Drama – Page 3 – The Greatest Movie EVER! Podcast

“Spooooky Wheelchair”

Beware of angry poltergeists, because The Changeling (1980) is the Greatest Movie EVER.

Click on the movie title or the poster above to download our review of the film, featuring “Celebrity Translator” Neil Nadelman.

Review in a Nutshell: The Changeling (1980) is a beautifully shot, gorgeously edited, low-key, suspenseful film that is part ghost story and part detective story. Although the final act stumbles a bit after all of the mysteries are revealed, it’s still interesting as a well-made, atypical horror movie.

ERRATA: I accidentally referred to House on Haunted Hill as 13 Ghosts. Mea culpa.

GME! Anime Fun Time Episode #11 – Mononoke

It’s that time again, time to have some Anime Fun. This time Clarissa from Anime World Order joins us again to discuss the strange, supernatural, and visually unique 2007 TV anime, Mononoke. An original series based on the character of the Medicine Vendor from the earlier Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales, Mononoke features bright colors but dark subject matter, and it turns limited animation into an artistic statement rather than a budgetary consideration. CLICK HERE or on the image above to download our review of the show.

Final Thought:

Fish Norio Wakamoto is best Norio Wakamoto.

Australians Always Observe Proper Helmet Safety.

Wear your color coordinated helmets, because BMX Bandits is the Greatest Movie EVER!

Click on the movie poster or the title above to download our review of the film, featuring M.O.M., the Mistress of Malapropisms.

Review in a Nutshell: This is an odd one. It’s a carefree children’s adventure movie filmed by a pioneer of violent, trashy Oz-ploitation flicks. BMX Bandits takes a while to deliver the bicycle-related goods and some of the stunts may seem tame by today’s standards, but overall this is a harmless kid’s movie filled with snarky, wise-cracking Australians.

GME! Anime Fun Time Episode #06 – Princess Jellyfish

September has come and gone, but let’s all pretend this was published on time. It’s the sixth episode of GME! Anime Fun Time, in which Clarissa and Gerald of Anime World Order join me to talk about Princess Jellyfish. Topics of discussion include embarrassing real-life otaku experiences, in-group vs. out-group behavior, the way perception and self-image shape social interactions, and whether there is an intrinsically gendered component to the concept of character growth. CLICK HERE or on the promotional image above to download our review of the show.

FINAL THOUGHT:

We sort of forgot to mention that Kuranosuke’s uncle (that’s him on the left) is the Prime Minister of Japan.

No Funny Tagline. This Film is Great.

You’d better create a rock-solid alibi, because Le Samourai is the Greatest Movie EVER!

Click on the DVD cover or the title above to download our review of the film, featuring Sean “Hollywood” Hunting.

Review in a Nutshell: Suggested by listener Eric Barroso as part of the IndieGoGo campaign, Le Samourai is a minimalist French neo-noir crime drama from 1967. It’s an exquisitely composed film that is at once bleak, ambiguous, and wonderfully suspenseful.

Jimmy Bobo’s Slow-Exploding Boat House

Don’t let anyone remove the firing pin from your pistol, because Bullet to the Head is the Greatest Movie EVER!

Click on the movie poster or the title above to download our review of the film, featuring Mom.

Review in a Nutshell: In terms of tone, narrative, and characterization, Bullet to the Head is an atavism – a throwback to an earlier time period. It’s also an unlikely hybrid of hard-boiled crime drama and buddy-cop action film. Some of it works, some of it doesn’t, but Bullet is worth examining if only to see how drastically modern film sensibilities have changed.

The Girl Who Loved Tony Jaa

Taste the fury, because Chocolate (2008) is the Greatest Movie EVER!

Click on the movie poster or the title above to download our review of the film,

featuring Sean ‘Hollywood’ Hunting.

Review in a Nutshell: From the makers of Ong-Bak and The Protector, what I expected from Chocolate and what the movie delivered were two very different things. The central conceit is that the protagonist is an autistic girl with the ability to mimic any martial arts style she sees, but the film is much more dramatic than I anticipated, treating the challenges faced by family members with special needs with a surprising degree of dignity and respect.

GME! Anime Fun Time Episode #03: The Tatami Galaxy

June is here, and we’re all ready to begin our rose-colored campus life with a look at The Tatami Galaxy, a 2010 anime with series direction by Masaaki Yuasa of Mind Game and Kick-Heart fame. CLICK HERE or on the poster above to download our review of the film, featuring guest host Daryl Surat of Anime World Order. The discussion includes topics such as the difficulties of finding artistic recognition and the power of mature story-telling in a medium dominated by a focus on youth and nostalgia. Spoilers abound, so listen with caution.

Final Thought:

smooch

“You complete me.”

Not to be confused with ‘Strange Circus’.

Do that funky hand-jive, because Santa Sangre is the Greatest Movie EVER!

Click on the DVD cover or the title above to download our review of the film,

featuring Franklin Raines of Children of the Blazing Fist.

Review in a Nutshell: Trashy, exploitative, surreal, humorous, grotesque…all of these words and more apply to Alejandro Jodorowsky’s most accessible film, Santa Sangre, a tale of murderous Oedipal urges, religious cults, dismemberment, insanity, and the circus. Quite simply, this is an amazing and beautiful film.

Absolutely No References to Avenged Sevenfold.

We can’t stop here, because Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is the Greatest Movie EVER!

Click on the movie poster or the title above to download our review of the film,

featuring Sean “Hollywood” Hunting and Dan “Diggity” Derasmo.

Review in a Nutshell: A faithful, visually imaginative adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson’s scathing condemnation of the hypocrisies of the American dream and the failure of Sixties counter-culture, Fear and Loathing thumbs its nose at the traditional three act structure. Also look for amazing performances by both Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro.