Join us as we uncover each other's media and pop culture blindspots. We're a couple getting to know each other better by sharing the must-see movies from our past.
This month we explore REPO MAN, the endlessly inventive 1984 cult movie by Alex Cox. Dave remembers catching the movie on late-night cable as a teen, but it was a true blind spot for Ashley until we sat down to watch it together. Emilio Estevez stars as Otto, a bored LA punk who falls under the spell of veteran repo man Harry Dean Stanton. Along the way, we encounter rival repo gangs, government ops, junkyard philosophers, UFO conspiracy theorists, and a mysterious 1964 Chevy Malibu with something terrifying in the trunk. Join us as we dissect the Repo Code, the amazing punk sampler soundtrack, and try to figure out what this movie actually is. Absurd punk sci-fi pastiche? Or a tongue-in-cheek indictment of Reagan-era capitalism and the death of the welfare state? As Ashley often says, why not both? Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podbean, and most other major platforms. Follow us on Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2024 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
This time, Ashley chooses HAPPY-GO-LUCKY and it's a Mike Leigh rematch! Long ago on Ep.8, Dave chose Leigh's NAKED (1993), which featured male characters so repellent that Ashley found the entire viewing experience to be extremely unpleasant. Now six years later, we discuss a Mike Leigh film she adores, longtime favorite HAPPY-GO-LUCKY, a seemingly lighthearted comedy simmering with tension and darkness. Sally Hawkins gives a brilliant, compulsively watchable performance as Poppy, a cheerful, free-spirited schoolteacher whose big heart and impulsive nature lead her straight into a series of unsettling encounters that her unshakeable sense of humor may not able to deliver her from. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podbean, and most other major platforms. Follow us on Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2024 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
Introducing our lost episode! Three years ago, we started prep work for a rewatch podcast about the groundbreaking 90s teen series, MY SO-CALLED LIFE, which ran on ABC-TV from 1994 to 1995. The plan: record and bank a few episodes before committing to the launch. Then life happened…you can guess the rest. Just in time for the 30th anniversary of the series, here is Episode 1 of our MY SO-CALLED LIFE rewatch. Join us as we dissect the Pilot, share our connections to the show, and get reacquainted with introspective 15-year-old Angela Chase (Claire Danes) as she navigates the ups and downs of adolescence and a painful crush on Jordan Catalano (Jared Leto). Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podbean, and most other major platforms. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2024 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
We were going to introduce Jonathan Demme's SOMETHING WILD by saying that not a lot of movies start with the kidnapping of the main character in the first five minutes, but according to Wikipedia's “Films about Kidnapping” list, that isn't true. And our main character, straitlaced banker Charlie Driggs (Jeff Daniels), isn't exactly kicking and screaming when he's picked up by Lulu (Melanie Griffith), an attractive Soho hipster with a Louise Brooks bob. What follows is a genre-defying film that is part road movie, part off-kilter rom-com, and part suburban nightmare crime thriller, featuring a truly terrifying debut performance by Ray Liotta. Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Android. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2024 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
Five years ago on a drive back from Lubbock, we came up with the concept for this podcast. Here we are, celebrating 100 episodes, by switching it up, with patience and love. Dave picks a movie Ashley adores, COLUMBUS (2017). Ashley chooses RASHOMON (1950) for Dave. Are we in for a Kogonada/Kurosawa rap battle? Or just a kinder, more generous show? No enforced viewing this time. Just the gift of time and attention during Ashley's recent visit home from grad school. Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Android. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2023 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
We're back and it's Ashley's choice! Joan Rivers was known in her later years for over the top plastic surgery and for participating in the celebrity bullying culture that was rampant in the early ‘00s. The documentary, JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF WORK sought to look beyond this image to better understand River's place as a groundbreaking comedian, and possibly the hardest working person in show business. The result is a compelling look at the effects of fame and the insecurity of trying to make a life and a living in the limelight. Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Android. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2023 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
In what is turning out to be a very existential few months for the podcast, this month we take a close look at Akira Kurosawa's IKIRU, in which we follow a lifelong civil servant played by Kurosawa regular Takashi Shimura as he comes to terms with his impending death, and maybe, just maybe figures out what the point of all of this is. And in the third act, Kurosawa, ever the keen observer of humanity, gives us a glimpse of the man's legacy to those left behind. And so, can the living ever really learn what the dead have to teach us? Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Android. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2023 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
If you're like Ashley and remember from the height of the blog era a Tumblr called “Sketchy Bunnies," then you might be a little intimidated by the hero of this week's pic, a 6 foot 3 and a half inch invisible rabbit named HARVEY. But it turns out that Harvey and his best friend Elwood P. Dowd have a lot to teach us about what is important in life: like being kind to others, finding joy in simple things, and making sure there are strong policies in place to limit the powers of private mental health institutions. Check out John Green's moving podcast episode about the impact of Harvey on his life: The Anthropocene Reviewed: "Velociraptors and Harvey" Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Android. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2023 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
There are some who believe, and we're among them, that the creative spark is what makes us human, but making art is frequently hard, emotionally taxing and the results often fall short of our ideal. So is it any wonder that some would-be creators might lose themselves in hedonistic pleasure seeking, rather than doing the work to find meaning? This is perhaps the central question of Dave's choice, Fellini's LA DOLCE VITA. Rife with symbolism and references to Dante's Inferno, the soul of our hero is at stake. What choice will he make: to make his own meaning or be lost? Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Android. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2023 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
Intriguing, enthralling, enigmatic and ultimately moving, words that go some ways towards describing this month's pick, CERTIFIED COPY (2010). Directed by Abbas Kiarostami and starring Juliette Binoche and William Shimmel, the film depicts two people with an undetermined relationship to one another as they spend the day in Tuscany. And so questions arise: What is the exact nature of their relationship? Does objective truth exist? And does it matter if it does? ubscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Android. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2023 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
We're back from our hiatus with an all-new deep dive into Dave's pick. This week we're talking about TOOTSIE (1982) and we have questions: Can someone who disguises himself as another type of person really understand what it's like to be that kind of person? And more importantly, did the screenwriters of Tootsie actually intend to convey a subtle message that indeed you can not understand what it is like to be a woman in a patriarchal society by disguising yourself as one? Is Michael Dorsey, a.k.a. Dorothy Michaels (Dustin Hoffman), actually an anti-hero here? And what was up with that ending? Justice for Sandy and Julie! Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Android. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2023 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
A LETTER TO THREE WIVES is an odd film; it begins with the film's villain, who we never see, providing character introductions, then proceeds to tell the story largely in flashbacks. Flashbacks are introduced by what we can only describe as an early vocoder effect that seems strangely out of place in a post-war drama. But the actors and the script really draw you into the domestic drama, most notably, Linda Darnell and national treasure Thema Ritter. Writer/director Joseph L. Mankiewicz would go on to win Best Director and Best Screenplay Oscars for this film, a feat he would repeat the next year for his masterpiece, ALL ABOUT EVE. Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Android. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2022 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
There is a lot more to John Frankenheimer's SECONDS than a synopsis or even first viewing can convey. First of all, what is it? Is it sci-fi à la The Twilight Zone or pre-Cronenberg body horror, or a thesis on man's search for meaning? As it turns out, it's a little bit of all of this, and maybe some other things too. Beautifully photographed and masterfully paced and edited, Seconds turns a relatively simple premise into a tense and multilayered examination of purpose, meaning and existence. Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Android. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2022 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
To celebrate the changing of the seasons, we have an introspective look at how family death impacts the life of a young man, causing his retreat into a fantasy world that includes flying murder balls, corpse theft, slave labor on a mysterious red planet, and a tall man filled with what appears to be nacho cheese. Actually, maybe PHANTASM isn't very introspective at all. This cult horror film is odd, plotless, dreamlike and yet somehow still compulsively watchable. Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Android. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2022 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
Can we ever be sure of the motives of others? Can we even be sure of our own? Coppola's THE CONVERSATION explores how emotions like greed, pride and fear shape our actions through the eyes of Harry Caul (Gene Hackman), a professional wiretapper who wrestles with the implications of the information he is supplying. Lives are at stake, nothing is as it seems, and it may be Harry who loses his soul. Subscribe on Spotify. Apple Podcasts, or Android. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2022 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
While we certainly can't claim to be in the know about all things mainstream, THAT THING YOU DO! (1995) seems to have been one of those flash in the pan films that came and went from the popular consciousness. Which is fitting since the film follows The Wonders, a fictional band that writes one catchy song and then fades away like so many Surfaris, Lemon Pipers, or Mysterians. Tom Hanks does an admirable job in his directorial debut. With its contagious soundtrack, and extremely likable cast, this movie is still a lot of fun, 25 years later. Subscribe on Spotify. Apple Podcasts, or Android, Follow us on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2022 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
We open on a snowy plain, a tiny figure approaching from the horizon. What follows is a 32 part quasi-biography of the eccentric 20th century pianist told in the style of a multi-part TikTok video. Made in the early 90's, THIRTY TWO SHORT FILMS ABOUT GLENN GOULD is clearly ahead of its time with its fractal storytelling. We get bits of music, interviews, sketches, animations and audioscapes that each give us a glimpse into the man and the artist that was Glenn Gould. Don't be intimidated by the large number of films. There is a little something for everyone, and if you hate one, you can just scroll up (or wait–they are short). Subscribe on Spotify. Apple Podcasts, or Android, Follow us on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2022 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
Before the surge of coming of age films in the late 90s/early 00s, there weren't many films that addressed adolescence from girl's perspectives the way that films like STAND BY ME did for boys. So it is perhaps no surprise that the 1995 film NOW AND THEN captured the imaginations of a generation of girls. It has everything: relatable stories of growing up, a killer soundtrack, a passable mystery, the stars of Casper to crush on, and of course a trip to the library archives. Though the “now” story feels tacked on, the “then” storyline totally makes it worth a watch. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2022 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
Where does Alice live? Not Socorro, NM anymore. Ellen Burstyn plays a recently widowed housewife looking for a new start for herself and her son in ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE. Martin Scorsese, master of urban violence, brings a sense of danger and isolation to this otherwise heartfelt story. Highlights include the very authentic relationship between mother and son. It's not easy to be a single mom looking for work in 1970s America, but Alice meets the challenges with hope, a touch of exasperation and some deep cuts from the Great American Songbook. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2022 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
Times are dark, but while we can still choose our podcast topics, Ashley chose 2022 gay Pride and Prejudice adaptation, FIRE ISLAND, written by and starring Joel Kim Booster. This film is clever and snarky, expertly updating P&P's major plot points while incorporating lots of in-jokes and pop culture references. Even if you aren't an Austen fan there is a lot of humor and heart that make this film worth a watch. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2022 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
There's no question that THE PIANO is a very good film–everything from photography, to music, to performances, and story casts a spell. Writer/Director Jane Campion is at the full height of her formidable powers as a storyteller. She expertly revives and inhabits the emotional landscape of novels like Jane Eyre, offering us glimpses into the mind and will of our heroine. But this is a modern story, so maybe the themes of Man vs. Self and Society vs. Freedom are more interesting than the love story. And what is our responsibility when responding to this work? Can we allow ourselves to be swept away, or do we have to ask the hard questions? Why not both? Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2022 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
Dave has missed out on a good number of the musical spectacular films from the mid-twentieth century. And maybe it's not such a loss to miss out on OKLAHOMA or HELLO, DOLLY and the like, but there is something interesting about MY FAIR LADY. Maybe it is the classical subject matter by way of a George Bernard Shaw play, Audrey Hepburn's charming performance as Eliza or Rex Harrison's odd talk-singing. And sure, the gender politics are a little dated, but there is something delightful about a man, once again, learning that when he tries to make someone in his image, that someone is going to have a mind of their own. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2022 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
If you're like Ashley, you have probably seen the posters for the THREE COLORS TRILOGY floating around video stores, movie theaters or dorm rooms most of your life. But maybe, also like Ashley, you have never quite gotten around to seeing what BLUE, WHITE and RED are all about. And maybe the words “Polish,” “Independent,” “Film” don't have you rushing out to plug the holes in your film knowledge. But Ashley (and maybe you also) has been remiss in seeing these very watchable and moving films. Go watch them and then unpack them here with us. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2022 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
Here it is: the ultimate podcast about the greatest martial arts film of all time. Wilson, Carr and Lee (Bruce Lee) give it to you straight. In this episode, we discuss ENTER THE DRAGON, Bruce Lee's entrance into the American film industry and the last film completed before his untimely death. We can't get enough of Bruce Lee as star, co-writer and fight choreographer. But this film has more to offer, most notably an intense fight scene featuring the talented Angela Mao. Along the way, we also share our love for Lee's exuberant, offbeat directorial debut, THE WAY OF THE DRAGON (1972). Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2022 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
Many films tell stories of people who when put in precarious situations are miraculously able pull themselves out at the last second. Andrea Arnold's FISH TANK doesn't attempt this kind of cliched hero's journey. Here the danger to 15 year-old Mia (Katie Jarvis) is real and hope takes the form of the freedom offered by a boy and his car. And yet in spite of this more subdued take on storytelling, this film is a joy to watch. We root for Mia to find her way up, out, or away, to create something different for herself. Hope comes from possibility and freedom, despite circumstances. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2021 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
Just in time for Halloween we have something a little creepy, a little campy, and a whole lot disturbing. WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? quickly became a cult favorite in large part due to Bette Davis's unhinged performance as aging former child star Baby Jane Hudson caring for her disabled sister Blanche (Joan Crawford). Hugely influential in popular culture, Baby Jane has been imitated and parodied countless times. But there is something about this film that rises above its cult-camp reputation. There is real pain and terror and mental illness here that leaves us unsure whether to laugh or cry or cringe. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2021 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
This week we travel to gritty 80's London via Neil Jordan's MONA LISA. Our hero is the elegant and inscrutable Simone (Cathy Tyson), a high end call girl who has gained a degree of independence in her work. Our narrator is her driver/bodyguard George (Bob Hoskins), recently released from prison, who is looking to reconnect with his estranged daughter. George wears his heart on his sleeve, and Simone never shows her hand, but they are (maybe) able to find some degree of connection in spite of complicated circumstances. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2021 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
Is it noir? Is it a woman's picture? Why not both? On this week's episode we talk MILDRED PIERCE. Joan Crawford is the hardest working woman in the greater Los Angeles area, at least. She cooks, she cleans, she founds a successful chain of mid-range restaurants through a series of increasingly strange real estate maneuvers, all while raising two daughters and fielding advances from various contemptible men. Maybe you can have it all! Actually, maybe not. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2021 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
In the words of noted 90s philosopher, Jack Handey, “If you ever discover that what you're seeing is a play within a play, just slow down, take a deep breath, and hold on for the ride of your life.” Bertolucci's 1970 classic THE CONFORMIST is similarly layered; a flashback within a fantasy within a frame story. Beyond the complex structure, this film is also rife with striking imagery, symbolism and camera movement. Dave and Ashley discuss how The Conformist has influenced generations of filmmakers from Coppola to Gerwig, plus how Freud ruins everything. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2021 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
Perhaps HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY is an odd choice considering our general weariness with sequels and franchises and Dave's aversion to superhero films. But this is a different kind of sequel and Hellboy is a different kind of hero, and it doesn't hurt to have Guillermo del Toro directing, too. Del Toro is clearly having a great time bringing all kinds of interesting and creepy creatures to life. This film is a whole lot of fun, proving that there is an exception to every rule even among the seemingly endless superhero movies. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2021 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
This week’s pick is about some ruthless people and some not so ruthless people acting in some very ruthless ways, but also some not very ruthless ways. Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Judge Reinhold and Supergirl star in RUTHLESS PEOPLE, a 1986 revenge comedy with a whole lot going on. We’ve got attempted murder, kidnapping, failed blackmail plots, a history of stereo retail sales practices, and an amazing house which is either a tribute to the Memphis style or a ruthless takedown of it. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2021 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
Film and other art forms are in near constant dialogue, influencing each other. This is particularly true in genre films, where quotations of influential works are used to draw viewers in. And so this week we have a film about a female tank driver in a post-apocalyptic wasteland that is controlled by one man who has all the water, and all the power. But this is not Mad Max: Fury Road, it is TANK GIRL (1995), an adaptation of an underground, post-punk comic, which was in turn almost certainly inspired by the original Mad Max series. A financial failure at the time, this film is not perfect, but it’s a whole lot of fun, and surprisingly progressive, too. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2021 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
This week we have a little truffle of a Truffaut film, romantic comedy-drama STOLEN KISSES. Third in Truffaut’s series of films about Antoine Doinel, this film concerns the misadventures of Antoine in his early 20s as he tries to figure out work and love, largely failing at both. With a cast of delightful side characters and involving the strange goings-on at a Paris detective agency, Stolen Kisses feels like something of a mix between Peter Seller’s Pink Panther films and The Graduate. A perfect cinematic treat to go with the beautiful spring weather we’re having in Texas. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2021 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
It’s Springtime in Austin, which means bluebonnets, beautiful weather and South by Southwest Music, Film, everything Festival. SXSW 2021, like many festivals during the pandemic, was held entirely online and we were there on our couch watching it all (or some of it). Listen as we share our reviews of INBETWEEN GIRL, ISLANDS, THE FALLOUT, and INTRODUCING, SELMA BLAIR, plus a few other favorite narrative films, documentaries, and shorts from the festival. We hope to pique your interest and nudge you to seek out and support these great films and their talented filmmakers. 02:26 - Inbetween Girl 09:28 - Islands 17:09 - The Fallout 29:30 - Introducing, Selma Blair 42:10 - The End of Us 44:41 - Women is Losers 49:02 - Our Father 52:16 - Potato Dreams of America 55:35 - Kid Candidate 1:00:25 - Are You Still There? (Short) 1:01:31 - Soak (Short) 1:02:08 - Summer Animals (Short) Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2021 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
Why don’t we have a word for a breakup comedy? Anti-romantic comedy doesn’t quite get the idea across in the right way. Maybe it's because breakups aren’t funny in the conventional sense. Maybe there just aren’t enough of them, but there should be more films like Ashley’s pick, CELESTE & JESSE FOREVER. Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg play a couple having the best breakup ever until complications come along. Like the best relationships this film is funny, sad and maybe we even learn a little something from it. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2021 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
What do you get when you mix horror, comedy, and romance with martial arts, stop motion, and a ghost story. Something that feels a little like Evil Dead, a little like Princess Bride, and a whole lot like a kung fu Ray Harryhausen film. Dave’s pick this week is A CHINESE GHOST STORY, a Hong Kong cinema gem that never saw a wide release in the U.S, but has since become a cult film. This film is jam-packed with action, plot, and imagery. It’s all a little too much in a really good way. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2021 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER (2001) was at one point in the mid to late 00’s required viewing for those interested in the comedy world, or at least it felt that way to someone who had just discovered comedy podcasts by way of Marc Maron. It certainly stars many up-and-coming actors and comedians who are now major names in television and film, including Amy Poehler, Ken Marino, Michael Showalter, and….Bradley Cooper.. But does it continue to deserve its required viewing status or has time and comedy moved on? Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2021 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
Two guys, one dog, a remote hot spring, and some palpable tension. This week’s pick, Kelly Reichardt’s OLD JOY, couldn't be more stripped down, just two old friends going on a weekend trip. And yet, the scenes are subtle and emotionally fraught. There is a lot going on just below the surface. At the end of the weekend it’s not clear that anyone had a good time except for Lucy the dog and maybe Dave and Ashley as they unpack it. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2021 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
If there is any movie that proves that how you feel about art can change over time, or even during the course of a single conversation, it is Ashley’s pick, Alexander Payne’s ELECTION (1999). This pitch black comedy features a usually likable Matthew Broderick playing teacher, Mr. McAllister against a difficult-to-love Tracy Flick, an against-type Reese Witherspoon. Though this seems like a simple story about what happens when a mid-life crisis mixes with a high-school election, it actually is a more subtle character study about how people use boredom and jealousy to justify some truly heinous actions. This film brings up some strong emotions from Dave and Ashley, so join us for an interesting conversation. Pick Flick! Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2020 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
This week we are reviewing WITNESS, the 1985 film starring Harrison Ford and directed by Peter Weir. Not, The Witness, not Witness for the Prosecution, Witness for the Defense, and definitely not Silent Witness or Hostile Witness. Name confusion aside, this film has a lot more to offer than one would expect from what seemed at first to be a Harrison Ford thriller, but is actually a more subtle exploration of the role of violence in modern life. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2020 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
DON’T TELL MOM THE BABYSITTER’S DEAD is perhaps a strange choice for a podcast that has covered such illustrious films as Notorious, Seven Samurai and Pan’s Labyrinth. It is very much a B movie, but there is just something about this film. Certainly part of it is Christina Applegate’s charming performance, and David Duchovny’s standout turn as a general slimeball. But also, this story subverts expectations again and again. Far from perfect, this is a fun, silly fable that has something to say about growing up, taking responsibility, and finding yourself in the process. Also mentioned: DEAD TO ME (2019) - TV Series. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2020 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
We open on an unveiling ceremony. The genteel folk of the city are dedicating a monument to “peace and prosperity." Speeches are made, benefactors are thanked and the sculpture is revealed. A man lies sleeping in the lap of the central statue. He wakes to the sound of the disapproving crowd, tips his hat politely and begins to make his way down. This is our first glimpse of The Little Tramp in Dave’s pick, CITY LIGHTS (1931) directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin at the height of his career. This film is charming and bittersweet, and feels timeless despite its nearly 90 years. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2020 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
Have you ever found yourself in some remote place where you suddenly realize that you don’t know all the rules, or that the rules are different than you thought? Perhaps you felt unmoored and uneasy. (Perhaps this has lasted roughly 4 years?) In this week's pick, 70’s horror classic, THE WICKER MAN, we follow Officer Howie (Edward Woodward) as he tries to find his footing while investigating the disappearance of a child on a remote Scottish island. With Christopher Lee, some wacky pagan rituals, and a lot of fun folk music this is an unusual kind horror film, and a really fun conversation. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2020 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
Thirty-five years is a long time between viewings of a former hit TV show, especially one that leans heavily into “battle of the sexes,” as Dave discovered with his pick this week, the 80’s screwball detective series, MOONLIGHTING, which ran from 1985-1989 on ABC. Starring Cybill Shepherd and rising star Bruce Willis as bickering partners in the Blue Moon detective agency, Moonlighting was once must-see TV, but now is mostly forgotten. Will Ashley be able to see beyond the very dated gender politics to appreciate the weird charms of this very unusual show? Maybe. Links: 10 Episodes that Highlight Moonlighting's Eclectic, Boundary-Busting Brilliance (AV Club) Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2020 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
Luminous, sumptuous, rich, devastating. If this already sounds like a list of overused words from literary book reviews, you’re right. But they also describe this week’s film, Ashley’s pick, THE WINGS OF THE DOVE (1997). Helena Bonham Carter gives one of her best performances while positively draped in rich velvets, silks and handmade lace. This film definitely has a look, and Dave and Ashley think it has performances to match. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2020 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
It seems incredible that we’ve made it to episode 59 without featuring a David Lynch film. Dave is a documented super fan of Twin Peaks, after all. But Ashley had already seen most of his major works, excepting WILD AT HEART, which had the potential to invoke a Naked-type reaction (see episode 8). But the time has come. Join us for a winding discussion of dream logic, terrifying mother figures, unexplained side characters, 50’s style crooning and, as always, the magic of Laura Dern. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2020 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
This one’s for the millennials raised by Nickelodeon, and anyone else who enjoys good things like songs with unintelligible lyrics, golden autumn light, endless summers, and personal superheroes. This week Ashley’s pick is 90’s television series THE ADVENTURES OF PETE & PETE. Dave is struck by the wonderful oddness of the world inhabited by two brothers named Pete. Ashley is just happy to be able to share such an important part of her childhood. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2020 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
That thing where you avoid seeing a film or films because the trailers and descriptions make them sound too sentimental and cliche. That. This is how Ashley felt about Terrence Malick’s films, and studiously avoided his work outside of a viewing of BADLANDS some 15 years ago. So it was with some trepidation that we approached this week’s film, Dave’s pick DAYS OF HEAVEN (1978). Will Ashley’s fears be founded or will she be drawn in? Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2020 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
Let us hope that serial lateness with a podcast is not a homicide level offense. It might be for the hero (?) or villain, rather, of this week’s film, John Water’s SERIAL MOM (1994). Kathleen Turner stars as happy, unhinged homemaker Beverly Sutphin in one of Waters’ most mainstream films. This dark comedy parodies the rising obsession with true crime, and turned out to be astonishingly prescient in predicting crime-related media extravaganzas such as the one surrounding the OJ Simpson trial a year later. Weird, funny and dark, this is right up Ashley’s alley, but will Dave be similarly enthralled? Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2020 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
This week we’re talking nuns, and not just any nuns, 1940s Himalayan nuns. The nun movie genre is kind of a mixed bag ranging from horror, to comedy, to drama, and is a genre that Ashley has largely been skeptical of, excepting Sister Act, of course. But BLACK NARCISSUS is singular among them all for its otherworldliness and veiled eroticism. The haunting use of Technicolor and incredible matte paintings that set the scene only enhance the beautiful strangeness of this fascinating film. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2020 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson
This week’s pick is Sofia Coppola’s 2006 history and period-defying MARIE ANTOINETTE. Ashley fought choosing this cream puff of a film for a long time because, though it is delightful, it just didn’t stick with her the way other films by Coppola have. A story of a privileged woman seemingly oblivious to the pain and suffering of a nation. What does it mean? Does it mean anything? Is it all frivolity, pretty shoes, and macarons or is there some substance after all? Dave and Ashley try to figure it out. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2020 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson