Bravo for the B-side Podcast

From David Ryan Keith we have another excellent movie. Ghosts of Darkness is a wonderful horror movie that calls back to the classic horror films. A solid plot, character development without hours of exposition, and terrific actors Paul Flannery and Michael Koltes, makes for a fun and worthwhile horror film. A lot of great lessons in here. Once again David Ryan Keith brings his talent for framing, pacing, and just pure technical bliss to a ghost story horror movie that beats pretty much everything out there.

Ghosts of Darkness can be found on YouTube on the Clear Focus Movies channel!

https://www.youtube.com/c/Clearfocus-productionsCoUk

From the early 80s we have a South African indie-comedy, The Gods Must Be Crazy. It’s a complete nonsense, buffoonery level fun film that takes a clean, simple approach to humor. We talk about this highs of the movie and the lows of the production, and spend a good amount of time talking about comedy. What happened to clean, funny films? The Gods Must Be Crazy is funny without puerile or vulgar humor, and relies heavily on physical comedy and quick, snappy dialogue. Treat yourself to a silly movie with this film and soak in the simple lessons it has.

The Gods Must Be Crazy cannot be found on streaming as far as we can tell. Try to find it on DVD, you won’t be sorry.

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The Vicious Kind is another movie where the story is not quite up-front on its intent or purpose. We surmise some theories, but ultimately it will be up to the viewer to decide. With a great cast and top-notch production, we flow through some confusing moments, confusing dialogue, and murky purpose. We talk about lessons having to do with the failings of male-written scripts depicting women, wasting enormous talent, and some talk about the unsettling male perspective when it comes to intimacy and the motivation of women.

The Vicious Kind can be found on Tubi.

An adaptation of the William S. Burroughs book, David Cronenberg brings us a muddled, uninviting film with Naked Lunch. Names like Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Ian Holm, Julian Sands, Roy Scheider, and others, are lost in the mundane, shock-topic nonsense of this movie. We talk about the importance of engaging the audience, and giving them world-building that makes the story have some sense to it. Jim has seen it multiple times since 1991 and has struggled to determine if he likes it or not. Dani needed only one viewing to make her call. Limited distribution and the history of Burroughs’ novel have elevated this to become a cult classic. However, it is not a classic in our cult.

Naked Lunch can be found on Tubi.

We really wish we could tell you what Astro Loco is about. We do tell you what happens in the movie, but the point of it eludes us. It took some time for us to figure out if we liked this or not, if it was good or not, and we come to a conclusion in the episode. Technical aspects were great, and performances were just fine also. The primary lesson here is what can happen if you don’t have a clear A-line story for your plot. A lot of things happen, but they are disjointed and do not meet in the middle, end, or anywhere. It was fun, if not confusing.

Astro Loco can be found on Amazon.

A nuclear war, a fleet of DeLoreans, and Billy Zane. Unfortunately these excellent features do not help mend the fractured plot and storytelling of Blue World Order. Certainly an ambitious film, and technically sound, it suffers from too many story points. We talk about lessons in focused storytelling and pacing. For an action/adventure film it is pretty laid back, to the point that when something does happen it doesn’t pump the adrenaline. It instead pumps the brakes. Not what you want for an action film. Lessons on costuming and effects as well within. Blue World Order did well on both fronts.

Blue World Order can be found on Tubi.

It’s a bushwhacking ride this week as we dive into Hunt for the Wilderpeople. This Taika Waititi film is not just a magnificent family watch, it’s a delightful treat of excellent direction, performances, and technical skill. In front of and behind the camera there are lessons everywhere. The comedic timing of Julian Dennison and Sam Neill is brilliant and sharp. Julian Dennison was great in Deadpool 2, but here he is the main focus and has nothing but screen time and it is terrific. For new directors, the thread of Taika Waititi’s style is easy to spot in here, especially if you’ve watched The Mandalorian.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople can be found on Tubi.

Paul Giamatti. What else needs to be said? We plunge into Cold Souls, the 2009 film from Sophie Barthes where Mr. Giamatti plays a fictionalized version of himself. Stressing over his role in a Broadway play, Paul decides to have his soul put in storage so he can remove the burden of his anxiety. Sounds a bit off, but it is brilliant. Giamatti is fantastic, as always. We talk about the comedy that turns to some through-provoking drama at the end. A fantastic work by all involved with amazing lessons on, well, everything.

Cold Souls can be found on Tubi.

Hearkening from the early 90s, Arcade gives us the very worst of genre exploitation. More frustrating than frightening, Arcade takes us into a possessed virtual reality game that feeds off of the souls of young players. Another crystal clear example of Jim’s mantra; Know what you are writing about, or don’t write it at all. The technical references are laughable. One of the only saving graces is that a very young, baby-like Seth Green is in it. There is so much wrong with this movie there is not enough time in the day to cover all of it.

Arcade can be found on Tubi.

A sci-fi horror thriller, The Mind’s Eye is a solid work on all levels. We dive into this salute to the old 80’s film Scanners set in the 90s and follow Zack and Rachael make their way through twisted experiments, an over the top villain, and a bevy of psychokinetic battles that do not disappoint. We talk about the importance of allocating your budget, getting actors involved in their parts rather than just playing one, top-notch effects, and why a cheesy villain is almost always the right move.

The Mind’s Eye can be found on Tubi.