It's time to sine your pitty on the running kine with our episode all about Pootie Tang (2001). Written and directed by (rightfully) disgraced comedian Louis C.K., the film stars Lance Crouther as the titular Mr. Tang, a performer, poet, and potter who learns a lesson about himself and the evil corporate empire run by Dick Lecter (Robert Vaughn).
Special Guests: Allan F. Nicholls, Paul Dooley, MacIntyre Dixon Guest Co-Hosts: Paul Zimmerman, Father Malone
We’re looking at the 1980 film from director Robert Altman and writer Jules Feifer, Popeye. Based on the King Syndicate comic by E.C. Segar, it’s the story of a mariner (Robin Williams) who comes to the port town of Sweethaven looking for his father. He finds a town under the control of a mysterious man known only as The Commodore who has left his right hand man, Bluto (Paul L. Smith), in charge of the city which is plagued with ruffians and an overzealous tax collector. He meets the Oyl family, a dysfunctional group whom he must redeem in order to find his father and true happiness.
Father Malone and Paul Zimmerman join Mike to discuss the film while interviews include Allan F. Nicholls, Paul Dooley, and MacIntyre Dixon.
Music:
"It's Not Easy Being Me" - Harry Nilsson
"Everybody's Got To Eat" - Paul Dooley
"Sailin'" - Shelley Duvall & Robin Williams
"He Needs Me" - Shelley Duvall
"Popeye Twist" - The Tornados
Mike speaks with producer Noa Durban and director Tom Stern about their upcoming feature documentary, The Butthole Surfers Movie. The film looks at the groundbreaking alternative art band The Butthole Surfers.
Along with our regularly scheduled episodes, May and April have brought a bevy of special episodes. If you haven't listened already, enjoy this wide array of interviews!
Special Guest: Jane Taubman Guest Co-Hosts: Gianna D'Emilio, Alistair Pitts
We conclude our month of discussions about Soviet Cinema with a double feature from Kira Muratova, Brief Encounters (1967) and The Long Farewell (1971). Brief Encounters got a very limited release while The Long Farewell was shelved before release. Both films finally got their day in the sun as the Cold War began to thaw.
In Brief Encounters, two women are in love with the same man. The film has a real New Wave feel to it with a fractured timeline and rough production. In The Long Farewell we see a mother, Yevgeniya, become more and more estranged from her son after he spends a summer with his father.
Jane Taubman joins us to discuss Muratova's work while Gianna D'Emilio and Alistair Pitts provide insight on these challenging films.
Upright Citizens Brigade members Doug Mand and Dan Gregor discuss their career from their early days, shorts, "How I Met Your Mother", Most Likely to Murder, and their latest work, Chip 'N Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022). They talk about the long gestation of their latest project as well as some of the challenges of working with a vast array of intellectual property.
We continue our month of discussing Soviet Cinema with a look at Tatyana Lioznova's Three Poplars on Plyuschikha Street (1968). Written by Aleksandr Borshchagovskiy, it’s the story of Nyura (Tatyana Doronina), a country woman who comes to the big city of Moscow to see her sister in law. There she meets Sasha (Oleg Efremov), a taxi driver. They share stories and a song on the way to Plyuschikha Street. He offers to take her to the movies and she agrees but things go wrong.