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Inside CLUELESS (1995)'s comedic portrayal of stereotypically vapid California Beverly Hills high schoolers' lives, there might be a genuine message of self-actualization through social performance. Does it earn that appraisal? Does it matter? As guest Charlie Mackin says, "If you're becoming a better person just because you want to become a better person, that's an okay motivation to do things."

Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters.

Featuring Nick Grossman!

Throughout our little series on Akira Kurosawa's most popular works, we keep setting up each movie as the progenitor of modern genre pieces (STRAY DOG for police procedurals, YOJIMBO for highfalutin' Westerns, etc.).

Even so, SEVEN SAMURAI is the genesis of most character-led ensemble movies – period – and has itself been remade countless times. It uses several samurai (born and adoptive) to criticize the institution of samurai, refocusing its message on the common people of Sengoku-era Japan. Remember what we said about THE HIDDEN FORTRESS? Like that, but better in many ways, including the literal number of samurai. Thanks.

Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters.

A straight-laced detective quickly frays when his gun is stolen on the bus home, leading him on a slow chase across Tokyo during a heatwave – and leading modern cinema to the genesis of police procedurals. Akira Kurosawa's STRAY DOG is noir with a heart, pulp with a conscience, and drama scarred with the impact of World War II on three generations of Japanese society. In this episode, we argue that STRAY DOG could be Kurosawa at his best, leanest, and most sincere.

Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters.

Comparisons to STAR WARS aren't necessarily a bad way to look at THE HIDDEN FORTRESS (1958), but they won't add much to your viewing experience. Yes, Akira Kurosawa's feudal epic (featuring Toshiro Mifune as General Rokurota Makabe and Misa Uehara as Princess Yuki) lives in a cleverly-built world of deposed princesses and disgraced swordsmen, but it's also a picaresque grounded in people of the lower class – a hallmark of the best Kurosawa.

Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters.

The closeness of Toshiro Mifune and Akira Kurosawa's relationship – a closeness that would be their undoing – is well-exemplified in RED BEARD. Their final collaboration for a number of reasons (personal and financial clashes are both rumored), the movie isn't typical Kurosawa, either. The director said as much at the time, admitting that the movie represented a turning point toward the conservative for his production process. The result is a somewhat more ponderous movie with maybe a little bit less to say than his preceding epics. Don't worry, though – even as a teddy bear, Mifune still gets to kick a lot of ass.

Audio excerpt from RED BEARD © 1965 Toho Co., Ltd.

Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters.

(You can skip to about 10 minutes in if you want to hear about the movie. It’s all sexy ASMR and shop talk until then.)

SANJURO (1962), sequel to the groundbreaking YOJIMBO (1961), is not so groundbreaking. It’s where you start to get a sense for the commercial viability of Toshiro Mifune’s inimitable character (he’d go on to appear in ZATOICHI MEETS YOJIMBO in 1970, pairing him up with the blind swordsman for the most ambitious crossover event of all time). Despite being specifically named after the character this time, SANJURO feels somewhat less true to the spirit of YOJIMBO. That’s maybe not surprising given that it’s an adaptation of a completely separate novel into which the character of Sanjuro was written to capitalize on the commercial success of YOJIMBO. Trivia!

Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters.

Longtime Akira Kurosawa muse Toshiro Mifune’s grumpy ronin with a heart of gold in YOJIMBO (1961) codified the “man with no name” archetype on which Western movies survived for decades (including Sergio Leone's unlicensed 1964 remake A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS). The movie's synopsis – a town stuck in a bloody spat between two profiteering families is forced to reconcile when a mercenary swordsman blows into town – makes the movie sound significantly darker than it actually is, a fact highlighted by the humor that runs through its writing, editing, cinematography, direction, and acting. It’s an absolutely essential movie for understanding both Western and samurai cinema and a hoot to boot. Also, the soundtrack slaps.

Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters.

Featuring Emily Csuy, Aaron Grossman, and Cody Narveson!

Martha Coolidge's second directorial credit, VALLEY GIRL, can be a frustrating movie to love. Steeped in (plausibly self-aware) '80s aesthetics and some adorably goofy lingo (see "trippendicular"), it also has something to say about the cultural challenges of just relating to another person – and how we sometimes create those challenges for ourselves.

Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters.

THE RAID is one of the grandest entries in the conversation between action cinema and video games. But is it good or just loud? At least we can agree that JOHN WICK is better, even if it wouldn't exist without THE RAID.

Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters.

Is David Lynch's 1980 historical drama about Joseph Merrick one of his least Lynch-like films? Is it a straight-forward, sentimental, and even manipulative dramatization about a real-life tragedy? ...Or is it a quintessentially Lynch-like indictment of the culture of globalized, industrialized capitalism we still find ourselves living under, and how that culture has warped us to the point that dehumanize anyone we cannot mechanize for our own selfish ends, eradicating even the possibility of true compassion!?

Did we have different opinions?! Of course! Did we discuss those opinions intelligently? Perhaps! Is this the usual description writer? Who could say?! The answer to some of these questions, this time on TRYLOVE the movie podcast!

Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters.