Spencer Parsons and Rahne Alexander join Mike to discuss Václav Vorlícek's How to Drown Dr. Mracek, the Lawyer (1975). Co-written by Projection Booth favorite Milos Macourek, the film stars Jaromír Hanzlík as the titular Dr. Mracek, a lawyer who is unwittingly trying to displace a group of water sprites from their homes.
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.
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.
We kick off Czechtember 2022 with a look at Vojtech Jansy’s The Cassandra Cat (1963). Also known as “When the Cat Comes,” the film is a fairy tale about a little city which lives under the protective eye of Oliva (Jan Bierch). When he was young he almost ran away with the circus which featured an unusual act of a cat which could show people their true colors... literally.
We continue Czechtember 2021 with our second Václav Vorlícek film this month, How About Some Spinach? (AKA Coz takhle dát si spenát). It’s the story of two nogoodniks Jaroslav Zemánek (Vladimír Mensík) and Frantisek Liska (Jirí Sovák). They’re arrested for trying to steal some alcohol only to get out and get involved in some corporate espionage around a wondrous machine that can make creatures younger or older and can shrink them as well. However, it has a bug that causes unexpected results when the creature has recently ingested spinach.
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.
On this special episode of The Projection Booth, Kevin Heffernan and Samm Deighan join Mike to discuss Milos Forman's Loves of a Blonde (1966). A mix of professional and non-professional actors, the film tells the tale of Andula (Hana Brejchová), one of hundreds of women that work in a factory who is introduced to an "eligible male" via a government-sponsored dance.
The track was originally produced for Second Run as the audio commentary for their A Blonde in Love blu-ray release.
#Czechtember2018 concludes with a look at Václav Vorlícek's Who Wants to Kill Jessie? (1966). Co-written by Vorlicek and Milos Macourek, the film concerns a couple, Ruzenka and and Jindrich Beránek. Ruzenka (Dana Medrická) is a prestigious scientist who has discovered how to manipulate dreams -- though there are some unexpected consequences. Meanwhile, Jindrich (Jirí Sovák) makes his own discovery as he reads a comic series about Jessie (Olga Schoberová) and her anti-gravitational gloves, just the thing to help him out at his job.
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.
Guest Co-Hosts: Rahne Alexander, Spenser Parsons
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