After the break you can find the latest episode of Travis Bickle on the Riviera, the world's only movie podcast. With your hosts Tucker Stone and Sean Witzke.
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0:00:00 - 0:24:28 - Tucker has been reading Lee Child's Jack Reacher novels again.
Discussed in this section: Lee Child, Prime Suspect, James Ellroy, Blood Meridian, Against the Day, The Book of Numbers, Finnegan's Wake, Dune, John Carter, Gravity's Rainbow, William Gaddis, Preacher, Recognitions, JR, Garth Ennis, The Boys, Suspiria, The Darkness, Marc Silvestri, Stephen Hunter, Werner Herzog, A History of Violence, Tom Cruise, Will Smith, Raymond Chandler, Nicholas Cage, Maze Runner, Mayor Carcetti, 12 Rounds, Teen Wolf, American Ultra, Bourne Identity, G.I. Joe 2, Noah, Batman, 311, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Adrian Tomine, Steve Ditko, Jay Z, and Dr. Dre.
0:24:29 - 0:41:03- We talk a little (not enough, he deserves a full show) about Wes Craven. Sean wrote about Last House on the Left/secret obituary for Grantland. If you'd like to spend more time on Craven, the Nightmare on Elm Street documentary Never Sleep Again has some great interviews with him even though the whole thing is pretty tiring. Adam Simon's fantastic documentary on American horror The American Nightmare (which is on youtube) and Jason Zinoman's history of American horror Shock Value are indispensable for Craven's interviews.
Here's my favorite Craven quote, from American Nightmare:
“I think there is something about the American dream, the sort of Disneyesque dream, if you will, of the beautifully trimmed front lawn and the white picket fence. Mom and Dad and happy children. God fearing and doing good whenever they can. That sort of expectation. And the flip side of it, of the anger and sense of outrage that comes from discovering that’s not the truth of the matter. I think that gives American horror films in some ways kind of a… An additional rage”
Also discussed in this section: Dr. Wayne Dyer, Oliver Sacks, Last House on the Left, Scream Nightmare on Elm Street, Cursed, Scream 3, Scream 4, The Hills Have Eyes, Vampire in Brooklyn, Red Eye, Music of the Heart, Olivier Assayas, Gaspar Noe, The Hills Have Eyes remake, The Last House on the Left remake, Takashi Miike, Tobe Hooper, Walking Dead, Sinister, Michael Bay, Joe Swanberg, John Cassavettes, Garret Dillahunt, Tony Goldwyn, Ingmar Bergman, Luis Bunuel, Carl Theodor Dreyer, George Romero, John Carpenter, Halloween, The Virgin Spring, Max Von Sydow, the Saw movies, Star Wars at Disney World, The Visit, and Richard Brody.
0:41:04 - 0:52:40 - SPECIAL GUEST DROP-IN BY MISS NINA - Mindhunters (2004), directed by Renny Harlin, starrring Christian Slater, Val Kilmer, Kathryn Morris, Patricia Velasquez, LL Cool J, Clifton Collins Jr, and Johnny Lee Miller.
Also discussed in this section: NCIS LA, Mr. Robot, CSI, Elementary, Cold Case, Trainspotting, The Big Sleep, The Thing, Armageddon 2001, Inferno, John Romita Jr. Walt Simonson, Abel Ferrara, Cutthroat Island, board games, Jumanji, Zathura, John Favreau, Swingers, The Pagemaster, Cowboys and Aliens, Michael Mann, Tom Noonan, Sicario, and Blackhat.
0:52:41 - 1:06:24 - True Detective Season 2, starring Colin Farrell, Taylor Kitsch, Rachel McAdams, Vince Vaughn, Kelly Reilly, and Rick Springfield.
Also discussed in this section: Thief, Kill List, American Gigolo, Lethal Weapon, James Ellroy, 24, Friday Night Lights, Silent Rage, HP Lovecraft, Eyes Wide Shut, Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Quentin Tarantino, Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, Jaws, Tom Hanks, American Tabloid, Richard Chew (SHOUTOUT TO RICHARD CHEW THE GOD), Justin Lin, The Comeback, and Deadwood.
1:06:25 - 1:21:09 - Black Christmas (1974), directed by Bob Clark, starring Olivia Hussey, Margot Kidder, Kier Duella, and John Saxon.
Also discussed in this section: Steve Martin, Videodrome, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Halloween, Porky's, Deathdream (that is the Vietnam vet movie I could not remember the name of), Lone Wolf and Cub, Copra, Jason Shiga's Demon, Bookhunter, Scud, and Detention.
Next Week: Two American men talk Eyes Wide Shut for a very long time.
Music this week: "Moya" by Godspeed You Black Emperor from The American Nightmare. And our intro, as always, is from Escape From New York.
You can download episodes directly from itunes and rss. For a quick look at who has been on the show before and what movies have been discussed in each episode, look at our one-page episode guide. You can follow the show on twitter, tumblr, and facebook. If you like this show, please check out Tucker’s other podcast Comic Books Are Burning In Hell (also located at TFO and here), TFO's music podcast Beat Connection with Marty Brown and Nate Patrin (at TFO and here), and Katie Skelly & Sarah Horrock’s Trash Twins (located here and here), which Sean edits.
R.I.P. Wes Craven, you will be missed.
Last House, Nightmare 1, and New Nightmare are pretty much like treasure.
For all that sometimes Craven doesn't work, I really liked that in his movies that didn't entirely work there was always some really crazy bit of business that I'd remember whatever the failings of the movie (like the dog having a flashback in Hills Have Eyes 2) that's just so crazy you can't forget it. Given that so many movies now just pass by the boards without even attempting something as off-plan as that.
Also, the only thing you need to read for "Inferno" is that Daredevil issue where he fights a dentist who ate a truck.
Posted by: LAndrew | 2015.09.09 at 06:31
RETRACTION: John Keogh has informed me he has read Preacher, which I assumed he hadn't read because I'm dumb. This has been a retraction.
Posted by: Sean Witzke | 2015.09.09 at 09:38
Ben Gabriel has a great Craven piece over at New Inquiry y'all should check out: http://thenewinquiry.com/essays/craven-family-values/
Haven't seen nearly enough of Craven' work to have strong opinions on him one way or the other just yet, but greatly enjoyed what I have seen and looking forward to digging into Last House and Hills (as much as you can "look forward to" that kind of experince).
Posted by: Cleofis | 2015.09.09 at 22:21