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Enter The Void

100 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 4 years ago - ★★★★★ - 75 ratings

In this show, William Beutler and Renan Borelli, formerly of KubrickCast, examine one mind-bending film per episode. Directors whose films are likely to come up: David Lynch, Werner Herzog, Christopher Nolan, Terrence Malick, Terry Gilliam, Lars Von Trier, and yes, Stanley Kubrick.

TV & Film movies
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Episodes

SXE12: THE FINALE

July 10, 2019 15:45 - 2 hours - 134 MB

Believe it or not, we have arrived at the 100th and longest and final episode of ENTER THE VOID. On today's episode, your hosts Bill and Renan sit down together in person to reminisce about how they originally came up with the idea for this podcast, how they launched their earlier show KubrickCast, and even how they met in the first place. Next, they revisit their definition of a mindfuck movie for the last time, and then name their mindfuck "Mt. Rushmore" for both the greatest films covered...

SXE11: BLUE VELVET

June 26, 2019 14:30 - 2 hours - 123 MB

For our final regular episode of the podcast (yep, the whole thing) we finally come to one of the essential films of the mindfuck movie discussion, David Lynch's breakthrough as a popular artist, 1986's BLUE VELVET. Starring Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, Laura Dern, and of course Dennis Hopper, it was highly controversial upon release, and soon became the favorite film of academics and critical theorists—not to mention the late David Foster Wallace—and today stands as a film classic....

SXE10: GROUNDHOG DAY

June 12, 2019 14:30 - 1 hour - 82.8 MB

Our pick for this episode is not your usual, bog standard time travel psychological horror... but then again, maybe it is? Today we are doing GROUNDHOG DAY, the 1993 romantic comedy directed by Harold Ramis, starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell. A sleeper of a mindfuck, Groundhog Day warmed hearts and tickled funny bones when it debuted early in the Clinton era, but by the 21st century it had come to be recognized for its theological significance—and then YouTube got hold of it, and the ...

SXE9: PERFECT BLUE & PAPRIKA

May 29, 2019 14:35 - 1 hour - 76.5 MB

So this episode was supposed to be just about PERFECT BLUE, Satoshi Kon's 1997 animated psychological thriller. But we couldn't stop at just one! So Renan and Bill went ahead and watched PAPRIKA, his 2006 science-fiction opus too, which also sadly would be his last feature film. Today, your hosts talk about the life and career of Satoshi Kon, his incredible imagination and mastery of technique, and how both films examine themes of dual identities. Also discussed: Perfect Blue on the internet...

SXE8: THE FILMS OF LUIS BUÑUEL

May 15, 2019 14:35 - 1 hour - 76.4 MB

How have we got this far without discussing anything by the original film surrealist, Luis Buñuel? Well, today we rectify the situation and discuss not one but four films from the Spanish exile / expatriate moviemaking legend. In this episode, your hosts examine the previously promised UN CHIEN ANDALOU (1929), THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL (1962), and THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE (1972), plus one of his more accessible films, BELLE DE JOUR (1967) with Catherine Deneuve. Among the topics f...

SXE7: FIGHT CLUB

May 01, 2019 14:30 - 1 hour - 89.1 MB

At long last we get around to a movie that was on our mind when we started this podcast: FIGHT CLUB, the 1999 David Fincher film  starring Edward Norton, Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter, based on the 1996 Chuck Palahniuk novel of the same name. If you don't like politics with your movies, then today's show isn't for you, because Fight Club was born in controversy, released to Boomer acrimony, and then, once it attained cult status, attracted the unwanted—but not altogether surprising—appr...

SXE6: MINDF**K TELEVISION

April 17, 2019 14:30 - 2 hours - 151 MB

This episode is a little different: rather than taking on a single film or even the work of one director, the scope in this extra-long bonus episode is the greatest mindfucks across more than 50 years of TV history. In three separate segments, Bill and Renan each make their "Mount Rushmore" picks for the greatest television series, single episodes and standout moments in mindfuck TV. Shows discussed in this episode include: Twin Peaks, Black Mirror, LOST, The Leftovers, The X-Files, The Pris...

SXE5: THE FLY

April 03, 2019 14:30 - 1 hour - 78.9 MB

In today's episode, Bill and Renan return to the work of David Cronenberg—a director twice before discussed on this podcast—to consider the 1986 film many believe to be his masterpiece: THE FLY, starring Jeff Goldblum as a scientist who accidentally fuses his genes with a common housefly, and Geena Davis as the woman who loves him. So: is it actually Cronenberg's best film? Is this movie about aging, disease, and AIDS specifically? Or is it a cautionary tale about science and the nuclear age...

SXE4: BEING JOHN MALKOVICH

March 20, 2019 14:30 - 1 hour - 78.1 MB

In the waning months of the 20th century, a remarkable little film from a pair of unknown filmmakers arrived in US cinemas, and it became a bona fide sensation. That was BEING JOHN MALKOVICH (1999), written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonze, starring John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, and of course, John Malkovich. It was a formative film experience for your hosts, and twenty years later Bill and Renan revisit it for you today. Among the topics discussed: the film's re...

SXE3: INCEPTION

March 06, 2019 15:30 - 1 hour - 72.2 MB

How has this show never done a Christopher Nolan film before? Today your hosts rectify that and discuss his 2010 film INCEPTION, a $800 million-grossing summer blockbuster with no pre-established IP, unless being the next film by the guy who made The Dark Knight somehow counts. In this episode, Renan and Bill discuss: whether this and other Nolan features are truly mindfucks or mere puzzle films; whether they work on a second time viewing; how Nolan uses time, editing, and music to achieve h...

SXE2: 8½ 

February 20, 2019 15:30 - 1 hour - 79.5 MB

Today Renan and Bill lose their neorealist chains and grapple with the 1963 Federico Fellini film 8½, hailed by armchair film scholars as one of the greatest films of all time. More than 50 years on, how does it hold up? Undoubtedly and deservedly a classic, 8½ today looks different than it did in the 1960s, or even the 1990s. In this episode: 8½'s attitudes toward women; Pauline Kael's critical review; Guido's heirs including Don Draper; Fellini's virtuosic filmmaking; whither the imperial ...

SXE1: 12 MONKEYS / LA JETÉE

February 06, 2019 15:55 - 1 hour - 67.7 MB

We're back with the first of our last run of episodes, and today's episode is a two-for-one deal: we mostly discuss Terry Gilliam's 1996* time travel thriller 12 MONKEYS, with Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe and Brad Pitt, and weave throughout discussion of the 1962 French featurette that inspired it, LA JETÉE. Discussed in this episode: how does time travel work (or not) in these movies? What do we think happens after the events of 12 Monkeys? Is there anything La Jetée does better? What less...

SXE0: PREVIEW

January 23, 2019 15:30 - 32 minutes - 30.2 MB

Well, what have we here—it's the tenth season of ENTER THE VOID! Your patience has been rewarded: Bill and Renan are back for what we are gratuitously terming "Season X". (Multiple pronunciations accepted.) This time, we're doing things a little bit differently. The good news: we'll be doing 10 films instead of 8; we're going bimonthly, which may be bad if you need your fix, or good if you already have a lot of podcast obligations (we know the feeling); and we're doing a couple of bonus epis...

S9E8: THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER

October 31, 2018 15:40 - 1 hour - 70.3 MB

At last, it's the season 9 finale, and we go out with a bang: THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER by writer-director Yorgos Lanthimos and co-writer Efthymis Filippou is one of the most searing film experiences of the last few years. Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, and Barry Keoghan star in this family drama / suspense thriller / haunted house / horror film, which despite being a tough hang that no one's really sure what it's about, was also widely praised upon release in 2017. In this episode, your h...

S9E7: ALTERED STATES

October 24, 2018 14:30 - 1 hour - 63 MB

For the penultimate episode of season 9, your hosts alter their consciousness and explore ALTERED STATES, a 1980 sci-fi horror film written by Paddy Chayefsky, directed by Ken Russell, and today known as much for its far-out story as for its creators' infamous feud. William Hurt stars as Eddie Jessup, an academic whose experiments with sensory deprivation and hallucinogenic drugs lead him to "regress" to an earlier evolutionary state. (Literally!) Fully committed and totally bonkers, Alter...

S9E6: SUNSHINE

October 17, 2018 14:30 - 1 hour - 63.2 MB

In today's episode, your hosts grapple with the Danny Boyle-directed, Alex Garland-written 2007 science-fiction horror-thriller SUNSHINE. A commercial failure at the time, with a mixed reception among critics, the film has over the past decade gained an appreciable cult following. But what do your hosts think? Is it a spooky, contemplative outer space film with some third act troubles? Is it a stylish but conceptually thin entertainment that needed a major rethink? Maybe both! You'll just ha...

S9E5: JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN

October 10, 2018 14:30 - 1 hour - 65 MB

Once nearly impossible to find and now... still pretty tough to obtain via legitimate means, Dalton Trumbo's JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN—the 1971 film he wrote and directed based on his own 1939 novel—is both legendary and forgotten at the same time. It tells the disturbing tale of a young soldier who loses his limbs and nearly all of his senses, but whose mind remains intact as he's trapped inside his own body in a military hospital. Adapted into Metallica's music video "One" and rubbing shoulders w...

S9E4: ANGEL HEART

October 03, 2018 14:30 - 1 hour - 67.2 MB

Alan Parker's 1987 ANGEL HEART contains explicit sex, voodoo rituals, amnesia, chickens, and a few shocking twists that your hosts figured out at different points. In today's episode, they reveal when they knew what and compare their impressions of this not-quite-successful but still semi-legendary Hollywood thriller, now more than thirty years old. Combining elements of gothic horror and film noir, featuring performances from early period Mickey Rourke, mid-period Robert DeNiro, and only-pe...

S9E3: FANTASTIC PLANET

September 26, 2018 14:40 - 1 hour - 73.4 MB

Our third episode this season is about the semi-obscure but recently-Criterioned 1973 French animated film FANTASTIC PLANET, or La Planète Sauvage (literally, "wild planet"), from the minds of René Laloux and Roland Topor, with music by Alain Goraguer, based on a novel by Stefan Wul. It's a psychedelic audiovisual trip, and tells the story of an advanced alien society of blue people who like to meditate almost as much as they like to toy with the fates of the comparatively-tiny humanoids who...

S9E2: RAW

September 19, 2018 14:33 - 1 hour - 69.4 MB

Is Julia Ducornau's 2016 film RAW (French: Grave) a coming of age film about cannibalism? A body horror film about family relationships? A tale of sexual discovery and veterinary practices? Yes, no, and maybe—but not necessarily in that order! In this episode, Bill and Renan consider a film they might not otherwise have been drawn to... with sexy results! Discussed: what the film has to say about cannibalism and teenage sexuality, not to mention college hazing rituals; whether Raw is a true ...

S9E1: TOTAL RECALL

September 12, 2018 14:30 - 1 hour - 78.9 MB

It's not too often that we examine a major Hollywood blockbuster on this show, but it's not too often that the studios release something as baffling as TOTAL RECALL, and by that we mean the original 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger–Paul Verhoeven sci-fi schlockfest. Is it all a dream? Did he read Word Up! magazine? Did Quaid ever get his ass to Mars, or is he lobotomized in the chair at Rekall? We may never know for sure, but in this first episode of our ninth season, your hosts Renan and Bill go ...

S9E0: PREVIEW

September 05, 2018 14:00 - 17 minutes - 24.1 MB

Get excited... the ninth season of ENTER THE VOID begins next week, and today we present our patented "episode zero" with a short preview of the eight films we'll be covering in the weeks ahead. Once again, major thanks to the ETV Podcast Club for helping pick the films for discussion. Here's what's we've got for you: Total Recall (Verhoeven, 1990) Raw (Ducournau, 2016) Fantastic Planet (Laloux, 1973) Angel Heart (Parker, 1987) Johnny Got His Gun (Trumbo, 1971) Sunshine (Boyle, 20...

S8E8: BATTLE ROYALE

May 30, 2018 14:41 - 1 hour - 81.7 MB

For the final episode of our eighth season, your co-hosts revisit a dorm room film classic, the 2000 action-adventure-thriller-satire BATTLE ROYALE, about a Japanese classroom forced to fight to the death on an abandoned island. Upon release in Japan, it was both hugely controversial and hugely profitable. But in most of the Western world, it didn't receive a proper release for another dozen years. In between, it both attained an exalted cult status and maybe (or maybe not?) inspired one of ...

S8E7: MOON

May 23, 2018 13:19 - 1 hour - 64.6 MB

For the penultimate episode of our eighth season, we consider MOON, Duncan Jones' 2009 debut science fiction picture, starring Sam Rockwell, Sam Rockwell, and the disembodied voice of someone you probably now wish wasn't involved in this picture. Discussed in today's show: how the film deploys its twists; what it has to say about cloning and artificial intelligence; references to 2001: A Space Odyssey and other films; and, what has Jones been up to since? Episode links: Moon on IMDb Moo...

S8E6: UNDER THE SKIN

May 16, 2018 17:51 - 1 hour - 69.4 MB

What did you think of Jonathan Glazer's 2013 minimalist sci-fi UNDER THE SKIN, starring Scarlett Johansson? Did it all make sense when you watched it the first time? Or did it only reveal it to yourself after another viewing? Today your hosts, Bill and Renan, come at it from different perspectives and have, well, different perspectives on it. Topics discussed include how the film was made and what it means, how it differs from the book and early scripts, and how it relates to ScarJo's stardo...

S8E5: THE HOLY MOUNTAIN

May 09, 2018 14:30 - 1 hour - 72.4 MB

Wow, THE HOLY MOUNTAIN sure is something! Alejandro Jodorowsky's 1973 follow-up to El Topo is a wild psychedelic trip, a critique of the militarization of 20th century life, and even a satire of the counterculture that spawned it. At least, we think. Today, Bill and Renan try to explain to each other what they think happened in the movie, what it's supposed to be about, recount how the film was made, how it disappeared from public view, how it's influenced other artists in the years since—an...

S8E4: REPO MAN

May 02, 2018 18:15 - 1 hour - 62.4 MB

REPO MAN (1984) is a bit of a departure from our usual kind of film, and boy is it worth it: written and directed by Alex Cox and starring Emilio Estevez and Harry Dean Stanton, Repo Man is a gritty, funny, occasionally baffling ride through 1980s LA, through a wasteland of generic brands, smarmy televangelists, flying cars stuffed with aliens, and fears of nuclear annihilation. Your hosts explore these themes, plus: how the film was saved by punk and yet challenges the idea, what kind of ko...

S8E3: AUDITION

April 25, 2018 14:30 - 1 hour - 67.2 MB

This week, the delightful motion picture under discussion is Takashi Miike's AUDITION (1999), which you definitely should not read about before you watch this movie—not to mention listen to this podcast. Once you're all caught up, rejoin us as your hosts attempt to explain the film's second half, discuss misogyny and #metoo as well as sympathy for flawed characters, torture porn and gearshift movies, creepy romantic comedy tropes, parental advisories, and whether your hosts have ever lied to...

S8E2: STALKER

April 18, 2018 14:30 - 1 hour - 57.8 MB

For our second episode of the season, your hosts return to the eerie beauty, philosophical pondering, and deliberate pacing of Andrei Tarkovsky with STALKER (1979). Less a science fiction film than Solaris and more of an unconventional road movie, Stalker takes the viewer on a journey through a mysterious Zone where three protagonists seek the fulfillment of their greatest desires at risk of equally great peril. Or... do they? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Meanwhile, Renan and Bill discuss the film's infamously...

S8E1: AMERICAN PSYCHO

April 11, 2018 14:30 - 1 hour - 71.7 MB

For the eighth season premiere of ENTER THE VOID, we're tackling Mary Harron's 2000 adaptation of AMERICAN PSYCHO, based on the Bret Easton Ellis novel of the same name. Originating as one of the most controversial novels of the 1990s to becoming one of the most iconic films of the 2000s, there's a lot to unpack here: the uneasy balance between satire and horror; how a dark fantasy of male rage became a feminist statement; how the novel and film differently present the character of Patrick B...

S8E0: PREVIEW

April 04, 2018 14:35 - 23 minutes - 32.6 MB

Our long national nightmare is over! Wait, no it's not. But at least here's some good news: Season 8 of ENTER THE VOID is coming! Renan and Bill are back with today's preview episode, giving you the rundown on what you need to watch to keep up with us over the next eight weeks. And a big shout-out to our fans in our Podcast Club, who picked every single one of this season's films. Here's the lineup: American Psycho (Harron, 2000) Stalker (Tarkovsky, 1979) Audition (Miike, 1999) Repo M...

S7E8: ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND

January 31, 2018 15:30 - 1 hour - 95.8 MB

For the final installment of the seventh season, Bill and Renan welcome back third season guest Ray Patnaude to discuss ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND. Chances are good you not only have heard of it, but it's very possibly a favorite film of almost everyone you know. In this finale episode, the trio discuss how they felt about it on release and upon revisiting; the techniques director Michel Gondry and writer Charlie Kaufman deploy to make it both emotionally effective as well as drea...

S7E7: FUNNY GAMES

January 24, 2018 15:30 - 1 hour - 59.5 MB

Which FUNNY GAMES is your favorite? Is it the Michael Haneke film about a bourgeois couple subjected to home invasion by a pair of sadistic killers from 1997, or the Michael Haneke film about a bourgeois couple subjected to home invasion by a pair of sadistic killers from 2007? Is either of these films your favorite telling of this particular story? In today's episode, Renan and Bill compare the two versions, try to understand what Haneke was trying to say with them, explore what is compelli...

S7E6: MOTHER!

January 17, 2018 16:30 - 1 hour - 64.3 MB

Today we're talking about arguably 2017's most controversial film, and one of the most controversial on this podcast: Darren Aronofsky's MOTHER! (technically, mother!) starring JLaw, JBard, Ed Harris, and Michelle Pfeiffer. Plus, joining us to bring a skeptical point of view is Vulture's movies editor, Rachel Handler! In this episode: mother! as Biblical allegory and environmental parable; or, is the movie actually all about being a demanding artist?; the religious concept of eternal return ...

S7E5: WEEKEND

January 10, 2018 15:30 - 1 hour - 59.6 MB

Jean-Luc Godard's 1967 WEEKEND (or WEEK-END, if you prefer) is a scathing political satire if you understand what's going on, or a long strange trip if you don't. Your hosts have been on both sides of this divide, and today they come together to talk about seeing the film as a clueless undergrad; Tarantino and Wheatley as JLG fans and other films it influenced; the automobile and capitalist society; anti-colonialist speeches with sandwiches; a digression on the legacies of Hunter S. Thompson...

S7E4: HIGH-RISE

January 03, 2018 16:38 - 59 minutes - 54.8 MB

To discuss Ben Wheatley's 2015 dystopian drama HIGH-RISE—based on the J.G. Ballard novel of the same name, adapted for the screen by Amy Jump, and starring Tom Hiddleston and Jeremy Irons—we welcome to the show Simon Owens, a past colleague of Bill and Renan's and a journalist based in DC. The film looks and sounds amazing, the source material is first-rate, and the acting is all around superb. So why does this movie actually make less sense than some of the crazier movies we've talked about...

S7E3: BARTON FINK

December 27, 2017 15:30 - 58 minutes - 53.8 MB

Today ENTER THE VOID considers its first (and maybe last?) Coen Brothers film, 1991's BARTON FINK, starring John Turturro and John Goodman. Examined in detail: how this movie swept Cannes and is somewhat overlooked today; what it has to say about about writers and writing; Barton Fink's real-life influences and Hollywood wrestling pictures; its amazingly detailed Wikipedia page; and, is this a classic mind-bender of the sort this podcast is supposed to be about? Barton Fink links: Barton ...

S7E2: HAUSU (ハウス)

December 20, 2017 15:30 - 58 minutes - 53.7 MB

Nobuhiko Obayashi's 1977 HAUSU (or ハウス, or HOUSE) is possibly the most insane movie we've ever discussed on Enter The Void Podcast—and that's really saying something! This week Renan and Bill are joined by Teo Bugbee, who brought this psychedelic slapstick haunted house bubblegum horror comedy to our attention. And yet, as crazy as it is, it's also immensely enjoyable, and worthy of discussion for its distillation of childhood fears, commentary on the atom bomb, debatable feminist content, a...

S7E1: DARK CITY

December 13, 2017 16:50 - 1 hour - 65.6 MB

Alex Proyas' DARK CITY is a tough one to properly summarize. It's not just that it's part film noir, part horror and part science fiction. It's also that its critical esteem, cult status, and lasting influence have never really found a point of consensus. In this episode, Bill and Renan try to figure out how to regard the film's reputation, especially in light (so to speak) of the 2008 director's cut. Plus: if Dark City was made today, would it be a video game?; why Roger Ebert loved it so m...

S7E0: PREVIEW

December 06, 2017 16:01 - 10 minutes - 14.8 MB

Season 7 of ENTER THE VOID is nearly upon us! In today's preview episode, Renan and Bill quickly run through the list of films to be discussed over the next eight episodes, so you can watch with us and get the most out of these discussions. The films are: Dark City (Proyas, 1998) Hausu (Obayashi, 1977) Barton Fink (Coens, 1991) High-Rise (Wheatley, 2015) Weekend (Godard, 1967) mother! (Aronofsky, 2017) Funny Games (Haneke, 1997) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Gondry, 2...

TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN - PART III

September 29, 2017 21:18 - 1 hour - 106 MB

For the last installment of our three-part special series on TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN, we have two more interviews: Bill talks with Alex Fulton, author of a widely-read essay arguing the final two episodes are meant to be watched in sync; and Renan has a conversation with writer Alex Pappademas, formerly of Grantland, GQ, SPIN and MTV News, about the the origins of his Twin Peaks fandom, his double reaction as a fan and critic, critical response to the show, analysis of episode 8, and Fire Wal...

TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN - PART II

September 27, 2017 17:56 - 56 minutes - 51.5 MB

We're back with the second installment of our three-part series on TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN! In this episode, former guests Brian Gluckman (The Congress, Oldboy) and Mark Netter (Videodrome, Last Year at Marienbad) return to share their views on David Lynch's Showtime series. With Brian: the idea of television as art, whether or not there should be a season 4, and the possible influence of musicians Richard and Linda Thompson. With Mark: The Return as the summation of Lynch's career, connectio...

TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN - PART I

September 25, 2017 14:30 - 1 hour - 59.6 MB

Through the first 50+ episodes of its existence, ENTER THE VOID has kept its eye on the feature film. But today the show returns from its customary inter-seasonal hiatus for a very special reason: David Lynch's astonishing TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN is now over, and your hosts couldn't live with themselves if they didn't give it the consideration it deserves. In this first of three special episodes, Renan and Bill share their thoughts and feelings on the show's 18-episode run; offer their half-b...

S6E8: MULHOLLAND DRIVE

September 06, 2017 14:30 - 1 hour - 79.1 MB

For the final episode of season 6, Renan and Bill tackle a biggie: it's David Lynch's 2001 masterwork MULHOLLAND DR., which many view as Lynch's greatest movie, and some critics even consider the best film of the young century. In this extra-long episode, your hosts get right down to it and explain how their views on it have evolved over repeat viewings; try to explain how Diane's real world and Betty's dream world are connected; examine a few of Lynch's "10 clues" to the film; recount the f...

S6E7: DEAD MAN

August 30, 2017 15:41 - 1 hour - 65.7 MB

Starring an early career Johnny Depp with a rogue's gallery of great American and British character actors, Jim Jarmusch's 1995 DEAD MAN is one of the coolest, independentest movies around. In this episode, your hosts discuss: the widely divergent critical reactions, the similarly divisive Neil Young soundtrack, the influences of English poet William Blake and surrealist Henri Michaux, and your hosts' differing thoughts on Western films. Plus, the greatness of Tommy Boy. Film links: Dead ...

S6E6: THE DARK CRYSTAL

August 24, 2017 02:39 - 57 minutes - 52.4 MB

Jim Henson and Frank Oz's 1982 film THE DARK CRYSTAL is dark, morbid, and yet still ostensibly for kids. Bill and Renan consider this movie's most terrifying elements, other beloved disturbing works intended for audiences of children, and how puppets and CGI characters can fall into the "uncanny valley." Does this movie need a Han Solo? How much can you buy a Henson puppet for? What's the deal with the upcoming Netflix series? Film links: The Dark Crystal on IMDb The Dark Crystal on Wik...

S6E5: THX 1138

August 16, 2017 15:53 - 56 minutes - 52.1 MB

As the first film of a director who only made a half-dozen films in 50 years, 1971's THX 1138 might be an obscure discovery. But as it happens, it's the directorial debut of merchandising tie-in billionaire George Lucas, and it's just weird enough to merit analysis by your loyal hosts. Today Bill and Renan ask: is THX more like Nineteen Eighty-Four or Brave New World? is it visionary, derivative, or a combination of both? where did George Lucas find so many bald people? can we actually compa...

S6E4: GUMMO

August 09, 2017 14:38 - 51 minutes - 47.2 MB

This week your hosts consider Harmony Korine's infamous 1997 low-budget freak fest GUMMO, a hillbilly elegy of cat-killing, glue-sniffing, eyebrow-shaving and, most memorably, chair-wrestling. Loved and hated by critics, admired by one co-host as a nihilistic suburban teenager and previously avoided by the other, Korine's directorial debut is tough to get one's head around—but they try! Also addressed: Korine's career trajectory, his comic pastiche of a novel, and his legendary appearances o...

S6E3: UPSTREAM COLOR

August 02, 2017 16:10 - 1 hour - 57 MB

Good news: this week Bill and Renan talk about Shane Carruth's 2013 transcendent sci-fi romance UPSTREAM COLOR! Bad news: now they're all out of Shane Carruth films. Famously directed, written, starring, scored and edited by Carruth himself, UC is much different than his cult debut Primer—an ETV selection in season 1—a more ethereal, impressionistic, and even mature film. Questions your hosts attempt to answer in this episode: how much does the look and feel of this film owe to Terrence Mali...

S6E2: TETSUO 鉄男

July 26, 2017 17:37 - 56 minutes - 51.7 MB

Shinya Tsukamoto's 1989 short feature TETSUO: THE IRON MAN borrows from Lynch's Eraserhead and Cronenberg's Videodrome—both films discussed in ETV's second season —and creates something entirely its own. Clocking in at a slender 67 minutes and blessedly shot in B&W to maximize gore while minimizing your hosts covering their eyes, Tetsuo is a cyberpunk-meets-splatterpunk anime come to life. Also discussed in this episode: Tsukamoto's encounters with Tarantino and Scorsese; comparisons to Evil...

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