Saturday, July 15, 2023

Hill Street Boos

    This week- a couple of scam artists and a fistful of cops.

     Rookie cop Roy reports for duty in East LA. He is partnered with Andy, a veteran quickly approaching mandatory retirement. Roy thinks he will only be a cop long enough to make it through law school but, for some, the job becomes their all consuming obsession. Based on the novel by Joseph Wambaugh, The New Centurions.
     George and Kathy Lutz, with Kathy's three children, move into a beautiful home with enough room for all, a massive yard, and private lake access. It's perfect... and shocking affordable, due to one of the previous residents killing their whole family. Soon after they move in, strange things begin to happen. Is the house haunted? Will George reenact the horrific events of the previous owners? Will the priest ever get Ma Bell to fix his phone? The Amityville Horror.
     All that and Dave changes shape, Tyler rolls in something, and Kevin starts betting on internet cat fights. Join us, won't you?

Saturday, July 8, 2023

Tunnel of Swole

     This week- two movies with surprise orgies and appreciations for the male form in different sizes.

     Simon is a cold call scam employee in a dying relationship without any direction or joy. His last ditch effort to change his life trajectory is to join a gym and try and reclaim his body from desk degradation. He soon meets trainer Terry and everything changes. Centered by a powerhouse performance from Craig Fairbrass in a pitch black comedy about toxic masculinity and how far one can be pushed, Muscle.
     In the not too distant future, the world as we know it is over. The remains of humanity live in caves and scavenge to survive. When young David kills one of the tribe's leaders, he and his friends are banished to soon die in the wilds. Luckily they stumble on a solar powered city from the past and its two last residents. Larry Clark's entry in a series of AIP remakes with creature designs by the legendary Stan Winston Studios, Teenage Caveman.
     All that and Dave keeps skipping someone, Kevin gets life from a box set, Craig surfaces from the wastes to rasp out a warning, and Tyler indulges. Join us, won't you?
   Episode 316- Tunnel of Swole

Saturday, July 1, 2023

Behemoth Meat

     This week a pair of grounded fantasies with people living their own realities.

     An Italian noble uses mercenaries to retake his city. In order to spur on his troops, he promises them 24 hours free reign to plunder as they see fit. Being as that is a stupid promise, it doesn't go well and soon the noble has the mercenaries routed from the city without their promised loot. Lost and without direction, some of them reform into a bandit group led by Martin and a statue of St. Martin. Soon they will have new home, riches, and the betrothed of one of their betrayers. As tensions rise soon nothing will stop the Flesh and Blood (stylized Flesh + Blood) from running through the streets in Paul Verhoeven's first English language film.
     Justin Playfair has spent his life fighting the system's abuses as a judge. After the death of his wife, he begins to believe himself Sherlock Holmes. In order to gain control of Justin's money, his brother tries to have him committed under the care of Doctor Mildred Watson. Soon the pair find themselves racing through New York in a desperate effort to stop the king of crime, and probably only imaginary, Moriarty. A rich cast of character actors and the makers of The Lion and Winter wonder if They Might Be Giants after all.
     All that and Dave forgets things, Kevin looks in on his favorite archeology professor, and Tyler has dreams about a nail salon. Join us, won't you?
   Episode 315- Behemoth Meat


Saturday, June 24, 2023

Perturbing Behaviour

      This week three films about moral panics, the imagined threats lurking to upset social order from morality police happy to stoke public fear for a payout.

     A harmless game played by a group of college students. Nothing wrong with any of it... except... what if the game goes too far? What if an obviously schizophrenic player with a history of unresolved family trauma has a sudden and immediate break from reality while playing? It MUST be the game's fault and not anything else. I said, NOT ANYTHING ELSE, okay? Tom Hanks, in the brief period between Bosom Buddies and Splash, acts his little TV movie loving heart out while being corrupted by MAZES & MONSTERS.
     A fictionalized account of the rise of Norwegian Black Metal. Euronymous and his band Mayhem create a new subgenre that is eagerly devoured, by not just local youth, but globally. When the band is derailed by a tragedy, they regroup opening a record shop that is also a social hub for their growing brand of music. It isn't long until everything goes wrong and the dark edge of their music leads to arson and murder. Based on the book of the same name, titled after a group not connected to the events depicted here, Lords of Chaos.
     Billy Tipton was a jazz musician, talent agent, caring husband and doting father. When Billy died, a closely guarded secret was revealed, and his life was spun and reframed by tabloids and talk shows in the very LGBT unfriendly late-1980s. A meta-biographical documentary about both Tipton and some more modern trans masculine experiences. Layered revelations and personal interpretations try to reframe Billy's life and legacy from the sensationalist view that has dominated it in the decades after his death. A film about trying to have an ordinary life while being No Ordinary Man.
     All that and Tyler wears corpse paint, Dave gets his musical theater on, and Kevin casts a wide net in the cinematic ocean. Join us, won't you?
   Episode 314- Perturbing Behaviour


Saturday, June 17, 2023

Reasonable Charges

     This week- a pair of films about lawbreakers who might be more than they appear.

     17-year-old Isabelle decides to start a side hustle after losing her virginity on vacation. When her favorite client, Georges, does something deeply traumatizing, Isabelle's secret life will soon be revealed. A more recent entry from Francois Ozon, one of France's most important modern filmmakers, Young & Beautiful (Jeune & Jolie).
     Early in the morning, two police detectives breakdown the door of Edward Fleming. After roughing him up, ransacking his apartment, and openly parading him, handcuffed, passed all of his neighbors, Fleming is left alone in an interrogation room without any idea why he is there. Slowly it is revealed the detectives believe he was in the company of a missing man and a stolen car but that's not what they are really after. As the hours pass a desperate game of cat and mouse develops between the three men. A film that won multiple AACTA Awards on release and driven by a powerhouse performance by Hugo Weaving, just a year before breaking through to global success with The Matrix, 1998's The Interview.
     All that and Dave watches some shorts about masculinity, Tyler jiggles his Travolta bubble erotically, and Kevin is starting to realize his partner might be planning on killing him. Join us, won't you?
   Episode 313: Reasonable Charges


Saturday, June 10, 2023

Emerald Emotions

     This week green men of various sizes and the ladies who love them.

     When Bruce Banner is accidentally exposed to massive amounts of gamma radiation and exploding medical nanobots, it awakens a secret buried deep inside of him by his mad scientist father, David. Now whenever Bruce gets angry he becomes a green rage monster. Meanwhile, two estranged fathers try to use this as a way to reconnect with their children. Chaos ensues. Ang Lee's ambitious comic book adaption- Hulk.
     It's been 50 years since an accident involving lime soda and Seabrook's mysterious energy source created a zombie outbreak. In the decades that followed, the town has become stringently uniform, everyone dresses the same, the only ice cream flavor is vanilla, and cheerleading is the local obsession (because the football team has been dire since the outbreak). Now, thanks to the invention of the Z-band, zombies to live fairly normal lives in their quarantined section of the town. But change is coming, the first class of zombies are being integrated into the local high school and the cheer squad isn't happy with this development. Disney's West Undead Story- Zombies.
     All that and Kevin sees things no one should ever witness, Tyler tries to become a TV exec, and Dave slept the week away. Join us, won't we?
   Episode 312- Emerald Emotions


Saturday, June 3, 2023

Boards & Bars

     This week- a pair of nightmares.

     For Michael's seventeenth birthday, his bestie Tony gifts him one of Hasbro's most popular board games and a pair of supernatural bonus gifts that apparently come with it. Now Michael has to try and save people we have to assume are his friends, despite how much believing he has friends breaks suspension of disbelief, from a serial killer. Why is Michael having these visions? Who is killing his circle of distant acquaintances? How much extra did they pay the romantic interest for her massive ability to not roll her eyes while speaking to Michael? No matter what, just Don't Panic.
     DC area punk band, Arlington's The Ain't Rights, are on an extended couch surfing tour on the other side of the country. Low on cash, out of gas, and without any future gigs they take a well paying slot in a Neo-Nazi bar somewhere outside of Portland. Soon they are drawn into a violent event that leaves them terrified, barricaded, and with little hope they will see the next morning. What happened in the Green Room?
     All that and Dave hopes dimensions to meet other Daves - they are all bastards but very pretty, Tyler plots revenge against the Pokemon Company, and Kevin swears a blood oath to the demon that lives in his neighbor's sump pump. Join us, won't you?
    Episode 311- Boards & Bars