How does the 1980s classic cult movie hold up today? Well, Ian hadn’t seen it until now, so let’s find out what a middle-aged man makes of a teen film from 30 years ago…
All posts by Lewis Packwood
Seven Samurai and a momentous year for Japanese cinema
Thanks to John Oleszkiewicz for recommending our film this time around – the wonderful Seven Samurai from director Akira Kurosawa. We were initially alarmed by the film’s weighty 207-minute running time, but I can safely say that I enjoyed every goddamn minute – and in fact I wanted to watch it again as soon as it finished. Great recommendation.
As we discuss in the podcast, 1954 was a pretty special year for Japanese cinema, with the release of both Seven Samurai and the influential Godzilla, both from the studios of Toho. The two couldn’t be more different, but both went on to receive numerous remakes and had a huge impact on popular culture. Yet just four years earlier, neither film could have been made under the strict censorship rules of the American occupation force in Japan.
The podcast is mostly spoiler-free, but we do spend the last couple of minutes talking about the ending – listen out for the awooga warning if you want to avoid spoilers.
If our review has piqued your interest in the film, you can buy the Seven Samurai DVD or Blu-ray from Amazon by clicking here (and we get a little bit of cash if you do – thanks in advance).
Anyway, without further ado, let us present our feature presentation:
Click here to download and listen on your MP3 player of choice:
101 Films Podcast 085 – Seven Samurai
We’d love to hear your own film recommendations – please get in touch at 101filmsyoushouldhaveseen@gmail.com or leave a comment on the blog. Feel free to say nice things about us on iTunes!
Director: Akira Kurosawa Year of release: 1954 Studio/Distributor: Toho Country: Japan
Podcast 085: Seven Samurai
A reader recommendation this week – Seven Samurai from Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. What a treat it was!
101 Films Podcast 085 – Seven Samurai
Redline is an anime roller-coaster ride
After a now-customary lengthy hiatus, here we are with another piping hot cup ‘o podcast, our mellifluous voices poised to sluice through your ears and soak your thirsty brain with ill-informed opinions about a film we’ve only just watched. And Redline is an absolute cracker of a film that may have snuck beneath most people’s noses.
But this podcast very nearly didn’t make it off Ian’s computer and into your aural cavities. In fact, this was our second attempt at it, after the first, finished podcast unceremoniously disappeared from Ian’s aforementioned laptop, a victim of the gremlins that of late have plagued Ian’s cursed machine. A New Year podcast we recorded at the start of 2017 disappeared in a similar fashion, dampening our spirits and partially explaining why we didn’t have the heart/couldn’t be bothered to record any podcasts this year.
But at least we have ONE podcast for 2017. And hopefully more to follow very soon. At this rate we’ll definitely reach 101 by the time our kids have left home. Enjoy.
If our review has piqued your interest in the film, you can buy the Redline DVD from Amazon by clicking here (and we get a little bit of cash if you do – thanks in advance).
Anyway, without further ado, let us present our feature presentation:
Click here to download and listen on your MP3 player of choice:
101 Films Podcast 084 – Redline
We’d love to hear your own film recommendations – please get in touch at 101filmsyoushouldhaveseen@gmail.com or leave a comment on the blog. Feel free to say nice things about us on iTunes!
Director: Takeshi Koike Year of release: 2009 Studio/Distributor: Madhouse/Tohokushinsha Film Country: Japan
Podcast 084: Redline
After a lengthy hiatus, we’re back with a look at the epic anime Redline, with its loopy characters and insane race sequences. Buckle up!
WHY DOES EVERYONE HATE GWYNETH PALTROW?
Great article on why GP gets a bad rep – unfairly, for the most part.
Mortdecai (2015)
What do we mean when we say we hate Gwyneth Paltrow? When I write “we”, I mean me and the people behind the five million hits I got when I googled the words “hate Gwyneth Paltrow,” of which only a few were articles like this one, asking why everyone hates her. Her last film, Mortdecai, didn’t change anyone’s opinion, though (perhaps fortunately for her) her perfectly serviceable supporting performance was comprehensively eclipsed by a toe-curlingly awful Terry-Thomas impression from the film’s star and producer, Johnny Depp.
All celebrities are on the receiving end of online abuse, but even by today’s standards the odium directed at Paltrow seems excessive, out of proportion for someone who is a film actress and not, say, Kim Jong-un. People who have never met her, who have only ever seen her on a screen, feel entitled to call her an “icy bitch”, “shallow…
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Mulholland Drive
A great review of 101 Films favourite, Mulholland Drive.
Director: David Lynch.
Screenplay: David Lynch.
Starring: Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Justin Theroux, Ann Miller, Robert Forster, Brent Briscoe, Dan Hedaya, Patrick Fischler, Michael Cooke, Michael J. Anderson, Melissa George, Jeanne Bates, Angelo Badalamenti, Mark Pellegrino, Lori Heuring, Billy Ray Cyrus, Missy Crider, Chad Everett, Monty Montgomery, Scott Coffey, Bonnie Aarons, Rebekah Del Rio.
“It’ll be just like in the movies. Pretending to be somebody else.”
A recent poll by BBC Culture surveyed the opinion of film critics, academics, and curators from 36 countries across every continent which consisted of 177 of the worlds foremost movie experts. They were tasked to compile an international list of the top 100 films released since the year 2000 and come up with the best film of this century so far. It’s no easy task but when all was said and done, the film that topped the list was David Lynch’s…
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GIVE ME MY BLUE BLANKET
Hello, we’re back again.
We’ve been on hiatus since January owing to Ian’s new addition. And by new addition, I mean baby – he hasn’t grown a new limb, or anything. God, that would be horrific. Although it could be a good excuse to do a David Cronenberg movie marathon…
Anyway, things have calmed down enough for us to contemplate squeezing out another podcast for your pleasure and delight. Although as both of us are in the Dad Club now, it’s unlikely that these podcasts will be as regular as they were before. And considering how irregular they were to start with, that means we’ll probably be churning them out roughly as frequently as Harper Lee writes books.
We were both very saddened to hear of the death of Gene Wilder a few weeks back, and at the same time we realised that neither of us had seen The Producers, Wilder’s first big film break after a cameo in Bonnie and Clyde. Just as he stole the show during his brief screen time in the latter film, so he totally dominates The Producers – even against Zero Mostel’s wild performance. Even at this early stage, it was clear Wilder was destined for greatness…
If our review has piqued your interest in the film, you can buy the The Producers DVD from Amazon by clicking here (and we get a little bit of cash if you do – thanks in advance).
Anyway, without further ado, let us present our feature presentation:
Click here to download and listen on your MP3 player of choice:
101 Films Podcast 082 – The Producers
Click below to subscribe on iTunes, join our RSS feed or follow us on Facebook and Twitter:
We’d love to hear your own film recommendations – please get in touch at 101filmsyoushouldhaveseen@gmail.com or leave a comment on the blog. Feel free to say nice things about us on iTunes!
Director: Mel Brooks Year of release: 1967 Studio/Distributor: Crossbow Productions/Springtime Productions/U-M Productions Country: USA
Podcast 082: The Producers
Hello again, long time no see. Here we are with a tribute to the late, great Gene Wilder, with a look at The Producers. Now GIVE ME MY BLUE BLANKET.
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