Call It, Friendo

It's men on a mission meets men planning a heist this week with 2 classic films from the '50s and '60s. First up to bat is Robert Aldrich's surprisingly jolly WW2 romp, The Dirty Dozen, a film that paved the way for future fare such as Inglourious Basterds and the reputedly awful Suicide Squad. Its partner is the celebrated French Film noir heist movie Rififi, directed by blacklisted American dire...

We are thankfully leaving Vin Diesel and the Riddickverse behind this week as we delve into two films from the same visionary director, Nicholas Roeg. Both films leave an indelible imprint on the viewer with their unorthodox editing and striking imagery. The first, 1973’s Don’t Look Now, is a meditation on grief through the lens of the supernatural, boasting one of cinema’s most unforgettable endi...

After watching some truly great films on the podcast, we decided to take things down a notch or five by delving into the Riddickverse. We start by discussing the origins of the character in Pitch Black before moving into a breakdown of David Twohy's 2004 follow-up The Chronicles of Riddick. We ponder some of the issues of retconning a B-movie horror antihero into a "Lord of the Rings in space" cho...

In this week's episode, we discuss two action films based on the 1950 novel "Le Salaire de la Peur" by Georges Arnaud. Both films involve 4 men down on their luck in fictional South/Central American towns driving trucks full of nitroglycerin across 300 miles of treacherous terrain. The first is "The Wages of Fear", the 1953 French/Italian adaptation directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot and filmed ent...

In this week's episode, we discuss two documentaries which deal with seemingly tortured individuals undertaking extremely impressive physical and mental feats. First, 2018 climbing doc "Free Solo", which tells the story of Alex Honnold and his attempt to scale the El Capitan rock face in Yosemite National Park without any equipment. Secondly, "Little Dieter Needs to Fly", a 1997 Werner Herzog docu...

In this week's episode we discuss two films from acclaimed Japanese director Kinji Fukusaku, both heavily influenced by his experiences during WW2. First, Battles Without Honor and Humanity, a gritty depiction of a post-war Yakuza family and a film often hailed as Japan's answer to The Godfather. Second, Battle Royale, a controversial yet celebrated post-apocalyptic tale of high school students tr...

In this week’s episode, we start with a discussion of Christopher Nolan’s latest blockbuster, Tenet, before choosing our top 3 Nolan films. Then, we move on to Stanley Kubrick’s 1956 film noir, The Killing, and talk about well a 64-year old horseracing heist movie holds up in 2020. We also delve into the mad life of character actor Timothy Carey. Finally, we talk about John Boorman’s 1967 American...

In the episode, we discuss The Square, Ruben Östlund's dark satire of the art world, and The Lobster, an even darker comedy about the nature of modern relationships.