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When it comes to great political films, subtlety is vastly overrated. Why not go all in and express a point of view? Or better yet, throw in a bunch of competing viewpoints and see how they bounce off each other. Sounds like the recipe for conflict, insight, drama, action-packed set pieces, and maybe a few killer needle drops.
Alex Garland's Civil War (2024) teeters on the edge of greatness, and it’s maddening becasue it's so close. On this episode, we argue that this films was just one screenplay draft away from delivering full-on, grimy, 1970s exploitation gold. If only the writers of How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2022) could have done a polish - or even better, let them direct.
But don’t get us wrong, we both enjoyed Civil War. The mere fact that it even nods to an American left (albeit off-screen) is telling; it shows that leftist ideas are creeping back into the cultural consciousness. It's just a bummer that the Portland Maoists and the New People's Army weren’t part of the narrative.
Other recommended viewing: Sleeping Dogs (1977) and War Photographer (2001)
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On this episode, we take a look at Park Chan-wook's breakthrough film Joint Security Area (2000). Upon release, this film was the highest grossing film at the South Korean box office. Now, in 2024, it ranks at number 65. This really illustrates just how popular cinema is in South Korea.
Along with this film, we discus the rise of South Korean cinema around the world since 2000. From Oldboy to The Handmaiden to The Wailing to I Saw the Devil to Squid Game to Parasite...there's no shortage of dynamite cinema being exported out to the world. Not to mention the global dominance of K-POP.
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On this episode we dive into one of Isaac's favorite films of the 2020's, Michael Sarnoski's Pig (2021). Sure, on the surface it's a simple story of a man who just wants his beloved pig back. But, as Robin and Amir journey through the Portland culinary scene to find said pig, the film explores what it means to live a life true to oneself, the importance of rejecting marketplace expectations, and finding authentic human connections.
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As we celebrate 3 years of the show, we decided to take a look at one of our favorite eras of American film - the 1970's. We're specifically looking at the Vietnam Anti-War Movement as captured by a fictional film and a documentary; Milestones (1975) and F.T.A. (1972).
On this episode we discuss Francine Parker's documenatry, F.T.A. (1972). Once again, we're also joined by special guest Jim Miller. As we celebrate Parker's film as well as Jane Fonda's career, Jim helps us to tie together alot of threads:
IPC Production Comany - from F.T.A. (1972) to Coming Home (1978) to 9 to 5 (1980) The Spitting Image: Myth, Memory and the Legacy of Vietnam by Jerry Lembcke The propaganda of the POW/MIA flag Jane Fonda's Workout Videos The Rambo film franchiseIn F.T.A., Parker's camera follows the 1971 anti-war, vaudville-style show as the performers entertain over 64,000 troops stationed in Okinawa, Japan, the Philippines, and Hawaii.
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As we celebrate 3 years of the show, we decided to take a look at one of our favorite eras of American film - the 1970's. We're specifically looking at the Vietnam Anti-War Movement as captured by a fictional film and a documentary; Milestones (1975) and F.T.A. (1972).
On this episode we discuss Robert Kramer's experimental opus, Milestones, and are joined by special guest Jim Miller. Jim was an organizer during this period and provides key insights into just what was going on in that space at the same time Milestones is being made. Spoiler - the film is pretty accurate.
Robert Kramer has said that his films would one day add up to a whole. That all his films portray a "consciousness moving through time and place, trying to survive, trying to understand. The continuous process of becoming”.
In Milestones we travel around American with 6 storylines and over 50 characters to survey the landscape of post-Vietnam anti-war activists.
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Luis Buñuel was a master at creating lasting images that stay in the viewers brain long after the film is over. He had a career that spanned multiple decades and working in multiple countries, yet he consistantly took aim at political and social elites.
In his 1962 masterpiece, The Exterminating Angel, the acclaimed filmmaker crafts an allegorical comedy that confronts the socio-political realities of Franco's Spain. Infused with a surrealistic touch and a substantial dose of satire, the film allows for a multi-layered interpretation.
Plus, it's just plain funny to watch the rich fall apart and destroy themselves.
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On this episode, we're looking at two cinematic exampoles of the Palestinian expereince. One documentary and one fictionalized portrayal.
The documentary, Gaza Ghetto: Portrait of a Palestinian Family (1985), captures exactly what the title implies. We get the lived experiences from grandmother down to grandchildren as they recount their experiences ranging from the 1948 exile to the 1967 war to the 1971 “pacification campaign”.
The fiction film is the very poorly titled, The Dupes (1973). It's an adaptation of Ghassan Kanafani's acclaimed book, Men in the Sun (1963). In this portrayal, three Palestinian men of different generations and and backgounds employ a fourth man to drive them past Iraqi checkpoints in hopes of getting to Kuwait and (hopefully) jobs. It's a fantastic example of realist cinema from Tawfiq Saleh, one of Egypts best filmmakers.
Links to things mentioned on the show:
The Accented Cinema book that Aaron discussed.
Solidarity Cinema
Palestine Film Institute.
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The fallout 2008 financial crisis has been portrayed on film in a number of ways; from documentary's like Iniside Job (2010) and Capitalism: A Love Story (2009) to ficiton films "inspired" by the events like The Big Short (2015) and Margin Call (2011).
Andrew Dominik's Killing Them Softly (2012) takes a different approach. It starts with George V. Higgins' 1974 crime novel, itself the third in a series, that centers on a lower level crime syndicate in Boston. Then Dominik places that story in a 2008 New Orleans during the final weeks of the Obama/McCain presidential election.
We get into the obvious metaphors that occur when organized crime is compared to financial institutions. But, we also end up discussing the various ways that Nationalism can manifest itself in America; from George W. Bush, to Obama, to Trump and Biden.
We'll be dipping our toes back into this Systemic Risk topic, the intersection of the 2008 crisis and it's portrayal on film. So if you have any particularly intereseting examples to suggest (documentary or fiction), send them to [email protected]
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This Halloween season we take a look at a recent film we hope gets to cult status soon, Green Room (2015). Anton Yelchin and his bandmates are forced to battle against Patrick Stewart and his group of Neo-Nazis.
We get into the pros and cons of non-political punk bands, why the Pacific Northwest is such a haven for white ethnonationalists and when it's okay to swap out character arcs for a pure survival narrative.
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One of the topics that first inspired us to start this podcast, Resource Frontiers. Back in 2016, when Hell or High Water was released, Isaac and I were still working at our beloved art house theatre and our discussion of the film kept coming back to its multi-layered resource frontier setting. Settler colonial zones and the effects on indigenous populations were regular topics of conversations and, of course, Wages of Fear (1953) kept coming up too.
Since it took us so long to finally cover this topic, we have a newer film in the mix. Neptune Frost (2021) rounds out our coverage on this episode. Between these three films we've got a stone cold French classic, a neo-western heist film and a sci-fi Afrofuturism visual feast...in other words, an Isaac triple feature special.
Here is the paper by Jason W. Moore that Isaac referenced.
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On this Double Feature episode, we take a look at films about strikes. As the WGA and SAG continue to strike, we thought it would be a good time to examine how Hollywood has protrayed strikes throughout the years.
We discuss; Norma Rae (1979), The Pajama Game (1957), Sorry to Bother You (2018), Harlan County, USA (1976), The Organizer (1963) and Chi-Raq (2015) and then put together a double feature (actually two) recommendation.
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While Isaac is immersed in his Arabic language summer camp, we're rebraodcasting our very first episode.
In 2027, after 18 years of global human infertility and depression, the world is on the brink of collapse and humanity faces extinction. The United Kingdom, one of the few nations with a functioning government (Stiff upper lip chap!), is deluged by asylum seekers fleeing radiation and plague. In response, the UK has become a police state as the British Army rounds up and executes immigrants.
In 2006, Alfonso Cuarón gave the world the film Children of Men. A brilliant adaptation of P.D. James less than brilliant novel of the same name.
In this episode we get into the psychology of the long take, Maoist Urban Guerrillas, Nationalism, Xenophobia, graffiti as political world building, the role of children in society, power dynamics within activist organizations and Neoliberal verses Fascist governments. Children of Men has it all!
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This July 4th, celebrate with a true Leftist film that will have you on the edge of you seat with suspense, a pulsing score and politics that will have you debating the need for a diversity of tactics when fighitng the evils of capitalism. We're discussing the film Daniel Goldhaber's How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2022).
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This year we celebrated May Day (a little late) by watching a Latvian worker-revenge-horror-film. Aik Karapetian's The Man in the Orage Jacket (2014).
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Isaac finally make Aaron sit down and enjoy some DTV action, focusing on the John Hyams' last two entries in the Universal Soldier franchise. Regeneration (2010) and Day of Reckoning (2012).
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On this Double Feature episode, we take a look at two of the greats from the best era for cinematic action - 1980's Hong Kong. On this episode we discuss the art of action and (oftentimes) convoluted politics of In the Line of Duty 4 (1989) & Righting Wrongs (1986).
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We conclude our 2023 series on independent African American auteurs that made landmark films with Claudine (1974).
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Sources:
White Balance: How Hollywood Shaped Colorblind Ideology and Undermined Civil Rights by Justin Gomer
Daniel Amir Jackson article on Claudine
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We continue our 2023 series on independent African American auteurs that made landmark films with Jamaa Fanaka's Welcome Home Brother Charles (1975).
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We kick off our 2023 series on independent African American auteurs that made landmark films with podcast favorite Ivan Dixon's The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973).
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With the voluntary passing of Jean-Luc Godard in 2022, we decided that it's long overdue to take a look at one of his classics. Alphaville (1965) is a dystopian science-fiction film shot in black & white on the streets of Paris and is infused with Godard's politics of the moment. But, can Aaron convince Isaac that he actually liked this one?
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