Proletarian Contrarian

Just in time for Halloween comes the spookiest of genre offerings...a horror anthology film! Starring baby Steve Buscemi, baby Julianne Moore, and baby Christian Slater! Lewis and Nick delve into the depths of terror as they uncover a formative childhood vignette and a galaxy-brained Batman take, respectively. Some tasteful shooting techniques, clever story ideas, and plausible leftist reads make for a fun, scary little collection of frights.

Our Patreon: www.patreon.com/pro_con

Music-

"when the struggle itself becomes identified with a series of defeats" by 红山郡 (hongshanjun.bandcamp.com/album/-)

Intro/Outro from the "Tales from the Darkside" tv series by Donald Rubinstein, Erica Lindsay and Paul Sparer

Pro/Con's resident mascot, Celeste the Cat, was very pleased with this week's episode: "Catwoman" (2004). This weirdo adaptation is the last DC movie from the pre-Nolan era. More interesting is how closely it mirrors 2019's "Joker" in a surprising number of ways. It isn't exactly the most well-developed piece of pop feminist cinema, but it's distinctly more unique than most superhero fare.

Our Patreon: www.patreon.com/pro_con

Music-

"when the struggle itself becomes identified with a series of defeats" by 红山郡 (hongshanjun.bandcamp.com/album/-)

"Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" by David Bowie

It's a bomb...it's a flop...it's actually pretty damn great! Lewis and Nick take to the skies to defend "Supergirl" (1984), the unjustly-maligned Kryptonian stepchild of the Donnerverse super-films. The story and cinematography are adequate, but what truly elevates this flick into greatness is the amazingly-campy acting. Faye Dunaway and Peter O'Toole unleash some serious, showstopping performances that are too powerful to be contained in the Hollywood Phantom Zone of early superhero movies.

Our Patreon: www.patreon.com/pro_con

Music-

"when the struggle itself becomes identified with a series of defeats" by 红山郡 (hongshanjun.bandcamp.com/album/-)

"Overture" by Jerry Goldsmith

Lewis and Nick summon Hailey (Little Thief) to lend her expertise to the Pro/Con review of "Warcraft" (2016). If nothing else, the big-budget, ill-fated, somewhat-engrossing film is a very faithful adaptation of the source material--this may or may not be an endorsement, depending upon the kind of childhood you had. Does the plight of the orcs present a racist stereotype, a compelling leftist metaphor, or a little of both? The only thing we're giving away at this point is that a guard is transmogrified into a sheep.

Hailey's music: https://little-thief.bandcamp.com/

Our Patreon: www.patreon.com/pro_con

Music-

"when the struggle itself becomes identified with a series of defeats" by 红山郡 (hongshanjun.bandcamp.com/album/-)

"Warcraft" by Ramin Djawadi

Remember that 1967 classic "The Graduate"? Ever think it needed a shitty sequel? Well you're in luck, because Rob Reiner made his very own fanfic sequel, "Rumor Has It" (2005). An agonizingly-indulgent project, the film is preoccupied with the original's superficial drama at the expense of its themes. Lewis and Nick veer wildly off course on this one, folks. We can promise some entertaining tangents at least.

Our Patreon: www.patreon.com/pro_con

Music-

"when the struggle itself becomes identified with a series of defeats" by 红山郡 (hongshanjun.bandcamp.com/album/-)

"The Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel

With the freakin' Joker movie coming out soon, we had to go back to the scene of the crime to determine what made DC so desperate to begin with. Turns out it was Academy-Award-winning(!) "Suicide Squad" (2016), a rather offbeat piece which Lewis and Nick charitably interpret as a critique of the inherently corrupt nature of the contemporary US police state. We deserve 10 years off of our life sentences for this act of heroism, folks.

Our Patreon: www.patreon.com/pro_con

Music-

"when the struggle itself becomes identified with a series of defeats" by 红山郡 (hongshanjun.bandcamp.com/album/-)

"Purple Lamborghini" by Skrillex and Rick Ross https://bit.ly/2b0CGy1

Hop in your F/A-18F Super Hornet and plot a course for 2001, because Lewis and Nick have brought in amateur Bosnian War scholar Jose for consultation on "Behind Enemy Lines" (2001). Jose teaches us more about the Bosnian conflict of 1992-95 in 10 minutes than we've learned in 10 years, and he's just as eager to wallop this trash as we are. Starring a horribly miscast Owen Wilson and a sleepwalking Gene Hackman, "Behind Enemy Lines" is most interesting as one of the earliest relics of War on Terror propaganda from the Bush Era.

Our Patreon: www.patreon.com/pro_con

"The Frustrations of Geopolitics and the Pleasures of War: Behind Enemy Lines and American Geopolitical Culture" by Gerard Toal: https://bit.ly/2maNgLF

Music-

"when the struggle itself becomes identified with a series of defeats" by 红山郡 (hongshanjun.bandcamp.com/album/-)

"The Wanderer" by Dion

Lewis and Nick experience strong pangs of thanatos as they suffer through 2018's "Death Wish." Truly an exercise in courting the death drive, this morality fable from Eli Roth re-imagines the 1974 original, depicting vigilante fantasy through a contemporary, smartphone-saturated lens. Curiously enough, the narrative of Bruce Willis taking the law into his own hands presents an inadvertently leftist critique of reactionary violence.

"My Son Killed Adolf Hitler" by Sheldon Roth: https://bit.ly/2m6d9w9

"Death Wish" (1974) score by Herbie Hancock: https://bit.ly/2kDCblR

Our Patreon: www.patreon.com/pro_con

Music-

"when the struggle itself becomes identified with a series of defeats" by 红山郡 (hongshanjun.bandcamp.com/album/-)

"Back in Black" by AC/DC

Pro/Con's first Media Mass episode! This series explores the tension between audiences, art, and the influence of capital in storytelling across all media.

Our inaugural sermon discusses the concept of worldbuilding, a term and approach that has garnered something of a contentious reputation. Lewis and Nick explain their problems with the concept, and discuss positive and negative instances of "building worlds."

"Against Worldbuilding" by Lincoln Michel - https://bit.ly/2ltuyi4

"In Defense of Worldbuilding" by Emily Temple - https://bit.ly/2kovynu

"More Thoughts about Worldbuilding and Food" by Lincoln Michel - https://bit.ly/2jUwgIP

Our Patreon: www.patreon.com/pro_con

Music-

"when the struggle itself becomes identified with a series of defeats" by 红山郡 (hongshanjun.bandcamp.com/album/-)

"World Upside Down" by Jimmy Cliff

"The pod must post." Welcome, Fremen, to the Pro/Con review of "Dune" (1984), featuring guest host Cooper (@ Podcastcocooper). This infamous Lynchian feature is an odd beast, interminable and byzantine--which isn't necessarily a knock against it!--yet buckles beneath the scope of its source material. Nevertheless, there's plenty here for the Herbert neophyte and disciple alike. Prepare your soul for a spicy one, folks.

Cooper's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/podcastcocoopercherry

Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pro_con

Music-

"when the struggle itself becomes identified with a series of defeats" by 红山郡 (hongshanjun.bandcamp.com/album/-)

"To Tame a Land" by Iron Maiden