Left of the Projector

It's been 3 plus years since Parasite won best picture at the Academy Awards and in that time has the movie held up? Did it offer a too simplistic, on the nose take of class analysis? How does Korean history play into the movie itself and perhaps making of the movie? My guests include Levi, Nick and Steve, hosts Intervention Podcast. These are all questions we will discuss! THE CINEMATIC POLITICS...

From the people who brought you Legos comes the Lego Movie. A movie about legos moving around and doing stuff...but with hints of anti-capitalism. I'm joined by Rivka and Frank of the Movies vs Capitalism podcast to chat about the 2014 film about Legos. Movies vs Capitalism Podcast Instagram Tiktok YouTube Left of the Projector Links ⁠Patreon ⁠ ⁠Podcast⁠ ⁠Merch⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠ ⁠TikTok⁠ YouTube --...

Ex Machina is a soft sci-fi (a term coined by the episode's guest, Nathan) film from 2014 that depicts a Turing Test performed by a supposed "winner" of a contest. Instead, we have something else entirely. This film has so many directions you can take the discussion, especially a philosophical one. Here, we opted to disect the fake fear of the threat of AI, how the capitalist class p...

Joker is one of those movies in that one group of people sees one way, and everyone else sees another. I'll let you listen to see who says what... The movie itself is one of those love it or hate it, and I kinda fall in between the two. I am joined by podcast regulars to chat about the movie. Left of the Projector Links ⁠⁠⁠Patreon ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Podcast⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Merch⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Yo...

Triangle of Sadness got lots of buzz and for good reason. While there have been a lot of anti-capitalist themes in movies lately, this one may be the best of the bunch. More complex characters, an ending that makes you think (spoilers in episode, as always) and much more. I'm joined by film maker Michael Workman and Ivan who will bring their own unique perspective and life experience into the...

Well, I'm back... I'm back with Hungry Rye to bring you the final installment in the Lord of the Rings trilogy of episodes. It's been a journey and sad to reach the conclusion. We hope you've enjoyed listening as much as we've enjoyed bringing Marxist analysis to the LOTR Trilogy. Sources: Greedy like Gollum LOTR wiki Past Episodes: LOTR The Fellowship of the Ring episode LOTR...

Idiocracy is about eugenics. To the Mike Judge apologists, just get over it. No matter how you slice it, that's the undertone of this film and his comments about the movie don't make it any better. Prepare for the highest level analysis you'll ever find on the internet for this movie. Libby is back with d*ck jokes, I mean why not, just consider the movie we're discussing. And Cole is back with mor...

Movies about organized labor are few are far between. But Disney's Newsies is that rare exception that is still a class today. One of the few others, Norma Rae, which was released 20 years earlier, also depicts the struggles of organized labor in a more modern sense. This twin bill of films are what I watched along with my guest, Chris Wade , Producer of Chapo Trap House and Hell on Earth as w...

Blade Runner was revolutionary at the time and while effects have made leaps and bounds since then, the themes of Blade Runner persist today. What does it mean to be human? Are the new "race" of android replicants capable of empathy? What is the class structure like in this dystopia? I'm joined by Claire and Rob to answer these questions and many more. Podcast Stream Links  Merch Sto...

We have seen Hollywood release a bunch of left adjacent films in recent years and Glass Onion is one of them. We should however not confuse these movies with any type of left movement in Hollywood - this is what sells. That said, this movie does have some very interesting themes if you peel back the layers of the onion (pun intended). We find some interesting metaphors, critiques of different grou...

Hollywood rarely makes films about the Soviet Union, at least from their perspective (even if it's a bit ahistorical). The Death of Stalin came out 100 years to the month of the Russian Revolution, which was no accident. Despite the flaws of this film, which we discuss in full, it's a really fun "fan fiction" (as per Jolly Leftist). I had fun watching and hearing those more knowledgable about the...

It's Groundhog Day...again. Actually, just the first time we have covered this time loop movie on the show. Groundhog Day is filled with jokes and Bill Murray being a total jerk. Probably for 100 or more years before he finally becomes class-conscious. We will mostly talk about how he gets to this point, how capitalist mode of production fits into the movie and lots of jokes. Left of the Proje...

District 9 is as pertinent as it was when it came out almost 15 years ago. There is a lot to discuss in this episode and we easily could have added another hour on more topics (possible bonus ep coming soon for supporters). One thing we did not address as it wasn't known prior was the director's (Neill Blomkamp) politics.  Specifically in an interview which he states that the reason for la...

Mystery Men is one of those films that you either love or hate. Or even more accurately, it's a film you've heard of or one you haven't. During the peak of Ben Stiller's acting career, he stared in There's Something About Mary and was riding high. Then Mystery Men came out which was an utter flop. Lucky for Stiller, Meet the Parents came out a year later and the rest is history...

Patrick Bateman is a hero to some, a person to be emulated. I’m here to tell you: don’t be like Patrick Bateman. American psycho is a satire of materialism, capitalism and the rotten core of finance capital and Wall Street. Left of the Projector Links ⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Podcast Stream Links ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Merch Store⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠YouTube Channel⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠TikTok ⁠ --- Support this podcast: https://podcast...

Starship Troopers is one of, if not the greatest, the best spoof military films of all time. Paul Verhoeven is the GOAT when it comes to satire, especially military and police related. The mastermind behind Robocop brought the novel to life in a much better way. Verhoeven used the imagery of fascism, the third reich, the United States to show what ongoing militarism looks like if we keep going in...

The Menu was a film I was anticipating for a while and then got a flurry of friends saying I need to see this film. While I was slightly hesitant in the episode on saying I loved this film...I definitely did. I'm joined by 5 time guest Smirk Gently and Oslowe (formerly in the Film industry) to dissect all the class themes in this film. The Menu has two important deleted scenes, one that I did...

Back to the horror genre once again (and next week too -- for my non-Horror fans, I got some fun episodes planned) with last years hit film The Barbarian. While this is a horror film, it definitely pushes the boundaries of a horror film. There are so many pertinent themes that are worth discussing. From Reaganomics to the me too movement, this film has much to talk about with my guests The Jolly L...

This first rule of Fight Club is to tell people to listen to this episode about Fight Club. Fight Club is probably one of the most beloved cult classics of the last 20 years despite the fact that most get all the wrong messages from the film. It is an athem for alpha male dude bros, when the reality is that the film is far more nuanced. You will find men who do domesticate and take to jobs that re...

Ok, so the new Knives Out story just came out, but we are rehashing the OG first. Rian Johnson should stick to films like this and leave Star Wars for JJ Abrams. Johnson made a fantastic murder mystery film stuffed with class, race and money themes. The characters in this film are worthy of analysis, and hope to get an episode on the new film Glass Onion soon. Left of the Projector Links ⁠⁠Patreon...

Imagine a world where the only dining option is Taco Bell. In this world, there is also no violent crime. What's the catch you ask, well, a large portion of the population lives underground, the people top side are touch starved, repressed, and don't have any real ability to live a life of their own choosing. What world is this? It is that of Demolition Man . The 1993 action movie featurin...

Forrest Gump received high acclaim when it came out in 1994 and was honored with Best Picture at the Oscars too. While the movie hits on tons of those heart strings, nostalgia, and the things that Boomers love, it is also filled to the brim with light propaganda. What makes it so successful at this is how well the movie is constructed. Except for that weird bit where he becomes a runner, it has en...

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers came out when the United States was debating and then invading Iraq over supposed WMDs and it was this climate that influenced some of the aspects of this film. In addition, Vigo Mortensen was very much opposed to the US illegal invasion of Iraq and we love him for it. Hungry Rye is back to bring into focus the geopolitical aspects happening when this film came ou...

The original George A Romero's Dawn of the Dead is part of his series of now six zombie films. The Night of the Living Dead was ground breaking for it's time and had far more to tell us than just being a zombie flick. Dawn of the Dead might have even more to tell us about our society of consumption and capitalism. If you go looking for information on Romero's politics, you'll mostl...

Ferris Bueller's Day Off is one of those movies that you can watch from any moment in the movie and be happy. Heck, I'd even watch it with commercials on cable...if I still had cable. The movie is one of John Hughes most well known movies outside of the ones with Molly Ringwald. And speaking of Molly, I am joined by podcaster Molly McLeer who is the founder of Solid Listen Podcast Network...