Special Guests: Dennis Christopher, Irwin Yablans, Craig Safan, Tim Thomerson Guest Co-Hosts: Heather Drain, Bill Ackerman
Shocktober 2019 continues with a look at the 1980 film from director Vernon Zimmerman, Fade to Black. The film stars Dennis Christopher as Eric Binford, a youth who spends too much of his time watching and obsessing about movies. Unfortunately, Eric's a little mentally unstable thanks in part to his family which consists of his harridan Aunt Stella (Eve Brent).
Special Guests: Jeff Werner, Carel Struycken Guest Co-Hosts: David Kittredge, Maurice Bursztynski
On this special episode, Maurice Bursztynski and David Kittredge join Mike to discuss the 1980 film from director Jeff Werner, Die Laughing. The film stars Robby Benson as Pinsky, a cab driver who is also an aspiring rock star. As most cab drivers do, he inadvertently gets mixed up in a web of international intrigue.
Director Jeff Werner and actor Carel Struycken discuss the behind-the-scenes of this unusual spy thriller comedy.
Music:
Grease Paint And Monkey Brains - White Zombie
Hot Rod Monkey - James Kochalka Superstar
Mr. Weinstein's Barber Shop - Robby Benson (and Rush Hour)
All I Want Is Love - Robby Benson (and Rush Hour)
Special Guest: Sarah Juliet Lauro Guest Co-Hosts: Patrick Bromley, Dahlia Schweitzer
Dahlia Schweitzer and Patrick Bromley join Mike to kick off #Shocktober2019 with a look at Marc Foster's World War Z (2013). It's not necessarily based on Max Brooks's book of the same name though he gets a credit at the beginning. It’s a zombie apocalypse film starring Brad Pitt that takes Pitt around the world looking for the cause of and cure for a zombie plague.
On this special episode of The Projection Booth, Kevin Heffernan and Samm Deighan join Mike to discuss Milos Forman's Loves of a Blonde (1966). A mix of professional and non-professional actors, the film tells the tale of Andula (Hana Brejchová), one of hundreds of women that work in a factory who is introduced to an "eligible male" via a government-sponsored dance.
The track was originally produced for Second Run as the audio commentary for their A Blonde in Love blu-ray release.
We conclude Czechtember 2019 with a look at Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos’s The Shop on High Street. Also known as The Shop on High Street, the film was released in 1965 and written by
Ladislav Grosman, based on his own story and book. The film tells the tale of Tono (Jozef Kroner), a carpenter who has been refused from working on his little town’s major building project. Instead, he’s assigned to be the Aryan face of a Jewish shop run currently by Mrs. Lautman (Ida Kamińska), a nearly deaf and partially blind widow.
Jonathan Owen joins Mike to discuss this heart-wrenching story.
D. Harlan Wilson discusses his book from the University of Illinois Press, J.G. Ballard. Part of the Masters of Modern Science Fiction series, Prof. Wilson provides a look at Ballard's literary career as well as some of the adaptations of his work for the cinema.
Czechtember 2019 continues with a look at Jaromil Jireš’s The Joke . Shot in 1968 and released in 1969, the film was adapted by Jires and Milan Kundera, the author of the book of the same name. It tells the tale of Ludvik (Josef Somr) who was ousted from the Communist party after the youthful indiscretion of making a joke. He spends the rest of his life feeling the effects of this including hatching a plan for revenge on the university student who ousted him that takes 15 years to fulfill.
Special Guests: Dennis Christopher, Irwin Yablans, Craig Safan, Tim Thomerson
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On this Ego Fest, Mike talks about the 2020 schedule, gets some advice which he quickly ignores, and answers some listener questions.