Episode 668: The White Reindeer (1952)

Guest Co-Hosts: El Goro, Kat Ellinger

Kat Ellinger and El Goro join Mike to look at the Finnish folk horror film The White Reindeer.  Directed by Erik Blomberg, the film was released in 1952 and it’s the story of Pirita -- played by the film’s co-writer Mirjami Kuosmanen.  She’s a newlywed who misses her husband.  When she goes to a shaman to have him craft a love potion for her, she becomes a dreaded were-reindeer.

Links:
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Buy The White Reindeer on Blu-Ray

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Music:
"Finland" - Monty Python
"White Reindeer Suite (Valkoinen Peura)" - Einar Englund

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Episode 662: Arcana (1972)

Guest Co-Hosts: Kat Ellinger, Kyler Fey

Another month of requests continues with one from Kyler Fey who joins Kat Ellinger and Mike to discuss Guilio Questi's Arcana (1972).

Released four years after the one-two punch of Django Kill, if you Live Shoot! and Death Laid an Egg, Questi goes from a Western and a Giallo of sorts to the supernatural in a story about a mother and son psychic duo who may or may not be quacks.

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Listen to "Episode 662: Arcana (1972)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Mavericks of Italian Cinema by Roberto Curti

Music:
Soundtrack - Romolo Grano & Berto Pisano

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Episode 645: Killing Mr. Devil (1970)

Guest Co-Hosts: Kat Ellinger, Jonathan Owen

We continue our Czechtember coverage with Ester Krumbachová’s sole credited role as director, Killing Mr. Devil AKA Murder of Mr. Devil AKA Vrazda ing. Certa. Released in 1970, the film stars Jirina Bohdalová as a woman who is plagued by the self-centered Dr. Bohous Devil (Vladimír Mensík). He’s an apparent bachelor who wants nothing more than to eat her out of house and home in a series of vignettes where she feeds his mouth as well as his ego.

Kat Ellinger and Jonathan Owen join Mike to discuss this two-hander about domesticity, witchcraft, and more.

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Listen to "Episode 645: Killing Mr. Devil (1970)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Killing Mr. Devil on DVD-R
Read A Weakness for Raisins
Read Ester Krumbachova by Francis McKee
Buy The Barrandov Studios: A Central European Hollywood

Music:
"Sněžný muž" - Marta Kubišová

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Episode 644: Murder Czech Style (1967)

Guest Co-Hosts: Kat Ellinger, Jonathan Owen

We kick off another Czechtember with a month filled with murder. Up first is Jirí Weiss's 1967 film Murder Czech Style / Vražda po česku. The film stars our old favorite Rudolf Hrusínský as Frantiscek Pokorny. The film opens with him trying to commit suicide. As he lays in a tub, waiting for the inevitable, he recalls the events which put him there.

Jonathan Owen and Kat Ellinger join Mike to discuss this delightfully dark film which bridges the way between 90 Degrees in the Shade and The Cremator.

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Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Murder Czech Style on DVDr

Music:
"Parasol" - Helena Blehárová

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Episode 596: 90 Degrees in the Shade (1965)

Guest Co-Hosts: Jonathan Owen, Kat Ellinger

We conclude Czechtember 2022 with the 1965 film from Jirí Weiss, 90 Degrees in the Shade. The film was a Czech and British co-production meaning that there is both Czech and English version of the film. It’s the story of Alena (Anne Heywood), a woman who has been involved with a married man who is also her boss which will lead to a lot of intrigue when Mr. Kurka (Rudolf Hrusínský) audits the shop in which they work.

Jonathan Owen and Kat Ellinger join Mike to discuss this oddity of Czech cinema.

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Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy 90 Degrees in the Shade on Blu-Ray

Music:
"31 Ve stínu" - Pavel Kopta

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Episode 593: The Hunger (1983)

Special Guests: Whitley Strieber, Michael Thomas
Guest Co-Hosts: Christine Makepeace, Kat Ellinger

We conclude #Shocktober2022 with a look at Tony Scott's The Hunger (1983). Based on the book by Whitley Strieber, the film stars Catherine Deneuve as Miriam, a being that’s lived thousands of years. When we meet her, her companion John (David Bowie) has been with her for a few hundred years and suddenly starts to age. There’s maybe one person in the world that might be able to help. Dr. Sarah Roberts (Susan Sarandon). She won’t save John but she’ll definitely spend a little time with Miriam…

Christine Makepeace and Kat Ellinger join Mike to discuss the film. Interviews include author Whitley Strieber and screenwriter Michael Thomas.

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Listen to "Episode 593: The Hunger (1983)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy The Hunger on Blu-Ray
Buy The Hunger by Whitley Strieber
Visit Whitley Strieber's Unknown Country

Music:
"Bela Lugosi's Dead" - Bauhaus

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Episode 586: The Night Porter (1974)

Special Guest: Gaetana Marrone
Guest Co-Hosts: Emma Westwood, Kat Ellinger

We’re looking at Liliana Cavani's The Night Porter (1974). Set in 1957 Vienna, Max Aldorfer (Dirk Bogard) is the titular night porter. When a conductor and his wife, Lucia (Charlotte Rampling) check in to Max's motel, he is thrown into a tizzy. He’s been living a quiet life and trying to stay under the radar as he’s a war criminal who has just been confronted with one of his victims... who was also his sex slave.

Professor Gaetana Marrone (author of The Gaze and the Labyrinth: The Cinema of Liliana Cavani) joins us to discuss Cavani's work while Emma Westwood and Kat Ellinger discuss the film.

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Listen to "Episode 586: The Night Porter (1974)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy The Night Porter on Blu-Ray
Buy Cin Sado Noir by M. Dante and Friends

Music:
"Nightporter" - Japan

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Episode 577: Buddy Buddy (1981)

Special Guest: Miles Chapin
Guest Co-Hosts: Kat Ellinger, Heather Drain

Heather Drain and Kat Ellinger join Mike to discuss Billy Wilder’s Buddy Buddy (1981). The movie is yet another pairing of Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon. This time they’re filling the shoes of Lino Ventura and Jacques Brel in this remake of Edouard Molinaro’s L'Emmerdeur.

Matthau plays Trabucco, a ruthless hitman, while Lemmon plays Victor Clooney, a milquetoast whose wife left him three months prior. Naturally they get thrown together in the unlikeliest of circumstances and hilarity ensues.

The episode features an interview with Miles Chapin and a loving tribute to Klaus Kinski.

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Listen to "Episode 577: Buddy Buddy (1981)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Buddy Buddy on DVD
Buy A Pain in the Ass on Blu-Ray

Music:
"Cecelia" - Simon & Garfunkle

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Episode 570: Arsenic & Old Lace (1944)

Special Guests: Joseph McBride, Charles Dennis
Guest Co-Hosts: Sylvia Hubbard, Kat Ellinger

We’re wrapping up Screwball month with a look at Frank Capra’s Arsenic & Old Lace. Released in 1944, though shot several years before that, the film stars Cary Grant as Mortimer Brewster, a drama critic and avowed bachelor who has found the love of his life in Elaine Harper (Priscilla Lane) who lives right next door to his kind-hearted aunts, Abby and Martha. There’s just one thing…. Abby and Martha have a terrible habit of poisoning their single, lonely old men boarders.

Sylvia Hubbard and Kat Ellinger join Mike to discuss the film while special guest Joseph McBride (Frank Capra: The Catastrophe of Success) talks about Frank Capra while Charles Dennis reveals just a few of the things he's uncovered for his upcoming book There's a Body in the Window Seat!: The History of Arsenic and Old Lace.

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Listen to "Episode 570: Arsenic & Old Lace (1944)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Arsenic & Old Lace on DVD
Buy Unmasking Frank Capra by Joseph McBride

Music:
"End Titles" - Max Steiner
"There Is A Happy Land" - Lewis Family
"Run Runaway" - Slade

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Episode 569: The Awful Truth (1937)

Guest Co-Hosts: Aaron Peterson, Kat Ellinger

Screwball month continues with a look at Leo McCarey’s The Awful Truth (1937). Based on the play by Arthur Richman, the film stars Cary Grant and Irene Dunn as Jerry and Lucy Warriner, a couple who break up before the first act is even over. They would have a clean break apart from their both wanting custody of their dog, Mr. Smith, and that they both still may love one another.

Kat Ellinger and Aaron Peterson join Mike to discuss the film as well the 1953 interpretation of Richman's play, Let's Do It Again.

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Listen to "Episode 569: The Awful Truth (1937)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy The Awful Truth on Blu-Ray
Buy Let's Do It Again on DVD

Music:
"My Dreams Are Gone With the Wind" - Molly Ryan

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Episode 568: My Man Godfrey (1936)

Guest Co-Hosts: Kat Ellinger. Maurice Bursztynski

Screwball month continues with a look at Gregory La Cava’s My Man Godfrey (1936). Based on the novel and co-written by Eric Hatch, the film stars William Powell as the titular Godfrey. He’s a forgotten man, living in a Hooverville in New York City where he’s picked up by a bunch of swells out on a scavenger hunt. Bringing in a forgotten man will net a lot of points and help Irene Bullock (Carole Lombard) win the game. In return, she hires Godfrey as a butler to the wacky Bullock family. And, of course, hilarity ensues...

Kat Ellinger and Maurice Bursztynski join Mike to discuss the original adaptation as well as the 1957 version with David Niven and June Allyson.

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Listen to "Episode 568: My Man Godfrey (1936)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy My Man Godfrey on Blu-Ray

Music:
"Garbage Isn’t What It Used To Be" - Alan Jay Lerner and Gerard Kenny

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Episode 567: Ball of Fire (1941)

Special Guest: Joseph McBride
Guest Co-Hosts: Kat Ellinger, Maitland McDonagh

We are kicking off a month of screwball comedy discussion with a look at Howard Hawks’s 1941 film Ball of Fire. Written by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, the film stars Gary Cooper as one of an octet of professors who are writing an encyclopedia. Cooper is writing an article on slang only to find that he’s very deficient. In an effort to bolster his research he comes across Sugarpuss O’Shea (Barbara Stanwyck). The moll of a vicious gangster, she’s on the lamb and holes up with the professors. And, of course, hilarity ensues.

Kat Ellinger will be around all month. Maitland McDonagh guest hosts on this episode and Professor Joseph McBride dishes about his books on director Howard Hawks.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 567: Ball of Fire (1941)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Ball of Fire on DVD
Buy A Song is Born on DVD
Buy Hawks on Hawks by Joseph McBride
Buy Focus on Howard Hawks by Joseph McBride
Subscribe to Maitland McDonagh's substack

Music:
"Drum Boogie" - Gene Krupa

Watch:

Symphony in Slang from Lee Presson on Vimeo.

Episode 559: Black Moon (1975)

Special Guest: Hugo Frey
Guest Co-Hosts: Aaron Peterson, Kat Ellinger

French month continues with a look at Louis Malle's Black Moon (1975). The film tells the story of Lily (Cathryn Harrison), a girl on the brink of womanhood who's on the run from a war between men and women. She takes refuge in a country estate populated by a strange old women (Therese Giehse), Brother Lily (Joe Dallesandro) and Sister Lily (Alexandra Stewart). She makes the flowers scream and antagonizes a unicorn in this surrealistic tale.

Kat Ellinger and Aaron Peterson join Mike to discuss the film while Professor Hugo Frey talks about Louis Malle.

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Listen to "Episode 559: Black Moon (1975)" on Spreaker.

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

Music:
"Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict" - Pink Floyd

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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.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 540: Capricious Summer (1968)" on Spreaker.

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

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 539: Oil Lamps (1971)" on Spreaker.

Music:
"Sad Times" - Lubos Fiser

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Episode 536: Girl on a Broomstick (1972)

Special Guests: Hermína Franková, Hanna Frank
Guest Co-Hosts: Kat Ellinger, Gil Kenan

#Czechtember2021 continues with a look at Václav Vorlícek's Girl on a Broomstick (1972), the story of a young witch (Petra Cernocká) who would rather escape to the world of human beings than be stuck in detention for 300 years(!).

Gil Kenan and Kat Ellinger join Mike to discuss the film while author Hermína Franková (and her granddaughter, Hana Frank) discuss the writing of the original story and the 2019 musical version.

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Listen to "Episode 536: Girl on a Broomstick (1972)" on Spreaker.

Hermina Frankova Interview (Czech Version):

The Projection Booth · Interview - Hermína Franková - No Translation

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Girl on a Broomstick on DVD

Music:
"Saxana" - Jakub Hübner

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Episode 512: Seven Beauties (1975)

Guest Co-Hosts: Kat Ellinger, Samm Deighan

Lina Wertmüller's 1975 film Seven Beauties stars Giancarlo Gianini as Pasqualino Settebellezze of Pasqualino of the Seven Beauties. He’s a man with several sisters that he’s trying to keep on the straight and narrow. When one of his sisters gets involved with a pimp, Pasqualino murders him and is put on a path of destruction where he goes to an asylum and eventually a concentration camp.

Samm Deighan and Kat Ellinger join Mike to discuss the film, Lina Wertmüller's oeuvre, and Giancarlo Gianini crying.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 512: Seven Beauties (1975)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Seven Beauties on Blu-Ray
Buy Man in Disorder: The Cinema of Lina Wertmller in the 1970s by Grace Russo Bullaro

Music:
"Dagalterun Fandango" - Enzo Jannacci

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Episode 509: The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972)

Guest Co-Hosts: Kat Ellinger, Heather Drain

We’re looking at the 1972 film from Rainer Werner Fassbinder, The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant. It’s the story of love and loss for the titular Petra Von Kant (Margrit Carstensen) a fashion designer and her model/muse Karin (Hanna Schygulla). We see the beginnings and endings of that relationship as well as the fall out.

Heather Drain and Kat Ellinger join Mike to discuss this melodramatic work.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 509: The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant on Blu-Ray
Read In the Moment: Irm Hermann in The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant by Matías Piñeiro
Read Nod to the Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant by Boudoir Queen
Read Whose are the Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant? by Cerise Howard

Music:
"In My Room" - The Walker Brothers

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Episode 489: The Company of Wolves (1984)

Special Guest: James Gracey
Guest Co-Hosts: Kat Ellinger, Heather Drain

#Shocktober2020 continues with a look at Neil Jordan's The Company of Wolves (1984). It's a melange of tales based on the writings of Angela Carter which intertwine and layer upon one another. At the heart is a re-telling of the Little Red Riding Hood tale but there's much more than that.

Kat Ellinger and Heather Drain join Mike to discuss the film and women's burgeoning sexuality. This episode features an interview with James Gracey, author of the Devil's Advocates book about The Company of Wolves.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 489: The Company of Wolves (1989)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Buy The Company of Wolves on Blu-Ray
Buy The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter
Buy Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Music:
Original Soundtrack
"Little Red Riding Hood" - Sam the Sham and the Pharohs

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Episode 486: Birds, Orphans, and Fools (1969)

Guest Co-Hosts: Kat Ellinger, Jonathan Owen

We continue #Czechtember 2020 with the 1969 Slovakian film Birds, Orphans, and Fools by Juraj Jakubisko. It’s a story of three young people in the turbulent year and place of 1968 Slovakia. There are birds, the characters are orphans, and they often play the fool as we experience a slice of their lives.

Kat Ellinger and Jonathan Owen join Mike to discuss the film, Jakubisco's other work, and his fellow Slovakian filmmakers.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 486: Birds, Orphans, and Fools (1969)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Buy Birds, Orphans, and Fools on DVD
Read Birds, Orphans and Fools (1969): the Rule of Three in Juraj Jakubisko’s Exemplary Gallows Bacchanalia by Cerise Howard
Visit the official Juraj Jakubisko website

Music:
"My Orphanage" - Rasputina

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