#541 - Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas - WatchThis W/RickRamos
Release Date: 04/08/2025
Watch This With Rick Ramos
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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_outlineGonzo Hellscape: Terry Gilliam's Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas
In 1998 Director Terry Gilliam - a director whose cinematic career has been fraught with difficulty on the level of Job (see 2002s Lost in La Mancha) was finally successful in bringing to the screen Hunter S. Thompson's 1971 Classic roman á clef of excess, paranoia, idealism, and disappointment, Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream. A polariizing film upon its release in 1998, Giliam's interpretation of Thompson's 1971 vision is both awe-inspiring and troubling. There is a tremendous amount to admire in this film while at the same time there is a tremendous amount to be critical of . . . We tackle both perspectives and struggle to find some greater understanding of the late 60s, early 70s, and pain and disappointment of the 2nd decade of a new millennium. It's an interesting and volatile discussion between two friends. Take a listen and let us know what yout think about our reaction to Thompson's vision as rendered through the mind of Terry Gilliam and the equally outrageous and powerful performances of stars Johnny Depp (as Thompson) and Benicio Del Toro (as Chicano activist Oscar Zeta Acosta - the 300lb Samoan of Thompson's writing). As always we can be reached at [email protected]. Many, Many, Many Thanks.
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