Albatross Applesauce: A Film Blog and Podcast

Santa Sangre's comin' to town! In this episode of the podcast, Phil and Andrew will be discussing two films by the notorious art-house director Alejandro Jodorowsky.  First up is The Holy Mountain, a film about...well...we're not entirely sure, to tell you the truth.  This film is about a journey, sure, but it is so chock-full of allegorical imagery that it can be difficult at times to decipher exactly what it is that the director is trying to tell us, the audience.  Listen as Phil and I struggle with...well, pretty much everything about this film.  Confounding and bizarre, but undeniably unique, we try to pick it apart as best we can. You can download the podcast here by right-clicking on that link and choosing "save as", or you can use the convenient player located below: What? Just...what?Fans of MGMT might recognize this imagery...Secondly, we will be discussing the more decidedly more enjoyable Santa Sangre, a beautiful and hallucinatory thriller with the circus as its backdrop.  This is probably the most accessible of Jodorowsky's films, and certainly the one that we enjoy the most, but thankfully his bizarre sensibilities and flair for beautiful, haunting imagery remain intact.  Join us for the discussion! Young love in the circus.  Awwwww!Next episode, we will be discussing Quentin Tarantino's new film, Django Unchained, as well as Jean-Pierre Melville's fantastic epic masterpiece Army of Shadows, which follows the lives of those involved in the French Resistance during WWII.  After that, we'll be looking into a little bit more popular fare by taking a glance at a couple of Wolfgang Petersen's films from the 80s and 90s.  The childhood classic The Neverending Story should make for some fond remembrances, and In the Line of Fire should allow us to have a positive discussion about Clint Eastwood, something that doesn't seem to be happening all that much in recent months. As always, we'd love your contributions, so leave us a message at our blog or our Facebook page, or send us an e-mail at [email protected].  Cheers!

Lincoln, Lincoln, Lincoln.  It's on the tongues of everyone discussing best-of lists for the end of the year and every person speculating for the upcoming awards season.  It's already been nominated for 7 Golden Globes and is likely to go on to a pretty big haul when it comes time for Oscar nominations.  The performances have been praised, the direction of Spielberg has been applauded, and the handling of the subject matter has been discussed at length.  All that is well and good, sure, but the best thing about Lincoln is that it is being discussed in depth right here on Albatross Applesauce.  Phil and I offer up our individual reads on the film, and not everything we have to say is praise.  Give us a listen, won't you? You can download the podcast here by right-clicking on that link and choosing "save as", or you can use the convenient player located below: Daniel Day-Lewis plays the titular role in Spielberg's Lincoln.In the second half of this week's podcast, for The Criterion Corner, we discuss Rainer Werner Fassbinder's one and only foray into the world of science fiction, World on a Wire.  This 3 1/2 hour sci-fi-cum-noir, that is at least the spiritual precursor to many of the great sci-fi films of the past 40 years, is alternately fascinating, dated, compelling, and insufferably dull.  Phil and I have somewhat divergent views in regards to this film, and try our best to get to the heart of this compelling yet frustrating film. Join us again next week, when we'll discuss two films from the bizarre and controversial art-house director Alejandro Jodorowsky!  We've watched his psychedelic allegory of The Holy Mountain and the bizarre circus sideshow slasher flick Santa Sangre.  Join us for our discussion of these bizarre and fascinating films. We'd love you to participate in the discussion, so please leave any feedback on the podcast in the comments section below or visit us at our Facebook page.  Thanks so much!

Andrew and Phil here again, with the second half of our latest episode of Albatross Applesauce!  As we alluded to at the end of last episode, we'd be spending time in this episode talking about our recommendations for a couple of great scary movies.  A little late for Halloween, perhaps, but scary movies never go out of style, amirite?  Hollywood certainly seems to think so, as this trailer and this trailer seem to prove.  Hm.  Yes. You can download the podcast here by right-clicking on that link and choosing "save as", or you can use the convenient player located below: We'll be discussing a couple of great chillers this go-round, starting with Andrew's pick, The Descent, directed by Neil Marshall.  A modern horror gem, released in 2005, it follows the adventures of a group of girlfriends who go spelunking in the Appalachians together, with somewhat...unfortunate results, to say the least.  A really compelling and frightening film, and one of the best of the recent crop of horror films. Phil's pick this time around is one of the great classics of the horror genre, Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, starring Jack Nicholson and Shelly Duvall.  It follows the story of Jack Torrance and his family over the course of a winter at the isolated Overlook Hotel, whose secrets may be a little more than Jack's psyche can bear.  Truly terrifying.   Join us for our next podcast coming soon, in which we will be discussing Steven Spielberg's Lincoln as our new release and Rainer Werner Fassbinder's sci-fi epic World on a Wire in our Criterion Corner.  Until then!

Greetings, ladies and gentlemen!  Albatross Applesauce is coming at you with a brand new podcast episode, and wouldn't you know it?  We're returning to our original format, and you can listen to it by clicking this link or using the player below! What format is that format, you new(er) listeners may ask?  Well, why don't I lay it out for you right here and now.  In our original format, we did not take on, as we have been doing recently, one particular director and talk about his work.  Oh, no!  What we used to do was, in the course of one episode, review one new release, one selection from The Criterion Collection (in a segment we like to call The Criterion Corner), and then both Phil and Andrew would suggest a particular film that we might be partial to, and try and give you some good reasons to watch it on your own.  Our shows, however, tended to run upwards of an hour and a half or more, so we've made an executive decision, as our public has demanded it: WE WILL BE CUTTING OUR SHOWS IN HALF! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we will now be releasing the same ol' podcast, but we'll be releasing it in more digestible chunks.  Each episode will be divided into two segments, to be released over two consecutive weeks: Part 1: New Release, plus The Criterion Corner selection. Part 2: Andrew and Phil's recommendations for the episode. There you have it!  That's it!  That's the new format!  Let us know if you love it, hate it, or are completely indifferent to it!  And now that that is out of the way, we're going to be releasing many more podcasts on a much more regular basis.  Joy!  Mirth!  Merriment!  Whoop-dee doodle! Joaquin Phoenix (left) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (right) in The Master. In this first half of our msot recent episode, we'll be discussing the (now not so) recent release The Master, Paul Thomas Anderson's latest confounding and fascinating film, featuring powerhouse performances from Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman.  After, that, we'll delve into The Criterion Collection's spectacular Blu-ray release of 12 Angry Men, a classic if ever there was one, and the great Sidney Lumet's first feature film. A pivotal scene from 12 Angry MenOh, and please keep on the lookout for part two of this episode a week from today, where Phil and I will be talking about SPOOKY MOVIES, just in time for Hallowee...er, Christmas.  Enjoy!