Alex Cox's Walker (with Olivia Willke)

Episode 20 of the Rotten Rewind podcast, hosted by rotten rewind, titled "Alex Cox's Walker (with Olivia Willke)" was published on July 3, 2023 and runs 51 minutes.

July 3, 2023 ·51m · Rotten Rewind

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Summary

Just in time for the 4th of July, it's Alex Cox's radical, career-killing satire, "Walker." It's hard to imagine a more radical film being made in the studio system than Alex Cox's "Walker." Shot on location in Nicaragua with a predominately Nicaraguan crew, "Walker" was Cox's scathing satire on William Walker, the man who colonized and attempted to rule over Nicaragua in 1853. Featuring a career-best performance by Ed Harris, "Walker" was nearly forgotten to time just as the real-life Walker was, until Criterion introduced it into its collection 20 years after Universal buried the film in a handful of theaters. Writer and critic Olivia Willke joins the podcast to examine the film that effectively ended Cox's short-lived career as a filmmaker in the studio system. It was no surprise audiences didn't respond to a film this strange and uncompromising, but why did so many critics despise Cox's anti-biopic? Join us for a look back at Alex Cox's brilliant "Walker." If you're in Chicago, don't miss Olivia's upcoming programming of "SexWorld." Tickets are on sale now and you can get a discount using the code LIV10.

Episode Description

Just in time for the 4th of July, it's Alex Cox's radical, career-killing satire, "Walker."

It's hard to imagine a more radical film being made in the studio system than Alex Cox's "Walker." Shot on location in Nicaragua with a predominately Nicaraguan crew, "Walker" was Cox's scathing satire on William Walker, the man who colonized and attempted to rule over Nicaragua in 1853. Featuring a career-best performance by Ed Harris, "Walker" was nearly forgotten to time just as the real-life Walker was, until Criterion introduced it into its collection 20 years after Universal buried the film in a handful of theaters.

Writer and critic Olivia Willke joins the podcast to examine the film that effectively ended Cox's short-lived career as a filmmaker in the studio system. It was no surprise audiences didn't respond to a film this strange and uncompromising, but why did so many critics despise Cox's anti-biopic? Join us for a look back at Alex Cox's brilliant "Walker."

If you're in Chicago, don't miss Olivia's upcoming programming of "SexWorld." Tickets are on sale now and you can get a discount using the code LIV10.