The Canon: An Essential Movies Watchlist

In this very special episode, ScreenAge Wasteland managing editor, Marmaduke “Duke” Karlston, joins Raf to answer the million dollar question of how the movies in The Canon made it into The Canon. Dukes goes through the birth of The Canon, the history and rules of voting for the selected movies, and Canon plans for the future. 

Inconceivable! Season 3 is finally coming to an end and it's going out as you wish. An all-star line up of SAW contributors join Raf to talk about Rob Reiner's magical 1987 film. The gang has fun storming the castle and recounting some of the best scenes and moments from a fan favorite film. We'll see you in a few weeks for Season 4!

Read the full Canon entry on ScreenAge Wasteland:

https://screenagewasteland.com/lets-talk-about-the-princess-bride-1987/

This one is for all of the cyberpunks and self proclaimed "weebs". Jacob and Sailor join Raf for a colorful discussion about arguably the most important anime movie ever made. It's one of Sailor's favorite movies and a movie that Jacob hadn't seen until last week, but both appreciate it's influence across pop culture. And yes, we do talk about the famous "Akira bike slide".

Read the full Canon entry on ScreenAge Wasteland:

https://screenagewasteland.com/lets-talk-about-akira-1988/

Charlie don't podcast! This episode smells like victory in the morning. The one and only John Cory Lechner (@Texner13) goes up the river with Raf to unpack the madness in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now. As our first war movie and only Vietnam War movie in The Canon, we bring all of the necessary big guns to discuss accordingly.

Read the full Canon entry on ScreenAge Wasteland:

https://screenagewasteland.com/lets-talk-about-apocalypse-now-1979/

Check out Tex's Apocalypse Now inspired playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1VOJqaPMuxPRVce2h2pJuf?si=724b475b577d4683

We finally did it! The ScreenAge Wasteland crew travels to a distant planet to chat about the 1968 sci-fi classic. Spoiler alert: Bob, Duke, Jacob, and Raf were actually on Earth the whole time, just like Charlton Heston in Planet of the Apes. Is this movie a really good 2 hour long episode of The Twilight Zone? Did it spawn the best reboot film series of the 21st Century? No matter what the answers are to those questions, we can confirm that it is an essential film.

Read the full Canon entry on ScreenAge Wasteland:

https://screenagewasteland.com/lets-talk-about-planet-of-the-apes-1968/

Look at the big brains on this episode! David Cohan and David Wilson are back on the Canon to discuss Quentin Tarantino's classic crime film. David C. reveals a great Christopher Walken impression, David W. learns about LA geography, and Raf relives the glory days of the pre-streaming service internet.

Read the full Canon entry on ScreenAge Wasteland:

https://screenagewasteland.com/lets-talk-about-pulp-fiction-1994/

Don't you...forget about us! Let's take a trip back to high school and reminisce about how awkward and confusing a time it was. A brain, a jock, a princess, a basket case, and a criminal changed our perception of high school stereotypes when they got together in John Hughes' classic, The Breakfast Club. SAW contributors RJ and Duke join Raf to talk about the Saturday detention that changed the world. Also in this episode: Raf gets sad about a certain movie not being in The Canon, and the group wonders if Robert Downey Jr. could've convincingly played any member of the Breakfast Club.

Read the full Canon entry on ScreenAge Wasteland:

https://screenagewasteland.com/lets-talk-about-the-breakfast-club-1985/

Welcome to The Canon, little tramp! We finally celebrate the genius of Charlie Chaplin with one of his best works. The Gold Rush is a titan of the silent film era and still one of the crowning achievements of cinema. ScreenAge Wasteland's resident authority on all things silent film related, Sailor Monsoon, joins Raf to talk about some of Chaplin's most memorable set pieces and his place within film history. Also in this episode: Sailor auditions to be a motivational speaker.

Read the full Canon entry on ScreenAge Wasteland:

https://screenagewasteland.com/lets-talk-about-the-gold-rush-1925/

Good afternoon, good evening, and goodnight! Writer, producer, and sometimes actor Maura Mazurowski joins Raf in order to pose some really serious questions. Why wasn't Jim Carey nominated for an Oscar?  How much does The Truman Show have in common with The Matrix? What is Truman's relationship to cats? These questions and much, much more get answered in another exciting episode of The Canon. Plus a special shoutout to the one and only Paul Giamatti.

Read the full Canon entry on ScreenAge Wasteland:

https://screenagewasteland.com/lets-talk-about-the-truman-show-1998/

This one is for all of the wiseguys! As far back as we can remember, we always wanted to be gangsters. We enshrine our first Martin Scorsese picture into the Canon this week. Gus Prum (@lilgustaffson on Twitter) joins Raf to talk about the 1990 mobster classic and do some unofficial promo-ing for the Criterion Collection. Gus also talks about his work in nature documentaries, growing up in the NYC tri-state area, and what makes Thelma Schoonmaker the most famous film editor of all time.

Read the full Canon entry on ScreenAge Wasteland:

https://screenagewasteland.com/lets-talk-about-goodfellas-1990/