Optimism Vaccine

This week, we're joined by Ryan Swen (The Film Stage, Reverse Shot, Catalyst and Witness) and taking a detour away from Johnnie To action flicks to look at how To's style translates to comedy, romance, and non-traditional genre films. Prepare to get deeply emotionally invested in a frog and have a man in a rubber muscle suit bring you tears. J. To isn't fuckin' around.

THIS WEEK: Running on Karma (2003), Sparrow (2008), Don't Go Breaking My Heart (2011), Romancing In Thin Air (2012)

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Johnnie To is one of the most prolific filmmakers in the world. For four decades he's written, produced and directed everything from lighthearted romantic comedies to bleak and bloody action, creating a peerless filmography. Despite critical acclaim and success in his native Hong Kong, the majority of To's films remain overlooked and underappreciated in the West. This week, we're kicking off a multi-part TO DOWN to try to pinpoint what makes his work so special and how he's managed to apply his distinct cinematic voice to such a wide variety of genres.

THIS WEEK: Exiled (2006), A Hero Never Dies (1998), Throw Down (2004), The Mission (1999)

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Promising Young Woman just took home the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and critics can't stop telling us how IMPORTANT it is. But is Emerald Fennell's brand of sanitized lily-white feminism truly what we need to navigate our neoliberal hellscape? More importantly, why would you bother watching it in the first place when a deranged auteur-driven Day-Glo nightmare like Me, You, Madness exists?

Maybe these aren't the films we need, but they're certainly the ones we deserve.

We're joined by Film Inquiry's Editor-in-Chief, Kristy Strouse, to determine once and for if Louise Linton should be the only person allowed to make movies anymore.

THIS WEEK: Promising Young Woman (2020) and Me, You, Madness (2021).

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Kan you believe it's been over 25 years since the first Mortal Kombat film hit your lokal multiplex? Since then, we've had more games, kartoons, live aktion series, and films than any reasonable person kould ever hope to keep trakk of. If you're into komplex lore derived from the game that yells "toasty" while you spam upperkuts, well, I bet you're thrilled that the franchise has once again been rebooted. But kan the new Mortal Kombat stand tall alongside the kampy klassic films of the past? Or will it krumble under lofty aspirations and a self-serious tone?

THIS WEEK: Mortal Kombat (1995), Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997), Mortal Kombat (2021)

The glitz! The glamor! The discourse!

That's right, it's Oscar season, and we're contractually obligated to discuss all of the bland prestige films that you'll completely forget about in another week. This year, we're broadcasting LIVE from your favorite left-of-the-dial AM radio station for a comprehensive breakdown of the 58th Annual Academy Awards with international film correspondent, Alistair Ryder.

THIS WEEK: Out of Africa (1985), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), Prizzi's Honor (1985), The Color Purple (1985), and Witness (1985)

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There's plenty of knockoff James Bond films, but how many have a filipino agent 007 under three feet tall?

Join us as we take another detour from the mainline Bond series and dip our toes into the world of Weng Weng; an unheralded cinematic superstar in the Philippines and arguably one of the greatest unofficial Bonds of all time.

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Nothing brings us more joy than watching a big monkey and his lizard pal beat the shit out of some weird bugs, a dinosaur bird and maybe a robot. Plus, as true believers in the Hollow Earth Theory, it's nice to finally have a cinematic universe that represents people who know there's a whole jungle world to explore underneath the dumb dirt beneath our feet.

So how did we end up with a Monsterverse anyway? And, more importantly, do any of the contemporary Godzilla/King Kong movies satisfyingly scratch the "watch shit get demolished in a cool way" itch?

THIS WEEK: Godzilla (2014), Kong: Skull Island (2017), Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) and Godzilla vs Kong (2021).

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For two long years, the Snyhard masses cried out to Warner Bros. for justice, and, against all odds, the impossibly dumb has become improbably real: #ReleaseTheSnyderCut has delivered us Zack Snyder's Justice League.

Now we can finally answer pressing questions like "Can doubling a bad film's runtime make it good?"

This week we're diving into The Snyder Cut, comparing it to Joss Whedon's 2017 Justice League hatchet job, and dissecting the cinema of Snyder to find the essence of his popular appeal.

Also, where the hell is spooky Jesus Joker, Zack? The promotional materials promised us spooky Jesus Joker.

THIS WEEK: Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021) and Justice League (2017)

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Some might call it confusing meta-fiction, others a smart cash-in. Either way, Neil Connery did what any of us would have done in his situation. Ignore the fact that you're shorter, less handsome, and less charismatic than your famous sibling and play a spy in a James Bond knockoff film. You're Sean Connery's brother, dammit, and that should be enough to land you a leading man role in Hollywood... or at least a low-budget Italian production. And hey, if your brother is widely considered to be the greatest Bond ever, you should be able to at least crack the top 25 of 007's or super spy adjacent knock-offs. Or maybe not.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is O.K. Connery

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Tim Thomerson is one of the finest character actors to ever live and a "guys who look like sexy stepdads" hall of famer. No one this side of Tom Atkins can convincingly romance a young Helen Hunt the way Thomerson does. Best of all, he does it with an Old Crow and Marlboro Lights aesthetic that has made him look 47 years old his entire life. Join us as we celebrate Tim Thomserson's action hero acting, comedic chops, and impossibly cool one-liners.

Dry hair is for squids! And Tim hates fucking squids!

THIS WEEK: Dollman (1991), Trancers (1984), Cherry 2000 (1987)

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