The Film Thugs Movie Show

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Informed film discussion for the unrefined connoisseur.

Episodes

Sunday Oct 18, 2015

Criterion Year Week 13: Yojimbo

Sunday Oct 18, 2015

The Criterion Collection, the last vestige of truly collectible DVD and Blu-Ray movies in existence. These are well produced, fancy pants editions of important and interesting films for the discerning film lover.

We continue our journey through Jim's collection of movies with...

Week 13:

Yojimbo

Spine Number: 52

Director: Akira Kurosawa

Genre: Samurai

Master.

That's it. Master. There is no other word that more correctly conveys the level of talent shown by Akira Kurosawa. His eye for framing and composition is unrivaled, his ability to balance a simple narrative is impeccable, and his touch with creating characters that are believable and sympathetic is utterly flawless. He is a master filmmaker.

By the time he released "Yojimbo" in 1961 he had already been making movies for 20 years and had 20 films under his belt. Of those 20, no fewer than 8 have their own Criterion releases. Titles like "The Seven Samurai," "Ikiru," "High and Low," and "Stray Dog," had already been released and recognized as masterpieces of cinema. Then, at the age of 51 he releases "Yojimbo," and influences an entirely new genre of film. Make no mistake, the Spaghetti Western DOES NOT EXIST without this film.

The complex morality of the nameless hero who operates under his own code of right and wrong, the perfectly stylized visuals, the cool as hell score... all of those can be traced back to this film. It's simple, precise, and completely engrossing.

So, join us as we again discuss the immense talent of a true master.

Next week:

Spine Number 53: Sanjuro (The sequel/companion film to Yojimbo.)

Also, check this out.

http://fantasymovieleague.com/
Looks like Summer Movie League has officially become Fantasy Movie League.
It looks quite fun. Here's how it works.
You have an 8 screen theater.
Every week you pick movies and have a budget/salary cap you have to stay under.
Then you compete against other theaters in your league.
It's fantasy football for movie people.

Our league is Film Thugs 2015 and the password is Porterhouse.

And remember, you can be a part of the show any time you wild like. How's that? All you have to do is call or e-mail us. If you live in the US, or any place that makes calling the US easy, just dial 512-666-RANT and leave us a voicemail. We will read the Google Voice transcript and play your message. It's both funny AND informative.

If you live outside the US you can call us on Skype at The_Film_Thugs. You can leave a message, or someone might actually answer.

E-mail us at thefilmthugs@gmail.com and we will read/play whatever you send us, or you can e-mail thugquestions@gmail.com to be part of an upcoming "Ask the Film Thugs" show, where we answer questions on any subject without having heard them first.

Also, we are on twitter @thefilmthugs and on Facebook and Vine.

You can also click on one of our sponsor links below and THEY will pay us. That's right. You won't have to pay a PENNY extra, and Amazon/Onnit/Teefury will give us a little taste.

Also, be sure to check back often for our new endeavor The Life Masters, where we answer questions to other advice columnists.

Thanks for listening, and until next week...

Jim out.

Sunday Oct 11, 2015

Criterion Year Week 12: Chasing Amy

Sunday Oct 11, 2015

We continue our journey through Jim's collection of movies with...

Week 12:

Chasing Amy

Spine Number: 75

Director: Kevin Smith

Genre: Comedy

The 90's were a revolutionary time for movies. Thanks to the success of films like Reservoir Dogs El Mariachi, Roger and Me, Clerks, and Slacker the world of cinema was no longer the exclusive property of the big studio gatekeepers. Yes, they still controlled the big picture, but, in large thanks to a growing college scene that rejected the big budget aesthetics in favor of more personal and intimate movies and music an independent film scene blossomed and came to influence every aspect of the American film landscape.

Suddenly, filmmakers and aspiring filmmakers were not the only ones familiar with low budget auteurs who made movies outside of the studio system. Names like Tarantino, Smith, Linklater, Rodriguez, and Soderberg were known by people outside of the small world of film fanatics. Not only that, but much like the stand up comedy boom of the late 80's, people began to realize that if you had a story to tell, you could tell it on film and actually have a shot at people seeing it.

Enter Kevin Smith. Possibly the most independent of the independents. His film "Clerks." blew people away. Here was this kid from Jersey who wanted to make movies that were about the day to day lives of people who, on the surface, were absolutely ordinary. These weren't the jocks or the super nerds, these were the people in the middle. He wanted to make movies that reflected the lives of people his age who were going to see them. Bored, underemployed, but by no means unintelligent, his characters were pop culture obsessives that said cool, funny shit, were open and honest about their personal and sexual lives, and who were trying to find their way in a world that had somehow become much bigger than the one they grew up in.

Clerks set the stage, Mallrats opened the universe, and Chasing Amy gave it a heart.

Chasing Amy is a very personal film that is perfectly reflective of the era that spawned it. Young people trying to navigate love while trying to figure out who they are as people.

Neither Jim nor Clarkson has seen this movie in 15 years. Both went in remembering it as Smith's masterwork. And both were nervous about how they would react to it at this stage in their lives.

So, listen and find out what 15 years of life does to how this movie plays out.

Next week:

Spine Number 52: Yojimbo (The spine number is out of sequence because I just got the Yojimbo/Sanjuro box set, so we are jumping back for the next two weeks)

Also, check this out.

Our league is Film Thugs 2015 and the password is Porterhouse.

If you live outside the US you can call us on Skype at The_Film_Thugs. You can leave a message, or someone might actually answer.

Also, we are on twitter @thefilmthugs and on Facebook and Vine.

You can also click on one of our sponsor links below and THEY will pay us. That's right. You won't have to pay a PENNY extra, and Amazon/Onnit/Teefury will give us a little taste.

Also, be sure to check back often for our new endeavor The Life Masters, where we answer questions to other advice columnists.

Thanks for listening, and until next week...

Jim out.

Sunday Sep 27, 2015

Criterion Year Week 10: Charade

Sunday Sep 27, 2015

We continue our journey through Jim's collection of movies with...

Week 10:

Charade

Spine Number: 57

Director: Stanley Donen

Genre: Comedy/Romance/Suspense/Thriller

We really don't have movie stars any more. Not like we use to at least. Yeah, we have people who fall into that category, but they don't have the same vibe as the classic Hollywood stars.

Charade prove this beyond question. Audrey Hepburn and Carey Grant... what more do you need to say? Oh, James Coburn, Walther Matthau, and George Kennedy? Why on earth not?

This is the kind of movie we just don't make anymore. It's a charming film with a charming cast that completely charms and engrosses you. Audrey Hepburn is... well, she's Audrey Hepburn. If you aren't a little in love with Audrey Hepburn... I don't know if you're capable of love. Carey Grant... damn. He's just so cool. Put them together, and it's almost impossible to not adore the result.

So enjoy a truly classic film with us, it's well worth your while.

Next week:

Spine Number 65: Rushmore

Also, check this out.

Our league is Film Thugs 2015 and the password is Porterhouse.

If you live outside the US you can call us on Skype at The_Film_Thugs. You can leave a message, or someone might actually answer.

Also, we are on twitter @thefilmthugs and on Facebook and Vine.

You can also click on one of our sponsor links below and THEY will pay us. That's right. You won't have to pay a PENNY extra, and Amazon/Onnit/Teefury will give us a little taste.

Also, be sure to check back often for our new endeavor The Life Masters, where we answer questions to other advice columnists.

Thanks for listening, and until next week...

Jim out.

Sunday Sep 20, 2015

Criterion Year Week 9: Armageddon

Sunday Sep 20, 2015

We continue our journey through Jim's collection of movies with...

Week 9:

Armageddon

Spine Number: 40

Director: Michael Bay

Genre: Disaster

Michael Bay is some kind of wizard. This is a man who makes visually stunning movies that make tons of money in spite of the fact that neither critics nor audiences really seem to like them. They are consistently poorly reviewed, and become a punchline about a year after they are released. But for some reason people cannot wait to line up and hand this guy money. He is by no means a bad filmmaker, and according to some sources like Jeanine Basinger (who some consider one of the most important film scholars working today, who is also a film professor who has taught people like Akiva Goldsman and Joss Whedon, and turned Wesleyan University into one of the top ten film schools in the world) he is a "cutting edge artist who is a master of light, movement, and shape." This guy, in his first YEAR as a professional director, created the first "Got Milk" ad and won the two most prestigious awards at the advertising portion of the Cannes Film Festival.

In short... this guy knows what he's doing, and even his most critically panned movies make absolute truckloads of money (he makes around $65 million a year, and is worth over half a billion dollars).

And it all began with a movie about an asteroid.

Granted, this was not his first movie, but this was the game changer. This elevated him into the rarefied air that he breathes to this day. This guy could get anything green lit. A movie about bodybuilders kidnapping someone to try and steal his life... done! A love triangle with Pearl Harbor as a backdrop... done! An unfinished script about robot dinosaurs being ridden by robots that turn into cars... you know it's done!

So, join us as we take in what is, at this point in the list at least, the most baffling Criterion release to date, "Armageddon."

Revel in space dementia, asteroid grand canyons, and just a boatload of other bat shit insanity.

Next week:

Spine Number 57: Charade

Also, check this out.

Our league is Film Thugs 2015 and the password is Porterhouse.

If you live outside the US you can call us on Skype at The_Film_Thugs. You can leave a message, or someone might actually answer.

Also, we are on twitter @thefilmthugs and on Facebook and Vine.

You can also click on one of our sponsor links below and THEY will pay us. That's right. You won't have to pay a PENNY extra, and Amazon/Onnit/Teefury will give us a little taste.

Also, be sure to check back often for our new endeavor The Life Masters, where we answer questions to other advice columnists.

Thanks for listening, and until next week...

Jim out.

Sunday Sep 13, 2015

Criterion Year Week 8: The Long Good Friday

Sunday Sep 13, 2015

We continue our journey through Jim's collection of movies with...

Week 8:

The Long Good Friday

Spine Number: 26

Director: John MacKenzie

Genre: British Gangster

Gangster movies are as old as movies themselves. It makes perfect sense, if you think about it. I mean, gangsters are cool. They don't play by society's rules, they make a lot of money, and they don't take shit from anyone. Most of the movies in this genre are American, and most of those focus on La Cosa Nostra, the Italian mafia, thanks largely to the legendary Godfather movies. However, there are other types of gangster out there.

For our money there are few who can hold a candle to Bob Hoskins in "The Long Good Friday."

For Americans that last sentence might be hard to understand. Over here, we didn't really get much exposure to Mr. Hoskins before "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" and "Hook" presented a more... family friendly version.

That being said, Bob Hoskins is a certified bad ass in this film. In this, his first major film role, he plays Harold Shand, a hard core British gangster who is on the cusp of going legit. He has ruled the London underworld for 10 years with a hard enough reputation to maintain peace between different "corporations." He returns to London from New York, where he was securing a relationship that would allow him to go completely legitimate and revitalize a part of London that had fallen on hard times, to find himself under attack from an unknown enemy who doesn't seem to play by the same rules, or any rules for that matter. Oh, and Helen Mirren plays his girlfriend, and presents one of the most powerful and in control women in the history of the genre.

Make no mistake, this is an outright classic. It was named #21on the British Film Institutes list of the top 100 British films of the 20th century.

If you haven't seen or heard of it, this is your chance to correct that. Enjoy our take on "The Long Good Friday."

Next week:

Spine Number 40: Armageddon (Yes, that Armageddon. Yes, it is a Criterion release. No, we are not joking, you can look it up.)

Also, check this out.

Our league is Film Thugs 2015 and the password is Porterhouse.

If you live outside the US you can call us on Skype at The_Film_Thugs. You can leave a message, or someone might actually answer.

Also, we are on twitter @thefilmthugs and on Facebook and Vine.

You can also click on one of our sponsor links below and THEY will pay us. That's right. You won't have to pay a PENNY extra, and Amazon/Onnit/Teefury will give us a little taste.

Also, be sure to check back often for our new endeavor The Life Masters, where we answer questions to other advice columnists.

Thanks for listening, and until next week...

Jim out.