INCEPTION (2010)

The cows are joined by author and film critic Tom Shone (The Nolan Variations) to discuss Christopher Nolan’s epic dream-heist blockbuster, Inception. We discuss Nolan’s obsessions with knowledge and self-deception and his ambivalent obsession with fantasy and escapism. We explore the film’s central premise — that the cinematic experience is akin to a shared dream — and how Nolan weaves the premise into the the core of Inception through repetition and intentional plot holes. And we finally close with a celebration of Inception’s oft-overlooked emotional centerpiece — its many-layered ending, which combines reconciliations with goodbyes and renewals of hope.

How can it not matter to you where that train will take you?

Mal

                 

AMADEUS (1984)

The cows are joined by friend Edward Lewis to revisit one of the greatest films of all time, the shortest three hour movie, Milos Foreman’s Amadeus. We witness genius through Salieri’s eyes, marvel at his ability to appreciate and translate the beauty of Mozart’s music to the uninitiated, and resign ourselves to our own mediocrities. We also discuss the relationship between historical accuracy and authenticity, and how it achieves ecstatic truth through fabrication. And we ponder the renewing possibilities of confession and absolution. This movie is not to be missed!!

This was a music I’d never heard. Filled with such longing, such unfulfillable longing, it had me trembling. It seemed to me that I was hearing the voice of God.

Antonio Salieri

                 

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE (1996)

The cows are joined by friend Adam Kane to talk about Tom Cruise’s first outing as Ethan Hunt. We discuss what makes spy movies so appealing and fun, and situate the movie in the broader cultural context of the post-Cold War nineties. We explore the weird and wonderful career of Tom Cruise and how he managed to harness Brian DePalma‘s stylistic flourishes to create one of the tightest, most stressful, spy/heist movies ever.

RED LIGHT! GREEN LIGHT!

Ethan Hunt

                 

MIDSOMMAR (2019)

Emily VanDerWerff (Vox) joins us to discuss Ari Aster’s folk horror masterpiece, Midsommar. We discuss how the film subverts folk horror genre tropes to craft a compelling story about the loss of a relationship, self-discovery, and adoption into a new family. Emily articulates a trans reading of the film, and we discuss how it grapples with the challenge of accommodating our desires for individual autonomy alongside our impulse to find acceptance within a community. Bear suits and Taylor Swift also come up.

  • Read Emily’s writing on Midsommar here and here.
  • The Paradox of Tolerance in comic form:

Hi. Hello! There you are! Listen: You can’t speak. You can’t move.

Ulla

                 

TRUE LIES (1994)

The cows revisit True Lies with Van Lathan (The Ringer), discussing how James Cameron inverts the hero’s journey to tell a story about a spy struggling to connect emotionally with his wife and kids while saving the day and causing a lot of mayhem and destruction in the process. Is it the best action comedy of all time? Is it Arnold’s best performance? How does its portrayal of terrorism and American militaristic impunity play today? Tune in to find out!

Battery, Aziz!

                 

BONUS EPISODE: ANOTHER ROUND (2020)

We crack open a few cold ones (figuratively) with Paul Keelan (Cinematic Underdogs) to unpack and disagree about the Oscar-nominated Another Round. How does the film experiment with existentialism, and how does it explore our complicated relationship with alcohol? Is it worthy of being recognized as among the best films of the year, or is it just Old School dressed up with Kierkegaard quotes? We also react to its portrayal of gendered divisions of labor and explore the film’s attitude towards its characters. We hope you enjoy this unusually critical episode. Let us know what you think about the film!

What is youth? A dream. What is love? The content of the dream.

Søren Kierkegaard

                 

THE BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS (2009)

We head down to the Big Easy with Nicolas Cage scholar Keith Phipps (author of The Age of Cage: Four Decades of Hollywood Through One Singular Career) to discuss Werner Herzog’s hallucinatory tale of a bad cop trying to do the right thing, of addiction in the swamp, of nature’s ever-encroaching wildness into our staid lives. We dive deep into Cage and Herzog both, exploring why they make a perfect pair and how their take on Bad Lieutenant differs so radically from Abel Ferrara’s original. We consider the possibility of absolution in a godless world and whether we can ever really escape our animalistic impulses — two themes that seem to perfectly encapsulate the careers of Cage and Herzog. Listen to the end for a breakdown of various scenes and some recommendations of Cage movies to check out next!

You don’t have a lucky crack pipe?

Terence McDonagh

                 

THE BROOD (1979)

Do you suffer from intergenerational trauma that is manifesting itself in physical malformations on your body and raising red flags for your significant others? Then join us and Jed Shepherd (writer/executive producer of Host) to discuss David Cronenberg’s self-described “more realistic Kramer vs. Kramer,” a film about a couple working through some issues while plagued by demonic children in matching snowsuits. If you haven’t seen the movie, listen to the first 13 minutes for our spoiler free pitch for the movie, and then after you’ve seen it, dive in to talk with us about the nature of body horror and physical media, the terrors of parenthood and why no one in a horror film acts the way you want them to. Along the way, Jed shares his vast knowledge of horror films, and offers up more than a few horrifying recommendations for the unafraid.

Thirty seconds after you’re born you have a past and sixty seconds after that you begin to lie to yourself about it.

Juliana Kelly

                 

CLUELESS (1995)

The cows take the 405 to Sherman Oaks with friend Andrea Rosen (Fleming Museum of Art) in this revisit of Amy Heckerling’s totally wicked rom-com about modern girl friendship. We discuss the nature of Chers and Karens, how power relations structure what counts as knowledge, and who does and does not count as “clueless.” We revisit our past selves in high school, reflect on the linguistics of Valley Girl speak, and laugh about which characters we were and who of them is most smooch-able. Dance along to No Doubt and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, but keep an ear out for some surprise appearances by the Insane Clown Posse and Cannibal Corpse!

I’m having a Twin Peaks experience.

Cher Horowitz

                 

THE MASTER (2012)

The cows are joined this week by Dan Harris (Philosophy, Hunter College) on their journey through past lives to uncover and exorcise a few trillion-year-old traumas. We consider how Paul Thomas Anderson depicts a divided soul across three individuals struggling to find order and humanity in a chaotic, animalistic, world, and explore how trauma and masculinity intertwine to forge vulnerabilities, and even love, between two men whose life trajectories seem pointed in opposite directions. We can’t pick just one favorite line, but we do note an homage to Nacho Libre and Anderson’s debts to Kubrick and Huston.

  • [02:55] Dan’s Introduction to the Master
  • [09:59] Trauma and war
  • [22:39] Freddie, Lancaster, and masculinity
  • [33:26] Divided souls in Freud and Plato
  • [1:02:32] Cults and demagogues
  • [1:14:34] The significance of the ending
  • [1:28:24] Favorite lines
  • [1:41:08] Outro
  • [1:43:25] Bass traps are not garbage!

If you already know the answers to your questions then why ask, pig fuck?

Lancaster Dodd