Join co-hosts Andy J Ritchie and Donnchadh Tiernan as we watch and discuss 2 films decided by the toss of a coin.
Episodes
Monday Jan 18, 2021
Monday Jan 18, 2021
This week we discuss two films from acclaimed Australian director Peter Weir released in the 1980s.
The first is The Year of Living Dangerously (1982), which gives a semi-fictionalised insight into some of the events leading up to the attempted communist coup in Indonesia in 1965.
The second is The Mosquito Coast (1986), based on the novel by travel writer Paul Theroux, which follows Harrison Ford as a troubled genius inventor who leads his family into peril in the jungles of Central America.
Timestamps
The Year of Living Dangerously (00:11:20)
The Mosquito Coast (00:50:45)
Links
Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links
Whores of Leith
Monday Jan 11, 2021
Monday Jan 11, 2021
This week we discuss the filmography of genre director S. Craig Zahler and delve into all 3 of his films in chronological order.
The first is Bone Tomahawk (2015), a gritty, ultraviolent western where a group of cowboys and lawmen face off against a bloody-thirsty tribe of cave-dwelling mutants.
The second is Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017), an even grittier and more ultraviolent tale of a man who fights his way through 2 prisons worth of guards and thugs.
The third is Dragged Across Concrete (2018), a buddy cop heist film with the slow pacing of a novel. Grittiness and ultraviolence also feature.
Timestamps
Bone Tomahawk (00:11:05)
Brawl in Cell Block 99 (00:54:30)
Dragged Across Concrete (01:02:15)
Links
Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links
Scroobius Pip / S. Craig Zahler Podcast
The Making of Bone Tomahawk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEDPbOeupEE
Scott Tobias Article – The Director Who Doesn’t Care What You Think of His Movies
Monday Jan 04, 2021
Monday Jan 04, 2021
This week we discuss two Mike Leigh period films which examine vastly different areas of British culture.
The first is Topsy Turvy (1999), which depicts Gilbert and Sullivan’s tumultuous creative process in bringing their acclaimed operetta, The Mikado, to the stage.
The second is Vera Drake (2004), a hard-hitting look into the life of a working-class housewife in 1950s London who performs backstreet abortions.
Timestamps
Topsy Turvy (00:07:25)
Vera Drake (00:42:35)
Links
Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links
A Deadly Trade – Jennifer Worth
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2005/jan/06/health.healthandwellbeing
Arab Strap – Pro Your Life
A Sense of History (Mike Leigh, 1992)
Monday Dec 28, 2020
Monday Dec 28, 2020
This week we discuss two works of imagination from the 70s and 80s.
The first is Zardoz, John Boorman’s 1974 follow up to the very successful Deliverance. In contrast to the film which preceded it, Zardoz was not well received by viewers or critics of the time.
The second is Time Bandits, a 1981 fantasy adventure from Terry Gilliam and fellow python Michael Palin. An early entry in Gilliam’s directorial career, Time Bandits bears all the hallmarks of his surrealist take on the world.
Timestamps
Zardoz (00:00:50)
Time Bandits (00:36:10)
Links
Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links
Monday Dec 21, 2020
Monday Dec 21, 2020
This week we go back to the 1970s for 2 films from American filmmaker Michael Ritchie.
The first is The Bad News Bears, a 1976 baseball comedy that set the blueprint for a lot of films to follow. An alcoholic coach, played by Walter Matthau, has to corral a group of young misfits and mould them into a winning team.
The second is The Candidate, a 1972 political comedy drama that leans far more to the drama side of things. This film, starring Robert Redford, won the academy award for best original screenplay in 1973.
Timestamps
The Bad News Bears (00:00:50)
The Candidate (00:31:25)
Links
Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links
Monday Dec 14, 2020
Monday Dec 14, 2020
This week sees a return to Scandinavia as we take on 2 highly acclaimed Swedish films.
The first is Fanny and Alexander, the 1982 film which marked the end of Ingmar Bergman’s illustrious career as a director. This period drama gives an insight both into how Swedish high society lived at the start of the 20th century, and into some of the issues Bergman faced in his relationship with his father.
The second is Let the Right One In, Tomas Alfredson’s 2008 romantic horror story about a young boy and the vampire he falls in love with. The film is an adaptation of the 2004 novel of the same title by John Ajvide Lindqvist.
Timestamps
Fanny and Alexander (00:07:05)
Let the Right One In (00:42:40)
Links
Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links
Monday Dec 07, 2020
Monday Dec 07, 2020
This week, we watched two horror films produced by Netflix. In both cases, the streaming giant gave their talented, up-and-coming directors carte blanche and complete creative control. The results were mixed.
The first is Apostle, Gareth Evans’s 2018 period horror, a big departure from the Indonesian martial arts films with which he built his reputation.
The second is Gerald’s Game, Mike Flanagan’s 2017 attempt to adapt a Stephen King novel previously thought to be unfilmable.
Both films can be found worldwide on Netflix.
Timestamps
Apostle (00:00:45)
Gerald’s Game (00:42:00)
Monday Nov 30, 2020
Monday Nov 30, 2020
This week we watched two frankly outstanding, critically acclaimed dramas showing two completely different sides of the Middle East.
The first is Incendies, Denis Villeneuve’s 2010 harrowing tale of twins who journey to an unnamed Middle Eastern country to learn more about their late mother’s life.
The second is A Separation, Asghar Farhadi’s 2011 Oscar-winning courtroom drama, which gives the viewer a fascinating insight into the lives of a middle-class couple in Iran as they go through a divorce.
Timestamps
Incendies (00:00:45)
A Separation (00:57:00)
Links
Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links
Monday Nov 23, 2020
Monday Nov 23, 2020
Thankfully back to narrative features this week, and very good ones no less, as we dip into the 1970s for a couple of Oscar-nominated thrillers.
The first is The Conversation, Francis Ford Coppola’s 1974 slow-burn surveillance tale, starring Gene Hackman.
The second is Klute, Alan J Pakula’s 1971 starting point to his paranoia trilogy, starring Donald Sutherland and Jane Fonda.
Timestamps
The Conversation (00:00:45)
Klute (00:53:15)
Links
The Orb – Fluffy Little Clouds
Considering Cazale
Jane Fonda Oscar Speech
Wild Mountain Thyme Trailer
Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links
Monday Nov 16, 2020
Monday Nov 16, 2020
It’s a weird one this week, with 2 unconventional documentaries from the 2000s.
The first is 2003’s Windy City Heat, an elaborate practical joke played on an unwitting LA open micer, directed by comedy legend Bobcat Goldthwait.
The second is 2007’s My Winnipeg, Guy Maddin’s surrealist reflection on his hometown.
Timestamps
Windy City Heat (00:00:45)
My Winnipeg (00:49:30)
Links
Windy City Heat
John Spillane
https://www.youtube.com/user/spillanejohn0910
Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links