Politics of Cinema

On this episode we get nostalgic, with the Hughes Brothers 1995 sophomore feature film Dead Presidents .   Follow us at: Patreon /  Twitter  /  Instagram  /  Letterboxd  /  Facebook  

On this episode we dive into a bit of Russian history and a bit of film history as we take a look as Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin (1925).   Follow us at: Patreon /  Twitter  /  Instagram  /  Letterboxd  /  Facebook  

What do 76 Days  (2020), Men in Black: International  (2019), Rebecca  (1940), L.A. Wars , Virtuosity (1995), She Done Him Wrong  (1933), Robo Vampire  (1988) and Red Scorpion  (1988) all have in common?  They were all discovered (or re-watched) during our January Watch Challenge. We also preview our February Watch challenge: A film from the Afrofuturism genre A film from a Black Female director A...

During our two part coverage of Uptight (1968) we included several clips from our interview with Mike Wendt from the Greater Cleveland Film Commission that pertained to the film.   Here is the complete interview where we discuss: film productions in Cleveland, hometown pride, Paul Schrader, Cherry (2021) , Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) and The Land (2016) . Follow us at: Patreon /  Twitter  /...

Uptight (1968) is a Cleveland set, Cleveland filmed masterpiece that is ripe for re-discovery. It was co-written, produced and co-stars Cleveland born Ruby Dee and documents the political and social struggle of local revolutionaries in the wake of MLK Jr.'s assassination. In part II of our II part series; we recap the film for those who haven't seen it (or to refresh your memory), talk shop with s...

Uptight (1968) is a Cleveland set, Cleveland filmed masterpiece that is ripe for re-discovery. It was co-written, produced and co-stars Cleveland born Ruby Dee and documents the political and social struggle of local revolutionaries in the wake of MLK Jr.'s assassination. In part I of our II part series, we take a look at how the script came together and discuss the filming of that script with spe...

How Joe Dante's Gremlins (1984) documents the crisis of Reagan's America and how it places Trump as an 80's throwback.   Articles discussed on the show: Trench Warfare by Mike Davis Cute. Dangerous. Asian Americans. "Gremlins" @ 35 by Wendy Allison Lee Follow us at: Patreon /  Twitter  /  Instagram  /  Letterboxd  /  Facebook  

Aaron and Isaac discuss why they haven't been covering the films of 2020 and then cover a film from 2020.   Steve McQuee n has "created a whoa! level piece of cinema"*.   Film #1 in the Small Axe series,  Mangrove, is the topic of this episode and Mr. McQueen has given us a lot to think about; C.L.R. James , The Black Jacobins , Marxist social movements, political strategies to fight a colonial po...

On this episode we get nostalgic, well Isaac does.  He makes Aaron watch the 1982 John Milius opus, Conan the Barbarian .   Follow us at: Patreon /  Twitter  /  Instagram  /  Letterboxd  /  Facebook  

In 1987, Paul Verhoeven came to Hollywood and gave us all the Neoliberal critique that is RoboCop .  A violent image of dystopian future where corporations run public services like hospitals, prisons, space exploration and the police.  How absurd! Ten years later, after making Total Recall (1990), Basic Instinct (1992) and Showgirls (1995) Mr. Verhoeven gave the world a "film about fascists who do...

Well, the US election happened...what better way to mark the occasion that looking at the high concept horror film The Purge: Election Year.   Political leaders making backroom deals that fuck over the poor and working class.  Religious zealots attempting to kill their enemies.  Heavily armed white nationalist storm troopers targeting  activists.  Community organizers and street medics taking care...

It's that time of year... We decided to focus on the recent trend in horror cinema known as Art House Horror by taking a look at Ari Aster's sophomore film, Midsommar .   We also discuss two horror sub-genres - we look at Werewolf films via; When Animals Dream , Ginger Snaps & Dog Soldiers and the metaphorical zombie film via;  Pontypool , Deathdream (aka Dead of Night) and The Crazies . Follow us...

It's that time of year... We decided to focus on the recent trend in horror cinema known as Art House Horror by taking a look at the stunning debut feature of Jennifer Kent, The Babadook .   We also discuss the vampires of films in the late 1980's via The Hunger , Lifeforce , The Lost Boys , Fright Night and Near Dark .  We also take a look at the year of horror that was 1980. Follow us at: Patreo...

It's that time of year... We decided to focus on the recent trend in horror cinema known as Art House Horror by taking a look at the stunning debut feature of Robert Eggers, The Witch .   We also discuss the slasher genre via The Slumber Party Massacre and It's Alive and the recent 1980's nostalgia horror trend via Summer of '84 . Follow us at: Patreon /  Twitter  /  Instagram  /  Letterboxd  /  F...

A few final thoughts on our viewing experiment that documented the years 1962-1969 in Hollywood along with a couple detours to the French New Wave and the Japanese New Wave.   We also share our watchlists of favorite discoveries as well as films in our queue to watch immediately.

On this episode, we focus on the year of 1969 thru the films: Easy Rider , Medium Cool  & Several Friends . We also discuss: Wild Bunch  / Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid  / True Grit  / Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice  / Midnight Cowboy  / Model Shop  / Putney Swope  / The Learning Tree  / Lions Love Also of note from this year: Alice's Restaurant  / Burn!  / Z  / if….  / They Shoot Horses, Don't Th...

On this episode, we focus on the year of 1968 thru the films: Targets , Barbarella & Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One  and a documentary update with Monterey Pop  & In the Year of the Pig . We also discuss: Rosemary's Baby / 2001: A Space Odyssey / Faces / The Great Silence / Uptight / Night of the Living Dead / Wild in the Streets / Angels from Hell  / Bullitt / Once Upon a Time in the West /  Als...

On this episode, we focus on the year of 1967 thru the films:  Bonnie and Clyde  / Point Blank  / The Dirty Dozen  / Beach Red / Dont Look Back  /  Titicut Follies We also discuss: The Graduate / In Like Flint / Cool Hand Luke / Who's that Knocking at my Door ? / Valley of the Dolls /  The Producers / Riot on Sunset Strip  / The Love-Ins  / The Wild Rebels  / It's a Bikini World Also of note from...

On this episode, we focus on the year of 1966 thru the films; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?   / The Shooting  /  The Endless Summer We also discuss: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly / Django / RIde the Whirlwind / Time to Die / The Professionals / The Wild Angels / The Group / The Russians are Coming the Russians are Coming Also of note from this year (from around the world): The Battle of Algiers...

On this episode, we focus on the year of 1965 thru the films; The Bedford Incident  / Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!  / The Beach Party Report.   We also discuss: The Sound of Music / Doctor Zhivago / Thunderball / Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours and 11 Minutes Recommended films from the Beach Party genre: Bikini Beach / Pajama Party / Fo...

As we work our way thru the 1960's, we'll take the occasional break from Hollywood to look as some other countries and films movements that helped the massive transition that took place during this decade. Today, a very brief look at the Japanese New Wave via two of the greats; Seijun Suzuki ( Branded to Kill ) and Nagisa Oshima ( Night and Fog in Japan & Death by Hanging ). Also recommended: Kill...

On this episode, we focus on the year of 1964 thru the films; Nothing but a Man  / The Pawnbroker .   We also discuss: Seven Days in May , Dr. Strangelove… , A Hard Day's Night  and Babo 73   Also of note from this year: Mary Poppins / My Fair Lady / Goldfinger / A Fistful of Dollars  / For Those Who Think Young  / Two Thousand Maniacs!  / The Last Man on Earth  

On this episode, we focus on the year of 1963 thru the films; The Birds / Blood Feast / Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment .   We also discuss:  The Cool World ,  The Organizer , The Ugly American  and Dimentia 13   Also of note from this year: Cleopatra / How the West Was Won / It's a Mad Mad Mad World / Tom Jones / Irma la Douce / The Raven

As we work our way thru the 1960's, we'll take the occasional break from Hollywood to look as some other countries and films movements that helped the massive transition that took place during this decade. Today, a very brief look at the French New Wave via two of the greats; Agnes Varda and Jean-Luc Goddard.

On this episode, we focus on the year of 1962 thru the films; Advise & Consent, The Manchurian Candidate and The Intruder.   We also discuss: Satan in High Heels ,  Cleo from 5 to 7 ,  All Night Long ,  Harakiri ,  Carnival of Souls ,  Lolita and Ivan's Childhood . Also of note from this year: Cape Fear / Birdman of Alcatraz / Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? / To Kill a Mockingbird / Ride the High...