The Clueless Critic

We gonna lay some love on this 1963 Coronet Instructional Films, "Writing a Good Paragraph"

Do you want to learn how to arrange your paragraphs logically according to time, space or contrast? Get in on this Riley pick in a special short (possibly final?) episode of The Clueless Critic.

Wreck-It Ralph is a 2012 American animated comedy film directed by Rich Moore. The film features the voices of John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, and the amazing Jane Lynch. Hear our take on why the solid story and brilliant characters push this film from a beautiful landscape into a filmmaking masterpiece. And wow oh wow do we love King Candy!

The Devil at Your Heels is a 1981 documentary about the attempt of stunt driver Ken Carter to jump a rocket-powered car one mile over the Saint Lawrence River into a gentle nest of rose bushes. An Australian comedy show gave it a little boost of recognition when they aired it in 1993 and young Raph was on the scene to catch that consequential viewing. Enjoy this Marsonet pick on this installment of The Clueless Critic.

Dirty Ho is a 1979 Hong Kong martial arts comedy film directed by Lau Kar-leung and starring Gordon Liu and Wong Yue. Prince Master Wang loves himself some wine and jewels. But when Wang takes a trip to the floating brothel he crosses paths with the a troublesome jewel thief, Dirty Ho, and things start getting a little kung-fu crazy. Come get a little dirty with us and listen to this episode of The Clueless Critic and get to know some Dirty Ho.

Targets is a 1968 thriller directed by Peter Bogdanovich in his (almost) theatrical directorial debut, and starring Tim O'Kelly, Boris Karloff, Nancy Hsueh, Bogdanovich, James Brown, Arthur Peterson and Sandy Baron. The film depicts Bobby Thompson, a young man who goes off on an unexpected killing spree. Coming on the heels of the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy in the summer of 1968, the film mostly failed at the box office. Come see why it's worth a watch now more than ever in this Marsonet pick on The Clueless Critic.

Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade is a 1993/1994 short film (29 minutes) written by Billy Bob Thornton and directed by George Hickenlooper. It stars Thornton, Molly Ringwald, Brent Williams and J. T. Walsh. It was later adapted into the 1996 feature film Sling Blade, also starring Thornton, which won Thornton the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, as well as a nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Thornton plays Karl Childers, an intellectually disabled man who has been in a mental hospital for the past 25 years for a grisly incident. Karl Childers is parodied by Eric Cartman in an episode of South Park. Come join us and we get into this weird little gem of a short movie and find out about my personal bizarre connection to this little flick.

Funny Pages is a quirky offbeat off-kilter cringy black comedy film written, directed, and edited by Owen Kline. Why did we love this film and what's it got to to with Spike of Bensonhurst, The King of Comedy, and The Lobster? Grab a wooden stool and pop a squat by your wireless as we launch into this A24 gem shot on 16mm (Riley pick)

Picnic at Hanging Rock is a 1975 Australian mystery/horror/arthouse film directed by the man who did The Truman Show, Peter Weir. It was adapted from the 1967 novel of the same name by Joan Lindsay. The plot involves the perplexing disappearance of 3 college girls during a picnic at Hanging Rock. Picnic at Hanging Rock drew international attention to the Australian New Wave of cinema. Australia! It's not just Crocodile Dundee and boomerangs after all!

Come get your Aussie on and have a listen to our episode "Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) Peter Weir"

Omar is a 2013 Palestinian drama film directed by Hany Abu-Assad. It was screened at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Special Jury Prize. Omar is a Palestinian baker who frequently scales a 35 foot wall on the West Bank barrier to visit his girlfriend, Nadia, a girl he hopes to marry. Omar and his childhood friends, Tarek and Amjad, have been preparing for attacks on soldiers. The pace of this movie picks up quickly and never lets up and ends in one of the most perfect moments to ever be captured on film.  Listen to why we think Hany Abu-Assad beat Hollywood at its own game.  

This episode we take a look at the 1982 British drama film written and directed by Jerzy Skolimowski. It is set at the time of the Solidarity protests in Poland. It stars Jeremy Irons as Nowak, a Polish builder leading a team renovating a house illegally in London. It won the best Screenplay at Cannes and it was Gene Siskel's favorite movie of 1982.  It is also currently scoring a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.  But who cares what those numbskulls have to say about it.  Have a listen and get our take on Moonlighting right here and now on The Clueless Critic.  (Fun fact: Hans Zimmer's first movie score....)