Category: Podcast

Jun 15 2014

Episode 25 – Cabaret

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CabaretJena wasn’t able to make it to the recording of this episode but that’s OK, we bought in a stunt Jena!  This week’s stunt Jena was…Melissa!  Turns out Cabaret was one of the few films that she had never seen.  With Melissa our acting Jena, we were down one expert.  Enter our friend Windy Bowlsby!  Windy is a huge fan of the film and of Bob Fosse so she provided a great expert perspective.  Enjoy our conversation about the only Oscar winning musical set in pre-Nazi Germany that we know about!

Our next episode is going to be recorded live at the Trylon Theatre on June 29th.  We’ll be watching The Conversation!

And don’t forget to check out Windy and Melissa’s podcast – Xanadu Cinema Pleasure Dome!

Cabaret (1972)
Cabaret poster Rating: 7.8/10 (63,304 votes)
Director: Bob Fosse
Writer: Joe Masteroff, John Van Druten, Christopher Isherwood
Stars: Liza Minnelli, Michael York, Helmut Griem
Runtime: 124 min
Rated: PG
Genre: Drama, Music, Musical
Released: 13 Feb 1972
Plot: A female girlie club entertainer in Weimar Republic era Berlin romances two men while the Nazi Party rises to power around them.

 

Jun 01 2014

Episode 24 – Dune

, with special guest: , ,

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DuneFor our newest episode, we subjected Jena to the 1984 train wreck that is David Lynch’s Dune!  We are joined by two special guests.  First is Kelvin Hatle, who has an unholy love for bad movies great and small.  Second is Jerry Belich who, along with Melissa, produced a Swede version of the film that you can (and should) watch on Youtube!  We try to make sense of a film that almost works on many levels and yet completely fails on all of them.  Who knows if we succeeded?

We added the horrible song that Tim wrote for the credit sequence of the Dune Swede.  It is after the closing music to the podcast.  If you’d like to download your own version of the song (though we don’t know why you would), you can do that here.

Our June 15th episode will be about Cabaret and features special guest Windy Bowlsby!

Dune (1984)
Dune poster Rating: 6.3/10 (190,695 votes)
Director: David Lynch
Writer: Frank Herbert, David Lynch
Stars: Francesca Annis, Leonardo Cimino, Brad Dourif
Runtime: 137 min
Rated: PG-13
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Released: 14 Dec 1984
Plot: A Duke's son leads desert warriors against the galactic emperor and his father's evil nemesis to free their desert world from the emperor's rule.

May 15 2014

Episode 23 – The Bridge on the River Kwai

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Bridge on the River KwaiThis month, we began our new relationship with the Trylon microcinema in Minneapolis!  They have great popcorn!  For our first film, we watched David Lean’s epic masterpiece The Bridge on the River Kwai featuring Sir Alec Guiness and William Holden.  There was much whistling and a bridge was destroyed!  Nary a lightsaber was to be seen! We had great fun talking about this movie with the attendees of the film and you can hear how much fun if you only listen to the episode!

Our June 1st episode will feature guests Kelvin Hatle and Jerry Belich as we talk about the David Lynch’s failed epic, Dune!

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
The Bridge on the River Kwai poster Rating: 8.1/10 (245,523 votes)
Director: David Lean
Writer: Pierre Boulle, Carl Foreman, Michael Wilson
Stars: William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins
Runtime: 161 min
Rated: PG
Genre: Adventure, Drama, War
Released: 14 Dec 1957
Plot: British POWs are forced to build a railway bridge across the river Kwai for their Japanese captors in occupied Burma, not knowing that the allied forces are planning a daring commando raid through the jungle to destroy it.

 

May 01 2014

Episode 22 – Goodfellas

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GoodfellasHard to believe we’ve made it this far in the life of our little podcast without getting down with some Martin Scorsese!  Have no fear, this episode we take a look at one of his masterworks, Goodfellas! DeNiro, Pesci and Liotta take us through the world of the gangster in a way that is very nearly Shakespearean.  Larger than life characters play across the screen until we start to understand that they are are all seduced by their own ideas of their lives.  Enjoy our trip through the lives of gangsters, Scorsese style!

Our next episode will be recorded live at the Trylon theater on Sunday the 4th of May!  We’ll be watching “Bridge on the River Kwai!”  Join us!

Goodfellas (1990)
Goodfellas poster Rating: 8.7/10 (1,350,647 votes)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Writer: Nicholas Pileggi, Martin Scorsese
Stars: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci
Runtime: 145 min
Rated: R
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Released: 21 Sep 1990
Plot: The story of Henry Hill and his life in the mafia, covering his relationship with his wife Karen and his mob partners Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito.

Apr 15 2014

Episode 21 – 12 Years a Slave

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12 Years a SlaveIn what is becoming a tradition, we watched this year’s Academy Award winner for Best Picture, 12 Years a Slave!  In an unusual twist, Tim was the only host who had actually seen the film already.  The movie inspired a lot of discussion about slavery, the Oscars and, oddly, Gravity.  We hope you enjoy our annual trip to the Academy Awards!

Next time, we’ll be discussing one of Martin Scorsese’s greatest works: Goodfellas!

12 Years a Slave (2013)
12 Years a Slave poster Rating: 8.1/10 (772,130 votes)
Director: Steve McQueen
Writer: John Ridley, Solomon Northup
Stars: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Kenneth Williams, Michael Fassbender
Runtime: 134 min
Rated: R
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Released: 08 Nov 2013
Plot: In the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.

Apr 01 2014

Episode 20 – Sunset Boulevard

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Sunset BoulevardThis week, we dive into Billy Wilder for a walk along Sunset Boulevard!  William Holden and Gloria Swanson guide us through a wonderfully cynical look at Hollywood.  We go down the meta rabbit hole as we discuss the casting on this film.  We also spend far too much time talking about the horrible musical that was inspired by the film.  Accept no substitutes!

Our next episode, on April 15th, will be about the 2014 Academy Award Winner for Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave!

Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Sunset Boulevard poster Rating: 8.4/10 (248,927 votes)
Director: Billy Wilder
Writer: Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, D.M. Marshman Jr.
Stars: William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim
Runtime: 110 min
Rated: Approved
Genre: Drama, Film-Noir
Released: 04 Aug 1950
Plot: A screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return.

Mar 15 2014

Episode 19 – The Emperor’s New Groove

, with special guest:

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The Emperor's New GrooveOne of the challenges we’ve faced is finding an animated film that Jena hasn’t seen.  While we can toss just about anything else in front of her, she’s watched almost everything by Disney.  What a delight it was, then when we discovered that she had never seen one of the most underrated Disney films of all time, The Emperor’s New Groove!  She had seen the straight to video sequel but not the hilarious original.  We have managed to rectify that situation so sit back and enjoy our conversation about a movie that is not nearly as Disney as you might expect.

The Emperor's New Groove (2000)
The Emperor's New Groove poster Rating: 7.4/10 (243,333 votes)
Director: Mark Dindal
Writer: Chris Williams, Mark Dindal, David Reynolds
Stars: David Spade, John Goodman, Eartha Kitt
Runtime: 78 min
Rated: G
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Released: 15 Dec 2000
Plot: Emperor Kuzco is turned into a llama by his ex-administrator Yzma, and must now regain his throne and his human form with the help of Pacha, a gentle llama herder.

Our next podcast will be on April 1st and we’ll be discussing Sunset Boulevard!

Mar 01 2014

Episode 18 – The Magnificent Seven

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The Magnificent SevenFollowing up on our last episode about Seven Samurai, this episode looks at the American remake.  Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Charles Bronson and more up the manly quotient to unbearable levels in The Magnificent Seven!  The movie is a remarkably close adaptation of Kurosawa’s classic.  We talk about the similarities as well as some of the very important differences.  Tim even comes up with a convoluted and frighteningly logical explanation of how this movie is actually remake of The Wizard of Oz. We also sing.  That’s a warning.

Stick around after the closing theme to hear the brilliant Magnificent Seven song from Trailer B!

The Magnificent Seven (1960)
The Magnificent Seven poster Rating: 7.7/10 (108,612 votes)
Director: John Sturges
Writer: William Roberts, Akira Kurosawa, Walter Bernstein
Stars: Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson
Runtime: 128 min
Rated: Approved
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama
Released: 12 Oct 1960
Plot: Seven gunfighters are hired by Mexican peasants to liberate their village from oppressive bandits.

Our next episode will be about The Emperor’s New Groove!

 

Feb 15 2014

Episode 17 – Seven Samurai

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Seven SamuraiIt is time for some Reel Education subtitled action courtesy of the great Akira Kurosawa’ s masterpiece, Seven Samurai! While Jena speculates there will be flips in this film, she finds nary a one.  Instead, she finds one of the greatest films ever along with some truly racist Japanese accents courtesy of Melissa and Tim!  Seven Samurai enter!  How many leave?  That would be a spoiler!

Seven Samurai (1954)
Seven Samurai poster Rating: 8.6/10 (391,392 votes)
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Writer: Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto, Hideo Oguni
Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Tsushima
Runtime: 207 min
Rated: Not Rated
Genre: Action, Drama
Released: 19 Nov 1956
Plot: Farmers from a village exploited by bandits hire a veteran samurai for protection, and he gathers six other samurai to join him.

Our next episode will be all about The Good, The Bad and The Ugly!

Feb 01 2014

Episode 16 – Double Indemnity

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Double IndemnityJena was unable to make our recording at Pepito’s this episode so we pulled in a Stunt Jena.  Joining us at the Parkway was Tim’s son Alex, who got to watch his first Noir on the big screen.  Our movie was the Noir classic Double Indemnity by Billy Wilder.  People betrayed each other.  People died.  Insurance was sold.  Yep.  Insurance.  Enjoy our conversation about a great film!

Double Indemnity (1944)
Double Indemnity poster Rating: 8.3/10 (176,771 votes)
Director: Billy Wilder
Writer: Billy Wilder, Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain
Stars: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson
Runtime: 107 min
Rated: Approved
Genre: Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Released: 06 Jul 1944
Plot: An insurance representative is seduced by a dissatisfied housewife into a scheme of insurance fraud and murder that arouses the suspicion of his colleague, a claims investigator.