Watch This With Rick Ramos

"I'll Buy That For a Dollar" - The Lines That Make the Movies On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I sit down to discuss our personal favorite lines in cinema. From The Producers to Pulp Fiction , Fight Club to The Blues Brothers , an almost unending series of quotable humor, pathos, and wisdom. Take a listen and be sure to let us know what your personal favorite lines are. ...

Game of Thrones: Path to the Crown On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I take a short break from our look at the history of the Academy Awards to break down the past seven seasons of George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones. HBO has routinely changed the face of storytelling and does so now with the creation of an amazing fantasy world that digs into the marrow of humanity. Ther...

The New Independents  History of the Oscars Part 6: '93 - '96 On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos Ibrahim & I continue our ride through The History of The Academy Awards from '93 thru '96 looking at the emergence of the Independents and the growing influence of the Weinsteins.  We're having a great time going through all of this. It's definitely taking a hell of a lot longer than we ex...

The Joker - An Iconic Cultural Villain (With Special Guest Mike Black)   On this week's episode of WatchThisW/RickRamos, Old Friend Mike Black returns to The Fortress of Ultimate Darkness to discuss the history of The Joker - one of the most important villains in all of comics, film, and literature for that matter. We discuss the various portrayals of the Batman villain, from Caesar Romero thru Ja...

Return of the Studios  History of the Oscars Part 5: '84 - '92 On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I continue our look at The History of The Academy Awards.  After the colossal failure of Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate, Hollywood would wrestle power back from the "movie brats" to empower the studio heads, once again. Gone were the darker, psychologically challenging films -...

The Blockbuster Era -Regaining Control  History of the Oscars Part 4: '75 - '83 On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I continue our look back at the Academy Awards; their origins, politics, surprises, and historical importance. Part 4 takes us through the mid 70's with the balancing of "The New Hollywood" with the "Film School Brats" and the emergence of the blockbuster from...

Emergence of a New Hollywood - History of the Oscars Part 3  '67 - '74 Ibrahim & I continue our examination of the Academy Awards looking at the breakdown of the studio system and the emergence of a "New Hollywood" that would challenge everything that had come before it. We look at the effects of an America in turmoil and confusion and the films that would find inspiration in such pessimism. The "...

Hollywood in Transition - A History of the Oscars Part 2 '51 - '66 On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I once again go through the history of the Academy Awards. We talk the changing face of the medium and acting, as well as the beginning failings of the studio system. Some pretty good stories and a number of laughs as we remember some great films, some forgettable ones, and...

Hollywood Loves Itself - A History the Oscars '29-'50 On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I sit down to take one of our trips through The History of Cinema. Focusing on The Academy Awards, this first episode in our new series looks at the inception of the awards, it's earliest nominees and winners, as well it's purpose in the bigger picture of film as a recognized art form....

Who Decides What We See?  Jack Valenti, The MPAA, & The Ratings Board  On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I sit down to discuss censorship and the Hollywood industry's attempts to police themselves. The establishment of the MPAA would put into to place  the next five decades of artistic and cultural parameters governing the depiction of sex, sexuality, violence, and the cul...

Goodbye to a Few Friends and a Brief Academy Award Recap On this week's episode of WatchThis w/RickRamos I give a quick summation of the 2019 Academy Awards and quickly move on to the topic of Suicide. Not a totally upbeat episode, but one from the heart. If you've been listening this long the candor of this episode should not surprise you.  Thanks for the continued Love & Support. 

The Spectrum of Criminality: Infernal Affairs & The Departed On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I sit down to discuss and compare Andrew Lau & Alan Mak's 2002 Hong Kong crime thriller Infernal Affairs and it's 2006 American remake The Departed from director Martin Scorsese. With rival casts including Andy Lau Tak-wah, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Anthony Wong Chau-sang, and Eric Ts...

J. Lee Thompson & Martin Scorsese: Cape Fear  On this week's second episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I sit down to discuss a B-Movie masterpiece, J. Lee Thompson's 1961 Noir Classic, Cape Fear . Featuring a wonderful cast including Gregory Peck, Polly Bergen, Barrie Chase, Martin Balsam, and Telly Savalas, Thompson fashions a taut, heart-pounding thriller propelled by an incredible perf...

Neo-Realism: From De Sica to Cuarón Bicycle Thieves & Roma  On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos Ibrahim & I sit down to talk two of the most widely recognized works in Neo-Realism: Vittorio De Sica's 1948 masterpiece Bicycle Thieves (sometimes known as The Bicycle Thief ) and Alfonso Cuarón's current critical hit (nominated for 10 Academy Awards) Roma . We discuss the importance, merit...

The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling & Kurosawa's Ikiru: Purpose, Regret, & Redemption On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ramos goes it solo in The Fortress of Ultimate Darkness to talk Judd Apatow's 2018 HBO Documentary on The Life, Struggles, & Career of Garry Shandling (November 29, 1949 - March 24, 2016). Apatow had incredible access to the comedian's life, having known him for nea...

Vice & W. - Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld: Power & War  On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I sit down to discuss Christian Bale (Golden Globe Winner for Best Actor) in Adam McCay's Vice . A decisive movie between the two of us, Vice has a great deal to debate. Featuring Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carrel, and Tyler Perry this was an interesting discussion for the two of us. We couple thi...

Reservoir Dogs & City on Fire - Tarantino and the late Ringo Lam On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I sit down to look back on Quentin Tarantino's debut, the Classic Reservoir Dogs . We look at the film, but also it's importance as a game-changer in the early 90s. We discuss the performances of Lawrence Tierney, Michael Madsen, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Edward Bunker, and - of...

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs  The Coen Bros. Re-Imagine The West & How Netflix is Changing the Face of Cinema  On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos Ramos goes it alone to talk The Coen Brothers new film, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs , a film that is the culmination of nearly everything the Brothers have produced over the past 30-plus years. Ramos was overwhelmed by this film and was thr...

Psycho - Hitchcock & Van Sant On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I sit down to discuss Hitchcock's masterpiece Psycho (1960) and Gus Van Sant's shot-for-shot re-imagining from 1998. We discuss the brilliance and importance of Hitchcock's original and the pointlessness of Van Sant's remake. An interesting conversation that forces both of us to understand the films better, we...

Catching Up On The Classics: To Be or Not To Be (1942)  Director: Ernst Lubitsch On this week's episode of WatchThis w/RickRamos, I go solo to talk Ernst Lubitsch's 1942 Classic To Be or Not to Be , starring the great Jack Benny, Carole Lombard (in her last role), and - a very young - Robert Stack. A profile of a Jewish acting company in war torn Poland, Lubitsch's film was one of the earliest fil...

The Dead Man's Hand: A Goodbye to Ricky Jay & Others in 2018  On this week's episode of WatchThis w/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I sit down to mourn the passing of the great sleight of hand artist, magician, writer, actor, and historian Ricky Jay (June 26, 1946 - November 24, 2018). Focusing heavily on directors Molly Bernstein & Alan Edelstein's Deceptive Practices: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay...

THE HORROR OF CRONENBERG (PART II):   SCANNERS/ THE DEAD ZONE/VIDEODROME    On this week's episode of WatchThis w/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I sit down to continue discussing the work of Canadian cult director David Cronenberg who somehow found mainstream success with a series of strange and controversial films. In this hour and a half episode we talk Scanners (1981) as well as Videodrome and The Dead Z...

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World - 55th Anniversary On this weeks episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos I take a look back at the 1963 Stanley Kramer Comedy Classic It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World . With an all-star cast including Spencer Tracey, Sid Caesar, Milton Berle, Jonathan Winters, Phil Silvers, Ethel Merman, Dick Shawn, Mickey Rooney, Buddy Hackett, and Edie Addams, and cameo appearances by Jer...

In Theaters: Can You Forgive Me? Finding Meaning in Misery & Loneliness  On this week's episode of WatchThis w/Rick Ramos I go it solo to talk Melissa McCarthy in Can You Ever Forgive Me? A new film in theaters profiling the life of biographer Lee Israel who turned to a career of forgery and found purpose in her criminal endeavors. I loved this film and connected with it in a strange way. Movies d...

Michael Meyers - Return to Haddonfield On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos Ibrahim & I sit down (almost a year after our last visit to Haddonfield, IL) to continue our talk on that blank-faced masked bastard, Michael Meyers. Screenwriters Jeff Fradley, Danny McBride, and David Gordon Green (with Green directing) bring us all back to that sleepy little town to re-introduce us to Meyers....