Michael and Us

The theory that times of strife produce great art is put to the test with Jay Roach's pandemic movie COASTAL ELITES (2020), and fails resoundingly. Bette Midler, Issa Rae, Dan Levy, and others deliver monologues excoriating the Cheeto-in-Chief while making clear that the title "Coastal Elites" is only barely ironic. PLUS: the death of RBG, the collapse of LaserQuest, and the unlikely return of Screw Magazine.

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/41754206

Hellooooo we're the nostalgia critics and we remembered KICKASSIA (2010) so you don't have to. A decade ago, the head honchos of an online content mill called Channel Awesome brought all their contributors together for a feature-length movie... but only later was it revealed that the production was plagued by mismanagement and abuse. We drove ourselves mad watching a "movie" comprised entirely of inside jokes from videos that were online 10 years ago. PLUS: we consider Pepe the Frog.

In the weeks after 9/11, Sir Paul McCartney gathered together his rock'n'roll friends for an all-star salute to the first responders. A behind-the-scenes look at the event, Albert Maysles' THE LOVE WE MAKE (2011) is a hair-raising depiction of what it's like to be the most famous man in the world, and a time capsule of America right after the towers fell. It's also a real-life Ricky Gervais show. PLUS: James Bond, Bill Clinton, and the state of the election.

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/41305114

Since the beginning, one of the functions of the podcast has been to reevaluate people, ideas, and cultural phenomena that were important to us when we were younger. And so, we finally get to Woody Allen. We discuss how the allegations against him have impacted how we view his work, and explore the implications of his "whatever works" philosophy. We also watch one of his best and darkest films, CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS (1989), and debate its vision of morality in a godless universe. PLUS: Ed Markey defeats Joe Kennedy, and one of our hosts pines for the Jerry Lewis Telethon.

Filmmaker and Twitter personality Rob Reiner looked back at the Kennedy/Johnson era through the lens of the Obama era in LBJ (2016), the story of how an idealist's vision can only be achieved by a pragmatism... and how the pragmatist's centrism may or may not have actually camouflaged an idealist the whole time. A piece of Boomer-porn, this movie is unmistakably the vision of a Joe Biden primary voter. PLUS: fiery hot thoughts on the Canadian Conservative Party leadership race, the Ed Markey/Joe Kennedy III battle, and the controversial release of TENET.

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/40757532

In 2008, a great statesman named John McCain was led astray in his presidential bid by an ill-considered VP pick and a shifting zeitgeist that saw a shift away from his brand of gentlemanly politics. At least, that's the premise of Jay Roach's HBO movie GAME CHANGE (2012), based on the Mark Halperin book. We discuss why the film depends a little too heavily on the received wisdom of McCain, and how its vision of politics feels uniquely outmoded in the year 2020. PLUS: fiery hot takes on the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

We revisited Charlie Chaplin's Sadly Still Relevant® classic MODERN TIMES (1936) to ask: what are the politics of the Little Tramp... and what are the politics of his famous author? We discuss how Chaplin depicted work, class, and poverty, and the many ways that people have interpreted him. PLUS: Joe Biden as FDR (or not), and thee unholy return of Blockbuster Video.

No less than Jean-Luc Godard called Jonathan Rosenbaum the best living American film critic, and for decades his hugely influential writing has been political, internationally conscious, skeptical of received wisdom, and enormously curious about forms of cinema beyond mainstream. Our own Will Sloan talks to Rosenbaum to discuss his career, his politics, and how the cinematic landscape has changed since the ‘90s.

A Rosenbaum Reading List:

List-o-Mania - https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/list-o-mania/Content?oid=896619

Stupidity as Redemption (Forest Gump) - https://www.jonathanrosenbaum.net/2019/03/stupidity-as-redemption/

Cutting Heroes Down to Size (Small Soldiers and Saving Private Ryan) - https://www.jonathanrosenbaum.net/2018/12/cutting-heroes-down-to-size/

In Dreams Begin Responsibilities (Eyes Wide Shut) - https://www.jonathanrosenbaum.net/2020/02/in-dreams-begin-responsibilities/

The World According to Harvey and Bob - https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-world-according-to-harvey-and-bob/Content?oid=887735

Declaration of Independents: Hardly Working - https://www.jonathanrosenbaum.net/2020/05/hardly-working-2/

Good Morning: Structures and Strictures in Suburbia - https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/4543-good-morning-structures-and-strictures-in-suburbia

His 20th Century (Godard's Histoire[s] du Cinema) - https://www.jonathanrosenbaum.net/2018/07/his-20th-century/

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE: https://www.patreon.com/posts/165-its-small-in-40236676

This week we satisfied our inexplicable but long-held desire to revisit the legendary Dana Carvey career-killer THE MASTER OF DISGUISE (2002), which led us down the rabbit hole of revisiting Carvey's era-defining impersonation of George H.W. Bush on SNL. We discuss comedy and ideology, and reflect on what makes someone turtley enough for both the Lincoln Bedroom and the Turtle Club. PLUS: fiery hto takes on the Ellen Degeneres scandal and the primary victories of Rashida Tlaib and Cori Bush.

Everyone agrees that money in politics is a problem, but in MEET THE DONORS: DOES MONEY TALK? (2016), filmmaker Alexandra (daughter of Nancy) Pelosi asks: is it really? She interviews some of the biggest political donors in America to find out why they donate and what they expect for their donations, and finds out... not a whole lot. Politics - what a concept! PLUS: we discuss the state of the left in electoral politics, and definitively identify the worst Twitter feed in the world.