Finding Matadory

     This week a pair of films with dire actions at sporting events.

     Carmen is placed in the care of her stepmother. Encarna is a scheming and vicious former nurse who used Carmen's mother's death in childbirth and her father's tragic bullfighting injury who will not let anything upset her lavish lifestyle. After the death of her father, Carmen escapes an assassination attempt but revives with no memory of her past but fortunately finds a place with a travelling group of bullfighters with dwarfism. A silent masterpiece that finds a new approach to the ancient Grimm tale- Pablo Berger's Blancanieves.
     Peter van Cleese witnessed his grandfather's mysterious disappearance 17 years ago. Now he has returned to claim his inherited lodge and allow his group of friends to join the Muskie Madness. Unfortunately for all, what befell his grandfather will soon be targeting everyone on the lake. No one is safe from- Blood Hook.
     All that and Craig is conflicted, Kevin wants a special cheese, and Dave can not master the art of the perfect cast. Join us, won't you?

   Episode 484- Finding Matadory

The Splattening

      This week- we bid The Shards a farewell while wondering who will carry Green Lantern's light forward? WIll Guy start with his bowl cut or will he get it through the power of the ring???
 Join us, won't you?
   The Final Shards/Lanterns minisode- The Splattening

Funky Stumps

     This week- a pair of films about people put into unusual situations. 

     Rex has just served an 8 year sentence for the death of a bank teller cause by his actions while confronting a group of thieves. Rex decides to take a nice long vacation in Finland. As soon as he lands, Rex is abducted and now has to find a way out of a very hungry nightmare. The fifth film from director Alister Grierson just might make you exclaim- Bloody Hell.
     A Japanese surrealist sketch comedy anthology featuring women at an onsen, a high school homeroom that has much to tell, two young dreamers who do not dream the same thing, and three brothers that ladies just do not care for. Cronenbergian instruments, aliens that feed on dreams, the music in one's soul, vaudeville slapstick, and one truly Funky Forest: The First Contact.
     All that and Dave has a private anniversary party, Craig second guesses his life choices, and Kevin lives in the blissful warmth of his platinum trophy. Join us, won't you?
   Episode 483- Funky Stumps

Out Damn Green Spot

     Hal and John and Bret and Robert all find strange new worlds at motor lodges in decades gone by. Both are VERY Shakespearian, even if one is too on the nose. Join us won't you?

   Shards and Lanterns Minisode #2- Out Damn Green Spot 

hards and Lanterns Minisode #2- Out Damn Green Spot 

The Devil & Ms. Manion

     This week we cross examine a pair of films featuring musicians in speaking roles.

     After small town lawyer Paul Biegler loses his reelection for DA, he spends his time quickly burning through his savings and fishing. When Mrs. Manion asks he defend her Army Lieutenant husband, who is charged with murdering an innkeeper, Barney Quill. Lt Manion claims he doesn't have any memory of the event. The first revisionist legal drama and another of Otto Preminger's most aggressive works pushing back against taboo and censorship, Anatomy of a Murder.

     The Relentless, a pan-Atlantic rock band, come together under the charismatic leadership of Johnny Faust. The band begins having strange run-ins with a many who claims he just might be The Devil and will make them the biggest act on Earth for the outrageously reasonable price of a single human sacrifice. Soon they find themselves on top of the charts and connected to a massive outbreak of extreme violence. The second feature from Ash Avildsen, the founder of Sumerian Records and featuring a score by Korn frontman Jonathan Davis, American Satan.

     All that and Craig forgets and Dave endures and Kevin lives in blissful denial of the same thing while Tyler shouts love from the void. Join us, won't you.

   Episode 482- The Devil & Ms. Manion

Sharting Green

     This week... we have an extended stay in 1981 L.A. and wake up in Rushville, Nebraska. The Shards episodes 5, 6, & 7 AND Lanterns episodes 1 & 2. Join us, won't you?
   The Shards minisode 3- Sharting Green 

Shoestrings

     This week we are joined by John from And Now For Something A Little Bit Different... for four films made with modest budgets and grand ambitions.

     Kato discovers that the monitor in his apartment shows what is happening in his cafe downstairs. That view is from two minutes in the future. When his friends and employee begin playing with the strange timey wimey wibble wobble they soon learn the future isn't always trustworthy. An impressive debut feature and nagamawashi, a genre of microbudget single shot films that gained popularity in Japan in 2017, Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes.
     A film student is hired to make a documentary by Ray Shoesmith, a hitman in Melbourne. Ray talks about everything, openly showing who he is and what he does, and the pair bond while Ray goes about conducting several jobs with some surprising results and approaches. The inspiration for the critically acclaimed Mr. Inbetween and the series creator-producer-writer-star Scott Ryan's debut feature- The Magician.
     A fisherman is pushed into a bad deal with a capitalist and soon finds himself flayed and cheated before his beloved pole is stolen through legal manipulation. As the rage simmers, a just as flayed mermaid appears offering to deliver his greatest wish- the love of the town's beauty. A darkly comedic fantasy musical comedy with puppet, distributed by The House That Toxie Built, Gutboy: A Bedtime Story.
A painter takes a commission from a brothel. A young woman is forced out of her home after a playful afternoon in a river. Another young woman is chased from her village by an angry mob. A small group likes to frolic in the woods and a field. The fourth directorial feature from cinematographer Maxim Ford- Picture of Beauty. 
     All that and Dave makes a shocking recommendation, John revels in a good week, and Tyler is summoned from the digital abyss like the eldritch nightmare he always wanted to be. Join us, won't you?
   Episode 481- Shoestrings