042 Jacob's Ladder by Adrian Lyne

Take a ride down the ladder! A drug induced hallucination of a dying mind or a transcendent spiritual epiphany? Matt and Mark have slightly different takes on whether or not it matters in Adrian Lyne's disturbing Jacob's Ladder, released in 1990. Tim Robbins as Jacob Singer gives an evocative and melancholy performance in this unique psychological film about the dying process; like death itself, it is not easy to watch. Worthy of note is Lyne's use of "thalidomide" inspired visuals and body-horror to create the film's demonic imagery.

Download: 042 Jacob's Ladder by Adrian Lyne (Rebroadcast)

041 Clerks by Kevin Smith

Welcome to Dante's Inferno (actually more like Dante's Purgatory), a state of early twenties Gen-X career/life dislocation summed up by Kevin Smith's lead character in his directorial debut Clerks, released in 1994. Matt pines for a Kevin Smith filmography that was never destined to be, while Mark embraces the Kev Smith career of the here and now. Clerks exemplifies Smith's talent for conversation, and as a result, has pioneered the podcast format of which Matt and Mark are merely standing on the hockey jersey'd shoulders of giants.

Download: 041 Clerks by Kevin Smith (Rebroadcast)

040 Gojira (Godzilla) by Ishiro Honda

Reliving the Japanese A-bomb nightmare via cathartic "monster movie" therapy, Japanese director Ishiro Honda made the culturally significant Gojira in 1954, a mere 9 years after the nuclear devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (too soon?). While a silly movie, it's hard to deny its pop significance. Spawning 27 movie sequels, there just seems to be no end to the joy of seeing a guy in a foam rubber suit smashing up miniaturized cities. Gojira set a precedent for all disaster movies that followed, some better than others, some worse (Michael Bay, anyone?)

Download: 040 Gojira (Godzilla) by Ishiro Honda (Rebroadcast)

039 Straw Dogs by Sam Peckinpah

Perhaps our most controversial film review yet! This week we discuss Sam Peckinpah's 1971 masterpiece Straw Dogs starring Dustin Hoffman. Actually Matt and Mark don't see what all the fuss is about, while graphic, the depiction of violence and rape fits a context of the human animal that isn't necessarily distorted or exaggerated.  It's perhaps easy to view the events of the film through the lens of civilized man with all of modernity's prejudices, but once removed, what we're really viewing is a primal (and hated) truth.

Download: 039 Straw Dogs by Sam Peckinpah