Cinema Shock

STRANGE DAYS Pt 2: The Future No One Was Ready For | Virtual Insanity


Listen Later

“Memories are meant to fade. They're designed that way for a reason.”

In the second half of our STRANGE DAYS deep dive, we pick up with the music—both on screen and behind the scenes—that gives the film its pulse. We explore how a soundtrack packed with industrial rock helps build the film’s atmosphere, and how composer Graeme Revell stepped in at the eleventh hour to pull it all together.

Then we dig into the film’s release, its disastrous box office performance, and the confused marketing campaign that helped sink it. We look at how critics received it at the time and how STRANGE DAYS slowly earned a second life as a cult classic in the years that followed.

Finally, we reflect on the film’s legacy—how it predicted everything from reality TV and social media to police body cams and memory-as-entertainment. We talk about what it gets right, what still makes us uncomfortable, and why it might just be Kathryn Bigelow’s most visionary film.

This is STRANGE DAYS, Part 2: the downfall, the rediscovery, and the relevance that still hits hard thirty years later.

🎧 Want to support the show?

Subscribers of CinemaShock+ get access to:
• Extended episodes with bonus content
• Early access to episodes
• Exclusive merch discounts
• And other surprises behind the curtain

Join now at cinemashock.net/plus

ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS:

Andy Lancaster | asotirov | Benjamin Yates | Caverly | courtland ashley | curtcake5k | Elton Novara | Hunter D Mackenzie | Jackson_Baker | LillymckY | Lucy Lawson | MagicBloat | Nate Izod | Nathan Kelley | Robert Stinson | Spacemonkey73

Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.

This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop & Todd A. Davis.

For episode archives, merch, show notes, and more, visit cinemashock.net

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Cinema ShockBy Cinema Shock

  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8

4.8

54 ratings


More shows like Cinema Shock

View all
This American Life by This American Life

This American Life

91,197 Listeners

Stuff You Should Know by iHeartPodcasts

Stuff You Should Know

78,401 Listeners

Jim Cornette Experience by Arcadian Vanguard

Jim Cornette Experience

4,038 Listeners

Blank Check with Griffin & David by Blank Check Productions

Blank Check with Griffin & David

6,142 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

112,881 Listeners

Jim Cornette’s Drive-Thru by Arcadian Vanguard

Jim Cornette’s Drive-Thru

3,289 Listeners

The Rewatchables by The Ringer

The Rewatchables

13,947 Listeners

Weird Studies by SpectreVision Radio

Weird Studies

603 Listeners

Unspooled by Paul Scheer & Amy Nicholson | Realm

Unspooled

4,731 Listeners

INGLORIOUS TREKSPERTS by Treksperts Podcast Network

INGLORIOUS TREKSPERTS

339 Listeners

American Hysteria by chelsey weber-smith

American Hysteria

3,319 Listeners

Colors of the Dark by FANGORIA Podcast Network

Colors of the Dark

485 Listeners

WHAT WENT WRONG by Sad Boom Media

WHAT WENT WRONG

3,263 Listeners

The Town with Matthew Belloni by The Ringer

The Town with Matthew Belloni

1,095 Listeners