#535 - Munchausen,Tarkovsky, and Noir - WatchThis W/RickRamos
Release Date: 02/25/2025
#561 - Crimson Tide - WatchThis W/RickRamos
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Battle for the Conn: Tony Scott's Crimson Tide You can never get enough Denzel Washington. This week Mr. Chavez & I sit down to talk the first of five collaborations with director Tony Scott, 1995s Crimson Tide. This first collaboration of Washington and Scott would fall almost directly in the middle of Scott's career and would be the fourth collaboration between Scott and the Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer producing behemoth. This episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos takes a look at the relationship between Scott and his producing partners; the creation of the look and style that would...
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#560 - The Book of Eli - WatchThis W/RickRamos
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Denzel Wandering the Wasteland: The Hughes Brothers' The Book of Eli There are few great actors who can also be considered movie stars. Denzel Washington is certainly on that short list. A few weeks back we discussed his crowning achievement, Malcolm X. In 2010 he would produce and star in the Hughes Bros. directed, The Book of Eli. The rare instance of an action film with a purpose beyond mere entertainment, The Hughes Bros. brought to the screen one of the great "neglected" films of the 21st Century. In a post-apocalyptic world, Washington plays Eli, a man wandering the desolate...
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#559 - American History X - WatchThis W/RickRamos
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Neo-Nazi Family Drama: Tony Kaye's American History X Some films simply don't age well. With the passing years the problems of a narrative can become glaring. Such is the case with Tony Kaye's American History X (1998). A difficult subject that would have been better served with a revised script and a stronger director, American History X suffers from a forced and simplistic narrative. Good performances and interesting cinematography (by director Kaye) are simply not enough to overcome a story that my partner dismsses as "after-school special". Although this film is widely...
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#558 - Malcolm X (Part 2) - WatchThis W/RickRamos
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A Time for Martyrs: Spike Lee's Malcolm X Last Week Spike Lee, Ernest Dickerson, and Denzel Washington started Mr. Chavez & Myself on an artistic, political, and introspective journey. We originally intended to discuss this masterpiece in one episode, however art, life, and the conversation often dictate a different outcome. Last week was the "making" of Malcolm X, this week WatchThis W/RickRamos dives into the beauty, power, and ground-breaking nature of this labor of love/passion project/grand cinematic statement. It is rare when so many of the cinematic elements come together...
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#557 - Malcolm X (Part I) - WatchThis W/RickRamos
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By Any Means Necessary: Spike Lee & The Making of Malcolm X Cinema can change attitudes, englighten ignorance, strengthen understanding and faith. In 1992 director Spike Lee would partner with star Denzel Washington and long-time cinematographer (and NYU schoolmate) Ernest Dickerson to bring to the big screen the life of one of the most important firgures of the 20th Century, Malcolm Little to become "Red" to become Malcolm X, to become el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz. In an expansive narrative that covers over four decades and - could be argued - encapsulates the experience of Black life...
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#556 - Civil War - WatchThis W/RickRamos
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Chaos, Frame by Frame: Alex Garland's Civil War We're on top of it. The podcast continues to look into the possible disintegration of this country. We've discussed dystopias, comical and deadly serious looks at atomic annhilation, immigration abuse, fascism, paranoia, and now the full-on dissolution of the country. Last year Alex Garland directed Civil War a well-acted, interesting look at the fracturing of the United States. It's a problematic film that - probably - bit off far more than it could possibly chew. There's a great deal to admire in this film, including an exceptional...
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#555 - 13 Assassins - WatchThis W/RickRamos
Watch This With Rick Ramos
Total Massacre - Takashi Miike's 13 Assassins Not a whole lot is better this week, so Mr. Chavez & I find ourselves digging deeper into an examination, coping, and understanding of Fascism, Cruelty, and Troubling Political Rule with this week's film, Takashi Miike's 2010 13 Assassins. Miike's vision is typically brutal, violent, and magnificent. 13 Assassins exceeds the critical constraints of your "Typical Action Film" with a look at Samurai Culture during the Edo Period (1603-1868 - in this case, 1844). With a strong debt to Akira Kurosawa and Seven...
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#554 - Born in East L.A. - WatchThis W/RickRamos
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Operation Wetback: Richard "Cheech" Marin's Born in East L.A. Somethings refuse to change and what was true three and a half decades ago continues to be true today. With a nation struggling under the hand of an adminstration refusing to look at human beings as anything more than numbers, "Cheech" Marin's Born in East L.A. seems even more relevant today than it did when it premiered in the summer of 1987. Marin's film (the first of his projects after the end of his partnership as the ground-breaking comedy troupe, Cheech & Chong) is a - at points a silly and slapdash - look...
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#553 - Fail Safe/Dr.Strangelove - WatchThis W/RickRamos
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Mutual Doomsday: Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove/Sidney Lumet's Fail Safe Recording a mere two days before Donald Trump fired on Iran, Mr. Chavez & I sit down to discuss nuclear war and the incredible self-destructiveness of humankind. In 1963 Stanley Kubrick would direct one of his earliest masterpieces. With a ridiculous and hilarious George C. Scott, frighteningly honest Sterling Hayden, and a briliant Peter Sellars in a trio of roles that stands as one of the (three) greatest comic performances in cinema. There is a great deal going on in this film, however much of it's power...
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#552 - The Conformist - WatchThis W/RickRamos
Watch This With Rick Ramos
Kill Along to Get Along: Bernardo Bertolucci's The Conformist Does Life Imitate Art or Does Art Predict and Comment on Life? Regardless of Bernardo Bertolucci's reputation - admitted questionable actions in the realization of art - the Italian filmmaker is regarded as one of the great Auteurs of Cinema. Films from 1900 (1976) thru the Oscar-winning The Last Emperor (1987), and the controversial (artistically and production-wise) Last Tango in Paris (1972), have explored the human eperience through Sexuality, Social Taboos, Class Conflict, and - in his directorial...
info_outlineDreams with Gilliam, The Rolling Stones Through the Years, The Silent Voice, The Magic of Tarkovsky, Zappa, A Trio of Very Different Noir
On this week's episode Mr. Chavez & I return to reminiscing on 500 shows. We begin with the beauty and magic of Terry Gilliam with The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, through a look at Rock 'N Roll and The Rolling Stones, A beginning series of movies that defined their decades, the beauty of Soviet Cinema with Andrei Tarkovsky, and The Dark Brilliance of Film Noir. It's a fun look back; We hope you'll take the ride with us. Many Thanks. We can always be reached at [email protected].
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