This week, we examine two films shaped by the influence of Franz Kafka.

The first, Kafka (1991), directed by Steven Soderbergh from a screenplay by Lem Dobbs, intertwines biographical details of Kafka’s life with motifs drawn from his fiction.

The second, Brazil (1985), directed by Terry Gilliam, is frequently cited as one of the most profoundly Kafkaesque films ever made.

Timestamps

What we’ve been watching (00:00:26) – Eight Men Out, Entourage, The Sopranos, Project Almanac, Boss Level, Die My Love

Kafka (00:27:06)

Brazil (01:00:04)

Coin toss (01:34:00)

Links

Instagram -

@callitfriendopodcast

@munnywales

@andyjayritchie

Letterboxd –

@andycifpod

@fat-tits mcmahon

Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two American thrillers connected tenuously by their titles.

The first is The Night of the Hunter (1955), directed by Charles Laughton and starring Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters and Lillian Gish. Mitchum plays a murderous preacher pursuing two young children.

The second is Night of the Juggler (1980), starring James Brolin as an ex-cop trying to get back his kidnapped daughter while navigating the mean streets of 1970s New York.

Timestamps

What we’ve been watching (00:00:33) – The Ghostwriter, Slow Horses season five, The Running Man, Bugonia, Pluribus

The Night of the Hunter (00:35:50)

Night of the Juggler (01:09:13)

Coin toss (01:41:15)

Links

Instagram -

@callitfriendopodcast

@munnywales

@andyjayritchie

Letterboxd –

@andycifpod

@fat-tits mcmahon

Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two films from acclaimed director Yorgos Lanthimos.

The first is Poor Things (2023), written by Tony McNamara and based on the 1992 novel by Alasdair Gray. It follows Emma Stone as Bella Baxter, a young woman in Victorian London who is brought back to life via brain transplant.

The second is The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017), which follows a cardiac surgeon, played by Colin Farrell, who introduces his family to a teenage boy with a connection to his past, after which they mysteriously begin to fall ill.

Timestamps

What we’ve been watching (00:00:33) – Alien: Earth, Slow Horses season five, Down Cemetery Road, My Brilliant Friend season one, Mr. Scorsese, Predator: Badlands, Bugonia

Poor Things (00:32:00)

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (01:00:30)

Coin toss (01:28:30)

Links

Instagram -

@callitfriendopodcast

@munnywales

@andyjayritchie

Letterboxd –

@andycifpod

@fat-tits mcmahon

Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two surrealist yakuza films from Japanese director Seijun Suzuki.

The first is Tokyo Drifter (1966), which follows the reformed yakuza hitman "Phoenix" Tetsu, played by Tetsuya Watari, who is forced to roam Japan while avoiding execution by rival gangs.

The second is Branded to Kill (1967), which follows contract killer Goro Hanada as he is recruited by a mysterious woman named Misako for a seemingly impossible mission. When the mission fails, he is hunted by the phantom Number One Killer, whose methods threaten his life and sanity.

Timestamps

What we’ve been watching (00:00:38) – True Grit, The Man in the Iron Mask, I Swear, Matt McCusker: A Humble Offering, Alien:Earth season one, Mobland season one

Tokyo Drifter (00:30:30)

Branded to Kill (00:51:00)

Coin toss (01:12:10)

Links

Instagram -

@callitfriendopodcast

@munnywales

@andyjayritchie

Letterboxd –

@andycifpod

@fat-tits mcmahon

Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

Tourette’s - the highlights - https://youtu.be/KtCG0wG-5E0?si=pD1O000OouhupeCr 

Funny cheeky Scottish kid with Tourette’s and Johnny Davidson swearing and insulting people - https://youtu.be/Czb7W1VZVZw?si=gu0bXa9k-_8MkRsS 

Abused by customer with Tourettes - https://youtu.be/sQ0XJciN6J0?si=XX5wKiWAfXxxVSuU

This week, we discuss two films from Australian director Peter Weir.

The first is Witness (1985), starring Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis and Lukas Haas. The film focuses on a police detective protecting an Amish woman and her son, who becomes a target after he witnesses a brutal murder in a Philadelphia railway station.

The second is Gallipoli (1981), starring Mel Gibson and Mark Lee. The film revolves around several young men from Western Australia who enlist in the Australian Army during World War I and fight in the disastrous Gallipoli campaign.

Timestamps

What we’ve been watching (00:01:05) – One Battle After Another, Caught Stealing, John Candy: I Like Me

Witness (00:15:55)

Gallipoli  (00:45:20)

Coin toss (01:11:45)

Links

Instagram -

@callitfriendopodcast

@munnywales

@andyjayritchie

Letterboxd –

@andycifpod

@fat-tits mcmahon

Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two films from American director Jules Dassin.

The first is Topkapi (1964), a heist comedy based on the 1962 novel The Light of Day by Eric Ambler. The plot follows a small-time con artist who gets roped into helping a gang of international art thieves steal an emerald-encrusted dagger from Istanbul's Topkapı Palace, while he is simultaneously forced to spy on them for the Turkish police.

The second is The Naked City (1948), a crime procedural starring Barry Fitzgerald. Shot almost entirely on location in New York City, the film depicts the police investigation that follows the murder of a young model.

Timestamps

What we’ve been watching (00:00:25) – Peacemaker season two, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, One Battle After Another, 28 Days Later, Brave, Sirat, Crossfire

Topkapi  (00:16:00)

The Naked City  (00:49:30)

Coin toss (01:19:45)

Links

Instagram -

@callitfriendopodcast

@munnywales

@andyjayritchie

Letterboxd –

@andycifpod

@fat-tits mcmahon

Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two films from Italian director Matteo Garrone.

The first is Gomorrah (2008), based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Roberto Saviano. It depicts warring factions in a Camorra family in a rough neighbourhood of Naples.

The second is Io Capitano (2023), which follows two cousins making the perilous journey from Senegal to Italy and the terrible hardships they must overcome en route.

Timestamps

What we’ve been watching (00:00:32) – One Battle After Another, La Isla Minima, Peacemaker, Superman, The Insider

Gomorrah (00:23:20)

Io Capitano (01:01:00)

Coin toss (01:26:20)

Links

Instagram -

@callitfriendopodcast

@munnywales

@andyjayritchie

Letterboxd –

@andycifpod

@fat-tits mcmahon

Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two films about young women forced to become assassins.

The first is The Villainess (2017), directed by Jung Byung-gil, starring Kim Ok-vin. According to Jung, the movie was inspired by La Femme Nikita, which he watched at the age of 10.

The second is La Femme Nikita (1990), written and directed by Luc Besson. The film stars Anne Parillaud as the title character, a criminal who is convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment before being recruited as a state assassin.

Timestamps

What we’ve been watching (00:00:25) – The Long Walk, Titanic, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, My Life as a Courgette, Three Days of the Condor, Ponyo, Aladdin, Task

The Villainess (00:33:50)

La Femme Nikita (00:57:20)

Coin toss (01:33:40)

Links

Instagram -

@callitfriendopodcast

@munnywales

@andyjayritchie

Letterboxd –

@andycifpod

@fat-tits mcmahon

Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two pioneering British folk horror films.

The first is The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971). Set in early 18th-century England, it follows the residents of a rural village whose youth fall under the influence of a demonic presence after a local farmer unearths a mysterious deformed skull buried in a field.

The second is Witchfinder General (1968). The film is a heavily fictionalised account of the murderous witch-hunting exploits of Matthew Hopkins, a lawyer who falsely claimed to have been appointed as a Witchfinder General by Parliament during the English Civil War to root out sorcery and witchcraft.

Timestamps

What we’ve been watching (00:00:30) – The Summit, King & Conqueror, Mitchell and Webb Are Not Helping

The Blood on Satan’s Claw (00:17:55)

Witchfinder General (00:48:30)

Coin toss (01:21:50)

Links

Instagram -

@callitfriendopodcast

@munnywales

@andyjayritchie

Letterboxd –

@andycifpod

@fat-tits mcmahon

Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two films dealing with colonialism in Africa.

The first is Cobra Verde, directed by Werner Herzog and starring Klaus Kinski, in their fifth and final collaboration. Based upon Bruce Chatwin's 1980 novel The Viceroy of Ouidah, the film depicts the life of a fictional slave trader who travels to the West African kingdom of Dahomey.

The second is White Material, directed by Claire Denis and co-written with Marie NDiaye. The film stars Isabelle Huppert as Maria Vial, a struggling French coffee producer in an unnamed French-speaking African country who decides to stay at her coffee plantation in spite of an erupting civil war.

Timestamps

What we’ve been watching (00:00:30) – Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, Alan Partridge: Welcome to the Places of My Life, Alan Partridge’s Scissored Isle, Barry season four, Robot Dreams

Cobra Verde (00:14:20)

White Material (00:42:50)

Coin toss (01:08:25)

Links

Instagram -

@callitfriendopodcast

@munnywales

@andyjayritchie

Letterboxd –

@andycifpod

@fat-tits mcmahon

Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com