Check the Gate

Hey everyone. Unfortunately, this episode is a mess. I deleted one of the audio tracks on accident. I tried to edit with the remain audio track but it was really bad. In the end, I was only able to salvage audio from the cameras, so this episode is full of room noise that I can't clean up. It's too bad because this is one of my favorite films [Martin] and talking about it with Gretchen is somethin...

Gretchen and Martin return with one of the most beautiful films made by Akira Kurosawa. Dreams is a magnificent film the reimagines a personal existence across childhood into adulthood and the throws of WWII and the other side of that through the cultural changes of a post-nuclear Japan. Lavish and haunting, this film is truly a masterpiece. Kurosawa is one of the greatest filmmakers of all time a...

It's one of the greatest animated movies of all time. It's literally the personification of sex, drugs and rock & roll. With aliens, zombies, robots and a warrior queen. Ripped John Candy. Macho Eugene Levy. Cheap Trick at the top of their musical game. Dan O'Bannon is writing some of his coolest work every. This film hits all the nostalgia cylinders. Come along with Martin and Gretchen as we...

Sorry for the long break. March was madness but we are back with a new episode, and it's a great one. Streets of Fire, the 1984 Michael Paré taking the leading man role. Willem Dafoe doing his best Green Goblin before Spider-Man was even on the Marvel map. Diane Lane being Diane Lane. Academy Award winner Amy Madigan being epic. Rick Moranis as you've never seen him before. It's a round robin of a...

This episode is the palate cleanser we have been needing. The Muppet Movie is pure joy, and you definitely need that in your life. This wonderful film from 1979 is exemplary filmmaking. Every aspect of this film is perfection. The effects. The sets. The cameos. There is no aspect of this film that isn't perfect and wonderful.  Martin and Gretchen talk movies and more at Check the Gate . Follow alo...

Season two begins where season one left off. When last we talked about movies, Gretchen and I had watch Ralph Fiennes in The Menu. So to ring in 2026, we watched the Ralph Fiennes 1995 cyberpunk film, Strange Days. This Kathryn Bigelow film comes after the amazing Point Blank and the extremely amazing vampire film, Near Dark. Strange Days gives us an amazing look ahead at video as a tool of the fu...

When a young Furiosa and a Warboy meet in a different time, and a different life, with Voldamort serving them dinner before making the worlds most screwed up 'smores, you get The Menu. It's a tremendous performance by Ralph Fiennes, who pretty much never disappoints. Anya Taylor-Joy is pretty much perfect. Nicholas Holt is always solid. Together, they make a memorable movie with a twist on the cul...

In 1979 Disney set out to make an ambitious film. Giant practical sets. Cutting edge camera movement. Specialized digital effects. Bigatures. All of that to join the frey of filmmaking studios trying to find their Star Wars. While The Black Hole wasn't their hit, it stands as an amazing film today. Filled with imaginative set pieces, a great villian, renegade robots, all set against the backdrop o...

Abashed the devil stood and felt how awful goodness is. And felt how awful goodness is. It's Devil's Night. Our new favorite holiday and we're here for it with our newest episode. This time, we are featuring the 1994 Alex Proyas film, The Crow. The perfect, but now flawless, film that pushes the music video movie genre all the way past the stick margin. This fabulous movie, while met with great tr...

Martin and Gretchen return to their podcasting roots, both with the Kaijucast and Check the Gate, with this episode. Shin Godzilla! A beautiful relaunch of Godzilla under the banner of Toho. This film is an amazing array of taught political satire questioning the political apparatus of Japan while stepping into the digital effects age with a digital Godzilla. It's a risky moved that paid off in sp...

If you ever wanted to see a Salvador Dali painting come to life, but be empty of meaning or purpose, then The Fall is for you. A lavish, gorgeous, sweeping film that covers 28 countries over four years. It took Tarsim 20 years to make the film. It is so beautiful to look at. Gretchen and Martin break down this film and talk about a few other Tarsim projects.  Martin and Gretchen talk movies and mo...

Martin and Gretchen return to the world of indie filmmaking, only this time with much better results. Pi, the 1998 Darren Aronofsky black and white. It's a fantastic dive into mental health, gematria and possibly an underground hasidic mob. Made for $60k, shot on film, with recognizable actors from mainstream projects you've watched, this film is a testament to what can be done with very little. M...

All of these moments will be lost in time like tears in rain. Unless you have a podcast. Then you get to keep them forever and comment on them relentlessly. Blade Runner is the seminal work of Ridley Scott. As if Alien wasn't enough to transform the landscape of science fiction and horror, he comes back to create a futuristic landscape that is emulated by nearly every director make distopynia futu...

We dig into the cinephile lexicon of awesome movies not getting enough love for this Scorsese masterpiece. The 1999 film Bringing Out The Dead. Nic Cage in perfect Nic Cage form - not to crazy, just enough, not all the time, but right when we need him. This film is a fantastic run through the night for an ambulance crew in Hell's Kitchen. Tom Sizemore is killin' it. Good Goodman is rockin' it. Vin...

Martin and Gretchen watch one of the best revenge movies made in the last few decades. Blue Ruin is perfect execution of a film. Especially on the tiny budget they had. Perfect story. Excellent twists. The pacing is superb. It is the perfect movie without all the side plots and lost threads. It's everything a movie should be in the thriller genre. We hope you enjoy! Martin and Gretchen talk movies...

Hey everyone. Gretchen and I have a few bonus episodes for you coming out of the Portland Horror Film Festival that happened June 12th through the 14th. It's a great festival and if you are a horror fan with a film, this festival is not to be missed. Our first bonus episode is with Karen Lam, a writer/director/producer from Vancouver, British Columbia. She debuted her film, Mrs. Chang's Perfect Te...

Gretchen and I are back with a new episode. Exorcist III as well as the intended directors cut of Exorcist Legion. It was so much fun to watch these movies together. Films are always difficult to make. Every one of them is a miracle. When your film is taken apart by a studio and turned into something else it becomes a reality of an industry and a system. The Legion Cut is a fun attempt to see the...

Gretchen and Martin are stepping into the world of art films on this one. This is a crazy existential meditation on one's life in the final days before they die. Ghosts. Monkey Gods. Catheters. This movie has it all paced at the consistency of molassis in winter. It takes its time, and the time of an unnamed princess in the forest, to get anywhere. Once it does, it redefines the term being catfish...

We're back and, holy ghosts from hell on an appoluosa, did we have a run and gun fun one. Gretchen and I watch two films. 1973's Clint Eastwood directorial film in High Plains Drifter and pitted it against the 1985 Nameless Preacher film, Pale Rider. It's Eastwood vs Eastwood in this western mash up podcast episode. Make sure you check out this episode and more.  Martin and Gretchen talk movies an...

TRIGGER WARNING This episode discusses topics about sexual assault. We discuss this matter with care but know that some people can have issues with it being talked about. If you or someone else is the victim of sexual assault of any kind, contact the National Sexual Assault hotline 24/7 at 1-800-656-4673. If you are feeling alone and having thoughts of hurting yourself, call the Suicide and Crisis...

Gretchen and I watch an amazing practical effects film with a great cast, excellent performances and lots of wolfy sexuality. The coming of age, story-in-a-story-in-a-story film, Company of the Wolves. Neil Jordan at his finest. This movie is an astounding achievement at every level, especially on the budget he was given. Martin and Gretchen talk movies and more at Check the Gate. https://martinva...

Gretchen and Martin take on the 1980s with Ken Russell's existential space baby operate, Altered States. Watch William Hurt become an Australopithecus. See Bob Baliban before he ran the kennel club for best in show. Psylocibin. Shaman. Reverse evolution. Touching the face of god. Ken Russell packed it all in there. It's a trip of a film and we loved it.  Martin and Gretchen talk movies and more at...

It's time for the craziest film ever made to get the spotlight with Martin and Gretchen. The Boxer's Omen is the Shaw Studios crossroads of Kung fu revenge, black magic, sorcery and homunculus creating wrapped up in the real guts and gore (no really, the guts and the gore are real viscera) of outlandish fimmaking. It's an insane ride and truly the craziest film either of us have ever seen. It's no...

We go to the heart of Italian cinema for this gem. Gretchen and I watch the film Danger: Diabolik. The film that I argue is the influence for so many other films and defines how we see some genres today. Amazing effects. Sexy people. Crazy escapes. This cat burglar caper is like nothing else, and we are so excited to talk about it.  Martin and Gretchen talk movies and more at Check the Gate. https...

It's episode two. Martin and Gretchen talk about the film Dinner in America. One of the best films made in the last few years and an absolute joy to watch. I (Martin) describe it as the sweetest kick in the nuts. Go watch this film or buy it to own for yourself and have in your library.  Martin and Gretchen talk Dinner in America. https://martinvavra.me