Queen is Dead - A Film, TV and Culture Podcast

In this very special episode, Dhruv welcomes back Prakhar Patidar (previously appeared on the "All We Imagine as Light" ep!) to discuss the Taiwanese New Wave of the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s because, well, they both love its particularly sad, introspective, and -- yes, that dreaded word -- SLOW -- depiction of loneliness that engulfs every fabric of one's being as they stumble around a city so intent on looking upwards (to urbanization and Americanization) that it ends up looking down upon those who don't want to be swept up by all of it.

Please listen to the full episode to hear us talk -- in full spoilers -- about Edward Yang's "Taipei Story," Tsai Ming-liang's "Vive L'Amour," & Hou Hsiao-hsien's "Millennium Mambo" -- and how the depiction of contemporary Taipei -- and people's alienation within it -- changes (or not) from the 80s to the 2000s.

Or, you can listen to it for Prakhar's forceful manifesto about the need & value of Slow Cinema (Viewing) in the Current Media (Viewing) Landscape.

TIMECODES

Apologizing for our Pronunciations - [00:00 – 07:20]

The Origins of the Taiwanese New Wave - [07:20 – 31:05]

Summarizing TNW [for the Impatient Ones] - [31:05 – 42:23]

"Taipei Story" (1985) - [42:23 – 01:10:45]

“Vive L'Amour” (1994) - [01:10:45 – 01:35:56]

“Millennium Mambo” (2001) - [01:35:56 – 01:52:22]

Outro (Planning a Lynne Ramsay Ep!) - [01:52:22 – 01:58:17]

Do hit 'Follow' on Spotify if you haven't already to help the podcast reach more people!

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ARTICLES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

1. “Man, Muse & Their Movies: Tsai Ming-liang & Lee Kang-sheng in the 90s” (Prakhar Patidar).

2. “What Do You Mean America is Not the Answer?: Asian Modernity & the American Dream in Edward Yang's Taipei Story” (Prakhar Patidar).

3. “A Guide to the Masterworks of New Taiwanese Wave” (James Balmont).

4. “Taiwanese New Waves in New York” (David Hudson).

PODCASTS/VIDEOS MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE

1. Prakhar's Tsai Ming-liang Article Research Playlist

2. Slow Cinema 101⁠⁠

Follow us on Instagram at:

Prakhar: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/she_isatthemovies⁠⁠.

Dhruv: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/terminalcinema/⁠

Audio Excerpts are taken from the promotional material for Taipei Story, and select scenes from Vive L'Amour & Millennium Mambo -- all of which are discussed and referenced in this episode.

It's another Ari Aster movie discussion -- something we didn't think we would do after our "Beau Is Afraid" experience.

BUT -- "Eddington" is something different for Aster, even though it does (justifiably for some, not for others) devolve into something of a "Beau Is Afraid"-style paranoid nightmare. It's his brand of absurdly cruel personal neurosis funneled through the cruelly absurd America of the 2020s, giving this film's hellish descent into meaninglessness (more for some, less for others) potency than his other films.

Listen to the full, spoiler-filled episode to hear Amartya, Cris, Dhruv, and the Cinematic Liberties Podcast Guys -- Arjun & Ashwin -- discuss the merits and demerits of Aster's latest!

You can (and should!) follow -

⁠CINEMATIC LIBERTIES PODCAST⁠

Do hit 'Follow' on Spotify if you haven't already to help the podcast reach more people!

Follow our Instagram page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://instagram.com/queenisdead.filmpodcast.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

TIME CODES

 Introduction ("War 2 Trauma") : [00:00 - 02:39]

"Eddington" (Spoiler-Free): [02:39 - 39:25]

"Eddington" (Spoiler-Filled): [39:25 - 1:13:25]

"Eddington" & The Western Genre: [1:13:25 - 1:49:50]

Outro ("Hindsight is 2020"): [1:49:50 - 02:01:51]

REVIEWS REFERENCED

1. ⁠⁠ Eddington is a Lethally Self-Satisfied COVID Satire [Justin Chang, New Yorker]

2. ⁠⁠ Eddington Captures the Chaos of the COVID Era -- and Modern Existence [Adam Nayman, The Ringer]

You can also follow us on Letterboxd at -

AMARTYA: https://letterboxd.com/amartya/.

CRIS: https://letterboxd.com/crislim/.

ARJUN: https://letterboxd.com/arjun_skumar1/.

ASHWIN: https://letterboxd.com/ashwindev/.

DHRUV: https://letterboxd.com/aterminalcinema/.

Hello, Hello, Hello!

In this new episode, Amartya, Sanjeet, and Cris discuss the new Lokesh Kanagaraj directorial starring Super Star Rajinikanth. They talk about the discourse surrounding the film and ask - is the hype around the film to blame for the film's failure, or is it more to do with generic writing?

Listen to them also briefly discuss (read: eviscerate) the new YRF Spyverse addition, War 2.

As usual, major spoilers for both the films!

Timecodes

Coolie hype?: 0:00-3:44

Intro: 3:45-6:44

Impact of Vikram (2022): 6:45-9:18

Coolie Review: 9:19-35:00

Rajinikanth=Star Wars Franchise?: 35:01-39:20

Back to review: 39:21-1:02:30

Ze demolition of War 2: 1:02:31-1:27:30

Outro: 1:27:31-1:30:46

Do hit 'Follow' on Spotify if you haven't already to help the podcast reach more people!

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https://www.instagram.com/queenisdead.filmpodcast

Follow us on Instagram at:

Sanjeet: https://www.instagram.com/pixel_baba/

Amartya: https://www.instagram.com/amartya25/

Cris: https://www.instagram.com/prdscris/

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Sanjeet: https://letterboxd.com/Sanjeet_Singh/

Amartya: https://letterboxd.com/amartya/

Cris: https://letterboxd.com/prdscris/

Dhruv and Cris follow Laura Dern's Sandy (from "Blue Velvet") out of her cheerfully dreamy Lumberton suburbia into the -- at first, hellishly garish, then, coldly desolate wilderness -- of the American West, trying to make sense of how Sandy (now called Lula) tries to keep her passionate romance with Sailor (played by Nicolas Cage) alive as the reality around her threatens to burn down (another one of her) dreams.

Listen to the full episode to hear Dhruv only being able to make sense of the part where the dream (and the film's combustible melodrama) is extinguished; Cris, on the other hand, argues that the film's most memorable bits are its most unabashedly fantastical and melodramatic.

Major spoilers, of course, for "Wild At Heart."

TIME CODES

Introduction : [00:00 - 02:41]

"Twin Peaks" Announcement: [02:41 - 03:32]

Wild At Cannes (Contexualizing the Film): [03:32 - 16:50]

"Wild At Heart": [16:50 - 01:10:48]

Outro: [01:10:48 - 01:18:30]

TEXT REFERENCED REPEATEDLY

"Room to Dream" (David Lynch & Kristine McKenna).

Do hit 'Follow' on Spotify if you haven't already to help the podcast reach more people!

Follow our Instagram page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://instagram.com/queenisdead.filmpodcast.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

You can follow us on Instagram at:

CRIS: https://www.instagram.com/prdscris/.

DHRUV: https://www.instagram.com/terminalcinema/.

You can also follow us on Letterboxd at -

CRIS: https://letterboxd.com/crislim/.

DHRUV: https://letterboxd.com/aterminalcinema/.

Hello, Hello, Hello

In the latest episode of QID, Dhruv invites the creator, Arjun Sivakumar, and regular guest-cum-host of the "Cinematic Liberties Podcast", Ashwin Dev, to discuss one of the great filmic oddities of this year -- Danny Boyle's "28 Years Later" (now available to rent/buy on digital platforms).

Before talking about the film, the three of them talk about the "whack" legacy of the franchise itself -- first discussing, at length, the historical significance of "28 Days Later," then, briefly, discussing the somewhat unfairly maligned status of its sequel, "28 Weeks Later" (Boyle and Garland only returned as executive producers for that).

Finally, the discussion about "28 Years Later" itself prompts all sorts of responses from us -- confusion, amazement, contemplation, you name it. Which -- regardless of the film's narrative flaws and tonal inconsistencies -- is what we cherish most about it.

Listen to the full episode to hear all this in a spoiler-filled discussion on the entirety of the "28 [insert timeline] Later..." franchise.

You can (and should!) follow -

CINEMATIC LIBERTIES PODCAST

Do hit 'Follow' on Spotify if you haven't already to help the podcast reach more people!

Follow our Instagram page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://instagram.com/queenisdead.filmpodcast.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

TIME CODES

 Introduction (inc. "Past Lives" Slander) : [00:00 - 06:36]

The Legacy of "28 Days Later": [06:36 - 43:23]

The Non-Legacy of "28 Weeks Later": [43:23 - 1:02:19]

"28 Years Later": [1:02:19 - 1:52:52]

Outro (inc. PTA episode in the pipeline): [1:52:52 - 01:55:24]

ARTICLES REFERENCED

1. Danny Boyle Goes Big with the Horror Sequel [IGN]

2. Danny Boyle Says Shooting on iPhones Let Him Capture ‘Startling’ Violence in 28 Years Later. [WIRED]

You can also follow us on Letterboxd at -

ARJUN: https://letterboxd.com/arjun_skumar1/.

ASHWIN: https://letterboxd.com/ashwindev/.

DHRUV: https://letterboxd.com/aterminalcinema/.

It's a Bird! It's a Plane! No - It's (a new) QID Episode!

Hello, Hello, Hello!

In this new episode, Amartya & Sanjeet discuss James Gunn’s ‘Superman,’ currently playing in theatres. They compare his "sunny" interpretation of the superhero to Snyder’s grittier take (that both of them liked!), contemplating what (if anything) the DCU may have in store for them in the future.

Do hit 'Follow' on Spotify if you haven't already to help the podcast reach more people!

Follow our Instagram page:

https://www.instagram.com/queenisdead.filmpodcast

Follow us on Instagram at:

Sanjeet: https://www.instagram.com/pixel_baba/

Amartya: https://www.instagram.com/amartya25/

Follow us on Letterboxd at:

Sanjeet: https://letterboxd.com/Sanjeet_Singh/

Amartya: https://letterboxd.com/amartya/

Hello, Hello, Hello,

In this episode, "Past Lives" skeptics Cris (taking Dhruv's place) and Aryan invite "Past Lives" lover-for-life Tuhin Das (@tuhin221b on Twitter) to discuss and check the math(s), as it were, on director Celine Song's latest theatrical release, "Materialists."

Listen to the full episode to hear where they agree—and largely disagree—on the effectiveness of Songs's writing and filmmaking choices as she navigates the complexities of modern love and marriage and the (Hollywood) economics behind it all.

Spoilers, of course, for "Materialists" (and some for "Past Lives").

TIMECODES

Intro - [00:00:00 - 00:05:48]

Initial Thoughts + Discourse - [00:05:48 - 00:24:20]

Debating the Value of "Materialists" - [00:24:20 - 00:53:30]

The (Hollywood) Economy - [00:53:30 - 01:25:50]

"Past Lives" + Song vs Kuritzkes - [01:25:40 - 01:38:31]

Do hit 'Follow' on Spotify if you haven't already to help the podcast reach more people!

Follow our Instagram page:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://instagram.com/queenisdead.filmpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow us on Instagram at:

Aryan: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/aryantalksfilm/⁠⁠

Cris: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/prdscris/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow us on Letterboxd at:

Aryan: ⁠⁠⁠https://letterboxd.com/aryantalksfilms/⁠⁠

Cris: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://letterboxd.com/crislim/⁠⁠

After stumbling through the industrial hellscapes of Pennsylvania and Victorian-era England, Dhruv, Cris, and Arijit find themselves -- somewhat miraculously -- in the town of Lynchian Lumberton. Here, there is no darkness - it's colorful and cheery in the way that only the most gorgeous of Technicolor dreams can be. Is it an illusion, genuine, or both?

Listen to the full episode to hear them try to make sense of Lynch's "Blue Velvet" -- which, they're glad to admit, left them bedazzled (on their rewatches) in the best possible sense.

Major spoilers, of course, for "Blue Velvet."

(Apologies for finding a way to insert "Housefull 5A and 5B" into the intro of this discussion!)

TIME CODES

 Intro (& "Housefull 5A and B") : [00:00 - 05:16]

The Elusive Mystery of Lynch's Films: [05:16 - 25:37]

"Blue Velvet": [25:37 - 1:07:00]

"The Freudian Beers" in Blue Velvet: [01:07:00 - 01:39:26]

Outro (a.k.a Bullshit): [01:39:26 - 01:47:52]

TEXT REFERENCED REPEATEDLY

1. "Room to Dream" (David Lynch & Kristine McKenna).

2. ⁠"Through a Bottle Darkly: Blue Velvet's Freudian Beers" (Michael Zunenshine).⁠

Do hit 'Follow' on Spotify if you haven't already to help the podcast reach more people!

Follow our Instagram page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://instagram.com/queenisdead.filmpodcast.⁠⁠⁠⁠

You can follow us on Instagram at:

ARIJIT: https://www.instagram.com/_tentinquarantino_/.

CRIS: https://www.instagram.com/prdscris/.

DHRUV: https://www.instagram.com/terminalcinema/.

You can also follow us on Letterboxd at -

ARIJIT: https://letterboxd.com/nostradamus/.

CRIS: https://letterboxd.com/crislim/.

DHRUV: https://letterboxd.com/aterminalcinema/.

Hello, Hello, Hello,

This is -- arguably -- the only sane discussion we have had on the "MI" franchise, courtesy -- the presence of Adithiyan and the special appearance of Mr. (Raj) Aryan -- but most of all the absence of "MI: I, 2 & III" moderator, Varun Bhakay.

Dhruv, Cris & a surprisingly sober, sensible (and somewhat salty) Hemant are also there -- dueling it out about why, for some of them, "Dead Reckoning" works much more than "Final Reckoning" and why -- according to Hemant -- we all are wrong about "Rogue Nation."

Spoilers, of course, for all the MIs. And a lot of shade (and some praise) thrown at "MI5" and "MI8."

TIMECODES

Introduction - [00:00 – 05:05]

MI1 to MI6 Recap - [05:05 – 34:58]

Counter-Programming (MI's Legacy) - [34:58 – 51:57]

"MI7: Dead Reckoning" - [51:57 – 01:38:23]

"MI8: The Final Reckoning" - [01:38:23 – 02:31:51]

Outro - [02:31:51 - 02:37:03]

Congratulations to Jafar Panahi! - [02:37:03 - 02:39:40]

Do hit 'Follow' on Spotify if you haven't already to help the podcast reach more people!

Follow our Instagram page:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://instagram.com/queenisdead.filmpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠

READINGS ON THE "MI" FRANCHISE (suggested by Adithiyan)

1. "On Mission Impossible and Unaccountable Government" - https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/on-mission-impossible-and-unaccountable-government/.

2. "The Delightfully Nonsensical Politics of the MI Series" - https://oscarkimbauman.substack.com/p/the-delightfully-nonsensical-politics?utm_medium=web.

Follow him on IG to explore his "MI" Retrospective:

https://www.instagram.com/curioseradithiyan/.

Follow us on Instagram at:

Adithiyan: https://www.instagram.com/curioseradithiyan/

Aryan: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/aryantalksfilm/⁠

Hemant: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/hemantganti/⁠

Dhruv: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/terminalcinema/⁠⁠⁠

Cris: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/prdscris/⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow us on Letterboxd at:

Adithiyan: https://letterboxd.com/curioseradi/

Aryan: ⁠⁠https://letterboxd.com/aryantalksfilms/⁠

Hemant: ⁠⁠https://letterboxd.com/ganti117/⁠

Dhruv: ⁠⁠⁠https://letterboxd.com/aterminalcinema/⁠⁠⁠

Cris: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://letterboxd.com/crislim/⁠⁠

Hello, Hello, Hello,

Dhruv returns -- more out of necessity than choice -- to try and bring some semblance back to the "MI" ep discussions. He succeeds -- for about 40 minutes.

Enter Amartya. Cue Varun losing his marbles (again). Cue Cris losing his marbles when trying to edit whatever happened after an in-depth discussion on the greatness of "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol."

Spoilers, of course, for all the MIs. And a lot, a LOT of shade thrown at "MI3" and the people responsible for making it.

TIMECODES

Nonsense (+ Introduction) - [00:00 – 07:32]

"Mission Impossible IV" (+ Nonsense) - [07:32 – 35:48]

Nonsense (+ "Mission Impossible V") - [35:48 – 01:01:22]

Nonsense (+ "Mission Impossible VI") - [01:01:22 – 01:41:26]

Varun & Amartya on MI 7 & 8 - [01:41:26 – 01:57:32]

Nonsense (+ Outro) - [01:57:32 - 02:01:11]

Do hit 'Follow' on Spotify if you haven't already to help the podcast reach more people!

Follow our Instagram page:

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://instagram.com/queenisdead.filmpodcast⁠⁠⁠

Follow us on Instagram at:

Dhruv: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/terminalcinema/⁠⁠

Varun: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/varunonfilm/⁠⁠

Amartya: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/amartya25/⁠⁠⁠⁠

Cris: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/prdscris/⁠⁠⁠

Follow us on Letterboxd at:

Varun: ⁠⁠https://letterboxd.com/varunoakbhakay/⁠⁠

Dhruv: ⁠⁠https://letterboxd.com/aterminalcinema/⁠⁠

Amartya: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://letterboxd.com/amartya/⁠⁠⁠⁠

Cris: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://letterboxd.com/crislim/⁠⁠