Single Serving Cinema

For October's second horror-centric episode, Tim and Tay talk John Carpenter's not-so-immediately appreciated masterpiece The Thing. From evergreen creature effects to unsettling philosophical implications, this movie has it all.

Synopsis
An American research base in Antarctica is infiltrated by an alien that can assume the shape of anything it attacks. The social fabric of the small community quickly erodes as each resident realizes they can no longer trust those around them.

Directed by John Carpenter, The Thing was released June 25, 1982, and stars Kurt Russell, Keith David, and Wilford Brimley.

The Thing is available to stream on Netflix. 

Scene [1:17:41 - 1:26:36]
As the remaining group begins to suspect Macready, he forces everyone into a blood test to determine who, if any are actually The Thing.

Links

• 3:00 - A monster budget
• 4:30 - E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
• 6:50 - An initial critical flop
• 7:20 - Blade Runner (1982)
• 8:25 - Too "strong" for audiences
• 20 - Carpenter on the difficulty of ensemble shoots
• 2230 - The Thing's script
• 26:15 - The Thing (2011) & CGI FX
• 28:20 - The Thing From Another World (1951) / Who Goes There?
• 30:06 - A long pre-production
• 30:40 - Invasion of the Body Snatchers - 1956 and 1978 
• 34:00 - The split diopter shot
• 35:53 - Toy Story 4's split diopter shot
• 56:15 - Stan Winston
• 57:49 - Jed the dog actor
• 59:40 - Ethan Hawke's most impressive costar

Recommendations

Tim: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Kaufman, 1978). Available to stream on Prime.

Tay: Attack The Block (Cornish, 2011). Available to stream on CTV.

All links are verified at the time of publication and based on availability in Canada.

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Tim and Tay dig into their first horror movie of October with John Carpenter's In the  Mouth of Madness, discussing what it means to watch horror, the movie's classic literature and real-world psychological inspirations, and more.

In the Mouth of Madness tells the story of John Trent, an insurance investigator tasked with tracking down best-selling horror novelist Sutter Cane. When the investigation leads both Trent and Cane’s editor Linda Styles to a presumed fictional town full of strange phenomena, the two begin to question their grip on reality.

In the Mouth of Madness was directed by John Carpenter, written by Michael de Luca, and stars Sam Neil, Julie Carmen, and Jurgen Prochnow, and was released on Dec. 10, 1994.

In the Mouth of Madness is available as a digital rental.

Scene (31:00 - 35:47)

Styles and Trent drive through the night to find the fabled town of Hobbs End. While Trent sleeps, Styles encounters a young boy riding down the highway on his bike. Moments later she sees another similar figure, although much older, on a bike going the opposite way.

The boy appears for a third time and is struck by the car. Trent and Styles stop to check the body and the boy cries: “I can't get out”. He then mysteriously gets up and rides away. Styles continues driving, experiencing some supernatural phenomena before crossing a covered bridge that leads them right into Hobbs End.

Links

• 10:40 - Black Check episode on Halloween
• 12:50 - John Carpenter's financial approach to remakes
• 22:30 - HP Lovecraft
• 23:20 - The King in Yellow
• 24:00 - Media horror in True Detective
• 26:30 - GDT's At the Mountains of Madness
• 28:30 - Lovecraft's racism
• 30:00 - Filming locations in Canada
• 31:30 - Giger's alien designs
• 34:50 - "groupthink"
• 1:06:20 - Sorcerer essay

Recommendations

Tim: The Empty Man (Prior, 2020). Available to stream on Crave.

Tay: Sorcerer (Friedkin, 1977). Available to rent on iTunes.

All links are verified at the time of publication and based on availability in Canada.

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Tim and Tay welcome James Stacey (The Grey NATO) to celebrate episode #10 with a potluck — each host picks a scene from Blade Runner 2049 to discuss.

Set 30 years after the first film, Blade Runner 2049 tells the story of K, a replicant who discovers the remains of one of his kind, who had died giving birth to a child. As a Blade Runner with the LAPD, K is secretly tasked with finding the child and destroying all evidence related to it in order to prevent all-out war between humans and replicants. 

Starring Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford, Blade Runner 2049 was released on Oct. 3, 2017. Blade Runner 2049 is available as a digital rental and to stream on HBO Max.

Tagline — "The key to the future is finally unearthed."

Tim’s Scene (3:23 - 10:12)
K, a Nexus-9 replicant and blade runner for the LAPD, visits the home of suspected replicant and war veteran Sapper Morton. 

James’ Scene (58:51 - 1:05:47)
After pulling the records suggesting the replicant-born offspring had spent time at the Morrillcole Orphanage, Joi and K go for a ride to San Diego. They are attacked by marauders and brought down near the orphanage. Back at Wallace HQ, Luv begins a drone strike while also getting her nails done. Quickly dispatching the marauders, Luv’s involvement allows K to continue on their now overlapping goal of finding the child. 

Tay’s Scene (1:40:50 - 1:50:00)
Officer K  investigates the highly radioactive remains of Las Vegas in order to find the maker or the source of the wooden horse from his implanted memories. He eventually finds the disgruntled Rick Deckard and the two have a violent altercation throughout various sectors of a casino, concluding in a holographic Elvis projection concert room.

Links

• 1:50 - Team Deakins podcast
• 16:00 - Ana de Armas' English prep
• 23:30 - Nine cameras vs. one camera
• 46:00 - Bautista wanted dramatic roles
• 1:12:00 - Blade Runner test inspired by Canadian military tech
• 1:23:00 - Shooting in Hungary

Recommendations

Tim: Brad Allen’s movies (Gorgeous, Kingsmen, Kick-Ass), Edgar Wright’s tribute. 

James: Corridor Crew

Tay: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Wright, 2006). Available to rent on Google.

All links are verified at the time of publication and based on availability in Canada.

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Tim and Tay talk comedy (Apatow & otherwise), late '90s pop, and board games in this episode that looks at Game Night. This recent comedy breathed fresh air into the genre by returning to a few simple techniques while updating a few dated tropes. 

Max & Annie’s weekly game night is kicked into high gear when Max’s visiting brother Brooks arranges for a fake kidnapping. The three couples playing the game soon find out that it and Brooks are more than they appear, leading them on a chaotic night of fun, danger, and more.

Game Night was directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, stars Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, and Kyle Chandler, and debuted on February 23, 2018.

Tagline — "This is not a game."

Game Night is available as a digital rental.

Scene  (32:25-36:36 & 42:40-44:51)

After tracking down Brooks to a local dive bar, Max and Annie enter the joint to scope it out. Thinking that it is all part of the game night, they humorously build up the confidence to hold up the three men in the bar who appear to be holding Brooks hostage, forcing them to the floor with Pulp Fiction-inspired vigor. 

There is a scene break that catches the audience up with the other two couples and when we return to the bar, Max and Annie recover the keys from one of the thugs. Brooks tries to tell them that this is not part of the game, but  Max and Annie only realize this after Annie shoots the supposedly fake gun in the air. Dropping it in surprise recoil, the gun goes off again, shooting Max in the arm before the three are chased out of the building.

Links

• 7:30 - Bateman originally slated to direct
• 7:40 - Rewriting the script
• 9:50 - Assuming the worst for Game Night
• 13:50 - "How To Do Visual Comedy" (Every Frame a Painting) 
• 29:50 - Developing female characters
• 33:00 - Why Bateman prefers being the straight man
• 48:00 - Filming with an R1 arm & the "GTA shot"

Recommendations

Tim: Akira (Otomo, 1988). Available to stream on Tubi.

Tay: A Scanner Darkly (Linklater, 2006). Available to stream on Crave.

Bonus Rotoscope recommendations:

• Undone (Hulsing, 2019). Available to stream on Prime.
• Joel Haver's rotoscope comedy

All links are verified at the time of publication and based on availability in Canada.

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• SSC on Instagram
• Tim on Letterboxd
• Tay on Letterboxd

Tim and Tay discuss their first animated feature and first Hayao Miyazaki feature on the podcast: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, which offers a compelling heroine for young and old viewers alike, embodying the idea that violence and war only lead to more of the same. The success of Nausicaä would allow Miyazaki to co-found Studio Ghibli and subsequently release some of the most beloved animated movies in cinematic history. 

This animated feature tells the story of Nausicaä, a pacifist and princess who finds herself and her people caught in the middle of two warring nations that are intent on destroying each other and the hostile natural world. 

Directed and written by Hayao Miyazaki, Nausicaä stars Sumi Shimamoto and Goro Naya; it premiered March 11, 1984, in Japan, and on DVD (with an English dub) on February 22, 2005.

Tagline — "Why do people destroy and hate? Why do they not show love and affection?"

Nausicaä  is available to stream on Netflix.

Scene  (31:15 — 35:10)

Tolmekian airships disrupt the peaceful Valley of the Wind. Nausicaä realizes that the airships are going after her father, who lies bedridden in a tower. She arrives, but her father has already been slain by the Tolmekian Royal Guard. In a burst of rage, Nausicaä attacks several Tolmekians, before Lord Yupa stops her.

Links

• 5:00 — Lupin III: The Castle Of Cagliostro
• 5:21 — Nausicaä goes from manga to movie
• 9:00 — The Warriors Of The Wind
• 10:30 — Toshio Suzuki says “no cuts” for Princess Mononoke
• 16:00 — Miayzaki’s tropes and the concept of “shojo”
• 19:00 — Writing strong roles for young girls
• 21:00 — Miyazaki on the ending of Nausicaä
• 25:00 — Miyazaki’s love of aircraft
• 26:55 — Inspiring Final Fantasy's chocobos
• 48:00 — INVINCIBLE
• 54:00 — Giant God Warrior Appears In Tokyo
• 55:00 — Manga as the outlet for darker ideas

Recommendations

Tim: The Hunt (Zobel, 2020). Available to stream on Crave.

Tay: La Tortue Rouge (Dudok de Wit, 2016).

All links are verified at the time of publication and based on availability in Canada.

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• Tim on Letterboxd
• Tay on Letterboxd

Tim and Tay are joined by Rob (our very first guest on the podcast) to talk about bureaucracy, kaiju films, and more in a discussion about 2016's Shin Godzilla.

This 2016 installment in the 67-year Godzilla franchise examines how the modern Japanese government (and allied forces) would respond when a skyscraper-sized lizard comes ashore to wreak havoc in Tokyo. Shin Godzilla was written and directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi, and stars:

• Horoki Hasegawa as Rando Yaguchi
• Mikako Ichikawa as Hiromi Ogashira
• Satomi Ishihara as Kayoko Ann Paterson
• Yutaka Takenouchi as Hideki Akasaka

Tagline — "A god incarnate. A city doomed."

Shin Godzilla is available to rent on Google Play.

Scene  (12:42 - 15:55)

As the first form of Godzilla moves upriver, the Prime Minister begs his team to find new perspectives. Hiromi (Mikako Ichikawa) is called in, immediately cutting through the bureaucratic decorum with radical ideas about Godzilla’s capabilities and rapid evolution, including the idea that it could support its own weight to walk on land.

Bound by procedure, the cabinet agrees that they need to hold a press conference to calm the public, at which the Prime Minister foolishly goes off script and announces that Godzilla cannot leave the sea, according to experts. He is interrupted by an aide, who informs him that Godzilla has in fact come ashore.

Links

• 6:40 — Neon Genesis Evangelion, available to stream on Netflix
• 8:20 — Anno and fan service
• 25:55 — Frilled shark design
• 33:30 — Found footage

Recommendations

Tim: Colossal (Vigalondo, 2016). Available to stream on Amazon Prime and CBC Gem.

Tay: Trollhunter (Øvredal, 2011.) Available to stream on Hoopla.

Rob: The Twentieth Century (Rankin, 2020). Available to stream on Crave.

All links are verified at the time of publication and based on availability in Canada.

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• Tim on Letterboxd
• Tay on Letterboxd

Tim and Tay talk about the career of Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, and examine a powerful scene that marks the turning point for Incendies' protagonist Narwal Marwan.

Incendies tells the story of Canadian twins that travel to their mother's native country in the Middle East to uncover her hidden past amidst a bloody civil war. Told in parallel, the two generations’ stories examine the trauma and effects of cyclical violence. Based on the play of the same name by Wajdi Mouawad, Incendies premiered on September 4, 2010. 

Tagline — “The search began at the opening of their mother's will.”

Incendies is available to stream on Crave (Starz) or as a digital rental. 
 

Scene (48:08 — 52:52)

Amidst the revolution, Nawal searches for her long-lost child, making her way through the dangerous desert countryside where she catches a bus carrying Muslim refugees. To avoid conflict, she hides her Christianity by removing her crucifix. Awaking from a nap, Nawal witnesses a violent confrontation between the bus driver and a group of Christian Nationalists before they turn their guns on the bus, leaving only Nawal and another woman and child alive. 

As they prepare to light the bus on fire, Nawal calls out that she is Christian, and is spared. She tries to save the child by saying that it’s hers, but the Nationalists shoot the child anyways. Nawal is left alone in the desert beside the burning bus.

Links

• 6:35 — Souha Bechara as partial inspiration for Incendies
• 7:32 — Villeneuve speaking on Incencies  (making-of documentary on Incendies blu-ray)
• 8:52 — Munich (Spielberg, 2005)
• 15:35 — The Midpoint Collision, (Lessons From The Screenplay)
• 21:17 — Alien (Scott, 1979)

Recommendations

Tim: Mikey and Nicky (Elaine May, 1976). Available to stream on Amazon Prime.

Tay: Persepolis (Marjane Satrapi, 2007). Available to stream on Criterion Channel, or as a digital rental. 

All links verified at the time of publication and based on availability in Canada.

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By examining an infamous, potentially movie-breaking scene in Ocean's 12, Tim and Tay explore just how much of Soderbergh's audacity this franchise can bear before it falls apart.

Ocean’s 12, the second installment in Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s trilogy, finds the gang on the clock to repay their mark from the first film, casino mogul Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia). In order to pay back what they stole, with interest, they must oblige François Toulour (Vincent Cassel), the world’s greatest thief, in a competition to steal the Fabergé Imperial Coronation Egg.

Starring George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Vincent Cassel, Ocean’s 12 premiered on December 8, 2004. 

Tagline — Three years ago, they stole 160 million dollars. Now the only thing between their old enemy and their new one is an Ocean.

Ocean’s 12 is available on Netflix and as a digital rental.

 
Scene (1:25:20 - 1:30:40)

After picking up a frustrated Tess, the remaining Ocean's team (Linus, Basher, and Turk) attempts to prep her for her role as the diversion in their plan. The plan involves her impersonating the actress Julia Roberts to use her star power to get close to the Faberge egg that they intend to steal. In a scene full of meta-commentary, Bruce Wilis appears as himself and threatens to disrupt the plan.

The scene stars Julia Roberts as Tess Ocean (and as herself), Bruce Willis as himself, Matt Damon as Linus, Don Cheadle as Basher, Scott Caan as Turk, and Carl Reiner as Saul.

Links

• 48:22 — the Coen brothers as Virgil & Turk

Note: Most of the background and insight explored in this episode can be heard in the Ocean's 12 commentary with director Steven Soderbergh and writer George Nolfi.

Recommendations

Tim: Riders Of Justice (Anders Thomas Jensen, 2021) — available as a digital rental.

Tay: Behind The Candelabra (Soderbergh, 2013) — available on Crave (CA), HBO (US), and as a digital rental.

All links verified at the time of publication and based on availability in Canada.

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• Tim on Letterboxd
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Tim and Tay talk Sam Raimi’s post-Spider-Man return-to-horror, Drag Me To Hell, and how one scene in a parking garage shows off everything the director has mastered since his start in the early ‘80s. 

 Drag Me To Hell is a 2009 horror feature directed by Sam Raimi, starring Alison Lohman, Lorna Raver, and Justin Long. Lohman plays Christine Brown, an ambitious loan officer who, in the pursuit of a promotion,  chooses to evict an elderly woman from her home. The woman, played by Raver, curses Christine, giving her three days until a malicious spirit, the Lamia, drags her to hell. 

 Tagline — “Christine Brown has a good job, a great boyfriend, and a bright future. But in three days, she's going to hell.”

 Drag Me To Hell is available for digital rental.

Scene (16:41 - 22:37)

The scene in question stars Alison Lohman and Lorna Raver. After being told she is a shoo-in for the big promotion, Christine leaves the office, venturing into the underground parking garage with her office supplies. Once inside her car, she is violently attacked by Ms. Ganush for shaming her earlier in the day. 

In a chaotic fight scene, the women attack each other within the tight confines of the car, involving staplers, handkerchiefs, a smashed window, and more. The scene concludes with Ms. Ganush cursing Christine by taking a button off her jacket and handing it back to her.

Links

• 14:50 — Aiming for a PG-13 rating
  
  
• 39:12 — Drag Me To Hell as a morality tale
  
  
• 47:50 — Maggie Mae Fish’s video on Coup 53

Recommendations

Tim: Coup 53 (Taghi Amirani, 2019) — available for rental on the filmmaker’s website.

Tay: The Wolf Of Snow Hollow (Jim Cummings, 2020) — available on Crave, and for digital rental. 

All links verified at the time of publication and based on availability in Canada.

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Tim and Tay discuss Trey Edward Shults’ feature debut Krisha, its expert use of horror tropes and its endlessly frugal composition. 

Krisha is a 2015 family drama about a recovering addict and alcoholic in her sixties attempting to reconnect with her family over Thanksgiving. Directed by Trey Edward Shults, Krisha stars his real-life aunt Krisha Fairchild in the eponymous lead role, and was produced on a crowd-sourced, shoe-string budget.  

Krisha is available as a digital rental on iTunes. 

Scene (51:39 — 55:18)

Starring Krisha Fairchild as Krisha, Robyn Fairchild as Robyn, Bill Wise as Doyle & Trey Edward Shults as Trey.

After a series of seemingly traumatic encounters with her mother and Trey, Krisha relapses, unceremoniously uncorking a bottle of wine with a pair of scissors in her bathroom. She guzzles back the bottle, entering an almost dream-like, euphoric state. Returning to her family downstairs for final dinner preparations, Krisha attempts to remove the giant family-sized Thanksgiving turkey from the oven. Her hands tremble and the turkey falls to the floor, creating an enormous mess and ruining the family dinner.

Links

3:00 — Krisha’s many awards

3:30 — Krisha as a short & following production

25:30 — “playful chaos”

27:00 — Anatomy Of A Scene with Trey Edward Shults

30:25 — Rules Of The Game (Jean Renoir, 1939)

32:00 — Paying for Nina Simone’s “Just In Time”

40:00 — Composer Briann McOmber on scoring Krisha

43:32 — Krisha, improvised

44:30 — Edward Shults’ grandmother in Krisha

Recommendations

Tim: Ponyo (Hayao Miyazaki, 2008) — available on Netflix

Tay: Exotica (Atom Egoyan, 1994) — available on The Criterion Channel

All links verified at the time of publication and based on availability in Canada.

Follow:

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• Tim on Letterboxd
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