The Hell With This

The era of "films for adults" is dead. Ain't it? We live in an age where films similar to "Sex, Lies and Videotape" seem to be hitting Netflix on a daily basis. Why not? Small casts, sexy, low budget, "smart" conversations on film between some intellectuals (or nonsensicals) and you've got yourself a film in the same wheelhouse. This is a movie that hit Hollywood harder than it appeared at the time, because it really opened up the door to a whole new generation of filmmakers, from Steven Soderberg himself, across the indie darling spectrum all the way to Kevin Smith.

Performers of note: James Spader, Andie McDowell, Peter Gallagher, Laura San Giacomo.

Well, it finally happened. Chad finally returned to the podcast, after missing 4 of the last 5 episodes. The original duo, Mark and Chad, are back together at last, this time to bring you a movie of Chad's request: a charming "The Notorious Bettie Page" from 2005. This little film came and went, primarily on HBO as it was produced (or at least bought) by HBO. Starring Gretchen Mol in probably her best-ever performance, "The Notorious Bettie Page" is a film directed by Mary Harron ("American Psycho").

Performers of note: Gretchen Mol, Chris Bauer, Lili Taylor, Jared Harris, Cara Seymour, Sarah Paulson, David Strathairn, and Norman Reedus.

Hey, guess what! Chad's missing in action for the second week straight, replaced this time by animation director extraordinaire, Ashley Long (also known to be dating Mark Alan Heiliger, co-host of this very podcast)! Mark and Ashley take on the absolutely fucking wacky "Earth Girls Are Easy" from 1988, starring Genna Davis, Jeff Goldblum, Jim Carrey, Damon Wayans, Michael McKean, and Julie Brown.

Performers of note: Genna Davis, Jeff Goldblum, Jim Carrey, Damon Wayans, Michael McKean, and Julie Brown.

Oh hello, everyone. Chad here. This week's podcast features people not including myself – I know, I know – but the show must go on (including next week, which I'm also absent for). All this aside, co-host Mark brings us two things this week: "Back To School", the 1986 Rodney Dangerfield classic; and a guest appearance by fellow podcaster & writer, Josh Trotter.

Performers of note: Rodney Dangerfield, Sally Kellerman, Robert Downey Jr., Paxton Whitehead, Terry Farrell, M. Emmet Walsh, William Zabka, Ned Beatty, Robert Picardo, Adrienne Barbeau and a wonderful cameo by Kurt Vonnegut.

Hey everybody, Chad's back! Chad's back!

*Crickets*

…and so is Steve Phelan, returning for his third consecutive podcast with the fellas. Today they attempt to tackle one of Chad's suggested films – the Justin Lin helmed "Better Luck Tomorrow", from 2002. This film reeks of late-90's style, and is FULL of nostalgia because of it. Not many films captured this particular era as well as this – and absolutely none of those films did it with an entirely Asian-American cast. This movie shines, and we hope it'll shine for you, too.

Performers of note: Parry Shen, Jason Tobin, Karin Anna Cheung, Sung Kang, John Cho, and Jerry "The Beave" Mathers

With Chad absent AGAIN, last week's guest – Steve Phelan – makes a fill-in look natural. This time Steve picks the movie: the original "The In-Laws" from 1979, starring the great Peter Falk and Alan Arkin in a film directed by Arthur Hiller. Mark's never seen the movie (neither has Chad, for that matter, not that he's here today (but he IS writing this, strangely, in the 3rd person)). "The In-Laws" (1979) can currently be found in the Criterion Collection.

Performers of note: Peter Falk, Alan Arkin, Arthur Hiller, James Hong, and Ed Begley Jr.

Today we celebrate the absence of Chad from the podca– er, we mean, no, we like Chad… but he's absent from this particular episode, as he's vacationing in jolly good England. In his stead, comes friend-of-the-podcast, one mister Steve Phelan, whom some of you might recognize from the early 2000's podcast, Digital Llama Radio. Or not.

In any case, "Chad" (Steve) and Mark dive back into an oldie-but-baddie, the universally panned, "Last Action Hero", mostly to see if it got better over time. Their verdict? Well, maybe you should just listen to the damn podcast.

Performers of note: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austin O'Brien, Charles Dance, Mercedes Ruehl, Art Carney

2016 saw the release of many a great film, topped by "Moonlight" at the academy awards (almost, famously, "Lalaland"). One of the forgotten films of the year – by critics and moviegoers alike – was "The Light Between Oceans", a film Chad considers a "top 3" film of the year. We put Mark to trial and see how the movie fares – can a deeply depressing melodrama be considered a top film?

Performers of note: Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander

Hot off his debut film, Big Night, Stanley Tucci wrote and directed this comedy in the style of Wilder/Marx/Hardy/Costello… to mixed success. Mixed, meaning it is right up Mark's alley, and diametrically opposed to the very fiber of Chad's being. It's a movie about actors that was made by actors, so it's no surprise that the attitudes and quirks of actors are captured well here. Much like the surplus of subplots that never add up to anything, The Impostors has a collection of funny sketches that never coalesce into something greater. For fans of old school comedies only!

Performers of note: Stanley Tucci, Oliver Platt, Alfred Molina, Michael Emerson, Lili Taylor, Tony Shalhoub, Steve Buscemi, Allison Janney, Richard Jenkins, Isabella Rossellini, Billy Connolly, Campbell Scott, Hope Davis, Woody Allen, and a million others.

Robocop, Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Showgirls, Starship Troopers, and… Black Book? What do these have in common? They're all (mostly) awesome – and they're all directed by a crazy man by the name of Paul Verhoven. After two critical flops, Starship Troopers and 2000's Hollow Man, Verhoven seemingly left Hollywood behind for a grand return to his native Dutch roots. After a five year break from directing (as far as we could tell), he returned – better, in Chad's opinion – to direct the largest film in Dutch film history, 2005's Black Book (and eventually leading up to 2016's Elle, which garnered an oscar nomination for lead actress Isabelle Huppert).

Having dominated Hollywood blockbusters since the 1980's, Verhoven has seemingly taken the next step to tackling more dramatic, more meaningful films… without losing the quirks that make him unique.