Movies vs. Capitalism

Rivka and Frank are joined by television and film writer Karen DiConcetto for a material analysis of a film about materialism: Amy Heckerling’s 1995 teen comedy Clueless. In today’s interview, Rivka, Frank, and Karen celebrate Heckerling’s brilliant script while unpacking the rampant materialism depicted by the film’s Beverly Hills teenagers — and how those themes were potentially harmful to its a...

Rivka and Frank are joined by musician, activist, screenwriter, and director Boots Riley for a discussion about his film debut — the 2018 satire set in the world of telemarketing, Sorry to Bother You. Boots talks about his creative process, including his personal experience working in the telemarketing industry. They also discuss the depiction of organized labor in the film, how the story feels ev...

Rivka and Frank discuss Martin Scorcese’s epic historical drama, Killers of the Flower Moon. They also chat about reading Karl Marx’s Capital, the gender politics of Netflix’s Fair Play, and the new season of the Apple TV+ series The Morning Show. 🤝 TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PATREON 🤝 www.patreon.com/movies_vs_capitalism

Rivka and Frank are joined by comedian and climate activist CJ Koepp for an analytical discussion about the 2007 animated feature and Jerry Seinfeld vehicle Bee Movie. Rivka, Frank, and CJ unpack the status quo-reinforcing themes of Bee Movie. They also lambast the film for being deeply unfunny, and size it up against the other animated bug movies from the same era (of which, surprisingly, there a...

Rivka and Frank are joined by Francisco Pérez , an activist, educator, and the director of the Center for Popular Economics , who blows the lid off the 1939 movie-musical classic The Wizard of Oz. Francisco explains how L. Frank Baum’s original 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, offered an allegory for U.S. monetary policy and the populist economics movement of the 19th century. Specifically,...

Rivka and Frank are joined by Max Epstein, Head of Content for Means TV , a worker-owned streaming service, for an in-depth conversation about Dreamworks’ 1998 film Antz. They talk about the film’s depiction of class consciousness spreading throughout an ant colony, the theme of individualism vs. collectivism, and question if the screenwriter read Marx.  Jewish Voices For Peace Means TV 🤝 SUBSCRI...

Rivka and Frank are joined by Patricia Resnick, screenwriter of the iconic 1980 comedy 9 to 5, for a firsthand conversation about the radical pro-labor film. Patricia describes the history of 9 to 5, including the lived experiences of female office workers she spent time with, and how studio executives were afraid to make a movie about three women kidnapping their boss. They also discuss 9 to 5’s...

Rivka and Frank chat about the HBO documentary series Telemarketers, the return of reality TV series Love is Blind and Survivor, the cultural impact of the Kardashians, the historical narrative podcast Blowback, and more. 🤝 TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PATREON 🤝  www.patreon.com/movies_vs_capitalism

Rivka and Frank are joined by Matthew Donovan — founder of The Future Left and co-host of the Neoliberal Hell podcast — to discuss Michael Cimino’s epic  1980 Western Heaven’s Gate. They discuss the film’s depiction of law enforcement aligning itself with property owners in order to violently eradicate the immigrant underclass, the dichotomy of the class traitor vs. the class apologist, and the fi...

Rivka and Frank are joined by Jon Shelton, professor of democracy and justice studies at University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, for a conversation about the 1985 classic sci-fi comedy classic, Back to the Future. They explore the film’s focus on hyper-individualism as it relates to economic mobility, and critique the character of Doc Brown for his Silicon Valley style scientific approach, and  the fla...

Rivka and Frank are joined by labor historian Harvey Kaye to discuss the classic 1940 film The Grapes of Wrath, and how today’s climate crisis bears frightening parallels to the Great Depression’s Dust Bowl, both man-made environmental and economic disasters. They also explore the film's portrayal of bankers and law enforcement, class consciousness and proletarian revolution, and how itremains one...

Rivka and Frank are joined by journalist  Andrew Perez to discuss the existential dread of Paul Schrader’s 2017 climate change drama First Reformed. They discuss the film’s masterful storytelling and performances, how its fictional villain is a perfect stand-in for real-world villains like Koch Industries, and its realistic portrayal of radicalization.  🤝 SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PATREON 🤝 www.patreon.c...

Rivka and Frank are joined by the host of the Cocktails and Capitalism podcast, Dr. Erika Okamoto, for a deep (ocean) dive conversation about James Cameron’s 1997 global smash hit Titanic. They discuss the parallels between today’s ecological crisis and the 1912 sinking of the Titanic, in which a person’s societal rank became a literal death sentence for more than 1,500 travelers and crew members....

Rivka and Frank are joined by comedian Jamel Johnson to talk about the 1983 Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd comedy Trading Places. They explore the film's central theme of “nature vs. nurture” debate explored in the film, and its satirical depiction of the crusty upper class. Jamel also attributes the rise of neoliberalism in the 1980s in part to the success of Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Love Is Bli...

Rivka and Frank are joined by former Ohio state senator and congressional candidate Nina Turner for a heartfelt discussion about the Denzel Washington health insurance drama John Q, the story of father who holds an emergency room hostage after learning his health insurance won’t cover his son’s heart transplant. Even though the film was made in 2002, its message and themes remain as relevant as ev...

Rivka and Frank are joined by filmmaker Jessie Kahnweiler for an off-the-walls discussion of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. They discuss the full-blown cultural phenomenon and how its overall message is emblematic of “plastic feminism.” They offer their conflicting feelings about the film’s success: how it is both a win for female filmmakers but an even bigger win for a toy company. Jessie also talks abou...

Rivka and Frank are joined by TV writer and producer Mike Benner to discuss Paul Verhoeven's Robocop. They talk about how the film’s evil corporation, Omni Consumer Products, serves as a perfect stand-in for consolidated corporate power. They also unpack Verhoeven’s depiction of homoerotic male aggression as a metaphor for capitalist competition, and how the iconography of Robocop has been misappr...

Rivka and Frank are joined by journalist Matthew Cunningham-Cook to dig into Stanley Kubrick’s dark satire about nuclear war, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. They explore the historical parallels between Dr. Strangelove and what actually transpired during the Cold War. Matthew explains how one of the film’s main characters was loosely based on eccentric anti-c...

Rivka and Frank are joined by Devon Young , organizer and founder of the performance venue Little Secret LA , for a truly mind-altering conversation about the 2000 stoner comedy Dude, Where’s My Car? They discuss the concept of “male amnesia” and how the film’s protagonists, Jesse and Chester, progress through their adventure as unbiased babies. While the film remains immensely offensive upon a re...

Rivka and Frank are joined by musician, writer, and This Is Revolution  host Jason Myles , to talk about the 1984 military drama, A Soldier’s Story, which depicts a racially motivated murder at a Louisiana Army base during World War II. They unpack how the film. based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play A Soldier’s Play,  presents the complex perspectives of the Black community on morality, respect...

Rivka and Frank are joined by comedy writer and podcaster Andrew Ti to unnecessarily analyze the 1997 Nickelodeon original movie Good Burger. They talk about Good Burger’s central theme of “good capitalism” versus “bad capitalism,” and how the film propagates the myth that some businesses are “nicer” than others. They also explore the bizarre racial dynamics of this kids movie written by middle-ag...

As we celebrate Pride month, Rivka and Frank are joined by actor, director, and educator Wren Mack for a deep-dive conversation about Lana and Lilly Wachowski’s sci-fi masterpiece The Matrix, which has become a meaningful film for the LGBTQ community since its release in 1999.  They discuss how The Matrix has been misappropriated by online right-wingers who believe they’ve been “red-pilled,” while...

Rivka and Frank are joined by David Sirota to break down the series finale of HBO’s Succession. Now that the show has ended, will it be entered into the great television pantheon? Who was the most sympathetic character in the series? And who ultimately won? Presumably we answer these questions. 🤝 SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PATREON 🤝 www.patreon.com/movies_vs_capitalism MVC donates its ad space to progress...

Rivka and Frank are joined by political commentator Jessica Burbank to discuss Bong Joon-Ho’s 2019 masterpiece, Parasite, digging into the themes of class antagonisms, failed solidarity, and elitism that run through the characters' relationships. Also how the film uses “the smell” as a perfect metaphor for classism, and why being stinky in real life is actually a good thing..  🤝 SUBSCRIBE TO OUR...

Rivka and Frank are joined by filmmaker and activist Robin Johnson to talk about Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan’s deranged rom-com You’ve Got Mail, arguing that the movie’s plot is essentially a pro-capitalist psychological thriller about a woman who is manipulated and subdued by her corporate oppressor. They discuss how film's characters are emblematic of 90s liberalism that uses racially coded language...