Episode 754: Upstream Color (2013)

Guest Co-Hosts: Ben Buckingham, Jim Laczkowski

Sci-Fi July dives deep into the sublime with Upstream Color (2013), Shane Carruth’s mesmerizing meditation on identity, connection, and control.

Co-hosts Ben Buckingham and Jim Laczkowski join Mike to untangle the film’s elliptical narrative, which follows a woman who is drugged, robbed, and psychically linked to a pig as part of a surreal cycle of manipulation and rebirth. A bold, enigmatic follow-up to Primer, Carruth’s film is an audiovisual trance, blurring the line between organism and environment, memory and self. We explore the film’s layered metaphors, sound design, and experimental structure — and maybe, just maybe, crack its code.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 754: Upstream Color (2013)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Upstream Color on Blu-Ray
Buy Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology after the End of the World by Timothy Morton

Music:
Original Soundtrack by Shane Carruth

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Episode 742: There Is No 13 (1974)

Guest Co-Hosts: Ben Buckingham, Heather Drain

Brace yourself for a mind-melting trip into cinematic obscurity as Mike White, Heather Drain, and Ben Buckingham dive headfirst into There Is No 13 (1974), the elusive, long-suppressed anti-war film from director William Sachs. Blending absurdist humor, surreal vignettes, and unflinching commentary on the Vietnam War, the film follows draftee George Thomas (Mark Damon) through a fractured journey of memory, fantasy, and emotional unraveling.

Almost impossible to find and never properly released in the U.S., There Is No 13 has lived more as rumor than repertory staple, with tales of government pressure and controversy haunting its legacy. First screened at the Berlin Film Festival to strong reactions, it’s become a ghost of radical cinema -- one that challenges, confounds, and sticks in your brain like shrapnel.

As part of our “Maudit May” celebration of cursed and forgotten films, this episode comes with a warning: spoilers abound, so track down this rare gem if you can. Then come back for a lively, unfiltered discussion of one of the strangest anti-war films you’ve never seen.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 742: There Is No 13 (1974)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Read more about Jean Jennings at the Rialto Report
Read an interview with William Sachs
Buy There Is No 13 on DVD-R

Music:
"There Is No 13" - Riz Ortolani

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Episode 549: The Matrix (1999)

Guest Co-Hosts: Christine Makepeace, Ben Buckingham

Released in 1999, The Wachowski Siblings's The Matrix stars Keanu Reeves as Thomas “Neo” Anderson, a cubicle jockey who is looking for meaning in his life by way of the notorious hacker Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne). Neo gets more than he bargained for when he learns that the world in which we live is a computer-generated construct, the titular Matrix.

Ben Buckingham and Christine Makepeace join Mike to discuss this groundbreaking film.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 549: The Matrix (1999)" on Spreaker.

Bonus: The Matrix Resurrections

Listen to "Special Report: The Matrix Resurrections (2021)" on Spreaker.

Bonus Interview with Rodney Ascher about A Glitch in the Matrix:

Listen to "Special Report: Rodney Ascher on A Glitch in the Matrix (2020)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy The Matrix on Blu-Ray
Buy Art of the Matrix

Music:
"Dodge This" - Don Davis
"Wake Up" - Rage Against the Machine

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Episode 532: Touki Bouki (1973)

Guest Co-Hosts: Spencer Seams, Ben Buckingham

African Cinema Month kicks off with a look at Djibril Diop Mambéty’s Touki Bouki (1973). Also known as The Journey of the Hyena, it’s the story of two young people, Mory (Magaye Niang) and Anta (Myriam Niang), who dream of leaving their Dakar and going to Paris.

Ben Buckingham and Spencer Seams join Mike to discuss Mambety's Touki Bouki and Hyenas (1992).

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 532: Touki Bouki (1973)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Touki Bouki on Blu-Ray
Buy Hyenas on DVD

Music:
"Paris, Paris" - Joséphine Baker

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Episode 490: Motel Hell (1980)

Special Guests: Kevin Connor, Frank Cotolo
Guest Co-Hosts: Heather Drain, Ben Buckingham

It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent's fritters!

Heather Drain and Ben Buckingham join Mike to talk about Kevin Connor's 1980 horror/comedy starring Rory Calhoun and Nancy Parsons, Motel Hell.

Connor discusses his work on the film as well as his earlier work while Frank Cotolo dishes about working with Wolfman Jack.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 490: Motel Hell (1980)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Buy Motel Hell on Blu-Ray
Buy Frank Cotolo's books on Amazon
Buy From Communion to Cannibalism: An Anatomy of Metaphors of Incorporation by Maggie Kilgour

Music:
"Escape from Motel Hell" - Brad Fiedel
"Clap for the Wolfman" - The Guess Who
"You're Eatin Out My Heart And Soul" - Kregg Nance
"Eating My Heart Out" - Mitchell Torok
"Timothy" - Buoys

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Episode 485: Morgiana (1972)

Guest Co-Hosts: Kat Ellinger, Ben Buckingham

#Czechember2020 continues with a look at Juraj Herz's Morgiana. Released in 1972 the film stars Iva Janzurova as both Victoria and Clara Tragen, two sisters who are driven apart by their father’s will and the jealousy of Clara by Victoria.

We’ve talked about Herz in the past including his incredible film The Cremator. And, for as subversive as that film was, it was Morgiana that got him into more trouble.

Bill Buckingham and Kat Ellinger join Mike to discuss this wonderfully Gothic horror film.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 485: Morgiana (1972)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Buy Morgiana on DVD
Donate to Kat Ellinger's Confessions of a Cineslut
Hear more of Ben Buckingham on the Video Vortex podcast

Music:
"Morgiana (Opening Titles)" - Luboš Fišer

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Episode 452: Horrors of Malformed Men (1969)

Guest Co-Hosts: Jess Byard, Ben Buckingham

Our appreciation of 1969 continues with a look at Teruo Ishii's Horrors of Malformed Men. Based on the writings of Edogawa Rampo, the movie tells the tale of Hirosuke Hitomi (Teruo Yoshida) who we first see locked up in an insane asylum. Things only go downhill from there...

Ben Buckingham and Jess Byard join Mike to delve into the ero-guro genre.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 452: Horrors of Malformed Men (1969)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Buy Horrors of Malformed Men on Blu-Ray
Buy The Strange Case of Panorama Island by Edogawa Rampo
Buy The Edogawa Rampo Reader

Music:
"Fireworks" - Siouxsie & the Banshees

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Episode 432: The Ear (1970)

Guest Co-Hosts: Ben Buckingham, Martin Kessler

One of the casualties of the Warsaw Pack invasion, Karel Kachyna's The Ear (1970) was locked away for twenty years. It's a tale of a night after a political purge where our main characters -- Ludvic (Radoslav Brzobohatý) and Anna (Jirina Bohdalová) -- argue while learning that they’ve become the subject of government surveillance.

Martin Kessler and Ben Buckingham join Mike to discuss this study in paranoia.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 432: The Ear (1970)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Buy The Ear on Blu-Ray (Region 2)

Music:
"Somebody's Watching Me" - Rockwell

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Episode 415: The Mad Max Series

Special Guests: Roger Ward, Vernon Wells, Virginia Hey, Bruce Spence, Luke Buckmaster, Hugh Keays-Byrne
Guest Co-Hosts: Mike Thompson, Ben Buckingham

On this epic episode of The Projection Booth, we remember the road warrior, the man we called Mad Max. In the roar of an engine, he lost everything and became a shell of a man, a burnt-out desolate man, a man haunted by the demons of his past, a man who wandered out into the wasteland. And it was here, in this blighted place, that he learned to live again.

Ben Buckingham and Mike Thompson join Mike White to discuss the ever-shifting landscape of George Miller’s Mad Max series from its audacious beginning as a bikie exploitation / revenge Mad Max (1979) to the post-apocalyptic Western Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) to the troublesome Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) and concluding (?) with the spectacular Mad Max: Fury Road (2015).

Interviews feature actors from three of the four films — Roger Ward, Vernon Wells, Virginia Hey, Bruce Spence, Hugh Keays-Byrne — as well as writer Luke Buckmaster, author of Miller and Max.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 415: The Mad Max Series" on Spreaker.

Furiosa - A Mad Max Saga:

Listen to "Episode 687: Furiosa - A Mad Max Saga" on Spreaker.

Interview: Terry Hayes

Listen to "Special Report: Terry Hayes on The Year of the Locust" on Spreaker.

Bonus: Stone (1974):

Listen to "Stone (1974)" on Spreaker.

Bonus: The Man from Hong Kong (1975):

Listen to "The Man from Hong Kong" on Spreaker.

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Episode 386: Begotten (1990)

Guest Co-Hosts: Heather Drain, Ben Buckingham

We are discussing E. Elias Merhige’s Begotten. Released in 1990, the film is an experimental narrative about creation, religion, and more.

Heather Drain and Ben Buckingham join Mike to discuss experimental films, music videos, and much more.

Music:
"Anti-Christ Superstar" - Marilyn Manson

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 386: Begotten (1990)" on Spreaker.

Watch:

Stateless: E. Elias Merhige from Packe on Vimeo.

Episode 380: ...And The Fifth Horseman Is Fear (1965)

Guest Co-Hosts: Kat Ellinger, Ben Buckingham

Zbyněk Brynych’s 1965 film The Fifth Horseman is Fear stars Miroslav Macháček as Dr. Braun. The film is ostensibly set during the Nazi occupation of Prague where Dr. Braun isn’t practicing medicine. Instead he’s cataloging the items the Nazis have pilfered from Jews who we can assume have been sent to the slaughter. This is never spoken aloud nor are a lot of other things. Instead, the film is rife with a sense of overwhelming dread that manifests in several interesting ways.

Kat Ellinger and Ben Buckingham join Mike in this first #Czechtember2018 entry.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 380: ... And The Fifth Horseman Is Fear (1965)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Buy The Fifth Horseman is Fear on Blu-Ray
Read Whom Did Jan Forget? by Tomáš Uher at 25fps.cz
Read a profile of Zbyněk Brynych
Read The Fifth Horseman Is Fear DVD review
Read Fear and Attraction: Selling Zbyněk Brynych's The Fifth Horseman is Fear in the USA by Jonathan Owen
Read The Screen: Every Sound Is a Threat:Czech 'Fifth Horseman Is Fear' Arrives Courage and Honor in Prague Under Nazis by Renata Adler

Music:
"Fifth Horseman Of The Apocalypse" - Ultimate Spinach

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Special Report: The Last Movie (1971)

Special Guests: Craig Rogers, David Marriott, John Buck Wilkin, Jessica Hundley, Nick Ebeling, Satya de la Manitou
Guest Co-Hosts: Ben Buckingham, Nick Dawson

On this special episode of The Projection Booth we’re looking at Dennis Hopper’s The Last Movie. Barely released by Universal Pictures in 1971, the film stars Hopper as Kansas -- a man as middle-American as his name. He’s in Peru as a stunt man for a Western. When the cast and crew packs up and goes back to Hollywood, he stays behind where the natives form a sort of cargo cult around movie-making, holding up Kansas as their god, savior, and their sacrifice.

Mike talks to Craig Rogers and David Marriott from Arbelos Films who have restored The Last Movie and have re-released the film. He speaks to author Jessica Hundley, editor of Dennis Hopper: Photographs 1961-1967, John Buck Wilkin who performed music on both The Last Movie and Lawrence Schiller & L. M. Kit Carson's The American Dreamer. Finally, he speaks with Nick Ebeling, the director of Along for the Ride and its subject, Satya De La Manitou.

Nick Dawson and Ben Buckingham join Mike to discuss the film as well as its fascinating history.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Special Report: The Last Movie (1971)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Buy the Along for the Ride book
Read Dennis Hopper's Mad Vision by Josh Karp
Be sure to LIKE Along for the Ride on Facebook
Read My uneasy ride with Dennis Hopper by John Buck Wilkin
Read When Westerns Were Un-American by J. Hoberman
Read Hip Hopp: Dennis Hopper, Protest, And Popular Music by Dominic Preston
Read DENNIS HOPPER’S “THE LAST MOVIE” | THE FILM THAT BURIED A VISIONARY by JP

Music:
"Easy Rider, 1970" by Chris Sikelianos

Watch:

SCENE MISSING from Alex Cox on Vimeo.

Episode 363: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

Special Guests: Kenneth E. Hall, Joseph McBride
Guest Co-Hosts: Jon Cross, Ben Buckingham

We travel back to the days of yesteryear with a look at the 1962 film from director John Ford, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. The film stars Jimmy Stewart as Ransom Stoddard, a lawyer who comes out west only to get robbed by the titular Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin). The film also stars John Wayne as Tom Doniphan, a man of action and the living embodiment of "The Old West".

Joseph McBride and Kenneth E. Hall discuss the works of John Ford while Jon Cross and Ben Buckingham join Mike to talk about Liberty Valance and revisionist Westerns.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 363: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)" on Spreaker.

Bonus: Joseph McBride Interviews John Ford

Copyright © 1970, 2018 by Joseph McBride

Links:
Buy The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance on Blu-Ray
Buy The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance by Dorothy M. Johnson
Listen to Jon Cross's Miscellaneous Plumbing Fixtures

Music:
Soundtrack by Cyril Mockridge
"The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" - Gene Pitney

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Episode 342: Happy End (1966)

Guest Co-Hosts: Ben Buckingham, Kat Ellinger

We wrap up the first Czechtember series with a film from director Oldřich Lipský, 1966's Happy End, an experimental comedy (which is as unusual as that sounds) that puts shots in opposite order and runs motion backward from the death of our main character (Vladimír Menšík) while he gives the voice-over account of life from birth. Of course, this provides us with constant ironic juxtapositions.

The film was co-written by Lipský and Milos Macourek, the screenwriter behind some of the best comedies out of Czechoslovakia in the '60s and '70s.

Kat Ellinger and Ben Buckingham join Mike to discuss Happy End and other favorite Czech comedies.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 342: Happy End (1966)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Buy Happy End on DVD-R
Buy Lemonade Joe on DVD
Buy other Oldrich Lipsky films
Learn more about the Memorial Hall of Lipský Family
Visit the Czech & Slovak Film Festival of Australia website
Visit the official Diabolique magazine website
Order Kat Ellinger's Daughters of Darkness episode
Listen to the Hells Belles podcast

Music:
"I Just Can't Be Happy Today" - The Damned

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Episode 311: The Cars that Ate Paris (1974)

Special Guests: Jonathan Rayner, Hal McElroy, Terry Camilleri, Bruce Spence
Guest Co-Hosts: Ben Buckingham, Kevin Heffernan

Peter Weir's The Cars That Ate Paris (1974) stars Terry Camilleri as Arthur Waldo, a meek man whose brother dies in a car accident outside of Paris, Australia -- a town whose economy relies on scavenging on the wrecks they create.

Also released (in a truncated form) as The Cars That Eat People, the film is the first feature from Peter Weir and was produced by Jim and Hal McElroy.

Ben Buckingham and Kevin Heffernan join Mike to discuss the film, Mad Max 2, and more.

Download Episode Now:

Listen to "Episode 311: The Cars that Ate Paris (1974)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Buy The Cars That Ate Paris on DVD
Buy The Films of Peter Weir by Dr. Jonathan Rayner
Learn more about Mapping Cinematic Norths
Learn more about Filmurbia
Visit the Peter Weir Cave
Visit the Trench website
Read some of Ben Buckinghame's writing at An Online Universe
Visit Kevin Heffernan's Knot and Gender blog
Visit Kevin Heffernan's The Crawling Eye: A Bloodshot Look at International Genre Film, Television, and Cult Media
Read Killer Cars: Death on the Highway by Mike White

Music:
"The Visit" - Bruce Smeaton
"The Cars That Ate Paris" - Bruce Smeaton

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