Knight Betrayal

     This week- two films about dreamers being betrayed by trusted individuals working for the government.

     In 1968, William O'Neal is arrested for attempting to steal a car while posing as a federal agent. While in custody he is approached by the FBI who make an offer he can't refuse- the charges will disappear if he infiltrates the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party and relays information on its leader, Fred Hampton. Based on a true story, the second feature from Shaka King, Judas and the Black Messiah.

    The CIA has secretly hires Professor Hathaway to make a laser weapon precise enough to carry out illegal political assassinations from outer space. Hathaway recruits a team of brilliant students to do the work for him as he redirects project funds to build a massive new house. As the deadline looms he recruits a budding genius in physics, Mitch, and places him under one of his heroes, Chris Knight, now a disillusioned slacker just trying to survive his final year. A 1980s comedy classic and one of the best college films of that century- Real Genius.
     All that and Dave pregames with the game, Tyler rides the movies like a pro, and Kevin plans a march of the squirrel army. Join us, won't you?
   Episode 413- Knight Betrayal

Talented Lactose

     This week- a pair of films about men on the edges of society taking youths under their wings.

     When washed up former football player, Curtis Plummer, is talked into spending his afternoons with his socially isolated niece, Jasmine. When he discovers her natural football throwing talent, he shapes her into the best quarterback to come out of their depressed former factory town. Inspired by but not even a little faithful to real events of the first girl to participate in the Pop Warner Football tournament, The Longshots.
     On the first anniversary of her daughter's abduction a woman sits on a park bench. Elsewhere, the missing girl and her friends are fighting off demons. And soon The Milkman cometh to both. The second film by Case Esparros, featuring influential performance artist Gary Wilson, and a soundtrack by experimental musician Aaron Dilloway- The Absence of Milk in the Mouths of the Lost.
     All that and Craig has a personal moment, Tyler relives his gridiron glorydays, Dave laments his lack of rennet, and Kevin makes a blood offering to the gods of nü-metal but wears the wrong kind of pants. Join us, won't you?
   Episode 412- Talented Lactose

The Mouse and the Snitch

     This week- a pair of films about people dragged into tangled webs of conspiracy.

     Rollie Taylor is the best practical effects artist that has ever been. When he's approached by an agent from the Department of Justice, he takes up the challenge of staging the assassination of an organized crime informant in public. Soon Rollie finds himself on the run from his employers with a trail of collateral damage and the NYPD detective at his heels. Will Rollie clear his name? What actually was the point of this elaborate scheme? Will Detective McCarthy realize he's too old for this shit? A surprise hit that generated a sequel film and continued with a TV series- F/X (aka Murder by Illusion).
     Summer 1948. Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins, an African-American veteran and homeowner in Watts, has been laid off from his job at Champion Aircraft and needs money quickly to make his mortgage. His friend, Joppy, introduces him to DeWitt Albright, a white private investigator. Albright explains he needs Easy's help finding the missing fiancé of a Los Angeles mayoral candidate. Before long, bodies start piling up and Easy has the police eyeing him hard. His only hope is to call in his old friend, Mouse, a man with tendencies toward deadly violence. Will Easy find the missing woman? Why did she take off and who exactly is so desperate to find her? Based on the first book in Walter Mosley's phenomenal series of hardboiled mysteries, Devil in a Blue Dress.
   Join us, won't you?

   Episode 411- The Mouse and the Snitch

Love That Scars

     This week... Insurmountable obstacles, unfortunate events, and darker obsessions collide in four films about love that wounds and scars and ends unavoidably tragic.

     When a young woman is found murdered after leaving his house, down on his luck and violently tempered screenwriter Dix finds himself squarely in the police's frame. Only the testimony of his beautiful neighbor keeps him from immediate arrest. As his prosecution drags out, a relationship between them blooms. Can the blossoming relationship withstand the suspicions and outside glances? Did Dix succumb to his rage fueled impulses and will he do it again? An existential noir masterpiece with a towering lead performance, In a Lonely Place.

     In the summer of 1972, young Vada Sultenfuss lives with her widowed father. Vada has a tendency toward hypochondria and a fascination with death, likely from losing her mother at birth and growing up in the town funeral parlor. This summer, Vada begins growing into her own and suffers many of life's first times. Widely considered a classic of the 1990s with a pair of fantastic child lead performances and a final act that scared a generation, My Girl.

     Young Douzi is abandoned by his mother at a Peking Opera troupe. His youth is spent training to play dan, female lead, roles while his best friend, Shitou, learns jing, heroic male roles. From the brutal violence of their training, the oppressive occupation of the Second Sino-Japanese War, and the crushing repression of the Cultural Revolution, Douzi and Shitou's relationship carries them through 50 years. Beautifully shot, delicately edited, and widely considered one of the best films produced in Mainland China, Farewell My Concubine.

     Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona Beach, where we lay our scene, from ancient grudge break new mutiny... the star-crossed lovers draw the conclusion of Baz Luhrmann's Red Curtain Trilogy of theatrical motif. Hyper stylized with an energy that has few equals and a cast that matches it beat for beat, The Bard's most well known work's third major film adaption that still brings tears of joy to long suffering High School English teachers everywhere... William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet.

     All that and Dave loses a letter, Tyler feels new emotions in a fetal positions, and Kevin likes to watch... everything. Join us, won't you?

   Episode 410- Love That Scars

The Dross

     This week- two movies about puppets that want to become real boys.

     Malcolm Shanks is unable to hear or speak. He communicates through mime and puppetry. When a local mad scientist finds use of his talents, Shanks is set on a course of tragedy. The last film directed by genre icon and master of promotion William Castle- Shanks.
     The heavily sanitized for streaming audiences story of 1980s hair metal band Mötley Crüe. Inspired by the band's own autobiography and the first traditional narrative feature by reality entertainment trailblazer Jeff Tremaine, The Dirt.
     All that and Dave considers fun new ghost removals methods, Kevin laments modern society's lack of hair spray centric culture, Craig has an apoplectic epiphany, and Tyler has a nostalgic one. Join us, won't you?

   Episode 409- The Dross

Worts & All

     This week- a pair of films about bad dads creating generational trauma.

     Kōhei and his friends are making a video game. One day he and his girlfriend, Nami, go for a drive and come upon a huge seemingly abandoned mansion. Soon they discover that Nami's connection to it might be much deeper than they could have imagined. The film adaption of a 1999 PSX remake that never left Japan of a groundbreaking 1991 SNES visual novel that never left Japan- St. John's Wort (aka Otogirisō).

     Dong Zi is working as a debt collector, under the mentorship of Jun, to pay for his father Qi's hospital treatments. He spends his evenings with Jiu'er, a tattoo artist and ex-wife of local crime boss Four. A grim and gritty neo-noir in 2004 Sichuan, China- Streetwise (aka Gaey Wa'r).

     Join us, won't we?
  Episode 408- Worts & All

Getting a Head

     This week- two films about getting, in several common definition senses, a head, also using multiple definitions.

     When a teen in Biarritz, France decide to take advantage of his mother having to live in another country for work and begins hosting sex parties for the whole school to attend. Soon relationships are broken and videos from the parties begin making their way online threaten the make the activity known to all. The first feature from Eva Husson, Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story).
     When the teen daughter of a powerful Mexican crime lord becomes pregnant, a bounty is put on the unborn child's father. Two months later, a Mexico City bar and bar managing pianist  Bennie finds himself on the road with his girlfriend, Elita, on a small errand that will give them both the chance to completely change their futures. Sam Peckinpah's uncompromising and violent black comedy, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. 
     All that and Tyler asks a simple question. Join us, won't you?
  Episode 407- Getting a Head