156. American Psycho (with Red Rose Film Club)

We welcome Hal (@shestructured on Letterboxd) and Craig (@gentlemanbaby on Letterboxd) from the Red Rose Film Club podcast to cover American Psycho (2000), the Wall Street horror/comedy starring Christian Bale as Patrick "Jason" Bateman. This movie's got a lot going on, folks. And we get to it all—we determine who has the best business card, we explain why you wouldn't want Christian Bale as your co-worker at Whataburger, we try to figure out what's going on with Justin Theroux's hair, and we marvel at Patrick Bateman's chainsaw math. Also, is American Psycho Jared Leto's villain origin story? But more than anything, we're trying to identify what exactly Patrick Bateman represents. Is he the embodiment of toxic masculinity? A victim of America's addiction to competition and consumption above all else? A misunderstood baby boy? An iconic slasher villain? What if our answer was…. Yes? All of this and so much more in our podcast that takes you behind the scenes of American Psycho and then discusses the movie in depth.  Next week:  We are the nation's top fun-havers, so we're taking the week off for Spring Break. We'll unlock our The Truman Show episode from our Patreon archive, and we'll be back on April 25, 2025 with a brand-new episode about  Sister Act 2  (1993) with our friend Jen Walks N2 Walls. Subscribe to Red Rose Film Club on Apple Podcast (https://apple.co/42qrGU6) or Spotify (https://bit.ly/4ieGX0b). Watch this episode in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/YhBntzg5Qjo    Time stamps: 00:08:00 — Opening thoughts on American Psycho 00:16:30 — History segment: Bret Easton Ellis and his American Psycho novel; development of the film under director Mary Harron; star Christian Bale  00:41:45 — Movie discussion + American Psycho film analysis 02:02:39 — Star ratings + final review of American Psycho   AMERICAN PSYCHO (2000) was directed by Mary Harron. Starring Christian Bale, Reese Witherspoon, Willem Dafoe, Chloë Sevigny, Jared Leto, Justin Theroux, Josh Lucas, Samantha Mathis, Matt Ross, Bill Sage, Cara Seymour, and Guinevere Turner.   Sources: "American Psycho: An Oral History, 20 Years After Its Divisive Debut" by Tim Molloy |  Movie Maker, 2020 -  https://bit.ly/44e4Kd2 "Blood, Boycott, and Body Bags: An Oral History of 'American Psycho'" by Tatiana Tenreyro |  Vice, 2020 -  https://bit.ly/4i61CmW  "Snuff This Book!  Will Bret Easton Ellis Get Away With Murder?" by Roger Rosenblatt | The New York Times, 1991 -  https://nyti.ms/3G0emOE    Artwork by Laci Roth.   Check out Laci's coloring videos on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-kKLhWb2g0bKA-RrvvLh0Q/  Matt has a monthly spin-off podcast covering the James Bond films! Check out PodJob: A James Bond Podcast on Apple Podcast (https://bit.ly/4jRL2K1), Spotify (https://bit.ly/4a8jM6E), and YouTube (https://youtube.com/@podjob007).   Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (https://bit.ly/48WBtUa), Apple Music (https://bit.ly/3Q6kOVC), or YouTube (https://bit.ly/3MbU6tC).   Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode: "Winston-Salem" - https://youtu.be/-acMutUf8IM "Snake Drama" - https://youtu.be/xrzz8_2Mqkg "The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet" - https://youtu.be/k7wlxTGGEIQ    Follow 1-Week Rental, a movie podcast: Twitter: @1weekrental | @MattStokes9 | @LRothConcepts Facebook: @1weekrental Instagram: @1weekrental TikTok: @1weekrental | @mattstokes9 Letterboxd: @loadbearinglaci | @mattstokes9 Bluesky: @1weekrental.bsky.social   1-Week Rental used to be Load Bearing Beams.