Netflix Book Club

Episode 44 is brought to you by the macabre mind of John Carpenter, it's Big Trouble in Little China! Starring Kurt Russell and other people! An 80's staple, Big Trouble was chosen as our pick this week thanks to our guest, stand up comedian Bryan McKenna. It's campy, over the top, colorful, surprisingly good looking at times, super quotable, and bad in all the best ways. Download the episode, sub...

Episode 43 is brought to you by our nation's obsession with destruction and violence! It's Nightcrawler starring Jake Gyllenhaal! Lori Palminteri is a good friend, fantastic writer, and hilarious stand up comedian, and she also sat down and talked to us about this movie. Once in awhile we gotta throw you one of these mainstream, not ancient movies (although this wasn't a huge, huge movie by any me...

Episode 42 is Lawrence of Arabia! This is another classic movie that I (Dennis) had never seen before, and I was glad to mark it off my list. I owe this forced-watching experience to our special guest this week Ray Kump, a hilarious stand up comic from NY. Lawrence of Arabia is a historical dramatization of the story of T.E. Lawrence, a British officer and diplomat. It's in the National Registry a...

Episode 41 is the 1984 gangster spoof Johnny Dangerously! We also introduce a friend of the book club on this episode, Michael Kaldarian, who brings an Aussie sensibility to an otherwise staunchly American podcast. IS THIS MOVIE FUNNY? DOES IT HOLD UP? HOW MUCH OF THE PRODUCTION COST WAS SPENT ON MAKEUP? These questions and more are explored on the podcast, but add to the discussion over at our ma...

After a short hiatus Netflix Book Club returns with episode 40 - To Kill A Mockingbird. Chosen by KC as his final pick before leaving the club, Mockingbird stars Gregory Peck and other people I was unfamiliar with before watching. I had never even read the book, something I had somehow avoided in High School. Having said that we had a fantastic conversation about the film, discussing fear, childho...

Netflix Book Club brings you episode 39, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World! It stars Steve Carell and Keira Knightley, two neighbors turned friends (OR MORE THAN FRIENDS?!) each on a respective mission to see through before the world comes to it's end. It's another apocalypse movie! And an interesting take on the subject. We also get a slew of comics and comedic actors in small side roles...

Episode 38 is Enemy at the Gates! Jude Law plays our protagonist Russian sniper going up against the antagonist Nazi sniper (played by Ed Harris). There's a romantic subplot, we see some of the battle of Stalingrad, we're reminded of the colossal death toll Russia faced during World War II (well over 8,000,000 people). It's not Saving Private Ryan, but it's the only movie I can think of that shows...

Episode 37 is The Skeleton Twins starring Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig! It's another movie where somebody's all boo-hoo and returns to their childhood home to try and sort their bull-ish out. That being said, this movie is hilarious. But is that enough for everybody to give it the ol' stream it stamp of approval? Listen to the podcast to find out! Swing by the main page at http://www.flixbookclub.c...

Episode 36 is The Station Agent! Back before he was your favorite Game of Thrones character, Peter Dinklage did this indie movie about a reclusive dwarf whose only friend has passed away, leaving him a small plot of land and a place to live. It's a bit droll but filled with some good laughs and great scenes. This is Dinklage 12 years younger, but his acting is seasoned. Listen to the episode to se...

Episode 35 puts us back on track with the wickedly weird John Dies at the End! And it only cost us some music and editing! Chosen by Dennis, never before seen by KC (OOF. Listen to the episode), John Dies at the End tells the story of two slackers imposed with supernatural powers trying to prevent the end of times in their crappy town. It's by Don Coscarelli of Phantasm/Bubba Ho Tep fame and is wh...

Episode 34 is a canned episode! What's that mean? It means life was hectic this week so we're throwing you an episode WE'VE HAD IN THE CAN. Listen in to hear us talk about Philadelphia, our umpteenth movie about the AIDS epidemic (purely coincidental). It stars Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington, two lawyers on opposite sides of the social spectrum coming together to fight a landmark case, which stag...

Episode 33 is brought to you by the mean streets of 1970's New York - it's The Warriors! Stephen had the chance to pick this movie because KC had never seen it, and open your ears to this listeners: IT'S A BLOCKBUSTER. CAN YOU DIG IT? This movie's about The Warriors, a gang from Coney Island who've been framed for the murder of Cyrus, the leader of the biggest gang in the city. They gotta get home...

Episode 32 as chosen by KC is Fruitvale Station. This movie tells the real life story of the murder of Oscar Grant by a police officer, and recounts his last 24 hours alive. It's directed by Ryan Coogler (his first full length feature) and stars Michael B. Jordan (soon to be seen in Creed). This was a highly regarded movie that somehow missed out on our Blockbuster accolade. Check out the podcast...

BY GOD MAN! Episode 31 is Dennis' pick, leading us to 1984's The Bounty. It's the true tale of the HMS Bounty and it's mutiny while under the command of Lt. Bligh. Throw in the dissolution of his and Christian Fletcher's friendship and you have a meaty story. Plus, this flick's got a hell of a lineup - Anthony Hopkins, Mel Gibson, Daniel Day-Lewis, Liam Neeson, and even more white dudes! That's no...

Episode 30 as chosen by Stephen is Primer! Have you seen this? Yeah? Did you understand it? LIAR. This is a seriously heavy duty movie about time travel. Rooted deeply in realistic characters, Primer talks about friendship, trust, knowledge, and ambition. It was made for only $7,000 (holy cow!) and over the years has developed even more than a cult following. Like a major religion following. Peopl...

Episode 29 is brought to you by Heineken (kinda,sorta)! No they're not a sponsor, they just happen to be the technical backbone to the film we watched this week. KC picked Kidnapping Mr. Heineken, a 2015 film that fictionalizes the true ransom of Freddy Heineken, the man behind the international brewing company. Let's not beat around the bush - this movie ranked as a dud, but that doesn't mean it...

We return this week to talk about the 1973 beacon of horror films - The Exorcist! I (Dennis) picked this, largely because Stephen has never seen it. Stephen's picked several movies that he was very familiar with that KC and I had never seen and it felt like time to return the favor. It didn't hurt that KC hadn't seen this movie in about 15 years. If you haven't seen this movie...shame on you, it's...

Oh no! Stephen got stuck in Chicago (probably from being all nostalgic for the city these past few weeks after watching Blues Brothers for Episode 24) this week so we are serving up a canned episode for y'all. Episode 27 was an early recording of Netflix Book Club (old theme song and everything!), so disregard the "movie" for next week at the end of the episode. I assure you next week we will brin...

Unless you count Bloodsport, Episode 25 is our first children's movie. It's an animated film that's part political drama, part gender studies, and wholly coming of age. That might be a little grandiose. Needless to say there were very few things we agreed on with this movie. Even the animation technique was divisive (hit us up on Twitter and let us know if you're a ones or twos person). Click on o...

Episode 24, as chosen by KC Arora, is The Grocer's Son. A film that "hits close to his heart" (these were his initial words). It's a quaint little indie film set in Provence, France. Our protagonist Antoine has returned home with a guest in tow to help out with the family business after his father has suffered a heart attack and can no longer fulfill his duties. Riveting, morally shaking stuff her...

Episode 24 puts to rest a major issue for two of our hosts, Dennis Rooney and KC Arora. We had never seen The Blues Brothers. To make matters worse, we're stand up comedians. KNOW YOUR HISTORY FOLKS. This concept started as a Saturday Night Live sketch, became this film, and still runs around today in various mediums. There's a ridiculous amount of cameos in this, both musical and otherwise. But i...

Episode 23 as selected by Stephen is Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, an interesting flick based on the autobiographical memoir of game show creator/host/possible CIA assassin Chuck Barris. This marks the directorial debut of George Clooney, responsible for the excellent casting of Sam Rockwell as our lead Chuck. Sounds like the makings of a blockbuster, no? Listen to the podcast to see if Confess...

KC brings us episode 22 with his biblical pick, Darren Aronofsky's 2014 Noah. You know the story already: a man has a vision of a great flood sent from God to wipe the Earth clean, and he is to build an ark to protect the innocent (read as: animals). Super exciting stuff, right? Right? I mean Russel Crowe is in it and it's directed by the Pi/Black Swan/Requiem guy so it's gotta be good...right? Li...

Episode 21 is Dennis' pick - a documentary produced and directed by Mike Myers about a long time friend of his: Shep Gordon. The movie is called Supermensch - mensch being a yiddish term for someone of great and noble character. This dude-man has been a talent manager since the late 60's, he's worked with every celebrity you can think of, and everybody loves him. Why? How could anybody be so likab...

Are you happy with the car you drive? Is vehicular safety your number one concern in life? Do you love sales? Well then episode 20 is for you - Bulletproof Salesman, a documentary about a self admitted war profiteer in the business of selling armored vehicles. This documentary marks yet another blockbuster selection from our friend Stephen here at The Flix Book Club. It's only a little more than a...