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Episodes
Listen along as two amateur film buffs make their way through the vast Criterion Collection one title at a time, all from the comfort of the couch.
Episodes
Monday Dec 03, 2018
Monday Dec 03, 2018
Hazel, Dandelion, Blackberry and Clover? No, we’re not making a salad, instead we’re discussing the 1978 animated retelling of the Richard Adam’s novel Watership Down. Join us in episode #17 as we heed Fiver’s warnings and search for our new warren.
SHOWNOTES
Director - Martin Rosen
The Plague Dogs (1982)
Theme Song - “Time and Tide” by Alan Price (original keyboardist for The Animals)
Hazel - John Hurt (Died Jan 25, 2017) (207 acting credits)
Alien (1979)
The Elephant Man (1980)
The Plague Dogs as Snitter (1982)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)
Hellboy (2004)
V for Vendetta (2005)
Melancholia (2011)
Doctor Who as The War Doctor in 3 episodes (2013)
Watership Down mini-series as General Woundwort (1999 -2000)
Fiver - Richard Briers (Died Feb 17, 2013
Bigwig - Michael Graham Cox (Died Apr 30, 1995)
Captain Holly - John Bennett (April 11, 2005)
Chief Rabbit - Ralph Richardson (Died Oct 10, 1983)
Blackberry - Simon Cadell (Died March 6, 1996)
Silver - Terence Rigby (Died August 10, 2008)
Pipkin - Roy Kinnear (Died September 20, 1988)
Dandelion - Richard O’Callaghan (Still Alive?)
Cat - Lynn Farleigh (Still Alive?)
General Woundwort - Harry Andrews (Died March 6, 1989)
Cowslip - Denholm Elliott
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Clover - Mary Maddox
Kehaar (Bird) - Zero Mostel (comedian)
The only black man (Clifton Jones) plays a character named “Blackavar”
Watership Down references in the TV Show “Lost”
Movies with similar stories / plots include Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Secret of NIMH
Other movies mentioned:
Sunday Sep 30, 2018
Sunday Sep 30, 2018
A brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal walk into school… No this isn’t the beginning of a joke, it’s the opening of John Hughes trend-setting 1985 dramedy, The Breakfast Club. (starring Emilio Estevez, Paul Gleason, Anthony Michael Hall, John Kapelos, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy). Join us in episode #16 for a memorable Saturday detention at Shermer High School.
SHOWNOTES
The Breakfast Club - Criterion
John Hughes - Director
Sixteen Candles (1984)
The Breakfast Club (1985)
Pretty In Pink (1986)
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
Uncle Buck (1989)
Emilio Estevez (as Andrew Clark)
Anthony Michael Hall (as Brian Johnson)
Judd Nelson (as John Bender)
Molly Ringwald (as Claire Standish)
Ally Sheedy (as Allison Reynolds)
Paul Gleason (as Richard Vernon)
John Kapelos (as Carl)
A Charlie Brown Christmas dance
All Psych episodes featuring cast members from The Breakfast Club
Judd Nelson
Season 4 Episode 13 - “Death is in the Air”
Molly Ringwald
Season 6 Episode 6 - “Shawn Interrupted”
Ally Sheedy
Season 3 Episode 16 - “An Evening With Mr. Yang”
Season 4 Episode 16 - “Mr. Yin Presents…”
Season 5 Episode 16 - “Yang 3 in 2D”
Season 7 Episode 15 - “Psych: The Musical”
Anthony Michael Hall
Season 7 Episode 14 - “No Trout About It”
Season 8 Episode 2 - “S.E.I.Z.E. the Day”
Season 8 Episode 4 - “Someone’s Got a Woody”
John Kapelos
Season 7 Episode 10 “Santa Barbarian Candidate”
Season 8 Episode 6 “1967: A Psych Odyssey”
This American Life (episode 526, Act Three)
Molly Ringwald and her daughter watch The Breakfast Club together for the first time.
Music
Don’t You Forget About Me - Simple Minds
Fire In the Twilight - Wang Chung
We Are Not Alone - Karla Devito
The “naked blonde” joke that Bender tells himself (while in the ceiling) never had a punchline.
Additional Movie references
As The Mayor in Ghostbusters
As Walter Peck in Ghostbusters
As Richard Thornburg in Die Hard and Die Hard 2
As Professor Jerry Hathaway in Real Genius
Thursday Aug 30, 2018
Thursday Aug 30, 2018
Corruption? Scandal? A rigged election? In episode #15 we discuss director Alexander Payne's high school political dramedy, Election (starring Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon).
SHOWNOTES
Alexander Payne - Director
Citizen Ruth (1996)
Starring Laura Dern
About Schmidt (2002)
Sideways (2004)
Paris, je t’aime (2006)
The Descendants (2011)
Nebraska (2013)
Matthew Broderick (as Jim McAllister)
Also starred in Godzilla (1998) and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
Reese Witherspoon (as Tracy Flick)
Chris Klein (as Paul Metzler)
Jessica Campbell (as Tammy Metzler)
Mark Harelik (as Dave Novotny)
Phil Reeves (as Principal Walt Hendricks)
Delaney Driscoll (as Linda Novotny) - also played Ruth’s sister in Citizen Ruth
Holmes Osborne (as Dick Metzler) - also played Donnie’s Dad in Donnie Darko
Movie Trivia
Thora Birch, who starred in Ghost World (2001) was originally cast to play Tammy
Election was filmed in Papillion LaVista High School in Papillion, Nebraska
Josie and The Pussycats (2001) was also a Universal Pictures/MTV Films production
Unlike “Stadium High School” in 10 Things I Hate About You, the high school in Election seems pretty realistic
Tom Perrotta (who originally wrote Election) also wrote the novel The Leftovers which was later turned into an HBO series starring:
Scott Glenn (not to be confused with David Carradine)
And written by Damon Lindelof
Three Times A Lady - The Commodores
Navajo Joe - Ennio Morricone (from the 1966 movie Navajo Joe starring Burt Reynolds)
Mystery Men (starring Ben Stiller and Janeane Garofalo)
Paul falls asleep reading The Celestine Prophecy (by James Redfield)
Saturday Jul 28, 2018
Saturday Jul 28, 2018
In episode #14 we discuss Dustin Hoffman's break out role in The Graduate. Based on the novel by Charles Webb and featuring the music of Simon & Garfunkel, The Graduate tells the tale of one young man's struggle to start the next chapter of his life while also becoming involved in a forbidden affair.
SHOWNOTES
Mike Nichols - Director
Anne Bancroft - Mrs. Robinson
Katharine Ross - Elaine Robinson
Murray Hamilton - Mr. Robinson
Dustin Hoffman - Ben Braddock
William Daniels - Mr. Braddock
Elizabeth Wilson - Mrs. Braddock
Bookends (not featured in The Graduate)
The Simpsons - Lady Bouvier’s Lover (The Graduate spoof)
1966 Alfa Romeo Series 1 Spider 1600
Home School (sequel to The Graduate)
Berkley Girl - Official Video (featuring Jena Malone)
Overlord - J.J. Abrams’ new supernatural WWII movie
Let the River Run (from Working Girl)
Criterion on the Couch episodes referenced:
Tuesday May 22, 2018
Tuesday May 22, 2018
In episode #13 we discuss the 1987 science-fiction classic: RoboCop, the original movie that spawned numerous sequels, television series, video games and reboots. Set in a Detroit city plagued by crime, officer Alex J. Murphy is a revenant cop who's been given a second chance to protect and serve.
SHOWNOTES
Paul Verhoeven - Director
Peter Weller - RoboCop
Nancy Allen - Officer Lewis
Ronny Cox - Dick Jones
Kurtwood Smith - Clarence J. Boddicker
(widely known as Red from That 70’s Show)
Miguel Ferrer - Bob Morton
Robert DoQui - Sergeant Reed
Ray Wise - Leon Nash
Dan O’Herlihy - The Old Man
Paul McCrane - Emil M. Antonowsky
Still Untitled: The Adam Savage Podcast
3/13/2018 - Discussing Cain from RoboCop 2 (starts at 1:46)
The initials “OCP” in RoboCop stand for Omni Consumer Products
Adam’s pictures from the RoboCop TV Series:
Wednesday Mar 21, 2018
Wednesday Mar 21, 2018
In episode #12 we discuss the 1981 cerebral motion-picture, My Dinner With André. Wallace, a struggling actor/playwright from NYC, attends an intimate dinner with his old acquaintance André. As the two catch up on lost time, their conversation shifts into the social, emotional, physical and metaphysical concerns of the modern world. At once both outrageous and grounded, My Dinner With André explores the relationships between people, their environment, and the universe.
SHOWNOTES
My Dinner With Andre - Criterion
Director - Louis Malle
André Gregory as André
Wallace Shawn as Wallace
(widely known for his role as Vizzini in the movie The Princess Bride)
Another movie about playwrights: Synecdoche, New York - starring Philip Seymour Hoffman
One of Adam’s favorite books:The Fuck Up by Arthur Nersesian
John Adams mini-series on HBO
Rabbit Starvation (a.k.a. Protein poisoning)
Survivorman (featuring Les Stroud)
Primitive Technology - Youtube Channel (NOT Les Stroud)
Gymnoépdie No. 1 by Éric Satie (also used in The Royal Tenenbaums)
Other philosophical movies (that Jim couldn’t name):
The Man From Earth (2007)
The Invitation (2015)
Parodies
Community - Season 2 Episode 19 - “Critical Film Studies” a.k.a. My Dinner with Abed
Sunday Feb 11, 2018
Sunday Feb 11, 2018
In episode #11 we discuss one of the most star-studded, high-flying action/comedies of all time: It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Interrupted from a leisurely drive through the California desert, five men bear witness to the last words of a dying criminal, revealing the location of his hidden loot. What follows is a no-holds-barred-comedic-mad-dash to see who can get to the money first and claim it as their own.
SHOWNOTES
It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World - Criterion
Director - Stanley Kramer
Capt. T. G. Culpepper - Spencer Tracy
J. Russell FInch - Milton Berle
Melville Crump - Sid Caesar
Benjy Benjamin - Buddy Hackett
Mrs. Marcus - Ethel Merman
Ding Bell - Mickey Rooney
Sylvester Marcus - Dick Shawn
Otto Meyer - Phil Silvers
J. Algernon Hawthorne - Terry-Thomas
Lennie Pike - Jonathan Winters
Monica Crump - Edie Adams
Emeline Marcus - Finch Dorothy Provine
Man in Car - Jack Benny
Cab Driver - Eddie ‘Rochester’ Anderson
Cab Driver - Peter Falk
Colonel Wilberforce - Paul Ford
Tower Controller at Rancho Conejo - Carl Reiner
2001’s Rat Race was a modern remake
The West Wing: Season 4 Episode 9 - Swiss Diplomacy
The First Lady and President Bartlet talk about Mrs. Wilberforce
The Simpsons: Season 5 Episode 11 - Homer the Vigilante
Saturday Jan 06, 2018
Saturday Jan 06, 2018
In episode #10 we discuss Guillermo del Toro's Oscar-Winning masterpiece: Pan's Labyrinth. Set just after the Spanish Civil War, young Ofelia is thrown into two very different worlds; one of soldiers and violence and one of faeries and magic. Now to protect her own life and that of her mother, she must carefully navigate the border between fantasy and reality.
SHOWNOTES
Pan's Labyrinth - Criterion Collection
Directed by Guillermo Del Toro who also directed and/or wrote:
The Devil’s Backbone (Criterion)
Pan’s Labyrinth - Happy Trailer
Other violent movies
Inglourious Basterds (Tarantino)
Non-violent Thrillers
The Decemberists’ album: The Hazards of Love
Doug Jones plays both Pan and the Pale Man
Day for night cinematic technique
In the Bible, King David is responsible for the death of Bathsheba’s husband.
Harry Potter: Mandrakes in herbology class
Books:
The Minotaur Takes A Cigarette Break
Labyrinth with David Bowie
Monday Oct 30, 2017
Monday Oct 30, 2017
In episode #9 we discuss Dennis Hopper's directorial debut: Easy Rider. Wyatt and Billy are two bikers with an anti-establishment lifestyle. After netting a big score in a drug deal, the two friends set off on a cross-country journey where they'll experience the best and worst that society has to offer.
SHOWNOTES
Easy Rider - Criterion Collection
Directed by Dennis Hopper
Written by Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda and Terry Southern
Notable Cast:
Dennis Hopper - Billy
Peter Fonda - Wyatt
Jack Nicholson - George (young Jack Nicholson looks similar to Walter Goggins known for Justified and Vice Principals)
Family Connections:
Peter Fonda (Henry’s son)
Bridget Fonda (Peter’s daughter)
Jane Fonda (Henry’s daughter)
Henry Fonda (was featured in episode #1: 12 Angry Men)
American Chopper was a television documentary series that aired on the Discovery Channel
Top Gear (BBC) aired an episode (series 9 - episode #3) where the hosts had a dangerous encounter in the American south.
Training Day (starring Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke) was another movie with a weird drug scene.
Requiem for a Dream was another movie with many weird drug scenes.
Mad Men (season 5 episode 6 - Far Away Places) featured Roger and Jane Sterling take LSD
Trail Magic is a hiking tradition of doing charity unto others
Music that we mention (not necessarily in the movie):
Wasn’t Born to Follow - The Byrds
Signs - Five Man Electrical Band
Slow Ride - Foghat (written in 1975)
Product placements:
Sunday Sep 10, 2017
Sunday Sep 10, 2017
In episode #8 we discuss our second Terry Gilliam movie: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Raoul Duke and his Samoan attorney Dr. Gonzo embark on a drug-filled trip through Las Vegas. Based on the story by Hunter S. Thompson, starring Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro.
SHOWNOTES
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Criterion Collection
Directed by Terry Gilliam (who also directed Brazil which we discussed in episode #4).
Terry Gilliam also directed the movie Twelve Monkeys
Based on the Novel by Hunter S. Thompson which itself began as a two-part series in Rolling Stone magazine
Notable Cast:
Johnny Depp also appeared in:
The Rum Diary (not Rum Punch) - was another movie based on a Hunter S. Thompson novel
Pirates of The Caribbean (where he based his character on Keith Richards)
Tobey was made up in a similar manner to Chris Elliott (who appeared in There’s Something About Mary and Groundhog Day)
Also starred in The Cider House Rules with Charlize Theron
Gary Busey also appeared in Rookie of The Year
Flea (from the Red Hot Chili Peppers)
Katherine Helmond (appeared in Who’s The Boss and Brazil)
David Brisbin (appeared in Hey Dude on Nickelodeon)
Raiders of the Lost Ark was originally rated PG
The Royal Tenenbaums was rated R (which we discussed in episode #6)
Powder (produced by Disney) was rated PG-13
The Journey of Natty Gann was rated PG (even though it featured dog fighting)
The Hangover was another drug-filled Las Vegas based movie
Vegas Vacation also featured some sketchy Las Vegas casinos
Adaptation was another movie based on a writer (Charlie Kaufman)
Music:
White Rabbit - Jefferson Airplane
Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again - Bob Dylan
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Hollyridge Strings (Originally by The Beatles)
Viva Las Vegas - The Dead Kennedys
One Toke Over The Line video from the Lawrence Welk Show. (Originally by Brewer & Shipley)
Justified (FX television series) was based on the short story Fire In The Hole by Elmore Leonard