No Stunts in the Champagne Room

     This week a pair of films about people forced by circumstances to face the harshness of reality with flights of fancy.

     Lera is a sociology student who has been tasked with doing a door to door survey. She spends her nights caring for her sick and sleepwalking mother, supporting them both by dancing at a seedy gentleman's club, and trying to avoid her estranged emotionally abusive alcoholic father. The second feature written and directed by Natalya Kudryashova delicately balances grim realism with lyrical fantasies- Gerda.

     After witnessing the murder of her jewel stealing boyfriend, Carmen is escorted across Texas by a pair of unorthodox FBI agents with three professional killers hot on their heels. One of the many once forgotten indie films brought to cult prominence by Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas, the first feature by long time stunt man John Stewart- Action U.S.A.
     All that and Craig contemplates the joys of staying home the others take their penultimate trip to a small town in Indiana. Join us, won't you?
   Episode 442- No Stunts in the Champagne Room