Back to the movies

Hello again listeners, it's time for one of those rare times of the year when we head to the arthouse cinema. This week we're heading Back to the Movies to check out GoodTrash Media's highly anticipated film The Neon Demon from director Nicolas Winding Refn. This week Arthur takes another break in order to pursue his modeling career which means we had to call in the hosts of The Film Syllabus, Dustin Sells and Alexandra Bohannon, to join this more analysis driven review. We're also joined a first time guest, University of Oklahoma T.A. and aspiring comic book PhD, Kenneth Kimbrough.

If you've been a long time listener of the GoodTrash Genrecast, you'll know we're all undeniable Drive apologists. It's pseudo-80s aesthetic, slick soundtrack, and western genre tropes made it an instant GoodTrash essential. Long time listeners will also know the Genrecast wasn't in favor of 2012's Only God Forgives, but we've been anxiously awaiting Refn's next project ever since. 

After a particularly long hiatus, the director is finally back with The Neon Demon, a film that follows an aspiring young model as she rises in the ranks of the Los Angeles fashion industry. The film stars Elle Fanning and features a supporting cast of Jena Malone, Christina Hendricks, and Keanu Reeves. This is a very spoiler heavy and more analysis driven review, but fear not! We still have a spoiler free review and recommendation before getting really into the weeds about what's going on in this flick.

What did you think of Nicolas Winding Refn's latest flick? Let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook and Twitter pages! 

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This week's Back to the Movies takes a break from all of the giant explosions, mutated turtles, and oversaturated CGI fantasy to look at a film that's cut from a different cloth as we look at Swiss Army Man. In this week's discussion, Arthur begins his sabbatical to a deserted island which put The Film Syllabus co-host Alexandra Bohannon back in the co-hosts chair. Also joining us to discuss the madness is friend of the show/local film producer Zachary Burns. 

If you're not familiar, Swiss Army Man is the story between a suicidal man named Hank (Paul Dano) and his friend Manny(Daniel Radcliffe) who just happens to be a corpse that washed up on shore. The two bond together as Hank tries to find his way home. 

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Happy Fourth of July weekend listeners! To celebrate the sacrifice of movie viewing independence, Arthur and I went Back to the Movies to review Hollywood's celebration of gun toting violence in America. Is the film intentionally celebrating violence or is there more than meets the eye in The Purge: Election Day? 

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We here at GoodTrash Media have a real soft spot for Pixar films. While our first GTM Pixar outing in our The Good Dinosaur review wasn't exactly a huge success, most films from the studio have delivered some sort of life changing emotional catharsis. This week's Back to the Movies has Arthur and I reviewing the sequel to Finding Nemo that nobody asked for before delving deep into our personal experiences with Pixar films.

Finding Dory takes us back to her childhood where we learn that she was born with short term memory loss and was separated from her parents at birth. She wandered the ocean on her own until eventually running into Marlin and embarking our their journey to find Nemo. After settling, Dory has a near death experience that awaken memories about the whereabouts of her parents. Dory insists on chasing her memory and finding out where she came from.

We talk a little bit about whether or not this film justifies its own existence before giving our brief review and recommendations. The real meat of the conversation lies in the spoiler section where Arthur and I talk about which of Pixar's movie moments have moved us the most with references to Inside Out, Toy Story 3, Up, and Wall-e all being part of the conversation.

Finding Dory Time Stamps

Introductions - :30

Finding Dory Review - 2:49

Recommendations - 25:34

*Spoilers* - 28:24

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The cinema flashbacks keep coming as we look at another property that arrived in the 90s, Warcraft. That's right, Caleb and Arthur went Back to the Movies to check out the mega-blockbuster from Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code) to see if it's worth your time going back to the movies. Your fearless hosts wandered aimlessly through several different worlds to finally arrive in Azeroth. 

Duncan Jones' Warcraft takes on the tall order of adapting one of the most beloved game franchises of all time, and it is a tall order. This is also the third video game adaptation of 2016, following the financially successful Angry Birds and the flop Ratchet and Clank. With Assassin's Creed on the holiday horizon, the question of whether video games make good source material is really in the forefront of your hosts' minds. Warcraft tries and the results are well examined by Arthur and Caleb. This fantasy story of Orcs invading a new world to try and sustain their way of life has a lot of ambition, and features a notable cast of character actors. Caleb does ponder at what point do we start looking at these huge CGI spectacles as simply animated films though. 

Warcraft is another in a line of recent blockbusters that leaves Caleb and Arthur kind of stretched thin. They go through their history with the franchise and with Blizzard to set up their foundation for going into Warcraft. While both men have flirted with the franchise, neither were die-hard fans of the product which raises some questions of how that may have colored their viewing of the film. They also raise the question of whether a person's experience with a franchise should impact the film going process at all.  And these are all questions that we would love to hear your response to. So, please, let your hosts know what you thought of Warcraft in the comments below or on Twitter (@Good_Trash) and Facebook (/goodtrashmedia). 

The 90s nostalgia just doesn't want to end. This week, Arthur and I head Back to the Movies with a look at the Michael Bay-produced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, directed by Dave Green (Earth to Echo). Much like last week's episode involving X-Men: Apocalypse, this episode featured much reminiscing. Well, for Arthur anyway. Admittedly, my Turtle Nostalgia is quite minimum.

This newest entry in the Turtle Franchise is another attempt to capitalize on a series that dates back to the 80s and as cycled in and out of popularity for nearly 30 years. Can it rise above it's predecessor? Or is Michael Bay's talons sunk in too deep? Picking up where the last film left off, the Turtles are still unable to come out and play for fear of becoming icons of fear. As this raises tensions within the team, a sinister new force threatens the world by enlisting the help of the Shredder and Baxter Stockman as well as a couple of new heavies. But the Turtles aren't alone as they're once again backed by April O'Neil and a new hero on the streets, Casey Jones. Can the Turtles overcome the odds and save the day, or will Shredder finally make turtle stew? 

Much like the film *Spoiler Alert* this show is stretched thin. Arthur and I do the best with what we've got. We both spend a good deal of time elaborating on the baggage that we bring to this film, for better and for worse. Yet, I feel that we are still able to have a smart conversation about such a middling film. 

The superhero movies of 2016 just keep on coming and this week, Arthur and I head Back to the Movies to geek out about the X-Men with our special guest host and one of the leads of the upcoming film Electric Nostalgia, Stephen Goodman. Stephen is a SAG actor out of Oklahoma City who loves comic books and has a particular passion for Aquaman and Moonight, but also has a keen degree of excitement for the latest adventures in X-Men. If you want to know more about GoodTrash Media friend Stephen Goodman, you can check out his interview with Dalton on The People's History of Film.

We talk about our lifelong fandoms of the X-series and where the films lay in comparison the their Marvel Cinematic Universe rivals before reviewing Bryan Singer's fourth X-film, X-Men: Apocalypse. The film has the daunting task of bringing further closure to the character arcs laid out in X-Men: First Class while also bringing aboard newcomers like Cyclops, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, and even Jubilee(who is about as used here about as much as you'd expect). The film's big bad played by Oscar Isaac, brings the world ending stakes, but the real question is can he bring a dynamic bit of drama with him?

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The buddy cop genre may be long passed its prime, but that doesn't mean veterans like Shane Black doesn't have a few more creative aces up his sleeves. Back the Movies revs up for the impending wave of big dumb summer action movies with a breath of fresh air in our review discussion of The Nice Guys starring Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe. The show does the same good cop/bad cop routine with Caleb and his guest from, The People's History of Film, Dalton Stuart.

The Nice Guys is a neo-noir sort bro comedy about a half baked Private Eye and gun for hire teaming up to find a girl who's gone missing. The duo don't exactly get off on friendly footing, but  they reluctantly decide to work together when the price is right. If this sound like just about every buddy cop movie ever made, it's because this movie doesn't exactly rock the boat in terms of plot structure. Shane Black essentially redefined the genre when he wrote the original Lethal Weapon, but can he continue to bring a fresh flavor to big screen?

The Nice Guys Time Stamps

Introductions - :23

The Nice Guys Review - 2:51

Recommendations - 22:12

*Spoilers* - 25:19

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We're still in that space between spaces following Marvel's 800 pound gorilla, Captain America: Civil War. Back to the Movies continues our trend of spring sleeper hits with director Ben Wheatley's latest flick, High Rise. The cinema was a little short on new releases so this week so Caleb and Arthur decide to cheat and head back to the couch for the readily on demand film. 

High Rise features a utopian society left completely encapsulated in one high rise building. The story features a number of eccentric characters played by some of your very favorite British performers including Tom Hiddleston, Elizabeth Moss, Jeremy Irons, Luke Evans, Sienna Miller, and James Purefoy. The film features these characters and their reaction the slow and very naked collapse of society. The film uses striking imagery and relies on its strong performances to deliver some of the more compelling ideas of the film.

If you're looking for something a little more low key, this is just the podcast review discussion for you! 

High Rise Time Stamps

High Rise Review - 4:16
Recommendations - 23:33

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This week's Back to the Movies moves away from the superhero action and cranks the spectacle down a notch or 5 by looking at Blue Ruin writer/director Jeremy Saulnier's latest, Green Room.  This week Caleb is joined by GoodTrash Media's recurring hosts Alexandra Bohannon and Dalton Stuart to discuss the mesmerizing horror/suspense thriller. We're also glad to be joined for the first time by special guest host Jacob Leighton Burns. Jacob is the co-founder of Planet Thunder Productions, the co-host of Talkies and the writer/director of the highly anticipated upcoming film, Electric Nostalgia. 

The film follows a punk rock band who finds themselves in a deadly situation after playing a show in a skinhead bar. If the premise wasn't enough to catch your attention, you'll want to take a look at the incredible cast featuring an evil Patrick Stewart, Imogen Poots, Anton Yelchin, Alia Shawkat, Macon Blair, and Mark Webber. Since its debut at Cannes 2015, Green Room has been critically lauded as a masterpiece. The entire Back to the Movies crew is excited to see if it lives up to the hype.

Stay in touch with guest host Jacob Leighton Burns

Keep up with Talkies, Planet Thunder Productions, and Electric Nostalgia

Follow Jacob on Twitter @boomdiggadown

Green Room Time Stamps

Introductions - :23

Green Room Review - 5:31

Recommendations - 38:21

*Spoilers* - 43:12

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