Friday Nights at Blockbuster

Lots of interesting questions, and some interesting answers. The questions about Soccer movies were a particular sore spot, but I powered through.

Host: Ciaran Vallely

Guest: Kate Vallely

Have I come around on Avatar and the inevitable dominance of its sequels? I wouldn't say that, but my feelings about most box office dominating franchises are well known and not worth stating anymore. So maybe the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Host: Ciaran Vallely

Two movies about long boat trips, where are protagonists decide into obsessive madness, and the journeys are a metaphor for the existential struggles of man. Real date night stuff going on here. 

With Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola really cemented his legacy for pushing the boundaries of filmmaking, and it nearly killed him. James Gray claims Lost City of Z nearly killed him as well, but I think he’s just being funny. Both movies can be seen as experiments from their respected directors as to whether they could actually pull off the insane in service of the art, and I think they are both successful.

Host: Ciaran Vallely

Guest: Jacob

Cult classics are a difficult thing to wrap your head around. It tends to mean that your movie has flopped and made no money, but also that years later people have rediscovered the movie and cherish it. Donnie Darko is certainly one such movie. From a director that has more or less gone on to do nothing, Donnie Darko continues to stump and confound audiences with what it actually means. The second half concerns Ken Russell, perhaps the patron saint of cult classics. 

Host: Ciaran Vallely

Guests: Andrew Roberts, Brad Simon

Love is love. It comes in all shapes, sizes, and settings (unless that setting is the 2022 World Cup…but lets not go down that road). But the two movies this week take different looks at the exciting rollercoaster ride of falling in love. Whether that be unconventionally with your computer, or a little more conventionally with another person. One is jam packed with fun futuristic world building touches, and the other a more grounded and tactile period piece. 

Host: Ciaran Vallely

Guest: Rachelle Younie

With the weather turning (there is literally snow outside as I post this), we could all probably do with a couple movies that make us feel warm and cozy. These two may be on the  polar opposites in terms of how they are getting to that feeling, but they both ultimately have the desired effect. I believe this is also the first time I've been able to talk about a real foreign language movie, so yay for that!

Host: Ciaran Vallely

Guest: Caroline Gill

Labeling The Da Vinci Code a murder mystery might be a stretch, but just come along for the ride. We are living in a murder mystery renaissance after all.

Host: Ciaran Vallely

Guest: Kate Vallely

The Western genre has been around as long as movies themselves. They never really go away because they are so cheap and easy to make. However, what do you get when you take some of the most genuinely talented filmmakers ever, and give them something that just plays around with our long established expectations of what a Western should be. The two movies this week see the first real subversion of the genre, by an Italian filmmaker who had no personal connection to the romantic ideals of the genre, and then eventually with two filmmakers who have redefined American storytelling many times over.

Host: Ciaran Vallely

Guest: Shahbakht

This is it with the horror movies, I promise… well unless a guest picks one. But if this is it, better to go out with one of the absolute best. The Exorcist has been called the scariest movie since the day it was released. So what makes this movie’s reputation so lasting? Well I try to unpack that question. This would have been easier to do with a second person, and I did originally have one, but for “technical reasons” I’m going solo this time. 

Host: Ciaran Vallely

Tough one for the mothers out there this week. 

The term “elevated horror” is probably equal parts celebrated for its attempts at bringing new ideas, different themes, and certain styles to the horror genre, but also derided for being a bit snobby. You can classify either or both of the movies this week as elevated horror or not (the term didn’t exist when Rosemary’s Baby was released), but what is clear is both movies have more on their mind than just delivering some cheap thrills and scares…even though both eventually do deliver on that promise as well. 

Host: Ciaran Vallely

Guests: Quinn Gale, Colleen Colwell