The Juggernaut

The Lobster is a perfect example of the kind of film we'd like to champion: it's unexpected and dystopic and strange, and so it bears the veneer of an "artsy-fartsy" film that's not for everyone. But that's hogwash! If *only* more movies had such a strong and complex point of view about one of the bedrock assumptions that underpins most of our lives! There's nothing abstract or difficult to understand in The Lobster. It's just different, and different is great. We bring on a brilliant writer, Eileen G'Sell, to talk about what may be 2016's best film.

NOTES:

More Of Eileen's work: http://www.salon.com/writer/eileen_gsell/ Follow Eileen G'Sell: @reckless_edit Watch The Lobster: https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=lobster%20streaming Follow The Juggernaut: @JuggernautPod Join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1792363834316273/

Michael Azerrad is one of the great rock journalists of the past 25 years. He wrote dozens of cover stories for Rolling Stone, he's written for SPIN, for the New York Times, and for lots of other esteemed institutions. He also wrote two of the great rock books ever written: "Come As You Are," a biography of Nirvana before Kurt Cobain died, and "Our Band Could Be Your Life," a survey of the American Underground Indie music scene of the 1980s. Michael is a rock drummer himself, and has a great perspective on where rock music is and has been.

NOTES:

Follow Michael - @michaelazerrad

Michael's Books - https://www.amazon.com/Michael-Azerrad/e/B001H6MZ72

Follow our show - @JuggernautPod Find the Juggernaut on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1792363834316273/ Songs: "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" by The Beatles "Snoopy Vs The Red Baron" by The Royal Guardsman

"'Watchmen' changed everything." This isn't exactly a revolutionary statement: people have been opining about the significance of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons's dystopic superhero graphic novel for 30 years. But the story of Rorschach, Dr. Manhattan and Ozymandias didn't just help launch the "grim-'n-gritty" take on the superhero genre we're still experiencing today. It also helped change many folks' expectations of what pop-culture could reflect back to us. Oliver Sava is a brilliant comics critic who writes for the A/V Club and other places, and he helps us sort through the amazing depth and breadth of "Watchmen."

NOTES:

Read Oliver's work at the A.V. Club: http://www.avclub.com/author/Oliver%20Sava/ Follow Oliver - @Oliversava Follow our show - @JuggernautPod Find the Juggernaut on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1792363834316273/

Mr. Robot is the kind of rightly acclaimed television we should be watching. It's a meditation on identity, alienation and storytelling dressed up as a thriller about hackers attacking capitalism. It's smart and beautiful and idiosyncratic in a way that mainstream culture rarely gets. So today, we'll (a) try and convince you -- spoiler-free -- to start watching; and/or (b) talk about the stuff roiling beneath the show's surface. Alex McCown-Levy writes Mr. Robot recaps for the AVClub, and is a former doctoral candidate in Political Science who brings a crazy-relevant take on the show's influences and philosophy.

NOTES: SPOILERS at 46:00 Follow Alex McCown-Levy - @alexm247 To read Alex's writings check out http://www.avclub.com/author/alex%20mccown/ MR. ROBOT Website: http://www.usanetwork.com/mrrobot Follow our show - @JuggernautPod Find the Juggernaut on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1792363834316273/

Jim Byrkit put in the hard work of building a Hollywood career from the ground up: he was a commercial storyboard artist for years, a gig he eventually parlayed into a friendship with Gore Verblinski and a major role in the look and feel of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. But his dreams guided him to a parallel track, where he was a feature director making idiosyncratic films. Finally, in 2014, Jim made the micro-budget "Coherence," which took the festival circuit by storm and opened up a new career.

NOTES: Follow Jim Byrkit - @JamesWardByrkit Stream "Coherence" on all major sites, or learn more at the official site:

www.coherencethemovie.com Clips from Rango: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1192628/

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Chris Collingwood was the frontman for one of the great power-pop bands in history, Fountains of Wayne. Of course, even ​*he*​ doesn't really know what "power pop" even means, other than being kind of a dismissive description. Now Chris has broken away and taken his music in a new direction with Look Park, a more idiosyncratic musical offering. But what rewards does today's music industry hold for a guy who's trying to redefine himself as a musician? And can the fellow who sang on "Stacy's Mom" find a foothold in the savage mess that is 2016's entertainment landscape?

NOTES:

Follow Chris Collingwood - @lookpark

Enter to win a galley copy of Chris Harris's novel War On Sound by joining the

Facebook fan page: www.facebook.com/groups/1792363834316273

Follow the show - @JuggernautPod

Songs we played during this episode:

"Shout Part 1" by Look Park

"Breezy" by Look Park

"99.9F°" by Suzanne Vega

"Stacy's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne

"Mexican Wine" by Fountains of Wayne

Garrett Lerner is an honest-to-goodness working TV writer who's worked on one bonafide monster hit -- HOUSE -- and wrote several of that excellent series' most compelling and emotional episodes. Yet Garrett doesn't think he's tapped into all the emotion he has to give in his writing, and he's found life after HOUSE to be partly frustrating, if only because at times he's felt pigeonholed. What does it take in our cultural landscape for a pro to keep getting opportunities to do interesting work? Listen up, and hear Garrett's story!

NOTES:

Follow Garrett Lerner @garrettlerner

Garrett's credits page on IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1068424

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Adam Kempenaar is even-keeled and professional in a culture that often rewards snark, and he's made Filmspotting -- which he's hosted for 11 years -- one of the best and most popular movie podcasts in the world. We dive into what makes Filmspotting such an institution, and also crack open Adam's top 10 films of all time, taking an up-close look at three you might not have seen.

NOTES:

* Follow Adam @Filmspotting

* Listen to the Filmspotting podcast: www.filmspotting.net

* For a look at Chris's new novel cover, follow @JuggernautPod

* Also please join our Facebook group, by searching "Juggernaut podcast"

* Adam's Top 10 Films of All-Time (in alphabetical order):

8 1/2

Annie Hall

Apocalypse Now

Blue Velvet

Citizen Kane

Double Indemnity

The Godfather

Jules et Jim

Raging Bull

Rashomon

Saul Bellow was one of the lions of American literature in the 20th century, and Chris Walsh served as his student, friend, mentee and amanuensis for several years late in Bellow's life. What was it like to be so close to someone who produced such amazing works as "The Adventures Of Augie March," "Henderson The Rain King," "Humboldt's Gift," "Herzog" and many more? Bellow is the only writer to win the National Book Award for Fiction three times, he won a Pulitzer, the Nobel Prize for Literature and the National Medal of Arts. Chris digs into why Bellow is still so important, and what we learn about ourselves when we read him.

NOTES:

Follow Chris Walsh - @ChrisWalsh2013

Buy Walsh's book - "Cowardice: A Brief History" from Princeton University Press

Watch "O.J. Simpson: Made In America" by contacting your cable provider and

finding it on-demand

Saul Bellow books mentioned:

Dangling Man (1944) The Victim (1947) The Adventures Of Augie March (1953) Seize The Day (1956) Henderson The Rain King (1959) Herzog (1964) Mr. Sammler's Planet (1970) Humboldt's Gift (1975) The Dean's December (1982) More Die Of Heartbreak (1987) A Theft (1989) The Bellarosa Connection (1989) The Actual (1997) Ravelstein (2000)

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Talia Osteen can do just about anything. She was a child actress, she's directed a documentary, she was a Hollywood feature film producer and now she's one-half of a great indie-rock band called The Wellspring. But being good at a wide array of things comes with a cost. Which one should she stick with? Which one is a path to commercial success and/or personal fulfillment? Should one *have* to choose? And what does one do when one inevitably keeps hearing "no"?

NOTES:

Follow Talia Osteen: @TaliaOsteen

Find The Wellspring: http://www.thewellspringmusic.com

Follow The Juggernaut: @JuggernautPod

Subscribe to the Juggernaut newsletter: http://www.juggernautpod.com/contact

Meet with Chris on Saturday, July 16th at 5 p.m. at The Glenville Stops in Allston, MA (www.glenvillestops.com)

Songs we played:

The Wellspring, "Say Yes"

The Wellspring, "Willing To Lose"

Rachael Yamagata, "Elephants"

LFO, "Summer Girls"