Gareth Edwards Films: Godzilla (2014)

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This week we discuss one of the most important revolutionary films ever produced, "The Battle of Algiers." Directed by Gillo Pontecorvo and staring Jean Martin, Saadi Yacef, Brahim Hadjadj and Tommaso Neri, the film was released in 1966 and portrays the actions undertaken by rebels during the Algerian War against the French occupation of Algeria. Released only four years after the Algerian War and the successful revolution and independence of Algeria from the French, and less than a decade after the events of the film itself, "The Battle of Algiers" was shot on location and is cast almost entirely with members of the Algerian community who were participants in the revolution or lived through it. We discuss the impact the film had on society at large, the way in which it starkly portrays the violence of revolution while perfectly capturing the inherent humanity of those of us who want to bring about a better future for all even though we must use the tools of violence to do so.To discuss the film we are joined by Aaron, a good friend of one of our hosts, an activist, an organizer, and a man with more to say about this film than we could ever fit into a single episode. Left of the Projector Linkshttps://boxd.it/5T9O1https://leftoftheprojectorpod.threadless.com/https://www.instagram.com/the_red_gobbo/https://www.instagram.com/millennialmarxist1/https://leftoftheprojector.com

This week we discuss the perfect film for everyone with a "World's Greatest Dad" mug tucked away in a cabinet, "Oldboy." The original from South Korea, not the US remake. Released in 2003, "Oldboy" was directed by Park Chan-wook and stars Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae and Kang Hye-jung. Widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time, and is considered a classic of modern South Korean Cinema. A masterpiece of revenge, the film tells the story of Oh Dae-su and his search for answers and justice following his imprisonment of 15 years in a mysterious private prison. We discuss what the film has to say about loss of community, the carceral system, and how capitalism creates a society that functions as a prison as surely as a cell door and barbed wire does. Left of the Projector Linkshttps://boxd.it/5T9O1https://leftoftheprojectorpod.threadless.com/https://www.instagram.com/the_red_gobbo/https://www.instagram.com/millennialmarxist1/https://leftoftheprojector.com

We discuss the newest Knives Out mystery in a new Home Box Office Drop! Directed, and written by Rian Johnson, the newest entry in the Knives Out franchise of course features Daniel Crain returning as Benoit Blanc, alongside Josh O'Connor, Josh Brolin, Glenn Close, Kerry Washington, Cailey Spaeny, Thomas Hayden Church, Daryl McCormack, Jeremy Renner, and Mila Kunis. In this episode we talk about Marx's theory on alienation under capitalism (a favorite topic of late), the marriage between the western Christian church and capitalism, the slow burn that is Knives Out, and how Benoit Blanc falls outside of the police and capital partnership and is thus excluded from the fact that ALL cops are in fact bastards. Left of the Projector Linkshttps://boxd.it/5T9O1https://leftoftheprojectorpod.threadless.com/https://www.instagram.com/the_red_gobbo/https://www.instagram.com/millennialmarxist1/https://leftoftheprojector.com

Number 2 in our Gareth Edward series! Following his directorial debut with "Monsters" (see episode 210!) Edwards was brought on to breathe new life into the king of all monsters with Legendary Entertainment's "Godzilla!" Using the skills he honed with "Monsters," Edwards creates a tense monster movie starring the greatest monster of cinema history (according to one host at least). We discuss the claims that this film glorifies the US military, the contrast between Legednary's version of Godzilla versus Toho Studio's, one of us admits to crying in the movie theatre when Godzilla uses his atomic blast for the first time in the movie, and Ward challenges Edwards again to come on the show and tell us to our faces whether he is intentionally making anti imperialist films that portray the US and capitalism as the villain or if it is all just coincidence. Left of the Projector Linkshttps://boxd.it/5T9O1https://leftoftheprojectorpod.threadless.com/https://www.instagram.com/the_red_gobbo/https://www.instagram.com/millennialmarxist1/https://leftoftheprojector.com

We close out the holiday season with one of the all time greats, The Muppet Christmas Carol. Joining us is friend of the show Jackie; a librarian, Muppet aficionado, and the wife who fuels the revolutionary love of one of our hosts (it's the host that name drops his wife more than he does Marx or Lenin).Widely recognized as one of the most faithful adaptations of the Dickens' classic, the film stars Michael Caine as Scrooge, Gonzo the Great as Charles Dickens, Kermit the Frog as Bob Cratchit, and Rizzo the Rat as himself and was the first Muppet film directed by Jim Henson's son Brian Henson following the death of his father. We discuss the accuracy of the movie, the influences that led Dickens to write the story in the first place, what the story has to say about alienation, and how two Marleys is better than one amongst other things.Only two more sleeps 'til Christmas 2025, and here at Left of the Projector we wish for a world where all us meeces can have cheeses.**Cheeses in this case is a unified and liberated working class working towards fully automated luxury gay space communism. Obviously. Left of the Projector Linkshttps://boxd.it/5T9O1https://leftoftheprojectorpod.threadless.com/https://www.instagram.com/the_red_gobbo/https://www.instagram.com/millennialmarxist1/https://leftoftheprojector.com

This week we are joined by a very special guest. Activist, organizer, horror aficionado, friend of the show, and the woman that holds up more than half the sky for one of our hosts, Joy, joins us to talk about the 1974 classic Black Christmas. Written by Roy Moore and directed by Bob Clark, this seminal horror classic starring Olivia Hussey and Margot Kidder is widely considered the earliest iteration of the slasher film and contains feminist themes that run counter to many of the films that would follow in its footsteps. We discuss the absolute failure of every man in the film, how police in Canada are apparently as incompetent as the police in the US, and how almost every slasher since Black Christmas has failed to live up to its standard of intelligent characters being failed by others as opposed to being too dumb to live. Left of the Projector Linkshttps://boxd.it/5T9O1https://leftoftheprojectorpod.threadless.com/https://www.instagram.com/the_red_gobbo/https://www.instagram.com/millennialmarxist1/https://leftoftheprojector.com

Today we are joined by longtime friends of the show, Caitlyn and Cullen of Caitlyn's Conspiracy Corner to talk about not one, but three movies, one of the greatest trilogies of all time, Robert Zemekis's Back to the Future 1, 2, & 3! These movies need little introduction, but for the uninitiated, the films star Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd as they travel back and forth through time to remedy the mistakes they both inadvertently cause for their own past and future selves. We discuss what the films mean to us, how they may or may not be indicative of the culture of Reagan's America, and how the third movie is either a worthy entry to the franchise or a terrible tacked on addition to an otherwise perfect duology. Your mileage may vary on it, and it doesn't seem like any of us got 88 mph out of it. Left of the Projector Linkshttps://boxd.it/5T9O1https://leftoftheprojectorpod.threadless.com/https://www.instagram.com/the_red_gobbo/https://www.instagram.com/millennialmarxist1/https://leftoftheprojector.com

We are joined by author and screenwriter Briana Cox to talk about one of her favorite vampire movies, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night. Released in 2014, the film is a Farsi language horror film written and directed by Ana Lily Amirpour, and stars Sheila Vand, Arash Marandi, Mozhan Marnò, Marshall Manesh, and Dominic Rains. The film was promoted as the "first Iranian vampire Western" and was partially funded through an Indigogo campaign.We discuss the vampire as a symbol of both alienation and predation, the vampiric nature of capitalism itself, and attempts to break the cycles of predation and parasitism thrust upon us within this system and the bleakness of Bad City's "dead body ditch" being the only source of community within the film.You can follow Briana on Instagram or Threads, preorder their book Indigent, visit their website and support them on ko-fi.Left of the Projector Linkshttps://boxd.it/5T9O1https://leftoftheprojectorpod.threadless.com/https://www.instagram.com/the_red_gobbo/https://www.instagram.com/millennialmarxist1/https://leftoftheprojector.com

We return to our happy place, the bleak and horrifying universe of Alien with a deep dive into the newest entry in the franchise, Hulu's Alien Earth. Created by Noah Hawley, and starring Sydney Chandler, Alex Lawther, Essie Davis, Samuel Blenkin, Babou Cessay, Adarsh Gourav, Erana James, Lily Newmark, Timothy Olyphant, Jonathan Ajayi, and David Rysdahl alongside the breakout star of the series, the Eye midge (among others), the series brings the Alien universe home to Earth for the first time ever on the big or little screen. Joining us again is fellow Alien/Predator superfan and friend of the show, Joe Wrote to discuss how the show explores the arrested development of capitalists, xenomorphs as an allegory for capitalism's need for infinite growth in a world of finite resources, and how science fiction is meant to serve as a warning to not build the torment nexus. Not an inspiration. Left of the Projector Linkshttps://boxd.it/5T9O1https://leftoftheprojectorpod.threadless.com/https://www.instagram.com/the_red_gobbo/https://www.instagram.com/millennialmarxist1/https://leftoftheprojector.com