Unpleasant Movies Podcast

Nikolaj Lübecker is Professor of French and Film Studies at the university of Oxford, and joins us in conversation about his book The Feel Bad Film from 2015. We talk about the films he places in this corpus, placed in the categories of either "assault", "unease" and "transgression" and what that entails. Some of the films we discuss are Dogville, Trash Humpers and Innocence. Spoiler warnings for...

Sverre has recently seen The Fellowship of the Rings and has a few observations, Thomas raves favorably about Hades, the rougelite game, then we get into mythology, evaluation of modern art and the weirdness of corporate art. Get in touch at Unpleasantmovies@protonmail.com or on https://www.instagram.com/unpleasantmovies/

Perhaps Haneke's most unsettling, certainly his most mischievous, Funny Games twists expectations and upends genre as a way to critique media and examine how we relate to it. Its also very engaging, suspenseful and fun, in a horrible kind of way. Join Sverre Aagaard and Thomas Simonsen Balmbra as we discuss! This episodes recommendations are: Hexonimo, game https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQZLK8r1...

A pleasant chat about what we've been thinking of lately - annoying commercials, interesting movies, what games we've been playing and such. Thomas has seen The Painted Bird, Sverre has been playing Subnautica, we also talk about guest directors of adventure time and the authenticity of expressive acting. Enjoy!

Benny is a teenage boy obsessed with video and death. He keeps replaying a VHS of a pig getting slaughtered, rewinding, re-watching and pausing at the moment of death. His well to do parents are absent ad let him do more or less as he wants, and while they are away on a trip Benny invites a young girl over to look at his tapes. This is Haneke's second feature - a keen and chilling observation of o...

Having written extensively about extreme cinema and its ethical implications, Asbjørn Grønstad is Professor of Visual Culture at the University of Bergen and author of "Screening the Unwatchable" and "Film and the Ethical Imagination" among others. We talk about his work, how he came to write about these subjects and explore some of the concepts and ideas he writes about. Enjoy! His recommendation...

We start of with a few recommendations for other non extreme Miike films to check out, then talk a bit about Kurosawas hitchcockian crime and class struggle classic High and Low and finally talk about what games we've been playing lately. Enjoy!

We look at two hour long contributions to horror anthologies - Imprint, the thirteenth and unaired episode from Masters of Horror and Box from Three... Extremes. From a grotesque retelling of folk lore to a more sombre and sad horror-drama - this concludes our examination of Miike, at least for now. Sited article - Misogyny as radical commentary — Rashomon retold in Takashi Miike’s Masters of Horr...

We start of talking about Princess Kaguya and the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, then chat a bit about folklore, stories of revenge, and what games we have been playing lately. Get in touch with us at unpleasantmovies@protonmail.com https://www.instagram.com/unpleasantmovies/

Yakuza enforcer Kakihara is obsessed with finding out what happened to his boss and learns of Ichi, a psychotic assassin who leaves a gory trail. Perhaps he can fill the Kakiharas sadomasochistic void? Suicide is for the Birds https://offscreen.com/view/fantasia This episodes recommendations are A Hard Day by Kim Seong-hun https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hard_Day We don't know how to warn you any...

The play Ways of Seeing attracted huge amounts of controversy in Norway in 2018, leading to media outrage as a series of attempts at terror action and threatening cutout letters where sent to the house of the justice minister. Now in 2020, there is a court case going on against Laila Bertheussen, the ministers partner, for staging fake threats in an apparent attempt at framing the people behind th...

How is the Let The Right One book different from the movie? Is listening to podcasts while playing driving simulators the perfect alternative to meditation? Is this still the city of love? Get in touch with us at unpleasantmovies@protonmail.com or on www.instagram.com/unpleasantmovies/

Audition is our second episode on Takashi Miike, a film whose themes seem more succinct in the aftermath of me too. A truly uneasy yet elegant piece of film making. Our recommendations for this episodes are: Meat is Murder - The Smiths https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG3h80g8NhU The Golovlyov Family - Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/132543.The_Golovlyov_Family Get in...

Sverre has been reading Dickens, and tells us about Quilp the evil dwarf, while Thomas has been reading about the rise of National Populism and the myths surround who votes what. Get in touch with us at unpleasantmovies@protonmail.com or find us at https://www.instagram.com/unpleasantmovies/

Visitor Q (Takashi Miike 2001) tells how a seriously dysfunctional family is changed by the arrival of a hip young man with a penchant for hitting peoples head with a big rock. Its absurd, weird, disgusting and fun - and one of Miikes best. Our recommendations this week are: IDLES (band) https://www.youtube.com/user/Idlesband Toes - Tim and Erics Bedtime Stories https://www.adultswim.com/videos/ti...

We pick up on our talk on adapting American Psycho from book to film, then get into other works of adaptation before talking about Thomas Manns The Magic Mountain. Get in touch with us at unpleasantmovies@protonmail.com or on https://www.instagram.com/unpleasantmovies/

Lars von Triers Nymphomaniac, volume I and II discussed as a whole, a darkly comedic non sensual erotic tragedy about Joe, and her life as a sex addict. This weeks recommendations are: Exanima https://www.gog.com/game/exanima American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Psycho The music for this episde was by Umulium, Jo Scharning and Sverre Aagaard Get in touch with...

We open cold on the debate, mumble vs old school hip-hop then get into travel and exoticism. Soon we are talking about animal rights, feminism, objectification and how traditional cultures viewed plants and objects through a lens of person-hood. Enjoy!

We discuss von Triers notorious 2009 film Antichrist, an arthaus horror about a couple who travel to a cabin in the woods to mourn the loss of their child. This weeks recomendations are: Tony Schwartz interview - https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/donald-trumps-ghostwriter-tells-all Lanze - Bring Me That Shit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2adNgJJ3uU Get in touch with us - unpleasantm...

We start out chatting about new shows from Adult Swim, then get into Scandinavian auteurs, Fantasy authors who die before they finish their books and all the different flavors of people out there. Enjoy! Get in touch with us: Unpleasantmovies@protonmail.com

Finally, we are back! Discussing Gaspar Noé's second feature, a reverse chronological rape revenge movie - perhaps the most unpleasant movie you could see - but also one of the best. The recommendations this week are The Velvet Underground - Heroin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFLw26BjDZs Immortal Technique - Dance with the Devil https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qggxTtnKTMo Get in touch with us...

Welcome to unpleasant movies. Here we examine works of extreme cinema that apply an artistic vision with a thoughtful agenda – films that challenge you as a viewer for a good reason. We talk about one film per episode, discussing it in-depth – what it is, what it does and how we like it. You should probably have seen it before hand, or know that you have no intention of seeing it at all, as plot-s...

Prolonged exposure to Umulium is likely to induce a state of hyper-attentive calm, as if enveloped by a musky fog in which everything moves in slow motion. Sounds in particular become distinct and titillating, often leading to peculiar modes of experimental speech. In certain circles it has become a popular supplement for inducing profound conversation, but remains highly disreputable at large. Um...

We start of talking about Olga Toksrczuks Flights, continuing with some talk about Political Podcasts and then get into the good stuff - comfort entertainment. Adventure time, Citypop, Wellington Paranormal and Klaus. Enjoy! Get in touch with us: Unpleasantmovies@protonmail.com

The nameless butcher wanders the streets of Paris, outwardly passive, but spouting racist, misogynistic and aggressive rants in his head as former friends and colleagues refuse to hire him. Recommendations this week: Calibre - Matt Palmer https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6218358/ I Have a Special Plan for This World - Current 93 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxZpEFJhO6k