Special Report: Inspector Ike (2020)

Special Guests: Graham Mason, Ikechukwu Ufomadu

On this special report, Mike spoke with director Graham Mason and star Ikechukwu Ufomadu about their 2020 film Inspector Ike, one of the best films of 2022 and a must-watch for "Columbo" fans.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Inspector Ike on Blu-Ray

Music:
"Columbo" - Tredici Bacci

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Special Report: Inspector Ike (2022)" on Spreaker.

Watch:

Inspector Ike Trailer from Factory 25 on Vimeo.

Episde 583: Black Lizard (1962)

Special Guest: Earl Jackson
Guest Co-Hosts: Carol Borden, Samm Deighan

Carol Borden (The Cultural Gutter) and Samm Deighan (Twitch of the Death Nerve) join Mike to discuss two adaptations of Edogawa Rampo's Kurotokage. The 1962 was adapted by Kaneto Shindô and directed by Umetsugu Inoue while the 1968 was adapted by Masashige Narusawa and directed by Kinji Fukasaku. Both were based on the stage play version by Yukio Mishima.

Professor Earl Jackson discusses the strange bedfellows behind these amazing films about a criminal mastermind who squares off against the Japanese Sherlock Holmes.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episde 583: Black Lizard (1962)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Kurotokage (1962) on DVD
Watch Black Lizard (1968) on YouTube
Buy Black Lizard by Edogawa Rampo
Visit the official Miwa website

Music:
Black Lizard's Song - Toshirô Mayuzumi
"Song of the Black Lizard" - Pink Martini

Watch:

Kurotokage (Black Lizard) 1962 from John Hanlon on Vimeo.

Episode 582: Morons from Outer Space (1985)

Special Guest: Griff Rhys Jones
Guest Co-Hosts: Jon Spira, Cecil Trachenburg

We conclude Sci-Fi July with a look at Mike Hodges’s Morons from Outer Space (1985). Written by Griff Rhys Jones and Mel Smith, the film tells the tale of a quartet of less-than-bright intergalactic travelers who crash land on Earth. The film lampoons the idea that we of Earth may be visited by beings from outer space only to find that they’re not as enlightened as we’d fancy them to be.

Cecil Trachenburg and Jon Spira join Mike to laud the film while Griff Rhys Jones discusses how disappointing he found the experience.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 582: Morons from Outer Space (1985)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Morons from Outer Space on DVD
Buy The Forgotten Film Club Book 1: Morons from Outer Space by Jon Spira

Music:
"Morons From Outer Space" The Morons

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Episode 581: The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)

Guest Co-Hosts: Emily Intravia, John Atom

We continue Sci-Fi July with a look at Jack Arnold’s The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957). Based on the book by, and adapted by, Richard Matheson, the film tells the story of Scott Carey (Grant Williams), a man who goes through a mysterious fog bank on the ocean only to find that it’s caused his body to inexplicably shrink.

John Atom and Emily Intravia join Mike to discuss the film and its 1981 remake, The Incredible Shrinking Woman.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 581: The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy The Incredible Shrinking Man on Blu-Ray
Buy The Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson
Buy The Incredible Shrinking Woman on BLu-Ray
Hear Mike talk about Safe and The Incredible Shrinking Woman
Read about the Nebula awards ballot controversy
Visit the Feminine Critique podcast
Visit the Heroic Purgatory podcast

Music:
"Five Foot One" - Iggy Pop
"Galaxy Glue" - Linda November

Watch:

Episode 580: Code 46 (2003)

Special Guests: Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Andrew Eaton
Guest Co-Hosts: Jedidiah Ayres, Dylan Davis

Directed by Michael Winterbottom, written by Frank Cottrell-Boyce, and produced by Andrew Eaton, Code 46 (2003) stars Tim Robbins as William Geld, a fraud investigator who travels to Shanghai to interview the employees of The Sphinx, a company that produces letters of transit. Meanwhile, Samantha Morton plays Maria Gonzalez, the forger of these papers. The two have a connection... a very deep connection... which will eventually doom their relationship.

Jedidiah Ayres and Dylan Davis join Mike to discuss this interesting science fiction tale.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 580: Code 46 (2003)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Code 46 on Blu-Ray
Buy The Cinema of Michael Winterbottom: Borders, Intimacy, Terror by Bruce Bennett

Music:
All music from the Code 46 soundtrack

Watch:

Episode 579: Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

Special Guests: Alan Dean Foster, Jon Povill, Walter Koenig
Guest Co-Hosts: A.J. Black, Trevor Gumbel

Sci Fi July begins with the first entry in the Star Trek film franchise, Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). After a decade without a live-action version of Star Trek the crew reunite to embark on a very familiar mission: a Gene Roddenberry special where a god-like creature judges humanity to be lacking.

Our episode features interviews with story writer Alan Dean Foster, associate producer Jon Povill, and actor Walter Koenig.

A.J. Black and Trevor Gumbel join Mike to discuss the unusual path to the big screen the film took as well as how it forges a link between "TOS" and "TNG".

Correction: It was Star Trek: Voyager that lead UPN, not Star Trek: The Next Generation (which was syndicated).

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 579: Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)" on Spreaker.

More Alan Dean Foster:

The Projection Booth · Alan Dean Foster Bonus Interview

Episode 78: Star Trek II

Listen to "Episode 78: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Star Trek: The Motion Picture 4K
Buy The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture by Susan Sackett & Gene Roddenberry
Buy Chekov's Enterprise: A Personal Journal of the Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture by Walter Koenig Buy Beaming Up and Getting Off: Life Before and Beyond Star Trek by Walter Koenig
Buy These Are the Voyages: Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek in the 1970s, Volume 3 (1978-1980) by Marc Cushman
Buy Return to Tomorrow: The Filming of Star Trek - The Motion Picture by Preston Neal Jones
Buy Star Trek: The Motion Picture: The Art and Visual Effects by Jeff Bond
Buy Star Trek, History and Us: Reflections of the Present and Past Throughout the Franchise by A.J. Black
Read about The Star Trek Happy Meal
Read about the differences between the versions of Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Music:
All Music From Star Trek: The Motion Picture Original Soundtrack Remastered & Expanded by Jerry Goldsmith

Watch:

Star Trek: Legacy from Patrick Collins on Vimeo.

Rankin on Bass: The Bushido Blade (1981)

Special Guests: Benni Korzen, Mike Starr
Co-Hosts: Chris Stachiw, Richard Hatem

The Rankin on Bass podcast is still going strong so I wanted to share our most recent episode with Projection Booth listeners:

On episode 21 of the Rankin on Bass podcast we're discussing "Tom" Kotani's The Bushido Blade (1981). Written by William Overgard, it's the fictionalized account of Commodore Perry (Richard Boone) and his crew making a treaty with Japan. The film fractures into essentially three storylines featuring Frank Converse, Timothy Patrick Murphy, and Mike Starr in his first film role.

Interviews include a snippet of an earlier interview with Starr as well as a new interview with producer Benni Korzen who worked on the live action Rankin & Bass pictures going all the way back to The Enchanted World of Danny Kaye.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 21: The Bushido Blade (1981)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Subscribe to the Rankin on Bass podcast
Buy The Bushido Blade on DVD
Follow Annie Korzen on TikTok

Music:
All music by The Great Octopus

Watch:

Episode 578: Whoops Apocalypse (1986)

Special Guests: David Renwick, Brian Eastman
Guest Co-Hosts: Josh Hadley, Mike Sullivan

Mike Sullivan and Josh Hadley join Mike to discuss the 1986 comedy Whoops Apocalypse. Loosely based on the 1982 British TV series of the same name, it’s a story of chicanery and political intrigue centered on the obscure and fictional British territory of Santa Maya. A power struggle around this small island leads to heightened tensions between the UK, US, and USSR.

Producer Brian Eastman and co-writer David Renwick discuss the mini-series and feature versions of Whoops Apocalypse.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 578: Whoops Apocalypse (1986)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Whoops Apocalypse on Blu-Ray
Buy Whoops Apocalypse - The TV Series on (Region 2) DVD
Buy the Whoops Apocalypse book
Visit the official Alexei Sayle website

Music:
"Party at Ground Zero" - Fishbone
"Land of Confusion" - Genesis
"Whoops Apocalypse" - John Otway

Watch: