Podcast Guest: Jena Young

Episode 57 – Moneyball

, with special guest:

MoneyballWith this episode, we embark on a two episode exploration of baseball movies.  Moneyball stars Brad Pitt and it takes a look at the evolution of the way modern baseball teams are assembled.  Like most baseball movies, this movie isn’t about the game so much as it is about the people who make a living within the game.  This the second movie in a row that Melissa hasn’t seen.  If we can find about three more, that will probably encompass cover every movie she’s never seen!

Our next movie is another movie Melissa hasn’t seen!  We’ll be watching Bull Durham!

Moneyball (2011)
Moneyball poster Rating: 7.6/10 (461,994 votes)
Director: Bennett Miller
Writer: Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, Stan Chervin
Stars: Brad Pitt, Robin Wright, Jonah Hill
Runtime: 133 min
Rated: PG-13
Genre: Biography, Drama, Sport
Released: 23 Sep 2011
Plot: Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to assemble a baseball team on a lean budget by employing computer-generated analysis to acquire new players.

Episode 56 – The Warrior and the Sorceress

, with special guest: ,

The Warrior and the SorceressHaving watched Akira Kurosawa and Sergio Leone tackle the same story, this episode considers John Broderick’s take on the same material.  We know what you’re thinking: who is John Broderick?  Exactly.  Frequent guest Kelvin Hatle joins us for a sword and sandal retelling of Yojimbo that is, in almost every conceivable way, a complete disaster.  The Warrior and the Sorceress takes elements we have grown familiar with and inserts bad fight choreography, gratuitous nudity, and a bizarre puppet lizard.  You have not lived until you’ve seen this film and you will never forget it once you do.

We will save you, dear listeners, from watching Last Man Standing.  Our next movie will be Moneyball!

The Warrior and the Sorceress (1984)
The Warrior and the Sorceress poster Rating: 4.2/10 (2,478 votes)
Director: John C. Broderick
Writer: John C. Broderick, William Stout, Ryûzô Kikushima
Stars: David Carradine, Luke Askew, María Socas
Runtime: 81 min
Rated: R
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy
Released: 07 Sep 1984
Plot: A fearsome swordsman, Kain, crosses the barren wastelands and comes upon a town where two arch enemies fight incessantly for control of the town's only well.

Episode 55 – A Fistful of Dollars

, with special guest:

A Fistful of DollarsHaving just watched Yojimbo, it is time for us to watch the same movie made by another director.  The style of Sergio Leone is vastly different from that of Akira Kurosawa but he brings his own flair to the story of one man trying to clean out a crooked town in A Fistful of Dollars!  Instead of Toshiro Mifune, our protagonist is played by Clint Eastwood.  We compare and contrast the directors and actors who brought this story to life twice.

For our next episode, we are going to watch the same story again! This time, the results are not quite so impressive.  We’ll be watching The Warrior and the Sorceress!

A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
A Fistful of Dollars poster Rating: 7.9/10 (231,106 votes)
Director: Sergio Leone
Writer: Adriano Bolzoni, Mark Lowell, Víctor Andrés Catena
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Gian Maria Volontè, Marianne Koch
Runtime: 99 min
Rated: R
Genre: Action, Drama, Western
Released: 18 Jan 1967
Plot: A wandering gunfighter plays two rival families against each other in a town torn apart by greed, pride, and revenge.

Episode 54 – Yojimbo

, with special guest:

YojimboWe are embarking on a three movie exploration of the same story! First up is a return to the great Akira Kurosawa.  His film, Yojimbo, borrows heavily from American Westerns and American film noir.  But it has a badass samurai twist courtesy of Toshiro Mifune.  We enjoy this relatively light offering from the Japanese master filmmaker as a prelude to exploring the work of another, quite different master.

Next up, we’ll be watching A Fistful of Dollars!

Yojimbo (1961)
Yojimbo poster Rating: 8.2/10 (130,795 votes)
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Writer: Akira Kurosawa, Ryûzô Kikushima
Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Eijirô Tôno, Tatsuya Nakadai
Runtime: 110 min
Rated: Not Rated
Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller
Released: 13 Sep 1961
Plot: A crafty ronin comes to a town divided by two criminal gangs and decides to play them against each other to free the town.

Episode 53 – Django Unchained

, with special guest:

Django UnchainedSince there was only one other Quentin Tarantino film unseen by Jena, we knew we had to get to it as quickly as possible.  After showing her Jackie Brown a month ago, we took a look at Django Unchained for this episode.  Tarantino does another pastiche of Westerns, Blaxploitation and, because it is Tarantino, a little bit of almost everything else.  We hope you enjoy our conversation!

Our next movie will be a return to the world of Akira Kurosawa – Yojimbo!

Django Unchained (2012)
Django Unchained poster Rating: 8.5/10 (1,684,006 votes)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Writer: Quentin Tarantino
Stars: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio
Runtime: 165 min
Rated: R
Genre: Drama, Western
Released: 25 Dec 2012
Plot: With the help of a German bounty-hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal plantation owner in Mississippi.

Episode 52 – Foxy Brown

, with special guest:

Foxy BrownHaving just watched Jackie Brown, we decided it was time to introduce Jena to the Blaxploitation sub-genre with another Pam Greer classic – Foxy Brown!  Greer rocks a 70’s wardrobe in this film about revenge, revenge, and more revenge.  If anyone can get revenge, it would be Pam Greer.  We share some information about Blaxploitation films and spend a lot of time appreciating Pam Greer.  Because you really need to appreciate Pam Greer.

Our next movie will be the only other Tarantino film Jena hasn’t seen – Django Unchained!

Foxy Brown (1974)
Foxy Brown poster Rating: 6.5/10 (11,982 votes)
Director: Jack Hill
Writer: Jack Hill, David Sheldon
Stars: Pam Grier, Antonio Fargas, Peter Brown
Runtime: 92 min
Rated: R
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Released: 05 Apr 1974
Plot: A voluptuous vigilante takes a job as a high-class prostitute to get revenge on the mobsters who murdered her boyfriend.

Episode 51 – Jackie Brown

, with special guest:

Jackie BrownAfter much searching, we managed to find a Quentin Tarantino film that Jena hadn’t see yet!  That’s a lie.  It didn’t take that much searching at all.  We sat Jena down in front of Jackie Brown so she could enjoy a film that is not quite as obviously a Tarantino film than all of his other films.  Following the film, we had an in-depth discussion about Tarantino through the lens of a rather atypical work.  We also talked about some of his favorite actors and some of the actors who have enjoyed career revivals as a result of working with him.

In something of a natural progression, our next podcast will be about Foxy Brown!

Jackie Brown (1997)
Jackie Brown poster Rating: 7.5/10 (373,172 votes)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Writer: Quentin Tarantino, Elmore Leonard
Stars: Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster
Runtime: 154 min
Rated: R
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Released: 25 Dec 1997
Plot: A flight attendant with a criminal past gets nabbed by the ATF for smuggling. Under pressure to become an informant against the illegal arms dealer she works for, she must find a way to secure her future without getting killed.

Episode 50 – Godzilla

, with special guest: ,

GodzillaOur latest episode is so big, we couldn’t do it with just three hosts!  For our viewing of Godzilla, we brought in Matt Kessen, who is an expert on all things Godzilla.  We watched a man in a suit rampage through Tokyo and it was awesome!  We talk about the cultural impact of the film, the political undertones of the film, and we even fill Jena in about the super dumb shit they did in the American remakes.

Our next episode will be…something.  We haven’t figured it out yet.  You’ll be surprised!!!!

Godzilla (1954)
Godzilla poster Rating: 7.5/10 (39,243 votes)
Director: Ishirô Honda
Writer: Takeo Murata, Ishirô Honda, Shigeru Kayama
Stars: Takashi Shimura, Akihiko Hirata, Akira Takarada
Runtime: 96 min
Rated: Not Rated
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi
Released: 07 May 2004
Plot: American nuclear weapons testing results in the creation of a seemingly unstoppable dinosaur-like beast.

Episode 49 – Edge of Tomorrow

, with special guest:

Edge of TomorrowThis week’s episode is all about an under appreciated gem from 2014 – Edge of Tomorrow. The film is an extremely creative action movie that has the added benefit of being the perfect Tom Cruise movie for people who hate Tom Cruise!  Is the film the perfect combination of Groundhog Day and Aliens?  In all fairness, it doesn’t have a lot of competition.  If you really want to blow your mind, try to figure out all the possible things that could happen after the conclusion of the film!

Next up, we shall tackle the original Godzilla!

Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
Edge of Tomorrow poster Rating: 7.9/10 (732,875 votes)
Director: Doug Liman
Writer: Christopher McQuarrie, Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth
Stars: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton
Runtime: 113 min
Rated: PG-13
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Released: 06 Jun 2014
Plot: A soldier fighting aliens gets to relive the same day over and over again, the day restarting every time he dies.

Episode 48 – The Lady From Shanghai

, with special guest:

The Lady from ShanghaiFor this episode, we return to the lovely Trylon Microcinema in Minneapolis to enjoy Orson Wells’ curious film noir, The Lady from Shanghai.  The film stars Wells and his then wife Rita Hayworth, who makes her first appearance on our podcast.  Melissa is the only member of our team who has seen the film before so both Tim and Jena have a chance to react to all sorts of weirdness that arises when an auteur has his vision compromised by studio interference.  On the other hand, maybe some of that interference wasn’t such a bad thing…

Our next episode will jump forward a few years as we watch Edge of Tomorrow!

The Lady from Shanghai (1947)
The Lady from Shanghai poster Rating: 7.5/10 (32,954 votes)
Director: Orson Welles
Writer: Sherwood King, Orson Welles, William Castle
Stars: Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles, Everett Sloane
Runtime: 87 min
Rated: Not Rated
Genre: Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Released: 14 Apr 1948
Plot: Fascinated by gorgeous Mrs. Bannister, seaman Michael O'Hara joins a bizarre yachting cruise, and ends up mired in a complex murder plot.