MRAC Film Club

Episode 92 - This is a big week as we covered 2 Kung Fu legends and their respective films. The main feature is Once Upon a Time in China (1991), which stars Jet Li as he attempts to thwart foreign forces who are trying to move into mainland China, while also protecting his aunt who might not really be his aunt. The supplemental is Drunken Master 2 (1994), which stars Jackie Chan also attempting t...

Episode 91 - Welcome to week 2 of our coverage of 5 Kung Fu Legends along with one of their representative films spanning 4 decades. This week we in the 80's and are discussing Gordon Liu and The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter (1984). Eight Diagram Pole Fighter involves a plot to wipe out the Yang Family in dynastic China and one brother's following struggle. We discuss the Shaw Brothers and t...

Episode 90 - Pack your bags, and don't forget your nunchucks because we are headed to Hong Kong for a month of Kung fu films. This month we are going by decade and looking at a different film starring a different legend of Kung Fu cinema each week. Week 1 we are covering Bruce Lee and the film considered his best: Enter the Dragon (1973). Enter the Dragon, described by Pete as a mix between Ja...

Episode 89 - This week we put a bow on our month in Korea exploring various genres. Our final film is The Good, The Bad and the Weird (2008) which is a western set in Manchuria in the 1940's. It is an interesting film which is a parody/riff on The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, where a mix of Korean, Chinese and Japanese characters are all going after a map that allegedly leads to buried treasure...

Episode 88 - This is part 4 of A Korean-Style Wedding buffet of Korean Genre film, where we are covering a variety of genres from Korean cinema in the early 2000's. We even have our host for the month live from Seoul, South Korea. This week we watch a vampire film from one of the more well known Korean directors: Park Chan-Wook's Thirst (2009). Thirst is the story of a priest who becomes a vampire...

Episode 87 - Pack your bags, and don't forget to pack a barf bag because we are diving headlong into extreme horror for our third week of A Korean Wedding-Style Buffet of Korean Genre Film. The Butcher (2009) is a shaky cam / found footage-style film about a director murdering folks to create snuff films and it's not for the squeamish... just ask Marco. We had a very special guest this wee...

Episode 86 - For the our second plate of the Korean-Style Wedding Buffet of Korean Genre Film we are going light with a Rom-Com as the main feature. We don't venture into the Rom-Com genre often, but we are branching out this month and watching the pinnacle of the Korean Rom-Com genre with My Sassy Girl (2001). My Sassy Girl was based on a real-life anonymous online blog written by a buy about...

Episode 85 - Pack your bags. We are headed once again to South Korea. The title of this month is "A Korean-style Wedding Buffet of Korean Genre Film." The concept is rather than focusing on one director of genre of Korean film, we are offering up a buffet of different genres featuring one genre per week, with each film being released between 2001-2010. The first course is an action/suspense thrill...

Episode 84 - This is our last week in captivity until we are set free. And much like the titular character in this week's film, Papillon (1973), we will be... floating out of captivity in a sack of coconuts? This week we dive into a classic film starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. Papillon is a semi-fictional account of the semi-fictional autobiography of Papillon (Steve McQueen) who be...

Episode 83 - Pack your bags because we are headed to the Czech Republic circa 1969 to watch the Larks on a String. This film, set in the 1940's, is about members of the bourgeois society who are forced to work in a scarp metal junkyard. What did these 4 larks think about this film? Tune in to find out. And stay tuned for later this week when the final part of Captivity will be dropping soon wh...

Episode 82 - Happy Belated Mother's Day! This is week 2 of Captivity month, and we are celebrating captivity with a double feature of Passenger (1963) and Take Aim at the Police Van. Passenger is an unfinished film that centers around a woman guard and inmates at Auschwitz. Take Aim at the Police Van is a Japanese crime noir that centers around a suspended cop investigating the murder of an in...

Episode 81 - Pack your bags because we are all going to captivity this month. It's a Pete month so you never know what to expect, except that there will be a French film in there somewhere. We get it right away this month with the French 1937 classic film: Le Grand Illusion. This is the first film in a month about the theme of captivity. The film follows a group of French officers and soldiers...

Episode 80 - This week is the conclusion of Marco's Catholic Film Month, and in classic MRAC folly, the host watched a different film than the rest of the crew. Three of us watched Love Under the Crucifix (1962), a story that takes place in feudal Japan and features a woman, Gin, who agrees to an arranged marriage even though she is in love with a childhood friend who introduced her to Christi...

Episode 79 - It is our third week of Catholic film month, and Marco has decreed this week there shall be a double feature. This was to be our Easter special but was delayed due to scheduling issues. But we make up for it by brining you our longest episode to date. We discuss A Man for All Seasons (1966), as well as The Mission (1986). Tune in as we break down these two films and discuss monarchies...

Episode 78 - Happy Easter! On this day we bring you the second week of our Catholic Film Month, hosted by Marco. And what better way to celebrate this holy day than to listen to us break down Francesco (1989), which is the story of St Francis of Assisi who is played by Mickey Rourke. We are sure to go down into a vortex or two so make sure you tune in for all of the religious fun. Next week we wil...

Episode 77 - Pack your bags, we're headed to... heaven? Well for week one we are still in Japan, and depending on whether or not you are talking to Marco, it's all the same. Yes, Marco is bringing us a month of Catholic films, and the first one we are watching is Silence (1971) from the director Shinoda. This film is based on a novel which is based on a true story of the persecution of Cat...

Episode 76 - Keep your bags unpacked for the moment because we are still in Japan for the conclusion of Godzilla Month. For this week we watched the latest installment in the Toho Godzilla franchise: Godzilla Minus One (2023). This film was critically and publicly well received and won numerous awards for its blend of creature effects and storytelling about a failed kamikaze pilot right after WW2....

Episode 75 - It's our 75th episode... which we almost forgot to bring up in the episode because we were so focused on Shin Godzilla (2016). Shin Godzilla is another Japan release and Toho's response to the success of the American Godzilla (2014). It has a unique storyline that sees Godzilla evolve and change from a sea creature to a fully grown Godzilla. The crew is all over the place for...

Episode 74 - It's Godzilla!!... Month, week 3. This week we pack our backs and head back to America to watch Godzilla (2014), the first of the Legendary Godzilla Films. Those of us who watched the correct movie discuss the bold move of killing of the main character and best actor in a film, and also how badass Godzilla and the effects were in this one. Tune in for some light debating and tune...

Episode 73 - This is our second week of Godzilla talk. Last week we watched the original and this week we jump ahead 30 years to watch The Return of Godzilla, aka Godzilla (1984), a Japanese release that brings Godzilla back to his old terrifying self. There is more talk of how the effects hold up, the human storyline, and Cold War politics. Next week we will jump ahead in time once again to the L...

Episode 72 - Pack your bags, we are once again headed back to post WW2 Japan. But this time we are going back to the origins of the longest running film franchise Godzilla, or Gojira. Brian, the Godzilla enthusiast of the group, is leading us on a journey spanning decades to look at 5 different versions of the legendary monster. And what better place to start than at the beginning with Godzilla (1...

Episode 71 - Strap yourselves in (to a straitjacket ) and get ready for the conclusion of our John Carpenter series with special guest host Chris Bartoli. This week we watch and discuss In the Mouth of Madness (1994) starring Sam Neil, the sneaky horror guy. This is the third of Carpenter's Apocalypse trilogy, which along with The Thing and Prince of Darkness, are all loosely tied to the theme...

Episode 70 - It's part 3 of our John Carpenter month presented by Chris Bartoli. In going with he theme of some of the lesser known Carpenter films, this week we watch and discuss Starman (1984). Starman is not you average Carpenter, being more Sci-Fi and drama than horror. Jeff Bridges and Karen Allen star in this film about an alien who lands on earth to go on a road trip across America. It...

Episode 69! - Well, we have made it to that special landmark of 69 episodes, and we are celebrating once again with our special guest host for the month, Chris Bartoli. Chris introduces the gang to The Fog (1980) for week 2 of John Carpenter month. The Fog is a supernatural horror film about a mysterious fog that rolls up onto a coastal town in California. This one came out in Carpenter's prim...

Episode 68 - Welcome to an exciting new month here at MRAC. For February we are joined by the winner of the giveaway to host a month. Chris Bartoli chose the theme and films for the month and he went with some of the lesser known John Carpenter films. Week 1 we watch and discuss Assault on Precinct 13 (1976). We all had a blast and dug deep into this one. Chris was a natural member of the crew and...