Special thanks to Kristen, who commissioned the first season of the BBC’s trippy futuristic social horror anthology, “Black Mirror”, for her husband Chris. Merry Christmas, Chris! We had a great time watching and an even greater time bantering about the crazy situations depicted on the Mirror. From pig porking to winning an argument with your loved one that you might rather lose, we try to tackle it all. Thanks again Kristen and Chris!
Special thanks to Josh Wilson who commissioned the 1995 cult sci-fi movie, “Screamers”. Starring Peter “Robocop” Weller, it works as both a goofy b-grade science fiction flick and a semi-serious work based on a short story by no less than Phillip K. Dick. It punches well above it’s weight in terms of concept, set, and costume design, but then surrounds Weller with below replacement value actors such as “Poor Man’s Bill Paxton” and “Homeless Man’s Val Kilmer” with mixed results. Still, it managed to provide both laughs and scares, and we feel we enjoyed it in the spirit it was intended.
Julie Webster of “Teeth” commissioning fame/infamy is back again with another movie to bend our noodles. This one a criminally overlooked Ryan Reynolds movie, “The Voices”. Under the direction of Academy Award winner Marjane Satrapi, and joined by co-star Anna Kendrick, Reynolds really comes out swinging as a poorly understood young man with non-existant social skills just trying to find happiness in life. Unfortunately, for reasons both nature and nurture, his search is in vain, and the movie spirals down an ever increasing dark path. An impressive movie, and one worth watching if you don’t think Ryan Reynolds is capable of any kind of nuanced, interesting work. Just be warned, this movie is pitch black, and very uncomfortable in places.
Sean Ray commissioned one of his favorite movies, the Coen Brothers’ 1984 directorial debut, Blood Simple. Starring Coen favorite Frances McDormand, it’s an interesting look into the prehistorical fossil Coen record. So many shots and themes established in this first film go on to make up the DNA of their later works. You’ll see Fargo, Miller’s Crossing, No Country for Old Men, and even a few dashes of Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski in this film. Having said that, there is a whole helluva lot of 1980’s film making and first time directing on display as well.
Fernando Rodriguez is back for another commission! This time he selected 1998’s What Dreams May Come, starring Robin Williams, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Annabella Sciorra. Directed by Vincent Ward, and based on a story by Richard Matheson, the movie features an incredible vision of what the afterlife may be like, as it follows a family struck again and again by sudden tragedy. Oh, and we debate spirituality and our thoughts on death. One of us cried during our watch. You’ll never guess which!
Eric Cunanan commissioned us to watch the classic 1992 drama, Glengarry Glen Ross, directed by James Foley and based on the stage play by David Mamet. If megawatt star power (Al Pacino, Jack Lemon, Ed Harris, Kevin Spacey, Alec Baldwin, Alan Arkin among others), crisp, lyrical, profane dialog, and meditations on the death of the American Dream sound like something you’re into, you should give this movie a shot if you haven’t already.
The string of solid commissioned hits is in full string with one of Jim’s favorite movies and A.Ron’s soon-to-be favorite, Primer. If you’re into noodly time travel plots and engineers talking in fits and starts about really technical stuff like we are, you’ll probably love this one. Thanks to Mike Jacyna for his excellent taste in commissions.
Josh Black stepped forth to commission the mind blowing 2008 film, Pontypool. Starring the very underrated Stephen McHattie, and directed by veteran cult filmmaker Bruce McDonald, Pontypool is set in a small Canadian town where a humbled former shock jock takes on the job of talking about the sleepy local news in the wee hours of the morning. And then something big happens. I really can’t tell you more without spoiling a great film that should be seen by a lot of people, and right now you can see it streaming from among other places, Netflix, so I encourage you to give it a whirl before listening to this podcast. Things get crazy and “deep” in the way things sometimes do on these podcasts. Do not translate this message.
Jim and A.Ron tackle yet another community podcast commission, this time for the David Lynch movie, “Mulholland Drive”. Things get weird as we experience every human emotion possible and struggle to figure out what the hell just happened. Just know that this podcast is not meant to be interpreted literally, but to be emotionally intuited experientially.
Special thanks to the crew who combined their wallets, Captain Planet style, and summoned this podcast; Anthony B, Mike T, Davey Mac, Ryan Q, Rachael H, galicia73, Fidoz,
Jefferson B, hellogoodbye9, cocoa2mc, Martin K , Michael T, Joby M, and Walker W. Thanks guys and gals, we couldn’t do it without you!
Special thanks to Ruben from Boston who selected the 1993 Joel Schumacher drama/thriller/anger-porno “Falling Down” as the subject of this podcast. And it got us thinking a lot about where we were when we first saw this movie, and where we’re at now, how this film fits into the pantheon of well made, highly regarded films, how it’s aged, and what its meanings are. Plus, we do a bonus retrospective of the strange career of wild excess that is Joel Schumacher.