Double Bill

Happy Sweet Sixteenth episode, Double Bill!

The Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline have two large commonalities: they are directed by Henry Selick (who also directed James and the Giant Peach) and use stop-motion animation in their storytelling. Why and how they’re connected to the life of our guest, Tess Kean, you’ll need to listen to find out! Suffice it to say, there’s a lot of fond (and not so fond) memories for both of these films.

Next up on our plate we’re trying something new–a mini episode we like to call a “Double Bill Nugget”!* We want to provide more content, and we thought we could accomplish that goal by picking smaller pieces to dissect for your enjoyment.

First up: Too Many Cooks / Don Hertzfeldt’s Rejected.

*Name not yet finalized and subject to review.

Until today, the pairing of Dhoom 2 and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance  was never contemplated beneath the skies and stars on this Earth. We’ve made it happen for you, dear listener.

Do these connect? Kinda. There are motorcycles! Chases! A willingness to go big or go home! But there are no musical numbers in Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, and it’s worse off for it. At this point, Nicolas Cage really needs a musical number to put the cherry on top of the craziness that is his career. Maybe in the future–IF we wish hard enough.

Next up: The Nightmare Before Christmas (after Christmas)

and Coraline (right before Coraline-mas).

Bonus holiday photos on the Facebook page!

The theme is cameos, cameos, cameos! Sub-themes include, but are not limited to: musical numbers, getting the band together, and magical realism.

Revisiting “The Muppet Movie” and “Blues Brothers” and focusing on every recognizable celebrity after a lifetime of movie-watching–and probably still not getting everyone–is an exercise that each one of us loved. Not only that, these flicks are entertaining, joyous romps. A Muppet origin story and an SNL-based film with a killer soundtrack–what is not to love about that pairing?

But brace yourselves, because this next pick is going to be awesome, super weird, or just awkward.

“Dhoom 2”:

“Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengence”:

The Double Bill rotation comes around to Michael David Postle, and he smashes together two films of the space-opera variety: “Guardians of the Galaxy” (hurray!) and “Ice Pirates” (what?). Partially inspired by this HuffPo article, “Ice Pirates” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” are separated by 30 years, and oh what a change 30 years and giving two bits about your property brings.

Let’s get this out of the way–there is love brimming from podcast beginning to end for “Guardians of the Galaxy.” There is an equal amount of disdain for “Ice Pirates.” The latter, since there is so much “WTF” quality going on (why are they wearing those white wigs, anyway?), it gets the brunt of our critical eye.

Join us, won’t you?

Next time? BWJ decides we’re going to the limit with CAMEOS!

Warning: podcast contains explicit language. Listener discretion is advised.

Satoshi Kon has been a favorite of mine for years. I started watching him with “Perfect Blue” back when I was in college, and managed to see all of his films afterward: “Millennium Actress” and “Tokyo Godfathers”.

His most recent (and last) full-length feature film was “Paprika”. This film I wanted to revisit for awhile, and what better way to do that but through Double Bill? I thought about other films to pair it with, but ultimately settled on “Inception”, which I’ve since learned was influenced by “Paprika”. An unintentional bonus!

I’m not the only one thinking about Satoshi Kon and his films; the Youtube channel Every Frame a Painting just recently did an episode focusing on Kon’s editing–recommended viewing if you like any of Kon’s work.

This turned into a Satoshi Kon love-fest. I’m okay with that. –Joshua Humphrey

This month’s Double Bill theme: parody, gangster and noir-style. Offered to you by Brian Watson-Jones is the film Johnny Dangerously (1984) and the audio program The Further Adventures of Nick Danger by Firesign Theater.  Brian also brings along a special guest, the actor, writer, and finely-dressed man Ben Tallen!

Don’t worry, there’s an episode in here, despite discussion regarding Josh’s further slippage into super-villainy, comparing Val Kilmer to a microwaved peep, and the many, many product placements. Maybe if we mention Rocky Rococo Pizza and Pasta, located in scenic Brooklyn Park, MN, we’ll get some free pizza. But probably not.

Homework for next time:

Inception (2010).

Paprika (2006).

 

Michael Postle’s picks “The Science of Sleep” and “The Fall” lift us from the “Escape From Tomorrow” fugue.

“The Fall” is a gem that I hadn’t heard about until Mickey suggested it. I love its concentration on imagery and the its mutable narrative. I’m glad that I’ve seen something else now from Michel Gondry besides “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” and I’m surprised to find that my already high opinion of “Eternal Sunshine” went up a notch despite not being overly fond of “The Science of Sleep.” It was fun to watch, but left me cold afterwards. -JH

Up next: “Johnny Dangerously” / Fireside Theater’s “The Further Adventures of Nick Danger.”

“Saving Mr. Banks” delights us, “Escape From Tomorrow” doesn’t.

The mash-up was chosen from the viewpoint of “Saving Mr. Banks” being a packaged Disney product–it’s part of the Disney brand, and made in such a way to appeal to nostalgia for not only “Mary Poppins,” but for the Disney Co. itself. “Escape From Tomorrow” is the exact opposite–in no way sanctioned by Disney, it is completely outside what Disney would consider producing. Assignments for next time: The Science of Sleep / The Fall.

Double Bill returns, and with it comes 80s cheesy goodness in Mannequin (1987) and delightful dread in the form of the Doctor Who episode, “Blink.” Brian Watson-Jones chose these films with the “uncanny valley” effect in mind, but most of us thought his connecting theme involved “things that stopped moving when you look directly at them.”

We are joined by special guest Dawn Krosnowski. Dawn and Michael saw Mannequin when they were younger, but Brian and Joshua were both newbies, and everyone but Brian was new to “Blink.” The mix of rom-com and TV horror turned out to be excellent.

Next Assignments: Saving Mr. Banks and Escape from Tomorrow.

 

We don’t even know what to say about this one besides “We’re very sorry.” Not so much for Bad Milo!, but for exposing anyone to Basket Case.

Actually, we have plenty to say about just how very bad Basket Case is–it is possibly the worst film we’ve seen on Double Bill, and we don’t hold anything back when we discuss it. And it opens the door to talk about horror movies (including Bad Milo!) that are much, much better.

Assignments for next time: The classic new Doctor Who episode, Blink, and 1987’s Mannequin.