Film Trace

Season 2 is here! Dan and Chris along with special guest Molly dissect the latest Oscar-bait offering from Netflix, The Devil All the Time.  With a cast stacked like flapjacks and a plot overflowing the brim, this Antonio Campos film is satiating and gluttonous. The story follows non-American actors playing poor Americans who lead desperate lives in the American South or Midwest or maybe Appalachia (it is not very clear). Despite the implicit pretentiousness, the acting is superb and the cinematography is gorgeous. But what does it all add up to?

Find out as we trace the life of The Devil All the Time from conception (guy reads a book) to production (celebrities in rural Alabama) to release (Netflix awards chum) and reception (Number 1 in USA)

Join us as we trace the life of The Devil All the Time...

Dan Gilroy's anti-capitalist polemic is one of the most beautiful and horrific films of the 2010s. Jake Gyllenhaal masterfully plays Lou, a lone wolf who stalks human tragedy in the headlight glow of LA nights. His relentless drive for action, money, and success leaves us both nauseous and enthralled. Mostly ignored by the masses upon release, Nightcrawler has had many second lives being spread through online forums via the praise of young men. A true cult classic.

We trace the life of Nightcrawler from conception (the antihero wins) to production (location scouting at 3am) to release (a TIFF success that didn't take) and reception (Critical raves, B- CinemaScore)

Join us as we trace the life of Nightcrawler...

David Ayer returns to his old haunts in this 30 million dollar low-rent crime film about the LA gangland. The violence is constant and grotesque. The emotional melody is either mute or cacophonous. Shia LaBeouf, tightrope walking a role as a gringo hitman called Creeper, tattooed his entire chest for a 2-minute grainy scene where he is relentlessly tortured. This film is a prime example of how the forces of commerce can overpower even the most resolute artistic impulse.

We trace the life of The Tax Collector from conception (it all began in a dojo), production (the cast rehearsed for over 2 months), release (VOD hit), reception (0% Top Critic Rotten Tomato score)

Join us as we trace the life of The Tax Collector...

Robert Pattinson broods his way through Pre-9/11 New York City in this yappy genre gumbo: One part Nicholas Sparks, Two Parts 2005's Stay, Three Parts masturbatory memoir. It is less a movie and more a ride. The story arc is built by fiddlestix as young love blooms in the shadow of the twin towers. The ending makes it one of the worst movies of the 2010s.

We trace the life of Remember Me from conception (they started with the ending!), production (Pattinson needed security to take a piss), release (Tiger Beats saved it), reception (rage against the screen)

Join us as we trace the life of Remember Me...

Dave Franco attempts to escape his brother's shadow by commissioning a mumblecore horror flick called The Rental. Teaming with the mumbleking himself, Joe Swanberg, the two try to walk the impossible tight rope between arthouse and consumer swill. It is a horror genre piece that shreds conventions without putting them back together. It is a passion project where artistic desire mingles with old Hollywood chutzpah. A film with many identities, none very knowable.

We trace the life of The Rental from conception (AirBNB Nightmares), production (finding the spooky house), release (a pandemic bounce), reception (showing promise or a first misstep)

Join us as we trace the life of The Rental...

A dream team creates a stoner comedy to cap off the golden age of improv. Odd man out David Gordan Greene helms the ship as Seth Rogen, James Franco, and a motley ensemble of character actors "yes and" their way through suburban EL Lay. It is the definitive weed movie of the 2000s.

We trace the life of Pineapple Express from conception (Apatow's "weed action movie"), production (Greene refused to use the script on set), release (dog days with 3.7x multiplier), reception (cult classic or an afterthought?)

Join us as we trace the life of Pineapple Express...

Kelly Reichardt's subversive western about two men and a prized cow. A novel is deftly cut down here to a seemingly small film with a massive message: capitalism, masculinity, and manifest destiny.

We trace the life of this newly released film from conception (why a cow?), production (an indie period piece), release (skipping Venice after being explicitly invited), reception (critical rapture, but will it play outside the West Village?)

Just us as we trace the life of First Cow... 

A lost film from the dynamic duo of crazy man Nic Cage and blockbuster director Gore Verbinski. A rich man's failed attempt at remaking Sideways. In place of a wine metaphor for aging gracefully, we have Cage getting faced by a Big Gulp as a "life crisis." It's literally in your face.

We trace the life of this bizarre mid-Aughts artifact from conception (a 6 digit bidding war for the script) to production (Cage job shadowing a Chicago weatherman) to release (shuffled for a delusional Oscar campaign) to reception (a D+ CinemaScore).

In our journey, we uncover the difference between an authentic indie pinot noir versus a studio system brown-bag merlot.

Listen to found out as we film trace The Weather Man (now showing on Hulu)

We are back with a new episode on Eurovision blah blah blah. The title is dumb, but is the movie? Yes, of course, but is it an enjoyable lark? We trace the life of this absurd film from conception (Will Ferrell said it took 20 years to make) to production to release and reception. 

We chat a lot about Netflix's house style for their original content and how comedy has quickly fallen out of grace at the box office. Can Eurovision reignite the golden years of the mid-2000s when improv comedy took over the multiplex? 

Listen to found out as we film trace Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga

Film Trace is a new podcast where we trace the life of a film from conception to production all the way to release and reception.

This week's episode is The Darkness, newly released on Netflix.

We cover how horror film upstarts George McLean and Jason Blum joined forces to bring us one of the most mediocre horror films of the last decade. The micro-budget film starring Kevin Bacon and Radha Mitchell attempts to build on the haunted house tradition of Paranormal Activity and The Conjuring. Instead, we get a mushy melodrama with the edge of the blunted knife. 

Join us for the perilous journey into The Darkness.