029 Delicatessen by Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Unlike the depressing Cormac McCarthy adaption of The Road, 1991's Delicatessen is a a post-apocalyptic cannibal movie that caters to a wider audience. Jean-Pierre Jeunet would go on to direct The City of Lost Children and Amelie, garnering more praise for his Gilliam-esque style, but with Delicatessen he burnished his quirky chops with this off-beat cult classic. Matt and Mark attempt a deeper discussion regarding vegetarianism vs carnivorism, but instead get mired in the bizarre notions of cultural delicacies.

Download: 029 Delicatessen by Jean-Pierre Jeunet

028 Dead Alive by Peter Jackson

We indulge a little of Peter "Action" Jackson's earlier works this week on the podcast when we review his zombie comedy-horror film Dead Alive, released in 1993. Matt and Mark speculate how the Oscar winning director of the Lord of the Rings films got from homicidal rat-monkeys and zombie-babies to Gandalf and Frodo. Strangely, we come to the conclusion that it wasn't too great a leap. Emulating the style of Evil Dead director Sam Ramie, we're treated to splatter-fest of hilarious proportions. Enjoy!

Download: 028 Dead Alive by Peter Jackson

027 Gattaca by Andrew Niccol

Another means to keep the haves and the have-nots separate, or a Brave New World? Matt and Mark discuss the near-future world of Andrew Niccol's Gattaca, released in 1997, starring Uma Thurman, Ethan Hawke, and Jude Law. Mark takes the libertarian transhumanist stand while Matt remains a bleeding heart skeptic. Is it human nature to defy human nature? The answer is probably yes. Enjoy!

Download: 027 Gattaca by Andrew Niccol

026 Risky Business by Paul Brickman

WTF! This week we review the 1983 classic Risky Business by Paul Brickman, starring pre-Scientology Tom Cruise and the stunning beauty Rebecca De Mornay. With recent news of TomKat's newly announced divorce, we couldn't help but get sidetracked into the Tom Cruise enigma (always entertainment blog-fodder). But despite his couch-jumping strangeness, Cruise is a most excellent actor and delivers up a nuanced and efficient performance as the Princeton-bound Joel Goodson. With near perfect dialogue, Risky Business is an 80's teen movie that sets the bar incredibly high, casting shadows over all future films in the genre. Enjoy!

Download: 026 Risky Business by Paul Brickman

025 Time Bandits by Terry Gilliam

"Evil apparently has something to do with freewill" so goes the Supreme Being's nebulous rational for his creation in the 1981 classic Time Bandits. Matt and Mark explore the richness of Terry Gilliam's cinematic palette as we indulge a kid's movie that transcends the genre, all the while sneering at the absurdity of adulthood and its materialistic trappings. Backed by a few of the Pythons (John Cleese and Michael Palin) and starring the talents of Sean Connery, David Warner, and Ian Holm, Time Bandits lays the groundwork for Gilliam's quirky future filmography. Enjoy!   

Download: 025 Time Bandits by Terry Gilliam

024 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly by Sergio Leone

One bastard goes in, another comes out. Like an exercise in game theory, Matt and Mark delve into Sergio Leone's classic The Good, the Bad and the Ugly released in 1966, starring Clint Eastwood in his defining role as "Blondie" (aka the Man with No Name). Taking typical western tropes and turning them on their head, we're treated to a post-modern recycling of the well-trod American western. TGTBATU legitimized the much denigrated spaghetti western into high art, raising the bar, and in doing so, usurping the genre it pays homage to. Enjoy!

Download:  024 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly by Sergio Leone

023 Sorcerer by William Friedkin

Matt and Mark return from our Scottish sojourn! This week we review the strangely titled Sorcerer by 70's power-director William Friedkin and starring Roy Scheider. A remake of the 1953 classic Wages of Fear (which we both have not seen), we can only speculate as to whether or not it achieves the homage Friedkin was going for. As far as tension goes, the simplicity of the concept is second-to-none in cinema. Themes of fate-versus-freewill are hinted at in a story about deliverance, not necessarily out of Hell, but out of Purgatory. Enjoy!

Download: 023 Sorcerer by William Friedkin