Rupert Pupkin Speaks

Thursday, June 21, 2018

Just The Pods! Volume One

Okay, so as it may be apparent (or not) from this site - I'm pretty into podcasts. Not just because I do a couple myself, but because I've had a long commute for more than a decade now and I've always just loved the format for enjoyable listening whilst driving (which I do about three to three and a half hours of per day). Thus, I'm a full on podcast addict and am constantly trying to feed the beast as it were so I am always on the hunt for new shows and constantly stacking episodes in my "favorites" list via the Stitcher app (which is my primary portal for listening). So I thought what I might do is to highlight several shows/episodes a week (I might do this on a weekly basis or perhaps a couple times a month) just to show some appreciation for the hard working podcasters I love who are putting out good content and may or may not be getting recognition for it. So here are a few that caught my attention this week:

I WAS THERE TOO - with Actor Paul Dooley
Great episode where host Matt Gourley talks to veteran actor Paul Dooley about many things, but the main focus is on his memories of working on Robert Altman's movie POPEYE and John Hughes iconic classic SIXTEEN CANDLES. Since Dooley has had a long and varied career, they also discuss his work with other directors like Christopher Guest, his experiences on STRANGE BREW and more.
https://www.earwolf.com/episode/popeye-and-sixteen-candles-with-paul-dooley/
Itunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/i-was-there-too/id935759717?mt=2

GILBERT GOTTFRIED'S AMAZING COLOSSAL PODCAST - with Peter Fonda
Actor/Filmmaker Peter Fonda talks about taking LSD with the Beatles and ending up in one of their songs, meeting Ernest Hemingway and smoking weed for the first time, his favorite of his dads roles among many others things. Amazing storyteller, great listen.

https://www.gilbertpodcast.com/peter-fonda/

Itunes:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/gilbert-gottfrieds-amazing-colossal-podcast/id883308059?mt=2

THE DGA PODCAST: FIRST REFORMED with Paul Schrader and John Patrick Shanley

Director Paul Schrader talks about his new film FIRST REFORMED as interviewed by writer and director John Patrick Shanley. Fascinating conversation.
https://soundcloud.com/thedirectorscut/first-reformed-with-paul-schrader-and-john-patrick-shanley-ep-143

Itunes:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-directors-cut-a-dga-podcast/id1067471691?mt=2

MOVIES MY FRIENDS HAVE NEVER SEEN - SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT with guest John Cribbs
Very fun discussion of Burt Reynolds and his films as host Nick Nadell is joined by Pink Smoke head writer John Cribbs to discuss his first viewing of the 70s classic SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT. John Cribbs is one of my favorite cinephiles to listen to on podcasts (hence me inviting him on Just the Discs for several guest spots) so this was not surprisingly a pleasure to listen to.

http://moviesmyfriendshaveneverseen.libsyn.com/

Stitcher:

https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/nick-nadel/movies-my-friends-have-never-seen

THE PROJECTION BOOTH - DETROIT ROCK CITY
We just had director Adam Rifkin on the latest episode of Pure Cinema and he was a delightful guest, so I am more than pleased at the serendipity of this nearly FIVE HOUR show on Rifkin's film DETROIT ROCK CITY also dropped in the same week!
Interviews on this episode include: director Adam Rifkin, screenwriter Carl V. Dupré, producer Tim Sullivan, actress Lin Shaye, and James Campion author of Shout It Out Loud: The Story of Kiss's Destroyer and the Making of an American Icon.Hats off to Mike White for producer one of the great cult film shows for cinemaniacs.
https://projection-booth.blogspot.com/2018/06/episode-369-detroit-rock-city-1999.html
Itunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast/id421863760?mt=2

SUPPORTING CHARACTERS - with Director Bill Lustig
Bill Ackerman is one of my favorite film people out there and if you're not listening to this show, you should be. This episode is actually a few weeks old now, but I had to include it because it's great. Bill Lustig, the director of MANIAC, VIGILANTE and others is a wonderful interview and has lots of great stories about his experiences as a filmmaker and loving movies his whole life.
http://www.nowplayingnetwork.net/supportingcharacters/episode37
Itunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/supporting-characters/id1092702104?mt=2

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Underrated '98 - Three Oranges

Three Oranges is one of those internet people. Movies, music and books fill his time when he's not working for the man. In his mind, he's free.

Follow him on Twitter, where he's trying to be less of a nightmare: https://twitter.com/ThreeOranges
See what he's watching on Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/ThreeOranges/
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Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane
Directed by Joe Carnahan
Joe Carnahan doesn’t really do subtlety. His movies are loud and brash and of questionable morality, and they seem to flirt with the borders of “try too hard.” (He’s like that on Twitter, too, which is probably why I got ended up getting blocked by him.)

But they’re fun. They’re fun when they have Hollywood-sized budgets and A-list actors, and they’re fun when they’re the director’s first outing, with zero budget, amateur actors and nothing but over-confidence and late-‘90s indie grittiness to get them through.

It’s a crime movie. With car salesmen and faux tough guys in the leads. When things aren’t quite as cool as the film seems to be trying to make them, it works thematically, because the characters aren’t as cool as they think they are, either. It’s like a Tarantino movie cast with douchebags from a local bar, including a rare acting turn from Carnahan himself.

Holy Man
Directed by Stephen Herek
Everyone hates this movie, including its star, Eddie Murphy. He has described it as “horrendous” on two separate occasions on late night talk shows. But he’s wrong . . . it’s just a little spacey.

Murphy stars as G, a spiritual wanderer who enters the desperate commerce-driven world of home shopping television inhabited by Jeff Goldblum, Kelly Preston and the late, great Robert Loggia. G eventually wanders on camera (with Edie Mclurg!), inadvertently becoming a national home-shopping star.

Things progress largely as you’d expect, with Ricky being a bit of a corporate weasel for a while before learning not to be such a jerk and Loggia’s big boss character blustering and being a scary greedmonster.

The jokes are not giant Eddie Murphy jokes, and it’s odd seeing Goldblum be so darn normal, but the movie is a pleasant meander through familiar territory for anyone beaten down by the daily grind.

Six-String Samurai
Directed by Lance Mungia
Rock and roll will never die, even if it has to stand alone in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Six-String Samurai is quintessential late’90s indie fare, with a very low budget, no-name actors and a quirky weirdness that uses its uncoolness to be cool. Buddy Holly is the perfect protagonist for this retro-futurist, Mad Max-style tale.

Buddy is on a road trip, in search of the fabled Lost Vegas. Along the way be befriends a kid (named The Kid) and battles the kind of freaks one would expect in a 1960’s radioactive hellscape. The creators of the Fallout games were almost certainly influenced by this movie.

Russians are a constant threat, including the real-life band The Red Elvises (who were one tour as recently as last year). Metalheads led by Death and deranged suburbanites in search of ratchets wander the desert.

Buddy has his sword, and his guitar, and rock ‘n’ roll.

Little Voice
Directed by Mark Herman
It goes without saying that Jane Horrocks is the stand-out performance in this, coming on the heels of her role as a ditzy PA named Bubble in Absolutely Fabulous. She plays LV, a pathologically shy and daddy-obsessed young woman who, under the right circumstances, can sing like Bette Midler, Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand all rolled into one. Even if you’re not a fan of that style of music, her transformation is a wonder.

Little Voice also features Michael Caine as the sleazy, opportunistic agent and promoter, Ray Say. His unwholesome smarm hides a desperate, cutthroat truth, and watching his true nature gradually be wrung out of him is its own kind of sick joy.

Thematically, this could work as a double feature with Holy Man, although this is a much better film, even with the unnecessary (and not included in the original stage version) love story featuring Ewan McGregor.

Die Hard Dracula
Directed by Peter Horak
Have you always felt that Dracula should look like a drunk middle-aged dude at a Jimmy Buffett concert wearing a dollar-store Halloween costume? Have you always though that he should shoot fireballs and lightning? Then this is your movie.

You’ll find it in the middle of those “500 movies for 50 cents” DVD sets that fill clearance bins, and that’s where it belongs.

But it sure is entertaining, if you imagine being on set with the actors. And it clearly is a set, shoddily constructed, probably by director himself.

There’s a story, for what it’s worth. A guy ‘s wife died, and a bride of Dracula looks like her, and he has to team up with some version of Van Helsing to kill him. Dracula yells a lot and stumbles around, and there’s a ton of really bad video effects along the way. Have a drink or seven and enjoy.

Billy’s Balloon
Directed by Don Hertzfeldt
Awww . . . Billy has a balloon. What simpler joy could there be than a small child with a balloon on a nice summer day?

Surely nothing could go wrong. Not even as the balloon raises the child into the air, where he experiences the exhilarating freedom and wonder of flight! Surely there won’t be tragedy, or repeated tragedy, or escalating tragedy.

Hertzfeldt’s animations are usually short, always hand-drawn with no computer assistance, and scripted and edited with such perfect comedic timing that they have to be seen to be believed. This six minutes of animation is funnier than full seasons of some of the most popular animated shows, and Hertzfeldt did it all as a mostly one-man show.

His career since has progressed, with longer films that are more artistically complex, and he has really leaned in to the unique sense of bleak, almost apocalyptic, tragicomedy shown here.

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Just The Discs - Episode 59 - Monsters with Raven

On this episode, Brian's daughter Raven returns to talk monster films - including NIGHT OF THE LEPUS (Scream Factory), THE BLACK SCORPION (Warner Archive) and the TREMORS Series.

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https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/justthediscss-podcast/id1205661081

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http://stitcher.com/s?fid=131109&refid=stpr

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Discussed on this episode: