Movie ramblings and various other gripes.
I ramble about three horror movie marathons I attended last October: 1. "Ha-Ha Horror" at Brain Dead Studios in Los Angeles, where I watched the following horror-comedies in 16mm: Once Bitten (1985); Vamp (1986); Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (1988); Lake Placid (1999); Transylvania 6-5000 (1985); and Night of the Comet (1984) 2. "Camp Frida: Monster Mash" at The Frida Cinema in Santa Ana, where I watched the creature featur...
Welp. I find myself increasingly bummed by the outside world, and so I decided to cheer up by watching two made-for-television movies from the 1980s about nuclear war: The Day After (1983), directed by Nicholas Meyer and written by Edward Hume, and Threads (1984), directed by Mick Jackson and written by Barry Hines.
After my longest break yet, I pop back up just in time to want to go back into hiding, being Election Day and all. In the meantime, here are my ramblings on two horror movie marathons I attended in October: 1. "They're Here" at Brain Dead Studios in Los Angeles, where I watched the following haunted house-themed films in 16mm: Amityville II: The Possession (1982); Something Evil (1972); Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986); Th...
Last April, I visited Brain Dead Studios in Los Angeles for "CYBERJUNK", a 12-hour all-day marathon of low-budget science-fiction movies, presented in 16mm, courtesy of Secret Sixteen. The following films were screened: Cyborg (1989); Millennium (1989); Android (1982); Trancers (1984); The Ice Pirates (1984); The Terminator (1984).
I ramble general grumperies about not taking part in general arguments, before discussing three films from 2022: the coming-of-age 80s period piece Armageddon Time, directed by James Gray, and starring Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong, and Banks Repeta; the Marvel sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, directed by Ryan Coogler, and starring Letitia Wright, Angela Bassett, and Tenoch Huerta; and the sci-fi horror flick M3GAN, directed b...
After a three-year absence from The Frida Cinema in Santa Ana, CA., I returned to enjoy their annual Camp Frida all-night horror movie marathon, where I watched the following: I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997); Nightmare Beach (1989); Dead Snow (2009); April Fool's Day (1986); The Return of the Living Dead (1985); and Maniac Cop (1988).
I talk about an incident at work that kinda/sorta/not really happened, before discussing three recent viewings: The 1969 erotic thriller/black comedy The Laughing Woman, directed by Piero Schivazappa, and starring Philippe Leroy and Dagmar Lassander; Ti West's X prequel Pearl, from 2022, directed by West, and starring Mia Goth; and the 1991 "ultimate road movie" Until the End of the World, directed by Wim Wenders, and starring Will...
In which I drove like a maniac to the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica to attend a movie marathon focusing on Los Angeles-based horror films from the 1980s. The following films were screened: They Live (1988); Society (1989); The Slumber Party Massacre (1982); Chopping Mall (1986); Blood Diner (1987); and Angel (1984).
As a fan of the movie podcast "Trick or Treat Radio", I decided to play along by watching the same films they covered in 2021, and forming my own "Top 13" list of favorites.
Visit the Trick or Treat Radio podcast if you want to hear fun genre talk.
Note: This episode was originally intended to be released January 2022, but I had issues with the intro, which I felt was too dark. Normally, I don't care about such things, but I didn'...
Between bitching about car salesmen and crying about humanity, I ramble about the 2019 film A Hidden Life, written and directed by Terrence Malick, and starring August Diehl and Valerie Pachner. Click here for the blog version of this episode.
In which I ramble about two Netflix films starring The Adorable Amy Adams. First, the 2020 adaptation of J.D. Vance's memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, directed by Ron Howard and written by Vanessa Taylor; co-starring Glenn Close, Gabriel Basso, Haley Bennett, and Frieda Pinto. Then I follow with 2021's The Woman in the Window, based on the novel by A.J. Finn, directed by Joe Wright, and written by Tracy Letts; co-starring Gary Oldman, Juli...
After my longest break yet, here I go giving this foolish endeavor another go-round, this time covering the 2002 Brian De Palma film Femme Fatale, starring Antonio Banderas and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. This was requested by my buddy Alec over a year ago, but then 2020 happened. Click here for the blog version of this episode.
It's listener request fulfillment time, so listen as your humble rambler awakens the sleeping giant of Whovians with his ignorant lack-of-knowledge as he rambles about the 1996 made-for-television film Doctor Who: The Movie, starring Paul McGann, Sylvester McCoy, Daphne Ashbrook, and Eric Roberts as The Master.
Click here for the blog-written version of this episode.
And click here for listener Kris Wallace's awesome book "Chuck S...
Greetings! Your lolly-gagging sometimes podcaster is back, just in time for Thanksgiving with ramblings on last October's All-Night Horror Show movie marathon at the world famous New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles. Listen as I attempt to describe my evening watching the films 1988's Edge of the Axe, 1967's Quatermass and the Pit, 1943's The Mad Ghoul, 2000's Cherry Falls, 1975's Demon Witch Child, and 1993's Body Snatchers.
Five months into the new year, I figured it was high time to get back in the saddle with my perverted player-hating ramblings on Jonah Hill's directorial debut from 2018, the semi-autobiographical coming-of-age film, Mid90s, starring Sunny Suljic, Katherine Waterston, Lucas Hedges, and Na-kel Smith.
Another requested episode -- dropped just in time for New Year's Eve -- in which I ramble about the 1999 made-for-cable adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol, directed by David Jones and starring Patrick Stewart as Ebenezer Scrooge.
By request, I ramble about Disney's 2017 live action Beauty and the Beast, directed by Bill Condon, starring Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Kevin Kline, and plenty of familiar faces providing their voices. Then I ramble a bit about the 1991 animated film as well. Click here for the blog version of these ramblings.
At the beginning of October, I went to The Frida Cinema in Santa Ana, CA. to attend Camp Frida, a 12-hour horror movie marathon, where I watched From Dusk Till Dawn; Shaun of the Dead; Insidious; Friday the 13th Part III 3D; 30 Days of Night; and Poltergeist (1982). In typical EFC fashion, I waited until the end of October to drop an episode about it. Click here for the blog version of these ramblings.
The 1998 talking bird film Paulie -- directed by John Roberts, written by Laurie Craig; starring Tony Shalhoub, Hallie Eisenberg, Gena Rowlands, Cheech Marin, and Jay Mohr as the voice of Paulie -- is one of actress Amy Adams' favorite films. I heart Amy Adams, so I checked the movie out to see if it was as precious as her. Click here for the written version of these ramblings on my blog.
After nearly a year of being both lazy and despondent, the EFC podcast is back with episode numero très where I ramble about the 2001 film Crazy/Beautiful directed by John Stockwell and starring Kirsten Dunst & Jay Hernandez. I say hurtful things about others, but worse than that, I pronounce the word "radio" as "rate-e-oh". Click here for the written version of these ramblings on my blog.
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
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The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.
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