The Latecomers

Show Notes This week we discuss 1968’s Sci Fi classic The Planet of the Apes. Amity is confused by audience confusion when the leading man tells us exactly where we are going in the first two minutes of the movie. She also morns the voice of the female human, because this movie decides to mute or murder all the human women. Lemuel tries to explain science fiction before the moon landing to save th...

Show Notes Dead man walking – the headline of the review that spoiled this movie for Lemuel in 1999 is both heinous and funny now, twenty some years later when applied to M. Night Shyamalan’s masterpiece of playing fair with the audience, The Sixth Sense. We discuss stand out child performance, who in M. Night’s life repeated “Look at my face” so many times that it made it into the film, and Phila...

Show Notes This week we travel to the coast with Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum in 1962’s Cape Fear. Mitchum’s Max Cady is dangerous – for his predilections and his cunningness and Peck’s Sam Bowden is really very little match for him. The menace that Cady casts over the entirety of the film is palpable and you will be concerned for every girl and woman you see, with good reason.   Recommendation...

Show Notes This week we discuss Spartacus from 1960, directed improbably by Stanley Kubrick and staring problematic and not particularly charismatic Kirk Douglas. We discuss the historical accuracies and inaccuracies, the majesty of Woody Strode, colonizers who are self aware, and how fun Peter Ustinov is.   Recommendations: Cabinet of Curiosities (Netflix); The School of Good and Evil (Netflix)  ...

Show Notes This week, Joan Crawford and Bette Davis thrill us in 1962’s What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? The fireworks between these ladies are historic and lead to an entire Ryan Murphy series, but we focus on the picture itself, the marvel of filmmaking, and the destruction of the child actor.   Recommendations: 5000 Years to Earth; Wet Hot American Moon Juice   Next up: Spartacus (1960)        ...

Show Notes We have a second helping of Orson Welles this week with 1958’s Touch of Evil. Once we maneuver past Charlton Heston in brown face and Janet Leigh as the whitest white person that ever set foot in Mexico, there are some absolutely spectacular things in this movie, largely down to Welles’ direction and acting, both of which are superlative.   Recommendations: The Book Makers (PBS Document...

Show Notes This week, don’t get too attached to them, we watched The Dirty Dozen from 1967 and we’ll miss all of them. Amity lets you know the perfect time to turn this movie off to make it a madcap comedy. We discuss how Telly Savales is forever more con than pro. And we wonder at the moral of it all.   Recommendations: Frank Lloyd Wright (PBS Documentary); A Soldier’s Story (1984)   Next up: Tou...

Show Notes This week we revisit Keanu with 1999’s The Matrix. He has perfect anime hair, Carrie Ann Moss has a pleather wardrobe, Lawrence Fishburn has glasses with no arms and Joey Pantoliano just wants some steak. We discuss the themes and the effects and the deep and resounding love – because we now know that Neo isn’t the one.   Recommendations: The Devil in Ohio (Netflix)   Next up: The Dirty...

Show Notes Come with us to Mexico as we learn about the Hays Code and how to make a villain a protagonist as we watch John Huston’s The Treasure of the Sierra Madre from 1948. Down on their luck in an inhospitable (to them) town, Dobbs and Curtain try their luck at gold, with all the caucasity you would expect. We discuss what makes a western, how to kill off your main characters, how you miss tha...

Show Notes This week we revisit John Carpenter’s Halloween from 1978 – and all its brethren as well. We discuss it’s fit into the list of thrills and then replay our original episode discussing the series, just in time to get into spooky season. Join us for all things Pleasence, the shape, scream queens and staggering music stings.   Next up: The Treasure of The Sierra Madre (1948)                ...

Show Notes This week we watched Sam Peckinpah's alternate history western, The Wild Bunch, from 1969. Amity got lost in the combination of Spanish and deliberate camera confusion but tries super hard to not hold that against the film itself. This bunch is wild, y’all – not particularly bright, not particularly deft, but wild, certainly. Can you find a good man amongst them?   Recommendations: Devi...

Show Notes We’re robbing a bank this week as we watched Sydney Lumet’s 1975 biopic Dog Day Afternoon. Al Pacino is magnetic as the “mastermind” of a failed bank heist. Queer identity, the poverty cycle, and the absolute boneheaded-ness of police are on display in this humanist heist film.   Recommendations: Light and Magic (Disney +); American Horror Story (Hulu) – the latest season   Next up: The...

Show Notes Sean Connery is Bond, James Bond this week as we watched Goldfinger from 1964. Not too rapey and also not too good at being a spy, Sean Connery slinks his way through this film in white dinner jackets, terrycloth onsies and a tan and manages to save the day, through no fault of his own. Pussy Galore, Oddjob, and “No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!” are just some of the true icons from t...

Show Notes This week we take a trip to the jungles of Vietnam with some very young, very famous men in Platoon from 1986. Par for the Vietnam war movie course, this is a hard watch with a ton of violence and racism. A fetal Charlie Sheen tries to find himself on the battlefield while being pulled between the humanistic Sgt. Elias played by Willem Dafoe and the hard edge drinker Sgt. Barnes played...

Episode Notes This week we overcome and bring you the second take of our episode on Otto Preminger’s Laura from 1944 – a continuation of the noir block of the AFI list. A cavalcade of possible murders abound and we don’t even really know who the victim is – it’s a twisty-turney mystery (in 1944 at least) and we get into the tropes and trollops (we mean Vincent Price) this week.   Recommendations:...

Episode Notes This week we watched Ridley Scott’s 1982 neo-noir classic Blade Runner (The Final Cut). One in a long line of tales of a future where men make better versions of themselves and realize after the fact that that was a terrible idea. You can listen for the moment when thoughts of biology break Amity’s brain – wet AI is the worst AI.   Recommendations: Take yourself on vacation. The 355...

Episode Notes Wells, Orson Wells. This week we watched 1949’s Zither laden classic The Third Man. We take on problematic men and when to stand by them. Vienna, crumbled but beautiful, serves as the stark backdrop to the thrilling mystery of what happened to Harry Lime.   Recommendations: The Third Man (no really, it’s so good!) Timeline Scavengers Podcast   Next up: Blade Runner (1982) [We’re watc...

Episode Notes TW: Sexual Assault   This week we watched the vivacious and vibrant Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon absolutely take back their power in 1991’s Thelma and Louise. Wrong time, wrong place and wrong men back these women into a corner they hold hands and drive out of in this powerful empowerment film that is much more fun than the cultural narrative around it would have you believe. It’s...

Episode Notes It’s a sequel wherein there are two terminators but no judgment day – this week we watched James Cameron’s 1991 favorite Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Set pieces and voiceovers and water weenies galore this week as we discuss the second in the Terminator series which finds a humble Schwarzenegger going head to head with Robert Patrick and coming up somewhat short. It’s an action extra...

Episode Notes Brace yourselves for some heinous intimate partner abuse this week as we try to let Ingrid Bergman know it’s not in her head with Gaslight from 1944. Based on a play and a former movie, George Cukor brings this tense masterpiece to us as we question what we’re seeing and can’t believe we’re rooting for the cop. Romance turns to sour danger but the end is so very, very satisfying.   R...

Episode Notes Things are getting exciting in here with 1960’s western classic The Magnificent Seven. Yul Brenner and Steve McQueen lead an all-star gunslinger gang against Eli Wallach’s Calvera. Quippy, smart, with deep pathos and fun action, this movie is what this list is all about.   Recommendations: Stranger Things (Netflix) and Is It Cake? (Netflix)   Next up: Gaslight (1944)   Email us at la...

Episode Notes Sometimes a great director and a great actor can be foiled by a narcissistic producer who is obsessed with the idea of “picturization.” This week we discuss the 1940 Alfred Hitchcock adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca. The protagonists leave much to be desired but the villains – cracker jack each and every one, including the one we never see.   Recommendations: Stranger Things...

Show Notes In Amity’s least favorite watch in a while, we tackle the 1976 giallo The Omen. Even Gregory Peck’s comforting presence can’t pull me out of the funk of terrible marital choices and overwhelming music. We discuss the errors in theology and the need for trust in a relationship. We discuss what good actors can do with not good material and the influences on this film and of this film.   R...

Show Notes This week we watch the 1951 sci-fi classic The Day the Earth Stood Still. We discuss all things Robert Wise, the rise of AI, how this differs from its remake, the difference several decades make, overt Christ narratives, the wonders of Robert Mitchum, ethnocentricity and more!   Recommendations: The Deep End (Hulu)   Next up: The Omen (1976)   Email us at latecomers@gmail.com Twitter: @...

Episode Notes In the quietest Opera film of all time, we witness Lon Chaney’s remarkable talents in 1925’s The Phantom of the Opera. It’s a wide ranging discussion of cinema history, theatrical makeup, Christine’s motivations, Thomas Harris novels, care of victims in media, drag queens, the gender binary and so much more.   Recommendations: Clarice (Paramount +), Evil (Paramount +)   Next up: The...