The Projection Booth

John Badham returns to the podcast to discuss the latest edition of his invaluable guide, On Directing. Mike also talks with Mr. Badham about the Blu-Ray release of his film The Hard Way. 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 Boo...

Yaniv Eidelstein and Skizz Cyzyk join Mike to discuss the latest documentary feature by Alex Winter, ZAPPA. It’s a two plus hour look at composer, musician, artist, singer, agent provocateur Frank Zappa. 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 Th...

On this special episode we’re looking at the 1984 film from director Alan Sacks, Du-Beat-E-O. It’s a movie as unusual as its name. It’s the multi-layered story of a director -- the titular Du Beat E O played by Ray Sharkey -- who is given a chore to put together a film about the band The Runaways. At the same time we hear a postmortem of the film as we’re watching it unfold courtesy of a running f...

We continue Noirvember 2020 with a look at Peter Yates’s The Friends of Eddie Coyle. Based on the novel by George V. Higgins, the film stars Robert Mitchum as the titular Coyle, an over-the-hill small time crook who’s trying to get by in the milieu of Boston’s underground. The film is rich with incredible character actors like Peter Boyle, Richard Jordan, Alex Rocco, and more. Andrew J. Rausch and...

On this special episode, Mike talks with author Glenn Kenny about his new book, Made Men, the Story of Goodfellas, a terrific tome all about Martin Scorsese's seminal 1990 gangster film. Get the book at https://amzn.to/2Kj23Ab 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 . B...

Noirvember 2020 continues with a look at Robert Montgomery’s Ride the Pink Horse. Adapted from the novel of the same name by Dorothy B. Hughes, the film also stars Montgomery as Lucky Gagin, a man who comes to the small town of San Pablo, New Mexico during their annual fiesta…. Jedidiah Ayres and Carol Borden join Mike to discuss the various adaptations of Ride the Pink Horse. Sarah Weinman discus...

#Noirvember 2020 kicks off with a look at John Farrow's The Big Clock (1947). Based on the 1946 novel by Kenneth Fearing, it's the story of George Stroud (Ray Milland) an editor at Crimeways magazine and employee of Earl Janoth (Charles Laughton). When a woman that both Stroud and Janoth have been sleeping with is murdered, Stroud is put on the case to find out who was last seen with the victim. A...

We're looking at David Cronenberg's The Brood. It's the story of the Carveth family and how the sins of the past visit the children of the next generation. Frank Carveth (Art Hindle) and his wife Nola (Samantha Eggar) have separated. She’s under the care of Dr. Hal Raglan (Oliver Reed). He's the head of the Somafree clinic and has mastered the art of psychoplasmics where negative thoughts and feel...

I couldn't speak to Stephen Bissette about his monograph on The Brood without also asking him about his decades working in the comic book industry. He dishes a bit about his beginnings, his work on Swamp Thing, and more. Hear the rest of our interview on The Brood episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/po...

We conclude #Shocktober2020 with a look at Peter Jackson’s The Frighteners. Made between Heavenly Creatures and the Lord of the Rings series, the film was a signal to Hollywood that Peter Jackson could play by the rules. It’s the story of Frank Bannister (Michael J. Fox), a man with a gift that he can commune with the dead. He uses this to bilk the people of Fairwater out of money by haunting hous...

It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent's fritters! Heather Drain and Ben Buckingham join Mike to talk about Kevin Connor's 1980 horror/comedy starring Rory Calhoun and Nancy Parsons, Motel Hell. Connor discusses his work on the film as well as his earlier work while Frank Cotolo dishes about working with Wolfman Jack. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Be...

We’re not talking about a movie for once but, instead, we’re looking at Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated. It was the eleventh incarnation of the Scooby gang and it ran from 2010 to 2013 with a total of 52 episodes spread over 156 weeks. It was also one of the best and most self-referential animated series that I’ve ever seen. Producer Mitch Watson shares some behind-the-scenes stories about the cr...

#Shocktober2020 continues with a look at Neil Jordan’s The Company of Wolves. It's a melange of tales based on the writings of Angela Carter which intertwine and layer upon one another. At the heart is a re-telling of the Little Red Riding Hood tale but there’s more… much more… than that. Kat Ellinger and Heather Drain join Mike to discuss the film and women's burgeoning sexuality. This episode fe...

We’re looking at Clive Barker’s Nightbreed. It’s the story of Aaron Boone (Criag Sheffer). He dreams of a place called Midian, an underground world of monsters. His psychiatrist, Doctor Decker (David Cronenberg) also wants to go there but to destroy all the monster life. Tim Luz and Samm Deighan join Mike to look at the various cuts of the film and its storied history. Learn more about your ad cho...

We kick off Shocktober 2020 with a look at Tobe Hooper's 1982 film Poltergeist. It'ss the story of a suburban family beset by supernatural forces. Vincenzo Natali and Christine Makepeace join Mike to discuss hauntings, the pedigree of the film, the sequels, and 2015 remake. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/p...

We’re looking at the 2019 film from director Orçun Behram, The Antenna (2019). The film stars Ihsan Önal as Mehnet, a overseer of an apartment building in Turkey. We begin the film on the day when a new satellite dish is being installed that is part of a new era for the country where the government can now broadcast directly to its citizens’ televisions. Let’s just say that this isn’t the utopia t...

We conclude Czechtember 2020 with a look at Vera Chytilova’s Fruit of Paradise. This may be the most experimental and unusual movies we’ve covered as part of Czechtember. It’s a re-telling of the Adam and Eve story directed by Chytilova and co-written by her and Ester Krumbachova. Kat Ellinger and Samm Deighan join Mike to discuss this experimental narrative and squeeze oranges. Learn more about y...

We continue #Czechtember 2020 with the 1969 Slovakian film Birds, Orphans, and Fools by Juro Jakubisco. It’s a story of three young people in the turbulent year and place of 1968 Slovakia. There are birds, the characters are orphans, and they often play the fool as we experience a slice of their lives. Kat Ellinger and Jonathan Owen join Mike to discuss the film, Jakubisco's other work, and his fe...

Mike talks to Helena Trestíková (aided by the film's rep, Daniel Vadocký) -- half of the directing team behind the 2019 documentary Forman Vs. Forman -- about her life in occupied Czechoslovakia, her 45... 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...

#Czechember2020 continues with a look at Juraj Herz’s Morgiana. Released in 1972 the film stars Iva Janzurova as both Victoria and Clara Tragen, two sisters who are driven apart by their father’s will and the jealousy of Clara by Victoria. We’ve talked about Herz in the past including his incredible film The Cremator. And, for as subversive as that film was, it was Morgiana that got him into more...

We're looking at Park Chan-wook's Oldboy (2003). Based loosely on the manga by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi, the film tells the tale of Oh-Dae-Su (Choi Min-sik), a salaryman who gets abducted and held in a cell for 15 years. Just as he's abducted without explanation he's freed just the same. From there the film becomes a mystery where Oh-Dae-Su tries to find not just who abducted him but w...

We continue Czechtember 2020 with a look at Jindrich Polak’s Tomorrow I Will Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea (1977). From a script co-written by Milos Macourek, the film stars Petr Kostka as both Jan and Karel Bures, twin brothers, one of who has helped invent a rocket that allows people to travel through time. A group plans to rent out a rocket just for them and, rather than going back to do a...

We're doing something a little different for Czechtember 2020 with two commentary track episodes. First up, a discussion of Vojtech Jasný's All My Good Countrymen (1969), a tragic tale of a group of friends in post-WWII Czechoslovakia. Spencer Parsons and Chris Stachiw join Mike to discuss Jasny's lyrical film which was banned by Czech authorities. We also talk about the unofficial "remake", The M...

Mike gives a few capsule reviews of titles playing at this year's Fantasia film festival: Class Action Park, Feels Good Man, Tiny Tim - King for a Day, Clapboard Jungle, Hail to the Deadites, Monster Seafood Wars, Traveling Cat Chronicles, Survival Skills, Patrick, The Columnist. This episode also features an interview with the director of The Columnist, Ivo Van Aarte. Learn more about your ad cho...

We are looking at Steven Spielberg’s Jaws. Based on the novel by Peter Benchley, Jaws is the story of Sheriff Martin Brody -- a former New York City cop who’s moved to the idyllic island community of Amity. All is going well in his white picket world until a Great White Shark picks the waters around Amity as a feeding ground. Jamie Benning (Inside Jaws) and Chris Sasser (Shark City) join Mike to d...