The Hip Pocket #301 - Nick Wiger

NICK “TIGER” WIGER is celebrating the tenth year of co-hosting Doughboys, where he and Mike review chain restaurants. He also co-hosts Get Played, a video-game podcast that has special bonus episodes that focus on anime, one of Wiger’s passions. He showed up ready to share that passion with us, and I thought it was a great trio of titles, representing three very different type of storytelling. First up, there’s The Castle of Cagliostro, the first feature film directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It’s a unique title in his filmography because of the origins of the film, but you can feel his voice loud and clear in the film’s energy. His second film is one of the foundational classics of the genre, the great Ghost in the Shell. And to wrap it up, he chose Look Back, a film that came out last year and that should have gotten way more attention than it did. Our response film is a movie I once discussed onstage with Roger Ebert at his film festival in Champaign-Urbana, Rin Taro’s Metropolis, and it was definitely interesting to revisit it after almost 20 years. Finally, this week’s selection for the Hip Pocket Hall of Fame is a film that is not anime, but the way it used anime as an inspiration is dazzling, and the result is a film that I rewatch often and love more every time. Let’s talk about Speed Racer, because it is always a good time to talk about Speed Racer. Always. Support The Hip Pocket over at Patreon, where we’re gearing up for a full season of bonus episodes! Support The Hip Pocket on BlueSky! The Hip Pocket is hosted by Drew McWeeny and Aundria Parker. Craig Ceravolo is the show’s bandleader and producer. It is a Formerly Dangerous Production. You can find us at drewmcweeny.com and on your favorite podcasting apps!