BEN HOSLEY is more than just a podcast producer. He runs his own fashion line, and he produces an annual Christmas album that has become a cult sensation. He met the Blank Check boys at UCB, where they first proposed a podcast that sounded like an extended bit, a show that would talk about only The Phantom Menace, as if there had never been another Star Wars film. Who knew that ten years later, they would have the most acclaimed movie podcast in the world?

One of the most popular recurring bits on the show is when they have Ben choose a movie between their longer miniseries, and over the years, he’s picked titles like Fletch, Under Siege 2, and Clifford, the Martin Short comedy. They’ve come to know those films as “porch movies” because of the way Ben watched them as a kid, and I knew when we invited him on that we’d get some eclectic picks. He did not disappoint, either, bringing us three totally different films to discuss.

First, he picked the 1997 survival thriller The Edge. He also picked Dennis Hopper’s searing 1982 film Out of the Blue. Finally, he wrapped things up in a big warm hug of a movie, the 1989 comedy Uncle Buck.

Our response film to Ben felt like a perfect bookend to Out of the Blue in the form of 1987’s harrowing River’s Edge.

Finally, we decided to add Rock’n’Roll High School to the Hip Pocket Hall of Fame. After all, David Fincher once declared it to be “a perfect movie.” Sounds like a recommendation to me!

If you’d like to support The Hip Pocket at Patreon, you can find us at https://www.patreon.com/c/DrewMcWeeny.

If you’d like to find us on BlueSky, you can find us at https://bsky.app/profile/itsthehippocket.bsky.social.

The Hip Pocket is hosted by Drew McWeeny and Aundria Parker.Craig Ceravolo is the show’s bandleader and producer. It is a Formerly Dangerous Production.