Cinemantics

Our month-long tribute to the collaborations of director John Carpenter and actor Kurt Russell continues as co-host Jeffery Heatherly and I discuss Big Trouble In Little China (1986). While we enjoy it more than Escape From New York, we find this one a bit too convoluted to be a classic. Our typically tangential conversation touches on, among other things, Asian character actors, cheesy theme songs, anticlimactic villain deaths and the TV series Goosebumps. Join us, won't you?

Our month-long tribute to the collaborations of director John Carpenter and actor Kurt Russell continues as co-host G. Warlock Vance and I discuss the sci-fi horror classic The Thing (1982). Topics of conversation include nihilism in the film, the need for communication, Rob Bottin's amazing visual effects and the weather in Antarctica. It's a perfect episode for anyone who goes there.

This month beloved actor Kurt Russell turns 60. To celebrate, Cinemantics is devoting the month to his collaborations with legendary director John Carpenter. In our first installment, co-hosts Jeffery Heatherly and Ryan Houser join me in a discussion of Escape From New York (1981). Our reception is decidedly lukewarm. We praise Russell and the look of the film but criticize its slow pace and droning soundtrack. We also unearth some nepotism in the film's casting. It's an episode that's truly A#1.

2010 was the Year of Godzilla at Cinemantics, a fact you may have forgotten as we covered only one movie featuring the giant rampaging lizard the entire year. In this episode, originally scheduled to air at the end of 2010, co-host Jeffery Heatherly and I attempt to rectify the problem with a discussion of Roland Emmerich's Godzilla (1998). Despite its many flaws, we rather like this big budget B movie - and Jeff lays out the rather intriguing theory that it's actually a satire. Plus, we resurrect a certain movie game!

After a much-needed hiatus, co-host Jeffery Heatherly and I return to finally discuss a film that has come up often on both our shows: Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight (2008). A lifelong Batman fan, Jeff takes the opportunity to lay out all of his problems with the film, while I do my best to defend it. Our many topics of conversation include the film's depiction of the Joker, casting successes and failures, the upcoming sequel The Dark Knight Rises and the legacy of the late Heath Ledger. Welcome to a world without rules.

Co-host Jeffery Heatherly and I bid farewell to the holiday season with a discussion of Nicholas Webster's Santa Claus Conquers The Martians (1964). Frequently labeled as one of the worst movies ever made, Jeff and I actually found its '60s kitsch to be quite charming. We discuss, among other things, a perpetually drug-addled Santa, the archetypal science-fiction robot, a supremely cheesy soundtrack and the fakest polar bear in history. From everyone at Cinemantics, happy holidays and hooray for Santa Claus!

The Month of Moore comes to a close as co-host Jeffery Heatherly and I discuss Zack Snyder's Watchmen (2009), an adaptation of the groundbreaking graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Mired in development hell for years, this movie could have been a disaster - but it came out as good an adaptation as anyone could have hoped for. Jeff and I love it. Just a few of the many topics of discussed here: Broadway's effect on great actors, changes from the novel that work for the better, the impact of a well-placed song and the public's obsession with a certain blue phallus. Plus, a surprise cameo!

Co-host Jeffery Heatherly and I discuss Christopher Guest's 2003 mockumentary A Mighty Wind, a comedy with surprising emotional depth. I sing "Ave Maria" à la Michael Hitchcock and dispel any rumors about band camp that might have been started by American Pie. Jeff offers his opinion of folk music and laments how talented comedians are shortchanged in film and television. It's an episode you'll love to hear even if it's not autumn.

The Month of Moore continues as co-host Jeffery Heatherly and I discuss Stephen Norrington's The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003). Based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill, Jeff and I agree that this action movie isn't entirely without merit, but on the whole doesn't do justice to its intriguing premise. Topics of conversation include Sean Connery's accent, pencil thin mustaches, uneven CGI, dumb marketing strategies and a hypothetical league of American gentlemen. It's an episode that's truly extraordinary - or, at least, more so than this movie.

Co-host Jeffery Heatherly and I invite you to remember, remember the fifth of November as we discuss James McTeigue and the Wachowski Brothers' V For Vendetta (2006), which kicks off a series of episodes based on the work of beloved comic book author Alan Moore. Our conversation at times borders on political as we explore the film's themes of government and terrorism, but mostly we stick to our usual shenanigans. We also explore the similarities between the film and George Orwell's classic novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. It's an episode that surely vindicates the vigilant and the virtuous. England prevails!