Watch This With Rick Ramos

The Many Faces of The Little Wooden Boy - Pinocchio   Talking a Classic . . .  Netflix has recently premiered Guillermo del Toro's (with co-director Mark Gustafson) Pinocchio (2023), a touching stop-motion animation feature that is overwhelming in its beauty. On this week's episode I'm taking a look at Carlo Colidi's 1883 classic tale ( The Adventures of Pinocchio ) as it has been interpreted thro...

Hollywood - Spectacle & Sacrifice: Damien Chazelle's Babylon This week, Mr. Chavez & I continue our close out of 2022 (going into this third week of 2023), with a look at one of the most highly-anticipated films of the year (and one of its most polarizing films and biggest box-office disappointments), Damien Chazelle's Babylon . This is certainly a film that defines cinematic ambition, but also th...

Prison of the Self: Darren Aaronofsky's The Whale On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Mr. Chavez & I continue our look at a series of challenging, polarizing, and (in some cases) critically-acclaimed films closing out 2022 and carrying us into 2023. This week we look at Brendan Fraser's return to the big screen in Darren Aaronofsky's The Whale . There is definitely greatness here, but...

To Our Graves, We're Taking This: Martin McDonagh's The Banshees of Inisherin On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Mr. Chavez & I move into 2023 with one of the best films of 2022, Martin McDonagh's The Banshees of Inisherin . A reunion for stars Brendan Gleeson & Colin Ferrel as well as their Director Martin McDonagh (all three of In Bruges - 2008), Banshees is a beautifully realized ...

Dance of Death: Lars Von Trier's Melancholia  Cinema is a strange and captivating artform. In many cases, understanding a filmmaker's intent is a hopeless effort. Lars Von Trier is a director whose filmography has captivated, confused, angered, and endeared itself to audiences. His critically-lauded 2011 film, Melancholia , would startle and fascinate audiences at The 64th Cannes Film Festival. Th...

Questions in the Rain: Bong Joon-ho's Memories of Murder  On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Mr. Chavez & I continue our exploration of South Korean Cinema with a look at Bong Joon-ho's Memories of Murder. Based on a true-life series of rapes and murders that captured and terrified the minds of South Koreans from 1986 thru 1991, Bong's film is a subtle and intriguing police procedura...

Nothing Left to Say - Defining Films of the 2010s Nothing left to say, People . . . this week Mr. Chavez & I conclude our look into the Defining Films of Their Respective Decades. We started in the 1910s and here we are, one hundred years of Cinema later. It's been a fun time looking at some great films and a bunch of painful ones. The fact is that Cinema influences society, but also is a reflecti...

Blue-Collar Love Song - John Turturro's Romance & Cigarettes I've been wanting to talk this movie for quite some time. I'm not exactly sure when and where I first saw John Turturro's Romance & Cigarettes . I had heard stories of a "Working-Class, James Gandolfini led Romantic/Musical Comedy". With no idea what to expect, the film would finally find it's way into limited release sometime in 2007 -...

Celebrating a Genius - Martin Scorsese's 80th Birthday This week a bonus episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos drops as I go solo to celebrate - in my opinion - The Greatest Living Director (and easily one of the greatest filmmakers in the history of the medium) - Mr. Martin Scorsese. Since my partner is not joining me for this episode, I am choosing to look at Mr. Scorsese more from a fan's vantage th...

Franchising Heroes & Fools: The Films of the 2000s On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos continue our look at the films that defined their decades. This week we look at the films of the new millennium. The 2000s saw a shift in the cinematic mentality. It was the beginning of the franchise era focusing on literary properties, remakes, reboots, and a continuous slip in artistic quality. Th...

The Billy Picture: Vincent Gallo's Buffalo '66 On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Mr. Chavez & I sit down with an incredibly underseen and underappreciated independent film from 1998, Vincent Gallo's Buffalo '66 . Some films are difficult to define . . . they are problematic in their narratives and politics. Vincent Gallo's directorial effort from 1998 is a film that few people have...

Blood Brothers: Phil Joanou's State of Grace  On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Mr. Chavez & I sit down to discuss a forgotten gem from 1990 - Phil Joanou's tale of Hell's Kitchen Irish-American Brotherhood, State of Grace . We are thrilled to discuss this neglected classic showcasing Sean Penn, Robin Wright, (a frightening) Ed Harris, and a brilliant early stateside performance fro...

Undergound Leather: William Friedkin's Cruising  On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I sit down to talk one of the most controversial films of the 1980s - Al Pacino in William Friedkin's Cruising (1980). During its production and early 80s release, few films had suffered comparable controversy. An murder mystery set in the Underground, S & M, Leather Bars of Late 70s/Early 8...

Ghosts of Old Japan: Masaki Kobayashi's Kwaidan On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I wrap up October with a look at a Japanese Horror Masterpiece -  Kwaidan (1964). This Classic of Japanese Cinema is filled with some of the most beautiful images committed to film. A film bringing together four ghost stories of Japanese lore, Kwaidan has overwhelmed viewers with its beauty f...

Death in a Village:    Na Hong-jin's The Wailing One of the great joys of doing this show is discovering the gems in the cinematic world. Sometimes you stumble on them in your search; occasionally a friend turns you onto something great. For this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Mr. Chavez & I send a special thanks to Mr. Cornelius Burroughs for his gift of Na Hong-jin's The Wailing (2016)...

Mother's Arms: Alejandro Jodorowsky's Santa Sangre On this week's episode of WatchThis w/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I continue our descent into the terror of Horror Cinema as we celebrate moving closer and closer to All Hallow's Eve. For this week's selection we go against the norm and travel to Mexico for Chilean filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky's Santa Sangre (1989). A film that needs to be seen in orde...

Return of the Past: Folk Horror & The Wicker Man (2006) On this week's second episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim jump to the 2006 American remake of Robin Hardy's Classic, The Wicker Man . Remakes can go a lot of different ways and this one doesn't surprise. What's great is the two films (original and 2006) lead us to a fascinating documentary from 2021, Kier-La Janisse's Woodland Dark and...

Bad Execution: The Wicker Man (1973) On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I continue our examination into the World of Cinematic Horror. For this episode we look to the UK and Robin Hardy's The Wicker Man . Recognized as "One of the Greatest Horror Films Ever Made" Ibrahim & I are . . .  well, take a listen and you'll hear our perspective. It's a fun discussion. You should ha...

Mirror Image: David Cronenberg's Dead Ringers   On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I continue our descent into the Horror genre with a look at David Cronenberg's Underseen 1988 Masterpiece, Dead Ringers . With one of the great performances of the 1980s (In All of Cinema for that matter), Cronenberg gives audiences one of the most unsettling and disturbing pictures that can...

My So-Called Decade: Defining the 90s - Part II On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Mr. Chavez & I continue our look at the movies that define and represent each decade in our second half of this two-part  episode. This week we look at the 1990s and the names that made up this new independent and ground-breaking cinema. Each of us has a list of ten and a large number of honourable men...

My So-Called Decade: Defining the 90s - Part I On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Mr. Chavez & I continue our look at the movies that define and represent each decade. This week we look at the 1990s and the names that made up this new independent and ground-breaking cinema. Each of us has a list of ten and a large number of honourable mentions. We're thrilled to sit down and discuss...

"Heaven Help You . . . " Joe Dante's The Howling (1981) On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I continue our dive into The World of Cinematic Horror with a look at the classic werewolf film, The Howling (1981). Joe Dante, Director of Gremlins , Innerspace , and The 'Burbs , created one of the most iconic films in the Horror genre. Featuring 80s Scream Queen, Dee Wallace Stone,...

Strange Fictions - John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I continue our descent ito the World of Cinematic Horror. This week we take a look at One of the Greats - John Carpenter. After the financial and critical failure of The Thing (1982), Carpenter would find his career and project choices limited. He would regain some Hollywood statu...

Where's the Fear - Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes (1977) On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Mr. Chavez & I sit down, settle in, and jump into the World of Horror Cinema. We're prepping two months worth of Horror because that's how long it's going to take us on this World Tour. This year we look stateside, but also look to Korea, Japan, and any other place that challenges their audi...

Fame, Cocaine, and Coming of Age: Defining the 80s On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I continue our exploration of the films that defined their decades. Naming "The Best Films of Their Decades" would be too easy (and boring) an endeavor. These are the films that Mr. Chavez & I see as The Good, The Bad, & The Very, Very Ugly of each decade. The 1980s is probably the most st...