288 - Angel Wars

Jen and Tim unearth maybe the most “not for everyone” feature they’ve ever covered, a shot-on-video slice of local color called The Bride of Frank! Boy, that doesn’t even begin to describe this thing!Filmmaker and visionary Steve Ballot (aka “Escalpo Don Bladé”) spoke briefly with Film Threat about the movie.See footage of the director and star Frank Meyer at the Clair-Obscur Film Festival in Basel, Switzerland in 1999.Read a relatively laudatory review of the film via strublog. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tim and Jen hit the slopes with returning guest Hollywood Steve Huey to chat about a wretched Club Med commercial called Copper Mountain.Get everything Yacht Rock at YachtRock dot com! Or, go directly to the Yacht or Nyacht Patreon and throw Steve and his buddies a few bucks to gauge the yachtiness of submitted songs.Independent French TV channel RMC Story has a breezy documentary about the history of Club Med, if you enjoy vintage film of European vacationers. Lots of real bodies! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jen and Tim visit the Hammer house of horror for a twisted tale of mayhem and sex changes, Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde.Read a critical look at the film’s queer themes from Bloody Disgusting.BFI highlights the career of director Roy Ward Baker with six of his best, including Quatermass and the Pit! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tim has got a wild hair about an acclaimed picture starring Nicole Kidman, and all Jen can do is try to hang on as they pick apart 2024's Babygirl.Emily Kenway wrote a thoughtful retrospective essay about Secretary, 20 years later and in the wake of the #MeToo movement.Watch the video for George Michael’s “Father Figure,” directed by Andy Morahan and co-starring model Tania Coleridge. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tim and Jen are entreated by Worker’s Lit co-host Jacob to BE NOT AFRAID of a nominally Christian kid’s cartoon, Angel Wars.Worker’s Lit has a Patreon!You can see the entirety of Angel Wars, including the ramshackle pilot, on YouTube. Having done that, if you want to go deep on the lore there is a whole-ass wiki. Courage and godspeed! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jen welcomes returning guest Julie to discuss an unusual Atom Egoyan misfire, the twisty showbiz mystery Where The Truth Lies.Don’t miss our first ever panel at Long Beach Comic-Con on September 5th— get tickets here to attend the con and see us present on wild and wacky superhero movies!For a peek behind the scenes, here’s some miscellaneous B-roll showing the cast and crew of Where The Truth Lies at work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jen and Tim warn the listener about a stupefying piece of outsider cinema, Dracula’s Angel.Watch Dracula’s Angel on YouTube, if you want to look straight into the abyss. Also stop by the creators’ website!The IMDb reviews, which the filmmakers solicit via title card at the end of the movie, are extremely amusing.If you enjoyed this for some reason, check out our other episodes on the least polished media we have covered so far in our Outsider Cinema collection! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tim and Jen welcome Tom of the Anime Sickos podcast to roll with a movie stocked with a single Corey, Prayer of the Rollerboys.Listen to The Disappearances of Lydia Fountayne, “a fresh and original story set in a deceptively familiar world of constant surveillance, information overload, and electronic communication.”Can’t get enough rolling? Watch this Vice documentary about “aggressive skating,” its rise and decline, and the utter loathing of skateboarders for inline skaters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jen and Tim look back at a dark entry from the often astonishing oeuvre of Nicholas Ray, the thrilling melodrama Bigger Than Life. Also Tim has medical trauma.Errata: Jen says “They Drive By Night” when she meant They Live By Night, confusing Raoul Walsh’s 1940 hit with Nicholas Ray’s 1948 debut feature. Her pay will be docked accordingly.The Classic Film Noir website has a wonderful visual essay about the film, including details about the negative critical response when it was released.Adrian Danks writes about Bigger Than Life and the psyche of its central character in a 2009 essay for Senses of Cinema. Sam Wasson’s article at the same site gives cultural context to the film,including the chilling affect of the Cold War and anticommunism. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tim and Jen weeb out over an overlooked-in-its-time tale of an outsider navigating a closed and unforgiving society, The Yakuza.Tip us at our Ko-Fi!Jen oversimplifies the origins of the yakuza here, plus she just plain doesn’t know a hell of a lot about Japanese culture! A YouTuber going by ANIKI has an entire playlist of deep dives on yakuza and their history that will leave you better informed.Read an archived version of Paul Schrader’s primer on yakuza-eiga (gangster films) from 1974.From the Alienated in Vancouver blog: Allan MacInnis interviews author AJ Devlin about, among other things, Leonard Schrader and The Yakuza. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.