In the Cut

In our final episode of “Season 2” we enlist Yakov Grinberg to help peel back some of the many layers within Tarkovsky’s 1979 masterpiece Stalker; a hard to describe — and equally hard to forget — meditation on the human … Continue reading →

Luke Christensen from Portland’s Hollywood Theatre joins us to talk about 2009’s “Moon” — Sam Rockwell and Kevin Spacey’s performances, Clint Mansell’s score, and the unique plot construction of this the artful, ponderous character study and mutual favorite of the … Continue reading →

We welcome the amazing Jenny Benevento to help us wrap our brains around one of the towering cinematic wonders of our age: the anti-erotic madhouse Showgirls, in all of its contradictory, critically loathed, unforgettable glory. Watch Showgirls: ▸ Amazon Subscribe: … Continue reading →

One of the lesser-remembered entries in Wes Craven’s oeuvre, The Serpent and the Rainbow is a bit less than the sum of its parts, sending Bill Pullman stumbling and snarking through Haiti in search of a substance that can turn … Continue reading →

Eran and Jesse talk about Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2, Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell’s landmark horror films that set such a high bar for the nascent Splatstick genre that they’ve yet to be dethroned thirty-plus years later. Groovy. … Continue reading →

Eran, Whitney and Jesse sit down for a chat about both the Stanley Kubrick and Adrian Lyne adaptations of Nabokov’s Lolita, and their respective approaches to the challenging source material. Watch Lolita (1962): ▸ Amazon ▸ iTunes Watch Lolita (1997): … Continue reading →

Jesse and Whitney can’t get enough of talking about Hedwig: the characters, the songs, how it differs from the stage version, the difficult questions it raises, and those poor, poor Bilgewater’s patrons. Watch Hedwig and the Angry Inch: ▸ Amazon … Continue reading →

With Eran back in the saddle with Jesse, and first-time co-host Jacob Henderson joining us as well, we talk about Paul Verhoeven’s visually amazing adaptation/sendup of Robert Heinlein’s military sci-fi classic, and along the way we just might find out … Continue reading →

Portland musicians and troublemakers The Cut 45 are here to kick off Season 2 with a case of Pabst Blue Ribbon and a frank discussion of whether or not you ever oughta reboot RoboCop. If you want more, you can … Continue reading →

Contains the shocking conclusion to Part 1’s cliffhanger ending. You’ll also hear Nunk calling from a fishing boat in Alaska to discuss the embarrassments of personal taste, and Jon talking with Jesse about the podcast and the nature of criticism … Continue reading →

Part 1 of our two-part Season Finale. Jesse fails to convince Laura to record an intro, chats with Josh about Hellraiser and mission creep in horror movies, and Eran calls from his mom’s house to explain why he hates Batman. … Continue reading →

Jon again joins Eran and Jesse for our least insightful episode ever. We can hardly think of any useful points of analysis for “Robocop 3” so we mostly just yell about it. Music by Future of the Left Watch Robocop … Continue reading →

Josh Millard again joins Eran and Jesse, this time to commiserate over the deeply awful “Brainscan”. In the process, we unlock a vast Aerosmith/David Fincher metanarrative and discuss whether Edward Furlong knows how to put milk in his mouth. Watch … Continue reading →

Eran, Jesse, and first-time co-host Nunk discuss Shyamalan’s “Unbreakable”, superhero movies, the trappings of populist art, and Powerball. Watch Unbreakable: Amazon iTunes Load more options ▾ You can visit Can I Stream It to see all your options!(…since their widget … Continue reading →

Jon, Eran, and Jesse – the first three hosts – come together for the first time, to discuss the sometimes-flawed but profoundly enjoyable John Landis classic An American Werewolf in London, and what it pulled off that most movies still … Continue reading →

In our first three-person episode, we settle in with some bourbon and Josh Millard to fondly discuss 1988’s Willow – why it’s still a total joy to watch, how it creates a refreshingly different kind of protagonist, and how it … Continue reading →

A 2011 favorite of both Jesse and Eran’s, Attack the Block is a chance to explore how great characters, a kinetic script, and alien gorilla-wolves can come together to make one of the funnest, liveliest films in recent memory. Watch … Continue reading →

Jesse and Eran talk about boners for an unreasonably long time before moving on to the rest of Holy Motors; an acclaimed and often-strange series of character vignettes carried off by an extraordinary Denis Lavant. Watch Holy Motors: Netflix Amazon … Continue reading →

Drunk, and together at last, Eran and Jesse discuss New Orleans, Beasts of the Southern Wild, and some juicy sponsorship opportunities. Watch Beasts of the Southern Wild: Amazon iTunes Load more options ▾ You can visit Can I Stream It … Continue reading →

Alan Moore’s acclaimed, “unfilmable” graphic novel comes to the screen, and Eran and Jesse discuss whether Zack Snyder was able to pull it off. Watch the Film: Netflix Amazon iTunes Load more options ▾ You can visit Can I Stream … Continue reading →

“Prince of Darkness” isn’t the first movie you think of when someone says “John Carpenter”, but Eran and Jesse pay it a visit and see how a filmmaker’s ingenuity can make a bad film, in some ways, pretty great. Watch … Continue reading →

A short special, impulsively recorded and released by Jesse on his own upon hearing about Roger Ebert’s passing. Esquire: The Essential Man Life Itself, a Memoir Listen to Podcast:

Recorded on Dec 26, Eran and Jesse discuss how experts smuggle booze onto a plane, then get into Ralph Bakshi’s 1977 epic “Wizards”; its strange appeal, major shortcomings, and its odd production serendipity with Star Wars. Watch Wizards: Buy on … Continue reading →

A special April 1 mini-episode. Eran and Jesse struggle to grasp Cabin Boy, the unexpectedly dark 1994 comedy from Chris Elliott…? Watch Cabin Boy: Amazon Load more options ▾ You can visit Can I Stream It to see all your … Continue reading →

A superb but sobering film, “This Is England” draws Eran and Jesse into a conversation about themes of adolescence, identity, fatherhood, and Stephen Graham’s astounding performance as a skinhead in 1983 Britain. Watch This Is England: Amazon Netflix Load more … Continue reading →

Eran and Jesse chat about 2011’s “Drive” – touching on how it treats violence, the occasionally terrible music, and the enigmatic Driver character – to try to see what worked and what didn’t. Watch Drive: Netflix Amazon iTunes Load more … Continue reading →

Eran wants to revisit Clive Barker’s 1990 followup to “Hellraiser”, the larger-budget studio disaster “Nightbreed”. We talk about what went wrong, and why an ambitious failure is often more interesting to watch than a conventional success. Watch Nightbreed: Netflix Amazon … Continue reading →

Cabin in the Woods manages to stay surprising, even after putting the big twist in the first scene. Jesse and Eran talk about this, Joss Whedon’s setups and payoffs, and what’s different about modern horror movies. Watch The Cabin in … Continue reading →

Jesse and Eran take a look at Robocop 2: how it compares to its predecessor, to other Frank Miller scripts, and to “Showgirls”. We scratch off some lottery tickets to see if we can fund the show. Watch RoboCop 2: … Continue reading →

In our first-ever episode, Jesse and Jon discuss xenomorph taxonomy, sloppy writing, and whether Prometheus should be held to the same standards as better movies are. Also, what Prometheus and Ninja Turtles have in common. Watch Prometheus: Amazon iTunes Load … Continue reading →