Documenteers: The Documentary Podcast

We’re dropping an episode every weekday this week to send off November’s theme of COMFORT FOOD and coast right into our Christmas selections. We start the week with Bob’s last nostalgia selection and there is truly none more nostalgic for a young Bob Sham than this ode to cartoon history in the form of a noir romp in the 1988 Robert Zemeckis film “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” starring Bob Hoskins and Christopher Lloyd with the vocal talents of Charles Fleischer and Kathleen Turner featuring animation by Richard Williams. Big credit goes to Steven Spielberg as well who used his weight to actually get Warner Bros characters, as well as a few other cartoon properties, onto a Disney production. Seeing characters like Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Betty Boop and Woody Woodpecker on the same project together was mind blowing to our young minds. The original character of Roger Rabbit was pretty great too but no cartoon character stood out of the pack quite like Jessica Rabbit. We were all horned up for this cartoon character at the time and she has never quite left our brains. Much of our nostalgia picks have been interpreted a little bit different in our adult minds but there’s something about “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” that still hits us as strong as it ever did. That poor shoe. Goddamn, Judge Doom was scary as fuck.

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Our OG podcast “Documenteers”: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/documenteers-the-documentary-podcast/id1321652249

Soundcloud feed: https://soundcloud.com/documenteers

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For November’s theme of COMFORT FOOD we’re discussing the heartfelt fare of our moviegoing past as well as the sweet inspiration that is often found in movies where actors are portraying characters with intellectual disabilities. This discussion kinda goes both ways but we won’t say it’s overtly sweet. It may actually be one of the better portrayals of the sincerity and depression of a small town in the United States. Gilbert Grape? What’s eating him? Everything. He’s played by Johnny Depp and his brother,Arnie, is intensely played by a young Leonardo DiCaprio and this character is easily our most mentally challenged of the month. Not much to clown here but the focus doesn’t sit solely on DiCaprio’s shoulders as there is a good cast and story surrounding him. A big difference from our other “challenged” discussions. Once again, Europeans explain our culture to us in Lasse Hallstrom’s 1993 melancholy “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” and it stars a mess of talented people not the least of which being Darlene Cates who was cast after going on the Sally show and talking about her extreme weight gain and how she hadn’t left the house in 5 years. Hear us tell of it and learn about the Elmer Fudd effect. We can teach you so much. Just give your mind over to us.

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Our OG podcast “Documenteers”: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/documenteers-the-documentary-podcast/id1321652249

Soundcloud feed: https://soundcloud.com/documenteers

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((NO SPOILERS)) - HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Stay home tonight. You don’t need a 50% off waffle maker. If your job is making you work on Thanksgiving then quit. Even if you work at a movie theater. You have our blessing. Thanksgiving is about being with family and eating too much and then falling asleep in front of the Lions game for an hour and then getting up and eating more. Be thankful for us because we’re giving you a special holiday drop that you probably won’t have time to see or hear until the following weekend. We’re thankful for this movie we’re discussing, the fresh-ass Eli Roth slasher gore-fest “Thanksgiving” in which a mysterious killer known as “John Carver” tears ass through Plymouth, Massachusetts one year after a horrid Black Friday incident shook the town to it’s core. Thanksgiving is Bob’s favorite holiday and make no bones about it, he was completely in support of the actions of John Carver. 100%. These people should have taken Thanksgiving much more seriously. We’re just thankful that John Carver is out there fighting back against the War on Thanksgiving. The villain here is Black Friday and people who put up their Christmas lights too early. You’ll fucking get yours. That’s a promise. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

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Our OG podcast “Documenteers”: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/documenteers-the-documentary-podcast/id1321652249

Soundcloud feed: https://soundcloud.com/documenteers

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/culturewrought

There isn’t much to grab onto out there when you need a good Thanksgiving themed movie. Off the top of my head there’s “Son in Law” with Pauly Shore. “Dutch” with Ed O’Neil. We got a new Eli Roth “Thanksgiving” slasher. The musical documentary “The Last Waltz” took place on Thanksgiving. “Hannah and Her Sisters” works but we’re not gonna make Angela watch any Woody Allen just yet. There is one that has risen up over the limited pack and it has slowly become one of John Hughes most well regarded movies despite it not having any teenagers making dramatic speeches. We’re breaking the Steve Martin threshold with what might be the most well regarded Thanksgiving themed movie, “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” from 1987. Uptight Neal Pierce and friendly salesman slob Dell Griffith (played by the late, great John Candy) wind up in each others company when a plane reroutes and lands them in Wichita causing them to scramble to get Neal home by Thanksgiving. I’ll let you guess what kind of vehicles they use on their journey. We got some distinct complaints and some high compliments in this warm holiday fare where Steve Martin does plenty of “fucking”. Chug it down like warm gravy with us.

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Our OG podcast “Documenteers”: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/documenteers-the-documentary-podcast/id1321652249

Soundcloud feed: https://soundcloud.com/documenteers

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/culturewrought

November’s theme of COMFORT FOOD has got us chugging nostalgia straight out of the gravy boat. Every Monday this month we’re talking about a formidable movie from our youth and this one hits that sweet spot for both hosts. You’ve probably heard everyone between the ages of 36 and 46 quoting the hell out of this movie. If you’re one of our children then we’ve definitely forced you to watch it at some point. Sloth loves Chunk. We all know this. How will our tired adult eyes and damaged adult brains take in Richard Donner’s beloved 1985 kids adventure romp? We’re speaking of “THE GOONIES”, of course, and it stars a whole mess of 80s kid actors you’ve come to either love or gawk at. It had that catchy Cyndi Lauper song come out for it. Can the Goonies navigate felons and traps to find the treasure of the original Pirate Goonie known as One Eyed-Willy or will they lose their neighborhood forever? How the hell can an entire neighborhood just foreclose at once? Who does Troy’s dad work for to have this much power to get away with doing such things? We got some theories on that. The story is kind of strange but the adventure still feels fun. Hear us tell it.

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Our OG podcast “Documenteers”: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/documenteers-the-documentary-podcast/id1321652249

Soundcloud feed: https://soundcloud.com/documenteers

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/culturewrought

Admittedly, we’re in a strange hole with our film choices this month because we’ve watched some predictably saccharine and inspirational “challenged” movies in which actors play characters with intellectual disabilities. They don’t seem to get better. It’s supposedly COMFORT FOOD all month long and each movie cringes harder than the previous and we’ve reached the absolute valley with the prolifically panned “Riding the Bus with My Sister” directed by Anjelica Huston. Yes, the daughter of John Huston did this. It also stars Andie MacDowell as the workaholic who takes bad photographs and has been ignoring her mentally challenged sister as played by Rosie O’Donnell. Their dad dies and it brings the sisters together and the one challenged sister ends up helping the yuppie, bad photographer, sister “find herself”. It’s based on a true story from a book. Except the dead dad part. They added that in for spice. Also, “The Police” drummer, Stewart Copeland, did the music for this movie if you just want to throw in more random collaboration onto this thing. There’s always some strange hubris with these types of dramas but who is this story ultimately benefitting in reality? We can’t quite divorce ourselves from several questions regarding the truth and intent of the overall story of Rachel and Beth Simon. There should have been more dirt eating at the very least.

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Our OG podcast “Documenteers”: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/documenteers-the-documentary-podcast/id1321652249

Soundcloud feed: https://soundcloud.com/documenteers

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The cinema of the mentally challenged as played by actors who are not mentally challenged is part of our family/inspirational selections for November’s theme of COMFORT FOOD. Maybe it’s 1999 and you met your mother for lunch at the Olive Garden by the mall and you decided to go see a movie and your mother sees that there’s a new Garry Marshall movie with Juliette Lewis and Giovanni Ribisi in it called “The Other Sister” and they play special needs children of Bohemian Grove candidates. It’s not what you would have picked but there’s no way your mother was going to watch any of the other movies that were playing like “Eyes Wide Shut” or “Existenz”. “The Green Mile” was ok, but when you talked her into seeing “The Virgin Suicides” she just thought it was kind of weird. She really related to Diane Keaton’s character and loved her hats. She made note that Tom Skerritt could park his shoes under her bed anytime. After the movie, the first thing she said was “I’m glad you’re not retarded”. You’ve been No Contact with her since Covid.

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It’s COMFORT FOOD selections all month long and we’re getting nostalgic on Mondays so it’s Bob’s turn and he picked a movie that he was so unbelievably excited for as a child that we can say with all honesty that, for the rest of his life, he was probably never as excited for anything as we was excited for the feature film debut of “TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES” back in 1990. Directed by Steve Barron with some fantastic animatronic and puppet effects by Jim Henson’s Creature Workshop. It’s hard to imagine that studios were so resistant to turning this property into film but, of course, it was a tremendous hit. It’s still a sight to behold even if it’s even cornier than you might remember. Plus you got a rat (pre-mutated by goop) practicing martial arts in a bird cage. And that Foot Clan lair??? No wonder New York was so gripped in this crime wave. The criminals got to skateboard all day and smoke cigars. What more do you need to inspire a life of crime? I’ll take the whippings from the Japanese men for unlimited arcade plays. I don’t care. They can whip me anytime. Cowabunga.

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We keep it family style for November’s theme of COMFORT FOOD and what better way to keep it clean than watching movies where actors play mentally challenged characters? Unlike “Radio” and “Bill” this next choice is not based on a true story so all of this was as intentional as could possibly be. These movies are saccharine by nature but they might have to amputate your feet after this one. They really thought they had a special award winner on their hands with the very blue (literally) “I Am Sam” directed by Jessie Nelson in 2001 and starring Sean Penn as “Sam” a man who with the mental capacity of a seven year old who raw dogs an adorable baby girl (played by Dakota Fanning) into this world. How does he get to have an apartment that nice in San Francisco as a single father working at Starbucks? This movie is pretty much an ad for Starbucks but even Starbucks, in it’s product placement, can’t pretend to pay a mentally disabled single father a living wage. Also starring Michelle Pfeiffer as an angry lawyer who learns a thing or two from this simple father and they might have fucked in some cut scene in this movie. We’re fairly certain. Does Sam get to keep custody of his daughter? Well, you’ll have to sit though many “choices” to find out OR you can hear us tell it.

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Open up your gullets because it’s time for some more mentally challenged COMFORT FOOD just as it should be for a November and it’s finally time to break the seal on a Made for TV movie. The true story of Bill Sackter is a brutal one about a boy, maybe a little slower than the other kids, being thrown away in an institution when he totally could have easily eked out a menial everyday life working at a gas station or a Lowes and having three kids with two different women. The first baby momma would be absolutely fucking crazy and one of the kids goes to prison for attempted murder but the other two get bachelor’s degrees in Theater at the nearest state school so it all balances out. We elect people dumber than the real Bill Sackter but Mickey Rooney’s portrayal may linger between “gump” and “totally drunk”. I’m happy to report that Mickey Rooney’s portrait as Bill Sackyer in Anthony Page’s 1981 made-for-tv movie “Bill” doesn’t even crack the top 10 cringiest roles in the man’s long career. Barry Morrow (who would later write “Rain Man”) is the man-handler of the Bill story. It’s a sweet story that’s supposed to go through you like warm milk, but are we lactose intolerant? Here’s the actual movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ6Am18Tf9Q

Here is the “Asian American Perspective” thing Bob was discussing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAafI9w7CY8

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Our OG podcast “Documenteers”: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/documenteers-the-documentary-podcast/id1321652249

Soundcloud feed: https://soundcloud.com/documenteers

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/culturewrought