The Projection Booth

On this special episode of The Projection Booth, Mike talks to festival director Ariel Wan about the 2019 Cinetopia Film Festival. The fest takes place in Ann Arbor, Bloomfield Twp, Dearborn, Detroit, and Royal Oak between May 10 - 19, 2019. For more information visit www.cinetopiafestival.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Become a supporter of this podcast: https:...

Mike talks to director Yu Gu, former Oakland Raiderette Lacy Thibodeaux-Fields, and former Buffalo Jill Maria Pinzone about the documentary A Woman's Work: The NFL'S Cheerleader Problem which tackles the startling pay inequity of the National Football League. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-proj...

Fritz Lang's M (1931) is the story of a child murderer (Peter Lorre) in Berlin during the last years of the Weimar Republic. When the police fail to capture the terror of Berlin it's up to the criminal underworld to do the job. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth--5513239/support ....

We get passionate about a film with a very inflammatory title, The Passover Plot. Released in 1976 the film was directed by Michael Campus and based loosely on a book by Hugh J. Schonfield. It’s basically another retelling of The Passion Play Spencer Parsons and Chris Bricklemyer join Mike to talk about Zalman King playing Jesus, Donald Pleasence chewing scenery, and food that's good enough for Je...

On this special episode of The Projection Booth Mike talks with filmmaker Pamela B. Green about her documentary film Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché, a look at an under-discussed pioneering female filmmaker. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth--5513239/support . Bec...

On this special episode, Mike talks to author Aaron Shulman about his book The Age of Disenchantments: The Epic Story of Spain's Most Notorious Literary Family and the Long Shadow of the Spanish Civil War and the El Desencanto (Jaime Chávarri, 1976). Both the book and the movie deal with the Paneros of Madrid, Spain -- a fascinatingly dysfunctional family. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit m...

Sergio Martino’s American Tiger (1989 ) is the story of Scott Edwards a rickshaw driver in Miami, Florida who becomes embroiled in a supernatural mystery involving VHS tapes, Asian mysticism, Jonestown, and the dark lord Satan himself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth--5513239/su...

Directed by Robert Zemeckis, Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) is based very loosely on a book by Gary K. Wolf. It tells the tale of Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins), a hard boiled detective who gets hired by the head of a movie studio, R.K. Maroon, to take some photos of our titular Roger Rabbit’s wife (Kathleen Turner) playing patty cake with the head of a place called Toontown. It’s a story of intrigue...

Mike talks with Steve Byrne, Arts and Entertainment Editor of The Detroit Free Press and Executive Director of the Freep Film Festival, the documentary-focused fest that runs from April 10-14, 2019. In the spotlight are films such as Boy Howdy! The Story of Creem Magazine, Bathtubs Over Broadway, and Detroit Tigers: The Roar of '84. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Be...

Scott Reynolds's, Heaven (1998) is a New Zealand film that features crime, sex, and the supernatural. It's the story of our titular Heaven (Daniel Edwards), a transsexual, precognitive stripper who works for a violent member of the underworld, Stanner (Richard Schiff). Moreover, it’s the story of gambler Richard Marling (Martin Donovan), his wife and her lover, a psychiatrist. And, believe it or n...

Directed by Doris Dörrie, Me and Him (1988) is based on the novel Two: A Phallic Novel by Alberto Moravia and stars Griffin Dunne as Bert Uttanzi, a man who has a very active relationship with his penis. On the day of his 35th birthday he begins hearing directly from his penis, voiced by Mark Linn-Baker. Bert is an architect who’s trying to get his plans for a new marina built. He’s overly dedicat...

Samm Deighan and Bill Ackerman join Mike to discuss The Fly. Released in 1986, David Cronenberg’s film stars Jeff Goldblum as scientist Seth Brundle, a man who meets a journalist, Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis). The film tells the tale of their relationship as they get together and become driven apart after an accident changes Brundle irreparably. Special guests are Emma Westwood, author of the Dev...

Tom Tykwer's Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006) is based on the 1985 book by Patrick Süskind. The film tells the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Ben Whishaw), a man born without scent and an acute sense of smell. He goes on a quest to capture the most beautiful scent in the world... David Kittredge and Josh Stewart join Mike to discuss the film and the recent Netflix series somewhat inspir...

Brian De Palma’s 1984 film, Body Double stars Craig Wasson as Jake Scully, an actor in a low-budget vampire film. After a terrifying bout of claustrophobia he loses his job, his girl, and his home until fellow actor does Jake a favor by letting him apartment-sit at a posh pad. As an added bonus, there’s a woman across the way who performs a nightly ritual of self-pleasure and, well, Jake likes to...

We wrap up Black History Month 2019 with three white guys talking about one of the pillars of the blaxploitation pantheon, Super Fly (1972). Directed by Gordon Parks Jr., written by Philip Fenty, and produced by Sig Shore, the film stars Ron O'Neal as Priest, a drug deal who’s looking to get out of the game. The film was derided for its glorification of drug use and lauded for its soundtrack by Cu...

Black History Month 2019 continues with a look at the 1972 film directed by Ivan Dixon and written by John D. F. Black, Trouble Man . Robert Hooks stars as cool cat Mr. T. That’s T that rhymes with P and this cat is great at pool. He does his business out of a billiards parlor where he holds court like a Sicilian on the day of his daughter’s wedding. Mr. T runs afoul a plot hatched by Chalky and P...

Get Rollin'! (1980) is the story of three very colorful people and their lives in and around a roller rink in Brooklyn; Vinnie Venzerrelli of the "Jigaboo Jammers", Pat The Cat, and Inez Daniels. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth--5513239/support . Become a supporter of The Projec...

Jay Scott Smith and Patrick Bromley join Mike to discuss the 1990 film from writer director Reginald Hudlin, House Party. Starring Christopher Reid and Christopher Martin, AKA Kid N’ Play, the film is about a House Party and the wild shenanigans surrounding it. It’s also about a lot more than just that and we’ll be discussing the ins-and-outs of the film and the four other films it inspired. Learn...

Robert Mandel's F/X (1986) -- also sometimes known as FX: Murder by Illusion -- is the story of Rollie Taylor (Bryan Brown), a movie special effects man who is hired by two government agents (Cliff DeYoung & Mason Adams) to stage the public assassination of a mob boss (Jerry Orbach) who’s turned state's evidence. What better way to keep the mob off the tail than by “killing him”? But things do...

For the 400th episode of The Projection Booth, Maurice Bursztynski and Skizz Cyzyk join Mike to discuss the 1978 made-for-TV movie The Rutles: All You Need is Cash. Directed by Gary Weis and Eric Idle, this mockumentary tells the tale of the incredible smash hit band The Rutles, their meteoric rise to fame and incredible influence on the music business. The Rutles were the brainchild of writer/com...

We conclude our discussion about Ernst Lubitsch with a discussion of his 1942 film To Be or Not To Be, the story of Joseph and Maria Tura (Jack Benny and Carole Lombard), two actors in Poland who are in a current run of Shakespeare’s Hamlet though working on a new play called Gestapo. The new play never happens on stage but they’re able to act it out in real life after Poland falls to the Nazis. T...

The first of two episodes focusing on Ernst Lubitsch, this week we're discussing Trouble in Paradise (1932). The film stars Herbert Marshall as Gaston, a gentleman thief who initially connects with Lily (Miriam Hopkins), a highly skilled pickpocket, before the two begin the long con with Madame Mariette Colette (Kay Francis), the owner of a Parisian perfume company. Unfortunately for Gaston, and L...

John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China (1986) tells the story of Wang Chi (Dennis Dun), a restaurateur whose finance, Miao Lin (Suzee Pai), gets kidnapped by the nefarious forces of David Lo Pan (James Hong), a seemingly innocent old man who is actually the embodiment of the evil spirit of Lo Pan, a demon who needs a woman with green eyes in order to become corporeal again and begin his reig...

On this special episode of The Projection Booth, Mike talks with writer/actor/director Bill Duke about his new memoir, Bill Duke: My 40-Year Career on Screen and behind the Camera, as well as some of his roles in films such as Car Wash, Commando, Predator, Payback, and more. Learn more at https://amzn.to/2CF2azM Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Become a supporter of t...

On this special episode of The Projection Booth, Mike talks with actor/producer Vernon Wells about some of his classic roles -- Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, Commando, Circuitry Man, Fortress -- as well as his recent work in City of Gold and the upcoming SOS. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-proje...