Special Report: Dune (2021)

Guest Co-Host: Chris Stachiw

As a cross-over with The Kulturecast, Chris Stachiw joins Mike to discuss Denis Villeneuve's Dune (2021), a rather dour, joyless adaptation of Frank Herbert's seminal sprawling sci-fi story. The film stars Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides, a young man who is seen as a savior by the native people of Arrakis, also known as Dune.

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Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Dune by Frank Herbert

Music:
"Rotorblade" - Juno Reactor

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Episode 543: The Mephisto Waltz (1971)

Special Guest: Jacqueline Bisset
Guest Co-Hosts: Rahne Alexander, Andrew Nette

#Shocktober2021 continues with a look at Paul Wendkos’s The Mephisto Waltz (1971). Based on the novel by Fred Mustard Stewart, the film stars Alan Alda as Myles Clarkson, a pianist turned author along with Jacqueline Bisset as Myles’s wife Paula who isn’t a big fan of Myles’s new friend, the crotchety professional pianist Duncan Ely (Curd Jürgens), who harbors a dark secret.

Rahne Alexander and Andrew Nette join Mike to discuss the film, its similarities to Rosemary's Baby, and how this and other supernatural flicks paved the way to the '80s "satanic panic".

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Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy The Mephisto Waltz on Blu-Ray
Buy The Mephisto Waltz by Fred Mustard Stewart
Buy The Mephisto Waltz soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith

Music:
"A New Miles" - Jerry Goldsmith
"The Mephisto Waltz" - Franz Lizst

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This episode was brought you by Storyblocks

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Special Report: Lynne Sachs

Special Guests: Lynne Sachs

Mike spoke with filmmaker Lynne Sachs about her career including an octet of films that are currently showing on The Criterion Channel.

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Music:
"Figure and I" - Kristine Leschper

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Lynne Sachs intro for "Film About a Father Who" at the Vancouver Cinemtheque from Lynne Sachs on Vimeo.

Episode 542: Witching & Bitching (2013)

Guest Co-Hosts: Elena Romea, Andrew Leavold

#Shocktober2021 continues with a look at Álex de la Iglesia’s 2013 film Witching & Bitching (AKA Las brujas de Zugarramurdi). It’s the story of two men (Hugo Silva and Mario Cassas) who rob a gold re-buyer along with one of the men’s sons. On the run from the cops they cross paths with a trio of witches in the spooky village of Zagurramurdi. Chaos ensues.

Elena Romea (Spanish Fear) and Andrew Leavold (Trash Video Archives) join Mike to discuss this and many other of de la Iglesia's films.

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Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Witching & Bitching on Blu-Ray

Music:
"The Getaway" - Joan Valent

Sponsor:
This episode was brought you by Storyblocks

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Episode 541: Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla (1952)

Special Guests: Michael Barrie, Gary D. Rhodes
Guest Co-Hosts: Fredde Duke, Richard Whitley, Jamie Klein

We are kicking off Shocktober 2021 with a look at William Beaudine’s Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla (1952) which stars Bela Lugosi (as you may have guessed) as well as comedy duo Sammy Petrillo and Duke Mitchell. They’re a knock-off Martin & Lewis team and they’re found on a little island in the Pacific that is populated by stock footage of African animals.

Rich Whitley, Jamie Klein, and Fredde Duke join Mike to discuss the film as well as Fredde's documentary about her father, producer Maurice Duke, Fuck 'Em. Screenwriter Michael Barrie also stops by as well.

Mike also speaks with writer Gary D. Rhodes about his work including his latest two-volume set, Becoming Dracula: The Early Years of Bela Lugosi.

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Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla on DVD
Buy Shangri-La from Something Weird Video

Music:
"It's Too Soon to Know" - Duke Mitchell

Sponsor:
This episode was brought you by Storyblocks

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Episode 540: Capricious Summer (1968)

Guest Co-Hosts: Jonathan Owen, Kat Ellinger

We’re wrapping up Czechtember 2021 with a look at Jiri Menzel’s Capricious Summer. Released in 1968, it’s based on a book by Vladislav Vancura and tells the story of three men on holiday who spend most of their time philosophizing and avoiding one woman while trying to woo another and getting nowhere.

Kat Ellinger and Jonathan Owen join Mike to discuss the film.

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Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Capricious Summer as part of the Pearls of the Czech New Wave set
Buy Capricious Summer on DVD

Music:
"Hot Fun In The Summertime" - Sly and the Family Stone

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Episode 539: Oil Lamps (1971)

Guest Co-Hosts: Jonathan Owen, Kat Ellinger

Kat Ellinger and Jonathan Owen join Mike to discuss Juraj Herz's Oil Lamps (1971), a tragic fin de siecle melodrama about the Stepa Kilianova (Iva Janzurová) and her husband Pavel (Petr Cepak), a former solider who suffers from syphilis.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Oil Lamps on DVD

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Music:
"Sad Times" - Lubos Fiser

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Episode 538: What Would You Say to a Nice Plate of Spinach? (1977)

Guest Co-Hosts: Jonathan Owen, Ben Buckingham

We continue Czechtember 2021 with our second Václav Vorlícek film this month, How About Some Spinach? (AKA Coz takhle dát si spenát). It’s the story of two nogoodniks Jaroslav Zemánek (Vladimír Mensík) and Frantisek Liska (Jirí Sovák). They’re arrested for trying to steal some alcohol only to get out and get involved in some corporate espionage around a wondrous machine that can make creatures younger or older and can shrink them as well. However, it has a bug that causes unexpected results when the creature has recently ingested spinach.

Ben Buckingham and Jonathan Owen join Mike to talk about this wonderfully oddball film.

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Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy A Nice Plate of Spinach on DVD

Music:
"Coz takhle dat si spenat?" - Maxim Turbulenc

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