Forgotten Cinema

Mike Butler and Mike Field are jumping back to 2001 to talk about a spy movie that take place in 1991, but also during the Vietnam War...and the 80's. A film that stars two men that Butler believes needed to play father and son in a film; Robert Redford and Brad Pitt. That's right! We're talking the Tony Scott directed, Spy Game on this episode of Forgotten Cinema!

The Mikes talk about the films use of non-linear story telling and how, while it might be the only way to tell this particular story, it also slows the film down at many points. Butler and Field also discuss the style of Tony Scott. Does his particular directing style serve to bring out the themes or emotions of the story, or is it just for looks? And at what point is style over substance okay and at what point is it too much. They'll also talk Pitt's acting vs Redford's and go on about a billion different tangents before going over why they think this film was forgotten.

So grab your popcorn and soda, please notice the exits to the left and right of you, and settle down for Forgotten Cinema. 

The Mikes are building a tree house with Elijah Wood in 1970 rural Mississippi in 1994's The War this week's Forgotten Cinema.

Listen in as Mike Butler and Mike Field discuss this film which also stars Kevin Costner. Butler has an issue with the bookended narration by one of the younger characters because it doesn't match her "voice." Field disagrees. They also talk about the themes of the film, who the target audience is and both of their surprise that other than a young Elijah Wood, none of the other young actors continued in the business as many of them are fantastic actors.

So grab your popcorn and soda, please notice the exits to the left and right of you, and settle down for Forgotten Cinema. 

Its Forgotten Cinema's 100 Episode!!!!! And they will never stop never stopping! Get it?! It's from the title of the movie the Mikes are talking about this week; Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping from hilarious minds of The Lonely Island crew, starring Andy Samberg as superstar recording artist Connor4Real.

Listen in as Mike Butler and Mike Field talk about their 100th film on the podcast! Butler will discuss how he chose this film because of their initial viewing of it back in 2016 and how Field, reluctant to watch at first, ended up laughing throughout the film. Butler and Field will also go over why this film was set up to fail from a release date perspective and how a film like this just 5 years later would have faired much better on a streaming platform.

Also Field tangles with Siri and get's what's coming to him.

So take a listen and stay tuned for the next 100!!!

So grab your party hats and streamers, please notice the cakes and punch to the left and right of you, and settle down for Forgotten Cinema's 100th Episode!!!!

It's time to get a little spooky...off season, because its Field's daughter's birthday and she's making the Mikes watch Tim Burton's Frankenweenie!

After Field is done berating Butler for crying over the many deaths and resurrections of a claymation dog, the Mikes discuss how Tim Burton and his team made the film; from the 2 minutes worth of film they shot a week (2 seconds a day) to the amount of detail in the characters and the thousands of props that had to be built.

Butler and Field also go into the use of black and white in this film and how the film makers had to figure out how to correctly represent certain colors when shooting in black and white. Finally they'll argue about why this film is forgotten and who this film is for? Is it fun or funny enough to be a kid's film? Is it a kind of family-friendly scary or just glum and depressing?

So grab your recently deceased creature, place them near a lighting rod, and be prepared for Forgotten Cinema!

The Mike's are talking Sidney Poitier's triumphant return to cinema...in 1988 for Shoot to Kill on this episode of Forgotten Cinema.

Listen in as Mike Butler and Mike Field talk about how this film, though not very old, seems to exist in a rights free limbo, that also means that it is nearly impossible to find anywhere...except YouTube.

They also discuss the start of the film, from the opening credits that Field has issues with, to the exciting first encounter between Poitier's Detective Stanton and the villainous "Steve." Then Butler talks about his issues with the very last shot of the film and how they chose to end it. In the end both Mikes find this a great 80's team-up crime thriller, bolstered by great performances by its lead actors; especially Poitier, to the point where they know its a forgotten film, but they know not why.

So grab your popcorn and soda, please notice the exits to the left and right of you, and settle down for Forgotten Cinema. 

The Mikes are trying to figure out who the mole in the "Circus" is along with George Smiley in the 2011 spy-drama Tinker Tailor Solider Spy, starring Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Mark Strong amongst a ton of other well known British actors.

Mike Butler and Mike Field discuss how the film is very much a modern take on a spy film audiences would experience in the mid 70s/early 80s; from the slow pacing, purposeful dialogue, to the grey unsaturated grit, this film not only takes place during the Cold War in the 70's, but feels like cinematically as well.

The Mikes also talk characters, from Oldman's fantastic turn as Smiley, Strong's broken ex-spy Jim Prideaux, to Hardy's Ricki Tarr and his purpose in the story.

So grab your popcorn and soda, please notice the exits to the left and right of you, and settle down for Forgotten Cinema. 

The Mikes are talking hot Florida days, overly sexual femme fatales, and a dumb (but maybe smart?) journalist in way over his head in Palmetto, starring Woody Harrelson, Elisabeth Shue, Gina Gershon, Chloë Sevingy and Michael Rapaport.

Listen as Mike Butler and Mike Field talk about this flawed 1998 noir. Butler has issues with many of the glaring mistakes done during the crime and the ineptitude of the characters to an almost Naked Gun degree whilst not being an actual spoof. Field discusses the ways in which the film highlights the staples of a noir film and adds its own uniqueness in its hot, rainy Florida setting, but loses itself in story threads that just don't make sense or are too glaringly obvious for characters to ignore.

Field and Butler also try to get to the bottom of their own mystery...Who chose Palmetto for the cast and why?

So grab your popcorn and soda, please notice the exits to the left and right of you, and settle down for Forgotten Cinema. 

Mike Field has a chat on the phone and across "the pond" with David Ambrose, the writer of The Final Countdown.

Listen as Mr. Ambrose talks about his experience of writing this film for Peter and Kirk Douglas as well as his friendship with Gene Roddenberry and his time writing for Hollywood.

So listen to this interview and check out the Mikes episode of The Final Countdown.

The Mikes are traveling back to 1980 so that they can then travel back to 1941 on the USS Nimitz in the Kirk Douglas/Martin Sheen film The Final Countdown. A film recommended to them by Butler's father. Will he listen to this episode? Who knows?!

This film, directed by Don Taylor supposedly inspired the 80's hair band Europe's hit single (the title did anyway). Listen as Mike Field and Mike Butler bring you the facts about this film's production as well as discussing this film as perhaps being more recruitment propaganda than actual film, whether there was extra plot cut from the script, and how some of these characters react to being sent back in time to potentially change one of the most important (but terrible) moments in our modern history.

So grab your popcorn and soda, please notice the exits to the left and right of you, and settle down for Forgotten Cinema. 

"Hey Rosalie! Mon-o-poly!"

That's right, the Mikes are tackling the 1990 film Kevin Kline film, I Love You to Death on this episode of Forgotten Cinema.

Listen in as Mike Field and Mike Butler discuss this dark comedy from director Lawrence Kasdan. They talk about the stellar cast, from Tracy Ullman and River Phoenix to great smaller parts for William Hurt and Keanu Reeves as would-be hitmen. The Mikes also touch upon Kasdan's career and his use of easy dialogue that seems to come naturally for his actors. They'll also talk about writer John Kostmayer and why a writer who finally sells a script and gets a film made seemingly drops off the face of Hollywood. And as usual with a comedy movie, the Mikes will talk about some of their favorite bits and lines, as well as the film's ability to make Butler crave pasta and meatballs.

So grab your spaghetti and meatballs, please notice the stoner hitmen to the left and right of you, and settle down for Forgotten Cinema.