Ellroy Boys

On this blessed episode, Sam & Brendan are joined by the esteemed original ellroy boy Walter Kirn to discuss Billy Wilder's electric & all-consuming masterpiece DOUBLE INDEMNITY(1944), as well as James M. Cain's novel of the same name. Blauergeist is with us spiritually and will return in his corporeal form in our next episode.

Produced by @goldpny

The Ellroy Boys discuss William Friedkin's bold existentialist opus, Sorcerer(1977), a nihilistic meditation on fate and a reimagining of Henri-Georges Clouzot's The Wages of Fear (1953). Four men from four different worlds find themselves in a hellish petroleum company town, somewhere in the jungles of Guatemala. They're all outlaws, men with treacherous pasts, all living on borrowed time. When a rebel group blows up one of the local wells, the company offers money to whomever can transport unstable nitro glycerine through the brutal, unforgiving terrain, in order to stop the blaze. This money presents our heroes with a way out of purgatory, a chance to escape. Sorcerer is arguably Friedkin's greatest film, despite it being notoriously maligned by critics and a total bomb at the box office. Nonetheless, it's resurgence has been significant and it continues to be venerated by all kinds of cinema enthusiasts. Today, the boys are joined by @Howlingmutantt & @CultWineGrinch for a celebratory analysis of the film and it's impact. Nothing is off the table and everyone gets a little lost in the weeds trying to put their finger on what makes this movie so remarkable, watchable, and immersive.

Produced by @goldpny

The Ellroy Boys & Eddie of Car Crash (@edboy9k) talk Billy Wilder's masterful Ace in the Hole, a beautifully crafted and enthralling cinematic denunciation of corrupt media magnates, crooked newspapermen & mob morbidity. It's a sordid and cruel tale of a shameless reporter (Kirk Douglas) with a grim past looking to reinvent and redeem himself by any means necessary. When there's a cave-in at a local mine, that leaves a single man trapped, our "hero" sees an opportunity. He exploits and prolongs the man's pain to craft a hyper sensationalized tragedy that draws the attention of the nation. Wilder's film was considered so dark, upon release, that critics saw it simply as a celluloid slap in the face. Nonetheless, it is now regarded as one of the greatest American movies of all time. Ultimately, it was so impactful that Costa Gavras directed an especially clumsy and strange remake, Mad City, which takes some of the central themes of the original, but instead bases its narrative around a media man (Dustin Hoffman) exploiting a dim-witted security guard (John Travolta) who takes a museum hostage after being fired. This was a truly fun episode and a joy to record. Ace In The Hole is a must see if you care at all about movies. Also, if you care about good podcasts, check out Eddie's Car Crash, you won't be disappointed. Enjoy!

We're back in the books for this very special episode featuring original Ellroy Boy and brilliant crime fiction scholar and author, Steven Powell, as well as genius artist Howling Mutant. This time we're talking L.A Confidential, the third novel in the first LA quartet. We discuss Ellroy, the film adaptation, film noir, Disneyland, Brecht's Threepenny Opera, the cosmic horror of history, and the deeply haunted infrastructure of Los Angeles.

w/ @Howlingmutant0, @blauer_geist, @luso_brendan & @rubberwidow

Produced by @goldpny

The Ellroy Boys are joined by Rock and Roll Dream Shaman Dan Thrall @danXthrall aka the Nipsey Russell of podcasts, to talk master maximalist Oliver Stone's batshit 90's neo-noir U-Turn. Once again, no stone is left unturned and the second chapter of the Arizona trilogy comes to to a close.

- Produced by @goldpny

The wonderful & wise Walter Kirn joins the boys for an off-the-cuff hang. We talk Ellroy, his brilliant book Blood Will Out, and the eternal dullness of psychopaths. Kirn further shares some excellent anecdotes, including a few about being friends with the Demon Dog himself. This one is special.

with @blauer_geist, @luso_brendan & @rubberwidow

produced by @goldpny

The one and only Howling Mutant is back with the boys, to talk Suicide Hill, the third and final novel in James Ellroy's Lloyd Hopkin's trilogy. It's almost certainly the finest book in the series and coincidently this is our best ep on the trilogy yet. Enjoy!

feat. @blauer_geist, @luso_brendan, @rubberwidow, & @Howlingmutant0

Produced by @goldpny

Today, The Ellroy Boys are joined by the one and only, J a c k @lotus__point, to talk about what might be the greatest film ever made, Michael Cimino's 1985, ultraviolent, police procedural turned borderline grand guignol style soap opera, Year of the Dragon. Drenched in eye-popping grotesqueries and imbued with haunting melancholy, the story follows a beaten down Vietnam vet and brilliant detective, Stanley White (Mickey Roarke), as he becomes hell bent on taking on the previously unseen and mysterious Chinese mafia, a force so powerful, that it's tendrils are slowly wrapping around the whole of NYC's underworld. White sees this monopolization of power by Chinese supercriminals as an existential threat, not only to the gatekeepers of organized crime in the city, but also as a force of nature that might seize the region itself, instituting a new regime of crime, strong enough to usurp the Nation, a threat our hero doesn't take lightly. It's moving and funny and sad and beautiful and is just about everything movies will ever be again. There's a fella named John Lone in it, who you all should know and admire too. Do yourself a favor and watch Year of the Dragon, educate yourself about Cimino and listen to this podcast! It's fucking hysterical and per usual, no stone is left untuned.

The Ellroy Boys are joined by @bimboubermensch to discuss John Dahl's 90's neo-noir masterpiece, The Last Seduction. Not a single stone is left unturned and at some point Brendan becomes completely nude.

Produced by @goldpny

The Ellroy Boys dig deep into the second installment of the demon dog's Lloyd Hopkins trilogy, Because the Night. While the sequel to Blood on the Moon has been largely dismissed as the least compelling Hopkins adventure, the boys find a lot to love. This one drifts into the phantasmagoric and is alive with the kind of borderline cosmic horror and transgression that makes it a book worth revisiting.

@blauer_geist + @luso_brendan + @Howlingmutant0 + @rubberwidow

produced by@goldpny