Movie Time! The Super Mario Bros. Movies (1993 – 2023), Hollywood Gaming, and Future Nostalgia

It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast!, where our own movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans take you on an unscripted journey yakking and chatting about some of their favorite movie moments and cinematic scenes, from past and present, presented without snark and snobbery for your listening pleasure.

Is a double-dose of Nintendo nostalgia as the guys revisit the original – and infamous – live-action Super Mario Bros. (1993) starring Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo and Dennis Hopper. A notorious box-office disaster, audiences weren’t ready for its bizarre mix of Max Mad, Blade Runner, and fetish dancing in a film that was “Mario” in name only.

The same can’t be said of the new animated blockbuster The Super Mario Bros Movie (2023) from Illumination Studios starring Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Jack Black, which has broken box-office records and could signal Hollywood’s next obsession. It’s truly a love letter to Brooklyn’s favorite brothers (and Nintendo).