Episode 610: Ganja & Hess (1973)

Special Guests: Sam Waymon, Christopher Sieving
Guest Co-Hosts: Heather Drain, Leon Chase

Heather Drain and Leon Chase join Mike to kick-off Black History Month with a look at Bill Gunn's 1973 film Ganja & Hess which stars Duane Jones as Dr. Hess Green, a scholar who is stabbed with an ancient dagger by a crazed house guest, the husband of Ganja Meda (Marlene Clark). Hess is resurrected and helps Ganja be reborn as well. The two are now addicted to blood in one of the most unusual vampire films around.

Special guests musician Sam Waymon and author Christopher Sieving (Pleading the Blood: Bill Gunn's Ganja & Hess) discuss the behind-the-scenes of Gunn's seminal sophomore film.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 610: Ganja & Hess (1973)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Ganja & Hess on Blu-Ray
Watch Blood Couple on YouTube
Buy Da Sweet Blood of Jesus on DVD
See all fifty feet at Leon's 50 Foot Movie website

Music:
"Ganja & Hess" Soundtrack - Sam Waymon

Watch:

Special Report: Oldboy (2003)

Guest Co-Hosts: Bill Ackerman, John Atom

On this special episode of The Projection Booth we're looking at Park Chan-wook's Oldboy (2003). Based loosely on the manga by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi, the film tells the tale of Oh-Dae-Su (Choi Min-sik), a salaryman who gets abducted and held in a cell for 15 years. Just as he's abducted without explanation he's freed just the same. From there the film becomes a mystery where Oh-Dae-Su tries to find not just who abducted him but why.

John Atom and Bill Ackerman join Mike to discuss the original manga, the 2006 Indian remake Zinda, the 2013 Spike Lee version, and the Brian DePalma film Obsession (1976).

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Special Report: Oldboy (2003)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Buy the Oldboy manga
Buy Park Chan-Wook's Oldboy
Buy Spike Lee's Oldboy
Buy Zinda on DVD
Watch Zinda on Amazon Prime
Buy Obsession
Read about the controversy over the Oldboy remake poster
Read 13 Movies that Deserve a Director's Cut on Blu-ray by Mike McGranaghan

Music:
"Bring My Love" - Starsailor
"If I Had a Hammer" - Peter, Paul & Mary

Watch:

Episode 422: The Omega Man (1971)

Special Guests: Joyce Hooper Corrington, Mark Protosevich
Guest Co-Hosts: Andrew Nette, Maurice Bursztynski

Boris Sagal's The Omega Man (1971) stars Charlton Heston as Robert Neville — possibly the last man on earth after a plague which has killed the majority of the population, leaving pockets of albino mutants who can’t stand the sun. They're known as The Family and lead by the one and only Anthony Zerbe as Matthias. They've vowed to kill Neville if it’s the last thing they do...

Maurice Bursztynski and Andrew Nette join Mike to discuss The Omega Man as well as the two other filmed adaptations of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend.

Joyce Hooper Corrington (The Omega Man) and Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend) discuss adapting Matheson's work for the screen.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 422: The Omega Man (1971)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Buy The Omega Man on Blu-Ray
Buy The Last Man on Earth on DVD
Buy I Am Legend on Blu-Ray
Buy Richard Matheson's I Am Legend Screenplay (Censored and Unproduced) by Richard Matheson (and Mark Dawidziak)
Read Looking back at The Last Man On Earth by Ryan Lambie
Read The Last Man on Earth: Drama of a Lifeless Ordinary by Steve Johnson
Read An Apple Store Employee Has Written the Follow-up to I Am Legend by Don Kaye
Read I Am Legend by John Logan
Read The Legend of I Am Legend by David Konow
Read The Best Films Never Made: Ridley Scott's I Am Legend by David Brake

Music:
"I Am Legend" - White Zombie
"The Omega Man" - Cash McCall

Watch:

Episode 154: Bamboozled (2000)

Special Guests: John Strausbaugh
Guest Co-Host: Jay Scott Smith

Burn some cork, put on your tap shoes and get ready to put on the "coon show" to end all "coon shows" as we talk about Spike Lee’s 2000 satire of African-American representation in culture, Bamboozled. The film stars Damon Wayans as a TV writer who wants to get fired, so he creates the most racist show in history. Only to discover, it’s a massive hit!

Joining us this week as special guest co-host is writer/radio personality Jay Scott Smith.

Links:
Buy the Bamboozled DVD
Buy the Bamboozled soundtrack
Visit the official Spike Lee website
Buy Black Like You: Blackface, Whiteface, Insult & Imitation in American Popular Culture by John Strausbaugh
Buy Chris Rock's Bring the Pain
Learn about the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia
Read Jay Scott Smith's Knowing Your Place: A Commentary on Jordan Davis and My "Black" Life
Visit the official John Strausbaugh website
Follow guest co-host Jay Scott Smith on twitter
Follow Spike Lee on Twitter
For a similar satire of media and African-Americans, check out our Putney Swope episode

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 154: Bamboozled (2000)" on Spreaker.

Watch: