Episode 445: The Creation of the Humanoids (1960)

Guest Co-Hosts: Jennifer Handorf, Dan Martin

Sci-Fi December continues with a look at The Creation of the Humanoids. Copyrighted 1960, the film was directed by Wesley Barry and written by Jay Simms. It plays like a stage play about a post-Apocalyptic world in which androids are a large part of society and human beings fear being replaced by them.

Jennifer Handorf and Dan Martin join Mike to discuss the film, science fiction as allegory, and intentional versus accidental genius.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 445: Creation of the Humanoids (1960)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Buy The Creation of the Humanoids on DVD
Read Intonation, Please: The Creation of the Humanoids by Chris Fujiwara (PDF)

Music:
"Robots" - Flight of the Conchords

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Episode 444: The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)

Special Guests: Candy Clark, Samuel J. Umland, Susan Compo
Guest Co-Hosts: Skizz Cyzyk, Samm Deighan

We kick off Sci-Fi December with a look at Nicolas Roeg's The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976). Based on the book by Walter Tevis, the film stars David Bowie as Thomas Jerome Newton, a strange man who appears in the office of a patent attorney (Buck Henry) with some big ideas that help him start on the road to untold wealth. Along the way he meets colorful characters such as hotel worker Mary Lou (Candy Clark) and lascivious college professor Bryce (Rip Torn).

Samm Deighan and Skizz Cyzyk join Mike to discuss the film and its made-for-TV remake. The episode includes interviews with authors Sam Umland (The Man Who Fell to Earth) and Susan Compo (Earthbound: David Bowie and the Man Who Fell to Earth). This episode also includes the conclusion of our interview with actress Candy Clark.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 444: The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Buy The Man Who Fell to Earth on Blu-Ray
Buy The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis
Buy The Man Who Fell to Earth soundtrack

Music:
"Space Capsule" - John Phillips
"Subterraneans" - David Bowie
"Warszawa" - David Bowie
"Lazarus" - David Bowie
"Rocket Man" - William Shatner
"Bowie" - Flight of the Conchords

Watch:

David Bowie is The Man Who Fell to Earth • Documentary 2017 from Nacho's Productions on Vimeo.

Special Report: Stewart Buck on Uncovering Wolfen

Special Guest: Stew Buck

On this special episode Mike talks to Stew Buck, the writer/director/producer of a pair of upcoming documentaries -- A World War II Fairy Tale: The Making of Michael Mann's "The Keep" and Uncovering Wolfen.

View the teaser video for Uncovering Wolfen.

Listen to our Wolfen episode.

Music:
"The Hungry Wolf" - X

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Listen to "Special Report: Stew Buck on Uncovering Wolfen" on Spreaker.

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Episode 443: Double Indemnity (1944)

Guest Co-Hosts: Kat Ellinger, Keith Gordon

Noirvember 2019 wraps up with Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity (1944). With a screenplay co-written by Wilder and Raymond Chandler and based on a story by James M. Cain, the film is one of the seminal works of film noir. It stars Fred MacMurray as fast-talking Walter Neff, an insurance agent who gets played for a dope by a dame. The dame in question, Phyllis Dietrichson, is played by the one and only Barbara Stanwyck. The two cook up an insurance scam to pay off big after they bump off her husband.

Keith Gordon and Kat Ellinger join Mike to discuss Double Indemnity, its 1973 TV remake, the adult adaptation Eruption (1977), Body Heat (1981), and the Body Heat/Double Indemnity mash-up, Jism (2003).

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 443: Double Indemnity (1944)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Buy Double Indemnity on Blu-Ray
Buy Double Indemnity by James M. Cain
Buy Body Heat on Blu-Ray
Buy Jism on DVD
Read more about Dispatches from Elsewhere

Music:
Soundtrack by Miklos Rosza

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Episode 442: The Conversation (1974)

Guest Co-Hosts: Vincenzo Natali, Jamey Duvall

Noirvember 2019 continues with a look at The Conversation (1974). Sandwiched between the first two Godfather films, The Conversation is writer/director Francis Ford Coppola’s paean to European art films of the 1960s, most notably Antonioni’s Blow-Up.

Instead of swinging London, however, The Conversation is set in San Francisco and stars Gene Hackman as Harry Caul, a schlubby nudnik whose life revolves around audio surveillance, his own privacy, and violating the privacy of others.

Vincenzo Natali (In the Tall Grass) and Jamey Duvall (Movie Geeks United) join Mike to discuss the film and its spiritual sequel Enemy of the State (1998).

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 442: The Conversation (1974)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Buy The Conversation on Blu-Ray
Buy The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film by Michael Ondaatje
Buy In the Blink of an Eye: A Perspective on Film Editing by Walter Murch

Music:
"The Conversation" - Twilight Singers

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Special Report: Overwhelm the Sky (2019)

Special Guests: Daniel Kremer, Alexander Hero

Daniel Kremer returns to the Projection Booth as a director rather than a co-host with a discussion of his film Overwhelm the Sky (2019) along with the film's lead actor, Alexander Hero.

Links:
Be sure to LIKE Overwhelm the Sky on Facebook
Visit the Bricolage Films website

Music:
"Sleepwalker" - The Kinks

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Special Report: Overwhelm the Sky (2019)" on Spreaker.

Watch:

Official Trailer: Overwhelm the Sky (2019) from Daniel Kremer on Vimeo.

Episode 441: The Reckless Moment (1949)

Special Guest: Lutz Bacher
Guest Co-Hosts: Samm Deighan, Cullen Gallagher

We continue Noirvember 2019 with a look at Max Ophüls's The Reckless Moment (1949) which tells the story of Lucia Harper (Joan Bennett), a mother who’s out to protect her family from the forces of evil including Ted Darby, a swindler who’s making moves on her 17 year old daughter. Mrs. Harper will go to extremes to keep her family safe.

Cullen Gallagher and Samm Deighan join Mike to discuss the film and swoon over star James Mason. Our interview this week is with Lutz Bacher, author of Max Ophuls in the Hollywood Studios.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 441: The Reckless Moment (1949)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Buy The Reckless Moment on Blu-Ray
Buy The Blank Wall by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding
Read Woody Haut's poem about The Reckless Moment

Music:
"Reckless" - Tilly and the Wall

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Episode 440: The Big Combo (1955)

Guest Co-Hosts: Jedidiah Ayres, Brian Hoyle

We kick-off Noirvember 2019 with a look at Joseph H. Lewis’s The Big Combo (1955). Written by Philip Yordan, the film stars Cornel Wilde as Lt. Leonard Diamond. He’s a cop with a soft spot for Susan Lowell (Jean Wallace), the main squeeze of Mr. Brown (Richard Conte). Diamond and Brown play a strange game of cat and mouse as Diamond seems to pursue justice while Brown is a psychopathic thug who thinks he’s anything but.

Jedidiah Ayres and Brian Hoyle join Mike to discuss the film and posit just what that big combo of the title can mean.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 440: The Big Combo (1955)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Buy The Big Combo on Blu-Ray
Read about Philip Yordan [PDF]

Music:
Shorty Rodgers & His Giants

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