There's Sometimes a Buggy
477 episodes - English - Latest episode: 7 days ago - ★★★★ - 14 ratingsJoin Dave and Elise every week for a buggy-ride of cinematic exploration. A bilingual Montreal native and a Prairies hayseed gravitate to Toronto for the film culture, meet on OK Cupid, and spur on each other's movie-love, culminating in this podcast. Expect in-depth discussion of their old favourites (mostly studio-era Hollywood) and their latest frontiers (courtesy of the TIFF Cinematheque and various Toronto rep houses and festivals).
The podcast will be comprised of several potentially never-ending series:
- Fear & Moviegoing in Toronto: Our Perspectives on Choice Local Retrospectives
- Hollywood Studios – Year by Year: Deep-cut dishing on Paramount, MGM, Warner Brothers, RKO, Fox, and Universal items from 1930 to 1948.
- Acteurist oeuvre-views of worthy on-camera creatives, beginning with Jennifer Jones and Setsuko Hara.
- And a big parade of special subjects hand-chosen by whichever of your hosts happens to have a handle on this buggy that week
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Episodes
Man of the Century (1999) and The Sticky Fingers of Time (1997)
November 18, 2015 04:29 - 2 hours - 38.3 MBElise and Dave look at two late-90s, low-budget, little-known indies, the high- concept/single-gag (depending on your point of view) MAN OF THE CENTURY (1999) and the ahead-of-its time (linearly speaking) THE STICKY FINGERS OF TIME (1997). Frank Gorshin's presence in the former film occasions autobiographical digressions about your hosts' abortive adventures in screenwriting. Dave inexplicably neglects to mention that the protagonist of his screenplay was a nicotine-addicted rabbit who subst...
Sapphire & Steel: Assignment #1 - Escape Through a Crack in Time (1979)
October 27, 2015 04:06 - 1 hour - 25.2 MBDave and Elise are assigned to guide you through the "bloody-minded impenetrability" (in the words of THE SCI-FI FREAK SITE) of obscure, no-budget British TV cult show SAPPHIRE AND STEEL (1979-82), about the strangest time police possibly in the history of the concept. In "Assignment 1," sometimes known as "Escape Through a Crack in Time," a cozy, isolated bourgeois household is invaded by the horrors of history when a nursery rhyme opens a time corridor that snatches away the parents, and o...
X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) and Uncanny X-Men #141-142 (1981)
October 16, 2015 01:49 - 2 hours - 36.3 MBDave and Elise concentrate on one movie, X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST (2014), in this episode, in order to leave time for grappling with mixed feelings about the cinematic legacy of superhero comics. We even went back to the original texts (Uncanny X-Men #141 and #142), just to get into the proper spirit of this thing. Then it's on to Bryan Singer's opus. Is Peter Dinklage's performance as Bolivar Trask a “big turd that just lies there”? Can anyone defend Magneto's trajectory in this film as p...
Twilight Zone Time Travel Sampler - Walking Distance; A Stop at Willoughby; The Trouble With Templeton
September 25, 2015 15:51 - 2 hours - 31.9 MBIn this “sampler” 'cast we consider three classic-series TWILIGHT ZONE episodes, “Walking Distance,” “A Stop at Willoughby,” and “The Trouble with Templeton,” which cover a range of narrative possibilities for time-travel scenarios of longing for the personal or cultural past. But what does it have to do with Freud's death drive? Or Leslie Fiedler's interpretation of American masculinity in LOVE AND DEATH IN THE AMERICAN NOVEL? Does Rod Serling's critique of the mid-century, middle-class Ame...
Dangerous Corner (1934) and Repeat Performance (1947)
September 11, 2015 04:40 - 2 hours - 31.6 MBDavid and Elise nearly expire on a ludicrously hot Labour Day in order to record our labour of love and bring you our discussion of two spec-fic curiosities from Hollywood's classical era that confirm last episode's Lynchapalooza as central to our topic. We propose DANGEROUS CORNER (1934), based on a play by “time-slip” dramatist and theorist J. B. Priestley, as the missing link between Henry James's weirdo novella The SACRED FOUNT and MULHOLLAND DR; while REPEAT PERFORMANCE (1947), a STAR ...
Mulholland Dr. (2001) and Inland Empire (2006)
August 28, 2015 02:12 - 4 hours - 62.9 MBA very special extravaganza in which Dave and Elise return to themes of temporal strangeness, alternate universes, transdimensional beings, and doubling in David Lynch. We contemplate how Laura Dern in INLAND EMPIRE (2006) is like Scott Bakula in QUANTUM LEAP, and how the final section of MULHOLLAND DR (2001) might be like the alternate universe in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. If you are a person who cares about the good life, you will enjoy this podcast episode. Time Table 0:00 Mulholland Dr...
The Philadelphia Experiment (1984) and The Final Countdown (1980)
August 04, 2015 03:44 - 2 hours - 37.9 MBIn this episode of the podcast, Dave and Elise contemplate two movies about time travel and the military, one of which takes us from WWII to the 80s (THE PHILADELPHIA EXPERIMENT, 1984) and the other in the opposite direction (THE FINAL COUNTDOWN, 1980). We contemplate Nancy Allen's power to soothe Dave and Martin Sheen's weird second-hand Stockholm effect on Elise, and prove not to know such basic facts as whether deserts are subject to seasonal temperature changes and whether there were hel...
Lost in Austen (2008)
July 24, 2015 03:43 - 2 hours - 34.1 MBWhat happens when Jane Austen meets Back to the Future? In LOST IN AUSTEN (2008), a modern-day Pride and Prejudice fan travels to the fictional past and tries not to screw up the canon pairings, but it's hard when you're irresistible to every man in the story, and some of the women. Dave and Elise try to figure out if Mary Sue can ever be an adequate substitute for Elizabeth Bennet, and whether the latter would really choose the internet over Mr. Darcy. Elise struggles to remember what she a...
Terminator: Genisys (2015)
July 12, 2015 19:38 - 1 hour - 17.8 MBIt's sequel time on Another Kind of Distance as Elise Moore and David Fiore tackle Alan Taylor's Terminator Genisys (2015). We attempt to peel away its Primer-like layers of plot complexity and find ourselves wondering if the writers even realize that those layers are there. Is it possible that they forgot to cast the "prime" mover of the alternate universe that takes shape in this film? Also: David finds a flimsy pretext for working in a reference to old Marvel comics. Don't forget, you...
Midnight in Paris (2011) and Sleeper (1973)
June 26, 2015 02:21 - 2 hours - 28.1 MBIn this episode Dave and Elise accompany Woody Allen on his temporal travels, to the past (MIDNIGHT IN PARIS) and future (SLEEPER), and discover, without much surprise, that he likes the past better. Find out why Woody Allen has it in for utopias, why Elise has it in for Woody Allen, and why Dave and Elise think that MIDNIGHT IN PARIS may be the ultimate Valium movie. Also – we celebrate the receipt of our first e-mail at [email protected]. Oh frabjous day! Don't forget, you c...
Groundhog Day (1993) and Edge of Tomorrow (2014}
May 24, 2015 19:08 - 2 hours - 30.4 MBThe two movies Elise Moore and David Fiore discuss in this episode epitomize the maxim, “If at first you don't succeed...”. In Groundhog Day, Bill Murray, at the splendid height of his original sarcastic comedic persona, is given apparently limitless chances to accept limitation and adjust his attitude, which is the amount he needs; while the curious Edge of Tomorrow examines the ways in which the structure of Groundhog Day (although nothing else about it) resembles a video game, and slaps a...
Lost Highway (1997) and Donnie Darko (2001)
April 23, 2015 23:20 - 2 hours - 40 MBDave and Elise contemplate two movies that share a warped sense of time and humour and the kind of reticence about meaning and what's even actually happening that induces hyperinterpretation. In the process we discover that we can talk about a David Lynch film for two hours even when it's not one of our favourites. We need your help figuring out what's happening in these movies - the time travel, if there is any, and the rest of it too! Send your theories to [email protected]...
City on the Edge of Forever (Star Trek TOS) and The Girl in the Fireplace (New Who)
April 05, 2015 19:24 - 2 hours - 30.5 MBIn Part 2 of our Nimoy tribute, we look at two TV episodes dealing with time travel romance. If you've been listening to the show for a while (or even just listened to the first episode), you may already suspect that time travel + romance =/= good times all around. We contemplate the problems for writers of tragedy created by having a time-travelling hero. Also, Elise would like to apologize once and for all for always saying "cyberpunk" when she means "steampunk" (or in this case, gearpunk)...
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) and Star Trek (2009)
March 19, 2015 04:01 - 2 hours - 32.7 MBIn this episode we join the rest of the internet in paying tribute to Leonard Nimoy and his indelible creation, Mr. Spock, by looking at two time-travel movies in which he plays a key role. First we look at the Nimoy-conceived-and-directed Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), a lighthearted adventure in which Spock discovers his affinity for humpback whales and his uncanny naivety seems to spread to the rest of the crew – including Kirk, who has trouble mackin' under these conditions. Then ...
The Terminator; Terminator 2: Judgement Day; Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
February 20, 2015 02:48 - 2 hours - 39.6 MB"Come with us if you want to listen!" Elise Moore and David Fiore examine James Cameron's (and James Mostow's) Terminator mythos, which offers several different perspectives on the time travel story. Is this a loop narrative? An alternate universe tale? Depends which entry in the series you happen to be watching. Join us for another lengthy podcasting triathlon! Along the way, Elise will delight in her discovery of Arnold Schwarzeneggar's Garboesque qualities and you will no doubt share i...
Happy Accidents (2000) and Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)
January 16, 2015 04:54 - 1 hour - 25.7 MBIn their first podcast of 2015, Elise Moore and David Fiore examine a pair of wistfully off-kilter comedies that are lightly haunted by the suggestion of temporal alterity. First up, we've got Brad Anderson's Happy Accidents (2000), which is about the closest thing to a Capra time travel comedy-drama that you are ever likely to see, complete with a Mr. Deed (Vincent D'Onofrio) and with Marisa Tomei playing the Jean Arthur role in a slightly more likely to hit you with something key. Then i...
A Chistmas Carol (1951) and It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
December 15, 2014 02:23 - 4 hours - 57.5 MBSeason's Greetings from Another Kind of Distance! We've got an extra special (or, at any rate, an extra long) episode for you this time out. Our chronogically confused Christmas begins with the great Alastair Sim version of Dickens' Christmas Carol, which hit British screens as Scrooge in 1951. Then we try our hands at giving out wings by wringing all of the meaning we can out of one of the finest Hollywood films ever made: Frank Capra's It's Wonderful Life (1946). We 'd write more, bu...
Interstellar
November 24, 2014 02:41 - 2 hours - 30.4 MBIn an AKOD first, Elise Moore and David Fiore cover a film that is playing at your local cinema right now (unless you're listening to this in the future - and, if so, I hope you like corn). It's Christopher Nolan's Interstellar! Starring Matthew McConnaghy, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, Jessica Chastain, some robots, and a whole bunch of other people who wanted to hang out with the Nolan brothers for some reason. As befits a current-release discussion, we get more intertextual than usua...
12 Monkeys (1995) and The Jacket (2005)
November 10, 2014 00:29 - 2 hours - 29.3 MBHello everyone! This evening, Elise Moore and David Fiore accompany a pair of distraught time troopers through the Foucauldian looking glass, wondering the whole time whether any of this stuff is really happening. Our first film is Terry Gilliam's justly-celebrated 12 Monkeys (1995), starring Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, and Brad Pitt. Yes, it's based on Chris Marker's La jetée, but we'll get to that one some other time, okay? The second item on our double-consciousness double billing ...
Back to the Future (1985), Back to the Future II (1989), and Back to the Future III (1990)
October 17, 2014 03:25 - 2 hours - 39.5 MBRev your volume up to 88 and get set for our marathon discussion of all three Back to the Future films! Spoiler alert - these films have some pretty serious problems - perhaps best exemplified by Elisabeth Shue's TWO MOVIE-long nap! Back to the Future II makes About Time seem like a major advance in gender representation. But for better or worse, David Fiore and Elise Moore grew up in the 1980s, and we can't go back there and make ourselves not care about these movies! Moreover, there are a ...
Timecrimes (2007) and Primer (2004)
September 21, 2014 19:34 - 2 hours - 29.6 MBThis is the one you've been waiting for! Elise Moore and David Fiore tackle two of the preeminent weisentimer puzzle films in the chrono canon (note: one of these puzzles comes complete with missing pieces). First up is Nacho Vigolando's Timecrimes (2007), featuring Karra Elejalde, Barbara Goenaga (tellingly cast-listed as "La Chica en el Bosque" - although we were just calling her The Cyclist), and the director himself. Then, we do our best to enter the Primer (2004) fray - battling the...
The Elements of Time Travel - A Look Back
September 04, 2014 04:02 - 1 hour - 23.3 MBThis episode, Elise Moore and David Fiore try to stop time and pause to reflect upon what has come before. We explore a few scientific theories regarding the possibility of time travel (from a lay perspective, of course), and then wade into the narratological uses of time in the movies we've watched with you. We hope former fellow Torontonian Northrup Frye would be proud of our efforts to anatomize anachronicity. Please don't hesitate to contact us, either at [email protected]...
13 Going on 30 (2004) and About Time (2013)
August 22, 2014 03:48 - 2 hours - 35.9 MBIt's Rom-Chron time on Another Kind of Distance! Elise Moore and David Fiore confront the ecstasies and the banalities of quixotic, tick-tockic love amongst the comfortable classes. On the menu this week: a glimpse of the ways in which the amnesia narrative and the time travel narrative proper become virtually indistinguishable; some discussion of the relationship between subjectivity and timelines; Schrödinger's Braces; and a lot of trash talk directed at Alain De Botton and Chuck Woolery...
The Butterfly Effect (2004) and The Time Traveler's Wife (2009)
August 14, 2014 03:39 - 2 hours - 35.2 MBThis time out, Elise Moore and David Fiore explore the heartbreak of chrono displacement syndrome. Perhaps because their parents watched too many time travel movies during the gestation period, each of our wayfarers are genetically predisposed to kick against the ticks of the clock - although they do so in spectacularly different ways. First up, we've got Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber's grim The Butterfly Effect (2004), starring Ashton Kutcher (that's not easy to say), Amy Smart, Melora W...
The Time Machine (1960) and Time After Time (1979)
August 13, 2014 03:38 - 2 hours - 29.4 MBIn this week's episode, Elise Moore and David Fiore journey back to genre basics with a pair of O.G. time machine movies - both of which feature the orginal time machine itself. We're speaking, of course, of H.G. Wells' eponymous chrono contraption from the great science fictioneer's 1895 novel. We begin with George Pal's 1960 adaptation of The Time Machine, starring Rod Taylor, Alan ("Uncle Scrooge") Young, Tom ("Gavin Elster") Helmore, and Yvette Mimieux. From there, we jostle around t...
Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
August 08, 2014 04:19 - 2 hours - 28.1 MBThis time out, Elise Moore and David Fiore set forth to explore the interior distances within the human psyche. Along the way, we question the proprietary nature of memory and gesture toward a theory of romantic stoicism. First up is Francis Ford Coppola's wistful PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED, starring Kathleen Turner, a young Nicolas Cage (voice-acted by Nicolas Cage's most impish impulses), Jim Carrey, Catherine Hicks, Joan Allen, Kevin J. O'Connor, Barry Miller, Don Murray, Maureen O'Sullivan,...
Somewhere in Time (1980) and Portrait of Jennie (1948)
August 04, 2014 04:10 - 2 hours - 27.6 MB{{Discaimer}} This episode sounds a bit "hollow", as we tried to record it with a fan on and then removed the noise in edits. Think of it as a communique from the liminal realm beyond the 4th dimension. {{End of disclaimer}} We begin in a state of heated passion, with a pair of meditations on love, artistic inspiration, renunciation, and the tragic fate of time tossed muses. Our travels commence with Jeannot Szwarc's Somewhere in Time (1980), starring Christopher Reeve, Jane Se...