The Projection Booth Podcast

February 1, 2023

Episode 607: Zerograd (1988)

Special Guest: Karen Shakhnazarov
Guest Co-Hosts: Samm Deighan, Alistair Pitts

We’re discussing the 1988 film from Karen Shakhnazarov, Zero City. The film stars Leonid Filatov as Aleksei Varakin, he’s from a Moscow Mechanical Plant and comes to a small town to meet with a man about air conditioners. He soon finds himself in an absurdist nightmare where he’s served a cake that looks like his own head by a chef who is not his father and commits suicide.

Samm Deighan and Alistair Pitts join Mike to talk about the film while director Karen Shakhnazarov provides more context to the making of the movie.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 607: Zerograd (1988)" on Spreaker.

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

Music:
"Rock Around the Clock" - Bill Haley & His Comets
"Город Зеро (2.0)" - Био

Watch:

January 30, 2023

Special Report: Seijun Suzuki Centennial

Special Guests: Will Carroll, Peter Tatara

Mike talks with Assistant Professor of Modern Japanese Cultural Studies at the University of Alberta and guest curator Will Carroll (Suzuki Seijun and Postwar Japanese Cinema) and Peter Tatara, the brand-new Director of Film at Japan Society and founder of Anime NYC about the Japan Society's Seijun Suzuki Centennial.

Celebrating 100 years of iconoclast director Seijun Suzuki (1923-2017), a singular force in Japanese cinema whose radical stylistic vision and unpredictable narratives shaped the B-movie genre, Japanese cinephilia and the political New Left, Japan Society and The Japan Foundation present Seijun Suzuki Centennial—a selection of six films from across the filmmaker’s nearly 60-film body of work, all on imported 35mm prints straight from Japan. Covering ground from his earliest yakuza feature (Satan’s Town) to his unbridled return to studio filmmaking after being blacklisted for 10 years (A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness) and his subsequent independent success (Kagero-za), this special series offers a rare glimpse into the core of Suzuki's creative genius.

The program runs Feb 3-10 at Japan Society. Find out more at https://japansociety.org/film/seijun-suzuki-centennial/

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Special Report: Seijun Suzuki Centennial" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Find out more about the program at JapanSociety.com

Music:
"Tokyo Drifter" theme

Watch:

January 25, 2023

Episode 609: The Plastic Dome of Norma Jean (1966)

Special Guest: Juleen Compton
Guest Co-Hosts: Richard Hatem, Jim Donahue

Released in 1966, Juleen Compton’s The Plastic Dome of Norma Jean stars Sharon Henesy as the titular Norma Jean. She’s an innocent and a clairvoyant who summons up a rock band to join her at her titular Plastic Dome, a large structure which comes to act like a tent in a holy revival.

Jim Donahue and Richard Hatem join Mike to discuss this formerly hard-to-find film while writer/director Juleen Compton discusses her career and struggles with Hollywood filmmaking.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 609: The Plastic Dome of Norma Jean (1966)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Cinematic Journeys: Two Films by Juleen Compton Stranded and The Plastic Dome of Norma Jean on Blu-Ray
Learn more about the Cinematic Journeys release

Music:
"Norma Jean's Theme" - Michel LeGrand
"Norma Jean" - The Dupress
"Poor Boy" - The Vacles

Watch:

The Plastic Dome Of Norma Jean from UCLA Film & Television Archive on Vimeo.

January 18, 2023

Episode 606: Orgazmo (1997)

Special Guests: Toddy Walters, Jason McHugh
Guest Co-Hosts: David Rodgers, Brad Jones

We’re confronting some of our biggest fears and learning that maybe what we’re running from... maybe we’re just running from ourselves. Yes, of course, we’re talking about Orgazmo. Released in 1997, the film was directed by and stars Trey Parker who plays Joe Young, a Mormon on his mission in the big bad city of Los Angeles where he happens upon a porn shoot and gets recruited to play an adult superhero, the titular Orgazmo.

David Rodgers and Brad Jones join Mike to discuss the movie while actress Toddy Walters and producer Jason McHugh talk about the making of Orgazmo (as well as the other early Parker/Stone films).

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 606: Orgazmo (1997)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Orgazmo on DVD
Buy the Orgazmo soundtrack on CD

Music:
"Yupper" - Trey Parker (Time Warped)
"Shpadoinkle" - Trey Parker
"Now You're A Man" - DVDA

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January 13, 2023

Special Report: Ego Fest XIII

Maurice Bursztynski joins Mike in the latest self-indulgent exercise in ego wherein Mike answers listener questions and goes off on meandering tangents.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Special Report: Ego Fest XIII" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth

Music:
"Ego Is Not a Dirty Word"- Slyhooks
"Sleigh Ride" - Leroy Anderson
"Bill Hill Theme" - The Touch soundtrack

Watch:

January 11, 2023

Episode 608: The Ice Pirates (1984)

Special Guests: Stewart Raffill, Bruce Vilanch
Guest Co-Hosts: Duane Swierczynski, Chris Stachiw

We’re discussing the 1984 film from Stewart Raffill, The Ice Pirates, which stars Robert Urich as Jason and Michael D. Rhodes as Roscoe. They’re two of titular Ice Pirates, intergalactic privateers who try to rob the ships of the Templars of their most precious cargo, Ice. Fresh water is at a premium and government overreach is at a maximum. Along with more of their crew and some really awful robots, the ice pirates cross paths with Mary Crosby as Princess Karina who eventually gives them a quest to find the mysterious Seventh Water where the water flows like wine...

Duane Swierczynski and Chris Stachiw join Mike to take a trip down memory lane with this film while writer/director Stewart Raffill and Bruce Vilanch shed light on the making of this space adventure/comedy.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 608: Ice Pirates (1984)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy The Ice Pirates on Blu-Ray

Music:
Ice Pirates Soundtrack by Bruce Broughton

Watch:

January 4, 2023

Episode 605: Eyes Wide Shut Redux

Special Guests: Nathan Abrams, Robert P. Kolker
Guest Co-Hosts: Matthew Asprey Gear, Rob St. Mary

On this special episode we’re revisiting a movie we talked about ten years ago, Eyes Wide Shut (1999). The final film from director Stanley Kubrick, we’re checking in on the film some 23 years after its release. We’ll be discussing the film, an interesting fan edit of the movie, and a 2019 book about the film from authors Robert P. Kolker and Nathan Abrams.

Matthew Asprey Gear and Rob St. Mary join Mike to reevaluate the film.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 605: Eyes Wide Shut Redux" on Spreaker.

Our Earlier Episode:

Listen to "Episode 94: Eyes Wide Shut (1999)" on Spreaker.