Episode 140 - Going Places (1974) & Eureka (1983)
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It's Chris' and Daniel's birthdays, so get ready to clutch some pearls! Tonight we have a hand-picked double feature that's both obscure and offensive! First up, if you thought Get Out Your Handkerchiefs was going to get us canceled, wait till you see Gérard Depardieu in Going Places! After that - if you're still watching - get set for the inappropriate, insane mess of Gene Hackman's Eureka!
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Episode 139 - Swiss Army Man (2016) & Poor Things (2023)
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Prior to Everything Everywhere All at Once, the Oscars tended toward stately, serious picks. But now we see stranger and more daring fare creeping in - so tonight MG looks at how the Daniels' started clearing this path with their beautifully low-budget epic Swiss Army Man; and look at where it's led us - Emma Stone's Oscar win for her role as the wild Bella Baxter in Poor Things!
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Episode 138 - Raising Arizona (1987)
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By now, we're used to the Coen Brothers' penchant for goofy comedy, from the musical massacre in Buster Scruggs to the suggestive Navy dance number in Hail Caesar. But Blood Simple, their debut film, had been a grim, Sundance-friendly noir - so in 1987, no one suspected their sophomore effort would turn out to be a slapstick classic! Join MG as we take on Raising Arizona!
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Episode 137 - Westworld (1973) & Ex Machina (2014)
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AI's surprising growth has many people feeling nervous about the future - so tonight MG takes a look at two of the best in a long line of cautionary tales about renegade robots! First up, Alex Garland's Ex Machina, about a very strange and dangerous Turing test - followed by the groundbreaking original version of Westworld from Michael Chricton, the master of theme-parks-gone-wrong!
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Episode 136 - Saltburn (2023)
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From Pasolini to Mel Brooks, there's little that we at MG love more than films that offend the tender sensibilities of mainstream culture. And rarely has mainstream culture been more in need of offense than today - so tonight MG takes on a movie that has Twitter clutching its pearls: Emerald Fennell's Saltburn!
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Episode 135 - Godzilla Minus One (2023)
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Beginning with 1954's Gojira, Toho Studios' Godzilla series went on to become one of the most beloved franchises in movie history - and over the decades, it's been many things: sometimes political, sometimes silly, sometimes scary. But with Godzilla Minus One we can now add...profoundly emotional? Join us as MG crowns the new King of the King of Monsters!
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Episode 134 - The Killer (2023) & Le Samouraï (1967)
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David Fincher has long been on the cutting edge of the killer/thriller genre, reinventing it many times over his career with classics like Se7en, Zodiac, Mindhunter, and Gone Girl. But with his latest Netflix-backed effort, he both cuts new ground - and, in a weird way, gets back to basics: join us as we look at The Killer, and its classic inspiration, Le Samouraï!
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Episode 133 - Her (2013) & Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)
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AI rising up and conquering humanity has been the subject of hundreds of films from Westworld to The Terminator - but tonight we feature a couple of films that suggest reality will be more insidious than that! Join us for the little-known 70s time-capsule Colossus: The Forbin Project, followed by Spike Jonze’s chatbot-gone-rogue love story, Her!
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Episode 132 - Klute (1971) & The Parallax View (1974)
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With the betrayal of Watergate and the release of the Pentagon Papers, America in the 1970's was a haunted, disillusioned society, and much of that stress can be seen in the films of the period. But MG argues that, even in a decade that brought us Apocalypse Now and Three Days of the Condor, no director was more plugged into this paranoid zeitgeist than Alan Pakula! Join us for his twin masterpieces, Klute and The Parallax View!
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Episode 131 - True Grit (2010) & The Searchers (1956)
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For decades, John Wayne's westerns created a vast mythology of America's early days that papered over historical truth in favor of heroic white male ego-fantasies. But towards the end of his career, two films stand out wherein he questions these narratives and his role in them - join us as we take a look at his masterpiece The Searchers, as well the Coen Brother's reinterpretation of his classic True Grit!
info_outlineWhen the Coen Brothers’ comic-noir masterpiece The Big Lebowski hit theaters in 1997, it fizzled with both critics and audiences - but it has since cemented its position in the pantheon of classic sendups of Los Angeles culture to the point that nearly everyone these days knows "the Dude abides." But Gen-Xers will remember that, for the longest time, the go-to for Los Angeles quotes was a movie that has now completely disappeared from the public consciousness: Steve Martin's LA Story!