Episode 11 - 12 - 12

On tonight's show we discussed the damned-if-we-ain't-gonna-build-a-franchise latest installment of the Daniel Craig reBondboot Skyfall. I didn't really care for it. This whole new franchise has somehow consistently created high expectations without actually ever producing a reason for high expectations. This is new Bond franchise has prided itself on "realism" and a distancing from the hokum of Connerys and Brosnans past, but has not produced a truly engaging entry and now, as of Skyfall, is fully engaged in building another franchise that will inevitably eat itself through schlock and self-reference. And! As if that weren't enough, Skyfall is itself attempting to be a metaphor on the relevance of Bond the agent and, by extension, Bond the franchise in the Information Age. How convenient that the film's answer is: "Yep! He's still relevant! Old-dog...heh heh, you know the saying!" I'm not sure I agree based on the circular nature of this iconography. Thbbbt.

We heard music from the following:

Patton, 1970 - Jerry Goldsmith
Commando, 1985 - James Horner/Various
Skyfall, 2012 - Thomas Newman
Dr. No, 1961 - Monty Norman

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Episode 11 - 5 - 12

Hey, well, whadya know, we saw a new movie this week - the video-game-crossover-retro-arcade film Pixar never made: Wreck-It Ralph. Meh. I'm really surprised something like this hasn't popped up before, a pastiche of stuff from video games old and new; I suppose no one except Disney could afford the rights to use all those franchises. The film wasn't just a cameo-athon of games old and new, but a newer story based on game culture, which conversely made the cameos a little pointless. Still, the smarter card was played and this was amusing enough to divert.

Most of the garrulous gaff from this week's show regarded the uber-news that is Disney buying LucasFilm. So, that happened.

We heard music from:

The Empire Strikes Back, 1980 - John Williams

Robin Hood, 1973 - George Bruns, Roger Miller

Tron, 1982 - Wendy Carlos

Grim Fandango, 1998 - Various

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Halloween Special 10 - 29 - 12

Horrible, harrowing Halloween Special tonight, ghosts and goblins. We discussed narrative theory in horror , some of our favorite October movies, and tasty candies. This one is for the ages. Download this just in time to gather around a candle and welcome in Halloween tomorrow.

We heard from the following, creepily:

The Sentinel, 1977 - Gil Melle
Blood Sabbath, 1972 - Les Baxter
The Curse of the Werewolf, 1961 - Benjamin Frankel
City of the Living Dead, 1980 - Fabio Frizzi
It! The Terror from Beyond the Stars, 1958 - Paul Sawtell
The Return of Dracula, 1958 - Gerald Fried
Vamp, 1986 - Jonathan Elias
Near Dark, 1987 - Tangerine Dream
The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh, 1971 - Nora Orlandi
The Omen, 1978 - Jerry Goldsmith
Halloween, 1978 - John Carpenter
"Tales from the Crypt," 1989 - 1996 - Danny Elfman
Suspiria, 1977 - Goblin
"Alfred Hitchcock Presents," 1962 - 1965 - Charles Gounod
Poltergeist, 1982 - Jerry Goldsmith
"Friday the 13th: The Series," 1987 - 1990 - Fred Mollin
"The Outer Limits," 1963 - 1965 - Dominic Frontiere, Harry Lubin
"The Twilight Zone," 1958 - 1964 - Bernard Herrman

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Episode 10 - 22 - 12

Halloween is, as it turns out, still coming up. We have a lot of incoming projects: dance parties and trivia and the like, and I am swamped with other bullshit.

We heard music from the following:

Beetlejuice, 1988 - Danny Elfman
Wishmaster, 1997 - Harry Manfredini
Nightmare on Elm Street III: Dream Warriors, 1987 - Angelo Badalamenti
Ed Wood, 1994 - Howard Shore
Cannibal Holocaust, 1980 - Riz Ortolani

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Episode 10 - 15 - 12

October is halfway over already. I am very sad, not having devoted enough time to my horror interests this month, but I still have a fortnight to rectify! A friend and I have been plumbing the depths of the Hellraiser franchise this 'ween season, and that has sufficed somewhat. Pinhead is becoming one of my favorite horror villain mainstays. Where Jason is a no nonsense, laborious murderer and Freddy is a showman, Pinhead is this hilariously pompous, pontificating windbag who speaks only in mordant one-liners. Incidentally, my favorite line of his is "Such exquisite stench!"

Anyway, we kinda got into the holiday spirit with this week's film, Sinister. Seeing previews, I convinced myself that this looked a little spooky. I suppose some parts were, and I thought the film had a gimmick and mythology that would serve it well, but the scares weren't always consistent and it dragged out way, way too long. A few bizarre moments that played for slower, more disturbing chills were a nice surprise, but they couldn't, ultimately, compete with that running time. It was good for a few jumps, though, if that's what ails you in these holiday times.

Oh, and the Boom Operator saw Taken 2 and said it sucked Pinhead's pierced weenis.

We heard music from:

Dellamorte Dellamore, 1994 - Manuel De Sica, Riccardo Biseo
The Virgin Suicides, 1999 - Air
Flesh for Frankenstein, 1973 - Claudio Gizzi
The Big Blue, 1988 - Eric Serra

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Episode 9 - 24 - 12

Original air date: 9-24-12
We return this week with a brace of reviews for new wide releases: Dredd and The Master. The former was something of a pleasant surprise, taking a smaller and less drastically speculative glance and everyone's favorite totalitarian sturmfuhrer. This Dredd was less of a larger-than-life character and the film followed a more mundane (though still dangerous) situation in Mega City One. A few unnecessary visual flourishes didn't quite detract from the overall minimalist style and setting; this is something of a Die Hard with cooler guns, but neither technology nor the somewhat grounded, occasionally quirky vision of the future are really foregrounded above the pure exposition. Unusual, and cool.

The Master, however, was high art, by god, and predictable in that Paul Thomas Anderson idiosyncratic, uncomfortable-as-fuck spazz-out way. A few powerful scenes, fabulous acting, meticulous construction, and yet the whole thing was a somewhat empty ode to artistry. At least, that's how it felt. PTA's movies are always weird dialectical experiences to me: I'm impressed, but I never want to watch them again.

We heard music from the following:

Conan the Destroyer, 1984 - Basil Poledouris
Judge Dredd, 1995 - Alan Silvestri
Masters of the Universe, 1987 - Bill Conti

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Episode 9 - 17 - 12

Still no movies to report on, because all the movies in theaters suck mammoth wang right now. Well, as I type that first sentence our laptop has died right in the middle of our show! Our equipment is hilarious. We had to awkwardly cram all our talking into about ten minutes after the music failed, so, um, ehh, good show?

Tonight we heard music from the following:

Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, 1991 - David Newman
Bird with the Crystal Plumage, 1970 - Ennio Morricone
Judge Dredd, 1995 - Alan Silvestri

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