Movie Bones

This week, Justin and Ryan dig into 'Ball of Fire' (1941) and talk about... Snow White and the Seven Profs Simple storytelling cause-and-effect courtesy Billy Wilder Making the oddness of an arrangement - work Quirkiness saves the day! Barbara Stanwyck shows her chops Gary Cooper vs. Cary Grant The nexus of all film connections makes another appearance Our Verdict Next week's film: &#3...

This week, Justin and Ryan dig into 'Sorry Wrong Number' (1948) and talk about... The perils of adapting a radio play to film length Mixing genres - awkwardly Fulfilling promises in the most boring way possible Acting to a phone - like acting to green screen or puppets All the things we thought would happen, but didn't Our Verdict Next week's film: 'The Little Shop of Horrors&#...

This week, Justin and Ryan dig into 'The Amazing Quest of Earnest Bliss' (1936) and talk about... Beware of movies with "Amazing" in the title Rich, bored white-guy problems of the Great Depression - Intrigued yet? "Brewster's Millions" done wrong Mr. Loophole In the end, everyone gets the mammon they want. Yay? Somehow "Talladega Nights" comes up "You mean...

This week, Justin and Ryan dig into 'On the Beach' (1959) and talk about... When the world ends and you're just waiting for your turn in it Details without perspective What if... the end of the movie led into Mad Max? The irony of Australia becoming the most habitable place on Earth. A film set in Australia bereft of Aussie accents. Some of our favorite cold war films Our Verdict Next...

This week, Justin and Ryan dig into 'The Wild Women of Wongo' (1959) and talk about... When the tropics were populated by buff Nordic looking wayfarers "Hey, wanna be in a movie?" Turning familiar wildlife into a 'dragon god' Cheap worldbuilding How men apparently are more prone to Neanderthal-speak An unexpected connection with actual talent (but not on-screen) Justin gets...

This week, Justin and Ryan dig into 'The Odd Couple' (1968) and talk about... Matthau and Lemon: Born for these roles How does a guy get an apartment that big in NYC on a sportscaster's income? Comedic timing and body language The focus on the central friendship An expected setup Justin didn't expect The ill-fated (and late) sequel Our Verdict Next week's film: 'The Wild Wo...

This week, Justin and Ryan look back over the entire second season of Movie Bones, to see what we've learned, and to ruminate over... Ranking our top eight films... And our bottom five - most hated! The biggest gaps between expectation and reality Favorite actors / actresses from this year And More! What do you think? What's your best and worst from the last year of Movie Bones reviews? Di...

This week, Justin and Ryan dig into 'The Seventh Seal' (1957) and talk about... Heavy existentialism A quick comparison to Wrath of Kahn Critiquing various takes on death, religious or not Ryan's fascination with the weirdness of the Crusades Knight Block trying to have faith without undergoing death Even if you win the game... what then? Funny, tragic existential humor - death cuts do...

This week, Justin and Ryan dig into 'Fiddler on the Roof' (1971) and talk about... The necessity of Tevye's character to the play's working so well What is "Tradition"? Talking to God The fallout of being a people 'set apart' and what it means for those inside and outside The lines we can't cross, and what they really mean in practice The three marriages - hitti...

This week, Justin and Ryan dig into 'A Man Called Horse' (1970) and talk about... No surprises here Giving respect 'for culture "from arm's length" Main character: Blank Slate Batise The source material Sun Dance centerpiece Can't be happy, can we? Our Verdict Next week's film: 'Fiddler on the Roof' (1971) Did we get the movie wrong? Tell us why! And let us...

This week, Justin and Ryan dig into 'Seven Samurai' (1954) and talk about... - Kurosawa's oversized (and justified) influence on cinema - Counter-cultural, thematically-filled, action film - Dealing with issues of cultural mistrust - Some of our favorite characters - "Putting together the team" - Toshiro Mifune MVP - Again! - The original 'Avengers'? - The suggestion of...

This week, Justin and Ryan dig into ' He Who Gets Slapped' (1924) and talk about... - Early revenge flick? - Lon Chaney Sr. vs. Jr. - Silent films, acting broadly and transition from theater styles - Chaney Sr. admiration - Clown-coding villainy  - Murder by kitty - Super fast romantic development - Based on a play (again!) - ...which is even darker than the movie - Justin gets hyped about...

This week, Justin and Ryan dig into 'The Russians Are Coming' (1966) and talk about... - Offering Pete as tribute to end the cold war - Deflating tail-chasing rumors and paranoia - An island full of 'Facebook People' and imagining how this would play out in the internet age - A few unusual twists - Slapstick filler - Romance now, defect later - The necessity of characters who keep...

This week, Justin and Ryan dig into 'The Man Who Came to Dinner' (1942) and talk about... - Placing Bette Davis' role in her cannon of work - Figuring out the 'messy' character of Sheridan and his relationship with Maggie - How that holds up the slapstick elements - The real-life story behind all this craziness - One of the weirdest tributes to a real-life person - Real-life in...

Pre-script note: We recorded this episode shortly before the murder of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Had we known it beforehand, the events around their killings could, and would have likely been included in the discussion as two people who did not allow a great evil of our day to pass through them. This week, Justin and Ryan dig into 'Judgment at Nuremberg' (1961) and talk about... - not be...

This week, Justin and Ryan dig into 'Under the Yum-Yum Tree' (1963) and talk about... https://tubitv.com/movies/100014481/under-the-yum-yum-tree   - Dean Jones does Jimmy Stewart? - Sexual revolution and 60's cinema - Unusual, plot specific apartment layouts - Was 'not-looking' not an option? - Making your heroine complicit in obvious traps to the point of stupidity - Hogan as...

This week, Justin and Ryan dig into 'The Taming of the Shrew' (1967) and talk about... - Abuse: the Movie - Trying to understand the rationale for Shakespeare writing it this way - Controversial even in Shakespeare's time. - With some small changes, could be a horror story - The horror of psychological manipulation - Connection to "10 Things I Hate About You" - Compared to othe...

This week, Justin and Ryan dig into 'The Brain from Planet Arous' (1957) and talk about... - Can a sci-fi film be less concerned with explaining what the rules are? - "Is he dead?" - Fiction's best detective is not Batman, but random nameless small-town sheriff. - Ridiculously overpowered villain foiled by easily foil-able plot. - Brain dude doesn't need to possess a human...

This week, Justin and Ryan dig into 'The Thin Man' (1934) and talk about... https://tubitv.com/movies/100045809/the-thin-man - a 'light' noir piece - Nick and Nora: a couple for the ages - the smartest guy in the room, sans arrogance - A *relationship* for the ages - the amazing popular streak of "The Thin Man" series - The real-life platonic relationship between the leads...

This week, Justin and Ryan dig into 'Scrooge' (1951) and talk about... https://tubitv.com/movies/100011055/scrooge-black-white-version - Should they have just gone full camp/comedy with this? - What this version *does* have that others could do better with - Dickins' own thoughts on "A Christmas Carol" - We list all the "Christmas Carols" we can think of, and where this...

This week, Justin and Ryan dig into 'Jigsaw' (1962) and talk about... - Our personal histories and/or prejudices around police procedurals - The way the setup teases the audience before the crime happens - Good cop banter - A somewhat 'ordinary' killer (i.e., not just a crazy serial killer) - More interest in the chase than the whodunnit - Making the unglamorous parts of procedure...

This week, Justin and Ryan dig into 'Beyond Christmas' (1940) and talk about... - Can this really classify as a Christmas movie? - The insane pre-existing living arrangement between the characters - Unexpectedly swapping out your main and supporting characters. - Everything is tangential - The litany of bad relationship tropes - The weird daily routines of rich people (in this movie) - Som...

This week, Justin and Ryan dig into 'The Fugitive Kind' (1960) and talk about... - Marlon Brando, the GOAT, except for Chris Reeve - Screenplay that allows itself the room to explore deep relationships - The depth of the female leads, and Val's mysterious nature - The character of Carol, what she represents - Racism and the othering of 'outsiders' in opposition to genuine love...

This week, Justin and Ryan dig into "Jeremiah Johnson" (1972) and talk about... - The uncredited star: The visuals. - Accelerated level-up frontiersman 101 - When the movie won't let a guy have a good thing, 'cuz *vengeance*. - Yeah, but is he 'legendary'? -  - Our Verdict - Next week's film: "The Fugitive Kind" (1960) Did we get the movie wrong? Tell us why! An...

This week, Justin and Ryan dig into "King's Row" (1942) and talk about... - Gee, that theme music sounds familiar. - The 'controversial' book its based on - Getting the film made to fit into conformity with the Hayes code - One of the changes works out better - The kernel of truth in the depiction of "small-towns hiding dark secrets" - Exposing wounds to sunlight - so t...