Mighty Movie Podcast

I have a lively conversation with host Jim Freund about season two of STAR WARS: ANDOR on WBAI's HOUR OF THE WOLF.

A review for Hour of the Wolf, which airs on WBAI 99.5FM in New York.

What happens when your TV set can only bring signals from local station WEVL? Turkish director Orçun Behram explores the mayhem in the surreal, political body-horror film THE ANTENNA, and talks with us about how it came to be.

Death abides, but not often easily. In BURNING GHOST, a young man ferries lost souls to the afterlife, until love distracts him from his mission, while in A WHITE, WHITE DAY, a policeman investigates the possibility that his recently deceased wife was having an affair. Listen to the latest episodes of HOUR OF THE WOLF in the archives at wbai.org!

While WBAI's HOUR OF THE WOLF has been (hopefully) temporarily sidelined, here's my unaired review of the intriguing JOKER and the dismaying AD ASTRA.  

In a startlingly bold experiment for ToB, we've decided to take the first twenty minutes of the classic(?) Bela Lugosi horror(?) film, SCARED TO DEATH, and treat it to a daringly new concept in film analysis, one that's never been seen before and certainly has absolutely no connection to MST3K or CINEMATIC TITANIC or RIFFTRAX, or anything like that. (And if there appears to be resemblance, well, we came up with it first and our lawyers are going to be in touch with all of those guys in the morning, believe you me.) A few notes: This was Bela Lugosi's only color film, not that it did him much good. Keep in mind that this is a video file. We've adjusted the compression to make it as small as possible, but it'll still take a bit longer to download. Because of the file size, the video quality will be a bit scrubby -- particularly on larger screens -- but should be good enough. And we'd love to actually finish the rest of the film, so if you like what you see, give us a holler and let us know!

Soooo much to cover in one, brief segment! First, I look at the French animated film APRIL AND THE EXTRAORDINARY WORLD, and how it takes on the genre of steampunk in a way few steampunkers dare to consider. Then I have some belated thoughts on the entertaining comic book movie, DEADPOOL, and highlight a standout performance in the gory Turkish(!) horror film, BASKIN. Finally, I celebrate the documentary that celebrates the artist Chet Zar, I LIKE TO PAINT MONSTERS, and alert retro-horror fans to the delights of a new homevid collection, THE AMERICAN HORROR PROJECT, VOLUME 1. Then it's time for light lunch, but that's outside of your realm of interest, isn't it? Click on the player button to hear the segment; right-click the link to download, and in all cases, SPEAK OUT AGAINST TRUMP.

Here's a curious thing: A fun, funny, action-packed animated family film that just by happenstance strikes at the very core of the ugliness behind the presidential campaign of a certain, stubby-fingered, orange-American. Couldn't have been by design, not with production schedules for CG animation being what they are, but there it is: ZOOTOPIA -- anthropomorphized animals against Trumpism. Couldn't have come at a better time. Also in this review, my take on near-future hipster comedy CREATIVE CONTROL, and Terrence Malick's introspective KNIGHT OF CUPS. Click the player to hear the review, or right-click the link to download.

2016 marks the 40th anniversary of the film that changed the entertainment industry as we know it, the film the rewrote the rules on action entertainment, that dazzled audiences with its innovative special effects, that forever lodged in popular culture the notion that exciting adventures awaited audiences a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. Oh, wait a minute... STAR WARS debuted in 1977. In 1976, we got the Dino De Laurentiis remake of KING KONG, the film that did absolutely nothing for the industry, special effects, or the public's gas shortage-ravaged attitudes. Come join Kevin Lauderdale, Orenthal Hawkins, Andrea Lipinski, and Dan Persons as delve deep into this gorilla-shaped turkey, and try to get the world's biggest monkey off their backs. 

(Sung to the tune of Maniac): A Satanist who can zip out of chains.He is suave, and he's smart, and clumsy.He gropes all the chicks, and eats his victim's brains,Everybody says he's eeeee-vil. He gets burned at the stake, but is feeling no pain.He knows it's just a matter of time,Three hundred years in fact, that he's coming right back,To suck out brains with his big, floppy tongue. He can freeze you with a look,But you'll just look like a schnook,'Cause you should have known by now: He's a Brainiac, Brainiac with some style,And to eat your brains is the thing that makes him smile.He's a Brainiac, Brainiac who's intense,And his vengeance really don't make no damn sense. Yes, in a long-delayed but well-worth-waiting-for Temple of Bad, Orenthal Hawkins (who brainstormed the soulful ballad above), Andrea Lipinski and Kevin Lauderdale, and Dan Persons take on the goofy Mexican horror film, The Brainiac. Bad makeup, crappy sets, and ridiculous effects rule the day! Click on the player to hear the show, or right-click the link to download.

"The Machine, Dan? The Machine? Surely you must mean Ex Machina, the dark, sensual drama about a young programmer falling into the thrall of an eerily human-like android, the film that grabbed so much attention earlier this year. That's the film you're talking about, right?" No, no I'm actually talking about The Machine, another film entirely. But in an curious way, I'm talking about Ex Machina as well, because it turns out there are some interesting parallels between the two films, in sufficient quantity that I think it's well-worth discussion. Click on the player to hear my review, or right-click the link to download.

You know, we've always considered as our prime mission an elevation of the level of discourse in movie podcasts. Much like Cahiers du Cinema, we seek to enshrine the world of film as a true artform, analyzing the efforts its creators' invest in fulfilling their unique visions,  and exploring how the results serve to elevate humanity's understanding of itself and the universe. And then a film comes along that features a group of astromauts on a mission to discover if there's life on Uranus, and all that goes out the window. A Danish/American co-production starring that ambulatory hunk o' granite, John Agar, Journey to the Seventh Planet is a film whose supreme silliness only starts with the sophomoric opportunities offered by its central premise. Come join the Temple of Bad team of Andrea Lipinski, Kevin Lauderdale, and Orenthal Hawkins as they take on a tale that isn't satisfied with giving filmgoers a giant, mutant, cyclopean rat when a giant, mutant, and quite noisy, spider, plus a bevy of women in filmy negligees, can be thrown in as well. Click the player to hear the show, or right-click the link to download.

This is a real "watch this, not that," segment this time. Self/less was the "serious" opening last weekend -- directed by overt stylist Tarsem Singh, starring Ryan Reynolds and Ben Kingsley -- and the worst sin that could be levelled at it was that it was kind of stoopid. But then, the weekend also saw the debut of a couple of more compelling releases: Jellyfish Eyes, a family film send-up directed by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami; and the delirious Korean noir comedy A Hard Day. Only thing to do is to give 'em all their due and leave it to my listeners' good judgement. Click on the player to hear the segment, or right-click the link to download.

You can be forgiven. If your first thought when you hear the phrase, "found-footage mockumentary" is a sincere wish that somebody should have released a Web virus long ago to wipe every copy of The Blair Witch Project off every server on Earth, that's certainly understandable. So I'm aware of the risk I'm taking by going on record to say that The Midnight Swim -- a moody, enigmatic found-footage ghost story about three sisters discovering the ominous mystery surrounding the lake that claimed their mother's life -- demonstrates there's still something new and moving to be discovered in this debased genre. Click on the player to hear my review for WBAI 99.5FM's Hour of the Wolf, or right-click the link to download.

Okay, right, yeah, sure, sure: Inside Out is a wall-to-wall wonder, good news for anyone who despaired that the animation studio, Pixar -- after numerous missteps -- had lost its mojo, and who, frankly, would've rejoiced in any glimmer of the ol' Pixar verve now. It's better than that, far better. But while you're alternating between laughter and tears ('cause that's what Pixar does), you may not realize how much of a tightrope walk this metaphorical tour of a young girl's psyche is. I explore the challenges faced by the film's creators in my review for Jim Freund's Hour of the Wolf. Click on the player to hear the show, or right-click the link to download.

No life is forever, not even that of the man who played immortal vampires, mouldering corpses, and psychotic satanists. Christopher Lee had so permanently placed his mark on the world of fantastic film that his death this past week sent a shock wave through film fandom, so assured were we that he’d always be around to bring his wit, gravity, and class to the likes of Dracula, Saruman and Kharis. In the wake of his loss, Cinefantastique contributors Ted Newsom, Steve Biodrowski, Lawrence French, and Dan Persons got together to reminisce about encounters with the legendary actor, share some famous and not-so-famous anecdotes about his work and life, and evaluate his contribution to the worlds of horror and fantasy. Click on the player to hear the show, or right-click the link to download.

Seriously critiquing a film that in its first weekend has managed to gross over a half-billion dollars worldwide is not unlike trying to hand-feed a pork chop to a velociraptor -- risks are involved. Nevertheless, there are moments in Jurassic World where it's clear the makers intended something more ambitious than just giving the audience their anticipated, 3D dino rampage, so it only makes sense to dig a bit deeper and determine whether the message transcends its medium. I endeavor to do that in my review for Jim Freund's Hour of the Wolf; click on the player to hear the segment, or right-click the link to download.

CATCH-UP WEDNESDAY! Bringing you the Hour of the Wolf review segments that were not posted on their air dates. From 4/16/15:It's the movie about the dream about the film about the movie about the dream. Here's my review of Quentin Dupieux's surreal comedy, Reality. Annnnnnd, that catches us up. Thanks for playing!

CATCH-UP WEDNESDAY! Bringing you the Hour of the Wolf review segments that were not posted on their air dates. From 4/16/15: Sorry, Orphan Black, not all clones are twenty-something and kinda hot. Sometimes they're middle-aged and come with a lot of baggage. Here’s my review of The Reconstruction of William Zero.

CATCH-UP TUESDAY! Bringing you the Hour of the Wolf review segments that were not posted on their air dates. From 4/9/15:The course of true love never runs smooth. When cartoonist Bill Plympton is presiding, it can get downright kinky. Here's my review of Cheatin'.

CATCH-UP SUNDAY! Bringing you the Hour of the Wolf review segments that were not posted on their air dates. From 4/2/15: Imagine if Richard Linklater called Julie Delpy in just before the cameras rolled on Before Sunrise and said, "I've got a bit of a twist for your character..." That's the basic concept behind Spring, a film that mixes beautiful location filming in Italy, idyllic romance, and mutant horror. An usual combo, to be sure, and my review for Hour of the Wolf evaluates how smoothly all the pieces mesh. Click on the player to hear the segment, or right-click the link to downoad.

Upon reflection, it turns out I've been looking forward to Tomorrowland more than I've been looking forward to any actual tomorrows. Which is ironic, because that is pretty much what this film -- directed by Brad Bird, who co-scripted with Damon Lindeloff -- is about. It is, of course, easier to get excited about the future when you know George Clooney is going to waiting around there for you; but a well-sculpted profile can go only so far in making the dream of jet-packs, hover trains, and interplanetary commuter runs a reality. I give some thought to how well Bird and Lindeloff achieve their mission in my review for Jim Freund's Hour of the Wolf. Click on the player to hear the segment, or right-click the link to download.

CATCH-UP TUESDAY! Bringing you the Hour of the Wolf review segments that were not posted on their air dates. Remember Paddington, from this past January? Hey, that was a pretty good film, right? I thought so, too, with a few reservations, and I cover it all in this review, which aired 1/22/15.

Well, here I am, once again hanging alone around the perimeter while the vast majority of critics and fans are having a veritable orgy of delight over Mad Max: Fury Road. Yes it's a crazy, inventive film. Yes, the action is outsized and breathtaking. And yet my reaction is a resounding, "Meh." How did it come to this? I'm tempted to level that blame at a delayed onset of anhedonia -- the inability to experience pleasure -- but I had a green chile cheeseburger at Bobby's Burger Palace a few days ago and was convinced that there still exists miracles in this universe, so that can't be it. Listen in on my review for Jim Freund's Hour of the Wolf as I try to figure this out. Click on the player to hear the review, or right-click the link to download.

The good often travels along with the bad. The good in this case: Yours truly has made the move to the lovely city of Philadelphia, a process that led to the extended delay of this episode. The bad: the film we're discussing, of course. The SF-comedy Invasion of the Star Creatures tries to mimic the slapped-together-fast-n-cheap success of Little Shop of Horrors -- with Horrors star Jonathan Haze stepping into the role of screenwriter -- but pretty much blows everything it attempts, most prominently any attempt at humor (unless you think grievously stereotyped Native Americans and a subterranean rewrite of an old Scooby-Doo chase gag repeated ad nauseum is downright high-larious). Come join Andrea Lipinski, Kevin Lauderdale, Orenthal V. Hawkins, and myself, Dan Persons, as we explore why, if the alien invasion does come, it's the face-huggers that get to us first. NEXT EPISODE: We go into space to endure the terrors, and the bad acting, of Journey to the Seventh Planet.

We're back! D'ja miss us? There will be several posts forthcoming to catch up on the HotWolf reviews we've aired over the past few weeks but haven't released to the Web. But for now, it makes sense get things restarted with the first big blockbuster of the summer, and maybe -- judging by what will be following in the next few months -- something we can already call the biggest blockbuster of the summer (because are you really champing at the bit for Terminator: Genisys?). Avengers: Age of Ultron gets the consortium of Marvel superheroes back together to face down a psychotic android hell-bent on (PLOT SPOILER!) worldwide annihilation. Joss Whedon is once again doing the honors as writer/director, but is this next installment a fitting follow-up to the justifiably praised first film? Check out my review by clicking on the player or right-clicking the link to download.

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} It's January Mysteries time! Usually it's no secret why a film gets given a January release date. The month's largely a dumping ground, a catch-all for films that, for one reason or another, have been found wanting. But occasionally a film lands in the month that, from all on-screen evidence, should have received better treatment. Hence, the mystery. Such is the case with PREDESTINATION, a science fiction tale based on Robert Heinlein's classic, time paradox story, All You Zombies, and starring Ethan Hawke as a time-travelling cop going undercover as a bartender for a crucial recruitment mission. Despite a few narrative bumps -- including a not-all-that necessary b-plot about a mad bomber -- the film, directed by the twin Spierig Brothers, is handsomely mounted and nicely told. So what got the film shunted to the armpit of the release year? More, why didn't anyone think it deserved better than the handful of theaters it was released to? I cannot explain, but I can tell you why I think the distributors in this case were wrong-wrong-wrongedy-wrong, and I do in my latest review for Jim Freund's HOUR OF THE WOLF. Click on the player to hear the segment, or right-click the link to download.

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} Loyalty. It's a quality much to be desired, in how we treat our loved ones, the way we deal with our co-workers, in how those entrusted with the public welfare respect their responsibilities (we're looking at you, Congress). And there's a lot to be said for loyalty when it comes to adapting a film from another source, be it a novel, a play, or a musical. But it can be impediment as well, especially when loyalty to the original material gets in the way of letting a filmmaker do what the medium is best suited for. All told, Rob Marshall's adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim's INTO THE WOODS, is a beautiful, smart, and engaging experience, occasionally marred by a decision to adhere to what played on stage as opposed to what might work on-screen. I explore the issue in my review for Jim Freund's HOUR OF THE WOLF. Click on the player to here the segment, or right-click the link to download.                   

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id=ieooui> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} There's a bit of OCD that goes along with genre film fandom -- once you've signed on to a franchise, you're kind-of obligated to follow it wherever it will take you, for good or ill. Thus the sullen air hanging over screenings of REVENGE OF THE SITH or any of the Wolverine spin-offs -- it really does sap the energy out of an auditorium when attendance is more dutiful than enthusiastic. THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMS is the final installment of Peter Jackson's latest J.R.R. Tolkien trilogy, and to say it's long-awaited is to say that fans of fantasy have been eager to get this bloated, unnecessary epic over with and move on to better things. I give my thoughts on how Jackson wraps up this prequel tale in my review for Jim Freund's HOUR OF THE WOLF, and also give my verdict on the much more engaging, Irish animated fantasy, SONG OF THE SEA. Click on the player to hear the segment, or right-click the link to download.

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} Kirk Cameron can kid himself, but these are the films that will truly save Christmas. Just in time to provide a respite for anyone sick of all that Holly-Jolly, IFC is releasing a pair of notorious erotic classics to the cinema. Walerian Borowczyk's THE BEAST and IMMORAL TALES had their original debuts in the '70's, both films reveling in a then-new-found freedom to explore aspects of sexuality previously considered taboo -- in the case of the titles at hand, that includes sacrilege, incest, and bestiality (there, satisfied?). Some of that scandalous power remains, some has faded, but as my review for Jim Freund's HOUR OF THE WOLF reveals, both films remain intriguing exposés of the lengths to which unbridled human passion will go... and are likely to make you feel a little funny in the pants. Click on the player to hear the segment, or right-click the link to download.

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} Usually, when you play "Whatever Happened To...?" it's with some washed-up celebrity. You track the downward career spiral of a Max Baer Jr, a Johnny Whittaker, a Kim Kardashian (not yet, but one day, one day), a get a concentrated lesson in the impermanence of fame. Interesting thing, though: You can play the game with fictional characters, too, and learn something about corporate decision making in the modern-day film industry. Take, for instance, Katniss Everdeen, the smart, courageous protagonist of THE HUNGER GAMES franchise. Whatever happened to her? Well, short answer: According to THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1, nothing good. The longer answer is in my review for Jim Freund's HOUR OF THE WOLF, and can be heard by clicking on the player.

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id=ieooui> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} If you've been going through the vast collection of films that have lapsed into the pubic domain -- and you probably are, because who can afford entertainment otherwise? -- you've likely stumbled upon an animated feature called, The Curious Adventures of Mr. Wonderbird, a strange little thing with voices by such luminaries as Peter Ustinov, Claire Bloom, and Denholm Elliott. Whether you watched it all the way through or just paused long enough to think, Huhn, what's this all about?, it turns out that the film, which has been knocking around since the 1950's, is just the tip of a visionary iceberg that was taken away from its creators, the director Paul Grimaut and the poet and screenwriter Jacques Prévert, and released unfinished without their permission. It took some thirty years to complete the project, and another thirty-odd years for it to get its U.S. release. Now, under the title The King and the Mockingbird, the film is making its way into theaters this Friday, and kid, it was well worth the wait. I go a bit into the film's history and why this fractured fairy tale deserves its place among the ranks of animation classics in my review for Jim Freund's Hour of the Wolf. Click on the player to hear the segment.

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} Here's the dilemma: I saw Stanely Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey when I was twelve years old, and to say it was a formative experience is an understatement. The film fundamentally changed the way I thought about science fiction, narrative story-telling, and the nature of film itself. Not that I was cognizant of all of that at the time -- I was twelve fer chrissake -- but something in that film set the switch that eventually led to the obsessive film nerd you see before you today. So when Christopher Nolan lards copious references to that most hallowed of space epics throughout his own epically-proportioned Interstellar -- robots that look like monoliths; resonant organ chords that echo the last few seconds of Also Sprach Zarathustra, no less than two, maybe even three, stargate-like experiences, etc, etc. -- it's hard not to regard it as not so much heartfelt homage as a throwing down of the gauntlet. I was able to work my way around that impulse, and my review of the film for Jim Freund's Hour of the Wolf  is able to regard the project for what it is, as well as what it aspires to. Click on the player to hear the review.

Not all megalomaniacs are preening, medal-bedecked-uniform-wearing, sociopathic assholes. Sometimes they're mousy, tatty, middle-class husbands with a basement full of electronic equipment and a murderous secret to hide. In LFO, Patrick Karlson plays an amateur scientist who discovers a sonic thrum that renders people susceptible to whatever suggestions cross his warped little mind. Bad news for the couple who have just moved in next door and who become the prime subjects of his experiments, worse news maybe for the world when the guy's ambitions grow beyond enchanting the beautiful young wife into his bed. Click on the player below to hear my review for Jim Freund's Hour of the Wolf.

Italy has brought us so many wonderful things: Fellini; lasagna; Silvio Berlusconi (that last is debatable). But among the many marvels borne of those shores, truly the most wondrous has to be the knock-off film, a genre that took groundbreaking, innovative American titles and replicated them with a low-budget zeal and enough questionable technical prowess to make them their own classics. Loved Jaws? Wait’ll you see Tentacles, the Italian version that features a giant octopus (plus the all-star quadrifecta of John Huston, Henry Fonda, Shelley Winters, and Claude Akins!). Got nightmares from The Exorcist? You should check out The Return of the Exorcist, which, despite the title, has neither Jason Miller nor Max von Sydow in the lead, but does offer Richard Conte in his final performance. And if you just couldn’t get enough of Star Wars, then the ever-inventive Italian filmmakers were willing to feed your hunger with Starcrash, a faithful replication of Chapter IV: A New Hope — if by “faithful” one means cheesy special effects, hammy acting and a storyline so muddled that audiences couldn’t help but proclaim, “Y’know, The Phantom Menace wasn’t that bad.” Forsaking their Jedi code, Temple of Bad residents Andrea Lipinski, Kevin Lauderdale, and I allow ourselves a flirtation with the Dark Side, one that here also claimed the souls of Caroline Munro, Marjoe Gortner, Christopher Plummer and (swoon) David Hasselhoff. In this episode, we unburden ourselves of an experience so devastating that even Lord Darth Vader would have cried, “Padme! Noooooooo!!!” Oh, wait, he did. Never mind. La Forza può salvarti da film scadente!

You'll hear it in the show, and I'm not going to hide it: I was kinda intimidated talking to Richard Lewis. A brilliant comedian with a lightning-fast mind, Lewis has bested interviewers with far more supple intellects than yours truly. To add to my anxiety, I went into the discussion having watched DRUNKS, the 1995 feature film in which Lewis reveals a rarely seen facility for soul-searing drama. Fully aware of his range and his skill, I knew this discussion was going to be working at a wholly different level than my typical, cozy little chats. And, bless him, Lewis was great. Our conversation focuses on RICHARD LEWIS: BUNDLE OF NERVES -- a just-released two-disc set that includes DRUNKS, as well his acting debut, DIARY OF A YOUNG COMIC, a new-to-DVD HBO special, MAGICAL MISERY TOUR, and a bonus, documentary feature, HOUSE OF A LIFETIME. In the course of the conversation, Lewis discusses his inspirations, explores his ambitions, and just in passing points out that the host of a certain, film-centric podcast shouldn't presume that everything can be filtered through the wisdom of Cahiers du Cinema. Click on the player to hear the show.

I had my concerns about The Giver, another, teen-oriented film from the Weinstein Company. After all, TWC's previous effort in this arena was Vampire Academy, and that blatant mish-mosh of Harry Potter, Twilight, The Hunger Games, and whatever else has been luring adolescent females to the theaters didn't go down too smoothly. Serving as definite counter-balance to my trepidations: the presence at the helm of  Phillip Noyce, a very good director who becomes even better when telling tales of people finding the inner resources to confront near-insurmountable, social challenges. Turns out my faith was not ill-founded. Click on the player to hear my review for Jim Freund's Hour of the Wolf, or right-click the title to download.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES got nothing to worry about. TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES doing quite well, thank you very much. Got the big-budget, Michael Bay treatment (he's the producer on this one; Jonathan Liebesman directed); came in #1 at the box office this past weekend; has the almost inevitable sequel already in the works. Yup, life is good for TMNT. Unless, of course, the attending audience happened to see GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY last week. In which case, there might have been quite a few people coming out of the theater thinking, Nice try, but it doesn't quite cut it. In two weeks, we've had two films that want nothing more than to entertain us with some adrenaline-packed, fantastic storytelling. How each goes about the task, and how successful each is, says a lot about the filmmakers, how they regard this genre, and what they think of their audience. I explore the issue a bit in my review of TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES for Jim Freund's HOUR OF THE WOLF. Click on the player to hear the segment, or right-click the title to download.

Welcome to August, the month when studios, having already fired off all their high-profile (not to mention high concept) summer guns, unleash what amounts to their second tier of releases, the stuff that doesn’t automatically trigger broad media attention, things with a more… “culty,” shall we say?… appeal, and things that are, let’s just say it, no durn good. However, since even the big tent-poles can now be somewhat inconsequential in their story-telling and quality (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2, anyone?), it’s become less surprising that a dog-day release could have been just as welcome, if not more so, in the months preceding. Such is the case with GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, a fun space adventure based on a Marvel comic book that racked up record box office in its opening week, and earns its good will in a number of ways. I take a look at the film in my latest review for Jim Freund’s HOUR OF THE WOLF — click on the player to hear the segment, or right-click on the title to download.

This past weekend was just chock full of magical, whimsical women breaking studious, guarded men out of their cocoons. No, not SEX TAPE — I have no idea about how that plot plays out and, besides, that’s not genre. But otherwise, for all their divergent approaches to the material, both I ORIGINS and MOOD INDIGO incorporate the same base theme. After that, of course, anything goes: I ORIGINS continues director Mike Cahill’s ongoing exploration of humanity’s interconnectedness through the tale of a dedicated, eye-obsessed scientist (Mike Cahill) having his adherence to objective reasoning challenged by the mystical outlook of an exotic model (Astrid Bergès-Frisbey) with equally exotic eyeballs; while MOOD INDIGO lets director Michel Gondry explore the artificiality of certain, idealized brands of French romance through the story of how the wacky life of an eccentric inventor (Romain Duris) is overthrown when the health of his wife (Audrey Tatou) is threatened. Another way to distinguish these films: They aren’t equally successful in their goals. To find out how they fare, click on the player to hear my review for Jim Freund’s HOUR OF THE WOLF.

This is a trivial question, but it's been bugging me, so let me get it out, okay? Why is the sequel to RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES called DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES? I mean, "dawn" suggests a beginning, right? And you can't actually rise until you begin, right? So shouldn't the titles of these films be reversed? Then again, that first film wasn't really focused on the planet of the apes beginning, but on the events that eventually led to that beginning. And this newest film isn't so much about the planet's rise as one glimpse into how humanity loses its foothold to the newly born society of intelligent simians. But then, I guess EVENTS IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING AND HAVING A DIRECT IMPACT UPON THE DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES and ONE CHAPTER THAT WILL EVENTUALLY LEAD TO THE RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES wouldn't quite pop on movie posters, would it? Never mind. Hm? What did I actually think of the film? Oh, I loved it. No, let me clarify that: I LOVED IT. But it's not really as simple as that, so listen in to my review for the HOUR OF THE WOLF radio show to get my take on this thoroughly entertaining summer blockbuster.

There's nothing particularly wrong with employing the time-space continuum for the pure fun of the concept. EDGE OF TOMORROW makes good sport of it, coming up with a pretty keen action film and allowing Tom Cruise to play comedy beats better than he did in KNIGHT AND DAY. But, given the mind-bending possibilities inherent in the genre, it seems almost a crime not delve for deeper meanings than just "craven coward becomes kick-ass action hero." GROUNDHOG DAY did it. So did TIMECRIMES. So did FUTURAMA (numerous times). And now, so does COHERENCE. The tale of a Los Angeles dinner party that goes all kinds of wrong when a comet begins warping the dimensions, the film -- directed by James Ward Byrkit, the man who helped create the freaky "family" film RANGO, and starring BUFFY's Nicholas Brendon, Emily Baldoni and Maury Sterling, among others -- manages to be as much a commentary on relationships and the fragility of the social contract as it is an sf mindfreak. I delve into the film in my review for HOUR OF THE WOLF, and, as bonus, also take a look at the latest episode of the fan-produced STAR TREK CONTINUES and IDW's first Star Trek: New Visions photo-novella, both of which, in another example of the crossing of the timelines, deal with the aftermath of the Enterprise crew's visit to the mirror universe in "Mirror, Mirror." Weeeeeeeird. Click on the player to hear the segment, or right-click the title below to download. LISTEN TO HOUR OF THE WOLF EVERY THURSDAY AT 1:30 AM ON WBAI 99.5FM IN NEW YORK CITY

I’m at the point where I can pretty much take or leave 3D. As a techie, I want to embrace any technology that’ll expand the cinemagoing experience, but even I have to concede that most of the time 3D is employed as little more than an add-on, just a way to charge extra for stuff that’d be the same with or with depth (visual, that is. We’ll save a discussion of dramatic depth for another day). Which is why I’m usually jazzed to check out the latest release from DreamWorks Animation. More often than not, those folk go the extra distance with 3D, using it to enhance both the visual canvas and the dramatic impact of their films. That was definitely the case with the original HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, the 2010 fantasy adventure where the third dimension became an active player in an already entertaining and visually stunning film. So, yeah, there I was at my local multiplex, shelling out the extra bucks for my 3D experience with the new HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2. Did I feel this new adventure — in which the young, Viking dragon-rider Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) faces down a powerful warlord (Djimon Hounsou) and has a family reunion with his long-lost mother (Cate Blanchett) — paid back my investment? In a way, yes; in a way… welllll… Check out my HOUR OF THE WOLF review for the details. Click on the player to listen.

Well, this is a ticklish situation. I went into EDGE OF TOMORROW a little nervous, knowing this much about it: that Tom Cruise played a soldier who, by some trick of the time-space continuum, was reliving over and over his death during a disastrous attack on an alien invasion force. Sounded intriguing, no question. But it also smacked, in general conception if not plot specifics, uncomfortably of last year’s OBLIVION, where Tom Cruise played a survivor of an alien invasion who was also confronted with the mystery behind his own existence. What was doubly dismaying was that I could conceive of a possible explanation for EDGE’s protagonist that would parallel a major revelation in OBLIVION. If that was the case, it’d be game over for me. I liked OBLIVION just fine, but there was no need to revisit it. A lot of people may have been thinking the same way — not too long before EDGE’s release, the good folks over at Warner Bros. altered their ad campaign, filling in a bit more about what Cruise’s character was going through. That put me more at ease, but I was still concerned that, like Cruise’s soldier, we’d be reliving the same day over again. Here’s the good news: EDGE OF TOMORROW is not OBLIVION redux. But here’s the conundrum: As a result, the pendulum may have swung too far in the opposite direction. I explore the problem in my latest review for Jim Freund’s HOUR OF THE WOLF. Click on the player to hear the segment. LISTEN TO HOUR OF THE WOLF EVERY THURSDAY AT 1:30 AM ON WBAI 99.5FM IN NEW YORK CITY

Time is, time was, time's X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST. There were clearly commercial reasons why the latest chapter in the X-MEN franchise had to be a time travel tale: Having previously flubbed the introduction of a new, younger Professor X and Magneto  (James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, respectively) in X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, the producers clearly wanted to recover a bit of the franchise's mojo by bringing back the old band -- namely Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen under the direction of Bryan Singer, plus Hugh Jackman -- while also trying to finesse the audience into a better appreciation for their replacements. The side benefit is that the time period decided upon for this film has interesting significance for themes explored in the X-MEN universe, and, after my quick review of the surprisingly decent MALEFICENT, I turn my attention to what Singer has wrought. Click on the player to hear the review.

Turns out maintaining a presence in the social network only makes life more complex for a film critic. I had to delay my viewing of GODZILLA ’til Sunday, meantime trying to avoid the various hosannas and the occasional nay-say (not to mention Steve Biodrowski’s own in-depth analysis) being splattered all over Facebook, Twitter, etc. An impossible task, it turns out, and I went into the theater a little anxious over whether what little feedback had filtered through to me was somehow going to skew my reaction, for good or ill. Happily, I was well pleased with GODZILLA. Not staggered, no, but grateful that director Gareth Edwards managed to pay homage to the history of the franchise while adding some crucial elements to the exercise, elements that I explore in my review for WBAI 99.5FM’s HOUR OF THE WOLF. Click the player to hear what I had to say.

I for one welcome our crustacean overlords. Even if you’ve never seen ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS, you probably still know it by heart. It is the perfect model of the drive-in B-movie, a sublime mix of papier-mache creatures, suggestive sexuality, and dodgy science, with just a bit of cold-war philosophy thrown in for tang. This is one of Roger Corman’s earliest films, and despite the bare-bones budget and having the ever-pressing theme of identity loss being delivered via the medium of giant, telepathic crabs with big, googly eyes, the master of the B’s makes it sixty minutes of pure hoot. The Temple of Bad team of Andrea Lipinski, Kevin Lauderdale, Orenthal Hawkins, and Dan Persons welcome their special guest, Cinefantastique Online’s Steve Biodrawski, to giggle along at the silliness, praise the kind of good-bad film that’s all too rare but always welcome, and make far too many references to drawn butter. Click on the player to hear the show.

Okay, put away THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2. That film has already caused so much pain (mostly from brain-strain as one struggles to figure out how such a major project could go so wrong), that it doesn’t really deserve any more attention. Let’s focus  instead on something more worthy of attention: a dystopic, Kafkaesque comedy called THE DOUBLE, based on a novella by Dostoevsky and starring Jesse Eisenberg as a mousy little bureaucrat who finds his life upended when his job hires a charismatic and morally-challenged new employee who looks exactly like him. The film is directed by Richard Ayoade — known for his involvement with THE IT CROWD and GARTH MARENGHI’S DARKPLACE — and he uses his facility with unhinged humor to good effect on this sardonic glimpse into one man’s crisis of identity. Click on the player to hear the show.

So because of Hour of the Wolf's pre-emption last week, my review of TRANSCENDENCE, the science fiction romantic thriller in which Johnny Depp's consciousness is loosed on the Web and a number of people -- including Rebecca Hall, Morgan Freeman and Cillian Murphy -- fret about what that means for the fate of humankind (hint: How do you feel about nanobots everywhere?), was held for airing on this week's show. Which is cool -- I mean, the film, unfortunately, doesn't live up to the promises of its premise, but the notion of what happens to humanity as it begins to intersect more and more with technology is so potent that I feel an examination of what director Wally Pfister did right and wrong in exploring the concept is still worthwhile. So, tardy though it may be, please enjoy this latest segment.   (Interestingly, HotWolf host Jim Freund liked last week's review of 23:59 -- which was intended only to run on the Web -- so much that he also included it in this week's show. So we were actually ahead of the curve in that sense.)   LISTEN TO HOUR OF THE WOLF EVERY THURSDAY (SAVE FOR THIS ONE) AT 1:30 AM ON WBAI 99.5FM IN NEW YORK CITY

There has, sadly, been a tragic loss to the WBAI radio family. Long-time anchorman and host Robert Knight passed away over the weekend, and so HOUR OF THE WOLF is being pre-empted this week for a special tribute to the man. This kind of thing will happen — not always for unfortunate circumstances; there are always pledge drives and the like to account for — and since in this case I want to hold my TRANSCENDENCE review for when the show comes back next week, I figured this would be a good time to experiment with doing stand-alone review segments featuring films that maybe didn’t get the attention they deserved upon release, or that fall into genres that HotWolf host Jim Freund doesn’t want to feature on his show, such as horror. Or, in this case, both, since we’ll be talking about 23:59, an evocative horror film out of, of all places, Singapore, that got a home video release in the U.S. last year, and is still available in DVD and streaming form on Amazon (so it’s a perfect time to use the CFQ link to get a look). Click on the player to hear the show.