Cinema Gadfly

My guest for this month is Christa Mrgan, and she’s joined me to discuss the film she chose for me, the 2001 surreal horror-comedy film The Happiness of the Katakuris. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly. Show notes: Takashi Miike has made an astonishing 90 films in his career, but none quite like this one Thematically it would be hard to have two films as different as this one and our last episode on Ozu’s An Autumn Afternoon Arcadia, California was home to at least one video store, in 2004 It really is quite hilarious that both An Autumn Afternoon and this were released by Shochiku, how the world changes Shochiku were, of course, also the sometime home to films by Nagisa Oshima, and Mikio Naruse As well as the phenomenally goofy films of their horror period, so brilliantly captures by Criterion in the When Horror Came to Shochiku Eclipse set Those films were inspired by the likes of Godzilla, and Jigoku House, by Nobuhiko Obayashi, is a much watch film if you even kind of enjoy this one The RankinBass production of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer has undoubtedly caused its share of nightmares The Big Lebowski is one of my all-time favorite films. I can quote it endlessly I’d really like to see The Quiet Family someday, just to see how far this adaptation strayed Sadly you won’t find this film on Netflix As of this writing, you can still watch the film on Fandor though The film is also coming to iTunes, as of the end of August, 2016 It was also released on Blu-ray by Arrow in a Region A and B edition If you can find a copy of Nowhere you’re in for a treat, there has never been a Region 1 DVD If you’re ever in Portland you should absolutely check out Movie Madness, it’s an incredible store And, yes, they have the knife from Psycho I love Letterboxd Civil Comments is amazing. You should all check it out! Buy the film from Amazon Buy or rent the film from iTunes

My guest for this month is Christa Mrgan, and she’s joined me to discuss the film I chose for her, the 1962 Japanese drama film An Autumn Afternoon. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly. Show notes: This was the last film that Yasujirō Ozu made, after a career that started in the silent era His most famous is probably Tokyo Story, but he made 53 others, 19 of which are considered lost Christa’s husband is Neven Mrgan who was a guest on this podcast as well Chishū Ryū, who plays the lead here, was in 32 of Ozu’s 54 films Manga, J-pop, and Sushi are all examples of prominent cutural exports from Japan Toyko Story is based on Make Way For Tomorrow, a depression era film by Leo McCarey that touches on a lot of Ozu-type themes No one knows who wrote Caro mio ben, but it was probably Tommaso Giordani Before this podcast, I’d never even heard of Italian voice method Civil Comments is amazing. You should all check it out! Buy the film from AmazonBuy or rent the film from iTunesWatch the film on Hulu

My guest for this month is Herb van der Poll, and he’s joined me to discuss the film he chose for me, the 1992 American-British satirical mockumentary film Bob Roberts. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly. Show notes: The cast is seriously insane, with Tim Robbins, Giancarlo Esposito, Ray Wise, Gore Vidal, John Cusack, Peter Gallagher, Alan Rickman, and Susan Sarandon Oh and also James Spader, Helen Hunt, Jack Black, Jeremy Piven and his sister Shira, and Bob Balaban Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you already know we have an election happening The film shows some strong parallels to the presidency of George W. Bush Ray Wise, of course, was famously Laura Palmer’s dad on one of my all time favorite shows, Twin Peaks In this film, he and Alan Rickman play Dick Cheney and Karl Rove type figures Folk music is often in the service of liberal causes, and the subversion of that idea is one of the reasons this film is so compelling Specifically the music here is in the style of Bob Dylan, with Bob Roberts naming his albums The Freewheelin' Bob Roberts, and Bob on Bob The Alan Rickman character also has a distinctly Oliver North vibe to him Strom Thurmond was a terrible human being This film feels like a satire of Ronald Reagan’s America Bob Roberts himself represents a response to the JFK and RFK eras The 24-hour news cycle is designed for 9/11 level attacks, not the daily news I still haven’t seen Toy Story 3, much to my shame The Mass Psychology of Fascism, by Wilhelm Reich, is the book I was referring to If for some reason you haven’t listened to Hamilton yet, you really should, it’s phenomenal Herb may be right that most people know Giancarlo Esposito from Breaking Bad, I know him from Do the Right Thing, School Daze, The Usual Suspects, and King of New York This film is very different from other Tim Robbins directed projects, like Dead Man Walking or Cradle Will Rock The film has a 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, built on 36 positive reviews The Simpsons episode that is named for this film is Sideshow Bob Roberts, from 1994’s season six James Spader’s current show Blacklist is about to start its fourth season Technically Miramax is still a studio, but it’s changed hands several times in the last few years, and I don’t think they’re producing new films StudioCanal uses Lionsgate for their US distribution I think the involvement of Robert Altman and Gary Trudeau is probably why Criterion released Tanner ‘88 This film was an influence on another of my favorite television shows, The West Wing I’ve never seen Tapeheads, so I’ll have to take Herb’s word that “Retake America” from this film came from it Buy the film from Amazon

My guest for this month is Herb van der Poll, and he’s joined me to discuss the film I chose for him, the 1988 Dutch–French film The Vanishing. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly. Show notes: The director, George Sluizer, didn’t really direct much else besides this film and its remake The soundtrack definitely has a Tears for Fears vibe to it, which is 100% ok with me Herb checked with his Dutch parents to make sure we pronounced Spoorloos correctly Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu is basically perfect as the villain in this film If you enjoy this film, you’d probably also love Alfred Hitchock’s The Lady Vanishes The actress who plays the second girlfriend Lieneke, Gwen Eckhaus, was randomly in a television series in the Netherlands called Spoorloos verdwenen, which I assume is unrelated Getting a compliment on your film from Stanley Kubrick is a big deal to me The first girlfriend, Saskia, is played by Johanna ter Steege. I think I would have enjoyed her in a Kubrick film I want to be very clear that this film is a billion times better than The Blair Witch Project Apparently Curious George is alternately called “Slimme Sjors” and “Nieuwsgierig Aapje” in the Netherlands This film is really nothing like Requiem for a Dream or Audition Seriously, please don’t watch the remake, it’s not even fun ironically I don’t know how much we can blame the remake on the adapted screenplay by Todd Graff, but I would hazard a guess that it’s a lot A more subtle mistake was the changing of cinematographers from the sublime work of Toni Kuhn to the mediocre adaptation by Peter Suschitzky The changes go way, way beyond those of Brazil’s Love Conquers All cut. Also, at least that one includes the entire original film to enjoy Jeff Bridges is usually pretty good, so I’m not sure what happened here. I tend to believe Herb’s Silence of the Lambs theory Milton from Office Space was played by the incomparable Stephen Root R.I.P.D. is really an underrated example of good acting in a terrible film Jeff Bridges is truly terrible here, while Kiefer Sutherland and Sandra Bullock are just really bad This film was two years before The Net, but a year after Love Potion No. 9, so I’m not sure how famous Bullock was Nancy Travis is terrible as well, but her character does provide a lot of the unintentional comedy, so I mind less The award Blood Simple got was the Mel Novikoff award Peter Becker and Jonathon Turell didn’t start the Criterion Collection, but they do run it today To my mind, the Coen Brothers, Barry Sonnenfeld, and Blood Simple definitely belong in the collection I am irrationally excited for the arrival of FilmStruck, and just wish it was here already Rent or buy the film from Amazon Rent or buy the film on iTunes Watch the film on Hulu

My guest for this month is West Anthony, and he’s joined me to discuss the film he chose for me, the 1976 comedy-drama film The Front. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly. Show notes: Not sure what happened to the audio in the introduction, apologies! The Hollywood blacklist is a term for the treatment of people in the entertainment industry who refused to name names to the House Un-American Activities Committee from 1947 to 1960 For a more in depth take on the blacklist, check out the latest season of the phenomenal You Must Remember This podcast WonderCon is a comic book convention that was held annually in SF until it was cruelly moved to the LA area in 2012. Yes I’m still bitter about it. West also recommends the Gabrielle de Cuir directed Thirty Years of Treason by Eric Bentley Among the people famously blacklisted were Lillian Hellman, Lionel Stander, Paul Robeson, and Zero Mostel This film was directed by blacklisted director Martin Ritt, who also directed the film from our third episode, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold I’m just not a fan of Woody Allen. He’s too painfully neurotic for me, even before I start thinking about whatever the hell happened with his daughter and step-daughter Another Woody film where he only acts is the Paul Mazursky film Scenes from a Mall I’ve been a huge fan of Fiddler on the Roof, and Zero Mostel in it, since I was a little kid Elia Kazan is one of the more interesting stories of directors and the blacklist The writer of this film, Walter Bernstein, was also blacklisted As were many of its stars, including Herschel Bernardi and Lloyd Gough So was the father of actress Julie Garfield, actor John Garfield, which may have contributed to his death from heart problems West’s reference to bodily fluids is, of course, from the excellent Dr. Strangelove Hallie Flanagan ran the Federal Theatre Project, as part of FDR’s WPA program She gave Orson Welles the money to make his Voodoo Macbeth She also gave Marc Blitzstein the money to make The Cradle Will Rock Which was remade in 1999 by Tim Robbins LBJ said in 1966 “I do not believe that this generation of Americans is willing to resign itself to going to bed each night by the light of a Communist moon” Red Channels named 151 entertainers it claimed were communists Trumbo is a 2015 film about Hollywood Ten member Dalton Trumbo Another film about the blacklist is 1991s Guilty by Suspicion, directed by Irwin Winkler and starring Robert De Niro One of the co-writers of Guilty by Suspicion was Abraham Polonsky, who also wrote and directed Force of Evil with John Garfield, but he was so offended by what Irwin Winkler did that he had his name removed from it Guilty by Suspicion also stars Annette Bening Good Night and Good Luck by George Clooney is about McCarthyism, not the blacklist, but it’s also a great film about government overreach Panic in the Streets is a 1950 film, directed by Elia Kazan, and starring Zero Mostel Both West and I think that On the Waterfront, written by Budd Schulberg, was a justification for Kazan’s willingness to name names Lee J. Cobb was also forced to testify in front of the committee Leonard Bernstein wrote the score for On the Waterfront, and the film featured incredible performances from Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, and Eva Marie Saint I still haven’t seen Hail, Caesar! yet, which is a damn shame Nothing better than comparing the work of the Coen brothers to that of fellow Criterion Collection auteur Michael Bay Paranoid American films from the 70s include Three Days of the Condor, Klute, The Parallax View, and All the President’s Men Everyone who reads this needs to go subscribe to Musical Notation with West Anthony. Right now. I’ll wait It’s part of the awesome Battleship Pretension Podcast Fleet You can also follow West’s amazing show on twitter @notationpod Rent or buy the film from Amazon Rent or buy the film on iTunes

My guest for this month is West Anthony, and he’s joined me to discuss the film I chose for him, the 1977 drama film ¡Alambrista!. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly. Show notes: This film was written and directed by Robert M. Young We discuss a certain unnamed presidential candidate at length, who has since gone on to become an unnamed presumptive nominee. I’m not going to do this candidate any favors by linking to them Loving Cheeseburgers, Rock and Roll, The Beatles, and Blue Jeans, is pretty damned American Ned Beatty is one of my all time favorite “that guy” actors He was nominated for an Academy Award for Network, and appeared in All the President’s Men, Deliverance, and both Superman and Superman II, among many other films Edward James Olmos has been in quite a few of Robert M. Young’s films He was also awesome in the reboot of Battlestar Galactica Paul Giamatti is another of my all time favorite “that guy” actors, he’s just so great Don Cheadle is staring in Miles Ahead, which I’m fiendishly excited for He was in the second and third Iron Man films He was also in Oceans Eleven Jerry Hardin played Deep Throat on The X-Files His daughter Melora was Jan on The Office I don’t know if Ryan Gallagher is still re-watching the X-Files in HD or not. Hey Ryan! Everyone who reads this needs to go subscribe to Musical Notation with West Anthony. Right now. I’ll wait It’s part of the awesome Battleship Pretension Podcast Fleet You can also follow West’s amazing show on twitter @notationpod Rent or buy the film from Amazon Watch the film on Hulu

My guest for this month is Patrick Gibson, and he’s joined me to discuss the film he chose for me, the 2009 science fiction drama film Moon. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly. Show notes: This film was co-written and directed by the former Zowie Bowie, Duncan Jones It stars the delightful Sam Rockwell, with voice acting from the also delightful Kevin Spacey We recorded this episode right after the sad passing of Jones' father, David Bowie I watched this film via a Blu-ray that was given to me by former guest of the show Jake Desaulniers The music was composed by Clint Mansell, who has also scored a bunch of Darren Aronofsky films I still maintain that Steve Jobs is the reason my internet was being flaky Daren Arinofsky isn’t Paul Thomas Anderson, thank goodness Mallrats cost $6 millon to make, whereas Clerks cost $27,575. This film cost $5 million There were two slogans for this film, both are very much like what I remembered I haven’t seen Matt Damon in The Martian because I rarely see new films. It cost $108 million to make Here at Cinema Gadfly, we recognize former guest Serenity Caldwell as our official French pronunciation expert It’s way beyond the powers of a one line note to explain set theory. It’s very cool though I wouldn’t watch a television sequel staring Charlie Sheen and Ashton Kutcher. On that point I’m pretty confident This film owns a lot to 2001: A Space Odyssey, in really great ways The Three Laws of Robotics are followed fairly closely in this film Another reminder that Patrick’s wife Maja appeared in two great episodes of this very show I’ll admit that I haven’t actually watched K-PAX. Maybe it’s a great film? Firewatch may not have come out last Tuesday, but it’s a phenomenal game everyone should play Bon Iver’s first album was recorded in singer Justin Vernon’s father’s remote Wisconsin hunting cabin It’s no longer current, but the piece on Apple I mention is still up on Patrick’s awesome site Patrick and Maja are currently traveling around the world, while writing about it. It’s an awesome way to learn about a bunch of interesting places, and see a bunch of cool photos Rent or buy the film from Amazon Rent or buy the film from iTunes

My guest for this month is Patrick Gibson, and he’s joined me to discuss the film I chose for him, the 1957 drama film Wild Strawberries. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly. Show notes: My original review of Wild Strawberries This film was the last role by legendary Swedish actor Victor Sjöström, who directed The Phantom Carriage You can’t fly directly from Stockholm to Lund these days, you have to go to Malmö and drive. It takes about two hours total A flight from Stockholm to Sydney, Australia takes almost 24 hours, so a bit longer Ingmar Bergman was having an affair with his leading lady Bibi Andersson during the making of this film Norwegian Black Metal and Swedish Death Metal are two things that I associate with Scandinavia A Mitzvah is a good dead, and a Mensch is someone who does them Virtually every Bergman film was produced by Svensk Filmindustri Akira Kurosawa made loooong films. Seven Samurai is 207 minutes for instance Bergman getting to work with both Gunnar Fischer and Sven Nykvist is almost unfair to other filmmakers The Seventh Seal’s portrayal of death is famously parodied in Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey I loved the brilliance of Persona, and highly recommend it to anyone who liked this film Patrick’s wife Maja appeared in two great episodes of this very show If you haven’t checked out Firewatch yet, what are you waiting for? The tone feels similar to this film Patrick works for one of my all time favorite companies, Portland’s Panic, which also employees our last guest Neven Mrgan I highly recommend anyone technical out there to read Patrick’s website, it’s really good stuff Patrick and Maja are currently traveling around the world, while writing about it. It’s an awesome way to learn about a bunch of interesting places, and see a bunch of cool photos Rend or buy the film from Amazon Rent or buy the film from iTunes Watch the film on Hulu

My guest for this month is Neven Mrgan, and he’s joined me to discuss the film he chose for me, the 1997 drama film Taste of Cherry. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly. Show notes: Abbas Kiarostami, who directed this film, is probably the most celebrated living Iranian director We are both huge fans of films with an existentialist bent, like this one Seriously, Criterion, upgrade your crappy DVD of this film already. It’s not even anamorphic for crying out loud! If you want to read someone really get it wrong, read Roger Ebert’s thoughts on this film A film that won the Palme d'Or in 1997, and was named to the 2012 Sight & Sound greatest films of all time list Martin Scorsese is also a huge fan of Kiarostami I assume we’re the only podcast to ever compare this film to Disney’s Wall-E, but I suppose you never know This film reminds me of Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Three Colors trilogy, especially Three Colors: Red When we said Apéritif we clearly meant Digestif. Clearly Some of Kiarostami’s other well-known films include Close-Up, Certified Copy, and Like Someone in Love. The last two were made in Italy and Japan respectively I seriously can’t recommend Tony Zhou’s Every Frame a Painting highly enough. Especially his episode on Ensemble Staging, as it relates indirectly to our conversation about what an American remake might do to ruin this film Buy the film from Amazon Watch the film on Hulu

My guest for this month is Neven Mrgan, and he’s joined me to discuss the film I chose for him, the 1943 romantic drama film Day of Wrath. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly. Show notes: The director of this film, Carl Theodore Dreyer, had an extremely unhappy childhood, which seems relevant The story was based on a Norwegian play called Anne Pedersdotter, about an actual witch trial A previous Dreyer film The Passion of Joan of Arc, was super controversial when it was initially released in France My favorite Dreyer film thus far is Vampyr, which has the eerie quality of dreams I also enjoyed Master of the House, which had a lot more in common with this film stylistically This could be seen as a cautionary tale on the dangers of electing Donald Trump It’s hard to believe this film could have been made in the US, at least not under the Hays Code of the time Apparently the correct term for Absalon and his other church official buddies is pastor That one evil church dude does really look an awful lot like Vladimir Putin It’s not hard to see all the influences this must have had on Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible The Fassbinder film that we watched instead of this was Mutter Küsters' Fahrt zum Himmel Dreyer was a huge, and obvious, influence, on Danish director Lars von Trier Sidney Lumet’s Making Movies is a good book, but I’m not sure he named the actress he slapped as Meryl Streep If I Did It is an actual book, nominally by OJ Simpson, about how he would have committed the murders. Yep During the time this film was made, Denmark was occupied by the Nazis It’s important to note that Facism typically comes after Totalitarianism Neither the actress who played Anne, nor the one who played Herlof’s Marte, are known for much other work Buy the film from Amazon Watch the film on Hulu

My guest for this month is David Blakeslee, and he’s joined me to discuss the film he chose for me, the 1994 romantic comedy-drama film Reality Bites. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly. Show notes: As I mentioned in the intro, this show is joining up with the fine folks at CriterionCast This film doesn’t just feature Ben Stiller, he also directed it It was written by Helen Childress, who is supposedly working on a television version of the film Both David and I are nominally members of Generation X, although that can be argued for both of us as well This film also stars Ethan Hawke and Winona Ryder when they were painfully young The film bares some resemblance to my choice for the previous episode Chungking Express The film reminds me of the fiction of Mark Leyner And also of the essay E Unibus Pluram by David Foster Wallace It’s hard for me to believe that the music of Peter Frampton changed anyones life It’s also hard for me to believe that I ever drank a Big Gulp My grandparents were absolutely part of the Greatest Generation My mother was coincidentally in Paris for the May 1968 protests I still remember my mother waking me up to tell me Kurt Cobain had died David’s phenomenal blog where he’s watching the Criterion collection chronologically is at Criterion Reflections The film also stars the absolutely wonderful Janeane Garafalo Rob Lowe’s character in Wayne’s World is my canonical example for a corporate jerk Watching Regis Philbin fail to pronounce the names of various Washington State cities was always a joy of mine The film features cameos by David Spade and Andy Dick Renée Zellweger also makes an appearance, but I don’t think it was a cameo, she just wasn’t well known yet The Mark Leyner book I was thinking of is called My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist Even Baby, I Love Your Way is unlikely to have changed lives Oh and Joe Don Baker is also in this film, really a pretty incredible cast If you enjoy this film you should check out Noah Baumbach’s Kicking and Screaming or Whit Stillman’s Metropolitan Rent or buy the film from iTunes Rent or buy the film from Amazon

My guest for this month is David Blakeslee, and he’s joined me to discuss the film I chose for him, the 1994 Hong Kong drama film Chungking Express. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly. Show notes: Wong Kar-Wai is an acclaimed director from Hong Kong The location of this film was inspired by the real life craziness of Chungking Mansions David’s blog, Criterion Reflections, is one of my absolute favorites CriterionCast, his other gig, is the best Criterion site I know of. So much great stuff there They did the first episode of their mainline podcast on this very film, go check it out! Nanook of the North used to be the oldest film in the Criterion Collection, now it’s The Phantom Carriage The original line-up for the CriterionCast podcast was Rudie Obias, Travis George, and my friend Ryan Gallagher Ashes of Time was the film Wong Kar-Wai was making when he took a break to make this one Fallen Angels is the “spiritual sequel” to this film In the Mood for Love is Wong Kar-Wai’s most celebrated film The early films of Wong Kar-Wai were more in the vein of directors like John Woo The character of Faye in this film is an almost perfect example of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl In 1994, the 1997 transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong was on everyone’s mind California Dreamin' is probably the best known song that The Mamas & the Papas ever made The Cranberries song Dreams was covered for this film by Faye Wong, who plays the character of Faye The cop in the first half of this film is played by Taiwanese-Japanese actor Takeshi Kaneshiro This was the last film that legendary Taiwanese actor Brigitte Lin ever made The Criterion edition of this film features noted British writer Tony Rayns on the commentary track This is the film that made Tony Leung famous Tony Leung’s apartment was the real life apartment of the film’s cinematographer, Christopher Doyle Quentin Tarantino used his new fame after Pulp Fiction to draw attention to this film and get it released in the US Death by Hanging is a complex film from Japanese director Nagisa Oshima The Eclipse Viewer is David’s main podcasting gig, I highly recommend it He co-hosts the show with Trevor Berrett who contributes to a literature blog called The Mookse and The Gripes Their most recent episode at the time of this podcast is about the melodramas of Raffaello Matarazzo David gave me my first experience in podcasting when I joined him to discuss Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blowup Sadly this film is currently not available for rent or purchase in the US anywhere that I can find. If you know someway to watch it, please let me know and I’ll update these notes.

My guest for this month is Serenity Caldwell, and she’s joined me to discuss the film she chose for me, the 2002 American science-fiction romantic comedy film S1m0ne. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly. Show notes: Andrew Niccol, who directed this film, is also married to its star, Rachel Roberts Al Pacino is an actor, perhaps you’ve heard of him Gattaca is also a film by Andrew Niccol Alphaville is the film we discussed on the previous episode of this podcast The dot-com era was a period where tech companies with no future got lots of money, completely unlike today Second Life is a virtual reality world that you can run around in One of the more notable things about Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is its ridiculously long title The first Lord of the Rings film, The Fellowship of the Ring came out in 2001 3.5" hard drives are still used as internal storage in slow computers The Mac Pro and PowerMac G4 are both computers from Apple, they are both relatively recent 5.25" floppies on the other hand, haven’t been used regularly in a very, very long time Hackers is a phenomenal film about, well, hacking An SNL parody of this film would probably just be this film John Cassavetes was an actor and director, and a pioneer of American independent film Michelangelo Antonioni made quite a few masterpieces with a monochromatic color palette Notting Hill is a 1999 film starting Julia Roberts, written by the guy who wrote Four Weddings and a Funeral Roberto Rossellini was an Italian neorealist director The Auteur theory is a vision of cinema where the director is the sole voice of the film The Crow is seriously every goth kids dream The stars of The Force Awakens, including Daisy Ridley, are newly famous, and dealing with it in interesting ways People Magazine is a celebrity “news” periodical Rebecca Romijn is also in this film, in a tiny but fun role Jason Schwartzman is a national treasure, and can do no wrong We are in the 2016 presidential election cycle, and Donald Trump is a leading candidate. We’ve clearly gone crazy I am huge Catherine Keener fan, but man is she misused here This film stars a young Evan Rachel Wood, she’s great Winona Ryder is probably the best thing about this entire film Seriously, there are three versions of A Star is Born already, and a fourth is in the works 42nd Street is another film about the process of stardom The Tupac Shakur hologram at Coachella was so creepy Jean-Luc Godard directed Alphaville, among many others Niccol only wrote The Truman Show. It was directed by Peter Weir, who also made Picnic at Hanging Rock and Dead Poets Society, among others Niccol’s did direct In Time with Justin Timberlake, as well as The Host, and Good Kill, none of which I’ve heard of We should do an alternate episode where Siri is our main guest for this film Go check out The Incomparable, they have some seriously great podcasts Rent or buy the film from iTunes Rent or buy the film from Amazon

My guest for this month is Serenity Caldwell, and she’s joined me to discuss the film I chose for her, the 1965 French science fiction noir film Alphaville. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly. Show notes: Jean-Luc Godard is perhaps the most famous of the Nouvelle Vague directors Noir is a genre I love, with a fairly poor definition. It’s definitely a know-it-when-you-see-it kind of thing Lemmy Caution is basically the French version of an American James Bond The Stranger is an existentialist novel by Albert Camus, it’s a fun one Babar is so damn cute The Criterion way is pretty much what we do around here Metropolis is basically the grandparent of all modern Science Fiction films Blade Runner and Dark City are noir influenced Science Fiction films that feel somewhat similar to this one Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick is what Blade Runner was based on. The book is better Lemmy Caution is incredibly well played by Eddie Constantine Capital of Pain seems like a breezy read Synchronized Swimmers aren’t usually performing as state sponsored murderers Nineteen Eighty-Four definitely comes off as a pretty strong influence on this film Instamatic cameras were super new when this film came out, it was part of the futurism Anna Karina is one of the most well known French actresses of all time A Wrinkle in Time is a super well loved novel by Madeline L'Engle, with some series science themes The emperor is from The Empire Strikes Back, which is a film in the Star Wars series. Just in case you didn’t know JRPGs are pretty well known for their ridiculously overwrought stories and themes I didn’t like Last Year at Marienbad. There, I said it, now you can judge me Sith lords are also from Star Wars. We like Star Wars a lot E = mc2 is a concept we got from Albert Einstein. It has to do with energy. Godard is apparently enamored with it Surrealism and Dadaism are concepts, somewhat explored here Tarzan vs IBM would probably not have been a title he could have legally used 4:3 is a description of the aspect ratio of this film Breathless is the French film that got me into French films. I think I’m not alone on that A Woman is a Woman is another great Godard film with Anna Karina Rent or buy the film from iTunes Rent or buy the film from Amazon

My guest for this month is Maja Henderson, and she’s joined me to discuss the film she chose for me, the 2015 comedy-drama adventure Inside Out. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly. Show notes: Both Maja and I live in the city of San Francisco, it’s basically like this film Fun fact, I’m a fan of the sport of Hockey The co-directors of this wonderful film were Pete Docter and Ronnie del Carmen The film was made by renowned animation film studio Pixar Psychiatry and Psychology aren’t the same thing Mindy Kaling was absolutely perfect as Disgust No one could have been more suited for the role of Anger than Lewis Black Just as perfect though, are Amy Poehler as Joy and Phyllis Smith as Sadness Both Maja and I are from the city of Seattle, a place that can trigger varying emotions Dysthymia was a new term for me, as was DSM-IV Indeed, neither of us are from Minnesota I suffered some years from Seasonal affective disorder, which, believe it or not, is called SAD Big Hero 6 takes place in San Fransokyo The ridiculous pizza place is technically in Emeryville, not San Francisco But James Lick Middle School, where she goes to school, is in San Francisco Her house felt very much like North Beach or Chinatown, both in San Francisco John Lasseter runs Pixar, if he says do something they’ll find a way to do it I hadn’t heard of Ralph Eggleston before, but he’s a long-time Pixar employee Brave and The Incredibles are also wonderful films from Pixar that feature innovative hair animation I enjoy Cars and Cars 2, but I definitely connected with this film more Bill Hader did a really nice job as Fear My hometown of Mercer Island, WA really is probably the safest island in the world The Central District is nice now, but it was pretty sketchy when I was in school I do so love a good Alfred Hitchcock joke Chinatown is a good one too though, I’m happy with that Someday perhaps I’ll read Waiting for Godot I grew up on Asterix and Tintin, and I think they hold up for adults, I certainly caught a lot of jokes I didn’t as a child Rent or buy the film from iTunes Rent or buy the film from Amazon

My guest for this month is Maja Henderson, and she’s joined me to discuss the film I chose for her, the 1955 romance film All That Heaven Allows. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly. Show notes: My original thoughts on All That Heaven Allows Technicolor is a chemical color process for film that produces a beautiful and very distinctive look Bingo isn’t really a drinking game, but it is fun A trope is a commonly recurring literary device, in this case that of love fighting disapproval Jane Wyman absolutely kills it in this film as the main character Cary Rock Hudson was a freakishly good looking man It’s true, soap operas have nothing to do with this film The Hays Code meant that everyone in a film plot had to be married or engaged at all times Cary’s terrible son Ned is played by the old looking William Reynolds Her daughter Kay is played by the Rachael Leigh Cook precursor Gloria Talbott Conrad Nagel, who played Cary’s other suitor Harvey, was actually age appropriate for his role Rock Hudson’s Ron is definitely something of a Beatnik He might also be an early proponent of negging, as explained in the terrible book The Game I’m using normative as a slightly pejorative term For films involving couples kissing for the first time as they get engaged, watch any of the British films of Alfred Hitchcock Chianti comes in a very distinctive bottle Rock Hudson’s Ron is not just a Beatnik, but also living a very Bohemian lifestyle New German Cinema director Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s homage/remake Angst essen Seele auf came out in 1974 Buy the film from Amazon

My guest for this month is Allen Pike, and he’s joined me to discuss the film he chose for me, the 2002 biographical crime drama film Catch Me If You Can. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly. Show notes: Stephen Spielberg is a rather well known director Frank Abagnale Jr. is a fascinating guy, who is well worth reading about Pan Am was an airline, that I sorely miss, if only for their amazing graphic design Tom Hanks is a wonderful actor, also worth reading about I am indeed attempting to watch all the films in The Criterion Collection Forest Gump is also a film starring Tom Hanks There are, honestly, quite a few similarities between me and the Grinch I think we would mostly all agree that Michael Bay is not a good director On the other hand, Alfred Hitchcock made wonderful, wonderful films Whether he was an Auteur or not, however, is a debate best suited for nights spent drinking with friends I enjoyed this far more than the somewhat similar The Wolf of Wall Street Many people don’t seem to enjoy Leonardo DiCaprio If you do though, Titanic and The Aviator are films you might enjoy I don’t get hating Leo, but Tobey Maguire makes perfect sense to dislike I love Gangs of New York, but I know not everyone enjoyed it, it’s really long If you haven’t seen Tom Hanks in Road to Perdition, you really should, it’s great David Lynch’s Twin Peaks is seriously great, go watch it, now, I’ll wait The last half hour of No Country for Old Men is certainly divisive amongst moviegoers. I loved it Quentin Tarantino likes his vignettes, oh yes he does The loop hole that Frank Abagnale used to pass the Louisiana Bar Exam is now closed Watching GoodFellas or The Sopranos is probably not the best way to learn how to be in the actual mafia Impostor syndrome is very real though Photoshop would have made the forgery we see so much easier Abagnale served time in France and Sweden, never Switzerland I guess being an expert check forger makes you a great candidate for a job at the FBI The Yankees definitely only win because of the pinstripes. There is no other reason Washington Mutual was a bank, it existed at the time of this film, it collapsed in 2009 Saul Bass did the credits for many great films, including the Otto Preminger masterpiece Anatomy of a Murder Ocean’s Eleven was definitely not the first heist film, there were many others, some of which are French Casting James Gandolfini, Ed Harris, and Chloë Sevigny would have made for a very different film It would have also been very different if directed by David Fincher, Gore Verbinski, Miloš Forman, or Cameron Crowe Ellen Pompeo from Gray’s Anatomy and Jennifer Garner are great in their bit parts Sorbet is delicious Rob Zombie will probably never direct a remake of this film, probably You should already be reading all the interesting things Allen writes at his website Rent or buy the film from iTunes Rent or buy the film from Amazon

My guest for this month is Allen Pike, and he’s joined me to discuss the film I chose for him, the 1985 dystopian science fiction film Brazil. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly. Show notes: My original review of Brazil The film was directed by Monty Python alum Terry Gilliam Who doesn’t love a good black comedy Or 1940s fashion Or 1980s technology Some might argue that bureaucracy has already gone wrong 1985 is, in fact, before 1990 I love Michael Palin in basically everything he’s ever done Another Terry Gilliam film was Time Bandits, I like this one a lot more The studio that initially butchered the film was Universal, nice try Sid Sheinberg The underground screening was for the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, who awarded the film Best Picture Comparisons with George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four are just silly The only thing they have in common is some sense of mass surveillance 2006’s Idiocracy by Mike Judge, on the other hand, does sound similar to this film Seriously. Seriously! No one should get a Pizza Hut tattoo on their face. That’s a bad idea Ian Holm does a wonderful job as a fairly inept boss Consistentize isn’t a word, but standardize is The whole essay by David Sterritt for Criterion is a great read Robert De Niro’s character is named Archibald “Harry” Tuttle Bob Hoskins' character is named Spoor, and his partner is named Dowser Star Trek represents the most hopeful version of the future that I know of Ok, but for real, don’t get a Pizza Hut tattoo on your face. Not cool The app design studio Allen runs is called Steamclock, they’re great, you should hire them The DMV definitely still loves paperwork TSA Precheck, which is totally available for Canadians too India has plenty of bureaucracy of its own San Francisco is an ABC city, which makes opening a bar an insane pain Vancouver, British Columbia is apparently also a tough place to open a bar Disruption doesn’t justify all actions, some of these companies need to cut it out The theme song, also called Brazil, was recorded by Geoff Muldaur It was also used in the first trailer for WALL-E There are really, seriously, almost no similarities between this film and Cannibal Holocaust You should read all the interesting things Allen writes at his website Rent or buy the film from iTunes Rent or buy the film from Amazon

My guest for this month is Jessie Char, and she’s joined me to discuss the film she chose for me, the 1952 musical comedy Singin' in the Rain. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly. Show notes: For the record, I haven’t seen Now You See Me or Glitter Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds are both phenomenal in this film I’m still in shock that Debbie Reynolds is Carrie Fisher’s mom Possibly the quintessential example of Hollywood telling their own story is the film A Star is Born, which was released in 1937, and then remade in 1954, and again in 1976 The transition from silent film to talkies was a rough one on the actors who lived through it The war on female voices is incredibly destructive Jean Hagan, who played Lina Lamont, does a remarkable job of creating a voice that would have had trouble transitioning to sound Make ‘Em Laugh by Donald O'Connor is an incredible feat of acrobatics It’s fair to say that Lupino Lane paved the way for Donald O'Connor’s career The Love Parade was definitely not Norman Rockwell America The song Jessie is referring to is called Broadway Melody Ballet, it’s really weird Cyd Charisse was the lady that Gene Kelly chose so that he’d have a trained dancer to partner with at some point in the film The age of consent in California has been 18 since 1913 Gene Kelly was super sick when the filmed the title number I still haven’t watched Andy Samberg host the Emmys There are a bunch of Technicolor films in my all-time favorites This film is just a lot happier than something like Chicago Apple pie, America, and idealism; what this film is all about Stay tuned for Jessie forcing me to watch The Sound of Music, I can’t wait Jessie’s website is part of the normal internet Rent or buy the film from iTunes Rent or buy the film from Amazon

My guest for this month is Jessie Char, and she’s joined me to discuss the film I chose for her, the 1929 Pre-Code musical comedy The Love Parade. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly. Show notes: Ernst Lubitsch was nominated for three Academy Awards, including for this film Maurice Chevalier was a very, very French man The queen was played by the very talented Jeanette MacDonald The Listicle is an article format that allows for quick writing, often without much thought The song that Jessie describes as being an adult version of Once Upon a Dream from Sleeping Beauty is called Dream Lover The Hays Code made it impossible to make a film as irreverent about adult themes as this one The song where they’re signing goodbye to Paris is called Paris, Stay the Same Unlike, say, The Sixth Sense, this movie can’t really be spoiled It cannot be overstated, that this film has virtually nothing in common with the Larry Clark film Kids. Except in the way that it does The song about being common is called Let’s Be Common If only Maurice Chevalier could have had an iPad and the Internet Harrison Ford as Han Solo says and does some things that would come off as super creepy if done by almost anyone else Bill Hader could have done a phenomenal Maurice Chevalier impression on Saturday Night Live Lupino Lane, who plays Chevalier’s French servant, was in fact a very British man Perhaps this film isn’t a strong example of Second-wave feminism On the other hand, maybe it is an example of Third-wave feminism Maurice Chevalier was born in 1888, which means he’d be 127 today The iPhone 6S Plus shoots native 4K video, which is capable of fully reproducing the quality of 35MM film Jessie’s website is a website This film is really only available as part of the Eclipse Series 8: Lubitsch Musicals set from Criterion, which you can also buy from Amazon

My guest for this month is Jake Desaulniers, and he’s joined me to discuss the film he chose for me, the 2010 dreamscape heist film Inception. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly. Show notes: This is a film from British director Christopher Nolan Richard Burton was a totally big star when The Spy Who Came in from the Cold was released Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark are both excellent play-acting movies This movie was released in 2010, which is something like 2011 Ocean’s Eleven is a classic example of a heist film Jules Dassin’s Rififi and the various Jean-Pierre Melville films are also excellent examples Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation is a very dumb movie And so is Darren Aronofsky’s Pi, don’t let anyone tell you differently Hans Zimmer has done quite a few amazing film scores Sweet Smell of Success, with Tony Curtis and Burt Lancaster, has an absolutely perfect score by Elmer Bernstein As does, in a completely different way, the Three Colors trilogy, directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski All three films in the trilogy were scored by Zbigniew Preisner The inventive, but not beautiful, cinematography for this film was done by Wally Pfister Sucker Punch is seriously a terrible, terrible film. Don’t watch it, you won’t like it I strongly dislike most of the work of its director, Zack Snyder The Fountain is another film with a score that Jake loves Even though he doesn’t like the film Prometheus, he still likes the score Christopher Nolan is probably an Auteur The Big Chill is not a popular film with Criterion Cinephiles It was directed by Lawrence Kasdan, who you may know from his writing The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi My review of The Big Chill, where I talk about what it means to me John Williams is probably the modern era’s most well known film composer Jake also likes Clint Mansell, who did the score for Moon Seeing Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey at the Castro theatre was so amazing Sol Kaplan did the score for The Spy Who Came in from the Cold We both absolutely adore the films of Wes Anderson, and we love the scores as well All the Indiana Jones films have great scores Hotel Chevalier with Jason Schwartzman, which is the prequel short film to The Darjeeling Limited, has an incredible song by Peter Sarstedt The song, which I listen to all the time, is called Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)? Saving Private Ryan uses a different song, but they are both by Édith Piaf We should all have things to say about The Goonies Rent or buy the film from iTunes Rent or buy the film from Amazon

My guest for this month is Jake Desaulniers, and he’s joined me to discuss the film I chose for him, the 1965 cold war spy thriller The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly. Show notes: My original review of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold Although I say at the beginning that this is the second episode, it’s really the third The film stars Richard Burton, AKA Mr. Elizabeth Taylor It’s based on the book of the same name, by John le Carré, AKA David John Moore Cornwell MI6 is a real world British spy agency John le Carré didn’t like Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy is another film based on a le Carré novel Dr. No, From Russia With Love, and Goldfinger, are very different in tone from this film Technically 1970 was halfway into the Cold War I remember when the Berlin Wall fell, I even brought a piece back for my mom The film opens at the infamous Checkpoint Charlie The British Communist Party also ended in 1991 The film takes place nine years after the McCarthy Hearings I always notice when the title is in the film, ever since Family Guy British labour exchanges have existed since 1909 The Criterion Blu-ray is the best way to watch this film My review of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy from Letterboxd British cold war spy thriller television show The Game Jason Bourne is a superhero Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation definitely didn’t pretend to be about anything Apparently putting Scotch in your coffee is called Highland coffee The director who didn’t get along with Richard Burton was Martin Ritt Rent or buy the film from iTunes Rent or buy the film from Amazon

My guest for this month is Clarko Clarko, and he’s joined me to discuss the film he chose for me, the 2012 tour documentary Katy Perry: Part of Me. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly. Show notes: The film follows the tour for her Teenage Dream album It was produced by Max Martin and Dr. Luke; musical masterminds Her next album was Prism The film features her relationship with Russell Brand, who is probably unmarriable I’m apparently a Highbrow kind of guy, with very particular tastes in music, film, and comic books Belle & Sebastian are a somewhat more laid back affair I highly recommend everyone watch the Jonathan Demme directed Talking Heads film Stop Making Sense I believe Life Is But a Dream is the Beyoncé documentary Katy Perry’s parents are not actually Televangelists, but they’re close This is what a combination of Whitesnake and Kanye West looks like Britney Spears was a Mouseketeer Lana Del Rey is not a good live performer We find similarities between Katy Perry’s career and that of golfer Tiger Woods Chris Carraba is “this guy” from Dashboard Confessional NOFX is lead by a guy who calls himself Fat Mike Oh Honey Both Clarko and I think Disneyland is basically the best thing in the world This film takes place during Katy Perry’s Candy Land period Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, and John Lasseter; three people I would love to be compared to June is where Clarko is currently putting his Katy Perry derived inspiration to work Rent or buy the film from iTunes Rent or buy the film from Amazon

Welcome to the first episode! My guest for this month is Clarko Clark, and he's joined me to discuss the film I chose for him, the 1949 British black comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly.   Show notes: My original review of Kind Hearts and Coronets A definition of black comedy Koyaanisqatsi and my review of it Charles I of England, who is mentioned early in the film This film takes place in the Edwardian era It stars Alec Guinness, who also played Obi-Wan Kenobi, and who was apparently similar to Eddie Murphy It was released in 1949 Alice in Wonderland Clarko likes How I Met Your Mother, Scrubs, and Grey’s Anatomy Some of which feature an unreliable narrator, as perhaps does this Yes, a British general really did choose to go down with his ship after making a mistake in directions American Pyscho, a really apt and interesting comparison Ealing Studios is actually still around, and releasing films The fancier studio down the road was the Rank Studio The Hays Code, which was eventually overthrown, in part by Howard Hughes Making out on a fainting couch is less common these days Black and white films should not be colorized, under any circumstances Buy the film from iTunes Rent or buy the film from Amazon