The Projection Booth

Rob St. Mary and Maitland McDonagh join Mike to look at the 1999 film from director David Fincher, Fight Club. Based on the book by Chuck Palahniuk, the film stars Edward Norton as an office drone who becomes addicted to self-help groups until he starts his own. However, we are not allowed to talk about it. Interviews on this episode include author Chuck Palahniuk, producer Ross Grayson Bell, and...

Mike spoke with Alexander Fee of the Japan Society New York about the Flash Forward series currently happening. Find out more at: https://www.japansociety.org/arts-and-culture/films/flash-forward-japanese-films . Today's episode is sponsored by New York University Tisch Pro/Online - a new way to learn filmmaking and screenwriting. Learn more at www.tischpro.smashcut.com/booth . Learn more about yo...

Directed by Lisa Gottlieb, Just One of the Guys (1985) stars Joyce Hyser as Terry Griffith, a reporter for her school paper who feels she’s being discriminated against by her teacher when it comes to a potential summer internship at the Sun-Tribune.  In order to prove that she has what it takes she goes undercover as a teenage boy. Rahne Alexander and Jim Laczkowski join Mike to discuss the film a...

Released in 1999, The Wachowski Siblings's The Matrix stars Keanu Reeves as Thomas “Neo” Anderson, a cubicle jockey who is looking for meaning in his life by way of the notorious hacker Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne).  Neo gets more than he bargained for when he learns that the world in which we live is a computer-generated construct, the titular Matrix.  Ben Buckingham and Christine Makepeace join...

We conclude #Noirvember 2021 with a special episode about David Lynch’s Lost Highway. Written by Lynch and Barry Gifford, it’s the story of Fred Madison (Bill Pullman), a musician who has trouble trusting his wife, Renee (Patricia Arquette). When they begin to get anonymous deliveries of VHS tapes, the pair are plunged into an underworld of mystery… Jedidiah Ayres and Bill Ackerman join Mike to di...

Noirvember 2021 continues with a look at Wendell B. Harris’s Chameleon Street. After winning the Sundance film festival in 1990 the film took too long to come out theatrically and died a quick death after it did. It’s the story of Douglas Street played by Harris. He’s a man who goes from installing burglar alarms to extorting a Detroit Tiger to impersonating a doctor, student, lawyer, and more. Ja...

Mike talks with Grady Hendrix and Chris Poggiali about their new book These Fists Break Bricks which looks at the phenomena of how martial arts influenced American popular culture. Order the book at https://amzn.to/2WROuhP Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth--5513239/support . Becom...

Noirvember 2021 continues with a look at Orson Welles’s The Lady from Shanghai. It’s the story of Michael O’Hara (Orson Welles), a sailor who falls in with a weird group of people: A gorgeous blonde, Elsa (Rita Hayworth), the titular lady from Shanghai, her husband, Arthur Bannister, a high-powered lawyer, and his partner, Grisby, a…well, he’s kind of a weirdo who wants to fake his own death and p...

On this special episode of The Projection Booth, Mike talks with John Alan Simon and Elizabeth Karr about the restoration of Dennis Hopper's Out of the Blue. Learn more at http://outofthebluedennishopper.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth--5513239/support . Become a supporter...

Noirvember 2021 continues with a look at John Boorman’s POINT BLANK.  Released in 1967, the film was based on the 1962 novel by Donald Westlake writing as Richard Stark.  The film stars Lee Marvin as Walker, a man who was betrayed by his wife and his best friend.  Now he’s back, seemingly from the dead, and goes on a quest to kill his friend and get back the money he feels he’s owed.  Jedidiah Ayr...

Noirvember 2021 kicks off with a look at Daryl Duke’s The Silent Partner. Released in 1978, it was from a screenplay by Curtis Hanson and based on the book Think of a Number by Anders Bodelsen. The film stars Elliott Gould as Miles Cullen, a rather mild mannered bank teller -- and keeper of the vault -- who figures out that his bank has been targeted for a robbery. With this piece of information h...

We’re wrapping up #Shocktober 2021 with a look at Brian De Palma's Carrie (1976). Based on the novel by Stephen King, the film stars Sissy Spacek as the titular Carrie White. She’s a young woman who’s lived under her mother’s thumb and religious fervor. When she experiences her first period, she also experiences a new ability to move objects with her mind. Keith Gordon and Jamey Duvall join Mike t...

Mike spoke with Jez Conolly and Emma Westwood about their Constellations book on John Frankenheimer's Seconds (1966). Pick it up at https://amzn.to/2Xdp2mW Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth--5513239/support . Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/pro...

Shocktober 2021 continues with a look at Jack Gold’s The Medusa Touch. It’s the story of John Morlar (Richard Burton) a man with a special gift who is "murdered" in the first few minutes of the film. It then becomes an investigation by Detective Brunel (Lino Ventura) who tries to learn more about Morlar, who murdered him, and why. Agatha Luz and Jeff Meyers join Mike to discuss psychic films, "dog...

Mike spoke with cinematographer Ed Lachman about some of his earlier films (The American Friend, The Limey) along with his latest work with Todd Haynes, The Velvet Underground. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth--5513239/support . Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http:...

As a cross-over with The Kulturecast, Chris Stachiw joins Mike to discuss Denis Villeneuve's Dune (2021), a rather dour, joyless adaptation of Frank Herbert's seminal sprawling sci-fi story. The film stars Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides, a young man who is seen as a savior by the native people of Arrakis, also known as Dune. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Become...

#Shocktober2021 continues with a look at Paul Wendkos’s The Mephisto Waltz (1971). Based on the novel by Fred Mustard Stewart, the film stars Alan Alda as Myles Clarkson, a pianist turned author along with Jacqueline Bisset as Myles’s wife Paula who isn’t a big fan of Myles’s new friend, the crotchety professional pianist Duncan Ely (Curd Jürgens), who harbors a dark secret. Rahne Alexander and An...

Mike spoke with filmmaker Lynne Sachs about her career including an octet of films that are currently showing on The Criterion Channel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth--5513239/support . Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/projectionbooth 

#Shocktober2021 continues with a look at Álex de la Iglesia’s 2013 film Witching & Bitching (AKA Las brujas de Zugarramurdi). It’s the story of two men (Hugo Silva and Mario Cassas) who rob a gold re-buyer along with one of the men’s sons. On the run from the cops they cross paths with a trio of witches in the spooky village of Zagurramurdi. Chaos ensues. Elena Romea (Spanish Fear) and Andrew Leav...

We are kicking off Shocktober 2021 with a look at William Beaudine’s Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla (1952) which stars Bela Lugosi (as you may have guessed) as well as comedy duo Sammy Petrillo and Duke Mitchell. They’re a knock-off Martin & Lewis team and they’re found on a little island in the Pacific that is populated by stock footage of African animals. Rich Whitley, Jamie Klein, and Fre...

We’re wrapping up Czechtember 2021 with a look at Jiri Menzel’s Capricious Summer. Released in 1968, it’s based on a book by Vladislav Vancura, it’s the story of three men on holiday who spend most of their time philosophizing and avoiding one woman while trying to woo another and getting nowhere. Kat Ellinger and Jonathan Owen join Mike to discuss the film. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

Kat Ellinger and Jonathan Owen join Mike to discuss Juraj Herz's Oil Lamps (1971), a tragic fin de siecle melodrama about the Stepa Kilianova (Iva Janzurová) and her husband Pavel (Petr Cepak), a former solider who suffers from syphilis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth--5513239/...

#Czechtember2021 continues with a look at Václav Vorlícek's Girl on a Broomstick, the story of a young witch who would rather escape to the world of human beings than be stuck in detention for 300 years(!). Gil Kenan and Kat Ellinger join Mike to discuss the film while author Hermína Franková (and her granddaughter, Hana Frank) discuss the writing of the original story and the 2019 musical version...

#Czechtember2021 continues with a look at Václav Vorlícek's 1977 comedy What Would You Say to a Nice Plate of Spinach? The film stars Vladimir Mensik and Jiri Sovak as a couple of nogoodniks who get involved in some industrial espionage to steal parts of a machine that ages, de-ages, and shrinks creatures. Just don't eat any spinach before undergoing treatment! Ben Buckingham and Jonathan Owen joi...

Mike talks with director Roger Donaldson about his work from Smash Palace to The World's Fastest Indian. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth--5513239/support . Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/projectionbooth