Enter The Void

It's not too often that we examine a major Hollywood blockbuster on this show, but it's not too often that the studios release something as baffling as TOTAL RECALL, and by that we mean the original 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger–Paul Verhoeven sci-fi schlockfest. Is it all a dream? Did he read Word Up! magazine? Did Quaid ever get his ass to Mars, or is he lobotomized in the chair at Rekall? We may never know for sure, but in this first episode of our ninth season, your hosts Renan and Bill go long to discuss the film's vision of the future, its context in our recent past, Ahnold vs. The Rock, Philip K. Dick's posthumous Hollywood takeover, the long adaptation process and many almost-was versions, and other big-budget mind-benders. Also: prefacing our discussion of the film, a conversation about how the films we watch for this show might reflect on the mind-bending real world we live in.

Episode links:

• Total Recall on IMDb
• Total Recall on Wikipedia
• Roger Ebert 1990 TR review
• AV Club on Total Recall in 2016
• Den of Geek on TR Blu-ray release
• Film Comment Verhoeven interview
• "Verhoeven FINALLY explains the ending"
• Comparison of 1990 and 2012 TR versions
• Wired on Philip K Dick's Hollywood ascension
• "We Can Remember it For You Wholesale" (PDF)

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Get excited... the ninth season of ENTER THE VOID begins next week, and today we present our patented "episode zero" with a short preview of the eight films we'll be covering in the weeks ahead. Once again, major thanks to the ETV Podcast Club for helping pick the films for discussion. Here's what's we've got for you:

1. Total Recall (Verhoeven, 1990)
2. Raw (Ducournau, 2016)
3. Fantastic Planet (Laloux, 1973)
4. Angel Heart (Parker, 1987)
5. Johnny Got His Gun (Trumbo, 1971)
6. Sunshine (Boyle, 2007)
7. Altered States (Russell, 1980)
8. The Killing of a Sacred Deer (Lanthimos, 2017)

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For the final episode of our eighth season, your co-hosts revisit a dorm room film classic, the 2000 action-adventure-thriller-satire BATTLE ROYALE, about a Japanese classroom forced to fight to the death on an abandoned island. Upon release in Japan, it was both hugely controversial and hugely profitable. But in most of the Western world, it didn't receive a proper release for another dozen years. In between, it both attained an exalted cult status and maybe (or maybe not?) inspired one of the biggest Hollywood franchises of the current decade. Discussed in the season finale: the generation gap in Japan and abroad, Tarantino's inspiration, our favorite scenes, some lingering questions, multiple versions, the lamentable sequel, comparisons to other novels and films, violence in the media, and yes of course The Hunger Games.

Episode links:

• Battle Royale on IMDb
• Battle Royale (film) on Wikipedia
• Battle Royale (novel) on Wikipedia
• Battle Royale (manga) on Wikipedia
• Variety film review from 2001
• A.O. Scott review from 2012
• Wesley Morris review from 2012
• Slant (negative) review from 2012
• Fukasaku interview in The Guardian
• The Atlantic on BR's cult status
• New Yorker on BR vs. Hunger Games
• WSJ on BR vs. Hunger Games
• NPR on BR vs. Hunger Games
• Kotaku on BR vs. Hunger Games
• Jet Fuel Review essay on BR

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For the penultimate episode of our eighth season, we consider MOON, Duncan Jones' 2009 debut science fiction picture, starring Sam Rockwell, Sam Rockwell, and the disembodied voice of someone you probably now wish wasn't involved in this picture. Discussed in today's show: how the film deploys its twists; what it has to say about cloning and artificial intelligence; references to 2001: A Space Odyssey and other films; and, what has Jones been up to since?

Episode links:

• Moon on IMDb
• Moon on Wikipedia
• Roger Ebert review
• NY Times review
• GQ retrospective
• Tor appreciation
• Wired on influences
• Jones io9 interview
• Den of Geek interview
• GERTY vs. HAL essay
• TV Tropes for Moon
• A Westworld theory

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What did you think of Jonathan Glazer's 2013 minimalist sci-fi UNDER THE SKIN, starring Scarlett Johansson? Did it all make sense when you watched it the first time? Or did it only reveal it to yourself after another viewing? Today your hosts, Bill and Renan, come at it from different perspectives and have, well, different perspectives on it. Topics discussed include how the film was made and what it means, how it differs from the book and early scripts, and how it relates to ScarJo's stardom. Plus: other films that double as commentary on their actors, big stars in weird movies, and possible foreshadowing in Glazer's music video career.

Episode links:

• Under the Skin on IMDb
• Under the Skin (film) on Wikipedia
• Under the Skin (novel) on Wikipedia
• Matt Zoller Seitz review at RogerEbert.com
• Peter Bradshaw review in The Guardian
• Richard Brody review in New Yorker
• Geoffrey O'Brien review in NYROB
• Stephen Holden review in NYT
• Jake Cole review in Slant
• io9 interview with Glazer
• The Guardian interview with Glazer
• Filmmaker Mag on "Kubrickian" films
• Glazer's video for Blur's The Universal
• Glazer's video for Radiohead's Karma Police
• Glazer's video for UNKLE's Rabbit in Your Headlights
• Glazer's video for Radiohead's Street Spirit (Fade Out)

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Wow, THE HOLY MOUNTAIN sure is something! Alejandro Jodorowsky's 1973 follow-up to El Topo is a wild psychedelic trip, a critique of the militarization of 20th century life, and even a satire of the counterculture that spawned it. At least, we think. Today, Bill and Renan try to explain to each other what they think happened in the movie, what it's supposed to be about, recount how the film was made, how it disappeared from public view, how it's influenced other artists in the years since—and discuss the perfectly understandable reason why George Harrison turned down the lead role.

Episode links:

• The Holy Mountain on IMDb
• The Holy Mountain on Wikipedia
• 366 Weird Movies on The Holy Mountain
• Slant Magazine review of The Holy Mountain
• Scott Tobias on The Holy Mountain in AV Club
• Matt Zoller Seitz on The Holy Mountain in NYT
• Screening Notes on The Holy Mountain
• Electric Sheep on The Holy Mountain
• ABKO official site for The Holy Mountain
• City Paper on The Holy Mountain's mythical status
• The Guardian on The Holy Mountain's influence
• Complex on Jodorowsky and Kanye West
• Dazed interview with Jodorowsky
• Alessandra Santos' The Holy Mountain (Columbia University Press)

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REPO MAN (1984) is a bit of a departure from our usual kind of film, and boy is it worth it: written and directed by Alex Cox and starring Emilio Estevez and Harry Dean Stanton, Repo Man is a gritty, funny, occasionally baffling ride through 1980s LA, through a wasteland of generic brands, smarmy televangelists, flying cars stuffed with aliens, and fears of nuclear annihilation. Your hosts explore these themes, plus: how the film was saved by punk and yet challenges the idea, what kind of kooky things Alex Cox has been up to lately, and offer a remembrance of the late, great Art Bell.

Episode links:

• Repo Man on IMDb
• Repo Man on Wikipedia
• Criterion Repo Man essay
• Essay on Repo Man at Flixist
• Roger Ebert's Repo Man review
• LA Times: 25 best films about LA
• The Dissolve Repo Man "keynote"
• The Dissolve Repo Man roundtable
• Slate's Will Oremus on "you're the product"
• Alex Cox interview in Electric Sheep
• Alex Cox official Repo Man page
• Alex Cox United 93 review
• Trailer for Repo Chick
• Art Bell on Wikipedia

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This week, the delightful motion picture under discussion is Takashi Miike's AUDITION (1999), which you definitely should not read about before you watch this movie—not to mention listen to this podcast. Once you're all caught up, rejoin us as your hosts attempt to explain the film's second half, discuss misogyny and #metoo as well as sympathy for flawed characters, torture porn and gearshift movies, creepy romantic comedy tropes, parental advisories, and whether your hosts have ever lied to get a date.

Episode links:

• Audition on IMDb
• Audition (film) on Wikipedia
• Audition (novel) on Wikipedia
• Audition in the New Cult Canon
• ScreenAnarchy essay on Audition
• IndieWire on 10 best Miike films
• Essay in The Asian Cinema Blog
• LA Times on Audition rerelease
• Essay on the dream sequence
• DVD Talk thread on Audition
• AV Club on gearshift movies
• Parental advice website

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For our second episode of the season, your hosts return to the eerie beauty, philosophical pondering, and deliberate pacing of Andrei Tarkovsky with STALKER (1979). Less a science fiction film than Solaris and more of an unconventional road movie, Stalker takes the viewer on a journey through a mysterious Zone where three protagonists seek the fulfillment of their greatest desires at risk of equally great peril. Or... do they? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Meanwhile, Renan and Bill discuss the film's infamously troubled production, the film's influence on Annihilation and Blade Runner 2049, Tarkovsky's faith and defection from the Soviet Union, and what he might make of our relentless social media age.

Episode links:

• Stalker on IMDb
• Stalker on Wikipedia
• Roadside Picnic on Wikipedia
• Geoff Dyer essay on Stalker
• More Geoff Dyer on Stalker
• J. Hoberman review of Dyer's Zona
• Mark Le Fanu essay on Stalker
• The Paris Review essay on Stalker
• Recollection from Stalker's sound designer
• A crew member's memories from the set
• Vox on Stalker and Blade Runner 2049
• TNR on Stalker's relevance today
• Salon on Stalker's slow pacing
• Tarkovsky's message to young people

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For the eighth season premiere of ENTER THE VOID, we're tackling Mary Harron's 2000 adaptation of AMERICAN PSYCHO, based on the Bret Easton Ellis novel of the same name. Originating as one of the most controversial novels of the 1990s to becoming one of the most iconic films of the 2000s, there's a lot to unpack here: the uneasy balance between satire and horror; how a dark fantasy of male rage became a feminist statement; how the novel and film differently present the character of Patrick Bateman; when exactly the movie becomes a mindscrew; what the film has to say about contemporary U.S. politics and society; and oh, by the way, are the murders even real? Also in this episode: your hosts revisit, update, and debate their criteria for describing the genre this podcast is meant to explore.

Episode links:

• American Psycho on IMDb
• American Psycho (film) on Wikipedia
• American Psycho (novel) on Wikipedia
• Roger Ebert American Psycho review
• SF Chronicle American Psycho review
• The Guardian on the adaptation process
• Ain't it Cool News negative reviews
• Mary Harron NYT op-ed on American Psycho
• Dwight Garner on revisiting American Psycho
• Village Voice on American Psycho's feminism
• Bitch Flicks on American Psycho's feminism
• Cinema Blend on American Psycho's ending
• Wired on Trump's Facebook advertising
• IndieWire interview with Mary Harron
• Dazed interview with Guinevere Turner
• Shortlist interview with Bret Easton Ellis
• Movieline interview with Ellis
• Michelle LeClerc design portfolio
• Michelle LeClerc on Twitter

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• Archive: enterthevoid.fm