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IGN Digigods Podcast Episode 373
49 Plays9 years ago
This week, new Blu-rays featuring Jennifer Aniston, Mark Wahlberg, Liam Neeson and Paddington Bear! Plus, Mark drops an F-bomb but for good reason!
Digigods Podcast, 04/28/15 (MP3) -- 32.9 MB
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In this episode, the Gods discuss:
- Accidental Love (Blu-ray)
- Aftermath (DVD)
- The Babadook (Special Edition) (Blu-ray)
- The Barber (Blu-ray)
- Barquero (Studio Classics) (Blu-ray)
- Boy Meets Girl (DVD)
- The Boy Next Door (Blu-ray/DVD)
- Cake (Blu-ray)
- Captive (France) (DVD)
- The Circle (DVD)
- Drink Me (DVD)
- The Friends of Eddie Coyle (Blu-ray)
- From a Whisper to a Scream (Blu-ray)
- The Gambler (Blu-ray)
- A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Blu-ray)
- Harry & Son (Blu-ray)
- He Loves Me... He Loves Me Not (DVD)
- Hollywood Shuffle (Blu-ray)
- Hustler White (Blu-ray)
- Inherent Vice (Blu-ray/DVD)
- Land of Storms (DVD)
- Little Accidents (DVD)
- Little Man Tate (Blu-ray)
- Lord of the Flies (Blu-ray)
- Maps to the Stars (Blu-ray/DVD)
- The Marine 4 - Moving Target (Blu-ray)
- Miami Blues (Collector's Edition) (Blu-ray)
- Mommy (DVD)
- Paddington (Blu-ray)
- Paddington Collector's Edition (DVD)
- Playing Dead (DVD)
- Remake Rewind: End of the Affair (1955/1999) (DVD)
- Selma (Blu-ray/DVD)
- Taken 3 (Blu-ray)
- Teachers (Blu-ray)
- Teeth and Blood (DVD)
- That Man From Rio / Up to His Ears (Blu-ray)
- Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (Studio Classics) (DVD)
- Vandal (DVD)
- The Walking Deceased (DVD)
- The Wedding Ringer (Blu-ray)
- The White Buffalo (Studio Classics) (Blu-ray)
- Wild at Heart (Studio Classics) (DVD)
Please also visit CineGods.com.
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Transcript
Introduction and Sound Editing
00:00:06
Speaker
In a stable trying to calm the horses spooked by the name... It's the IGN Digigods. Now two men who will tell you they have enormous Schwannstukas, Wade Major and Mark Teiser.
00:00:27
Speaker
Oh man, that was an awesome intro. Corey, to whom do we owe that? That was written by Nicholas Gordon, making me uncomfortable, sort of speaking German. That was a lot of fun sound editing before the show. You hired someone to do that, didn't you? Yeah, exactly. No, of course not, because I'm all Butterfingers. Just like Bill Bobaggins.
Hobbit vs Lord of the Rings Debate
00:00:49
Speaker
Can't hang on to anything.
00:00:50
Speaker
Is that a Lord of the Rings thing? Yeah, you've seen the Hobbit, the whole Hobbit trilogy. I have not seen any of the Hobbit films. Are you serious? Couldn't care less. Really? You know what? I already suffered through 10 hours of Lord of the Rings. We gave them best picture. It's fine. The Hobbit films, I like them better. I do. I like them better. But how does the Hobbit... I like Martin Freeman a lot. I think he's great and I like the story a little better. I just like the characters better. Billy Connolly shows up as a dwarf.
00:01:19
Speaker
You can't beat that.
Doctor Who and TV Show References
00:01:22
Speaker
How does it stack up to Doctor Who? We have a Doctor Who book this week. We sure do. And it's interesting that that comes now because there have been a lot of Doctor Who references on the Facebook page. We have the unofficial Doctor Who, the big book of lists, from Cameron K. McEwen. Now, I'll be the first one to say that I am not the audience for this book.
00:01:42
Speaker
It looks very nice. So I'm really gonna, I will really judge it basically on its layout and the quality of the paper. So based on the layout and the quality of the paper, this is a fine book.
00:01:53
Speaker
there is no it's it's actually it's actually really cool uh... this is the obviously for doctor who fanatics but uh... when you go when it comes to something like doctor who's been on the wall on the air as long as this has you can make some pretty unwieldy lists and uh... there's some fun stuff in here uh... i am obviously not as isn't as big of a who fanatic as others but there's an interesting like your example tv shows that that uh... the doctor who references doctor who actually references other television shows
00:02:19
Speaker
And it's fascinating. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Scooby-Doo, Star Trek, of course, gets a reference. Teletubbies gets
Why No Doctor Who Film?
00:02:28
Speaker
a reference. I don't know. Now, why have they not done a Doctor Who movie? Boy, that's a whole separate, that's a whole class of things unto itself. I think there was a Doctor Who movie like before we were born that may have been released in theaters.
00:02:46
Speaker
But I'm not positive about that. But I know there have been endless conversations among certain executives at the BBC and elsewhere about whether to do that. And as I understand it, the reasoning is this. Doctor Who Lives on Television.
00:03:06
Speaker
It's a television phenomenon, the continuity is entirely television based, and the feeling is there's not enough of a hardened audience that would go buy tickets outside of, you know, Doctor Who people to justify it.
00:03:23
Speaker
Well, because you'd have to spend $180 million on the Doctor Who movie. And you would have to spend the first 90 minutes basically
Listener Gifts and Charlie Hebdo
00:03:30
Speaker
bringing people who are not part of the Doctor Who world up to speed on what the Time Lord means and what the TARDIS is. Well, the question is, does it become an origin story? The exposition required would be obnoxious. Yeah, but look at, and this is a horrible example because the movie sucked, but look at Dark Shadows.
00:03:50
Speaker
They made a Dark Shadows movie, which is a terrible film. But what I'm saying is that it stood apart from the Dark Shadows TV show. Yes. And that's fine. Yeah. I don't think they want to do that. They want the movie to be part of the continuity of the... Actors who appear in classic and new who. Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Linda Barron.
00:04:15
Speaker
It's interesting. Okay, why are we talking about that instead of the gift I got? Yeah, that's right. So go ahead, talk about the gift. This, of course, came from Axel. Axel Peronio, thank you, who sent us copies of the rare Charlie Hebdo's. That's right, which I'm staring at right now. There it is. Phenomenal. Thank you, Axel. Thank you, Axel. You are a mention. We appreciate that. And that is really, that is so thoughtful. I don't even know.
00:04:36
Speaker
I don't even know how to express it because we're a couple of cold fish here when it comes to emotional connection and whatnot. No, I'm quite an emotional man. I've been known to cry at sporting events, dog food commercials. Games when the Mets lose.
Mets and Sports Humor
00:04:51
Speaker
The Mets are the best team in baseball. Are they really? You realize the Mets are the best team in baseball right now. The Mets had an 11 game winning streak. I just know there's like some Taiwanese player whose last name is who and he got a base hit and now everybody's like, hey, who's on first? Hey, Abbott and Costello were right seven years later and it became a big internet joke. That's all I know. Wade, the Mets are the best team in baseball. They have the best record.
00:05:14
Speaker
You realize that. It's only April. And by the way, I am gloating like you would not believe because in about three weeks they'll be in the middle of a 14 game losing streak. Okay, so Axel, he sent me something. Now, I see it says for narc. Now, I don't know if they... That's an M. It's really not. Axel, I have to say that it says for narc. Now, are you saying that I'm a narc? Am I that nerdy that you think I would rat you out? You just don't know European's handwriting script very well.
00:05:42
Speaker
Now, do I know what this is, Wade? No, you don't. I don't even know what this is. Have I opened this up? We have no idea. I'm gonna open it up right now. He just says he added a little something for you and hopefully you'll enjoy it. Here it is. It's never been released in the U.S.
00:06:00
Speaker
And it's not Camembert. That's what he said. I'm opening up right now. It's pretty exciting. Alright, here we go. This is like 50s television. Motherf***er! Yes! Do I have to? No! Yes! Yes! This is the greatest gift.
00:06:19
Speaker
well now it's a note so this is uh... now this you can what you can watch this without uh... french subtitles of french audio rages watch it yes right mhm god damn it is the greatest gift i've ever been given including my parents uh... please enjoy this special feature of blu-ray for team america only released in europe
00:06:38
Speaker
Now out of print, it is supposed to be region free. Thank you for all your jokes, your expertise, and cooking advice all over the years. Take
French Cinema Discussion
00:06:47
Speaker
care, Axel. This is the greatest gift I've ever been given by anybody. Because I didn't know what it could be. I'm like, look at this be like Escape from New York. It just came out. That's pretty fantastic. Some Star Trek II thing that this is like unbelievable. I cannot thank you enough. Axel, I'm sort of in awe of, that's an awesome gift. That's cool. That is really cool. Thank you. Should you believe that? Nah, don't believe it out.
00:07:07
Speaker
I had no idea what it was. In post-production, I'll put one of Cory's little Jerry Lewis things over it. So everyone who's listening to this will already know that. Okay, well do me a favor.
00:07:18
Speaker
Yes. Keep the mother part and most of the effort part. I want people to know what my actual true reaction was. I will. This is like the greatest gift I've ever been given. First of all, by a parent sibling, which I have none. Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny. Santa Claus, because I'm Jewish. I didn't even want to open this.
00:07:40
Speaker
Because I feel like if I open it, it'll ruin his beautifulness. I love this movie. You realize I was the only person in LAFKET to name this one of the top 10 films of the decade. That's good for you. You know what? But remember, Luke Thompson also named The Room one of the top 10 films of the decade. I cannot believe I got this. That's so unbelievably cool. Thank you so much. You are awesome. Thank you, man. Wow.
00:08:05
Speaker
Well... No, I'm actually going to keep the envelope too. I'm going to put the Blu-ray in the envelope and then in my... Keep the letter too. And then in my Blu-ray case, I'll put it under T and people will be like, why is that Blu-ray in a brown envelope? And I'm going to be like, well, I have a story. Because one of our most beloved listeners sent me a gift and a gift that was greatly appreciated. Thank you very, very much. While we're at it, in honor of Axel, let's go through some foreign films.
00:08:35
Speaker
And I'm going to hit some French films here right quickly.
Film Reviews and Isabelle Huppert
00:08:38
Speaker
A Audre tattoo! The wonderful, delightful Audre tattoo in a film by Laetitia Colombani, who I'm not terribly familiar with, but there are tons of great filmmakers in France and all over Europe that I'm not that familiar with. This is from First Run Features, and Audre tattoo is always just completely delightful. I'm going to put this on my shelf right now, actually. Go, you talk about whatever crap that is. I will.
00:09:00
Speaker
anyway uh... this is just one other audience of two love story uh... romantic comedy but you know what it did that she's always good in them that she's that the romantic comes are kind of a dead genre in the u.s. but they continue to thrive in france and thank god because they've got great actresses like audrey uh... anyway the basic idea she's uh... she's in love with a married guy a married doctor who's uh... who's gonna soon be a father
00:09:22
Speaker
And she resorts to measures that are rather unsavory, and then there are some really interesting little twists and turns, and in the end you wind up just being incredibly charmed and sweetened by the whole thing.
00:09:38
Speaker
Also from First Run Features is a film called Vandal by a filmmaker named Elie Cisterne, also someone I am not familiar with. And this is actually probably going to be of interest more to people who are a little bit more familiar with French social situations presently. Very much a social criticism, as a lot of French dramas are these days.
00:10:03
Speaker
dealing specifically with immigrant groups in French urban environments, and in this case it deals with youth, graffiti and tagging and all of that. If you know the milieu, if you know the environment, it's a pretty hard-hitting film but also very, very touching.
00:10:22
Speaker
Uh, Playing Dead, uh, Iana Jean-Paul Salome is a filmmaker I'm vaguely familiar with, and, uh, I wasn't overly thrilled with this. It's, uh, it's kind of a, kind of a dark, comedic-y thriller. Um, kind of a, kind of a whodunit, kind of a thriller. Didn't completely work for me. Uh, I, but, you know, it's, it's stylish enough to sort of be engaging.
00:10:49
Speaker
Isabel Hubert in Briante Mendoza's film Captive is absolutely outstanding. She is better than the film. This is actually not a French language film. This is in English and Tagalog because it takes place in the Philippines and deals with a hostage situation.
00:11:08
Speaker
And it's it's it's it means to be really well done but it's mostly about her performance and that's been fair enough you know is just absolutely amazing. And then lastly on this batch.
00:11:24
Speaker
from Cohen in a fantastic two-film Blu-ray set. A couple of Philippe de Broca films, for the first time ever on Blu-ray, that man from Rio, and up to his ears, both of them with Jean-Paul Belmondo, and these are classics. These are just absolutely wonderful films. If you've never seen that man from Rio, you are absolutely seriously missing out.
00:11:47
Speaker
And I want to dovetail this just for a second, especially that man from Rio. That is just great. Now, Philippe de Broca, by the way, those who don't know, Philippe de Broca is one of the great French directors of all time, a master stylist, great with all genres. His films, if there's one thing in common with de Broca's films, it is that they are big and opulent and stylish and they just have a, there's a big screen, big movie sensibility to all of them.
00:12:11
Speaker
He really knows how to dress everything up and these are just so much fun and Belmondo is absolutely fantastic. What I will say about this is that man from Rio, if you're a fan of the OSS 117 films, which I am, which you are and which I am, you will love this because it's a spy spoof but it's a spy spoof from the era of spy spoofs and it's just great. It's just so much fun. It's smart and it's great.
00:12:36
Speaker
Anyway, yeah, so that's a wonderful collaboration, actually between de Broca and Jean-Paul Rapinoe, who of course would go on to do Cyrano de Bergerac and a lot of other great films. And speaking of OSS 117, you know what I did a few days ago, don't you?
00:12:54
Speaker
You made a spy spoof and had it released in France. I moderated the Q&A with Michel Azanavicius at Coca-Cola because they showed the first OSS 117 film as part of the Coca-Cola classics screening, which is weird because it wasn't that long ago. It was just 2008.
00:13:15
Speaker
And I was actually the jury president the year that they had that, and I'm like, oh my gosh, has it been that long? But I guess it has. So anyway, I had the wonderful chance to sit down and have an hour-long Q&A with him in front of the audience, and it was wonderful. Talked a little bit, talked a lot about the OSS 117 films, how they're shot, and how he emphasized the day-for-night photography. It was really interesting. They actually cranked up the blues in the day-for-night. Did you know that?
00:13:37
Speaker
I did not know that. Isn't that interesting? Now, did you know that or did he reveal that? He revealed that. Well, I asked him, I said specifically because I said, you made a very conscious effort to emulate the look of films from the era, including shooting day for night, which no one does anymore. So, I mean, it was specific that he said, we're going to shoot our night scenes day for night so that they look like those old movies in the 50s and 60s. And he said, yeah, because now with digital tools, you can really, really turn the blue up and you can pick your blue
00:14:06
Speaker
and really give it the period look. Anyway, he also talked about his new film, The Search, which was at Cannes last year. They trimmed it a little bit since Cannes, and that's going to be coming out soon, which is a completely dramatic film. It's based on the old Fred Zimmerman film from 1948, except it's no longer World War II, but now it's set in the Second Chechnyaan War. It's really good. He could be the Michael Winterbottom.
00:14:32
Speaker
He does comedies, he does dramas, does a lot of different things. What do you think, before we dive into the rest of the foreign language stuff, what do you think about the new film that Winterbottom is allegedly attached to? Which is that? You didn't hear about this? No. Oh my gosh. It is Robert Simons, right? The super producer who's just got this new studio funded, STX Studios. Right. Okay, so Simons is building this big slate of like 15 films a year. He's going out hard. I mean, it's really impressive.
00:14:58
Speaker
And he's going to launch big. He's not starting small. Like, well, we're going to do two films a year, and eventually, no. He's like, we're coming out of the gate with like 15 movies a year, and we are going to be a studio, and we're a player. And one of those films is going to be the story of Russ Meyer and Roger Ebert doing Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, which is a great story. But Winterbottom apparently is attached to direct it. Guess who's attached to play Russ Meyer?
00:15:29
Speaker
You could not get someone who looks more the part, but I wonder if it's almost gonna be a camp performance. Will Ferrell. Will Ferrell is gonna play Russ Meyer. And Jonah Hill will play Roger Ebert. Probably, probably. I mean, that would sort of lock it down, but it's like, wow, that is really interesting casting. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I trust Winterbottom and I trust Will Ferrell, but it's
00:15:55
Speaker
Well, Ferrell's done a couple of dramas, but, you know... That's a bigger stretch than he's ever done before. Yeah, because... That's a real stretch. It sounds like it could be a drama, but it has outlandish notes to it. The thing is, Russ Meyer is a very particular personality. I have had the, I don't want to call it the pleasure, I've had the distinction of having a conversation on the phone with Russ, and it's when we were trying to convince him to be part of Schlock.
00:16:24
Speaker
We were unsuccessful because Russ was determined that he was going to make a documentary about himself.
00:16:29
Speaker
And he didn't want to compete with himself. He never did. You know, he wound up, his health took a turn for the worse, and that was very sad. But, you know, I talked to him, Ray talked to him, we tried, we did our best. But he, he's just, he was just a really flamboyant, into himself, gravelly personality. And he was very prickly. You know, he said, what did he say to me? He said, Sam Markov wanted me to make movies for him once, and I said, F you.
00:16:59
Speaker
This was this, he's telling me, he's telling me these things on the phone. So I don't know, you know, Will Ferrell doing an impersonation of Russ Meyer becomes camp. But if Will Ferrell can kind of move past the Ferrellness, the SNL-ness and
00:17:12
Speaker
and get inside who Russ Meyer really was. The best thing I heard about Russ Meyer was a quote that FX Feeney quoted in Schlock where he said that apparently, I forget who it was, but somebody was at a party with Russ Meyer and Russ said, you know, if I hadn't been so into big tits, I could have been Orson Welles.
00:17:34
Speaker
And he's kind of right, in a way. I guess, but if you look at Orson Welles, you mean Korea as the director? Meaning people would have taken him seriously as an artist, as a filmmaker, if it weren't for the fact that his films are filled with women who are just enormously endowed. And if you look at films like Mudhoney in particular,
00:17:53
Speaker
They're not they're not exploitation films. They're not crap movies. They're not like low-budget, you know, they're not they're not You know, just Franco movies, right? They're not cheese cheese ball low, but there it's they there's real craftsmanship to it. There's real storytelling and You know, he just He's a fascinating figure, but it's the same thing with someone like Roger Corman even Monty Hellman where you're like, it's very true there You pigeonhole them into a certain thing, but it doesn't mean that they're not craftsmen in their own, right?
00:18:23
Speaker
True. What's also true is that we're not talking about DVDs or Blu-rays. I'm a huge fan of A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. This is a Iranian... Don't get it. Really? I just don't get it. Well, I will say this. I don't know how much... Once you get by the style, which is just...
00:18:41
Speaker
Gorgeous. I mean, it's a graphic novel come to life and the blu-ray from Keno Lober. They really knocked out of the park It includes a collectible graphic novel with an essay You know once you once you get away from the visuals, I don't know how much there is there but and Lily Amir poor is a
00:19:00
Speaker
It's just a very promising young stylist. Just fantastic. It's like no movie you've ever seen. It had moments that were very haunting. That scene where the guy and the girl are together and they're playing the record in her bedroom. That's some pretty amazing stuff.
00:19:15
Speaker
It is. I mean, I shouldn't be really totally down on it. It's got a lot of really impressive stuff in it. As a resume film, I think it's interesting. The style, the concept. I'm really tired of anything to do with vampires, I gotta be honest. And we got another one coming up here, more gay vampires, which I'll comment on momentarily. I would not watch this because you're afraid of vampire films. If you want to see something very visual, here's what I'll say. Imagine the Sin City films. Yes.
00:19:42
Speaker
Right? It's black and white, very stylish. Not quite noir lighting, but just very cool black and white light. It's just subversive and it's smart and it's visually ambitious and I just thought it was terrific. A girl walks home alone at night. I concur. It is interesting.
00:19:58
Speaker
However, however, I still feel it's more of a resume piece. It's easy to admire from a technical standpoint, but I'm more interested to see what she does next. That's what I want to do. That's what I want to see. I want to see where this goes. This is a film that was designed to catch your attention, not necessarily to be a landmark film. In one sense it works, in another I don't think it works quite so well. But look, I respect it, I just don't particularly care for it.
00:20:23
Speaker
Does that make sense? No, like most things you say, no sense. Mommy won the jury prize at last year's Cannes Film Festival. It was praised more at the time than it was when it finally got released. Xavier Dooland, who directed it.
00:20:42
Speaker
and wrote it, is a very talented stylist and it's an interesting concept. I think I agree probably more with the, I think everybody kind of loved him so much based on his previous work that they just went bananas at Cannes. I'm not so sure that it actually holds up once we get outside the confines of a film festival. But it's basically about a woman who is, you know, she's a single mom, she's lost her husband, and she's trying to deal with a teenage son who has ADHD.
00:21:11
Speaker
And that's it. There's really not a lot else to it. It's well done for what it is, but it still feels like a kind of like a television movie that's been given this really glossy French European art house feel and edge. And it's fine. Good performances, Andrew Voll, Antoine Olivier Pinot, and Suzanne Clemon. But it's not going to sort of
00:21:37
Speaker
And it's not going to stand the test of time, I don't think. But the film is mommy. It is not on Blu-ray. It is only on DVD from Lionsgate.
00:21:44
Speaker
uh... where there's a uh... must rent called uh... south of the sea right this he lost a lot man that's correct jump your mail bill and um... he's job permelville fan uh... the circle ruz a samurai rights yeah problem bear love him he's awesome this is his first feature film and is from uh... nineteen forty nine and it's just great you can just a ready to tell that melville is becoming this brilliant visualist it's all about it takes place in nazi occupied of france
00:22:11
Speaker
There's this German, there's this Nazi who was billeted in this home, middle class home with this middle aged man and he's grown, I think he's the niece. And because this German Nazi is in their home, they
00:22:27
Speaker
greet him with silence and they don't talk to this guy because he's a nazi in their home and he's he has a it's wartime it's occupied france and so he's gonna sit there and keep himself safe in the home of this middle-aged guy and his niece so they just uh... they just greet him with silence and it's it's all about like these like these little glances and looks that are just every little look it means so much for you from each of these people and it's just no one really remembers this film but it's so good
00:22:56
Speaker
And I gotta tell you, if you're a huge fan of French cinema, if you're a huge fan of Melville, which you should be, I doubt you've seen the sounds of the sea, but it is really, really good. And of course, once again, Criterion knocks out of the park.
00:23:11
Speaker
They have a short called The 24 Hours in the Life of a Clown, which is Melville's first film. That was the film he did right before this. And a bunch of other extras, including a 45-minute documentary on the making of this film, which was great, because you really get to see him at work. You get to see what he was thinking that early in his career. So La Cielons de la Mer, I cannot recommend highly enough. It's great. It's a good film, I agree. Yep.
00:23:38
Speaker
We've got some gay titles really quickly, get through these, for those of our listeners who are interested in this particular field. Some of them crossover, some of them don't. Drink Me is another one of those gay vampire movies that I just, I don't know why this is a thing. It's a couple of guys and one of them loses his job and they take on another guy to help pay the rent and he turns out to be a vampire.
00:24:06
Speaker
Go figure, I really don't understand that whole routine. Land of Storms is a Hungarian-German co-production, primarily Hungarian, and it's in Hungarian and German, about a couple of guys who are a couple of soccer players, and it moves through their relationship into a love triangle, really only noteworthy because it's a European setting, German and Hungarian setting. Gay films don't exactly have a strong root in Hungary, for example.
00:24:36
Speaker
From Wolf is The Circle by Stefan Haupt, as long as we are in the European end of things. And this is a little more kind of classic and stylish. It's got kind of a documentary edge to it. And it's a bit higher level than the usual gay film festival quality. So The Circle is probably worth watching.
00:25:02
Speaker
A real crossover film that's really interesting is Boy Meets Girl.
00:25:08
Speaker
and that's because it's from eric shafer who somehow overcame uh... the the curse of being considered this really pretentious want to be woody allen for a long time uh... and eric shafer has actually turned into kind of an indio tour he's never had his breakout film but he keeps making movies and they keep being consistently interesting and taking interesting new twists and uh... this is particularly interesting coming on the heels as it does of the uh... the uh... bruce jenner interview and uh...
00:25:36
Speaker
i will leave it at that uh... because it's got
00:25:40
Speaker
It would give too much away. So Boy Meets Girl, based on what I just said, you fill in the blanks, but it doesn't mean to be overly edgy. It's not trying to shock. It's not trying to make fun. It kind of hits a very, very interesting narrative path. So with that, I would say if you're an Eric Schaeffer fan, which I have been and I have not been at times, like the first film that he made that he co-directed, My Life's in Turnaround, did you ever see that? Yes, long time ago.
00:26:09
Speaker
Stupid film, but intermittently funny. Sure So you saw some promise there. Yeah, you saw some promise and then lastly on the gay front hustler white filmed by Bruce Lebrous and Rick Castro Who I guess are both fixtures and that's not his real name
00:26:25
Speaker
I know. They're both kind of fixtures in the gay film festival and the gay scene. So anyway, Rick Castro is, you know, photographer, Bruce Abreuze is a filmmaker. Anyway, this is kind of a period thing, somewhat period. I hate to think of the 90s as period, but
00:26:44
Speaker
Anyway, it basically deals with the hustling scene in Santa Monica in the 1990s, which frankly, if you were here in LA in the 1990s and you drove through a certain section of Santa Monica Boulevard, you could not help but be exposed to it. In West Hollywood, right? In West Hollywood. Well, there was a classic porn theater that's not there anymore. It's the Tomcat. I mean, it's there.
00:27:06
Speaker
It used to be a pussycat theater, and we actually shot a lot of the old fronts of the old pussycat theaters when we were doing Schlock, because that was part of the exploitation film's late phase, and they all have been turned into other things now. There are no more left in LA, but there are facades for some of them. That's one of them.
00:27:25
Speaker
And I think that's one of the only two that's actually still a theater of any kind. But in any case, the thing that's interesting about that area is that's the only place where you will find, you will see like gay adult bookstores and porn theaters mixed in with Russian butchers and bakers.
00:27:41
Speaker
and little old Russian ladies walking and Russian mobsters like sharing the sidewalk with drag queens. It's the strangest, it's a very strange place where different completely opposing worlds meet. It's Russia and it's that and it's a very strange thing. So anyway. Are you close to the Russian community or the gay community? I don't know where that's going, you don't have to answer that. Yeah, I was looking for a joke but I couldn't come up with one. Oh it's a joke alright.
00:28:12
Speaker
Yeah, the better joke is the one from 48 Hours when Eddie Murphy goes into the bar and says, what do you got? And he goes, how about a Black Russian? It's a good joke. It's a good joke. Yeah, but why is there no Blu-ray for 48 Hours? I know. How can there not be a Blu-ray? By the way, speaking of Eddie Murphy, this has nothing to do with Eddie Murphy, pre-order now, one of my favorite horror films.
00:28:36
Speaker
of my very, very early years, Wolfen. Oh my gosh, I know, right? It can be pre-ordered. Wolfen's on its way. Yep, Albert Finney. Alright Mark, let's talk about new movies. New movies? New movies, let's get into it. No idea what you're talking about.
00:28:52
Speaker
New movies. Jennifer Aniston and Cake. What an interesting thing this turned out to be. So here's the deal. Cake, Jennifer Aniston's trying to forge a career as a real actress again, right? Don't associate me with things or romantic comedies or whatever. I want to be a, you know, consider a real actor. Well then stop doing crap.
00:29:08
Speaker
Right, so that's why she made Cake. Cake's a real movie, Cake's a real performance, you know, about a woman who's suffering, who's been through some kind of a horrible disfiguring accident, and she's going through all kinds of, you know, chronic pain therapy, and she's on medication, and it is, it is, you don't know what happened to her, right? You fill in the blanks of what her life was, and her, you know, her previous marriage, and you're sort of trying to, just through, and she has this assistant, and so you're piecing all of this together, right? Turns out, it turns out what it is, herpes.
00:29:38
Speaker
Exactly. Hangnail. Anyway, so basically what this is about is you're piecing this together and much of it is through the eyes, well it's through her eyes, but a lot of your emotional connection is through the Latina woman who is basically her permanent assistant, who's her driver and drives her around, takes care of her and suffers endless abuse.
00:30:03
Speaker
And but the there's a woman who in her support group who winds up committing suicide and that precipitates an investigation and through her investigation. Of this woman suicide her back story is revealed and it's a it's a strong performance the movie's not perfect but it's really well put together and the you know in some ways maybe more of a television movie what what I find interesting is.
00:30:26
Speaker
this thing got no Oscar nominations, but it got, you know, a SAG nomination. And it did well with the Guilds, but they didn't push it at all with the Critics Groups, they didn't push it at all with the Academy, which I find so strange, because it could easily have gotten a few nominations. Well, she was considered number six or seven in terms of Best Actress nominations. Perhaps, but if they had pushed it harder... You know what? Look, here's the thing. First of all,
00:30:49
Speaker
I don't think Jennifer Aniston should get an Oscar nomination for showing up. No, she doesn't. She's really good at this. But she finally decided to show up. She did. And she finally decided to give her performance and do the work. Yeah. And, you know, maybe if she does that another two, three times, then maybe they'll give her something. Probably true. Anyway, this is on Blu-ray with Ultra Violet. And I do recommend this.
00:31:11
Speaker
Wade, one of the most highly acclaimed films of last year was a horror film. Yes, it was. A little Australian horror film. It's called the Babadook. I nominated Mr. Babadook for New Generation and no one took me seriously. He might have shown up. It would have been a real killer of an evening if he had shown up. Lights go out. Babadook.
00:31:35
Speaker
I have to say that I was not destroyed by this film like others. It didn't scare the hell out of you. No, it didn't. What I like about this film is that it's a female director, a female star, a female angle. I think that's great. And a low budget. They got a lot out of the low budget. It reminds you a low budget that they don't use to make a found footage movie.
00:31:53
Speaker
M. Night Shyamalan just made a found footage movie. I know. Come on. That's terrible. Grow up. That's terrible. Are you kidding me? But, you know, the fact that it was directed by this woman, Jennifer Kent, who also wrote it, you get a sense of what a male director would have included that a female director did not include. Yes. However, and all of that said, that doesn't make this a scary movie.
00:32:13
Speaker
No. It's a fun movie. It's a fun movie. If this was directed by John Smith, you'd be like, oh, it's pretty good. But because it's directed by a woman, you were inflating it a little bit. I'm trying not to be politically correct. I'm just saying that. I know what you're saying. I know what you're saying. I mean, we normally associate when it comes to horror films, we usually assume that women are emotionally more connected
00:32:37
Speaker
and less psychotic and more well balanced than men. And the reason that horror films directed by men usually tend to be scarier is because men are just a bunch of sick bastards who infect their movies with all of their anxieties and their fears and their peccadillos and what have you. And then women are just too well adjusted to actually freak us out. That's where you're going, right? Did I read that correctly?
00:32:58
Speaker
Well, you said it better than I. Thank you. And I concur with that, which is why women don't generally gravitate to these kinds of films as directors. But that being said, what I think is interesting about this is not that it is scary. It's not that scary, but it's creepy.
00:33:15
Speaker
And there's a difference between creepy and scary, and most American horror films lately are just, they mean to be scary, but they're just gross and gory, and they're not creepy. I prefer creepy to scary. And what's great about this is that she invents a mythology just for this film. The book, and the art design. Wait, Jumanji!
00:33:34
Speaker
It's great. It's fantastic. It's the Jumanji of horror films. It's really good. So Jennifer Kent, you are terrific. And this also includes her short film, Monster, which is also terrific. Jennifer Kent is a big deal. And don't even think in scary films or horror films. She's a big deal. She's very talented. It's a tight script. It's well-directed. And the performances are fantastic. And it's definitely going to set her up for some stuff. So hopefully she doesn't get called to do a Marvel movie. That seems to be the
00:34:04
Speaker
the minefield where everybody gets sent to die after they've done some kind of a great independent film. She can direct Wonder Woman. No, somebody has to. Yeah, well, no, that's that's gonna be what's her name who did Monster. Oh, yeah, she's doing that's right. Yeah, she's doing it. Kimberly Pierce. Yeah, yeah, the Bob Cook. It's nice packaging, too. It's a it's I mean, it's a regular Blu-ray case, but it comes in this. IFC spent a little bit of money for a change and put it into this this kind of cool, dark burgundy slipcover. It's really, really groovy.
00:34:32
Speaker
Oh wait, here's the thing with taken three. It's the most unnecessary movie ever made. Better than the second one. Not as good as the first one. Let's call it a day. Just assume that whatever, you know what, Liam Neeson, we all know that he's becoming an action hero in my opinion. He's working out his anxiety about the fact that he couldn't save his wife.
00:34:53
Speaker
Right. His wife tragically died in a skiing accident. So I think that he feels if he does these movies where he like saves his daughter and saves his wife, he is working out the anxiety of the fact that he couldn't save her. Yep. That's what I think. I hear you. So now that he's done three taken films and all those other films nonstop and blah, blah, just enough already. Yep. I'm sure there's a period piece you could be doing now with a prestige director.
00:35:16
Speaker
enough of that so taken three is it takes place in LA which goes to show you at least budgetarily they've given up not shooting in Paris not shooting some far-off land Turkey was the last one shooting in LA don't care don't care anymore let's shoot in LA crank it out in 30 days get over with you know shoot some things we don't have to move anybody anywhere yeah we do not so let's just figure that taken three is the end and let's hope it's the end
00:35:40
Speaker
It needs to be. It really does. Give him something else to do. Liam Neeson as a brand is now just as valuable as Taken as a brand, right? He doesn't need to be in a movie called Taken 4, 5, 6 in order for people to go, oh it's cool it's Liam Neeson. People want to see him just kick butt now and you could put that in just about any movie and I think it'll still work.
00:36:02
Speaker
Why was Taken 2 not called Taken 2 Electric Boogaloo? You know, they considered it. And yeah, they did, but they figured it might be a little confusing with the half dozen other movies that had Electric Boogaloo in the title. Okay, Selma. Boy, was there any movie less... How would I phrase this? Is there any movie that was more talked about for not getting the honors that people felt it deserved last year?
00:36:30
Speaker
Yeah, that really annoyed me. You know what? It really... It almost, I think, worked against the film getting its awards. And it's almost a cherry film. And by the way, it's terrific for what it doesn't do, just as much as for what it does do. I agree. But that said, I was really annoyed that, because it didn't get all the awards that everyone thought, because somehow everybody's racist and everybody... Stop it. And I think there was also a feeling that because 12 Years a Slave had won the year before,
00:36:57
Speaker
that this was intentionally being overlooked because quote-unquote well we did the black thing last year do we have to do this every year like some people really felt that there was a little bit of residual backlash because it came so close on the heels of another movie that had american history and civil rights implications
00:37:13
Speaker
I don't know if any of that's true. I don't think it is. It was a very competitive year. I do know this. Had they pushed Selma harder with the Academy, or had they pushed it harder with the guilds, they would have done better. It didn't do well with the guilds because they didn't paramount kind of blew it with their guild strategy. They didn't send copies. They didn't send screeners to anybody with the guilds. So it got no love from SAG. It got no love from the producers, no love from the directors.
00:37:38
Speaker
So it had no heat on it other than what might have been given it by critics groups and it was a hugely competitive year. I mean when you have something, I mean some of the films that the critics loved got no love when it came to other awards, especially the Oscars. So most violent year being Case in Point, you know, that was right out of the gates, National Border Review, Best Picture and then
00:37:59
Speaker
It bonked, got nothing else. So Selma wound up getting two Oscar nominations, one for Best Picture and the other for Song, and it wound up winning songs. So, you know, there is, I mean, clearly it was on people's short list. It just wasn't on the short five list. That said, I love this movie. I think this is an outstanding film. It has a very difficult balancing act to manage because it's dealing with historical figures who are so fresh in our memory, and it's dealing with a subject that is, again, very much in the news.
00:38:29
Speaker
and it's very hard to make that story work dramatically without it appearing to be a lecture, a big grand hit you over the head polemic. And I give Ava DuVernay all the credit. Ava DuVernay, who directed it, used to be a publicist, used to have her own agency, the DuVernay Agency. Twenty years ago, a lot of us worked with her on a regular basis and she was outstanding as a publicist. And I think she has a huge career ahead of her now as a director. David Oyelowo pulled her onto this project when
00:38:57
Speaker
Uh, what's his face? Lee Daniels. Lee Daniels fell out. And all I can say is thank God Almighty. Can you imagine, can you imagine, can you imagine the free-for-all, this move would have been, there is no two more dichotomous names in terms of directing style than Lee Daniels and Ava Durney. Because Ava DuVernay is, is subtle and, and you know, there's, there's like a quiet power to the, to what she does. Everything is sort of, everything is more powerful because it's understated. With Lee Daniels, everybody is just,
00:39:27
Speaker
Cranked up to 11 and they are just on this high pitch and you know, he really belongs on TV Let's do Empire just stay there. Please that's your thing man stick with that and just keep keep rocking it with that and getting those high ratings and and Don't don't make any more movies, please
00:39:45
Speaker
But Ava does a fantastic job here. It's just so well-directed and there are sections of this that will just tear your heart out. And he's great. I love that. He's so good. Because you know what? He's not trying to do impersonations of Martin Luther King. He's actually trying to sort of get inside the essence and the soul of the man. His vulnerabilities, his insecurities. And let's remember, this is called Selma. It's not about Martin Luther King. It's about the people. And as I've pointed out many times, this movie asks a very simple question. It is not an overly political film.
00:40:12
Speaker
Clearly it has a certain political point of view, but what it really asks is it asks a much bigger question. Does the movement make the man or does the man make the movement? And it doesn't necessarily answer that question. It leaves it up to you, but I think it's a really interesting question and it does it extremely well.
00:40:28
Speaker
Great casting in here too, by the way. You know, all the British actors, David Oyelowo is British. And the woman who played his wife? Yeah, she's great. Beautiful. And, you know, Tim Roth plays a Louisiana governor. What's his name?
00:40:44
Speaker
Uh, Melly, Mel, Steve. Yeah. No, no, no. Yeah. Oh gosh. Why George Wallace, George Wallace. Thank you. And then of course, uh, you have Tom, uh, Tom Wilkinson, Wilkinson playing, uh, LBJ LBJ. Fantastic. Do it. There's a really great job. Those scenes between Martin Luther King and LBJ are just to die for. They're great. They're great. So he's terrific. He's absolutely terrific. Lots of, lots of extras on here. Uh, commentary when they have a DuVernay and David Oyelowo that is superb, absolutely superb. If you, if you aren't impressed by her as a director just from watching the film,
00:41:13
Speaker
you will be impressed after hearing the incredibly eloquent away in which she discusses the film on the commentary first rate all across the board yep i agree
00:41:22
Speaker
But then again, if it didn't get nominated for what you wanted to get nominated for, too bad. Them's for breaks. With all the movies I love and Wade loves and everybody loves, sometimes you can't get nominated for everything. And Paddington, Paddington Bear, Collector's Edition, we've talked about before the three disc set from Mill Creek with this wonderful stop motion Paddington Bear classic animation is just first rate. It's so much fun, but
00:41:52
Speaker
I don't think it's as fun as the feature film Paddington, which is now out from Anchor Bay. Weinstein blew a chance with this. Weinstein released this in November in the UK and did killer numbers, could have released this for the holidays, there would have been no other family films other than End of the Woods for them to compete against in December, and they instead decided to release it in January, and I think they blew it. They released a little bit of a qualifying run, so it's technically a 2014 film.
00:42:18
Speaker
but uh... it should have been for the for for christmas they should have just thrown it all out there this is such a wonderful movie paul king who directed this has kind of come out of nowhere and uh... is now suddenly everybody's hot new director the story of pattington bear told with the uh... cg i bear that is just really well done but uh... you know he he comes to uh... he keeps lost his family and he comes looking to reconnect with the uh...
00:42:43
Speaker
with the explorer who sort of taught his family and all the other bears how to be sophisticated British bears in the jungle
00:42:49
Speaker
I remember when you left the screening, you called me and said, maybe you emailed me. You said, oh my God, this is the greatest film I've ever seen in my life. It's the greatest family film I've seen in 20 years. It really is. It's like the best family film. It's so wonderful. Sally Hawkins and Hugh Bonneville of Downton Abbey are the parents of the family that take him in and they are so wonderful.
00:43:13
Speaker
And they're just delightful. Peter Capaldi, you know, who's the new doctor, who is their very suspicious neighbor, who winds up getting sucked in by Nicole Kidman's villainous character, who I will not say anything else about. But it's a great plot. It's a great story. The direction is so smart. The script is so smart. You will be shocked that a family film was given this much effort to really work hard. I have your actual email. Go ahead, hit me. This is the actual, I looked it up.
00:43:40
Speaker
This is the actual email that Wade sent me on Tuesday, December 9, 2014. Subject line, Paddington advanced screening. All caps, see this with seven exclamation points. And I'm not kidding. If this were a 2014 release, it would make my top 10.
00:43:58
Speaker
And it actually wants to be considered a 2014 release because they had a qualification run. So it did make my top 10, I believe. You're out of your mind. Yep. There you go. All right. Let's, uh, let's haul butt a little bit through the, uh, the remainder of these.
00:44:12
Speaker
Wade, we have Paul Thomas Anderson's latest in her advice. This movie, you know what, this is a type of film where you... Stoner noir, it bored me to tears. You know, this does not seem like a film that Wade would like. It is a film, however, I conditionally liked. It's like the Maltese Falcon in which everybody has, it's like the Maltese Falcon set in the 70s and Sam Spade... No, what it is is... Sam Spade is stoned out of his mind and does everything at half speed. No, this is a spiritual sequel to The Long Goodbye.
00:44:40
Speaker
because it's confusing, it takes place in LA, and this is a movie where either you get into its groove or you don't. And if you don't get into its groove, it's just, it's groovy, and it's just a stoner romp that I found really strange. It's a movie made up of individual moments that do not even remotely add up to an entire film. But the thing is that Paul Thomas Anderson is always so in control of what he wants to do, it's not like he doesn't know that.
00:45:04
Speaker
Oh, I know he knows that. And the book apparently, I guess if you're a fan of the book, it's spot on, but I'm not a fan of the book. Josh Brolin is so funny. Yeah, it just didn't work for me. I thought this thing was great. You know, it's really well shot. Again, it's not brilliant vibrant color shot. Again, this is shot through just a haze of pot smoke. And it looks beautiful on Blu-ray. Blu-ray DVD and ultraviolet. And it's, you know, not exactly bloated with extras, but it'll do.
00:45:34
Speaker
That'll do, Pig. That'll do. You know, maps of the stars, man. This just rocks. I have not loved a Cronenberg film this much in a long time. Julianne Moore could very easily... I mean, this could have gotten her an Oscar if the other performers didn't instill Alice. This is just...
00:45:52
Speaker
Man, this is a mean, acerbic, angry, bitter, vicious, hateful anti-Hollywood movie. This makes the player look like a, you know, like a Valentine to Hollywood. It really does. Sometimes I find some of these anti-Hollywood films a little... They're actually kind of self-congratulatory.
00:46:10
Speaker
This is in no way self-congratulatory. This is so caustic, it's unbelievable. Essentially, there are a variety of characters whose fates are all intertwined, and you don't sort of figure that out until midway through the movie. But Julianne Moore is an aging actress who desperately wants to nail a part
00:46:27
Speaker
land apart that was made famous by her mom and she's sort of living in her mom's shadow but she is the quintessential self-absorbed insecure uh... goofy new agey hollywood actress john kuzak is kind of this new agey guru-y guy who uh... was their their son was a uh... was a child star and there's a whole bunch of baggage in that
00:46:52
Speaker
And then Mia Wachakowska is this strange woman who's a little bit scarred, and we're not quite sure how she plugs into all this. In any case, it really, man, this thing, once it gets going, I was sitting next to Linda Wheat, our LAFCA colleague of People magazine, when I saw this screaming, and there's a point in this movie, there's a point in this movie where something so horrible happens,
00:47:20
Speaker
And the way people react to it is so psychotic and offensive and incomprehensible and yet so typically Hollywood that it just makes you sick to your stomach. It makes you almost hate everything that is the entertainment business. You almost think this whole town should just be burned down because people are like this.
00:47:39
Speaker
And I won't tell you, but it's a moment that violates every moral tenet that every normal human being has. But it's so Hollywood. And in that moment, Linda just gasped. She gasped audibly and grabbed my arm and she looked at me with this just abject horror in her face. And I just started laughing. How do you even cope with something like that?
00:48:02
Speaker
I recommend this. I just can't recommend it highly enough. It'll make you want to do anything other than be in this business. And Robert Pattinson is in it, of course. He plays this chauffeur who wants to be a writer. Don't they all? Wade, you're an angry man. I am an angry man.
00:48:22
Speaker
you know makes me angry wait what makes you angry kevin heart because i don't get it i don't get it not on board uh... every look at heart except me uh... i like kevin heart but i think he's i think he's got a he's got to do something dramatic he's got a shows not yet he's got you know he's too busy on social media you know did making jokes and doing these horrible movies at the wedding ringer and just and he was i guess it was funny when he did the uh... just beaver roast but uh... i just not feeling this guy in the wedding ringer is to is the sort of
00:48:51
Speaker
disposable, you know, comedy that guys like this always seem to make when there's standups and they're first starting out and first getting their movies. And, you know, it's just got to stop. You know what, just just hone your craft, you know, do more, do more clever comedy and just I just feel like this guy. I don't get it. And the movie's not good anyway. Josh Gad's in it. And Josh Gad, a guy who like, you know, Monday he was nobody and Tuesday he's everywhere. I don't even know who Josh Gad is. He was. He's on that FX show now.
00:49:19
Speaker
He's a Broadway guy. He's a Broadway guy. He's like, if you can't afford Jonah Hill, you hire Josh Gad. I'm sure Josh Gad knows that. The fight doesn't make him very happy. That's kind of how it goes. So there's the wedding ringer. There's your cheap, unsatisfying Saturday night rental. The wedding ringer.
00:49:38
Speaker
Now, I don't know what Jennifer Lopez is thinking with The Boy Next Door, because you know what? Here's the thing, Jennifer Lopez, she's a quadrillionaire, she's on American Idol, and she does albums. So she doesn't need to just be movie pulpy crap like The Boy Next Door. I don't know what she's thinking. Maybe she thinks of them in my 40s now, the fact that I can bring them in in my 40s doing a role like this makes me feel sexy. I have no idea. Pretty generic thriller.
00:50:04
Speaker
Rob Cohen is totally generic. I have no idea how they've looped her into this unless this is done by maybe one of her companies or something or It's just really sad really sad that she would do this I mean not that Jennifer Lopez is gonna go off and win an Oscar any day or do some merchant ivory film, but there's got to be better material that Attracts her more than the boy next door because I just think it's a waste total waste
00:50:28
Speaker
Alright, I got a bunch of kind of mid-level indies here that I'm just going to roll through fairly quickly. The first one is Aftermath One Man's Overreaction.
00:50:37
Speaker
uh... at the michael hall uh... is trying to forge really kind of interesting career he's shown up in all kinds of stuff now and you just don't even unless you know it's a michael hall you probably don't even realize that that this the guy from all those john hughs movies in the eighties uh... he's a he's a decent actor and he's really try to stretch it and uh... this is it this is an okay film uh... it's uh... it's about a guy who's a contractor and uh... it was a developer but he's uh... he he has a he has a clash
00:51:03
Speaker
with a subcontractor, played by Chris Penn, which tells you how long ago this was made, because Chris is long since no longer with us, and things get out of control. They go completely out of hand. And it's a little bit contrived, a little bit forced as to how this all kind of transpires.
00:51:24
Speaker
Get some good supporting performances. Tony Danza and Frank Whaley show up in interesting supporting parts. I'm very forgiving of this because I think Anthony Michael Hall is a good actor and he's really trying to do some interesting things and it was nice to see Chris in the thing again. For those who don't know, I grew up with Chris. I knew him from the time we were 12 years old and it made me very, very sad that he passed away so young. I was never kind to his body but
00:51:51
Speaker
Chris never really got the props that he deserved as an actor. You know, he won an award at the Venice Film Festival once for that Abel Ferrara film. And everybody just always kind of stuck him in the shadow of his brother, which was never quite fair. So it's nice to still see a few posthumous performances coming through that show what he can do. And Chris does a good job here. So, guarded recommendation for Aftermath.
00:52:15
Speaker
We also have the completely unnecessary Marine IV moving target. I just don't know what justifies continuing to make more of these things. They are all totally generic. It doesn't matter who's in them anymore. This has Mike, The Miz, Mizanin, and Summer Rae. I don't even know who these people are. I assume they have some connection to WWE.
00:52:37
Speaker
Regardless, this thing is just a lot of pyrotechnics and AFM sexiness and it's kind of pointless. Little Accidents had a little bit of attention briefly because it has some good performances in it from Chloe Savini by Boyd Holbrook and most particularly Elizabeth Banks, who continues to do interesting work, albeit uneven work.
00:52:57
Speaker
Written and directed by Sarah Colangelo, who does a good job with the actors, has a certain visual style. The whole missing kid storyline, the whole kind of small town thing feels a little bit familiar. But I think everybody in it, you can forgive them, it's an independent film, they're doing their best. And The Walking Deceased.
00:53:21
Speaker
uh... not really as funny as it should be uh... we're we're into uh... you know zucker brothers spoof territory here trying to sort of spoof the uh... the whole zombie thing now which i think is already been spoofed to death and uh... there's nothing here that hasn't already been done better by somebody else it's not bad it's just again really warn and familiar uh... teeth and blood a uh... another vampire
00:53:49
Speaker
the 9,000th one that we've had in the last year and a half. This one deals specifically with vampires going after blood from the donated blood bank. There's just nothing new in that whole genre. It just all feels derivative.
00:54:10
Speaker
And then lastly on this little stack, Val Kilmer desperately trying to resurrect his career, plays Mark Twain in Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. A completely unrelated thing that has nothing to do with anything that Twain ever wrote other than using the two characters and kind of putting them into a sort of strange Indiana Jones-ish adventure.
00:54:36
Speaker
I don't really get it. I don't know why this movie exists. But that being said, watching Val Kilmer play Mark Twain is kind of a camp classic. There's a lot of entertainment value in that, and it's not necessarily intentional.
00:54:53
Speaker
Wade Scott-Glenn is one of our favorite longtime character actors. Have you watched Daredevil yet? No. On Netflix? You love that show. It hooked me, man. It really did. Really? It's good? Yeah. It's good. Scott-Glenn shows up in it at a certain point. He plays Stick. Did you ever read the comics? Yes. I do remember there was a Stick. I don't know who he was or what he did. Stick's the mystical kind of martial arts wise dude who taught Daredevil all he knows.
00:55:18
Speaker
Wow. Yeah, he's also blind. Stick. What is he deaf? So anyway, Scott Glenn plays stick, which is great casting.
00:55:25
Speaker
Well, he's neither blind nor deaf. And the barber, now we like the barber because it gives us Scotland front and center placement in a film, which I know is completely and totally unique because he's always the, he's one of the great character actors. The movie is not that great. He plays a barber who years ago was, got off on a murder charge for insufficient evidence. And now the son of the detective who unsuccessfully tried to get him thrown in jail has returned. And what does he find Wade? He finds Scotland is the barber.
00:55:56
Speaker
Anyway, this thing is ambitious, but it's very uneven. It reminds you a little bit of other films like Urban, Serial Killer,
00:56:11
Speaker
on the loose kind of thing, where he's like hiding in plain sight. But I just think that this thing is just not that great. There's a lot of twists in it, and it winds up being twist after twist for no particular reason. The cat and mouse stuff has been done better in other films, not that clever. Really no tension to it. The director really does not ratchet it up enough. So the barber's not really very good. I can see Scott Glenn being interested, because again, he gets to top line it. And of course, Steven Tobolowsky's in it. And you know, anything Steven Tobolowsky is in,
00:56:40
Speaker
I can't even look at him on screen without thinking of Groundhog Day. That's right. Every single time. That's right. He's the best. The Gambler with Mark Wahlberg. This is one of those films. It's kind of like, it's a little like The Counselor, like killing them softly. It's like very sort of dark and noir-ish thing. Just kind of lays there though.
00:56:58
Speaker
Just kind of laser, Mark Wahlberg plays a, he plays a English professor who's also a high stakes gambler. He's got a bar from a guy from the mob. Now this was directed by, this was directed by Rupert Wyatt, who did the first Planet of the Apes film and jumped off and gave it to Matt Reeves or the second Planet of the Apes film. And then Rupert, why I'm doing this.
00:57:20
Speaker
I don't know if that was a good choice. I'm not sure he had a choice, actually. I wonder about that. I'm glad for Matt, but it's like, wow. Exactly. But I mean Wyatt's going to have a career. He hasn't done anything since. I'm so curious what he's doing next. He's taking meetings and he'll land something big.
00:57:36
Speaker
So this is one of those, you know, Saturday night rental sort of things, you know, why it is talented. I like seeing Mark Wahlberg. He's one of the most unlikely leading men in the world coming after, you know, Marky Mark and all that kind of crap. Next we have Accidental Love. This is a little nothing of a film with a great cast that it does not deserve.
00:57:57
Speaker
Jessica Beale, Jake Gyllenhaal, Katherine Keener. So what happens is Jessica Beale is involved in a freak accident where there's a nail lodge in her head and she starts acting very erotic, very erotic, actually an erratic. The fiance is played by James Marsden. He calls off the engagement and then all sorts of craziness ensues. Interesting here, this features Tracy Morgan. So, you know, this was shot at least like 18 months ago because Tracy Morgan is still recovering from his tragic accident.
00:58:25
Speaker
So I don't know what to say about accidental love. It is not that great, not that funny, lacks wit. People run around being frantic, but that doesn't mean it's funny. So I would really pass on accidental love as much as the cast is really good.
00:58:41
Speaker
Alright, we're going to do some classic stuff and then we're going to call an end to the show. I've got a bunch of Kino and Olive stuff that I'm going to go through and then I'm going to turn it over to Mark to wrap us out. The Olive stuff, really good pack of Olive films this week, five in total, starting with Teachers with Nick Nolte and Joe Beth Williams and Judd Hirsch.
00:59:04
Speaker
Teachers from 1984, Goodyear, not a movie that a lot of people paid an awful lot of attention to at the time, but it kind of dates pretty well. It was controversial at the time. It was, but it was sort of, I don't know, it was like most Arthur Hiller films of the era. It wasn't gritty enough, it was a little too 70s, but it wasn't bad. It wasn't a complete misfire, it just didn't sort of
00:59:27
Speaker
It was a little too commercial to be edgy, and it was a little too edgy to be commercial. I think that was kind of the problem. But regardless, in hindsight, I actually think it's a pretty good film. And it's interesting to look at it just with respect to what's happened to the education system. Nick Melty's always good.
00:59:43
Speaker
Little Man Tate is one of my favorite moments. Oh, that's great. I love this movie. Absolutely. From 1991, directed by Jodie Foster. Jodie Foster plays the mom of this amazing kid, this genius kid. And it's just so wonderful. Adam Hahn-Burd, who's really gone on to do nothing, is so great as her son. This movie just tears my heart out. Yep, it's really good. Harry Connick Jr.'s wonderful. Diane Wiest is wonderful. The mother-son relationship could not be better. This is just absolutely fantastic, an early producing
01:00:13
Speaker
Success for Scott Rudin, written by Scott Frank, who of course wrote Dead Again and lots of other great films. A bunch of stuff for Soderbergh. A bunch of stuff for Soderbergh. Well, still one of the great screenwriters in Hollywood. Really, I just love this movie. So that is on Blu-ray from Olive. The remake of Lord of the Flies.
01:00:29
Speaker
uh... by harry hook who does a decent job directing this and then went on to do absolutely nothing harry hook is unheard of this was a castle rock production for twenty century fox at the time and uh... it uh... it's it's it's you know what it's not a bad film it's not as good as the black and white classic uh... but uh... you know it's faithful to the book the the golden book and it uh... there's nothing wrong with it it's just not as good as the other one but it's got good score by phillip sard
01:00:58
Speaker
And great performances, including Baltazar Getty, who kind of went on to do an all off, a lot of really great stuff, including, you know, Brothers and Sisters on television and Lost Highway for David Lynch. And yeah, so I mean, there's nothing wrong with this in particular, it just didn't get its due. So it's nice to have that on Blu-ray.
01:01:15
Speaker
Hollywood Shuffle, which put Robert Townsend on the map, took him away from being just another stand-up comic. It was a big deal at the time. It was a huge deal, man. He put this whole movie on his credit cards. He matched on his credit cards to make this movie, and it became this huge success. He co-wrote it, of course, with Keenan Ivory Wayans.
01:01:30
Speaker
And it was photographed by Peter Deming, by the way. Peter Deming, who's done a lot of David Lynch stuff and is, you know, a real DP. So, I mean, they hired real people to do this and shot it on film. You know, there was no digital at the time. And it still resonates because if you're a black actor in Hollywood, you still sort of face a lot of the same hurdles.
01:01:52
Speaker
So he really made a message movie that was entertaining and that was sharp and smart and he put it all in his credit card and he scored. His directing career has soured a little bit since, but this movie has not, so that is also on Blu-ray. And then the last one from Olive is Harry and Son, Paul Newman and Robbie Benson.
01:02:10
Speaker
Also with Joanne Woodward, who keeps showing up in all of Paul Newman's later films. Paul Newman directed this, which means it's a little bit saccharine and melodramatic, like most of his stuff, a little too actor-y and drawn out. But still, this is, you know, it's a decent film. One of the last films edited by the great editor Dee Dee Allen before she passed away.
01:02:29
Speaker
And then real quickly from the Kino Lorber classics line we have on DVD only David Lynch's Wild at Heart and Clint Eastwood in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot written and directed by Michael Cimino. The reason these are on DVD only is
01:02:46
Speaker
is because you get these very interesting deals now. Twilight Time recently released both of these on Blu-ray. So Twilight Time, at least for the time being, has the Blu-ray license on these, but only for those 3,000 copies. So I'm inclined to think that at some point the Twilight Time license will expire, it will revert back to Keno Lorber, or rather
01:03:08
Speaker
Fox and MGM will sort of reassign that license to Keno Lorber and we'll get another Blu-ray release. Probable, not inevitable, but I think that's interesting. And then the three Blu-ray titles from Keno Lorber, Charles Bronson and the White Buffalo, which is a, you know, better than average J. Lee Thompson Western from the 70s. The genre is kind of dying in the late 70s, but you have a great score by John Barry, which is pretty cool. Nice performance by Clint Walker as well, believe it or not.
01:03:37
Speaker
Lee Van Cleef and Warren Oates, two of the grittiest tough guys ever in Barquero. Also a really cool gritty western from 1970, right on the edge there when the western was dying, but it still had a little bit of juice in it. Some great supporting performances in here, Kerwin Matthews, Marriott Hartley of all people. So that one, that also has a really good score by Dominic Frontier. And then lastly, one of my all time favorite films ever made, Convoy.
01:04:07
Speaker
great big convoy man what a fantastic song no it's it's funny cuz I remember when I was in elementary school with this is a Sam Peckinpah film of course this was back when Chris Christopher stop it's a big deal this movie too is a big deal this was a huge deal the song which is inspired all the the whole trucker thing with BJ and the bear and you know we were so into everyone was so into trucking at the time I got a CB
01:04:28
Speaker
I got a CB radio, too. I did, too. I was like, oh, he's trying to, hey, you good buddy. How you doing? What's your 1020? 10-4. You're learning all the 10 codes and trying to get truckers on there. I knew all the different trucks. I knew white, white Freightliner, Peterbilt, you know, all of them. I knew all the different truck manufacturers. I mean, trucking was like this movie turned it into a cultural phenomenon. Actually, that's not true. I didn't have a CB radio. A friend of mine had a CB radio, and I begged him to come over his house whenever I wanted, climb a diesel attic,
01:04:59
Speaker
And for as late as I wanted, late at night, and just try to find people on CB. And you never found anybody except for some weird, lonely, fat, pot-bellied trucker in the middle of nowhere. Well, here's the last thing I'm going to say about this. I was also a huge fan of this because I was a little kid at the time. And one of my friends, part of my circle of friends at the time, his dad was the editor.
01:05:19
Speaker
And he eventually went into editing as well, but I remember he was, you know, there from England and he was like, yeah, my dad, did you just cut this movie called convoy? And I was like, cut, what's cut? Oh, you know, he's the editor. I was like, oh, I don't even know what the hell an editor is, but if your dad worked on a movie, that movie's cool. We're into it. Trucking, convoy, good buddy. We're into it. It was great. Trendy.
01:05:38
Speaker
You're just a trendy bastard. Yeah. All right, wait, I'm wrapping it up with you, like, or not. Wrap it up. All right, let's start with from a Whisper to a Scream. This is an anthology film from 1987. This stars Vincent Price. Vincent Price, at this point, is getting a lot older. In fact, it's a little while before he died after this. So it's an anthology film. So there's four movies. And so some are better than others. I think, ultimately, unless you're a big Vincent Price fan or a big vintage horror fan, I would pass on from Whisper to a Scream.
01:06:08
Speaker
Then you have a remake, rewind, double feature, interesting DVD concept here. We have both versions of The End of the Affair. We have the 1955 version with Deborah Carr and Van Johnson, directed by Edward Dimitric. And then we have the 1999 remake starring Ray Fiennes and Julian Moore, directed by Neil Jordan.
01:06:28
Speaker
Of the two, I would take the 1955 version. For me, Ray Fiennes was never a romantic leading man to me. I just never saw him like that. But you know what? I absolutely do love that. I love the remake. And I particularly love it because of the Michael Nyman score, which, if you like the music from the piano and the other handful of scores that Michael Nyman has done, it's just a great score. Michael Nyman, I think it was Michael Nyman. He did a great score for a man with a camera.
01:06:58
Speaker
The Russian film. Yeah. Right? He did. Was that Nyman? Yeah. Now, I'm not sure which version of Man with a Camera is on Blu-ray, if any version's on Blu-ray, but I hope that when it comes out on Blu-ray, if it's not already, correct me if I'm wrong, that they gave me the one with the Michael Nyman score because it's really good. Anyway, the end of the affair, both of those. Also, our penultimate Blu-ray of the week, penultimate meeting Wade
01:07:24
Speaker
second-to-last who use the word correctly you know very bright uh... a cold comedy from nineteen nineties mammy blues and the reason why uh... i know it's a cold comedy is because i'd love this movie this movie is awesome this is a really funky brightly colored kinda crime caper starring fred ward alec baldwin jennifer jason lee and of it's just really there is nothing funnier than watching fred ward put his fake teeth in
01:07:48
Speaker
in this movie. I found that so funny. I just think this thing is hilarious. It's brutal and funny and it's just out there and strange and I just think this thing is a good, it's a cult comedy for a reason because not everybody gets it. And the good thing is that the Blu-ray has new interviews with Alec Baldwin, Jennifer Jason Lee, so you know they like it.
01:08:06
Speaker
I like Baldwin does not have to come out as a hiding to this movie will never become a famous classic because anytime you show this two-thirds of the theater will be going what and the other third will be laughing their butts off and it's just if you're if you're that 33% of the population that loves this kind of comedy
01:08:23
Speaker
This will be a classic for all time. The other two thirds just will never get it. And now George Armitage, who also went on to direct Gross Point Blank with one of the funniest John Cusack films, Gross Point Blank. So great.
The Friends of Eddie Coyle Discussion
01:08:34
Speaker
Now you could give me this if you wanted to. Really? I love that movie. Love it. Well, you could give me this.
01:08:41
Speaker
Oh, that's, no, are you kidding me? That's why Peter Yates is best filmed. I love this movie. I love this movie too. Well, we're gonna end on The Friends of Eddie Coyle, because The Friends of Eddie Coyle is just awesome. Fantastic. And we have been waiting for this scene to come out on Blu-ray. It's about time, 1973, one of Peter Yates' best films. This is also one of Robert, this is Robert Mitchum. You know what? He's getting older. He's got the lines in his face. He plays this, he's like a truck driver who also runs guns for the mob. It's great. And he gets caught up in this thing like he owes people money, and then all of his friends, who's a friend, who's not a friend.
01:09:11
Speaker
And there's a reason why his name is Eddie Coyle because slowly the net tightens around him. That's right. So he's, you know, he's, he's, he's about to go back to jail. So he's got to decide who he trusts, who he doesn't trust. This thing is just great. Peter Boyle is the bar honor is just great too. I love this movie. This is really very atmospheric, cool 70s stuff. Folks, you got to go ahead, least rent this thing. The Friends of Eddie Coyle. Great, uh, Blu-ray of course, from the good folks at Criterion. A must buy.
Wrap-up and Listener Engagement
01:09:39
Speaker
Alright, with that, the show is over and please... Thanks, Axel. Thank you, Axel. You are the man. You just made Mark's life. You gave him the greatest gift he's ever received, so thank you. And for the rest of you, please send us your gifts by way of just sending us really cool VoxBoxes and emails. Send it to godsatdigigods.com. Again, godsatdigigods.com.
01:09:59
Speaker
If you have a question you want to ask by audio, record it in any format. We don't care. Send us your box boxes. We'll slot you into the show and we'll make a discussion topic of it, godsatdigitgods.com. Otherwise, send us your emails. We will read them on a future show. We welcome any and all questions and conversations. Thank you. We'll see you next week.
01:10:36
Speaker
you
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Speaker
you