Check the Gate

Check the Gate

Hosts Martin and Gretchen talk movies. Each episode we choose one movie to start the conversation. From there, all movies, genres and topics could come up. It's about the love of films and the love of talking about films with the people we most want to talk with. No criticism. Not reviews. We just love movies and we hope you love the ones we choose to talk about.

Episodes

May 2, 2025 66 mins
Gretchen and I watch an amazing practical effects film with a great cast, excellent performances and lots of wolfy sexuality. The coming of age, story-in-a-story-in-a-story film, Company of the Wolves. Neil Jordan at his finest. This movie is an astounding achievement at every level, especially on the budget he was given.


Martin and Gretchen talk movies and more at Check the Gate. https://martinvavra.me
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Gretchen and Martin take on the 1980s with Ken Russell's existential space baby operate, Altered States. Watch William Hurt become an Australopithecus. See Bob Baliban before he ran the kennel club for best in show. Psylocibin. Shaman. Reverse evolution. Touching the face of god. Ken Russell packed it all in there. It's a trip of a film and we loved it. 

Martin and Gretchen talk movies and more at Check the Gate. https://martinvavra...
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May 2, 2025 60 mins
It's time for the craziest film ever made to get the spotlight with Martin and Gretchen. The Boxer's Omen is the Shaw Studios crossroads of Kung fu revenge, black magic, sorcery and homunculus creating wrapped up in the real guts and gore (no really, the guts and the gore are real viscera) of outlandish fimmaking. It's an insane ride and truly the craziest film either of us have ever seen. It's not for the light of heart.*






*VIEWER W...
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May 2, 2025 67 mins
We go to the heart of Italian cinema for this gem. Gretchen and I watch the film Danger: Diabolik. The film that I argue is the influence for so many other films and defines how we see some genres today. Amazing effects. Sexy people. Crazy escapes. This cat burglar caper is like nothing else, and we are so excited to talk about it. 

Martin and Gretchen talk movies and more at Check the Gate. https://martinvavra.me
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May 2, 2025 58 mins
It's episode two. Martin and Gretchen talk about the film Dinner in America. One of the best films made in the last few years and an absolute joy to watch. I (Martin) describe it as the sweetest kick in the nuts. Go watch this film or buy it to own for yourself and have in your library. 

Martin and Gretchen talk Dinner in America. https://martinvavra.me
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In our first episode, Martin and Gretchen start with the movie Godzilla: Minus One. For a decade, Gretchen and I were on the Kaijucast, a podcast dedicated to Godzilla and his rubber-suited foes. In all those years of watching Godzilla films, this is the one that I always wanted to see. Gretchen and I talk about this movie and and a few other Godzilla films. 

Martin and Gretchen talk movies and more at Check the Gate. https://martin...
Mark as Played

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