September 9th, 2017
Does more time = better quality or depth of story? Can you compare long-hand plotlines to something told over roughly 2 hours? This week, our answer is yes. Of course, the series details combined with the topic created a need for a 2-parter. Next Episode: To The Bone.
With an already long episode, we don't wanna bog you down here with a description, except to say: If you're currently feeling on edge, we can't guarantee this discussion will help at the moment or that you should watch the show before maybe finding some help.
Thanks for listening, we hope it does some good.
August 27th, 2017
- Creed/
- The Hurricane/
- ???/
Finally, the boxing episode you've all been waiting for! 3 variants on the sport of punch. We even mixed in some stuff about living legends of boxing & how their representation stands up to some scrutiny.
Links: Here's the '74 Foreman Fight Highlights. Here is Top 10 Ali Knockouts. Here is the Costner Speech.
Notes: Most important: there are at least 7 statues of Harriet Tubman, some that have only appeared in the last decade. Funny that Matt is so keen to mention his forgetting character names, as he used the name Carter instead of Porter for Payback. Whoooopsy! He also forgot to mention the strength of the Creed soundtrack that features Nas, 2Pac, The Roots, Future.
July 29th, 2017
GUEST HOST: GODFREY!!
This week we finish our Dragon Tattoo Trilogy of the extended Swedish films.
Not much to say here -
Some episodes mentioned: Kill Bill, Let the Right One In (Swedish version)
Here's the Blind Melon video that shows why we used it for the intro.
July 15th, 2017
GUEST HOST: GODFREY!!!
Round 2 of our Swede-a-Thon in honor of Michael Nyqvist. We reckon a nice asset to this sequel is a continuation of the tone without 'more of the same.' Different police involved, different dynamic with our 2 leads, and a slightly different approach to our episode as we go into spoiler territory. Those who listen to this episode should have already seen the 1st & 2nd film, so we take liberties that we normally avoid in discussing the finer details of the stories.
As there are no other movies we've covered related to the director, writer, or additional actors in the 2nd film, there are no links for this episode. Links for Nyqvist & Noomi Rapace are in the previous episode description.
July 3rd, 2017
GUEST HOST: GODFREY!!
The modern era has made it far easier for movies to be seen worldwide. Through that, audiences in the U.S. have better access than ever to see movies that have been remade from overseas. This series of films is pretty darn sweet (so far - as Matt hasn't seen them all yet!). Join us as we pay tribute to another god of the silver screen stripped away from us too soon...
Links: Michael Nyqvist: John Wick, Girl in the Book. Others mentioned - Flatliners, Mads Mikkelsen, Robin Hood, Prometheus, Grosse Pointe Blank.
Notes: Okay, Matt was wrong about Colin & Mads pronunciation; he was right about William Baldwin (only so much to be proud of there). We try to get it right, but can't always nail it in the moment. Also - Ace of Base are Swedes, too!!
June 19th, 2017
1962 vs. 2004/
So many times a generation hates a remake because they are attached to the original. Many times we have challenged that attachment. This movie is a titan of its time; on IMDB it is ranked 80% compared to 66% for the remake - since we didn't mention it. Rotten Tomatoes: 87 critic/78 audience; remake - 71 critic/64 audience, the original with a larger consensus of critic & audience agreement. How does Matt's opinion align with the errday public? Tune in to see!!
Links: Angela Lansbury: Last Unicorn. Johnathan Demme: Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia (also Denzel). Denzel Washington: Bone Collector, Much Ado About Nothing, Book of Eli, Malcolm X. Liev Schreiber: Spotlight. Meryl Streep: Fantastic Mr Fox. Jeffrey Wright: Casino Royale.
also mentioned: True Grit & The Quiet American.
February 26th, 2017
GUEST HOST: BOB FOSTER!!
With our 10th installment of Epic-sodes, we bring you something outside of the U.S. Though passed over in America, Red Cliff was huge in China as one of many representations for a significant era in their history. Unless you've seen it, there are only so many 'big names' attached to this. It is John Woo film, however. Beyond our shared admiration, discussing this gave us an outlet to discuss many things about modern movies, markets, and casting. Enjoy!
Note: Guan Yu breaks all the spears surrounding him & has a fight using others' weapons. Even we get mixed up sometimes (plus it's easy to get lost in the plethora of sweet fights).
Links: Hero. Mulan. John Woo - Paycheck. Links for Kurosawa films upon request (grin). Also inquire within about our LOTR reviews!! comment below & we'll lead you there.. do people use these links? Should we stop? Why am I still typing?
January 15th, 2017
GUEST HOST: GODFREY!
Greedy (1994) vs. Brewster's Millions (1985)
If you don't play the lottery, one of the likeliest windwalls you can receive is money from relatives. Death is a serious & usually sad thing, yet it has been a device for comic movie plots more than once. Today we bring you 2 such examples from different decades. Who will come out on top when it comes to bickerin' over bullion?
Links: Michael J Fox - Back 2 Futures. John Candy Episode. Clue (Michael Lynn)
Kubrick Episode (Spartacus). Schwarzenegger 1 (K-Cop) & 2 (Twins). Chris made a vid summary of the 2nd Arnold-isode. View it here! Share it - more views!!
Notes:
So I Married an Axe Murderer actually came out in between the Wayne's World movies (same year as #2), not before.
Siobhan Fallon Hogan has about 60 roles, but Matt stands behind his statement of mostly forgotten characters despite great performances.
Here's a trailer for a newer 'film' that Joyce Hyser was in: TURN DOWN YOUR VOLUME 
Art of Revenge. For all you 3rd Eye Blind fans...
Also, Lin Shaye was the character actor Matt was trying to think of... not to be confused with Linda Hunt.
Johnathan Lynn (Greedy) in fact directed Distinguished Gentleman that had some similarities to a part of Brewster's Millions.
December 5th, 2016
- The Last Dragon
- The Last Unicorn
Two Titans hang out at the same bus stop this week as we look into the staying power of the 1980's. Whether you wanted to kick someone in the face - or just ram a magical horn through their face, there were options to exorcise those demons. Can they face the modern moviegoer? Or can modern moviemakers ever hit the same mark? Listen and find out!!
Note: DeBarge had been around since 1979. Oops.
November 19th, 2016
Featured Art: Roby Amor - find more of his pop art works here http://robyamor.deviantart.com/art/The-Last-of-the-Mohicans-447170104
Allllrighty Then!! What started as an episode about escape became rather important (and long as this is only 1 of 3!). It can be hard for stories about American history to avoid feeling like a lecture. Few of them clock in at less than 3 hours, either. Last of the Mohicans is significant for so many reasons, the easiest of which is that it is entertaining. It also has many layers woven within it that do not feel as outwardly powerful as they in fact are. Learning a thing or two and walking away without hating an entire group is not always an easy task. This movie can make you think without a need to make you angry.
What else can be said? Tune in to find out. Then come back to us in 2 weeks to find out what else goes alongside this story with our conclusion to "Last of the _____" group.
Here is the article on the Pipeline: Good News.
LINKS: Bishop of Battle, Manhunter, LOTR pt I, pt II, pt III.
Trevor Jones: Richard III, Dark City, Dark Crystal, Cliffhanger, Excalibur.
Randy Edelman: Kindergarten Cop, Twins, Osmosis Jones.
October 24th, 2016
GUEST HOST: BOB FOSTER
We made an episode about movies for kids that can give you nightmares - here is the LINK for that... What about kids seeing movies they are not old enough to handle? These movies actually caused nightmares for Matt & his co-host. Carrying over from our last episode, the creepiness of these works of terror persist in making you squirm in your seat a bit (if not a lot). Cut off your hand and throw on a coat as we take you on another scary ride to round out October!!
Music note: the Big Trouble in Little China track is from an artist called 331 Erock. You can buy that album at CDBaby or on I-tunes. Here one of many Halloween tributes he has done:
Halloween 2015. All his songs kick ass!!
Note: Matt realized after that he mixed Conan the Destroyer with Red Sonja as he watched all 3 of those movies so much growing up: Sandahl Bergman is the villain, not Sarah Douglass, and Mako is in the 2 Conan films. We left that bit in there to show our mortality, that we are not the perfect beings that editing can have you believe.
Kurt Russell: Stargate (that page links to all other Russell episodes)
Here's Baby Time. You can find Auralnauts Star Wars from there!
September 11th, 2016
GUEST HOST: JOE OLSON!!
- Good Night & Good Luck
- The Social Network
Knowledge is power, right? So trying to stay on top of things is important. You can't know everything though - that would take WEEKS!! Thankfully, the evening news was there to fill us in. As tide has turned toward technology beyond television with the internet, many of us stay informed through online sources.
The 2 movies look at the end of a news era and the beginning of a new medium for information. Are we better informed with the deluge of info at our fingertips?? Listen to find out.
"Hey, what about newspapers, you say? Stand by for the next episode that also features JOE!!
BTW - Matt was thinking of the Natural Born Killers soundtrack with a lot of NIN tracks, not Lost Highway.
Links to come when the internet behaves at home...
August 29th, 2016
Enter a
Kids Show of DARKNESS as we cover some ground where kids are not bubbly and safe. For those who never got around to Stand By Me - remember: that is Stephen f'ing King!! As adults, it is often harder to enjoy movies about children as there is often little risk to the story other than losing the big game or some boy meets girl that pretty much always works out. These movies are about going big or going home!!
LINKS - Chloe Grace Moretz: Kick-Ass, Carrie, 500 Days of Summer.
Juliette Lewis: Xmas Vacation, Natural Born Killers.
River Phoenix: Sneakers, Explorers, Indy & Last Crusade.
Corey Feldman: Gremlins, Goonies, Lost Boys. Check out Matt talking about the entire TMNT franchise on the Bitter Balcony Podcast in 2014!! :
Turtle PowerRob Reiner: Misery, Princess Bride. Raynold Gideon: Cutthroat Island
Matthew MacConaughey: Dazed & Confused.
April 18th, 2016
Here is an episode prominently featuring women. Mostly dramatic material, as we opted away from the fluff often presented with female leads. Things have changed a lot with film-making and the stories written; some things have changed slower and less than others. We present you with some exceptions to often silly rules.
BTW, the trailers are mostly bad - trust our thoughts on these movies not being what is promoted. Girl in the Book is the only one that is even close..
Here is a review of Girl in the Book by the
L.A. Times, proof that even some critics missed the mark.
Note: the last song is Drain S.T.H. An all-female Swedish band that never got much radio play, they feel like a female Alice in Chains (high praise). Matt wasn't sure if they had any videos, as none really played on tv - here's the opening track off 1 of 2 albums:
I Don't Mind. Though all gorgeous, they did not feature any photos in the debut album. EMI - please don't pull this; we are showcasing your products.. go buy their albums if you like what you hear, folks.
PS: Matt has since watched Trainwreck & enjoyed it. Not hilarious for his taste, but easily worth a watch. Kobe is pretty good in it (as is a surprise athlete)..
Links:
March 13th, 2016
Fight Club/
This episode was going to be titled Violent Pornography for the longest time. We chose better, we like to think. Some movies are only the appeals they lean on: romance, violence, sex (listened to our
Better Than Sex episode?), plenty go deeper in their story. These 3 are epic in taking a magnifying glass to some harsher aspects of humanity. Ladies - sorry to say that the screen time is more dude-ish this week, but there is a lot to learn for everyone.
To say it even before you listen, none of these movies are what you think if you have never watched them. Compton is especially strong as a piece of music history for what N.W.A went through trying to take the gloves off with their songs. You do not have to be a fan to enjoy the story & respect the fight they endured. Neither of us box, but we can enjoy Rocky (except # 5)... oh yeah, go rent Creed too!!
A History of Violence got edged out of this for Compton, as the video release allowed us to consider it against one of the actual members in their own movie.
Here is a recent
Blackish clip with Laurence Fishbourne (for those who missed it).
BTW: Matt remembered 227 when he watched the
intro - do you?
Links John Singleton:
103 (also Fish & Cube).
Ice Cube: 24, 111.
Laurence Fishburne: 4, 71 (also F Gary Gray - Dir),
Angela Bassett: 102. Cuba Gooding, Jr: 137, 166 (also Brad Pitt).
Helena Bonham Carter: 17 (& Giamatti),
116.
