

We keep finding new corners of Jaws to get stuck in. This week we wrap up the production stories, spend a long while in the cinematography (the poster, the water box, that dolly zoom), sit with John Williams' two notes, and finally get to talk characters: Brody, Hooper, Quint, all of them. Part two of three - the boat's not big enough yet. Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:04:59 Let's Make a Movie: Production 00:17:16 Vibe Check 00:21:15 Vibe Check: Cinematography 00:36:51 Vibe Check: SFX 00:46:27 Vibe Check: Music & Sound Design 00:58:40 Story Time: Characters 01:18:01 Story Time: Murder, Mayhem & Myths 01:28:55 Losing Light

53: Jaws (1975) - Part One

Steven Spielberg's "little" movie about a very big shark kicks off part one of our three part deep dive into Jaws. We get into Peter Benchley's novel, the mechanical shark that refused to cooperate, and why shooting on the real Atlantic nearly ended a young director's career before it started. Two more parts to come.   Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:09:24 Intro: Distribution & Reception 00:30:03 Let's Make a Movie: Filmmakers 00:51:14 Let's Make a Movie: Cast 01:02:32 Let's Make a Movie: Production 01:24:03 Losing Light   Citations “’Jaws’ - How Our Greatest Summer Movie Got Made.” Best Movies by Farr. 2026. https://bestmoviesbyfarr.com/seasonal/jaws-how-our-greatest-summer-movie-got-made/ [https://bestmoviesbyfarr.com/seasonal/jaws-how-our-greatest-summer-movie-got-made/]. Court, Andrew. “A Montauk Monster Hunter.” Field Ethos. 1 July 2025. https://fieldethos.com/montauk-monster-hunter/ [https://fieldethos.com/montauk-monster-hunter/]. McLachlan, Ryan. “The True Story Behind the USS Indianapolis Monologue in ‘Jaws’”. War History Online. 31 August 2023. https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/jaws-monologue.html [https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/jaws-monologue.html]. Newman, Dean. “Who The Cast of Jaws Could Have Been.” The Daily Jaws. 18 January 2021. https://thedailyjaws.com/blog/2021/1/18/who-the-cast-of-jaws-could-have-been [https://thedailyjaws.com/blog/2021/1/18/who-the-cast-of-jaws-could-have-been]. Rennie, Daniel. “Revisiting Bruce, The Malfunctioning Animatronic Shark That Made ‘Jaws’ a Horror Classic.” Bold Entrance. 15 July 2020. https://boldentrance.com/remembering-bruce-the-malfunctioning-animatronic-shark-that-made-jaws-a-horror-classic/ [https://boldentrance.com/remembering-bruce-the-malfunctioning-animatronic-shark-that-made-jaws-a-horror-classic/]. Sackton, Laura. “’Jaws’: Book vs. movie.” Audible. 17 September 2024. https://www.audible.com/blog/article-jaws-book-vs-movie [https://www.audible.com/blog/article-jaws-book-vs-movie]. Scott, Andy. “The Untold Truth of Jaws.” Looper. 10 October 2017. https://www.looper.com/24598/untold-truth-jaws/ [https://www.looper.com/24598/untold-truth-jaws/]. Vaziri, Todd. “The Myth of the ‘Jaws’ Shooting Stars.” FXRant. 19 February 2026. https://fxrant.blogspot.com/2018/09/the-myth-of-jaws-shooting-star.html?m=1 [https://fxrant.blogspot.com/2018/09/the-myth-of-jaws-shooting-star.html?m=1].

52: Year One at the Open Mic

This week's encore takes a detour: instead of riffing off of Smile 2, we're talking about us. How Open Mic Night of the Living Dead actually got made, why it's audio only, and what a full year and 52 episodes have taught us about making something together. Plus a new song, Float Away. Thank you for spending year one with us - onto year two.

51: Smile 2 (2024)

This week marks our first sequel: Smile 2. We follow pop star Sky Riley as recovery becomes performance and her own body becomes something for everyone else to manage. Choreography turns predatory, the curse goes public, and we talk about where Smile 3 might take this mythology. Plus two very different songs: one about floating away, one about falling for the wrong pop star. Citations Bennett, Adam. “Smile 2: Rodeo FX on the Surrealist Visual Terror of a Horror Hit with Teeth.” LBB Online. 12 March 2024. https://lbbonline.com/news/smile-2-rodeo-fx-on-the-surrealist-visual-terror-of-a-horror-hit-with-teeth [https://lbbonline.com/news/smile-2-rodeo-fx-on-the-surrealist-visual-terror-of-a-horror-hit-with-teeth]. Edelbaum, Susannah. “’Smile 2’ DP Charlie Sarroff on Lighting a Curse-Afflicted Pop Star in the Big City.” The Credits. 29 October 2024. https://www.motionpictures.org/2024/10/smile-2-dp-charlie-sarroff-on-lighting-a-curse-afflicted-pop-star-in-the-big-city/ [https://www.motionpictures.org/2024/10/smile-2-dp-charlie-sarroff-on-lighting-a-curse-afflicted-pop-star-in-the-big-city/]. Fraser, Emma. “How ‘Smile 2’ Uses Practical SFX Makeup to Generate Maximum Scares.” Backstage. 17 October 2024. https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/smile-2-makeup-designer-interview-77849/ [https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/smile-2-makeup-designer-interview-77849/]. Gomez, Shirley. “Lukas Gage’s haunting transformation in ‘Smile 2’: Exclusive clip with FX Artist Jeremy Selenfriend.” Hola!. 2 December 2024. https://www.hola.com/us/entertainment/20241126732504/lukas-gages-transformation-smile-2-behind-the-scenes/ [https://www.hola.com/us/entertainment/20241126732504/lukas-gages-transformation-smile-2-behind-the-scenes/]. Hunter, Rob. “30 Things We Learned from Parker Finn’s ‘Smile 2’ Commentary.” Dread Central. 21 February 2025. . https://www.dreadcentral.com/editorials/522757/30-things-we-learned-from-parker-finns-smile-2-commentary/ [https://www.dreadcentral.com/editorials/522757/30-things-we-learned-from-parker-finns-smile-2-commentary/]. Naahar, Rohan. “’Smile 2’Global Box Office Gives Audiences Something to Grin About.” Collider. 27 October 2024. https://collider.com/smile-2-global-box-office-83-million/ [https://collider.com/smile-2-global-box-office-83-million/]. Taylor, Drew. “How ‘Smile 2’ Writer/Director Parker Finn Returned with a Super-Sized, Super-Successful Horror Sequel.” The Wrap. 25 October 2024. https://www.thewrap.com/smile-2-interview-parker-finn-horror-sequels/ [https://www.thewrap.com/smile-2-interview-parker-finn-horror-sequels/]. Tyler, Adrienne. “Smile 2 Fell Short of the Original’s Box Office Expectations But It’s Still a Massive Success.” Screen Rant. 6 December 2024. https://screenrant.com/smile-2-box-office-below-expectations-success-op-ed/ [https://screenrant.com/smile-2-box-office-below-expectations-success-op-ed/]. Wilding, Josh. “Smile 2 Interview: Director Parker Finn on Designing the Entity and Taylor Swift’s Influence (Exclusive).” ComicBookMovie.com [http://ComicBookMovie.com]. 19 November 2024. https://comicbookmovie.com/horror/smile-2-interview-director-parker-finn-on-designing-the-entity-and-taylor-swifts-influence-exclusive-a214619 [https://comicbookmovie.com/horror/smile-2-interview-director-parker-finn-on-designing-the-entity-and-taylor-swifts-influence-exclusive-a214619]. Zilko, Christian. “For Naomi Scott, Playing a Troubled Pop Star in ‘Smile 2’ Meant Alternating Between Joyful Dance Rehearsals and Bloody Hallucinations.” Indie Wire. 26 October 2024. https://www.indiewire.com/features/interviews/naomi-scott-interview-smile-2-1235060424/ [https://www.indiewire.com/features/interviews/naomi-scott-interview-smile-2-1235060424/].   Chapters 0:00:00 Intro 0:08:25 Intro: Distribution & Reception 00:20:24 Let's Make a Movie: Filmmakers 00:29:46 Let's Make a Movie: Cast 00:40:23 Let’s Make a Movie: Production 00:50:21 Vibe Check: Cinematography 01:00:43 Vibe Check: SFX 01:06:00 Vibe Check: Music & Sound Design 01:15:48 Story Time: Characters 01:30:39 Story Time: Murder & Mayhem 01:49:47 Story Time: Themes 01:57:27 Open Mic 02:08:18 Losing Light

50: Bad Hubby Horror

We've been watching a lot of bad husbands. So we built a rubric. This encore to our Rosemary's Baby deep dive introduces our three-tier taxonomy of bad partners in horror - Trevors, Guys, and Billys - and the films that gave us each one. Plus the demo for our new song based on Rosemary's Baby.   Chapters 00:00 Intro 00:03:28 Tier 1: The Trevor 00:08:28 Tier 2: The Guy 00:16:46 Tier 3: The Billy 00:29:45 Song Demo 00:33:39 Losing Light