Episodes
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Four girls in a Japanese school prepare for their performance at the school festival with one sub-in: The Korean exchange student who doesn’t know the songs. The new shape of their group, and the uncertain shape of their lives to come, casts a weird malaise over the days leading up to the show, broken only by their moments of youthful camaraderie.
LINDA LINDA LINDA holds a special place in the boys’ hearts — most of them, anyway — as both a wistful reminiscence of teenage abandon and a movie that helped us feel a bit less distant from one another during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, we’re trying to do that awkward thing of breaking through the vice grip of nostalgia to give this cult classic hangout movie a real critical eye. Is the success consistent or varying? As with all things in your life, it’s up to you to decide!
Give to these causes in need during ICE’s occupation of Minnesota:
Support Minnesotans defending their communities from ICE: https://www.standwithminnesota.com/@sanctuarysupplydepot: Mutual aid group in Mpls getting basic necessities to our houseless neighbors https://linktr.ee/sanctuarysupplydepot@mplsmutualaid: Clearinghouse of mutual aid for our neighbors: https://linktr.ee/mplsmutualaidISAIAH, an interfaith group fighting for racial and economic justice in MN: https://secure.everyaction.com/G8TCnxFlE0qd9zlUEYjjeg2Show love to North Minneapolis families in crisis: https://www.gofundme.com/f/show-love-to-north-minneapolis-families-in-crisisReferences:
Watch LINDA LINDA LINDA on the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/linda-linda-linda-2005_202309“Studying Abroad with Linda Linda Linda” by Mimi Huelster for Perisphere, the Trylon blogCheck the calendar, preview upcoming series, and buy ticketsContribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog#RiotGrrrls #DCP
Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at [email protected] to get in touch!
Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: “リンダ リンダ' (“Linda Linda Linda”) by The Blue Hearts from the LINDA LINDA LINDA soundtrack.
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CISCO PIKE was Bill L. Norton’s directorial debut, Kris Kristofferson’s first screen credit, and just another Coked Up Crazy Ass White Boy role for Gene Hackman.
A musician turned drug dealer wants to pull a 180 and go back to the music biz after a stint in the pen. But he spent the Summer of Love behind bars, and when he gets out, he finds out the ‘70s ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. Karen Black and Harry Dean Stanton support as his hapless passengers, adjusting in their own ways to the new bummer decade.
On this Cody-less episode, we’re discussing crooked cops, cusp-of-the-decade vibes, how we’d sell 200 keys of giggle smoke, and whether or not Tom Hanks is hot.
Give to these causes in need during ICE’s occupation of Minnesota:
Support Minnesotans defending their communities from ICE: https://www.standwithminnesota.com/@sanctuarysupplydepot: Mutual aid group in Mpls getting basic necessities to our houseless neighbors https://linktr.ee/sanctuarysupplydepot@mplsmutualaid: Clearinghouse of mutual aid for our neighbors: https://linktr.ee/mplsmutualaidISAIAH, an interfaith group fighting for racial and economic justice in MN: https://secure.everyaction.com/G8TCnxFlE0qd9zlUEYjjeg2Show love to North Minneapolis families in crisis: https://www.gofundme.com/f/show-love-to-north-minneapolis-families-in-crisisReferences:
“The Silver Tongued Devil’s Last Ride” by Matthew Tchepikova-Treon for Perisphere, the Trylon blog“How Kris Kristofferson Beat the Devil” by Chris Lehmann for The Nation (Oct. 1, 2024)Check the calendar, preview upcoming series, and buy ticketsContribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog#CultFilmCollective #35mm
Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at [email protected] to get in touch!
Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: “Wailin' & Whoopin'” by Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry from the CISCO PIKE soundtrack.
Timestamps
0:00 - Episode 387: CISCO PIKE (1971)
3:50 - Whadja Watch This Week?
26:28 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary
29:29 - It’s basically a drug dealing montage
31:25 - The ‘60s high crashing in the ‘70s
41:01 - Why Cisco Pike struggles to survive the new decade
42:36 - What Cisco Pike really wants
55:29 - Cisco and Holland’s relationship
1:02:41 - Merna and Lynn: Cisco’s women
1:11:09 - The Junk Drawer
1:14:52 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1971
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Episodes manquant?
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We’re thrilled to have Emma Youndtsmith back to discuss a longtime favorite of hers and many millennials’: The movie that made Edgar Wright’s career, SHAUN OF THE DEAD!
We discuss the enduring love for this quirky movie, the comfort of regression, our favorite jokes, and our preferred zombie-fighting weapons (Emma’s legitimately surprised me). Then, we’re pitting seemingly random dead celebrities against each other in Cody’s Noteys!
Find Emma…
On Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/quiltedquads/On Letterboxd at https://letterboxd.com/emma_why/Volunteering at the Trylon every other FridayOn Trylove episodes about WATERSHIP DOWN (1978) and THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999)Give to these causes in need during ICE’s occupation of Minnesota:
Support Minnesotans defending their communities from ICE: https://www.standwithminnesota.com/@sanctuarysupplydepot: Mutual aid group in Mpls getting basic necessities to our houseless neighbors https://linktr.ee/sanctuarysupplydepot@mplsmutualaid: Clearinghouse of mutual aid for our neighbors: https://linktr.ee/mplsmutualaidISAIAH, an interfaith group fighting for racial and economic justice in MN: https://secure.everyaction.com/G8TCnxFlE0qd9zlUEYjjeg2Show love to North Minneapolis families in crisis: https://www.gofundme.com/f/show-love-to-north-minneapolis-families-in-crisisReferences:
Check the calendar, preview upcoming series, and buy ticketsContribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog#TheThreeFlavoursCornettoTrilogy #35mm
Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at [email protected] to get in touch!
Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: You know what it is.
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Help the Trylon afford a 4K projector! https://trylon.org/4K
SURPRISE! We’ve got one more Kinuyo Tanaka movie in the tank, because Cody and Jason weren’t able to get 80s Action Extravaganza tickets this year. With Cody out anyway, we’re covering DRAGNET GIRL, our first silent film directed by Yasujirō Ozu. It has a very, VERY different energy from his better-known works with color and sound (for better and worse).
A gangster and his moll enter a sort of love triangle when a scrappy ruffian wants to join the gang — only for the young upstart’s sister to catch the gangster’s eye. What follows on Trylove is a discussion of queer subtext (on which we’re not experts), prewar Japanese social constructs of masculinity (on which we’re not experts), and how cool this movie could be if it was like 35 minutes shorter (we’re kind of experts on that one tbh).
Give to these causes in need during ICE’s occupation of Minnesota:
Support Minnesotans defending their communities from ICE: https://www.standwithminnesota.com/@sanctuarysupplydepot: Mutual aid group in Mpls getting basic necessities to our houseless neighbors https://linktr.ee/sanctuarysupplydepot@mplsmutualaid: Clearinghouse of mutual aid for our neighbors: https://linktr.ee/mplsmutualaidISAIAH, an interfaith group fighting for racial and economic justice in MN: https://secure.everyaction.com/G8TCnxFlE0qd9zlUEYjjeg2Show love to North Minneapolis families in crisis: https://www.gofundme.com/f/show-love-to-north-minneapolis-families-in-crisisReferences:
“Movie of the Week: Dragnet Girl’” by Richard Brody for The New Yorker (April 15, 2015)Trylove Episode 190: FOREVER A WOMAN (1955) (aka THE ETERNAL BREASTS)Trylove Episode 192: LOVE LETTER (1953)Trylove Episode 193: GIRLS OF THE NIGHT (1961)Check the calendar, preview upcoming series, and buy ticketsContribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog#TheBalladOfKinuyoTanaka #35mm
Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at [email protected] to get in touch!
Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music from the DRAGNET GIRL soundtrack we heard when watching it at home, but I legitimately cannot find out who composed or performed that version.
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Help the Trylon afford a 4K projector! https://trylon.org/4K
The Trylon’s series on Kinuyo Tanaka’s acting roles ends with a bang: Keisuke Kinoshita’s THE BALLAD OF NARAYAMA (no, not the 1983 version that won the Palme d’Or). It’s a dire tale: Tanaka plays an old woman on the cusp of 70, at which point she’ll be taken to the top of a mountain to die alone so her village can conserve food. And Bleak Week isn’t even here yet!
The story itself is only ALMOST as interesting as how it’s told. A mix of traditional Japanese dramatic styles are filmed with a colorful expressiveness and visual dynamism that seems to undercut the stoic, passionless ritual at its heart.
In this Harry-less episode, we discuss the subversive literary origins of this story, the way its cinematography helps you keep time and dread its passing, and the possibility that THE BALLAD OF NARAYAMA is at war with itself. Then, we unwind with a lyrics guessing game based on peak millennial ballads.
We also get into it about Werther’s® Originals®. Or is it Werther’s® Original®?
Give to these causes in need during ICE’s occupation of Minnesota:
Support Minnesotans defending their communities from ICE: https://www.standwithminnesota.com/@sanctuarysupplydepot: Mutual aid group in Mpls getting basic necessities to our houseless neighbors https://linktr.ee/sanctuarysupplydepot@mplsmutualaid: Clearinghouse of mutual aid for our neighbors: https://linktr.ee/mplsmutualaidISAIAH, an interfaith group fighting for racial and economic justice in MN: https://secure.everyaction.com/G8TCnxFlE0qd9zlUEYjjeg2Show love to North Minneapolis families in crisis: https://www.gofundme.com/f/show-love-to-north-minneapolis-families-in-crisisReferences:
Find film critic and Trylove guest Matt Clark’s new zines on his blog, Kino Ventura, at https://kino-ventura.blogspot.com/“The Astonishing Theatrical Style in The Ballad of Narayama (1958)“ by Zach Staads for Perisphere, the Trylon blog“Ballad of Narayama” by Darragh O’Donoghue for Senses of Cinema (February 2013)“Japan Twang: Tsugaru-jamisen with Sato Michiyoshi” (Kalamazoo Public Library, 2018)Trylove Episode 190: FOREVER A WOMAN (1955) (aka THE ETERNAL BREASTS)Trylove Episode 192: LOVE LETTER (1953)Trylove Episode 193: GIRLS OF THE NIGHT (1961)Check the calendar, preview upcoming series, and buy ticketsContribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog#TheBalladOfKinuyoTanaka #DCP
Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at [email protected] to get in touch!
Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music by Chūji Kinoshita and Matsunosuke Nozawa from THE BALLAD OF NARAYAMA soundtrack.
Timestamps
0:00 - Episode 384: THE BALLAD OF NARAYAMA (1958)
1:41 - Whadja Watch This Week?
16:38 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary
18:24 - We had no expectations and that’s a good way to go in
22:06 - An arresting musicality and framing
40:46 - Where the style and heart of the movie diverge
48:52 - What ubasute means to the characters in this movie
1:04:52 - Why Westerners maybe can't relate to the "elder care" thing as much
1:10:26 - The narrative you expect vs the narrative you get
1:20:58 - The Junk Drawer
1:31:40 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1958
1:32:34 - Cody’s Noteys: The Ballad of Millennial (lyrics trivia from late ‘90s and early ‘00s songs)
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Help the Trylon afford a 4K projector! https://trylon.org/4K
A governor in 11th century Japan is exiled, and his wife (Kinuyo Tanaka) and two children are sold into slavery. And it only gets crazier from there!
The young boy (Yoshiaki Hanayagi) and girl (Kyōko Kagawa) come of age in the service of the local administrator Sanshō (Eitarō Shindō). Disgraced, each member of the shattered family survives unending cruelty with only the belief that good will triumph over evil. Which, as this episode proves, isn’t everybody’s cup of tea.
Kenji Mizoguchi’s SANSHO THE BAILIFF is recognized as one of the greatest films of all time, a heartrending narrative of the indomitable human spirit in the face of systemic adversity. It’s kind of like Superman.
Give to these causes in need during ICE’s occupation of Minnesota:
Support Minnesotans defending their communities from ICE: https://www.standwithminnesota.com/@sanctuarysupplydepot: Mutual aid group in Mpls getting basic necessities to our houseless neighbors https://linktr.ee/sanctuarysupplydepot@mplsmutualaid: Clearinghouse of mutual aid for our neighbors: https://linktr.ee/mplsmutualaidISAIAH, an interfaith group fighting for racial and economic justice in MN: https://secure.everyaction.com/G8TCnxFlE0qd9zlUEYjjeg2Show love to North Minneapolis families in crisis: https://www.gofundme.com/f/show-love-to-north-minneapolis-families-in-crisisReferences:
“The Golden Age of Repertory Cinema Is Now” by Alison Foreman for IndieWire“Dismantling a Monolith of Misery: Finding Hope Amid State-Protected Violence in Kenji Mizoguchi’s Sansho the Bailiff” by Chris Polley for Perisphere, the Trylon blogTrylove Episode 190: FOREVER A WOMAN (1955) (aka THE ETERNAL BREASTS)Trylove Episode 192: LOVE LETTER (1953)Trylove Episode 193: GIRLS OF THE NIGHT (1961)Check the calendar, preview upcoming series, and buy ticketsContribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog#TheBalladOfKinuyoTanaka #35mm
Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at [email protected] to get in touch!
Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro: “Sanshō the Bailiff Theme” by Fumio Hayasaka from the SANSHO THE BAILIFF soundtrack.
Timestamps
0:00 - Episode 383: SANSHO THE BAILIFF (1954)
3:35 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary
5:33 - Whadja Watch This Week?
14:20 - Why the movie’s named after a bad guy
36:22 - Is goodness actually its own reward?
56:06 - Zushiō after the time jump
1:02:37 - What if it’s NOT all gonna work out?
1:08:28 - The ending
1:17:23 - “Obvious” moments that still work well
1:25:59 - The Junk Drawer
1:32:04 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1954
1:34:26 - Sanshō the ‘Boxd Fiend (over/under for movies above or below the Letterboxd ranking of SANSHO THE BAILIFF)
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Help the Trylon afford a 4K projector! https://trylon.org/4K
When a single mother’s son falls ill while awaiting her husband’s return from the front, she turns to prostitution to cover the bill. After his return, Tokiko (Kinuyo Tanaka) comes clean to Shuichi (Shūji Sano), whose reaction jeopardizes their otherwise stable relationship.
In 2022, we covered several movies directed by Kinuyo Tanaka. A new series at the Trylon gives us an opportunity to explore the filmmaker’s better-known career as an actress with Yasujirō Ozu's A HEN IN THE WIND!
Give to these causes in need during ICE’s occupation of Minnesota:
Support Minnesotans defending their communities from ICE: https://www.standwithminnesota.com/@sanctuarysupplydepot: Mutual aid group in Mpls getting basic necessities to our houseless neighbors https://linktr.ee/sanctuarysupplydepot@mplsmutualaid: Clearinghouse of mutual aid for our neighbors: https://linktr.ee/mplsmutualaidISAIAH, an interfaith group fighting for racial and economic justice in MN: https://secure.everyaction.com/G8TCnxFlE0qd9zlUEYjjeg2Show love to North Minneapolis families in crisis: https://www.gofundme.com/f/show-love-to-north-minneapolis-families-in-crisisReferences:
“Life After Wartime: Ozu’s Darker Side” by Dan Howard for Perisphere, the Trylon blogTrylove Episode 190: FOREVER A WOMAN (1955) (aka THE ETERNAL BREASTS)Trylove Episode 192: LOVE LETTER (1953)Trylove Episode 193: GIRLS OF THE NIGHT (1961)Check the calendar, preview upcoming series, and buy ticketsContribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog#TheBalladOfKinuyoTanaka #35mm
Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at [email protected] to get in touch!
Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro from the A HEN IN THE WIND soundtrack.
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Help the Trylon afford a 4K projector! https://trylon.org/4K
Years ago, we covered Alfred Hitchcock’s first surviving feature film, THE PLEASURE GARDEN (1925). The final movie he made before his death, 1976’s FAMILY PLOT, is on the other side of one of the most storied careers in all of film. It’s also… fine.
Eager to cash in on the bounty, a pair of small-time hustlers (Bruce Dern, Barbara Harris) go hunting for the new heir of an old fortune — unaware that their quarry is one half of a lucrative crime duo (Karen Black, William Devane) who’ll eliminate anything between them and their next score.
Less thrilling than madcap, the ensuing hijinks are evidence of either a master who lost his touch for suspense or the GOAT kicking back and having some fun with someone else’s story. Both perspectives are represented on this episode! Then, we’re into some introspective Trylove trivia with a thrilling conclusion that would make the Master of Suspense proud.
Give to these causes in need during ICE’s occupation of Minnesota:
Support Minnesotans defending their communities from ICE: https://www.standwithminnesota.com/@sanctuarysupplydepot: Mutual aid group in Mpls getting basic necessities to our houseless neighbors https://linktr.ee/sanctuarysupplydepot@mplsmutualaid: Clearinghouse of mutual aid for our neighbors: https://linktr.ee/mplsmutualaidISAIAH, an interfaith group fighting for racial and economic justice in MN: https://secure.everyaction.com/G8TCnxFlE0qd9zlUEYjjeg2Show love to North Minneapolis families in crisis: https://www.gofundme.com/f/show-love-to-north-minneapolis-families-in-crisisReferences:
“Hijinks in Hitchcockland: Family Plot” by Penny Folger for Perisphere, the Trylon blog“Who’s Buried in the Plot?” by Patrick Clifford for Perisphere, the Trylon blogCheck the calendar, preview upcoming series, and buy ticketsContribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog#The2026HitchcockFilmFestival #35mm
Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at [email protected] to get in touch!
Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro: “Family Plot Theme” by John Williams from the FAMILY PLOT soundtrack.
Timestamps
0:00 - Episode 381: FAMILY PLOT (1976)
3:49 - Whadja Watch this Week?
15:42 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary
19:36 - The plates this movie’s spinning
25:55 - All the Hitchcockiness it’s got going on
28:59 - Grandparent cinema
32:40 - A defense!
38:32 - Leaning into both simultaneously
47:03 - What about this era of Hitchcock?
53:45 - What the loss of cinematographer Robert Burks (d. 1968) did to Hitchcock’s late career
1:00:16 - The Junk Drawer
1:04:42 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1976
1:09:24 - Trylove Plot (we guess Trylove movies based on plot synopses)
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Help the Trylon afford a 4K projector! https://trylon.org/4K
A funny thing happens the first time you see Michael Mann’s MIAMI VICE. The funny thing is that you don’t really like it very much, and it’s kind of confusing and… just kind of off. You know how I know that? Because people who absolutely LOVE it will tell you this.
MIAMI VICE is more than a filmmaker looking back at his old work. It’s an aging archetype cast against an updated version of the environment in which it was born. Michael Mann’s neon skylines, broad ocean vistas, and dead-inside detectives hide an intense emotionality — one the movie deftly and frustratingly hides from the viewer.
In another Aaron-less episode, the rest of the boys blow MIAMI VICE’s cover, going beyond the wafer-thin personas to identify the real, dimensional people underneath.
Give to these causes in need during ICE’s occupation of Minnesota:
Support Minnesotans defending their communities from ICE: https://www.standwithminnesota.com/@sanctuarysupplydepot: Mutual aid group in Mpls getting basic necessities to our houseless neighbors https://linktr.ee/sanctuarysupplydepot@mplsmutualaid: Clearinghouse of mutual aid for our neighbors: https://linktr.ee/mplsmutualaidISAIAH, an interfaith group fighting for racial and economic justice in MN: https://secure.everyaction.com/G8TCnxFlE0qd9zlUEYjjeg2Show love to North Minneapolis families in crisis: https://www.gofundme.com/f/show-love-to-north-minneapolis-families-in-crisisReferences:
“Miami Vice and Michael Mann’s City Vibes Films” by Ryan Sanderson for Perisphere, the Trylon blogCheck the calendar, preview upcoming series, and buy ticketsContribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog#MichaelMannsDarkAmericana #DCP
Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at [email protected] to get in touch!
Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. You know what the outro is.
Timestamps
0:00 - Episode 380: MIAMI VICE (2006)
3:29 - Whadja Watch This Week?
15:00 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary (under exclusive license from AG Enterprises, Ltd.)
31:28 - The earnestness is the juice
36:09 - Mann to Mann: The director approaches his old work
49:23 - What do we do with characters this thin in a world this rich?
1:12:08 - The whole movie is undercover?
1:18:01 - The ending
1:25:08 - The Junk Drawer
1:30:54 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 2006
1:33:14 - Cody’s Noteys: Jottin’ Tomato (darts rules but with RottenTomatoes scores)
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COLLATERAL is a different flavor for Michael Mann, yet it’s still familiar territory for the tortured auteur. There are enough distinct ingredients, for sure: Some mixture of Stuart Beattie’s script, a blend of film and digital aesthetics, and Tom Cruise’s real-life sociopathy resulted in a critical and commercial darling (something of a rarity in Mann’s body of film work).
In this episode, Jason, Cody, and Harry recap what we’ve watched lately and then hop in the back seat on a long night’s journey through COLLATERAL’s bristling version of Los Angeles. It’s a discussion replete with takes: On the relationship between the meek Max and the vicious Vincent; on the vices and virtues that define Michael Mann movies; and a pretty okay analysis of the coyote scene. You didn’t think we wouldn’t have an answer for that, didja?
Then, as we so often do, we finish with some trivia about craft brewery offerings that have some tangent connection in name to the films of Tom Cruise. I guess that means this episode is 21+! Haha. Just joshin’.
Give to these causes in need during ICE’s occupation of Minnesota:
Support Minnesotans defending their communities from ICE: https://www.standwithminnesota.com/@sanctuarysupplydepot: Mutual aid group in Mpls getting basic necessities to our houseless neighbors https://linktr.ee/sanctuarysupplydepot@mplsmutualaid: Clearinghouse of mutual aid for our neighbors: https://linktr.ee/mplsmutualaidISAIAH, an interfaith group fighting for racial and economic justice in MN: https://secure.everyaction.com/G8TCnxFlE0qd9zlUEYjjeg2Show love to North Minneapolis families in crisis: https://www.gofundme.com/f/show-love-to-north-minneapolis-families-in-crisisReferences:
“Collateral’s Unintentional Influence on No-Budget Digital Cinema” by Tim Schwagel for Perisphere, the Trylon blog“The Cabbie and the Hitman: How Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise Created Memorable Characters in Michael Mann’s Collateral” by Dan McCabe for Perisphere, the Trylon blog“Hell on Wheels: Paul Cameron and Dion Beebe, ACS push hi-def video to its limits for Collateral, which chronicles a hit man’s nocturnal killing spree” by Jay Holben for American Cinematographer (August 2004)Check the calendar, preview upcoming series, and buy ticketsContribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog#MichaelMannsDarkAmericana #35mm
Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at [email protected] to get in touch!
Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro: “Briefcase” by Tom Rothrock from the COLLATERAL soundtrack.
Timestamps
0:00 - Episode 379: COLLATERAL (2004)
4:28 - Whadja Watch This Week?
27:43 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary (under exclusive license from AG Enterprises, Ltd.)
30:49 - Different stakes than your usual Mann movie
42:04 - Our Mann-kings rankings and what Tom Cruise’s casting does for this movie
51:49 - How COLLATERAL changes the calculus of Michael Mann’s mechanical men
58:38 - Vincent: Everything is performance and there is no self
1:05:27 - The one-sidedness of change in COLLATERAL
1:10:23 - Max, the malleable man
1:21:40 - Fate, coincidence, and coyotes
1:34:11 - The ending
1:47:18 - The Junk Drawer
1:56:36 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 2004
2:02:11 - Cody’s Noteys: Tom Brews (Tom Cruise-adjacent craft brewery trivia)
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That’s right: We’ve finally got Womenn on Mann on Trylove!
The heist of a lifetime. Everything on the line. And at the center of it: Two guys in their 50s having romantic tensions that make classic Hollywood look like a convent. HEAT is a thoroughly sung masterpiece of Michael Mann’s career: inspired by real events, a remake of his own earlier work, and embellished with the director’s signature lonely, lingering, Shakespearean pathos.
With Kelly and Natalie, we’re circling HEAT like a shark to figure out what makes it the melodramatic, epic, load-bearing high water mark that most gritty crime movies are still trying to match — and what still gives it an edge over the rest, more than three decades later. Then, it’s time for some rapid-fire HEAT-adjacent trivia.
Find Kelly…
On Bluesky at @kransekage.bsky.socialOn Twitter at @kransekage_On Letterboxd at @luckyhossOn Trylove episodes: WINGS OF DESIRE (1987), ARREBATO (1979), PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE (1974), REVOLVER (1973), THE DOOM GENERATION (1995), THE NIGHT PORTER (1974), REMEMBER MY NAME (1978), PLAY IT AS IT LAYS (1972), OUTLAND (1981), BASIC INSTINCT (1992), THIEF (1981)Find Natalie…
On Twitter and BlueskyOn Letterboxd at @framingthepicIn the byline for Noise Music, a forthcoming entry in Genre: A 33 ⅓ Series book about the noise genre and its influences on and intersections with cultureOn Trylove episodes about THE THIRD MAN (1949), CHESS OF THE WIND (1979), RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (1985), MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (2015), MILLENNIUM MAMBO (2001), THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999), LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT (2018), ZARDOZ (1974), NOSTALGHIA (1987), SECONDS (1966), THERE WILL BE BLOOD (2007), THE HEARTBREAK KID (1972), STAR WARS (1977), DEMONLOVER (2002)Give to these causes in need during ICE’s occupation of Minnesota:
Support Minnesotans defending their communities from ICE: https://www.standwithminnesota.com/@sanctuarysupplydepot: Mutual aid group in Mpls getting basic necessities to our houseless neighbors https://linktr.ee/sanctuarysupplydepot@mplsmutualaid: Clearinghouse of mutual aid for our neighbors: https://linktr.ee/mplsmutualaidISAIAH, an interfaith group fighting for racial and economic justice in MN: https://secure.everyaction.com/G8TCnxFlE0qd9zlUEYjjeg2Show love to North Minneapolis families in crisis: https://www.gofundme.com/f/show-love-to-north-minneapolis-families-in-crisisReferences:
“The Sun Rises and Sets with Heat” by Natalie Marlin for Perisphere, the Trylon blog“Of Late Nights and High Detail: Michael Mann’s Heat (1995)” by Dan McCabe for Perisphere, the Trylon blogCheck the calendar, preview upcoming series, and buy ticketsContribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog#MichaelMannsDarkAmericana #DCP
Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at [email protected] to get in touch!
Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro: “God Moving Over The Face of the Waters” by Moby as heard in the HEAT soundtrack.
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Michael Mann’s debut THIEF is pretty fully formed, a tightly wound caper with the grit of a ‘70s movie and the pizazz of an ‘80s thriller. Frank (James Caan) is an ex-convict and current master thief with a one-track mind: Make the money, marry the girl, make the family, live in peace at last. This being a movie, none of those things happen as he expects them to.
In this episode with guest Kelly Krantz, we talk about the pitiful antihero at the center of THIEF, the supporting cast (including Tuesday Weld and Willie Nelson), the Tangerine Dream score, and the crushing effect of the American carceral system on the American dream itself.
Find Kelly…
On Bluesky at @kransekage.bsky.socialOn Twitter at @kransekage_On Letterboxd at @luckyhossOn Trylove episodes: WINGS OF DESIRE (1987), ARREBATO (1979), PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE (1974), REVOLVER (1973), THE DOOM GENERATION (1995), THE NIGHT PORTER (1974), REMEMBER MY NAME (1978), PLAY IT AS IT LAYS (1972), OUTLAND (1981), BASIC INSTINCT (1992)Give to these causes in need during ICE’s occupation of Minnesota:
Support Minnesotans defending their communities from ICE: https://www.standwithminnesota.com/@sanctuarysupplydepot: Mutual aid group in Mpls getting basic necessities to our houseless neighbors https://linktr.ee/sanctuarysupplydepot@mplsmutualaid: Clearinghouse of mutual aid for our neighbors: https://linktr.ee/mplsmutualaidISAIAH, an interfaith group fighting for racial and economic justice in MN: https://secure.everyaction.com/G8TCnxFlE0qd9zlUEYjjeg2Show love to North Minneapolis families in crisis: https://www.gofundme.com/f/show-love-to-north-minneapolis-families-in-crisisReferences:
“Thief: That One Last Job and the American Dream” by Sophie Durbin for Perisphere, the Trylon blog“The Study of Mann” by F.X. Feeney for The Directors Guild of AmericaCheck the calendar, preview upcoming series, and buy ticketsContribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog#MichaelMannsDarkAmericana #35mm
Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at [email protected] to get in touch!
Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro: “Turning Point” as performed by Mighty Joe Young from the THIEF soundtrack.
Timestamps
0:00 - Episode 377: THIEF (1981)
3:39 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary
5:29 - Why THIEF is in Kelly’s top Michael Mann movies
9:38 - Frank, the pitiful man who’s still got prison in him
14:09 - A heist movie that’s not really about the heist
17:57 - The “masterfully architected” opening act
23:11 - The way the score parallels the story and characters
29:03 - Imprisonment, autonomy, and compromise
34:35 - Dependency and the fantasy worlds inhabited by Mann men
46:37 - Did Frank ever have a chance?
55:31 - Willie Nelson as Okla
1:05:04 - Tuesday Weld as Jessie
1:15:54 - The Junk Drawer
1:26:58 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1981
1:35:58 - Cody’s Noteys: Marketing Mannagers (guessing Michael Mann movies by their taglines)
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Olivier Assayas’s post-millennium brain-bender DEMONLOVER is only a corporate thriller up to a point. A business deal over distribution rights to commercialize fetish content stirs discord among French enterprise, Japanese production houses, American entrepreneurs, and the hidden forces repeatedly shifting the levers of power. DEMONLOVER the movie becomes as compromised as its playactors: Unanticipated plot shifts, unclear linearity, harsh sound design, and claustrophobic cinematography lend a pervasive feeling between not getting the whole picture and already seeing too much.
DEMONLOVER is a very ‘noisy’ film in more ways than one. Writer, movie lover, and noise connoisseur Natalie Marlin is maybe the only person up to the challenge of explaining what that means!
Find Natalie…
On Twitter and BlueskyOn Letterboxd at @framingthepicIn the byline for Noise Music, a forthcoming entry in Genre: A 33 ⅓ Series book about the noise genre and its influences on and intersections with cultureOn Trylove episodes about THE THIRD MAN (1949), CHESS OF THE WIND (1979), RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (1985), MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (2015), MILLENNIUM MAMBO (2001), THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999), LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT (2018), ZARDOZ (1974), NOSTALGHIA (1987), SECONDS (1966), THERE WILL BE BLOOD (2007), THE HEARTBREAK KID (1972), STAR WARS (1977)Give to these causes in need during ICE’s occupation of Minnesota:
Support Minnesotans defending their communities from ICE: https://www.standwithminnesota.com/@sanctuarysupplydepot: Mutual aid group in Mpls getting basic necessities to our houseless neighbors https://linktr.ee/sanctuarysupplydepot@mplsmutualaid: Clearinghouse of mutual aid for our neighbors: https://linktr.ee/mplsmutualaidISAIAH, an interfaith group fighting for racial and economic justice in MN: https://secure.everyaction.com/G8TCnxFlE0qd9zlUEYjjeg2Show love to North Minneapolis families in crisis: https://www.gofundme.com/f/show-love-to-north-minneapolis-families-in-crisisReferences:
“Toward a Cinema of Noise: Demonlover (2002)” by Natalie Marlin for Perisphere, the Trylon blogBLACK IS (1965) , dir. Aldo Tambellini“A Conversation on Electronics and Black TV with Aldo Tambellini” from Artscanada (1968)Check the calendar, preview upcoming series, and buy ticketsContribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog#BadCompany19FilmsFeaturingEvilCorporations #35mm
Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at [email protected] to get in touch!
Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro: “Move Away” by Sonic Youth from the DEMONLOVER soundtrack.
Timestamps
0:00 - Episode 376: DEMONLOVER (2002)
5:05 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary
6:38 - Defining noise as a cinematic genre
23:38 - What Assayas does and doesn’t show you and why
27:21 - The important turn at the midway point
32:34 - Patterns of control and subjugation in the worlds of fetish, commerce, and corporate interest
38:41 - Sexuality and the dehumanization of women for profit
1:00:43 - Web 1.0 and the ending of the movie
1:14:26 - The Junk Drawer
1:30:21 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 2002
1:36:08 - Cody’s Noteys: Seamenlover (seafaring trivia with tangent connections to films)
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Based on the real 1920 labor uprising by West Virginia coal miners, John Sayles’s MATEWAN spends much more time on the place than the battle it’s remembered for. Ten people died, including three private detectives hired to violently repress the ascendant labor unions.
Returning guest Louis Gagnon spent part of grad school learning about this period of labor history, so on this episode, we discuss MATEWAN as a movie and as a cultural time capsule, dramatizing a time when there was a more direct, vincible line between federal power, American capital, and the labor that grounded them both.
Find Louis…
On Letterboxd at https://letterboxd.com/PikedDogfish/On the Trylove episode about ROSEMARY'S BABY (1968)Give to these causes in need during ICE’s occupation of Minnesota:
Support Minnesotans defending their communities from ICE: https://www.standwithminnesota.com/@sanctuarysupplydepot: Mutual aid group in Mpls getting basic necessities to our houseless neighbors https://linktr.ee/sanctuarysupplydepot@mplsmutualaid: Clearinghouse of mutual aid for our neighbors: https://linktr.ee/mplsmutualaidISAIAH, an interfaith group fighting for racial and economic justice in MN: https://secure.everyaction.com/G8TCnxFlE0qd9zlUEYjjeg2Show love to North Minneapolis families in crisis: https://www.gofundme.com/f/show-love-to-north-minneapolis-families-in-crisisReferences:
“On the Road to Matewan” by Nate Logsdon for Perisphere, the Trylon blogCheck the calendar, preview upcoming series, and buy ticketsContribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog#BadCompany19FilmsFeaturingEvilCorporations #35mm
Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at [email protected] to get in touch!
Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro: “Fire in the Hole” by Mason Daring and Hazel Dickens from the MATEWAN soundtrack.
Timestamps
0:00 - Episode 375: MATEWAN (1987) with Louis Gagnon
3:02 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary
5:00 - The history of labor conflict in the US and Louis’s grad school work
8:38 - The coolest movie you could’ve been shown in high school history class
24:23 - The Battle of Matewan, the Coal Wars, and American labor post-World War I
32:53 - Violence vs. pacifism
38:06 - The ending
48:08 - Bridey May Tolliver
1:07:48 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1987
1:11:50 - Cody’s Noteys: My Mate, Wan (James Wan trivia)
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How much Ham could a Hamlet let if a Hamlet could let Ham?
Anyway, if you know Hamlet well, you may not enjoy THE BAD SLEEP WELL as much as someone who doesn’t. Toshiro Mifune (the GOAT) is an aggrieved secretary taking on a corrupt corporation, setting in motion a complicated plot to force confessions from sleazy profiteers who pressured a colleague into committing suicide amid an embezzlement scandal.
Akira Kurosawa’s Shakespearean noir borrows the broad strokes of the Bard, but in updating the setting for postwar Japan, it makes kind of inverse conclusions about its main character (and the way it changes Hamlet’s classic tragic ending).
Give to these causes in need during ICE’s occupation of Minnesota:
Support Minnesotans defending their communities from ICE: https://www.standwithminnesota.com/@sanctuarysupplydepot: Mutual aid group in Mpls getting basic necessities to our houseless neighbors https://linktr.ee/sanctuarysupplydepot@mplsmutualaid: Clearinghouse of mutual aid for our neighbors: https://linktr.ee/mplsmutualaidISAIAH, an interfaith group fighting for racial and economic justice in MN: https://secure.everyaction.com/G8TCnxFlE0qd9zlUEYjjeg2Show love to North Minneapolis families in crisis: https://www.gofundme.com/f/show-love-to-north-minneapolis-families-in-crisisReferences:
“The Tragedies Play Well: Akira Kurosawa’s Three-Time Love Affair with Shakespeare” by Dan Howard for Perisphere, the Trylon blog“Human Enough,” Harry Mackin’s piece for Perisphere, the Trylon blog, about BLADE RUNNER (1982), which played as part of the Bad Company series at the Trylon“The role of Hamlet in Kurosawa’s ‘The Bad Sleep Well’” by A.A. Birdsall“Thousand Words: Evil Behind the Mask of Respectability (The Bad Sleep Well, 1960)” by Andrea Grunert for The Big Picture Magazine“The Japanese Myth: A Middle‑Class Society or a Reality Overwhelmed by Global Social Polarisation?” Nicola CostalungaCheck the calendar, preview upcoming series, and buy ticketsContribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog#BadCompany19FilmsFeaturingEvilCorporations #35mm
Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at [email protected] to get in touch!
Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro from THE BAD SLEEP WELL.
Timestamps
0:00 - Episode 374: THE BAD SLEEP WELL (1960)
2:10 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary
5:26 - Adapting Hamlet for the new postwar Japanese social order
19:13 - Is the anticlimactic ending good, actually?
33:50 - Another light defense of the ending
47:57 - Where’s the color and flair of the Bard?
1:00:58 - It’s not written for the groundlings
1:06:19 - The Junk Drawer
1:11:34 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1960
1:15:47 - Cody’s Noteys: To Try; to Love (ranking animals by how much sleep they need)
1:46:13 - The results & the reveal
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Even in the famous glut of great movies that came out in 1999, Michael Mann’s THE INSIDER stands out because it works as a great legal thriller/biopic and as something much sadder and more compelling. Jeff Wigand (Russell Crowe) is a poindexter sitting on a story that could take down the third-largest tobacco company in the U.S., and Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino) is the 60 Minutes producer who wants to help him get it out there.
Abbie believes it’s Mann’s best (just wait ‘til she sees THIEF (1981)!) both because of its mealy newsiness and for much more textural reasons. It’s one of Mann’s last films before his jump to digital, giving him the perfect opportunity to use the beautiful tones of celluloid to close the frame around each scene, creating an increasingly claustrophobic atmosphere as the intersecting forces of Big Tobacco, government, media consolidation, government, and the court of public opinion constrict around Wigand’s masculinity, autonomy, and very life.
Find Abbie…
On BlueskyOn LetterboxdOn Trylove episodes about DRIVE ANGRY (2011), WAR OF THE WORLDS (2005), THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999), TOUCH OF EVIL (1958), THE TRAIN (1964), MOULIN ROUGE! (2001), PHANTOM THREAD (2017), STAR WARS (1977) (with Natalie Marlin)Give to these causes in need during ICE’s occupation of Minnesota:
Support Minnesotans defending their communities from ICE: https://www.standwithminnesota.com/@sanctuarysupplydepot: Mutual aid group in Mpls getting basic necessities to our houseless neighbors https://linktr.ee/sanctuarysupplydepot@mplsmutualaid: Clearinghouse of mutual aid for our neighbors: https://linktr.ee/mplsmutualaidISAIAH, an interfaith group fighting for racial and economic justice in MN: https://secure.everyaction.com/G8TCnxFlE0qd9zlUEYjjeg2Show love to North Minneapolis families in crisis: https://www.gofundme.com/f/show-love-to-north-minneapolis-families-in-crisisReferences:
“‘That Means You Don’t Talk’: Michael Mann’s The Insider” by Steve Rybin for Perisphere, the Trylon blog“Human Enough,” Harry Mackin’s piece for Perisphere, the Trylon blog, about BLADE RUNNER (1982), which played as part of the Bad Company series at the TrylonCheck the calendar, preview upcoming series, and buy ticketsContribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog#BadCompany19FilmsFeaturingEvilCorporations #35mm
Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at [email protected] to get in touch!
Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro: “Tempest” by Lisa Gerrard, Madjid Khaladj, and Pieter Bourke from the THE INSIDER soundtrack.
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With Dan Nagan!
Michael Clayton (George Clooney) is a ‘fixer’ for a big, successful law firm representing big, evil corporations. He doesn’t so much DO things as he does make it easier for the people who DO things to DO them. It’s not really an honest living, but it’s not direct enough for him to really get his hands dirty.
But when his lawyer friend snaps, vowing to expose the wrongdoings of the firm’s biggest client, Clayton’s looped into a deadly corporate cover-up — and maybe pushed to finally, actually make something happen.
Find Dan…
On Bluesky at @adapperdanman.bsky.socialOn Letterboxd at @aDapperDanManOn Trylove episodes about RONIN (1981), FACE/OFF (1997), MANDY (2018), EDGE OF TOMORROW (2013), GOODFELLAS (1994), BARBARIAN (2022), DEMOLITION MAN (1993), HEAVENLY BODIES (1984), THE WICKER MAN (1973)On Stoop Kidz! A Hey Arnold! PodcastGive to these causes in need during ICE’s occupation of Minnesota:
Support Minnesotans defending their communities from ICE: https://www.standwithminnesota.com/@sanctuarysupplydepot: Mutual aid group in Mpls getting basic necessities to our houseless neighbors https://linktr.ee/sanctuarysupplydepot@mplsmutualaid: Clearinghouse of mutual aid for our neighbors: https://linktr.ee/mplsmutualaidISAIAH, an interfaith group fighting for racial and economic justice in MN: https://secure.everyaction.com/G8TCnxFlE0qd9zlUEYjjeg2Show love to North Minneapolis families in crisis: https://www.gofundme.com/f/show-love-to-north-minneapolis-families-in-crisisReferences:
“Human Enough,” Harry Mackin’s piece about BLADE RUNNER (1982) for Perisphere, the Trylon blogCheck the calendar, preview upcoming series, and buy ticketsContribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog#BadCompany19FilmsFeaturingEvilCorporations #35mm
Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at [email protected] to get in touch!
Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro: 25 Dollars Worth by James Newton Howard from the MICHAEL CLAYTON soundtrack.
Timestamps
0:00 - Episode 372: MICHAEL CLAYTON (2007)
4:01 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary
6:03 - The unexpected depth of the script
10:44 - Watching it at the Trylon
15:41 - One of the best legal thrillers ever made
19:16 - The quasi-ironic ending
30:17 - “This will not solve everything”
33:31 - Who is Michael Clayton?
41:54 - George Clooney as the sadsack
1:10:11 - To All the Loves We've Tried Before: 2007
1:12:57 - Cody’s Noteys: My Cool Clay Tin (guessing the price of clay containers online)
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Jean-François Laguionie’s GWEN AND THE BOOK OF SAND is maybe a little too strange to fully understand, but its juxtapositions and style leave help it get so much more from its 67 minutes than a lot of full-length features can manage. A young girl named Gwen joins a tribe of desert nomads in a world littered with gigantic, recognizably earth-bound objects. Gwen falls in love with Nokmoon, a boy whose strange powers get him abducted by the ethereal creature that prowls the dunes by night. Gwen and Rosaline, the tribe’s matriarch, set out across the uncharted wastes to bring back the young boy.
In this episode — our last on the Trylon’s series on ‘80s animated sci-fi/fantasy, we gush over gouache, ponder the meaning of finding meaning in a story as abstruse as this one, and play a game where we try to guess what game Cody’s even trying to get us to play.
Give to these causes in need during ICE’s occupation of Minnesota:
Support Minnesotans defending their communities from ICE: https://www.standwithminnesota.com/@sanctuarysupplydepot: Mutual aid group in Mpls getting basic necessities to our houseless neighbors https://linktr.ee/sanctuarysupplydepot@mplsmutualaid: Clearinghouse of mutual aid for our neighbors: https://linktr.ee/mplsmutualaidISAIAH, an interfaith group fighting for racial and economic justice in MN: https://secure.everyaction.com/G8TCnxFlE0qd9zlUEYjjeg2Show love to North Minneapolis families in crisis: https://www.gofundme.com/f/show-love-to-north-minneapolis-families-in-crisisReferences:
“Episode Ten: Gwen and the Book of Sand/Signals/In the Dust of the Stars” from the Official Deaf Crocodile PodcastCheck the calendar, preview upcoming series, and buy ticketsContribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog#TheArtofInsurgence80sAnimatedSciFantasy #DCP
Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at [email protected] to get in touch!
Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro by Pierre Alrand from the GWEN AND THE BOOK OF SAND soundtrack.
Timestamps
0:00 - Episode 371: GWEN AND THE BOOK OF SAND (1985)
2:27 - Aaron's sunglasses
6:32 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary
9:56 - A truly unique work of animation
25:41 - The departure for the city
37:39 - Gwen and Rosalie
43:16 - Post-consumerism, identity, masking, etc.
57:39 - Nokmoon’s dreams
1:00:54 - The interpolation of live-action and animation styles
1:09:37 - The best images
1:17:47 - The Junk Drawer
1:21:40 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1985
1:27:50 - Cody’s Noteys: Gwen’s Picnic (we try to guess the rules of the game Cody makes us play)
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With Matt Clark (Kino Ventura)!
MIDNIGHT EXPRESS is mired in a good bit of targeted xenophobia. Oliver Stone apologized for adapting Billy Hayes’s memoir the way he did, but to the people of Türkiye, the damage was done. Alan Parker’s drama film, based on the true story of an American’s confinement in an Istanbul prison, dialed up the brutality to great cinematic effect, complemented by a brooding, Oscar-winning synth soundtrack by the father of disco, Giorgio Moroder.
In this episode, we discuss MIDNIGHT EXPRESS from a couple different angles: the Turkophobia on display, the movie on its own terms, the ensemble, and (of course) the score — before playing a trivia game to see who can guess the movie based on things shouted by a member of the cast during a fight. It’s another really, really specific bit from Cody (of Cody’s Noteys).
Find Matt…
At Kino Ventura , his blog about moviesMaking Apache Revolver , his zine about crime filmsOn Bluesky at kinoventuraOn Letterboxd at kino_venturaOn Trylove episodes about SHOGUN ASSASSIN (1980), THE LAVENDER HILL MOB (1951), NIGHT MOVES (1975), THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE (1973), THE ROCKETEER (1991)Give to these causes in need during ICE’s occupation of Minnesota:
Support Minnesotans defending their communities from ICE: https://www.standwithminnesota.com/@sanctuarysupplydepot: Mutual aid group in Mpls getting basic necessities to our houseless neighbors https://linktr.ee/sanctuarysupplydepot@mplsmutualaid: Clearinghouse of mutual aid for our neighbors: https://linktr.ee/mplsmutualaidISAIAH, an interfaith group fighting for racial and economic justice in MN: https://secure.everyaction.com/G8TCnxFlE0qd9zlUEYjjeg2Show love to North Minneapolis families in crisis: https://www.gofundme.com/f/show-love-to-north-minneapolis-families-in-crisisReferences:
“Giorgio Moroder: A Syllabus” by Sophie Durbin for Perisphere, the Trylon blog“25 Things We Learned from Paul Schrader's 'Blue Collar' Commentary” by Rob Hunter for Film School Rejects (Nov. 18, 2020)“I’M HEALTHY, I’M ALIVE, AND I’M FREE!" (1977) , a short television documentary of Billy Hayes’s story“Stone sorry for Midnight Express” by Helena Smith for The Guardian (December 15, 2004)Check the calendar, preview upcoming series, and buy ticketsContribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog#GiorgioMoroderMoodEngineer #DCP
Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at [email protected] to get in touch!
Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro: “(Theme from) Midnight Express (Instrumental)” by Giorgio Moroder from the MIDNIGHT EXPRESS soundtrack.
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René Laloux’s planet-hopping animated sci-fi adventure — no, not THAT one! — is in two places at once. THE TIME MASTERS wanders very Frenchly through its plot: An orphan needs saving on a weird planet, but our protagonists spend way more time witnessing the world (and freeing some mind-slaves on a completely separate planet) than worrying about the boy. But it comes across as such a genuine, heartfelt tale of camaraderie and creative vision that it doesn’t much matter.
In this episode, we discuss all the Guys in THE TIME MASTERS, the art of Mœbius (Jean Giraud), and how time travel factors in before seeing how well we can guess the runtime of movies we’ve covered on this podcast.
Give to these causes in need during ICE’s occupation of Minnesota:
@sanctuarysupplydepot: Mutual aid group in Mpls getting basic necessities to our houseless neighbors https://linktr.ee/sanctuarysupplydepotSupport Minnesotans defending their communities from ICE: https://www.standwithminnesota.com/@mplsmutualaid: Clearinghouse of mutual aid for our neighbors: https://linktr.ee/mplsmutualaidISAIAH, an interfaith group fighting for racial and economic justice in MN: https://secure.everyaction.com/G8TCnxFlE0qd9zlUEYjjeg2Show love to North Minneapolis families in crisis: https://www.gofundme.com/f/show-love-to-north-minneapolis-families-in-crisisReferences:
Trylove Episode 31: FANTASTIC PLANET (1973)Give to the Trylon’s Film Forever Fund so they never have to increase ticket prices!Check the calendar, preview upcoming series, and buy ticketsContribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog#TheArtofInsurgence80sAnimatedSciFantasy #DCP
Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at [email protected] to get in touch!
Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro: “Lamprey Guzzlers” from THE TIME MASTERS.
Timestamps
0:00 - Episode 369: THE TIME MASTERS (1982)
2:44 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary
5:09 - The style and substance of Mobius in an animated feature
12:13 - Seeing this one at the Trylon
17:30 - What happens when your reach exceeds your grasp
28:15 - Why this movie NEEDS to be animation
37:11 - Richness despite a meandering plot
44:51 - Adapting Stefan Wul
47:09 - How successful is the time twist?
59:20 - The Junk Drawer
1:06:17 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1982
1:13:49 - Cody’s Noteys: Runtime Masters (guessing the runtime of movies we’ve covered)
- Montre plus
