Paul Schrader's BLUE COLLAR (1978) follows three struggling auto workers who rob their union office and uncover a world of corruption. It's one of the great films about organized labour because it's one of the great films about solidarity. PLUS: We celebrate Canada's victory in the trade war, and check in on the politics of "Art the Clown."

Check out Luke's Substack - https://www.lukewsavage.com/

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David Lynch's most frightening and abrasive movie leads to his most hopeful conclusion. It's part two of our discussion of INLAND EMPIRE (2006).

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/595-on-high-in-2-121440636

Our journey through Aaron Sorkin's THE NEWSROOM arrives at Episode 4 ("I'll Try to Fix You"), in which the power of a conscientiously-run newsroom helps save Gabby Giffords' life, and Will McAvoy takes a courageous stand against gossip in all its forms. The news is overwhelmingly bad right now, so we frankly had a nice time retreating to 2012.

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We pay tribute to the late, great David Lynch with a two-part discussion of his strangest, most abrasive, and arguably most innovative feature. We discuss how INLAND EMPIRE (2006) confounded expectations with its low-budget production, free-associative style, and startling use of digital video, and begin to unpacked its multilayered story.

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We recap the first week-or-so of Trump Era 2.0, and then, because we can all use a larf right now, discuss LOOKWELL (1991), the legendary unsold sitcom pilot starring Adam West and written by Conan O'Brian and Robert Smigel.

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In episode three of THE NEWSROOM, "The 112th Congress," Will McAvoy finally runs afoul of the people who really run the network. We discuss what Aaron Sorkin gets right about news media and the people who own it, in addition to all the things he gets wrong.

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With the reigning governments in both Canada and the United States spurting their last few dribbles, we're in a bit of a political limbo period... so what better time to watch a bad direct-to-video '80s action movie? We discuss something called NASTY HERO (1987). PLUS: Obama and Trump, the Canadian Liberal Party leadership race, Armond White, and a few words on the passing of David Lynch.

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Yes, you can watch NASTY HERO on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_Ry-QtlOEU&t=2113s&ab_channel=HiroyukiTerada%2FDayOffChannel

"The Revolution Will Not Be Curated" by Thomas Frank - https://thebaffler.com/salvos/revolution-not-curated-frank

In the second episode of THE NEWSROOM, MacKenzie lays out her theory of what a quality news broadcast should look like, and Will McAvoy presides over one of the worst broadcasts of his career. It's one of the Sorkinest Sorkin shows we've ever seen - it's "News Night 2.0"

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The White House has been destroyed by an earthquake, President Sean Young is trapped under the rubble, and House Speaker Eric Roberts wants to take over America in DC DOWN (2023), a low-budget disaster movie from the most trusted names in entertainment, Tubi and The Asylum. We treated ourselves to a good old-fashioned "good movie movie." PLUS: How seriously should we be taking Trump's threat to annex Canada?

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TORONTO: See Will introduce a screening of Jess Franco's Bloody Moon on January 14, 7pm at the Fox Theatre. Tickets - https://www.foxtheatre.ca/movies/the-important-cinema-club-masterpiece-classics-bloody-moon/

"The failure of Trudeauism" by Luke Savage - https://www.newstatesman.com/author/luke-savage

When the possibility of positive political change seems so distant, and the stakes are so high, at one point is radical action advisable? This was a question posed by the Earth Liberation Front, the environmental group that became synonymous with "eco-terrorism." We watch the Academy Award-nominated documentary IF A TREE FALLS: THE STORY OF THE EARTH LIBERATION FRONT (2011), which charts the group's rise and fall.

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