An Invitation Productions

Please enjoy this unlocked episode of my Patreon-exclusive series "Ellipsis" – the official companion podcast to "An Invitation to DESTROYER" – where I discuss the movie with fellow superfans, critics, and the creators themselves. 

Today, my guest is Philip Gawthorne. Phil is the creator and co-host of podcast, DIE HARD ON A BLANK – the podcast that explores the influence of DIE HARD on action cinema one action movie at a time.

During this episode of ELLIPSIS, Phil and I put a special emphasis on DESTROYER’s place in the pantheon of Noir – specifically Los Angeles Neo-Noir –– citing comparisons to William Friedkins’ TO LIVE AND DIE IN LA and Curtis Hanson’s LA CONFIDENTIAL. The result is an energizing discussion that underlines the liminal spaces between crime and virtue, and even the spiritual ascension (as Phil calls it) that can come from reconciling that chaos and order.

If you enjoy the episode, please consider becoming a patron on Patreon.com/jimpenola

Above all, thank you for listening.

Support the show

•••Shout-out to some of my lovely & amazing patrons: Rupa dasGupta, John Penola, Jane Penola, and Joseph Penola. ⚫ Get early access, extended episodes, and the Patreon-exclusive companion podcast "Ellipsis" only at Patreon.com/jimpenola ⚫ Follow us on Twitter: @AnInvitation and Instagram: @Invitation2Invitation ⚫ Email us: [email protected]•••

"Indelible in the hippocampus, it was the laughter. The uproarious laughter between the two." | "That scene – Megan and I agreed, before we started shooting it – that she was not going to *ever* wink at the audience.  That no matter what was happening to her in terms of how other people were behaving – whether they were cracking jokes – the horror of it *is* that they are cracking jokes."

Support the show

•••Shout-out to some of my lovely & amazing patrons: Rupa dasGupta, John Penola, Jane Penola, and Joseph Penola. ⚫ Get early access, extended episodes, and the Patreon-exclusive companion podcast "Ellipsis" only at Patreon.com/jimpenola ⚫ Follow us on Twitter: @AnInvitation and Instagram: @Invitation2Invitation ⚫ Email us: [email protected]•••

Please enjoy this unlocked episode of my Patreon-exclusive series "Ellipsis" – the official companion podcast to "An Invitation to DESTROYER" – where I discuss the movie with fellow superfans, critics, and the creators themselves. 

Today, my guest is the esteemed Phil Hay: co-writer, co-producer, and co-creator of DESTROYER. During our full conversation, Phil describes the unusual level of involvement he's brokered as a screenwriter, the way Erin Bell's unvarnished shame attracted Nicole Kidman to the role, and how Phil once broke his finger playing football with Logan Marshall-Green.

If you enjoy the episode, please consider becoming a patron on Patreon.com/jimpenola

Above all, thank you for listening. <3 

Support the show

•••Shout-out to some of my lovely & amazing patrons: Rupa dasGupta, John Penola, Jane Penola, and Joseph Penola. ⚫ Get early access, extended episodes, and the Patreon-exclusive companion podcast "Ellipsis" only at Patreon.com/jimpenola ⚫ Follow us on Twitter: @AnInvitation and Instagram: @Invitation2Invitation ⚫ Email us: [email protected]•••

"I was always quite fascinated by people who could suppress really dark, deep, painful experiences. And I wanted to explore the idea that perhaps pushing down on those terrible experiences is harder than facing them." –Jennifer Kent

Support the show

•••Shout-out to some of my lovely & amazing patrons: Rupa dasGupta, John Penola, Jane Penola, and Joseph Penola. ⚫ Get early access, extended episodes, and the Patreon-exclusive companion podcast "Ellipsis" only at Patreon.com/jimpenola ⚫ Follow us on Twitter: @AnInvitation and Instagram: @Invitation2Invitation ⚫ Email us: [email protected]•••

How do you make a cop movie in an ACAB world? In episode 4 of "An Invitation to DESTROYER," writer/producer/host Jim Penola continues to wrestle with DESTROYER's depiction and dramatic centering of a police officer – a choice that continues to reverberate dynamically in our fraught, present-day relationship with law enforcement.

Through comparisons to contemporaries such as BAD BOYS FOR LIFE (2020) and cult classics like MIAMI VICE (2006), Penola echoes a "duty to interrogate" these stories as offered by DESTROYER's screenwriter, Phil Hay. Indeed, the film transcends the surface nature of cop life to explore the deeper nature of pain itself. 

Guest Editor: Sarah Gorr

Support the show

•••Shout-out to some of my lovely & amazing patrons: Rupa dasGupta, John Penola, Jane Penola, and Joseph Penola. ⚫ Get early access, extended episodes, and the Patreon-exclusive companion podcast "Ellipsis" only at Patreon.com/jimpenola ⚫ Follow us on Twitter: @AnInvitation and Instagram: @Invitation2Invitation ⚫ Email us: [email protected]•••

In the 3rd episode of "An Invitation to DESTROYER," host Jim Penola discusses Karyn Kusama's fascination with coyotes as a symbol of untamed rage, the importance of DESTROYER's mother/daughter dynamic, and the ways that Dire Straits may be the code to understanding Erin Bell. 

Support the show

•••Shout-out to some of my lovely & amazing patrons: Rupa dasGupta, John Penola, Jane Penola, and Joseph Penola. ⚫ Get early access, extended episodes, and the Patreon-exclusive companion podcast "Ellipsis" only at Patreon.com/jimpenola ⚫ Follow us on Twitter: @AnInvitation and Instagram: @Invitation2Invitation ⚫ Email us: [email protected]•••

In the 2nd episode of "An Invitation to DESTROYER," host Jim Penola elaborates on the film's unflinching portrait of a moral but self-immolating woman in the form of Erin Bell (Nicole Kidman). Beneath and within Bell's many layers lies a tragic variation of the classic Femme Fatale archetype. One that stands out amid a recent glut of female-fronted action movies that, while technically pro-woman, also have little to offer beyond that.

Support the show

•••Shout-out to some of my lovely & amazing patrons: Rupa dasGupta, John Penola, Jane Penola, and Joseph Penola. ⚫ Get early access, extended episodes, and the Patreon-exclusive companion podcast "Ellipsis" only at Patreon.com/jimpenola ⚫ Follow us on Twitter: @AnInvitation and Instagram: @Invitation2Invitation ⚫ Email us: [email protected]•••

In the inaugural episode of "An Invitation to DESTROYER," host Jim Penola recreates the first 4 pages of 2018's DESTROYER, directed by Karyn Kusama and written by Phil Hay & Matt Manfredi, as an audio play. His subsequent analysis of those specific pages celebrates the clarity of the screenplay, the confidence of the direction, and the feminist context that drove its creation... all while setting the stage for what is to come.

Support the show

•••Shout-out to some of my lovely & amazing patrons: Rupa dasGupta, John Penola, Jane Penola, and Joseph Penola. ⚫ Get early access, extended episodes, and the Patreon-exclusive companion podcast "Ellipsis" only at Patreon.com/jimpenola ⚫ Follow us on Twitter: @AnInvitation and Instagram: @Invitation2Invitation ⚫ Email us: [email protected]•••

A special "one-off" bonus episode dedicated to The Wachowskis' JUPITER ASCENDING (2015). | Original Score by John Penola | Artwork by Jim Penola | Shout-out to some of my lovely & amazing patrons: Rupa dasGupta, John Penola, and Jane Penola. | Receive exclusive/extended/uncut content, early access, and more at Patreon.com/jimpenola | Follow us on Twitter: @AnInvitation and Instagram: @Invitation2Invitation | Email us: [email protected] | <3 

Support the show

•••Shout-out to some of my lovely & amazing patrons: Rupa dasGupta, John Penola, Jane Penola, and Joseph Penola. ⚫ Get early access, extended episodes, and the Patreon-exclusive companion podcast "Ellipsis" only at Patreon.com/jimpenola ⚫ Follow us on Twitter: @AnInvitation and Instagram: @Invitation2Invitation ⚫ Email us: [email protected]•••

A special "one-off" bonus episode dedicated to Disney's COOL RUNNINGS (1993). | Original Score by John Penola | Artwork by Joseph Penola | Shout-out to some of my lovely & amazing patrons: Rupa dasGupta, John Penola, Stephanie Pavlick, and Jane Penola. | Receive exclusive/extended/uncut content, early access, and more at Patreon.com/jimpenola | Follow us on Twitter: @AnInvitation and Instagram: @Invitation2Invitation | Email us: [email protected] | <3 

Support the show

•••Shout-out to some of my lovely & amazing patrons: Rupa dasGupta, John Penola, Jane Penola, and Joseph Penola. ⚫ Get early access, extended episodes, and the Patreon-exclusive companion podcast "Ellipsis" only at Patreon.com/jimpenola ⚫ Follow us on Twitter: @AnInvitation and Instagram: @Invitation2Invitation ⚫ Email us: [email protected]•••