Trylove (Trylove)
Explore every episode of Trylove
| Pub. Date | Title | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 Apr 2025 | Episode 324: THERE WILL BE BLOOD (2007) with Natalie Marlin | 02:00:21 | |
With Natalie Marlin! Just like the earth he exploits, there’s something roiling under the surface of the wheel-and-dealing Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis): A devilish, almost cartoonishly villainous veneer conceals a deep self-hatred. And like all good capitalists, he uses it to fuel the next great pain he can inflict on the people and world around him, from the local preacher of a podunk town to his specious, long-lost brother to his own adopted son. THERE WILL BE BLOOD kicked off a hell of a run for Paul Thomas Anderson, so for our last episode on his films, we’re happily welcoming Natalie back to the mic for a bit of show-and-tell on when this movie entered our lives, the impact of seeing it as a teen film lover in the mid-aughts, and the crusty layers it reveals more than a decade later. Plus, why THERE WILL BE BLOOD would be a great 4DX movie, the inevitable porn parody jokes, and say doesn’t Jason’s moustache look a little familiar now? Find Natalie…
References:
#TheMasterworksofPaulThomasAnderson #35mm Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: "Proven Lands" by Jonny Greenwood from the THERE WILL BE BLOOD soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 324: THERE WILL BE BLOOD (2007) 3:47 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 5:39 - Our histories with this movie (or lack thereof) 21:51 - Daniel Plainview, the cartoon villain afraid of his own insides 28:30 - Daniel Plainview, the cartoon villain afraid of his own insides 43:02 - How Daniel reflects the fragile human systems of the era 49:23 - The performative relationships Daniel has with H.W. (and everyone) 54:52 - Eli Sunday and the fraught relationship between organized faith and capital 1:03:30 - “Pathetic” depictions of violence 1:14:13 - The language of Jonny Greenwood’s score 1:20:36 - The Junk Drawer 1:27:04 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 2007 1:33:15 - Cody’s Noteys: When Will There Be Blood? (trivia about when blood first appears in the runtime of various films) | |||
| 07 Jan 2025 | Episode 312: DOGVILLE (2003) | 01:53:04 | |
Content warning: This episode includes references to and discussion of sexual assault. Happy first episode of 2025! Here’s a discussion of a movie where a series of horrendous things happen. In Lars von Trier’s DOGVILLE, Nicole Kidman plays a stranger seeking escape from gangsters in the Rocky Mountains. Luckily for her — or not — the humble town of Dogville provides ample refuge, and Tom (Paul Bettany) is enticed by the opportunity to inject some new blood and prove there’s more to his town than the rest of the world thinks. Dogville’s modest inhabitants warily allow her two weeks to prove her value before they decide whether or not to send her packing. A minimally staged, occasionally grueling examination of good and evil, of desire and impulse, of worldliness and provinciality, DOGVILLE is either a masterpiece or a pretentious stinker. Listen in to find out which we think it is! **References: **
#NicoleKidmansFearlessPerformances #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodcast.bsky.social, and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: “Happy at Work - Concerto for Oboe in D Major” composed by Tomaso Albinioni, conducted by Allan Wilson, and performed by The English Concert Orchestra from the DOGVILLE soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 312: DOGVILLE (2003) 2:26 - Chapter 1: The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 5:24 - Chapter 2: Tom the podcaster 22:09 - Chapter 3: The townspeople and Tom’s “moral experiment” 33:21 - Chapter 4: Grace as audience stand-in, as bait, as object of desire and derision 44:21 - Chapter 5: Why there are no sets 54:33 - Chapter 6: Americanness, puritanical Christianity, and what Dogville “wants” 1:17:57 - Chapter 7: The Junk Drawer 1:30:46 - Chapter 8: To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 2003 1:34:00 - Chapter 9: Cody’s Noteys: Our 2025 Movie Resolutions | |||
| 03 Dec 2024 | Episode 307: AMERICAN PSYCHO (2000) | 01:34:46 | |
Bret Easton Ellis’s original novel featured vivid descriptions of depraved acts, but Mary Harron’s film adaptation of AMERICAN PSYCHO has a slithering unctuousness all its own. Christian Bale is Patrick Bateman, a Wall Street VP by day and a murderer at large by night. Problem is, those two things don't stay separate for long. Despite the heft of its subject matter and the “unfilmability” of its source material, its 2000 release garnered critical acclaim rivaled only by its cultural divisiveness: Women’s advocacy groups took particular umbrage with the film’s portrayal of extreme violence against women. In this episode, we reflect on AMERICAN PSYCHO with years (or mere days) of perspective, marvel at how a movie like this even “works,” compare its narrative tools to those of the book, and wonder what gets lost in the gulfs between what people say and what people hear. **References: **
#EatTheRichBretEastonEllis #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodcast.bsky.social, and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: "Suicide" by John Cale from the AMERICAN PSYCHO soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 307: AMERICAN PSYCHO (2000) 3:20 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 5:46 - First watch thoughts and the “one-dimensionality” of AMERICAN PSYCHO 9:55 - How the “unfilmable” film goes down this smoothly 25:36 - The space for interpretation left open by Bateman’s mixed reality 32:41 - The narrative effect of a movie where nobody’s paying attention to anything 38:08 - Jean 48:15 - Is Patrick the LEAST psychopathic person in his world? 57:18 - Reagan, self-awareness, and LinkedIn 1:02:22 - The Junk Drawer (Bale, Dafoe, and the business card scene) 1:12:02 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 2000 1:14:24 - Cody’s Noteys: Trylove Movie Draft (roster-building with films from the year 2000) | |||
| 18 Feb 2025 | Episode 318: MESHES OF THE AFTERNOON (1943) | 01:39:11 | |
A touchstone of visual storytelling, an example of the power of short-form film, and an inspiration to surrealist storytellers like David Lynch, Maya Deren’s MESHES OF THE AFTERNOON pulls big philosophical questions out of simple materials. Through visual substitution, object manipulation, arrhythmic editing, and all sorts of narrative trickery, a surreal dream outlines one woman’s fruitless pursuit of ‘true’ identity and her struggle to self-define against the social roles bestowed upon her. At just 14 minutes long, MESHES OF THE AFTERNOON rocks, no matter which way you watch it. Our recommendation? Turn off the sound, lean in, and pay close attention. References:
#OtherProgramming #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro: “Schiele” by ten thousand lakes, which accompanied the Trylon’s screening of MESHES OF THE AFTERNOON in February 2025. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 318: MESHES OF THE AFTERNOON (1943) 2:14 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 4:57 - Versions of this movie and how it changes based on what you watched 11:12 - Is there a consistent thread to grab here? Or is it free association? 26:19 - Subjectivity, objects that change upon perception, and identities that shift without your consent 37:18 - How much of it is “real”? How much is “a dream”? How much of that “matters”? 42:34 - The hooded figure, Maya Deren’s socialism, and violent revelations of the unconscious 45:56 - Form: Looping, duplication, space, and “emotive immediacy” 1:05:49 - The Junk Drawer 1:09:40 - To All the Loves We've Tried Before: 1943 1:10:35 - Cody’s Noteys: Truth or Deren (truth or dare but the dare triggers an open trivia question) | |||
| 17 Sep 2024 | Episode 296: SECONDS (1966) with Natalie Marlin | 01:54:05 | |
With returning guest Natalie Marlin! SECONDS is a 1966 film directed by John Frankenheimer from the original novel by David Ely. Past-his-prime New York banker Arthur Hamilton (John Randolph) elects to undergo a procedure to give himself a new face and a new life. The Company, the shady organization that offers this service, completely reconstructs Arthur, altering every detail of his identity (his face, his body, his voice, his backstory) to build Tony Wilson (Rock Hudson) — a handsome bachelor who lives on the beach in Malibu. But the change isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and before long, Tony finds himself falling victim to the same habits that plagued his life as Arthur. When he learns that his new community, including the free-spirited Nora (Salome Jens), is made up of Company cronies and other “reborns” like him, Tony seeks another do-over — a second second chance in the hopes of “beginning again”, as Tony puts it — restarting his original life with the benefit of hindsight, rather than abandoning it entirely. To “begin again”, as Tony puts it. The Company is happy to oblige — for a price. Despite being nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes and an Oscar for cinematography, it was a box office bomb, and has since come to be regarded as a cult classic, with particular praise directed at the cinematography by James Wong Howe and Rock Hudson’s performance as Tony. References:
Find Natalie…
#JohnFrankenheimers1960s #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: “Main Title” from the SECONDS soundtrack composed by Jerry Goldsmith. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 296: SECONDS (1966) with Natalie Marlin 7:22 - The episode actually starts 7:45 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 10:15 - How SECONDS came to resonate for Natalie 20:48 - Advertising, pacing, and paranoia 31:02 - The intersection of metatextual threads: Advertising & queer self-determination 50:15 - Tony’s new life and Rock Hudson’s Hollywood assimilation 1:04:58 - The evolution of Jerry Goldsmith’s score from dissonant dysphoria to structured harmony 1:17:04 - The Junk Drawer 1:25:50 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1966 1:28:26 - Cody’s Noteys: The House of Champions (Seconds!) – 1966 | |||
| 27 Aug 2024 | Episode 293: PLAY IT AS IT LAYS (1972) with Kelly Krantz | 01:39:46 | |
With Trylonteer and Perkins superfan Kelly Krantz (@kransekage_)! PLAY IT AS IT LAYS is a 1972 drama film directed by Frank Perry from a novel and screenplay by Joan Didion. The movie stars Tuesday Weld as Maria Wyeth, a depressed actress stuck in an unhappy separated marriage with director Carter Lang (played by Adam Roarke), and Anthony Perkins as BZ, a gay movie producer and friend of Maria’s who’s also unhappily married as cover for his homosexuality to a woman named Helene (played by Tammy Grimes). Maria and Carter have decided to institutionalize their daughter, Kate, who suffers from an unspecified issue with her brain. It’s implied it was more of Carter’s decision than Maria’s — one of many things that create friction between them, along with Carter’s frequent affairs and attempts to control her, Maria’s own mental decline, his avoidance of Maria’s growing resentment with the West Coast bourgeois lifestyle in which she feels trapped. The movie follows Maria through an increasingly depressed journey as she seeks to escape Carter’s orbit, define herself, and pursue a life with her daughter on the way to being institutionalized herself. The movie was critically divisive due to its general malaise and frenetic pacing and editing, with praise directed at Weld and Perkins’s performances (Weld won Best Actress at the Italian Film Critics Awards and was nominated for Golden Globe for her performance). It’s gone on to be recognized as a cult classic of American drama in the vein of New Hollywood, as well as an exemplary adaptation of Didion’s New Journalism style and the Californian culture of the 1970s. **References: **
Find Kelly…
#TuesdayWeldAndAnthonyPerkins #35mm Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: “Heart Is Like A Wheel” by McKendree Spring. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 293: PLAY IT AS IT LAYS (1972) with Kelly Krantz 3:58 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary (under exclusive license from AG Enterprises, Ltd.) 6:13 - Kelly’s thoughts, Weld & Perkins, and what made this a “bucket list screening” 17:06 - “Life feels very fragmented” into moments both manic and tender 22:25 - As an adaptation and where its visual ambition lies 31:42 - The scene with the abortion doctor’s assistant in the Camaro 36:54 - Maria’s search for an answer paralleled in the filmic experience 49:29 - The disaffected and the affected 57:26 - The final tragic (or hopeful?) scenes 1:01:01 - Is Maria in a better place in an asylum? 1:05:44 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1972 1:06:53 - The Junk Drawer 1:13:36 - Cody’s Noteys: Play It As It Lay’s (potato chip-tangent trivia) | |||
| 07 May 2024 | Episode 278: NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959) | 01:34:58 | |
NORTH BY NORTHWEST is a hinky Hitchcock tale of mistaken identity, assumed identity, shifting truths, and a man with a huge butt chin using a SpongeBob-comically-small razor. Cary Grant stars as an ad man who gets caught up in a Cold War game of cat-and-mouse (he’s the mouse) opposite double agent Eva Marie Saint, Broadly European Bad Guy James Mason, and the FBI/CIA/NSA/WTFE as the other players stringing him along (they’re the cats). A certain amount of NORTH BY NORTHWEST is best appreciated in context of Hitchcock’s previous films. After all, screenwriter Ernest Lehman said he wanted to write “the Hitchcock film to end all Hitchcock films”! To that end, it’s kind of a greatest hits collection, a suspenseful road movie keeping the tension high all the way from NYC to Mount Rushmore. What’s amazing is that it actually works totally on its own, too. Our discussion touches on the delightful sense of playfulness the movie has, Cary Grant as the perfect avatar of lovable pissantism, the cultural and political implications Hitchcock did not want us thinking about it, and how the auteur’s finely tuned filmmaking sensibilities serve his eighth-to-last film. Do these things:
#Hitchcock125 #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at trylon.org. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Closing audio: “Main Theme” by Bernard Hermann from the NORTH BY NORTHWEST soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 278: NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959) 3:01 - The episode actually starts 6:44 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 9:47 - How NORTH BY NORTHWEST plays to Hitchcock’s well-rounded filmmaking style 23:38 - Hitchcock looking back 45:43 - Critique of masculinity, nations, Cold War politicking 52:47 - Balancing critique and lighthearted fun 1:01:33 - The Junk Drawer 1:13:04 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1959 1:14:21 - Cody’s Noteys: Trylove Movie Draft | |||
| 22 Oct 2024 | Episode 301: BARBARIAN (2022) with Dan Nagan | 02:32:49 | |
With returning guest Dan Nagan! A double-booked Airbnb in a rundown Detroit neighborhood is much, much more than it seems. It’s better as a surprise, so we won’t spoil anything with this description, but you should know BARBARIAN is ultimately a story about control: Over narratives, land, culture, and personhood itself. **References: **
Find Dan…
Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Podcast art by Emily Csuy. Intro theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: "Riki Tiki Tavi" by Donovan from the BARBARIAN soundtrack. Timestamps coming soonish! Jason’s on vacation. Sue me. (Don’t sue me.) | |||
| 21 May 2024 | Episode 280: ZARDOZ (1974) with Natalie Marlin | 02:08:18 | |
With Natalie Marlin! Whatever you know about ZARDOZ — it’s by the guy who made DELIVERANCE (1972), it’s a weird meme, Charlotte Rampling’s instant pregnancy, Sean Connery’s nutsling — we promise you, it’s just the beginning. A critically divisive movie that’s garnered a cult following in the five decades since its release, it’s certainly earned that reputation. It’s a movie where philosophical mishmash rubs shoulders with overt sexual politics and more dick jokes than you can shake a dick at. But when you step back, it’s got way more going under the hood; in fact, some of us are convinced it’s an iconoclast warning signal for the era of the blockbuster, releasing just a year before JAWS (1975) and three before STAR WARS (1977). Go on this inter-Vortex journey with us as we welcome Natalie to go inside the big stone head, down the yellow brick road, and to the very heart of ZARDOZ! References:
Find Natalie…
Contribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog: https://www.perisphere.org/perisphere-blog-post-guidelines/ #CharlotteRamplingsIllusionsOfInvulnerability #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at trylon.org. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Closing audio: "Symphony No.7 in A major op.92 - II, Allegretto" composed by Ludwig van Beethoven, conducted by Eugen Jochum, and performed by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra from the ZARDOZ soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 280: ZARDOZ (1974) 3:06 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 4:28 - The provenance of ZARDOZ 18:01 - What “versions” of science fiction it’s referencing/playing on 25:30 - The visual communication vs. long stretches of dialogue 29:06 - The fourth wall-breaking setup 38:59 - Aaron FINALLY gets his freak on 41:03 - A sci-fi piss-take that occasionally reads straight 46:18 - Zed’s “base” existence vs. the bored, infallible upper caste 1:04:59 - Where the movie ends up thematically 1:11:00 - An allegorical warning for the future of movies 1:21:16 - The Junk Drawer 1:29:33 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1974 1:31:49 - Cody’s Noteys: The Zar-dossier (ZARDOZ-adjacent trivia) | |||
| 09 Apr 2024 | Episode 274: CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982) with Celia Mattison | 01:40:14 | |
Noted Arnie fan Celia Mattison is back to discuss the swords and sorcery classic! John Milius’s CONAN THE BARBARIAN adaptation limits its view of the character to his pursuit of vengeance and conquest. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a rich, pagan paean to one’s drive for self-determination! On this episode, we talk about what rocks in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s star-making role, how James Earl Jones’s cold, calculating Thulsa Doom is a perfectly cast contrast to Conan’s Austro-Cimmerian barbarism, and the different paths men can go after they become self-aware.
#OfSwordsAndSorcery #35mm Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at trylon.org. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Closing audio: "Anvil of Crom" by Basil Poledouris from the CONAN THE BARBARIAN soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 274: CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982) with Celia Mattison 4:20 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 6:10 - A movie about conquering and being conquered 10:12 - A more moody, epic, anti-theist movie than you might assume 15:46 - How much character is there to Conan? 23:55 - Mythologization of the self as a man’s man 31:32 - “The opposite of ego death” 36:13 - Conan’s moral compass, such as it is 45:46 - How Thulsa Doom is cast in contrast to Conan 54:07 - How the ending foregrounds the action figure movies of the '80s 1:02:57 - The Junk Drawer 1:10:21 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1982 1:13:30 - Cody’s Noteys: Conan the Parnassian (Conan-themed haikus) | |||
| 11 Mar 2024 | Episode 269: Interview with Bret Berg, Creator/VJ/“Mad Scientist” of the Museum of Home Video | 01:04:30 | |
With special guest Bret Berg (Theatrical Sales Director at the American Genre Film Archive and Creator/VJ at the Museum of Home Video)! Bret Berg created the Museum of Home Video, a weekly stream comprising archival footage like commercials, TV shows, movies, and more, all edited for the quickest-hit emotional impact possible. Before he hosted two live MHV presentations at the Trylon (RING, RING: A DOORBELL CAM FANTASIA and THE MUSEUM OF HOME VIDEO’S GUIDE TO INFOMERCIALS), Bret sat down with us to chat about the project, his work, and the state of download culture. In this special interview episode, we discuss...
Find the Museum of Home Video’s streams at https://www.museumofhomevideo.com/ Follow the Museum of Home Video on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/museumofhomevideo/ Get tickets to RING, RING: A DOORBELL CAM FANTASIA and THE MUSEUM OF HOME VIDEO’S GUIDE TO INFOMERCIALS (March 15-17 at the Trylon): https://www.trylon.org/film/the-museum-of-home-video-live-and-in-person/all/ #OtherProgramming #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at trylon.org. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Closing audio: “Hit It and Quit It” by Funkedelic (heard in the RING, RING: A DOORBELL CAM FANTASIA promotional video). Timestamps 0:00 - Interview with Bret Berg, Creator/VJ/“Mad Scientist” of the Museum of Home Video 2:56 - Why people come back to the Museum of Home Video 5:23 - How Bret knows the Trylon 7:26 - What attracts Bret to film distribution 12:10 - Becoming a “mad scientist” to put on a good show 14:50 - Appointment viewing and “being people’s Tuesday night” 17:01 - RING, RING and why Bret’s showing this stuff at the Trylon 18:20 - Timely inspirations 21:02 - RING, RING in context of the Museum’s usual fare 24:18 - What it’s like to sift through lifetimes of torrented media 28:14 - Finding the uniting humanity in disparate content and the AI question 32:14 - Using contemporary content in the Museum 37:26 - Repertory cinema vs. download culture 40:45 - Joe Dante’s THE MOVIE ORGY (1968) 44:34 - What keeps Bret coming back to the Museum 46:43 - Bret’s favorite things that he’s put into the Museum of Home Video 50:35 - What is all this shit doing to Bret’s brain? (Also some Dune chat) 53:49 - Dumb Questions (SOUTHLAND TALES and other weird content Bret’s seen) | |||
| 05 Mar 2024 | Episode 268: DROP DEAD GORGEOUS (1999) with Drew Tenenbaum | 01:45:44 | |
With special guest and Minnesotan Drew Tenenbaum (@AshCoolBro)! A threshing accident, exploding parade floats and trailers – contestants and participants in the Sarah Rose Cosmetics American Teen Princess Pageant meet untimely ends in a series of suspicious incidents in Mount Rose, Minnesota. In this episode (comprising exclusively Minnesota-born speakers), we discuss the class politics at play in the movie, its turn with the mockumentary format, how many of its jokes actually land, and the shared satirical nostalgia we feel for the uniquely “Minnesota-ness” of DROP DEAD GORGEOUS. Find Drew…
“I Want All the Bisexuals To Know: If I Can Edit a Film Blog, You Can Too” by Finn Odum for Perisphere, the Trylon blog: https://www.perisphere.org/2024/02/16/i-want-all-the-bisexuals-to-know-if-i-can-edit-a-film-blog-you-can-too/ #OnlySkinDeep #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at trylon.org. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Closing audio: "Love is All Around" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts from the DROP DEAD GORGEOUS soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 268: DROP DEAD GORGEOUS (1999) 3:22 - The episode actually starts 5:06 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 6:59 - Drew’s background with DROP DEAD GORGEOUS – a jolt of Minnesota memories 18:53 - Earning “cult film" status 25:56 - Infusion of class adversity 40:10 - The comedy of DROP DEAD GORGEOUS 57:11 - An ode to endearingly awkward pacing 1:04:46 - The Junk Drawer 1:13:51 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before (f.k.a. "Other Loves We've Tried"): 1999 1:15:45 - Cody’s Noteys: Miss Trylove 2024 | |||
| 08 Apr 2025 | Episode 325: BEAU TRAVAIL (1999) | 01:22:20 | |
Claire Denis’s moving, poetic portrait of repression in the armed forces might be one of the best movies of all time. In the French Foreign Legion, there are beautiful, elegant young men; there’s their goblinish commander; and there’s nowhere else to go for any of them. The group’s leader, Galoup (Denis Lavant), is hopelessly in thrall to his own superior, Forestier (Michel Subor) — so when young newcomer Sentain (Grégoire Colin) starts to court attention from Forestier, Galoup resorts to subterfuge and abuse of authority to keep Sentain in line with the rest of his section. A masterpiece of visual storytelling and queer cinema, BEAU TRAVAIL is a sordid story of jealousy, externalized repression, and the struggle to find oneself beneath layers of oneself. References:
#LaSauvagerieetBeautédeClaireDenis #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 325: BEAU TRAVAIL (1999) 2:29 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 4:02 - People who are what (or are in places where) they shouldn’t be 18:47 - Counterpoint of image and story, visual and narrative 27:54 - Beautiful boys, colonialism, homoeroticism, and heteronormativity 35:07 - Galoup’s attempt to externalize his hatred of expression 47:48 - The all-timer ending scene 56:20 - The Junk Drawer 1:01:33 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1999 1:03:29 - Cody’s Noteys: The House of Champions: 1999 (deciding the best movie from 1999) | |||
| 05 Nov 2024 | Episode 303: BEIJING WATERMELON (1989) | 01:48:42 | |
We’re no strangers to the work of Nobuhiko Obayashi. A visionary and an auteur, almost all of his work centers the human experience, especially through the media of film. Shared emotion, his filmography says, is the most important thing a human can feel. Can choose to feel. Based on a true story, BEIJING WATERMELON is no exception: Shunzo (Bengal), a humble grocer befriends the Chinese students living near his store, helping them adjust to Tokyo life. Though it comes at a personal cost to his marriage to his wife Michi (Masako Motai), his family life, and his business, Shunzo finds in the exercise an increased capacity for empathy in even the modest routine of his life. At the same time, the film also bears the scars of its production fiasco: The student protests and subsequent massacre at Tiananmen Square in Beijing interrupted filming for key scenes near the end of the story. But BEIJING WATERMELON wears those scars proudly, shifting into pseudo-documentary style to call attention to the power of film to inspire empathy and its inherent lack of immediacy. As the actor playing Shunzo says during one of the film’s out-of-character cutaways, “Sometimes, reality is more powerful than movies.” References:
#OtherProgramming #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music from the end credits of BEIJING WATERMELON. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 303: BEIJING WATERMELON (1989) 5:27 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 8:22 - The “project” of Obayashi’s 43-year career and his impact on cinema 26:02 - The packaging of time in BEIJING WATERMELON 35:13 - How Shunzo is changed through his friendship with the Chinese students 40:18 - The humanist lean and fourth wall-breaking tendencies 50:28 - How essential is the metatextual stuff to the point of the movie? 1:00:03 - What did Obayashi ‘learn’ between HAUSU (1977) and BEIJING WATERMELON? 1:09:04 - The Junk Drawer 1:21:44 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1989 1:27:06 - Cody’s Noteys: Pay-jing Watermelon (US grocery price trivia) | |||
| 14 Jan 2025 | Episode 313: THE OTHERS (2001) | 01:34:18 | |
Alejandro Amenábar’s surprise hit THE OTHERS turns the tables on the ghost story. And a couple decades after its release, it’s still a really fun, watchable movie! But is it more than its inspirations? Furthermore, is it more than a twist on its inspirations? In this episode, we consider the ways THE OTHERS inverts gothic horror tropes, how it makes the grandeur of a Jersey mansion seem so lifeless, and how to pronounce the name Fionnula. References:
#NicoleKidmansFearlessPerformances #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodcast.bsky.social, and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro: “Reunion” composed by Alejandro Amenábar, conducted by Claudio Ianni, and performed by The London Session Orchestra from the THE OTHERS soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 313: THE OTHERS (2001) 2:40 - The episode actually starts 4:35 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 6:18 - Is THE OTHERS already a classic? 19:47 - How THE OTHERS and its performances invert gothic horror trappings and tropes 29:54 - A battle with the house 50:28 - The houseworkers 58:04 - Grace’s eventual acceptance of doubt 1:05:16 - Charles Stewart (Christopher Eccleston) and the 'rules' of death 1:05:16 - The Junk Drawer 1:12:41 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 2001 1:18:50 - Cody’s Noteys: Fuck, Marry, Kidman (FMK with Nicole Kidman movies) | |||
| 27 Feb 2024 | Episode 267: LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT (2018) with Natalie Marlin | 02:03:12 | |
With special guest Natalie Marlin (@NataliesNotInIt)! Bi Gan’s lovelorn neo-noir follows Luo (Huang Jue) as he pursues Wan (Tang Wei), the woman he fell in love with years before. Luo weaves in and out of half-recalled memories to trace Wan’s whereabouts, only brushing shoulders with reality as he dodges his own past in pursuit of the fading memory of love through decades of lost time. Famous for its non-linear structure, ethereal pacing, and the 59-minute long-take dream sequence that closes the film, LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT uniquely mixes the concrete drive of emotion with the fleeting nature of memory. In this episode, we talk about how the first half sets up the second, the protagonist’s intentional unreliability as narrator, the mechanical and narrative achievement of its dreamy long-take ending, and have a little fun picking out the first-act callbacks in the second half of the movie. “Lost in the Dream” by Natalie Marlin for Perisphere, the Trylon blog: https://www.perisphere.org/2024/02/13/lost-in-the-dream/ Find Natalie…
#NoirFestival #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at trylon.org. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Closing audio: “Opening” (开场) by Lim Giong and Chih-Yuan Hsu from the LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 267: LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT (2018) 3:50 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 5:01 - Tang Wei pretty 6:00 - Why Natalie keeps coming back to this movie 14:59 - The “trap” of the second half 24:03 - The power and rhythm of the first half 41:06 - Abstraction and looking at Luo through a noir lens 47:02 - Everything is always about to happen 55:56 - Luo, Zuo, and dualism 59:43 - The cathartic 59-minute long-shot dream sequence 1:08:22 - Luo reconstructing a version of himself in the subconscious 1:12:42 - Cyclical loop-closing 1:32:55 - LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT Ending Explained 1:42:26 - The Junk Drawer | |||
| 14 May 2024 | Episode 279: THE NIGHT PORTER (1974) with Kelly Krantz | 01:19:51 | |
With Kelly Krantz! Liliana Cavani’s psychological, post-Holocaust perverted thriller went down as one of the most controversial movies of all time. In a concentration camp during World War II, concentration camp officer Max (Dirk Bogarde) and his prisoner victim Lucia (Charlotte Rampling) form a sadomasochistic relationship. Their relationship is colored as much by their shared depravity as by Max’s evil humanity and Lucia’s shame over her burgeoning desire. Pretty inflammatory stuff! Hence the reputation. But we’re not convinced it’s the irresponsible exploitation film it’s been remembered as. On this episode, we explain why by focusing on the lead characters’ psychology, what brings them together, and what dooms them from the start. References:
Find Kelly…
Contribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog: https://www.perisphere.org/perisphere-blog-post-guidelines/ #CharlotteRamplingsIllusionsOfInvulnerability #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at trylon.org. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Closing audio: "Sonata 1950" by Daniele Paris from the THE NIGHT PORTER soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 279: THE NIGHT PORTER (1974) 5:05 - Starting THE NIGHT PORTER with context 17:24 - Mistaking this movie for exploitation cinema 22:20 - Max’s perverse self-denial 37:46 - Lucia, Charlotte Rampling, voyeurism, transgression, and performance 41:26 - The power Max and Lucia have in their relationship 55:23 - The ending 1:02:50 - The Junk Drawer 1:13:10 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1974 | |||
| 26 Nov 2024 | Episode 306: KING OF CHINATOWN (1939) | 01:19:57 | |
Shortly after announcing a sweeping shakedown, Chinatown gangster Frank Baturin (Akim Tamiroff) is targeted by his right-hand man in a vicious power play. When the hit fails, Baturin’s life is left in the hands of Mary (Anna May Wong), a one-in-a-million surgeon — and daughter of a Chinatown medicine shop owner — who nurses Baturin back to health. While her friendship with the King deepens, Mary’s altruist streak calls her back to China, putting her in a bind as Baturin’s capos crack down on Chinatown harder than even Baturin. KING OF CHINATOWN gives Anna May Wong less to do than in DAUGHTER OF SHANGHAI (1937), and less time to do it in. In this episode, we talk about her endlessly captivating screen presence, the 57-minute rush to tell a story that could’ve easily been 90 minutes, and the “All-American”-izing even progressive movies used to do with their minority leads. Also, we recorded this in person at Harry’s apartment, so it sounds a bit different. Also, Jason had hiccups for a lot of it, so we have some fun with that, too. References:
TheDefiantRolesofAnnaMayWong #35mmFollow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodcast.bsky.social, and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music from the KING OF CHINATOWN soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 306: KING OF CHINATOWN (1939) 3:57 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 5:26 - Seeing KING OF CHINATOWN on 35mm at the Trylon 9:32 - Frank Baturin as “an Agatha Christie character” 13:35 - What Baturin is after 19:38 - Mike and the Professor 28:14 - What this movie maybe could’ve been with more time 32:46 - Anna May Wong in this movie 42:43 - It’s kind of a lot of different movies 55:56 - The Junk Drawer 1:00:55 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1939 1:03:15 - Cody’s Noteys: Panorama May Wong (Anna May Wong trivia) | |||
| 04 Feb 2025 | Episode 316: XANADU (1980) | 01:12:30 | |
XANADU is a musical fantasy film released in 1980 directed by Robert Greenwald. It stars Olivia Newton-John as Kira, Michael Beck as Sonny Malone, and Gene Kelly as Danny McGuire. Sonny is an artist toiling away painting album covers for a living. Danny is a has-been song and dance man resigned to retirement after a career in construction. Kira is an immortal muse sent from a mythological plane to bring Sonny and Danny together so they can create a performing arts roller skating club called XANADU. XANADU sucks.Famously. It’s well understood to be one of the worst movies ever made. It helped invent the Golden Raspberry Awards. We don’t have much nice to say about it, either — we think it’s embarrassing at best. But we, the Xanadudes, down two hosts this week, still try to pull apart what does and doesn’t work and why in this strange misstep of a musical. **References: **
#MichaelBeck #35mm Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro: “Whenever You're Away from Me” composed by John Farrar and performed by Gene Kelly and Olivia Newton-John from the XANADU soundtrack. Timestamps Coming soon! Maybe. I’m trying, okay? | |||
| 04 Mar 2025 | Episode 320: BOOGIE NIGHTS (1997) with Blake Hester | 01:42:45 | |
With Blake Hester! Paul Thomas Anderson’s retrospective dramatization of the ‘70s porn industry isn’t exactly rosy, but it’s certainly not dour, either. It’s kind of situated between those poles, balancing hangout vibes and deeply depressing shit to keep it right where you want a movie to be — tragic, fun, and eminently watchable. Find Blake…
References:
#TheMasterworksofPaulThomasAnderson #35mm Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro from BOOGIE NIGHTS. Timestamps0:00 - Episode 320: BOOGIE NIGHTS (1997) 6:03 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 7:55 - Where we’re coming at this movie from 15:55 - Precision 22:36 - Dread for the ‘80s 27:08 - Flexible people who have the space to become their “true” selves 34:41 - The 1980s and the artifice of the pornography industry 37:44 - Long tracking shots and a pivot to a bittersweet ending 1:01:40 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1997 1:05:38 - The Junk Drawer 1:17:10 - Cody's Noteys: Trylove Nose Best ("boogie" trivia) | |||
| 30 Jul 2024 | Episode 290: 15 Years of the Trylon Followed by Fall Films with John Moret | 01:11:16 | |
The Trylon turns 15 this year! That means it’s been five years since we first welcomed Trylon Film Programmer John “Mo’ Retta Blues” Moret to the podcast for a 10th anniversary interview. With five years of history to look back on and an extra-long, banger-laden Fall 2024 calendar to discuss, we sat down again with John in the hallowed lobby of the Trylon to get the full scoop. (And talk about video games, reminisce on the Trylon series we’ve loved, and FINALLY land on a suitable nickname for John.) Note: The audio quality on this one isn’t quite as good as our usual episodes. What do you want from me? It was one Blue Yeti USB mic in the middle of an open, air-conditioned lobby on a blistering Saturday afternoon while a movie was playing in the auditorium next door. This podcast is free to listen to. Check the calendar, preview upcoming series, and buy tickets at https://www.trylon.org/ Contribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog: https://www.perisphere.org/perisphere-blog-post-guidelines/ Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 290: 15 Years of the Trylon Followed by Fall Films 9:58 - The episode actually starts 15:32 - Nicknaming John 19:11 - How new projection capabilities have changed what the Trylon plays 24:16 - How the people have changed (volunteers, audiences, etc.) 34:03 - What else has shaped John’s approach to programming 44:50 - The impact of the Trylon Club 48:28 - One hopeful thing from the past 5 years 57:03 - The schedule for Fall 2024 1:08:56 - Why the Trylon now puts “in 35mm” on its movie listings | |||
| 30 Apr 2024 | Episode 277: LEGEND (1985) | 01:43:07 | |
LEGEND is a 1985 fantasy film directed by Ridley Scott and written by William Hjortsberg. It stars Tom Cruise in one of his first leading roles as Jack, a pure-hearted forest-dweller who is in love with Princess Lily (played by Mia Sara). Hoping to show her something beautiful, Jack introduces Lily to two majestic unicorns that live in a remote part of the forest. In doing so, he breaks one of the forest’s most sacred rules: That mortals must never touch the unicorns, lest they “upset the order of the universe”. The encounter creates an opportunity for goblin emissaries of the Lord of Darkness (played by Tim Curry) to poison one of the unicorns, steal its horn (alicorn), capture the other unicorn and enslave Princess Lily, threatening to plunge the world into darkness — unless Jack, the pure-hearted hero, can return the unicorn’s horn and avoid everlasting darkness. It’s an arrow-straight premise with promise for more underneath — but after more than a dozen screenplay revisions and numerous cuts, LEGEND comes out the other end feeling rather hollow. So we’re reading WAY too far into it to see what we can get out of it beyond what it shows us! On this episode, we also talk about the magical production design, marvel at Tim Cunty’s — er, Curry’s — sassy, satanic swagger; Tom Cruise’s tooth/teeth; and guess how tall two Tom Hardys are toe-to-tip when you stack them on top of each other. Do these things:
#OfSwordsAndSorcery #35mm Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at trylon.org. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Closing audio: "The Dance" by Tangerine Dream from the LEGEND soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 277: LEGEND (1985) 2:16 - The episode actually starts 3:18 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 8:08 - Starting thoughts 16:17 - TC’s CT 18:40 - The power of nostalgia in evaluating movies like LEGEND 33:31 - Rich visuals and a hollow story 42:47 - How Lily’s sexual awakening would bring this story together 1:07:41 - The Junk Drawer 1:16:53 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1985 1:19:40 - Cody’s Noteys: L’edging (legend-adjacent movie trivia) | |||
| 30 Jan 2024 | Episode 263: BURST CITY (1982) with Blake Hester | 01:35:57 | |
With returning guest Blake Hester! BURST CITY is arguably more of a cultural document than a movie with a plot and a story. It consists largely of musical setpieces by the Japanese punk groups of its time, with plot threads (vengeful bikers, nuclear infrastructure, etc.) being more hinted at than shown. In this episode, Blake joins us to talk about BURST CITY's content, context, and creation. Find Blake…
Nuclear Punks Run Amok: Gakuryu Ishii’s “Burst CIty” by Margaret Barton-Fumo for Metrograph: https://metrograph.com/nuclear-punks-run-amok-gakuryu-ishiis-burst-city/ “REVIEW: Burst City (1982)” by Grant Watson for Fiction Machine: https://fictionmachine.com/2021/11/15/review-burst-city-1982/ DCPFollow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Closing audio: “Wild Supermarket” by The Rockers from the BURST CITY soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 263: BURST CITY (1982) 00:45 - Poop talk, video game movies 10:12 - The episode actually starts 14:49 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 17:49 - Ishii and the Japanese cyberpunk cinema movement 23:30 - BURST CITY’s inspirations 25:11 - Appreciating BURST CITY vs. enjoying it 34:24 - BURST CITY as deconstructive cacophony 40:06 - American cyberpunk vs. Japanese cyberpunk 50:40 - Japanese appropriation of Western punk in BURST CITY 56:55 - BURST CITY as a cultural document 1:03:46 - Blake’s pairing recommendations 1:08:42 - Other Loves We’ve Tried: 1982 1:10:48 - The Junk Drawer 1:16:08 - Cody’s Noteys: Splurge City (movie-buying ultimatum) 1:31:34 - Good Grief, Give Me a GIF! | |||
| 01 Oct 2024 | Episode 298: THE TRAIN (1964) with Abbie Phelps | 01:46:37 | |
With special guest Abbie Phelps (@GoodHunterAbbie)! THE TRAIN is a fantastic Burt Lancaster vehicle, a showcase for supporting performers Paul Scofield and Jeanne Moreau, and, in a career dotted with bangers, one of director John Frankenheimer’s finest. With the Nazi occupation of France coming to an end, railway supervisor Paul Labiche (Lancaster) is tasked by Colonel Von Waldheim (Scofield) with escorting a steam locomotive out of the country carrying a cache of priceless French paintings. Realizing their importance to French cultural identity, the French Resistance lobbies Labiche to delay the train as it makes its way to the German border. Labiche reluctantly agrees, coordinating with resistance fighters across the country to reroute, sabotage, and otherwise impede the train’s progress while they wait for Allied support to reclaim the region. The deadly clashes between Nazi forces and occupied civilians, including the widowed innkeeper Christine (Moreau), lead Labiche to consider with increasing skepticism whether the essentiality of art justifies the necessary loss of the human life it’s meant to enrich. Find Abbie…
**References: **
#JohnFrankenheimers1960s #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: "Main Theme" composed by Maurice Jarre from THE TRAIN soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 298: THE TRAIN (1964) with Abbie Phelps 5:43 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 7:45 - A masterpiece of war cinema… and Frankemheimer’s masterpiece? 16:15 - How THE TRAIN inverts action movie pacing 21:44 - Labor on-screen and off 31:24 - How brutality forwards the movie’s narrative 35:12 - Nationalism, hopelessness, and cynicism 39:45 - Christine, the reluctant resistance fighter 54:41 - The ending and the problem with “was it worth it?” hand-wringing 1:06:44 - The Junk Drawer 1:20:16 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1964 1:22:03 - Cody’s Noteys: Railyard Sale ($9 to spend on our 5-star movies) | |||
| 19 Nov 2024 | Episode 305: DAUGHTER OF SHANGHAI (1937) | 01:17:49 | |
After her father is killed for refusing to be extorted by the leaders of a human trafficking operation, Yan Ling (Anna May Wong) and Kim Lee (Phillip Ahn) jet across the islands of Puerto Rico on their way to the ringleader. When Anna May Wong starred in Robert Florey’s DAUGHTER OF SHANGHAI, it was hailed as a milestone in Hollywood’s progress toward a more inclusive, diverse industry: An Asian-American actress commanded the screen in an exciting, globe-hopping adventure without being relegated to outright stereotype. The same year, German actress Luise Rainer won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of a Chinese slave in a film adaptation of “The Good Earth” — a role Wong herself was denied. Such is the cognitive game you’ve got to play when considering a work like DAUGHTER OF SHANGHAI. Its lens is pointed at an acute angle at two similar subjects: First, at the machinations of Hollywood that kept minority stars at the sidelines for decades; and second, at the intersection of that machine and American imperial power, forever prioritizing the hegemony first codified by the white slave-owning class at the nation’s founding. References:
#TheDefiantRolesofAnnaMayWong #35mm Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodcast.bsky.social, and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music by Boris Morros from the DAUGHTER OF SHANGHAI soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 305: DAUGHTER OF SHANGHAI (1937) 2:19 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 4:32 - How Anna May Wong’s star power and activism led to DAUGHTER OF SHANGHAI 15:47 - How DAUGHTER OF SHANGHAI digs deeper on Asian immigrant narratives 26:31 - The plot contrivances it does and doesn’t indulge in 41:36 - Does the frenzied pacing help or hurt DAUGHTER OF SHANGHAI? 56:17 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1937 56:34 - Cody’s Noteys: Cody’s Floateys (flotation device trivia) | |||
| 28 Jan 2025 | Episode 315: MOULIN ROUGE! (2001) with Abbie Phelps | 01:53:45 | |
With Abbie Phelps! Baz Luhrmann’s musical mashup is a ravishing, jarring, occasionally annoying wakeup call to the modern movie musical. How did we get from the freneticism of MOULIN ROUGE! — one shot per second, Ewan McGregor as a twee poet musician with a flair for the burlesque, Nicole Kidman as a diseased courtesan overperforming horniness, John Leguizamo as a little person with a lisp — to something like THE GREATEST SHOWMAN (2017) or WICKED (2024)? Abbie is one of MOULIN ROUGE!’s biggest fans, so who better to help us answer those critical questions? Along the way, we discuss the trade-off of cohesiveness for sincerity, possible parallels with THE RED SHOES (1948), and whether or not MOULIN ROUGE! is kind of insulated from criticism. Find Abbie…
**References: **
#NicoleKidmansFearlessPerformances #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodcast.bsky.social, and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro: “The Pitch” from the MOULIN ROUGE! soundtrack. Timestamps Coming soon! | |||
| 11 Feb 2025 | Episode 317: BLUE COLLAR (1978) | 01:32:32 | |
Paul Schrader’s directorial debut isn’t a tale of a fearless crew punching up at their company overlords and the corrupt union that’s supposed to protect them. Instead, it’s a tale of compromise. The kind you make, and the kind that gets made for you. The kind you desperately hope means something in the end, anyway. In this episode, we discuss the excellent casting; how it’s great that Richard Pryor, Harvey Keitel, and Yaphet Kotto kind of get to be in their own movies here; the forces that pit men who should stand in solidarity against one another; and how it’d be pretty cool to have a life where you work hard, clock out, hit the bar, and go bowling with your pals on the weekend. **References: **
#CultFilmCollective #35mm Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro: “Hard Workin’ Man” composed by Jack Nitzsche with lyrics by Jack Nitzsche, Ry Cooder, and Paul Schrader and performed by Captain Beefheart from the BLUE COLLAR soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 137: BLUE COLLAR (1978) 4:59 - The episode actually starts 6:26 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 7:18 - Politics, smoothness, anger, performances, and Schrader 19:45 - The cast 27:08 - How the movie highlights weariness with comedy 42:10 - The virtue of a nuanceless movie 48:13 - The moment that suddenly pits Zeke, Jerry, and Smokey against each other 55:01 - What the movie does and doesn’t show us, and what that does for the feeling of the movie 1:04:32 - The Junk Drawer 1:10:01 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1978 1:11:36 - Cody’s Noteys: Boo, Call Her! (trivia for movies with impassioned speeches) | |||
| 20 Aug 2024 | Episode 292: CHILDREN OF MEN (2006) | 01:26:19 | |
20 years after the world’s last baby was born, revolutionary-turned-working stiff Theo Faron (Clive Owen) is content to coast until the end catches up to the world — until his former lover and the mother of his dead son Julian (Julianne Moore) wrangles him into a plan to escort expecting mother Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey) to safety. Remembered (and heavily cribbed) for its effective worldbuilding and the immediacy of its handheld long takes, Alfonso Cuarón’s post-apocalyptic tale feels purpose-built to reawaken dormant empathy. This podcast also features the last white man who hadn’t seen CHILDREN OF MEN until 2024. References:
#TheLongTake #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: "Song Of The Angel" composed by John Tavener from the CHILDREN OF MEN soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 292: CHILDREN OF MEN (2006) 3:52 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 5:54 - The relationship of CHILDREN OF MEN to the things it inspired later 17:15 - The spirit of the long take and “democratizing the frame” 32:39 - How the world is built to shape Theo 44:33 - Luke, Julian, and the politics of radicalization 1:08:32 - The Junk Drawer 1:19:35 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 2006 | |||
| 28 May 2024 | Episode 281: THE VERDICT (1982) | 01:06:36 | |
Frank Galvin will try the case — against the medical professionals whose negligence left a woman a vegetable, against the church that funds it, against the wishes of the victim’s family, and against just about everybody else. THE VERDICT, Sidney Lumet’s OTHER courtroom drama has a bit of a ‘70s vibe to it, despite releasing in 1982. Maybe it’s because of its miserable hero, an alcoholic lawyer portrayed masterfully by the perpetually handsome Paul Newman; maybe it’s because the whole desperate affair feels less like an underdog success story and more like a hard-won battle with the self; maybe it’s in the misogynist implications of David Mamet’s script (particularly with regard to Charlotte Rampling as Laura). On this episode, we look at THE VERDICT as a product of its time AND with the benefit of hindsight and come to different conclusions about its makers’ intentions, the means by which they get there, and what the film has to show for its effort after the gavel falls. References:
Contribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog: https://www.perisphere.org/perisphere-blog-post-guidelines/ #CharlotteRamplingsIllusionsOfInvulnerability #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at trylon.org. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Closing audio: “The Bottom” by Johnny Mandel from the THE VERDICT soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 281: THE VERDICT (1982) 6:01 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 8:05 - Not the feel-good underdog story the marketing might lead you to believe 21:02 - What a messy version of justice this is 30:27 - Charlotte Rampling as Laura and where we end up in the finale 47:04 - The Junk Drawer 51:07 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1982 52:00 - Cody’s Noteys: The Verdictionary (definitions applied to cast names) | |||
| 02 Jul 2024 | Trylove Episode 286: REMEMBER MY NAME (1978) with Kelly Krantz | 01:18:30 | |
Geraldine Chaplin (Charlie’s daughter), Anthony Perkins, and Berry Berenson (Perkins’s wife) star in a taut, almost-revenge tale directed by frequent Robert Altman collaborator Alan Rudolph — REMEMBER MY NAME is a classic example of a cult classic. We couldn’t be happier to welcome Kelly Krantz (@kransekage_) back to chat about one of her favorite performer’s best performances! Stacked with contemporary actors (Chaplin, Perkins), now-famous names (Alfre Woodard, Dennis Franz, Jeff Goldblum), and a soundtrack by resurgent blues artist Alberta Hunter, REMEMBER MY NAME would have all the pieces of a ‘70s stunner — but for the distinct twist it puts on its plot. Emily (Chaplin) stalks Neil (Perkins) and Barbara (Berenson) obsessively following her release from prison. Whether Emily’s looking for revenge, closure, or just terror isn’t clear at the start, but her meek demeanor hides a steely, sturdy resolve to confront Neil — an interaction she rehearses word-for-word as she makes her way closer to Neil’s heart. But the confrontation isn’t the explosive, sordid, climactic endeavor you might imagine. In its casualness, it’s way, way more upsetting. References:
Find Kelly…
Contribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog: https://www.perisphere.org/perisphere-blog-post-guidelines/ #OtherProgramming #35mm Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at trylon.org. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: "Remember My Name" by Alberta Hunter from the REMEMBER MY NAME soundtrack. Timestamps 0:45 - Episode 286: REMEMBER MY NAME (1978) 2:43 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary (under exclusive license from AG Enterprises, Ltd.) 4:05 - What the movie seems like it’ll be vs. what it actually is 11:10 - Geraldine Chaplin as Emily 19:32 - Costuming and styling 21:58 - Anthony Perkins, Berry Berenson, and real-world subtext 33:26 - Alberta Hunter’s soundtrack and a world internalizing discontent 41:46 - This movie’s relationship to blackness 49:07 - The jail cell scene and the anti-climax 1:08:28 - The Junk Drawer 1:14:57 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1978 | |||
| 07 Feb 2024 | Episode 264: WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES (2000) | 01:57:30 | |
In Béla Tarr’s dour, slow drama WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES, an aimless people’s anger and malaise is leveraged to violent ends by figures of power. A desolate town bristles when a traveling circus comes through with a stuffed whale as its centerpiece. Uncertain of its meaning, the townspeople respond with disbelief and skepticism as they suffer through the rapid decay of society playing out in parallel. Starry-eyed mail carrier János lets the grotesque attraction – and the shadowy Prince pulling the strings of the circus – enrapture his imagination while things fall apart, until János himself becomes its victim. Whether you see optimism, pessimism, the unfeeling cosmos, or just a reflection of yourself in the eyes of the impotent carcass rotting at the center of the town and its story, WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES positions itself among Tarr’s most watchable films – an enigma opting to expose rather than instruct. “A Whale of a Tale: Béla Tarr’s Werckmeister Harmonies” by Luke Mosher for Perisphere, the Trylon blog #DCP #OtherProgramming Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at trylon.org . Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Closing audio: "Old" by Mihály Vig from the WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 264: WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES (2000) 4:54 - The episode actually starts 7:47 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 10:51 - Scaling expectations of Béla Tarr and slow cinema in general 23:56 - Visual and non-visual framing devices 34:07 - The film’s expression of recognizable, universal themes 41:13 - János as our “way in” to WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES 52:22 - Grappling with the humanism of Béla Tarr 1:03:01 - The symbolism of the whale and the ending of the movie 1:14:34 - The Junk Drawer 1:19:41 - Other Loves We’ve Tried: 2000 1:22:22 - Back 2 the Junk Drawer 4 a Sec 1:24:06 - Cody’s Noteys: Whalemeister Harmonies (whale-related movie trivia) | |||
| 19 Mar 2024 | Episode 271: A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH (1946) | 01:24:14 | |
Sweet, heartwarming, funny, and deeply weird, A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH plays to its creator duo Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s strengths: swift writing, a flair for the dramatic, and deeply affecting images. David Niven stars as the should-be-late British RAF Squadron Leader Peter Carter, who falls in love with American soldier June (Kim Hunter) over the radio on his way to the hereafter. But in the throes of World War II, Carter’s demise slides under the radar of the reaper sent to collect his soul (Marius Goring as the foppish Parisian Conductor 71), leaving the lovestruck Lancaster pilot in the lurch, legally speaking: Does his passion for a woman he met minutes before his intended death warrant a stay of execution? Or should he be sentenced to serve out the term of his miscarried doom? Going two for two on the Trylon’s Spring 2024 highlight of Powell and Pressburger’s production company The Archers, we discuss A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH from several angles on this episode: As postwar comfort cinema; as a visual piece astonishingly ahead of its time; as a consideration of the value of human emotion in the face of celestial stakes; and as a singular mixture of the comic, the tragic, and the existential.
#TwoByTheArchers #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at trylon.org. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Closing audio: "Opening Sequence" composed by Allan Gray and performed by the Queen Hall Light Orchestra from the A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 271: A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH (1946) 4:09 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 6:30 - Did they EVER make ‘em like this? 16:23 - Fearlessness, experimentation, and creativity 24:37 - The controlled scattershot of ideas and how it wins you over again and again 31:38 - What works and doesn’t in the courtroom third act 54:16 - Our favorite shots 1:01:03 - The Junk Drawer 1:05:39 - Cody’s Noteys: A Platter of Life and Death (poisoned food dish movies trivia) | |||
| 23 Apr 2024 | Episode 276: THE BEASTMASTER (1982) | 01:52:53 | |
THE BEASTMASTER is a 1982 fantasy action movie directed by Don Coscarelli (best known for the PHANTASM films #TheBallIsBack). Marc Singer stars as Dar, rightful heir to the throne of Aruk and prophesied slayer of the evil priest Maax (Rip Torn). Born with the power to speak to animals, Marc befriends a number of mammals on his journey to reclaim the throne (including other humans, though they play a distant second fiddle to the beasts in this film, tbh). THE BEASTMASTER is not a GREAT movie, and a couple of us even struggled to find much joy in it at all. But it still makes for a great discussion, including an evaluation of the movie on its own terms and plenty of comparisons with its (much better) contemporary, CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982). Plus, what animal familiar would we pick? What’s the largest animal we could beat in single combat? (My money’s on Harry and the kangaroo.) Do these things:
#OfSwordsAndSorcery #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at trylon.org. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Closing audio: "Main Theme" by Lee Holdridge from THE BEASTMASTER soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 276: THE BEASTMASTER (1982) 3:42 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary (under exclusive license from AG Enterprises, Ltd.) 10:38 - It’s not very good, is it? Or maybe it’s just boring 28:17 - Things that kind of make no sense 43:34 - CONAN-parisons 57:27 - The frustratingly un-pullable threads of this movie 1:05:35 - Our favorite bits of animal acting 1:13:24 - The Junk Drawer 1:17:42 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1982 1:19:24 - Cody’s Noteys: Phy-love (animal-adjacent questions) | |||
| 10 Sep 2024 | Episode 295: KIRU (1962) | 01:23:21 | |
KIRU (also known as DESTINY’S SON) is a 1962 samurai film directed by Kenji Misumi and written by Kaneto Shindo, based on a novel by Renzaburo Shibata. The film stars Raizo Ichikawa as Shingo, the secret son of an assassin executed for the crime of killing her lord’s concubine. Shingo learns of his true nature after a rival family massacres his adoptive father and sister for denying the secret of Shingo’s birth. After exacting revenge on the killers, Shingo visits his father, who was also his mother’s executioner, before embarking on a journey as a wandering ronin. **References: **
#KenjiMisumisSamuraiSixties #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music from the ending of KIRU. Timestamps coming soon! | |||
| 15 Oct 2024 | Episode 300: KILLER BEAN FOREVER (2008) | 01:52:54 | |
KILLER BEAN FOREVER is an independently created animated feature about Killer Bean, a vigilante anthropomorphized coffee bean with a chip on his shoulder and a bitter rivalry with the troublesome gangs of Beantown. Claiming inspiration from classic action cinema, particularly the work of gun fu genre pioneer John Woo, the idiosyncratic KILLER BEAN FOREVER became a cult hit some 10 years after its original release, racking up dozens of millions of YouTube views. As we embark on another 100 episodes, we decided to take an episode to cover a movie that we’re fairly completely certain will never play at the Trylon Cinema (at least, not officially). In this episode, we also touch on our recent experience at the 2024 Trylon Horrorthon, discuss how seriously we should take the effort of KILLER BEAN series creator/director/writer/animator Jeff Lew, and even do a bit of soul-searching about the very nature and purpose of Trylove, a Movie Podcast. Long live Trylove. **References: **
Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Podcast art by Emily Csuy. Intro theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: "Dance Party" by Justin R. Durban and Jeff Lew from the KILLER BEAN FOREVER soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 300: KILLER BEAN FOREVER (2008) 4:32 - Cheers to 300 episodes 11:46 - HORRORTHON VIII: DRINK THE BLOOD OF HORRORTHON 27:34 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 35:42 - A passion project and honing 30 years of craft for one purpose 50:21 - Genuineness, irony, and the trash/camp line 58:40 - Our favorite bits, idiosyncrasies, and details 1:06:26 - What drove the 299 episodes before this 1:10:27 - Creating a sense of place 1:20:08 - The Junk Drawer 1:26:33 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 2008 1:27:29 - Cody’s Noteys: Killer 3ean (trivia on movies we watched by Discord stream) | |||
| 16 Jul 2024 | Episode 288: ONE CUT OF THE DEAD (2017) with Benjamin Savard | 01:45:56 | |
You’ve never seen a zombie movie like Shinichirou Ueda’s cult hit ONE CUT OF THE DEAD. It’s best if I don’t type anything more about it here, actually, just in case you haven’t seen it. (Little peek behind the curtain in keeping with the theme of the movie: It’s also because your editor is typing this on his lunch hour at his day job.) Suffice to say it’s one of the most clever takes on the genre we’ve seen, and a fun, heartwarming tale on its own. Regardless, returning guest Benjamin Savard was, like the rest of us, rather taken with this weird, warm darling of a movie, so we’ve welcomed him back to the show to discuss it! We talk anime, the psychology of movie-watching, “making of making of making ofs,” the value of a great in-joke with your audience, and Ben’s favorite René Descartes joke. (I assume there’s more than one.) References:
Find Ben…
Contribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog: https://www.perisphere.org/perisphere-blog-post-guidelines/ #TheLongTake #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at trylon.org. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: “Keep Rolling (映画『カメラを止めるな！』主題歌)” by kensonlovers feat. MAYUMI YAMAMOTO from the ONE CUT OF THE DEAD soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 288: ONE CUT OF THE DEAD (2017) with Benjamin Savard 6:06 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 7:55 - What we think makes ONE CUT OF THE DEAD special 17:36 - A movie that trains you to deepen your appreciation for filmmaking 22:44 - “First as tragedy, then as farce” 32:34 - Taking on the human side of zombie survival stories in a unique way 35:11 - Is it rewatchable? 41:29 - First-act moments that get recontextualized in the middle act 53:22 - Complicating what it “teaches” you about watching the movie 58:18 - The Junk Drawer 1:10:57 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 2017 1:13:01 - Cody’s Noteys: Haiku of the Dead | |||
| 08 Oct 2024 | Episode 299: PULP FICTION (1994) | 01:50:46 | |
It defined an entire era of filmmaking. It recontextualized the tropes and narratives that came before. It festoons college dorm rooms across the world. It played at the Trylon on a newly struck 35mm print in 2024. Quentin Tarantino’s sophomore feature PULP FICTION is still “that movie”, whatever that means. An all-star cast stretched across three interlocking stories shows people in a period of adaptation, transition, growth, and moving on — or not. In this episode, we discuss the inimitable style with which editing imbues PULP FICTION’s narrative; its use of violence to simplify characters; the true depth of its pop culture references; and the parallel arcs each character takes to realize truer versions of themselves (whether that’s wandering the earth, getting out of Dodge, or dying in a stranger’s bathtub). References:
#OtherProgramming #35mm Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: "Son of a Preacher Man" by Dusty Springfield from the PULP FICTION soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 299: PULP FICTION (1994) 5:09 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 8:04 - Chaos, genre inspirations, and where PULP FICTION sits with us today 17:00 - A movie with a clear moral stance 20:34 - Choices, moral guidelines, and what drives these characters 29:00 - Heightened style and nonreality 34:55 - Violence, power, and how characters respond to circumstance 50:17 - Americana, references, and pop culture as more than aesthetic 1:01:37 - Dialogue, character-building, and huge performances 1:17:38 - The Junk Drawer 1:25:02 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1994 1:27:40 - Cody’s Noteys: Pulp Fiction or Pulp Nonfiction? | |||
| 25 Feb 2025 | Episode 319: THE LOST WEEKEND (1945) | 01:30:24 | |
THE LOST WEEKEND is a weird movie to talk about 80 years after it came out. It’s a drama directed by Billy Wilder about an alcoholic writer who keeps trying and failing to kick the habit, so you can see why you might have to give it a touch of grace for its various… depictions. In 1945, it was a beacon of empathy for the addict’s struggle, the first time an alcoholic was portrayed as more than an incompetent or a villain in a big-budget Hollywood movie. It even won Best Picture at the 18th Academy Awards! But how does it work in 2025? That’s just one topic of discussion as we dive into THE LOST WEEKEND, along with its side cast, its striking score, and what the hell a “gin and vermouth” is if not a martini. Plus, Cody has kidnapped The Weeknd and is leaving us THE SNOWMAN (2017)-like clues to find him before time runs out. References:
#DialMforMilland #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro: “The Walk” composed by Miklós Rózsa from the THE LOST WEEKEND soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 319: THE LOST WEEKEND (1945) 5:39 - The episode actually starts 8:50 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 10:08 - What worked and what didn't 19:10 - Aaron plays devil’s advocate because he liked it more than the rest of us 33:57 - The freaky hospital scene and Bim Nolan 36:27 - Can a movie have “too much sympathy” for its main character? 45:23 - Helen, Gloria, and characters who reflect Don back at himself 52:41 - How would you have preferred it end? 59:05 - The Junk Drawer 1:02:02 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1945 1:04:39 - Cody’s Noteys: The Lost Weeknd (The Weeknd has gone missing, and we have to follow Cody’s riddles to find him) | |||
| 26 Mar 2024 | Episode 272: NOTHING BUT A MAN (1964) | 01:44:58 | |
There wasn’t anything quite like Michael Roemer’s NOTHING BUT A MAN before it, and there arguably hasn’t been anything quite like it since. All the same, it’s often cited as “ahead of its time” – a critical, realistic look, almost documentary in nature, at the life of a black American man in the middle stages of the Civil Rights Movement. Duff Anderson (Ivan Dixon), the son of a deadbeat drifter hoping to avoid the same fate, leaves behind the independence of his railroad section gang to settle down with Josie (Abbey Lincoln), a well-to-do schoolteacher. Duff’s pride – in his independence, in his manhood, in his blackness – attracts Josie, but rankles the black community around him, who’ve adapted to leaving well enough alone in the deep Southern town they call home. Duff’s chief critics include the aggressive white populace and Josie’s father, a black preacher and community organizer sitting comfortably under the thumb of the town’s white movers and shakers. Written and directed by a German Jew who left the country at the start of World War II and released just months after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the movie was critically lauded but underpromoted, underseen, and misunderstood at the time of its release. Its 1993 U.S. rerelease brought it back to the world stage, with its reevaluation cementing it as a forerunner of a storytelling and filmmaking style that wouldn’t find its footing until arguably the 2000s. In this episode, we discuss the semi-autobiographical nature of Roemer’s story, its contemporary appraisal, its show-stealing performances, stage-play blocking, inventive cinematography, and the implications of its ambivalent ending.
#TooFarInFront #35mm Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at trylon.org. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Closing audio: "(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave" by Martha Reeves & The Vandellas from the NOTHING BUT A MAN soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 272: NOTHING BUT A MAN (1964) 4:44 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 8:06 - How ahead of its time it really is 12:42 - How Roemer managed to “get it” 19:03 - Key performances 22:10 - Locking eyes vs. avoiding each other’s gaze 25:05 - Materialism for the marginalized and the need to feel like a man 31:02 - Surviving in a world that requires you to be more perfect than perfect 37:55 - The precariousness of these people’s way of life 49:56 - The climax of the movie 1:00:50 - What makes Lee the key to Duff’s decision to come back to Josie 1:05:06 - The ending 1:12:36 - The Junk Drawer 1:23:15 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1964 1:25:31 - Cody’s NO-teys: When Was This Photo of Jason Dafnis Taken? 1:27:58 - The first photo 1:31:12 - The second photo 1:33:16 - The third and final photo | |||
| 02 Apr 2024 | Episode 273: THE DUELLISTS (1977) | 01:36:54 | |
Two years before ALIEN (1979), Ridley Scott packed a bunch of audacious ideas about empire, masculinity, and class into his feature debut: THE DUELLISTS. Rival officers in Napoleonic France, Gabriel Feraud (Harvey Keitel) and Armond d’Hubert (Keith Carradine) are thrown into a mythical, divinely comic cycle of nearly deadly clashes after d’Hubert is instructed to rein in Feraud’s glorified bloodlust. No matter how far he goes, d’Hubert always finds himself at the tip of Feraud’s sword. Over the course of almost two decades, Feraud and d’Hubert orbit concepts of honor, loyalty, and the essence of servitude as each hones their blade on the other’s ego. In this discussion, we talk about how some of the movie’s ideas feel far ahead of their time; how the movie deflates and then glorifies the art of honorable single combat; how important a love story really is in a movie like this; and how THE DUELLISTS serves as something of a codex for almost 50 years of Ridley Scott’s directorial endeavors.
#TheSimmeringFuryOfHarveyKeitel #35mm Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at trylon.org. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Closing audio: “Main Theme” by Howard Blake from the THE DUELLISTS soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 273: THE DUELLISTS (1977) 3:50 - The episode actually starts 6:37 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 11:18 - It’s goofy until it’s not 16:22 - The DNA of Ridley Scott’s filmmaking 19:36 - Modern-feeling characters in a movie set during the Age of Enlightenment 23:53 - Ridley Scott’s strengths and how he adapted to the constraints of this project 33:34 - Managed doses of Harvey Keitel vs. Keith Carradine, the doofus 43:23 - Laura and the point of d’Hubert’s romantic subplot 59:38 - The ending 1:10:22 - The Junk Drawer 1:19:23 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1977 1:21:06 - Cody’s Noteys: Spot the Scott (Ridley Scott tagline trivia) | |||
| 16 Apr 2024 | Episode 275: SAMURAI REINCARNATION (1981) with Kris Montello and Blake Hester | 01:28:39 | |
Featuring filmmaker/programmer Kris Montello and Something Rotten host Blake Hester! SAMURAI REINCARNATION is a 1981 samurai fantasy action film written and directed by Kinji Fukasaku. Shiro Amakusa (Kenji Sawada) is the sole survivor of a massacre of Japanese Christians during the Shimabara Rebellion. Witnessing the devastation, Shiro renounces the Christian God and vows vengeance on the Tokugawa regime that perpetrated the massacre. Now in league with Satan, Shiro gains the power to resurrect the dead and assembles a team of the aggrieved undead to execute his plans, including disgraced samurai wife Gracia Hokusawa (Akiko Kano), the lustful monk Inshun Hozoin (Hideo Murota), legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi (Ken Ogata), and young ninja Kirimaru Iga (Hiroyuki Sanada). The movie follows Shiro’s group as he amasses a demonic force, pursued by Musashi’s rival, Jubei Yagyu (played by Sonny Chiba). With noted Fukasaku Freak Blake Hester (of Something Rotten) and Kris Montello (filmmaker, Programming Manager for the Asian-American International Film Festival, and programmer for the Slamdance Film Festival), we’re picking apart this tokusatsu samurai freakout with a fine-toothed comb. How well does it work as an action movie? How do its historical origins make its transgressive violence hit even harder? How does it use Judeo-Christian imagery to tap into a specific Japanese social context? What does Fukasaku’s no-holds-barred iconoclasm bring to a demonic fantasy setting? That’s all in here! Find Kris…
Find Blake…
Also do these things:
#OfSwordsAndSorcery #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at trylon.org. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Closing audio: “Illusion” by Hozan Yamamoto from the SAMURAI REINCARNATION soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 275: SAMURAI REINCARNATION (1981) 7:06 - What is it about Fukasaku? 12:19 - Militarized power and the historical context of SAMURAI REINCARNATION 20:34 - No good guys or bad guys — just a struggle for power 28:21 - How Fukusaku robs powerful institutions of their ‘honor’ 42:23 - Where the movie slows down and how well it actually works as an action movie 57:22 - Japanese cultural context of Judeo-Christian imagery 1:02:59 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1981 1:06:34 - The Junk Drawer | |||
| 12 Mar 2024 | Episode 270: BLACK NARCISSUS (1947) | 01:57:46 | |
Five nuns. One Briton man-whore. A harem-turned-convent high in the Himalayas. Fellas – what could go wrong??? In Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s BLACK NARCISSUS, an adaptation of Rumer Godden’s 1947 novel, external conditions reveal internal torment: Altitude, wind, and culture clashes in the hilltop former harem of Mopu help expose the repressed desires of a sisterhood operating in Calcutta. In our discussion of this Technicolor classic, we discuss BLACK NARCISSUS’s potential misnomer as a “haunted house” movie; its cultural implications in the wake of the British empire’s slipping stranglehold over India post-World War II; and how the film’s art, direction, and performances highlight its masterful double-dip into both “high” and “low” art. Donate to help our friend and previous guest Nick Ransbottom get life-saving cystic fibrosis care: https://www.gofundme.com/f/get-nick-lifesaving-cystic-fibrosis-care “Why Black Narcissus is a Haunted House Movie” by Sophie Durbin for Perisphere, the Trylon blog: https://www.perisphere.org/2024/03/03/why-black-narcissus-is-a-haunted-house-movie/ “Black Narcissus” by Dave Kehr for The Current (2001): https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/94-black-narcissus "‘Black Narcissus,' British Study of Missionary Nuns, Starring Deborah Kerr, Bill at Fulton -- Based on Novel by Godden” for The New York Times (1947): https://www.nytimes.com/1947/08/14/archives/black-narcissus-british-study-of-missionary-nuns-starring-deborah.html #TwoByTheArchers #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at trylon.org. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Closing audio: "Opening Theme" by Brian Easdale from the BLACK NARCISSUS soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 270: BLACK NARCISSUS (1947) 5:59 - The episode actually starts 8:03 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 10:05 - He’s a whore 12:29 - Location, ‘haunted house,’ and orientalism 20:15 - The movie’s construction and our mileage with BLACK NARCISSUS 25:35 - Irreverence, manipulative cinematography, and use of Technicolor 38:42 - Using heightened reality to reflect a certain perspective 44:12 - Mr. Dean, the holy man Sir Krishna Rai, and counterbalancing the nuns 54:02 - Striking scene-setting and an introduction to Mopu as a character 59:37 - The ending of the movie and why Cody muted the phrase “BLACK NARCISSUS” on Twitter 1:12:48 - The Junk Drawer 1:24:27 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1947 1:26:50 - Cody’s Noteys: Pack of Narcissists (trivia about people who excel in their fields) | |||
| 25 Jun 2024 | Episode 285: THE EARRINGS OF MADAME DE... (1953) | 01:36:56 | |
Layers of social prestige have assigned Comtesse Louise de [name redacted] (Danielle Darrieux) a role that doesn’t accommodate her wider range of human desire. She knows that paying a debt by selling her diamond earrings, gifted by her husband General André de… (Charles Boyer), will offend the hierarchical foundations of her way of life — a life of privilege and excess — so instead of admitting folly, she lies. She didn’t sell them; she lost them. Thus starts a clear but ridiculous journey for THE EARRINGS OF MADAME DE… by director Max Ophüls. With each changing of hands (and ending up back in Louise’s), the earrings — once practically worthless to Louise — become the essential icon of her emotional independence beyond the material trappings of her opulent lifestyle. In this episode, we discuss the movie’s contemporary reaction (which seems facile in retrospect), the misdirection that keeps the twisting plot moving, and its context as a movie set during France’s Belle Époque that was released just as French society realized it was entering the rearview. References:
Contribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog: https://www.perisphere.org/perisphere-blog-post-guidelines/ #TheLongTake #35mm Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at trylon.org. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. “L’amour m’emporte” composed by Oscar Straus with lyrics by Louis Ducreux and performed by Danielle Darrieux. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 285: THE EARRINGS OF MADAME DE... (1953) 3:36 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 6:32 - Recapping the winding plot 10:52 - The Belle Époque and the roles of high society 25:34 - Lubitsch-adjacency and the soft bigotry of “different” expectations 30:48 - The charm of the bourgeoisie 36:16 - Mirrors, the earrings, and the semiotics of objects given and received 49:08 - Dirty Donati 50:51 - The long take and cinematography that “misdirects” 1:00:10 - The ending 1:04:54 - The Junk Drawer 1:13:50 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1953 1:15:24 - Cody’s Noteys: The Peer Flings of Madame de… (actor/actress pairings trivia) | |||
| 03 Sep 2024 | Episode 294: GOODFELLAS (1990) with Dan Nagan | 02:32:30 | |
With Danny “Bagadonuts” Nagan, a real-life good fella and cohost of the Everything We Learned podcast! I mean, it’s GOODFELLAS. If you haven’t seen it, you kinda already have. But you should absolutely still see it (take it from Jason). Despite his status as an Irish-Italian-American, Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) is a fish IN water among the most powerful mafia family of Brooklyn. From middle school, Henry fast ingratiates himself with aspiring made man Tommy (Joe Pesci), fellow mixed-blood gangster Jimmy (Robert De Niro), and local capo Paulie (Paul Sorvino), eventually earning enough clout to bring Karen (Lorraine Bracco), a Jewish woman with a thing for bad goys, into the “family” as his wife. As he ascends the linguine ladder, though, Henry finds himself increasingly exposed: to the diminishing returns of mafia life; to the self-serving ambitions of his brothers in crime; and before the waning influence of Italian organized crime with the decline of labor power in the 1980s. Inside the “pit of vipers mob movie” structure is a tale of self-preservation at the expense of decency, bonds broken as quickly and as explosively as they were forged, and the ever-churning machine of capital that has robbed, will rob, is robbing the modern American of their basic dignity. My dignity. Your dignity. **References: **
Find Dan…
#TheLongTake #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: “Sincerely” by The Moonglows from the GOODFELLAS soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 294: GOODFELLAS (1990) with Dan Nagan 3:36 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 5:14 - Dan’s incomplete, anti-filmbro first viewing 17:27 - Scorsese’s 1980s spent juggling pop appeal and experimental ambition 27:41 - Schoonmaker, editing, the long take, and what’s just under the surface 36:38 - Glorifying violence and adopting an outsider perspective 1:04:13 - Karen and the 1980s 1:24:21 - The final shot 1:34:12 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1990 1:36:36 - The Junk Drawer 1:47:33 - Cody’s Noteys: Woodfellas (wood figurine pricing estimates) 1:50:10 - First woodfella 1:54:04 - Second woodfella 1:58:10 - Third woodfella 2:01:59 - Fourth woodfella 2:06:17 - Dan’s Detour: Tryfellas (GOODFELLAS trivia) | |||
| 13 Feb 2024 | Episode 265: BLOW OUT (1981) | 01:56:42 | |
The truth behind the assassination at the center of Brian De Palma’s political paranoia thriller BLOW OUT isn’t really the point. It’s more about the ways in which fact comes to be distorted through many lenses, each built on relative understandings of the core event itself. When he happens to catch the sound of a politician’s murder on tape while scouting new SFX for a movie, sound designer Jack (John Travolta) is driven to piece together the truth. But with only the audible half of the story, he needs the help of Sally (Nancy Allen), a survivor of the crash, to prove what he saw. Unfortunately for Jack and Sally, they’re both loose ends caught in the increasingly dangerous machinations of political rivals, a hitman gone rogue, and a media machine that thrives on the first thing it can call “truth”. Watch BLOW OUT on the Internet Archive Get tickets to THE FIFTEENTH FILM NOIR FESTIVAL: NEO-NOIR (Winter at the Trylon & the Heights) “Paranoia, Failure, and Female Representation: Brian De Palma’s Blow Out” by Penny Folger for Perisphere, the Trylon blog “Do You Hear What I Hear?: The Salacious Self-Flagellation of Brian De Palma’s Blow Out” by Chris Polley for Perisphere, the Trylon blog “Blow Out: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Gadgeteer” by Pauline Kael (originally for The New Yorker in 1981, republished by The Criterion Collection in 2011) #NoirFestival #35mm Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at trylon.org . Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Closing audio: “Main Theme” by Pino Donaggio from the BLOW OUT soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 165: BLOW OUT (1981) 2:18 - The episode actually starts (ARGYLLE (2024) chat) 3:44 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 7:00 - A prescient, paranoid political thriller? 18:48 - A manipulative movie about media manipulation 27:37 - Counterpoint: Selling the “bigness” of the conspiracy at the heart of BLOW OUT 38:53 - Collaging “truth” through character ideologies 48:55 - A call to be more affected by the real traumas of the world 1:09:12 - The romantic mechanics of sound design and sound editing 1:15:34 - John Lithgow as Burke 1:24:16 - Other Loves We’ve Tried: 1981 1:26:48 - The Junk Drawer 1:36:04 - Cody’s Noteys: Trylove Feud (Family Feud but with movies that have a niche genre tag on Letterboxd) | |||
| 29 Oct 2024 | Episode 302: THE EVIL DEAD (1981) | 01:32:31 | |
Something’s waiting in the woods! THE EVIL DEAD is a masterwork of budget filmmaking, and it kick-started a genre all its own. In this discussion, we look back at the movie as the origin of comedy-horror cinema, as a rebuke of classic Hollywood horror style, and as a damn fun crowd-pleaser. References:
#MotorCityNightmares #35mm Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Podcast art by Emily Csuy. Intro theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: "Skin" by Joseph LoDuca from the THE EVIL DEAD soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 302: THE EVIL DEAD (1981) 7:23 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 9:17 - Our histories with THE EVIL DEAD and a short tour into isekai 20:01 - The platonic ideal of low-budget horror 32:49 - Bruce Campbell as Ash 44:37 - Baiting the audience with classic tropes before turning things up to a “soft 11” 55:06 - The moments of peak craft 1:04:17 - The Junk Drawer 1:12:34 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1981 1:14:35 - Cody’s Noteys: Snare the Scare (horror movie taglines trivia) | |||
| 17 Dec 2024 | Episode 309: ON DANGEROUS GROUND (1951) | 01:14:14 | |
Can you make things better? Can you make yourself better? What’s the difference between that and wanting to make things better for someone else? Jim Wilson (Robert Ryan) is a troubled cop. Misanthrope, former football star, loose cannon cop — he struggles to reconcile the stated altruism of his job with the ineffectual brutality that makes him so good at it. After he disables one witness and fails to protect another, it’s no surprise he’s sent upstate to investigate some small-time murder in some nowhere town. But the three feet of snow isn’t the only thing he’s unprepared for: Mary Malden (Ida Lupino), a blind woman with knowledge of the crime, is a mirror for what Jim hopes is good in him. That’s put to the test when Jim and a grieving father are finally put on the trail of the killer they’re after. References:
#IdaLupinoTripleThreat #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodcast.bsky.social, and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: "The Death Hunt" by Bernard Hermann from the ON DANGEROUS GROUND soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 309: ON DANGEROUS GROUND (1951) 0:45 - GLADIATOR II (2024) chat 5:14 - The episode actually starts 7:38 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 9:12 - Plot pacing, police politics, and a portrait of “a guy re-finding his soul” 18:23 - A story that “starts in the pits of hell” 28:18 - What changes when Jim goes upstate and meets Mary? 39:13 - Jim, Mary, and Danny’s shared “existential frustration” 49:58 - Danny Malden and the third act 56:57 - The debatable reality of the ending 1:05:37 - The Junk Drawer 1:09:00 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1951 | |||
| 12 Nov 2024 | Episode 304: IT'S SUCH A BEAUTIFUL DAY (2012) | 02:03:29 | |
Don Hertzfeldt’s creative, experimental animation style is almost universally acclaimed. His early short works helped him bridge the gap (albeit accidentally) from festival darling into a filmmaker synonymous with pre-YouTube online video culture. His first feature film, IT’S SUCH A BEAUTIFUL DAY, tells the story of Bill, a man defined by his neurotic observations about the world around him. In part, IT’S SUCH A BEAUTIFUL DAY is a parade of awkward interactions with strangers, bizarre family histories, and non-sequiturs narrated by Hertzfeldt himself. But a strain of melancholy runs in parallel to the cute, simplistic aesthetic: Bill is losing his mind, his memories, and most of his faculties. Through a medley of formally innovative sequences, the movie’s depiction of Bill’s decline creates a unique tension: Mixing animation, photography, distortion, and destruction, extends the effects of Bill’s internal condition onto his two-dimensional world, the narrative, the narrator, and the audience itself. References:
#OtherProgramming #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: "Das Rheingold Scene 1: Vorspiel & Weia! Waga! Woge, du Welle!" (Excerpt) composed by Richard Wagner, performed by the Wiener Philharmoniker, and conducted by Sir Georg Solti from the IT’S SUCH A BEAUTIFUL DAY soundtrack. Timestamps coming soon! I know I’ve said that about other recent episodes and then not provided them, but I super pinky promise swear I’m gonna do it for this one. : ) | |||
| 18 Mar 2025 | Episode 322: THE MASTER (2012) | 01:49:51 | |
After making a movie that actually got a Best Picture nomination, Paul Thomas Anderson wrote and directed another that famously didn’t: THE MASTER, a psychological examination of postwar trauma and peacetime opportunism. In this episode, we try to go past the easy read of THE MASTER as simple corollary for cult dynamics, heap an appropriate amount of praise on Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams, cast a suspicious glance in Joaquin Phoenix’s direction, and press a button that says “PIG FUCK” more than a few times. References:
#TheMasterworksofPaulThomasAnderson #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: "On A Slow Boat to China" by Frank Loesser as performed by Peggy Lee and Bing Crosby. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 322: THE MASTER (2012) 5:25 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 8:20 - Contemporary takes on THE MASTER 20:49 - Why “it’s a movie about Scientology” feels old hat 25:10 - Freddie, Dodd, and what makes The Cause so appealing to wealthy white Americans in 1950 39:15 - Contradictions 57:21 - Peggy Dodd (or Paul Thomas Anderson’s use of gender here) 1:12:34 - The Junk Drawer 1:23:26 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 2012 1:29:05 - Cody’s Noteys: All Calm Guess Spanned Works In (shared cast & crew trivia for THE MASTER and other movies) | |||
| 25 Mar 2025 | Episode 323: PHANTOM THREAD (2017) with Abbie Phelps | 01:36:24 | |
Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Alma Elson (Vicky Krieps) are caught in a cycle: Reynolds’s obsession with his dressmaking craft and his deceased mother send him dithering between immense sweetness and crass irritability, with Alma often on the receiving end of both his affection and his aloofness. But while Alma’s not the first to suffer Reynolds’s mercurial temperament, she’s the first who seems ready to do something about it. We’ve welcomed returning guest Abbie Phelps to pull at the stitches of PHANTOM THREAD! It got its flowers when it was released to critical acclaim, dozens of nominations, and plenty of industry awards, but we’re taking advantage of nearly a decade of discussion around it to see if we can’t provide some more depth to the discussion around Paul Thomas Anderson’s period drama. In this episode, we discover how the power dynamic of PHANTOM THREAD’s central relationship isn’t as one-sided as you might first assume; prod at the psychological forces that have taken root in the aging craftsman Woodcock; and consider just how seriously we should take that ending! Find Abbie…
References:
#TheMasterworksofPaulThomasAnderson #35mm Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: "House of Woodcock" by Jonny Greenwood from the PHANTOM THREAD soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 323: PHANTOM THREAD (with Abbie Phelps) 2:51 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 4:02 - Our collective mileage with PHANTOM THREAD and Paul Thomas Anderson 14:19 - Constructing Reynolds and Alma, two ridiculous people 20:25 - Mapping PHANTOM THREAD against PTA's history of bonkers characters 27:53 - Are we on board with Reynolds's and Alma's quests for self-actualization? 37:06 - Influences from Gothic literature (among other places) (or guy who’s recently into the Bronte sisters: “Getting a lot of Bronte vibes from this”) 47:11 - How Cyril fits into the film's power structures 57:20 - "Jonny Greenwood is that bitch": how PHANTOM THREAD sounds and looks 1:04:53 - The Junk Drawer 1:14:23 - To All the Loves We've Tried Before: 2017 1:17:39 - Cody's Noteys: PTA ETA (guessing the runtime of various Paul Thomas Anderson films) | |||
| 11 Jun 2024 | Episode 283: TOUCH OF EVIL (1958) with Abbie Phelps | 01:42:35 | |
With Abbie Phelps (@goodhunterabbie)! Orson Welles’s final Hollywood film has it all: A complicated production history, a contentious editing lifecycle, and a ‘true-to-vision’ recut that followed the original release by some 40 years. It’s a story about Hank Quinlan (played by Welles), a dyed-in-the-wool noir detective who’ll do anything to exact his version of justice, and Ramon Miguel Vargas (confusingly played by a very white Charlton Heston), a Mexican detective set on rooting out Quinlan’s years of abusing authority. Janet Leigh as Susie, Vargas’s American wife, goes from standing up against the notorious cartel family that owns the border to just being kidnapped and becoming another reason for Vargas to continue his virtuous crusade. Abbie Phelps is a big fan of Welles, so there’s nobody else we’d rather have on this episode! With Abbie, we talk about the striking cinematography, the moments of accidental genius that came to characterize the movie, how the movie paints a sardonic portrait of noir with big, broad characters, and why it took four decades to release the version of TOUCH OF EVIL its creator wanted you to see. Find Abbie…
References:
Contribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog: https://www.perisphere.org/perisphere-blog-post-guidelines/ #TheLongTake #35mm Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at trylon.org. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Closing music: “Main Theme” by Henry Mancini from the TOUCH OF EVIL soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 283: TOUCH OF EVIL (1958) with Abbie Phelps 3:33 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 5:21 - Opening thoughts on style and subversion 12:41 - Touch of Welles 21:25 - How expressive camerawork brings the audience into the vibe of each moment 28:57 - A piss take of traditional noir detective stories 33:11 - The characters 43:54 - Uncle Joe Grandi 50:54 - The ending, the brownface, and what it was all for 57:15 - Susie… poor Susie 1:05:29 - The Junk Drawer 1:13:06 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1958 1:15:22 - Cody’s Noteys: Touching Evil (trivia about movies with cursed objects) | |||
| 18 Jun 2024 | Episode 284: THE PLAYER (1992) with Benjamin Savard | 01:33:12 | |
With returning guest, master’s degree holder, and Trylon volunteer Benjamin Savard (@ItBenjaminScott)! After POPEYE (1980) squashed the ‘80s for director Robert Altman, he came back with a wry, cynical film adaptation of Michael Tolkin’s 1988 novel, “The Player”. In the resulting movie of the same name, Tim Robbins plays Griffin Mill, a bigshot Hollywood producer whose decency streak is lined with writers whose ideas prides himself on turning into box office hits without compromising their artistic integrity. A series of threatening postcards from a disgruntled reject sends Mill into a tailspin, testing the limits of his paranoia, calling into question his loyalty to the moviemaking craft, and the malleability of his very moral center. The worst part? It’s all got a happy ending. In this special guest episode with recent Minneapolis repatriate Benjamin Savard, we discuss the artistic politics at the heart of THE PLAYER, the essentiality of the film version, and how much fun there is to be had at the surface level of the movie that turned Robert Altman’s career around. Oh, and Popeye Village. Find Ben…
References:
Contribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog: https://www.perisphere.org/perisphere-blog-post-guidelines/ #TheLongTake #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at trylon.org. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Closing music: "The Player" by Thomas Newman from the THE PLAYER soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 284: THE PLAYER (1992) with Benjamin Savard 3:49 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 6:04 - Ben’s connections to THE PLAYER 14:54 - Reflecting on THE PLAYER as Altman’s cynical return to Hollywood 28:59 - Portraying the gross, money-driven world of American moviemaking 34:24 - Tim Robbins as Griffin and “softening the turn” from affable businessman to greasy corpo 46:29 - The fun on top of the metatext 55:46 - And more metatext 1:04:54 - The Junk Drawer 1:26:20 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1992 | |||
| 24 Sep 2024 | Episode 297: KEN (1964) | 01:36:44 | |
Kokubu (Raizô Ichikawa), captain of his university's kendo team, is a mystery to those who know him: An ascetic dedicated to a point of obsession with the simplicity and beauty of the sword arts. Kagawa (Yūsuke Kawazu), a promising but arrogant kendo student, is attracted to Kokubu's devout leadership but kept at a distance by his standoffish nature. With the national championships fast approaching, the pair clash as Kokubu drives his students with increasingly rigorous training and Kagawa tests Kokubu's grip on the class. It’s almost painfully obvious that KEN is an adaptation of a Yukio Mishima story: The stoic, conflicted protagonist; the object of perfect beauty over which he obsesses; the clash of tradition and modernity embodied in his inability to connect with his peers. What director Kenji Misumi brings is an air of objectivity, following Kokubu’s rise and fall through his eyes, those of his fellow kendo students, and those of his greatest rival. References:
#KenjiMisumisSamuraiSixties #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music from the KEN soundtrack by Sei Ikeno. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 297: KEN (1964) 2:26 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 4:59 - Chambara expectations vs. Mishima reality 24:27 - Sports movies are great places to bake in endemic nationalism 32:19 - Balancing myth and mortality in Kokubu 35:39 - What Kokubu learns (and doesn’t learn) from his kendo master 44:01 - “He's a normal man after all”: How Kagawa tries to change Kokubu 53:53 - Is KEN a tragic call to arms or a warning about festering fascist sympathies? 1:05:47 - The Junk Drawer 1:10:55 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1964 1:13:50 - Cody’s Noteys: KEN? We Fans! (examining ratings from Letterboxd profiles with KEN in their Top 4) | |||
| 20 Feb 2024 | Episode 266: MIAMI BLUES (1990) | 01:30:02 | |
Based on Charles Willeford’s noir novel, George Armitage’s MIAMI BLUES is ‘supposed’ to be about the escapades of Hoke Moseley (Fred Ward), a jaded, toothless Miami cop. Instead, it’s about Frederick J. Frenger Jr. (Alec Baldwin), a sociopathic, interloping hustler. Junior’s ongoing seduction of young prostitute Susie (Jennifer Jason Leigh) provides him insulation from Hoke’s suspicions, but threatens Junior’s own self-concept. In this episode, we talk about the ‘happy Sisyphean’ Junior, the movie’s comparison to a more typical noir, the pieces of this story that don’t fit, and why it’s better for them. MIAMI BLUES review by Roger Ebert (April 20, 1990) https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/miami-blues-1990 Review/Film: Cop, Thief and Prostitute in Miami by Janet Maslin for The New York Times (April 26, 1990) https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/20/movies/review-film-cop-thief-and-prostitute-in-miami.html #NoirFestival #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at trylon.org. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Closing audio: “Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum from the MIAMI BLUES soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 266: MIAMI BLUES (1990) 3:39 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 4:38 - The movie’s left turn from neo-noir to dark comedy 8:17 - Favorite parts/shooting style 14:41 - The pieces that don’t fit become the point 26:14 - Junior’s main character magnetism 33:50 - What Junior wants vs. how he acts around it 43:43 - Junior, Susie, and wearing the consequences of your actions 47:59 - Susie, disillusionment, and seducing the audience 56:23 - The Junk Drawer 1:02:22 - Other Loves We’ve Tried: 1990 1:05:47 - Cody’s Noteys: Miami Haikus | |||
| 09 Jul 2024 | Episode 287: NOSTALGHIA (1983) with Natalie Marlin | 01:54:36 | |
Impenetrable musing or Tarkovsky’s best? NOSTALGHIA is one of the Russian director’s most personal, maybe his single most personal, but that’s not the only lens (or even the most interesting one) to look at it through. In this discussion of her first and only Tarkovsky (so far), Natalie joins to help us see this one more clearly through a new lens! References:
Find Natalie…
Contribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog: https://www.perisphere.org/perisphere-blog-post-guidelines/ #TheLongTake #DCP Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at trylon.org. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: "Kumushki" (traditional Russian folk song) by an unknown artist from NOSTALGHIA. | |||
| 21 Jan 2025 | Episode 314: EYES WIDE SHUT (1999) | 01:39:54 | |
EYES WIDE SHUT is a 1999 psychosexual thriller film starring Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise and directed by Stanley Kubrick in his final feature film. After New York City doctor Bill Hartford (Tom Cruise) and his wife Alice (Nicole Kidman) attend a Christmas party hosted by one of Bill’s patients, Alice reveals to Bill in a stoned haze that she’s fantasized about having sex with other men. The revelation sends Bill reeling, and his wandering eventually leads to him infiltrating a masked orgy in a secluded mansion outside the city. His meddling puts him on the radar of a dangerous secret society and down a paranoid rabbit hole, driven all the while by visions of Alice in the arms of another man. In this episode — our first on Kubrick! — we wander the twisting pathway to the heart of EYES WIDE SHUT, stopping along the way to remark on everything from the movie’s leering gaze and its dark humor to Bill’s remarkable ineptitude and Jacob Frey’s weird balls. References:
#NicoleKidmansFearlessPerformances #35mm Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodcast.bsky.social, and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro: “Musica Ricercata, II (Mesto, rigido e cerimoniale)” composed by György Ligeti and performed by Dominic Harlan from the EYES WIDE SHUT soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 314: EYES WIDE SHUT (1999) 2:21 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary (under exclusive license from AG Enterprises, Ltd.) 4:49 - When we first got eyes on EYES WIDE SHUT 10:42 - Casting Tom Cruise as Bill 27:32 - The veil of clinicality Bill hides behind 35:33 - “An episode of The Twilight Zone for perverts” 45:40 - Angles, shot composition, lighting, and how the story is framed 51:57 - Will Bill ever belong? 58:29 - Alice doesn’t have very much to do, but she doesn’t have to do very much 1:04:47 - Cody’s uncanny impression of Aaron 1:08:33 - How the score parallels the worlds Bill straddles 1:15:56 - The Junk Drawer 1:21:23 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1999 1:27:29 - Cody’s Noteys: Treyes Wide Shut (guessing sound clips from movies we’ve covered) | |||
| 11 Mar 2025 | Episode 321: MAGNOLIA (1999) | 01:27:43 | |
Three podcasters watched a movie and recorded their conversation about it afterward… and I would like to think this was only a matter of chance. Our Paul Thomas Anderson series keeps a-rollin’ with MAGNOLIA, his “blank check” movie after the success of BOOGIE NIGHTS (1997). The intention was to make something he’d never get the chance to make again — something big and strange and audacious. Is the resulting three-hour opus a work of idiosyncratic genius? Or was this one of those times PTA just got a bit big for his britches? References:
#TheMasterworksofPaulThomasAnderson #35mm Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: “Wise Up” by Aimee Mann as performed in MAGNOLIA. | |||
| 24 Dec 2024 | Episode 310: AN AUTUMN AFTERNOON (1962) with Kris Montello | 02:15:06 | |
With returning guest Kris Montello, Programming Director for the Asian-American International Film Festival and programmer for the Slamdance Film Festival! Yasujirō Ozu didn’t intend for AN AUTUMN AFTERNOON (1962) to be his final film, but it feels like it. Chishū Ryū is Shuhei Hirayama, an aging salaryman, widower, and father who’s slowly coming to grips with the realities of growing older — primarily the fact that his only daughter Michiko (Shima Iwashita) is spending the best years of her life making dinner and cleaning house for him. Over conversations, reunions, baseball games, and too many drinks, Shuhei’s friends, family, colleagues, and even strangers gently (and not-so-gently) remind him of the life he’s not letting her lead. In this episode, we call on Kris’s Ozu expertise and a lifetime of love for his films to highlight the special cozy intensity of AN AUTUMN AFTERNOON, theorize the commonalities and connections among Ozu’s works, and study the portrait it paints of a man getting ready for a lonely end to a full life. Find Kris…
**References: **
#YasujiroOzuInColor #35mm Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodcast.bsky.social, and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: “Theme/Polka/Finale” by Takanobu Saitô (as Kojun Saito) from the AN AUTUMN AFTERNOON soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 310: AN AUTUMN AFTERNOON (1962) 2:47 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary (under exclusive license from AG Enterprises, Ltd.) 5:46 - A definitive Ozu film 16:20 - How Ozu characters present and communicate 23:39 - Stories that seem to naturally emerge from their conditions 27:11 - Putting the thing the movie’s ABOUT behind the thing the movie IS 42:35 - What Shuhei’s guides teach him about the incoming loneliness 57:47 - The navy buddy (Daisuke Katō) and the dead wife doppelganger (Kyōko Kishida) 1:12:39 - Characters who reveal Shuhei’s new grief and guilt 1:22:51 - The Junk Drawer 1:43:54 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1962 1:48:29 - Cody’s Noteys: Taiyo-love (Japanese baseball trivia) | |||
| 31 Dec 2024 | Episode 311: The 2024 Golden Barry Awards | 04:30:46 | |
𝐼𝑡’𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟… Time for us to rank, rate, and re-evaluate the films we saw at the Trylon in 2024, as well as the episodes we made about them! The Barrys can be a pretty grueling tradition — hours spent re-litigating discussions we’ve already had about movies we’ve already talked about — but who are we kidding, we love going back to the well. Sit back, relax, cue up “Stacy’s Mom,” and sink into the 2024 Golden Barrys to commemorate The Year of the Riddle of Steel! (That’ll make sense when you listen to the episode.) **References: **
Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodcast.bsky.social, and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 311: The 2024 Golden Barry Awards 5:07 - This year's Barry-oke singalong 8:16 - Jason's personal picks 13:37 - Cody’s personal picks 21:17 - Harry’s personal picks 29:09 - Aaron’s personal picks 33:18 - Trylove’s Best Dry Run 49:21 - Trylove’s Best Wet Run 1:04:42 - The Rashomonies 1:11:01 - Best Animated Feature 1:12:59 - Best Film Series at the Trylon 1:31:50 - Best Money-Maker 1:45:59 - Best Non-Series Film (Best One-Off) 1:56:30 - Best Cult Film Collective Screening 1:57:34 - Best Long Take 2:31:35 - Best Director 2:50:59 - Best Cody’s Notey 2:58:42 - 2024: The Year of the ___ 3:23:33 - King of the Trylon 3:40:38 - Queen of the Trylon 3:51:57 - Best Picture 4:18:14 - Recapping this year's winners | |||
| 10 Dec 2024 | Episode 308: GOOD MORNING (1959) | 01:22:21 | |
Arguably Yasujirō Ozu’s masterpiece, GOOD MORNING (1959) has more going on than its simple plot would have you believe. World War II is fully in the rearview in a quiet, out-of-the-way town. Instead of wartime anxieties, nosy neighbors gossip about their friends’ lifestyles; punkish kids covet the new TV set next door; men teach boys how to fart on command. They’re bound together more by niceties than a particular commonality — to Ozu, life is indeed about the attachments we build, the favors we don’t collect on, and the stupid shit we say on the way to work every morning. In GOOD MORNING, the most disposable interactions are the most human, both lubricant for socializing and the glue that holds the community together. From his iconic camera angle, stooped low to the ground, Ozu insists it’s through small talk — not despite it — that we learn to be people. References:
#YasujiroOzuInColor #35mm Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodcast.bsky.social, and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: “Radio Exercises No. 1” composed by Hidemaro Yanagawa and Saburo Okubo. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 308: GOOD MORNING (1959) 2:03 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 3:12 - Our expOZUre to Ozu 8:37 - The narrative conveyed by Ozu’s ‘tatami shot’ camera angles 22:41 - Uplifting the mundane, rural niceties, and attempts to hide genuineness 36:06 - A movie about the necessity of smalltalk 41:15 - Get societypilled, idiot (or, Converse Jokerfication) 54:47 - New vectors, same drive to relate to (or against) one another 1:01:36 - Why the hip urban couple moves away 1:08:11 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1959 1:11:13 - The Junk Drawer | |||
| 13 Aug 2024 | Episode 291: SAILOR SUIT AND MACHINE GUN (1981) with Blake Hester | 01:15:29 | |
With special guest Blake Hester! When a secretive businessman passes away before he can be crowned chairman of a local yakuza family, his daughter — a precocious, disaffected schoolgirl — is suddenly thrust into the role. Surprised by her coronation but determined to restore the group’s good name, Izumi (Hiroko Yakushimaru) reluctantly assumes control of the once-great Medaka Family to close the power vacuum and fend off power plays from other local gangs with one thing in their sights: A missing bindle of heroin worth millions last held by Izumi’s father. At first blush, Shinji Sōmai’s debut feature has all the makings of a fun, charismatic, compelling spin on yakuza stories. So why did it leave us wanting? It has a lot to do with the movie’s marketing, sure, but something tells us that our expectations weren’t the worst of its issues. Find Blake…
References:
OtherProgramming #DCPFollow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: "Sailor Suit and Machine Gun (セーラー服と機関銃)" performed by Hiroko Yakushimaru from the SAILOR SUIT AND MACHINE GUN soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 291: SAILOR SUIT AND MACHINE GUN (1981) with Blake Hester 6:16 - The episode actually starts 7:52 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 9:29 - Whatever you’re expecting this movie to be, it’s not quite 22:31 - vs. pinku and other, more successful forms of Japanese exploitation cinema 26:53 - Hiroko Yakushimaru as Izumi 30:49 - The disconnect at the heart of this movie, focusing on futile masculinity, etc. 37:17 - The final act and where the movie really baffles 39:28 - What a “more successful” version of this movie might look like 52:09 - Why does this movie have such a cult following? 58:53 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1981 1:01:29 - The Junk Drawer | |||
| 04 Jun 2024 | Episode 282: LA CASA LOBO (THE WOLF HOUSE) (2018) with Finn Odum | 01:44:52 | |
With Finn Odum (@Finnematic)! LA CASA LOBO (THE WOLF HOUSE) is a harrowing journey through violent change. The leader of a cult spins a cautionary fairy tale to indoctrinate followers, telling the story of Maria, a girl who finds herself locked in an abandoned house in the woods after narrowly avoiding the jaws of an overbearing wolf outside. Afraid to return to her isolated community, Maria comes to depend on the wolf’s protection and insulation from malicious forces both within the house and outside its shifting walls. Created by Chilean artists Joaquín Cociña and Cristóbal León, LA CASA LOBO is inspired by Colonia Dignidad, the real colony in Chile where German fugitives conducted extensive human rights abuses while governments looked the other way. We’re proud to welcome Finn Odum, editor at Perisphere, the Trylon blog, back to the podcast to discuss this intense, enthralling, unrelenting story, told using some of the most viscerally creative stop-motion animation you’ll ever see. Find Finn…
References:
Contribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog: https://www.perisphere.org/perisphere-blog-post-guidelines/ OtherProgramming #DCPFollow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at trylon.org. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. I’m not gonna tell you what we used as the closing audio because I don’t want to get sued. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 282: LA CASA LOBO (THE WOLF HOUSE) (2018) with Finn Odum 1:14 - The episode actually starts 3:03 - The Patented Cody Narveson Summary 6:20 - The film's importance to Chile as well as within a repertory film lineup 11:18 - Kicking off the roundtable discussion 18:53 - Making sense of LA CASA LOBO's visual style 26:34 - Chile and the cycle of exploitation 37:05 - The titular house as a living refraction of the film's “Us vs. Them” mentality 54:07 - Why now? 1:06:12 - The Junk Drawer 1:11:57 - To All the Loves We've Tried Before: 2018 1:13:57 - Cody's Noteys: The House of Champions 2018 | |||
| 23 Jul 2024 | Episode 289: BIRTH (2004) | 01:15:11 | |
In Jonathan Glazer’s BIRTH, one woman’s inability to move past the death of her husband brings only more tragedy to her life when she’s forced to confront a version of him she never knew. When a 10-year-old boy named Sean (Cameron Bright) claims to be the reincarnation of Anna (Nicole Kidman)’s husband of the same name, the soon-to-be-remarried widow slowly but surely finds herself falling in love with the man she thinks she sees inside — regardless of who he is on the outside. Kinda makes you want to crawl out of your skin, doesn’t it? In this episode, we discuss the movie’s surreal plot, how it depicts the blinding effect of class divisions, trying to see the feeling behind the action, and its empathy ‘trick’. References:
Contribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog: https://www.perisphere.org/perisphere-blog-post-guidelines/ #TheLongTake #35mm Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at trylon.org. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: “The Rendez-vous” by Alexandré Desplat from the BIRTH soundtrack. Timestamps 0:00 - Episode 289: BIRTH (2004) and cicada chat 4:18 - The episode actually starts 8:42 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 9:22 - Pervasive discomfort and being ‘tricked’ 18:14 - A woman’s inability to deal with grief 24:24 - How class blinds Anna and Kid Sean 44:36 - The “is Sean really reincarnated” question 48:44 - Competing opinions on the ending 56:42 - The Junk Drawer 1:09:27 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 2004 | |||
| 09 Mar 2021 | Episode 109: TIME BANDITS (1981) [feat. Seth Zarate] | 01:23:49 | |
If you squint, there’s something behind the curtain of Terry Gilliam’s TIME BANDITS (1981) – but you really gotta squint tight. Seth Zarate joins again to help us take a closer look at what it’s saying about curiosity, how long is too long for a bit, and the lessons of history. 1:03:41 - Cody’s Noteys (Timelove) Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/ Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: “Dream Away” by George Harrison from the TIME BANDITS soundtrack. | |||
| 15 Mar 2021 | Episode 110: CRUISING (1980) [feat. Ben Savard] | 01:33:50 | |
Featuring special guest and Trylon volunteer Ben Savard (https://twitter.com/itbenjaminscott)! A crime thriller with shades of coming-of-age set in New York City on the cusp of the AIDS crisis, CRUISING’s depiction of S&M was rightly met by the skepticism and distrust of the gay community during its production and release. In retrospect, it advocates for the recognition of both the S&M and LGBTQ communities through a tragic, terrifying, ambiguous tale of loss, betrayal, and the poisonous conservatism embodied by the then-impending Reagan administration. Follow Ben at https://twitter.com/itbenjaminscott 1:13:18 - Cody’s Noteys (Our Pal Pacino) 1:24:23 - Benny’s Noteys Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/ Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: “Heat Of The Moment” by Willy de Ville from the CRUISING soundtrack. | |||
| 23 Mar 2021 | Episode 111: DAMNATION (1988) | 01:23:36 | |
Content warning: Pubes. So much of Béla Tarr’s DAMNATION punishes. It tries to convince its characters (a crushed singer, her husband, her drug-running boyfriend, the hellish bartender at the point of their intersection) that words aren’t worth speaking, that any distance is too far to cross, and that what change you do make to the world will be undone by someone close to you. But in between particularly long long takes, the way it frames communist Hungary is a rebuke of that: words being spoken, people moving together, love being won and lost. 3:29 - We start talking about the movie 8:50 - Jason’s thoughts 10:24 - Cody’s thoughts 13:26 - Harry’s thoughts 17:46 - Aaron’s thoughts 27:14 - Existentialism in DAMNATION 35:25 - The contrast between high scripting and low characters 40:31 - The effect of languid long takes 51:21 - The performances of DAMNATION 56:54 - Focusing on visual textures in a grimy world 1:03:43 - PubeGate 1:07:42 - Cody’s Noteys (Hungary Dungarees) Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/ Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: “Kész az egész (Over and Done)” composed Mihály Víg and performed by Vali Kerekes from the DAMNATION soundtrack. | |||
| 29 Mar 2021 | Episode 112: RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981) (Non-’Lon BoysPick #1/5) | 01:45:17 | |
The Trylon’s playing movies we already recorded on earlier in the pandemic, so we’ve changed the rules for a short Non-’Lon Series on movies we HAVEN’T seen and may never see at the Trylon! Jason kicks us off with RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981), a seminal action-adventure ah hell, you know what RAIDERS is. It’s 40 years old in 2021, so we’re putting on our goggles and giving it a close contemporary read. Of course, we all kinda gush about it (and simp for Karen Allen [really hope she doesn’t get cancelled, we kinda put all our eggs in one basket this ep]), but we also really pick apart what the movie’s really saying about the archetypes and tropes it famously dug back up. What it says about how our heroes embody our virtues, what happens when both of those things change, and which parts of our national identity we choose to cling to through our shared myths. 3:53 - Aaron’s fine, fine summary 8:07 - Jason’s thoughts 12:37 - Cody’s thoughts 16:30 - Harry’s thoughts 20:56 - Aaron’s thoughts 37:46 - Indy, Belloq, and “shadowy reflections” 46:33 - Why we build heroes and what we choose to remember about them 56:35 - The complicated (i.e., gross) Indy/Marion relationship and their general dynamic 1:04:39 - Douglas Slocombe, texture, and what we see in RAIDERS 1:11:29 - From ZACK SNYDER’S JUSTICE LEAGUE (2021) to RAIDERS 1:13:50 - How the way RAIDERS came together influences what we think of it today 1:17:20 - Harrison Ford is hot Humphrey Bogart forever 1:21:21 - The Year of the Simp: Karen Allen 1:26:49 - Cody’s Noteys (Indiana Knowns) Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/ Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. You can guess where the outro music came from. I don’t need Walt’s shambling corporate corpse breathing down my neck. | |||
| 05 Apr 2021 | Episode 113: PERFECT BLUE (1997) (Non-’Lon BoysPick #2/5) | 01:40:24 | |
When we announced our "Non-'Lon" Series last week, how long did you wager it'd take before one of the boys chose an anime? If you guessed "immediately," we have good news! This week, Harry selected the late great Satoshi Kon's debut feature film, PERFECT BLUE (1997), an eerily prescient psychological horror film about a J-pop idol's reality unraveling that proved so visionary and influential that Western directors like Aronofsky and Nolan made careers out of ripping it off. In this episode, we unleash our full fanboy powers on Kon's masterpiece, spending just over the actual film's runtime attacking it from as many angles as we can find. Catch us dissecting how the film speculates about the ways in which the internet will change or exaggerate human society, all while weaving an insightful critique of won't WON'T change, and how the forces of misogyny and celebrity have always robbed women of their agency. Our discussion of the film's many intersecting themes converges in a climactic (and somewhat contentious!) debate about where Mina and Rumi end up, what the movie is suggesting about the internet and the self, and, ultimately, it even means to be "yourself" when all selves are fundamentally constructed. Stay tuned for a particularly provocative episode of "Cody's Noteys," too. Or… you could just skip to it. We know why you're really here. 1:52 - Why Harry chose PERFECT BLUE 3:11 - The patented Grossman Summary 4:42 - Harry’s thoughts 8:37 - Jason’s thoughts 11:58 - Cody’s thoughts 15:02 - Aaron’s thoughts 23:06 - Satoshi Kon’s ambition pays off in PERFECT BLUE 25:09 - Where do you even start discussing PERFECT BLUE? 27:03 - Predicting the impact of the internet on culture and identity 39:22 - The scene that marks the point of no return 45:14 - Me-Mania, Rumi, Tadokoro, and the Madonna/Whore dichotomy 52:51 - PERFECT BLUE’s loose ends 1:03:25 - Terrace House, The Great British Baking Show, and the false promise of intimacy 1:08:26 - PERFECT BLUE’s ending 1:24:27 - Cody’s Noteys (“Trylibs: Identity Crisis”) 1:25:19 - Chaco’s appearance 1:32:08 - The Trylibs story Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/ Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: “Ai no Tenshi (Angel of Love)” from the PERFECT BLUE soundtrack. (Lyrics by Imai Kiko; composed and arranged by Ikumi Masahiro; performed by MISA, Furukawa Emiko, and Shimizu Mie.) Ghost in the Machine by Harry Mackin: https://unwinnable.com/2019/09/24/ghost-in-the-machine-119/ RagnarRox’s YouTube essay connecting Japan’s economic bubble to otaku culture to Perfect Blue to the megacorporate leveraging of fan culture today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHWSlSyjK5c “Anchors Aweigh: The Aesthetic of Surface in the Films of Kon Satoshi” by Alexander Kirst: https://digitalcollections.wesleyan.edu/islandora/object/ir%3A675/datastream/PDF/view Spinsters by Haley O'Shaughnessy & Jordan Ligons: https://www.bluewirepods.com/podcast/spinsters | |||
| 13 Apr 2021 | Episode 114: MONEYBALL (2011) (Non-’Lon BoysPick #3/5) | 01:35:50 | |
The Trylon’s playing movies we already recorded on earlier in the pandemic, so we’ve changed the rules for a short Non-’Lon Series on movies we HAVEN’T seen and may never see at the Trylon! Sports correspondent Cody chose MONEYBALL (2011), a baseball-centric movie that fits so well in his wheelhouse, it’s a wonder we haven’t talked about it until now. Over the course of our conversation, we discuss the movie’s unique focus on the system of baseball as well as the game; the staid status quo of pre-Moneyball baseball; and what exactly an “anti-sports” sports movie looks like. 2:31 - Cody’s summary and why MONEYBALL? 6:35 - Cody’s thoughts 10:24 - Jason’s thoughts 14:09 - Harry’s thoughts 19:53 - Phantom Aaron’s thoughts 22:35 - Where MONEYBALL wants you to focus 31:32 - Baseball as an engine for stories 41:11 - Billy Beane, the system of baseball, and determinism 49:53 - Sympathy for Beane 57:48 - The Oakland As’ 20-game winning streak 1:05:20 - Great lines in MONEYBALL 1:09:15 - Cody’s Noteys (For Trylove of the Game) Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/ Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: “The Mighty Rio Grande” by This Will Destroy You from the MONEYBALL soundtrack. | |||
| 19 Apr 2021 | Episode 115: PINK FLOYD – THE WALL (1982) (Non-’Lon BoysPick #4/5) | 01:31:40 | |
The Trylon’s playing movies we already recorded on earlier in the pandemic, so we’ve changed the rules for a short Non-’Lon Series on movies we HAVEN’T seen and may never see at the Trylon! Aaron’s pick takes us to the dystopian UK of 1982’s PINK FLOYD – THE WALL, a musical journey through not just one man’s steady decline into fascist individualism, but that of all of Western society. In this discussion, we consider what the visual story structure does for the music it’s based on, what elements of the movie have been blindly co-opted by the international conservative front, and what the movie’s use of viewpoint does to communicate its story. Support organizations fighting for the survival and protection of Minnesota’s marginalized communities: - DocumentingMN https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/documentingmn - Minnesota Freedom Fund https://mnfreedomfund.org/ - Take Action MN https://takeactionminnesota.org/donate/ Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: “Another Brick in the Wall” by Pink Floyd. 00:45 - Talking about Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater for some reason 3:06 - The actual start of the episode 3:59 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 5:37 - Why Aaron picked THE WALL 9:07 - Jason’s thoughts 11:29 - Cody’s thoughts 14:39 - Harry’s thoughts 17:17 - Aaron’s thoughts 22:27 - The interior viewpoint and why the first two acts feel like Banksy 26:31 - Pink Floyd’s rising popularity and alienation from their craft 30:46 - “Margaret Thatcher is in every frame” 38:44 - Repackaging and repurposing THE WALL over the decades 42:26 - How THE WALL leverages gender and sexuality 49:59 - Animation in THE WALL 54:26 - The final act (or, “where things get really real”) 1:09:02 - After the wall falls 1:13:09 - Final thoughts: Self-references and Roger Waters’s socialism 1:16:07 - Cody’s Noteys (PINK FLOYD – THE WALL: The Game) | |||
| 27 Apr 2021 | Episode 116: POINT BREAK (1991) (Non-’Lon BoysPick #5/5) | 01:23:55 | |
The Trylon’s playing movies we already recorded on earlier in the pandemic, so we’ve changed the rules for a short Non-’Lon Series on movies we HAVEN’T seen and may never see at the Trylon! They say it’s not tragic to die doing what you love, which is why the Non-’Lon BoysPick series is dying with POINT BREAK (1991), the most Dudes Rock movie ever. It’s a thoughtful exploration of a cop’s ability to find a soul, what he has to give up to find it, and the people who help him do it. In our discussion, we focus on how the movie compares and contrasts the core motivations of the unbelievably hot leading men Johnny and Bodhi, the political statements the movie makes in the broader context of its release, and whether or not it matters that the stakes in a 1991 surfing movie don’t feel very high in 2021. Also, the name “Bodhi” is pronounced two different ways in this episode with startling consistency. Apologies to all affected listeners. Support organizations fighting for the survival and protection of Minnesota’s marginalized communities: - DocumentingMN https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/documentingmn - Minnesota Freedom Fund https://mnfreedomfund.org/ - Take Action MN https://takeactionminnesota.org/donate/ Watching resources: "The Grace of Keanu Reeves" by Angelica Jade Bastién https://www.rogerebert.com/features/bright-walldark-room-february-2016-the-grace-of-keanu-reeves-by-angelica-jade-basti%C3%A9n “POINT BREAK: Kathryn Bigelow’s Subversive Surf Western” by Priscilla Page https://birthmoviesdeath.com/2017/04/12/point-break-kathryn-bigelows-subversive-surf-western Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: “Skydive” by Mark Isham from the POINT BREAK soundtrack. 2:50 - Why POINT BREAK? 4:42 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 6:41 - Jason’s thoughts 9:44 - Cody’s thoughts 13:21 - Harry’s thoughts 17:58 - Aaron’s thoughts 22:37 - Expectations going into POINT BREAK 29:26 - 29:35 - Chaco makes an appearance 29:47 - Busey Unchained 34:02 - Does it matter if you don’t find POINT BREAK “thrilling”? 36:00 - Investment in the stellar cast 46:04 - Is this a Joker movie? 46:12 - No 46:49 - Back to the thing about whether or not it’s thrilling 50:08 - The symbolism of the point break and the risk of being close to death 55:08 - Johnny and Tyler 59:25 - Cody’s Noteys (“D’YouKneau Reeves?”) | |||
| 05 May 2021 | Episode 117: MON ONCLE (1958) | 01:21:02 | |
M. Hulot isn’t so much a fly in the ointment of the bourgeoisie as a flashlight on the silliest aspects of their way of life. He’s a picture of Franco goofiness rooted in the rural; the chaotic; the human. MON ONCLE is Jacques Tati’s blocking masterclass that maps the geometry of homes, cities, streets, and factories onto the characters that move within them to illustrate the contrast between high society and the commonfolk. Support organizations fighting for the survival and protection of Minnesota’s marginalized communities: - DocumentingMN https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/documentingmn - Minnesota Freedom Fund https://mnfreedomfund.org/ - Take Action MN https://takeactionminnesota.org/donate/ Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: “Mon Oncle Theme” by Franck Barcellini from the MON ONCLE soundtrack. 3:09 - The patented Aaron Grossman Summary 5:42 - Jason’s thoughts 8:14 - Cody’s thoughts 13:01 - Harry’s thoughts 17:58 - Aaron’s thoughts 21:42 - The garden party, geometry, and people vs. environment 29:00 - The camera and the audience’s perspective 35:08 - Modernism: promise vs. reality 40:43 - Industrialization, labor, and the progress paradox 43:58 - The comedy of dysfunction reflects the joy of living 57:06 - The ending 59:40 - Cody’s Noteys (Mon Oscars) | |||
| 12 May 2021 | Episode 118: LES VACANCES DE MONSIEUR HULOT (1953) | 01:26:10 | |
Maybe because it’s the debut of M. Hulot, LES VACANCES DE MONSIEUR HULOT (MR. HULOT’S HOLIDAY) isn’t quite as consistent, coherent, or radical in its messaging as MON ONCLE (1958). What it IS, however, is a string of great bits and vibes from the French coast. In this episode, we run down our favorite gags from the film, discuss how it distills the bizarre experience of vacationing, ponder its use of sound to show silent film jokes, and spend more than the usual amount of time talking about Mario Tennis. Support organizations fighting for the survival and protection of Minnesota’s marginalized communities: -DocumentingMN https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/documentingmn -Minnesota Freedom Fund https://mnfreedomfund.org/ -Take Action MN https://takeactionminnesota.org/donate/ Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Music: “How is the Weather in Paris” by Alain Romans from the LES VACANCES DE MONSIEUR HULOT soundtrack. 3:45 - The patented Aaron Grossman Summary 5:32 - Jason’s thoughts 7:22 - Cody’s thoughts 10:51 - Harry’s thoughts 14:39 - Aaron’s thoughts 18:35 - Our favorite bits 35:36 - Where VACANCES lives in MON ONCLE’s shadow 42:24 - Using sound alongside traditional silent film gags to create something new 57:29 - M. Hulot’s tennis sins 1:07:57 - Cody’s Noteys (Trylibs: Holiday) | |||
| 19 May 2021 | Episode 119: TRAFIC (1971) | 01:22:01 | |
What TRAFIC lacks in punchlines, it makes up in pathos. A sidestep from the meticulous comedic craftwork that defined Tati’s masterpieces, it doesn’t feature many of the clever gags seen in MON ONCLE (1958) or LES VACANCES DE MONSIEUR HULOT (1953). It feels a little empty, actually – until you get used to its currents of anti-comedy and high-minded statements about the folly of man and the ways we get around without going anywhere. Support organizations and causes providing aid to the Palestinian people under attack by the Israeli government: - Medical Aid for Palestinians https://www.map.org.uk/donate/donate - Palestine Children's Relief Fund https://pcrf1.z2systems.com/np/clients/pcrf1/donation.jsp?campaign=342& - Palestine Appeal 2021 https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/palestineappeal2020 - HR 2590 https://act.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/a/palestinian-children-families-act - Stop Jerusalem Expulsions https://secure.everyaction.com/wUAYmd6RzEacXxN3WQuYQQ2 Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Music: “TRAFIC Theme�� by Charles Dumont from the TRAFIC soundtrack. 4:53 - The patented Aaron Grossman Summary 6:42 - Jason’s thoughts 9:44 - Cody’s thoughts 13:04 - Harry’s thoughts 18:10 - Aaron’s thoughts 21:21 - Why TRAFIC doesn’t have the warmth of Tati’s best-known movies 30:07 - The missing piece of TRAFIC’s gags 39:17 - The moon landing and the charming dysfunction of humanity 46:49 - What is the point of comedy? 53:21 - Do you pick your nose in the car? Why do hot women love Hulot? & more 1:03:31 - Cody’s Noteys (Tati Trivia) | |||
| 26 May 2021 | Episode 120: PLAYTIME (1967) | 01:26:38 | |
As Jacques Tati’s best-remembered film, PLAYTIME is a technical achievement on many levels. The crew built an entire city block, complete with skyscraper façades and cardboard extras, to manufacture a grey, corporatized Paris against which to feature its many layered gags. It’s fitting, then, that the film’s third-act script-flip, which corrals us into a wonderfully chaotic nightclub, feels so freeing. But because the film is neither as pointed as MON ONCLE (1958) nor as dour as TRAFIC (1971), PLAYTIME occasionally feels as plastic as the staged city it wanders through. Support organizations and causes providing aid to the Palestinian people: - Medical Aid for Palestinians https://www.map.org.uk/donate/donate - Palestine Children's Relief Fund https://pcrf1.z2systems.com/np/clients/pcrf1/donation.jsp?campaign=342& - Palestine Appeal 2021 https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/palestineappeal2020 - HR 2590 https://act.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/a/palestinian-children-families-act - Stop Jerusalem Expulsions https://secure.everyaction.com/wUAYmd6RzEacXxN3WQuYQQ2 Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Music: “L'opéra des jours heureux (Play Time)" by Francis Lemarque from the PLAYTIME soundtrack. 00:00 - Episode 120: PLAYTIME (1967) 2:06 - The patented Aaron Grossman Summary 3:38 - Jason’s thoughts 6:32 - Cody’s thoughts 10:55 - Harry’s thoughts 14:52 - Aaron’s thoughts 20:25 - How architecture corrals society 26:38 - Elevating people above their environment 29:43 - Barbara, Hulot, and the humanity of PLAYTIME 37:20 - All that glass 47:07 - From daytime streets to nighttime interiors 48:50 - Aaron’s science fiction take 53:54 - Stray thoughts 56:44 - Ranking Tati 1:06:18 - Cody’s Noteys (Omelette du Triviá) | |||
| 02 Jun 2021 | Episode 121: TARGETS (1968) (feat. Jenny Ackerson) | 01:30:18 | |
Featuring special guest Jenny Ackerson (https://twitter.com/ackersonjenny)! The directorial debut of Roger Corman protégé Peter Bogdanovich is a startling, screeching indictment of the past and future of American violence, and what it looks like when they meet in the present. Following the parallel stories of aging classic horror star Byron Orlok (Boris Karloff) and quietly disgruntled, emasculated veteran Bobby Thompson (Tim O’Kelly), TARGETS is a portrait of the low-budget, high-tension filmmaking that would come to define New Hollywood – thanks in no small part to the story ideation and dynamic production design of Polly Platt. Follow Jenny on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ackersonjenny and on Letterboxd at https://letterboxd.com/jennyack/ Resources: - You Must Remember This - Bela and Boris Episode 6: Boris Karloff and Roger Corman http://youmustrememberthispodcast.com/episodes/2017/11/20/bela-and-boris-episode-6-boris-karloff-and-roger-corman - You Must Remember This - Polly Platt: The Invisible Woman http://www.youmustrememberthispodcast.com/episodes/2020/7/pollyplattarchive28 Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Music: “The Terror Main Theme" by Ronald Stein from the THE TERROR (1963) soundtrack. 00:00 - Episode 121: TARGETS (1968) (feat. Jenny Ackerson) 3:25 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 6:09 - Jason’s thoughts 8:00 - Cody’s thoughts 11:57 - Harry’s thoughts 16:27 - Aaron’s thoughts 19:35 - Jenny’s thoughts 21:44 - How the two halves of TARGETS unfold into another 37:01 - The questions TARGETS raises about violence and myth 46:14 - Why TARGETS shows so much of the production 49:33 - The work of Polly Platt in TARGETS 55:07 - The climactic final scene 1:02:53 - Stray thoughts 1:10:07 - Jenny shoots down an offer to intro Cody’s Noteys 1:10:42 - Cody’s Noteys (Trylibs: Fading Star) | |||
| 09 Jun 2021 | Episode 122: THE LAST PICTURE SHOW (1971) | 01:42:03 | |
In Peter Bogdanovich’s THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, two generations in a 1950s Texas town come to grips with the promise of postwar American glory when it turns out to be a myth. In this episode, we discuss how the movie finds its moral center amid a pedestrian malaise, the clear contributions of Polly Platt, and present-day parallels to the real-life cinema facing closure in Uptown Minneapolis. Resources: - “Watching The Last Picture Show with Tom Ford” by F.X. Feeney for DGA Quarterly: https://www.dga.org/Craft/DGAQ/All-Articles/1701-Winter-2017/Screening-Room-Last-Picture-Show.aspx - "R.I.P" by Joseph Larsen for The Historic Uptown Theatre blog: http://uptowntheatre.blogspot.com/2021/06/rip.html Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Music: “Cold, Cold Heart" by Hank Williams from the THE LAST PICTURE SHOW soundtrack. 00:45 - Aaron thinks “segue” is a one-syllable word 3:43 - Remembering the Uptown Theatre 17:19 - Episode 122: THE LAST PICTURE SHOW (1971) 17:50 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 21:22 - Jason’s thoughts 23:50 - Cody’s thoughts 27:46 - Harry’s thoughts 32:32 - Aaron’s thoughts 35:12 - THE LAST PICTURE SHOW as a coming-of-age story 40:25 - Chaco’s first appearance 40:51 - Lois, Jacy, and what it is to be a woman in society 46:25 - The crushing weight of living shared by generations 1:04:03 - Is THE LAST PICTURE SHOW hard to rewatch? 1:07:56 - Stray thoughts 1:20:12 - Cody’s Noteys (Son of ‘Ovich!) 1:37:56 - Exeunt Chaco | |||
| 16 Jun 2021 | Episode 123: TERMS OF ENDEARMENT (1983) | 01:25:42 | |
In this episode, the first non-Boggie in our Polly Platt series, we discuss TERMS OF ENDEARMENT, Albert Brooks’s ‘real’ character drama. We discuss how its core conflicts do (and don’t) round out its characters, how nice it is to see the uncomfortable parts of family relationships portrayed unwincingly (if unconvincingly), and Jack Nicholson’s undeniable, scene-chewing sluttiness. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Music: “Terms of Endearment Main Theme” by Michael Gore from the TERMS OF ENDEARMENT soundtrack. 5:14 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 7:27 - Jason’s thoughts 9:26 - Cody’s thoughts 13:10 - Harry’s thoughts 18:55 - Aaron’s thoughts 22:31 - TERMS OF ENDEARMENT, ‘real’ stories, and “that’s just how it is” 28:08 - The mother/daughter relationship 43:27 - Meeting the movie on its own… terms 59:40 - Our favorite funny bits 1:05:00 - Cody’s Noteys (Polly’s Follies) | |||
| 22 Jun 2021 | Episode 124: BOTTLE ROCKET (1996) | 01:39:39 | |
In BOTTLE ROCKET, Wes Anderson focuses on the moments before you realize it’s time to say goodbye – to your friends, your family, the person you thought you were, and the person you thought you’d become. Without his toyetic visual indulgences, Anderson’s style reveals a somewhat more heartfelt version of the real relationships between goofy characters that populate his later movies. Resources: - Bottle Rocket (Short Film): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yrt-ZKa4u0k - Life Underground: an LGBTQ film set in WW1 trenches by Peter Hogenson (Kickstarter) https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/phogenson/life-underground-an-lgbtq-film-set-in-ww1-trenches Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Music: “2000 Man” by The Rolling Stones from the BOTTLE ROCKET soundtrack. 11:42 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 13:34 - Jason’s thoughts 17:31 - Cody’s thoughts 21:57 - Harry’s thoughts 27:49 - Aaron’s thoughts 31:48 - The feeling of awkwardness made formal 35:07 - Why aren’t Anthony and Dignan just brothers? 47:57 - The ending (almost) 50:12 - Where Bottle Rocket breaks from Wes Anderson’s uppercrust comedy 54:02 - The ending and もののあはれ (mono no aware) 1:04:47 - Spare thoughts 1:15:53 - Cody’s Noteys (How the Wes Was Won) | |||
| 30 Jun 2021 | Episode 125: SAY ANYTHING (1989) | 01:23:58 | |
Our Polly Platt series comes to an end with one of the producer, production designer, and hitmaker’s best-known works: the ur-teen romcom SAY ANYTHING… We discuss the movie’s status as romcom classic, the questionable influence of the American dream over the lives of vulnerable youth, whether or not Lloyd Dobler is a simp, and whether or not they should’ve cut the “ding” from the final shot of the movie. IYKYK. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Music: “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel from the SAY ANYTHING... soundtrack. 0:00 - Episode 125: SAY ANYTHING… (1989) 1:36 - Is Lloyd Dobler a simp? 5:47 - The episode actually starts 6:31 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 8:08 - Jason’s thoughts 10:13 - Cody’s thoughts 14:45 - Harry’s thoughts 19:25 - Aaron’s thoughts 22:30 - John Mahoney’s fraying, grifting, lovable dad 29:15 - Just some sympathy for Diane Court 35:51 - Aaron left his hand up in Zencastr and we get his ass for it 43:22 - Should the ding be there at the end of the movie? 58:51 - Spare thoughts 1:06:12 - Cody’s Noteys (Trylibs: Young Romance) | |||
| 07 Jul 2021 | Episode 126: THE FACULTY (1998) (feat. Eric Leith & Seth Zarate) | 01:29:25 | |
Featuring special guests Eric Leith (https://twitter.com/unintellivision) and Seth Zarate (https://twitter.com/snzarate)! THE FACULTY lifts from sci-fi and horror touchstones like ALIEN (1979), THE TERMINATOR (1984), and THE THING (1982), deconstructing classic tropes and even whole scenes in a high school context. It’s not as heady as that makes it sound, but it’s still fun and subversive in a lot of the right ways. In this episode, we discuss the movie’s sense of cheek, great creature effects, stunning cast, and its almost complete commitment to a pro-drugs, anti-authoritarian thesis. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Music: “The Kids Aren’t Alright” by The Offspring from the THE FACULTY soundtrack. 0:00 - Episode 126: THE FACULTY (1998) 2:44 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary (In Memoriam) 4:20 - Eric’s thoughts 5:31 - Seth’s thoughts 6:22 - Jason’s thoughts 9:38 - Cody’s thoughts 13:14 - Harry’s thoughts 20:46 - Undercutting genre conventions – but at what cost? 39:16 - The garage scene & homages 46:08 - Repression of sexuality 51:26 - A deconstructive reading 54:29 - Power dynamics and why it wasn’t students vs. teachers 1:00:04 - Final thoughts (drugs and stuff) 1:09:33 - Cody’s Noteys (The U-Notey’d States) | |||
| 14 Jul 2021 | Episode 127: CLAUDINE (1974) | 01:21:12 | |
(Listening note: Harry was late, so we start the episode by talking bullshit about Star Wars and some other stuff. Use the timestamps to skip to the good stuff.) CLAUDINE isn’t a textbook blaxploitation film, but it leans on those tropes and expectations to subvert them in a really radical way, especially in the context of its 1974 release. The story of a struggling mother on welfare finding love with a hardworking man amid the trials of life under capitalism is given a sharper edge by its script, an honest (if often ugly) window into the realities of being a Black American. Moreover, it’s a striking portrait of how those material realities remove opportunity, and what people do to find belonging, value, and worth in each other. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Music: “The Makings of You” composed by Curtis Mayfield and performed by Gladys Knight and the Pips from the CLAUDINE soundtrack. 0:00 - Episode 127: CLAUDINE (1974) 00:45 - Pre-Harry talk (Star Wars Holiday Special & more) 9:51 - The episode actually starts 11:01 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 12:52 - Jason’s thoughts (feat. Aaron) 18:47 - Cody’s thoughts 22:08 - Harry’s thoughts 28:01 - Aaron’s thoughts 31:37 - Falling in love under the eye of the state 38:11 - Social performance as a lens for understanding the characters 42:13 - The value of an honest, even ugly script 54:08 - Spare thoughts 59:24 - Cody’s Noteys (Games Earl Jones) | |||
| 23 Jul 2021 | Episode 128: THE SACRIFICE (1986) (feat. Seth Zarate) | 01:04:52 | |
Featuring special guest Seth Zarate (https://twitter.com/snzarate)! Andrei Tarkovsky’s final film might also be his most personal. Through the tale of a family rendered catatonic by impending nuclear obliteration and one man’s fateful gambit to avoid disaster, he wrestles with the morality of human existence, the sin of the unnecessary, and the role of faith in determining the self. It was a first for all of us, and while we didn’t all go in with the same expectations, we all came to what we think is a pretty good understanding of a remarkably dense film. Follow Seth on Twitter at https://twitter.com/snzarate and on Letterboxd at https://letterboxd.com/snzarate/ Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Music: “Erbarme dich, mein Gott” from 'St Matthew Passion' (BWV 244) composed by J.S. Bach and performed by Julia Hamari, Suddeutscher Madrigalchor & Wolfgang Gonnenwein from the THE SACRIFICE soundtrack. 0:00 - Episode 128: THE SACRIFICE (1986) 2:11 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 3:52 - Jason’s thoughts 6:45 - Harry’s thoughts 10:38 - Seth’s thoughts 13:04 - Aaron’s thoughts 13:53 - Aaron’s promise to watch every Tarkovsky movie this year 18:02 - Narcissism, philosophical dread & character development 26:46 - Movies’ problem with religious stories 35:33 - Technology and the sin of that which is unnecessary 53:27 - Spare thoughts | |||
| 29 Jul 2021 | Episode 129: MIRROR (1975) | 01:27:57 | |
Warning: This podcast was recorded at 7 a.m. Central on a Sunday morning. Minor bullshit, “on one”-ness, and legitimately enlightening discussion ensue. It was stupid of me to write that THE SACRIFICE (1986) is Tarkovsky’s most personal film. That’s definitely MIRROR. Depicting stories from Tarkovsky’s own life and cognition with a dreamlike throughline, it’s a movie that seeks to explore the relationship of self and memory rather than explain it. It can be hard to even summarize, full of nonlinear scenes only loosely connected by theme: A dying poet reciting his work atop vignettes of a tortured life; the dissolution of a marriage, dying hope for the future, and the relinquishing of cultural identity; the definition of self amid the oppression of the state. It’s about how our selves get mixed in among our memories, and what place personal stories have in learning about others; it’s best approached as a whole rather than in the moment, which makes it a great movie to podcast about. Resources - “The Films of Andrei Tarkovsky: A Visual Fugue” by Vida T. Johnson & Graham Petrie: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/films-of-andrei-tarkovsky-vida-t-johnson/1110992238 Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Music: “The Indian Queen” composed by Henry Purcell, performed by Bath Festival Orchestra, and conducted by Yehudi Menuhin from the MIRROR soundtrack. 0:00 - Episode 129: MIRROR (1975) 2:22 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 5:04 - Jason’s thoughts 7:57 - Cody’s thoughts 12:50 - Harry’s thoughts 19:39 - Aaron’s thoughts 27:07 - The dissolution of the self in memory 33:11 - Tarkovsky, reflections, and time 41:57 - Using dreams and time to understand the self 45:43 - A confrontation with the limitations of the self 51:17 - What does it mean to be a “personal” film? 1:07:44 - Cody’s Noteys: Morning Edition (Upon Reflection… ) | |||
| 04 Aug 2021 | Episode 130: LADY TERMINATOR (1988) | 00:55:46 | |
First she mates… then she terminates. Then we talk about it! Maybe you can’t say LADY TERMINATOR is more than the sum of its parts (problematic depictions of women, poor editing, and a sometimes shot-for-shot ripoff of THE TERMINATOR (1984)), but it absolutely doesn’t need to be. Blending Indonesian folklore with ‘80s action tropes and a healthy dose of exploitation, it’s roughly about the curse of 100 generations coming to roost in the innocent young. But it’s so much a product of its time and place that you couldn’t imitate it if you wanted to – it’s too earnestly ridiculous, too confidently strange to repeat. We loved it. Resources - “On Lady Terminator: Interview with Barbara Anne Constable” by Andrew Leavold for Plaridel Journal: http://www.plarideljournal.org/article/on-lady-terminator-interview-with-barbara-anne-constable/ Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Music: “Souls On Fire” from LADY TERMINATOR. 0:00 - Episode 130: LADY TERMINATOR (1988) 2:02 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 5:05 - Jason’s thoughts 8:22 - Harry’s thoughts 12:45 - Aaron’s thoughts 25:01 - The inimitable fun of LADY TERMINATOR 27:57 - Aaron on “authentic” camp and why capitalizing on camp kills it 34:05 - Our favorite parts of the movie 41:38 - The appeal of unstoppable women | |||
| 14 Aug 2021 | Episode 131: KEY LARGO (1948) | 01:27:53 | |
KEY LARGO is a story about leaving to change things, only to come back and get caught up in them all over again. It’s a tightly wound noir stuck in a flimsy boarding house off the coast of Florida where an ex-GI, a war widow, a hounded mobster, a group of Seminole Indians, and many more seek freedom – and find instead signposts that the world they hoped to build never came to be after World War II. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Music: “Moanin’ Low” written by Ralph Rainger and Howard Dietz and performed by Billie Holliday. 0:00 - Episode 131: KEY LARGO (1948) 1:50 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 4:15 - Jason’s thoughts 6:57 - Harry’s thoughts (Jason screwed up the sacred order) 10:23 - Cody’s thoughts 15:01 - Aaron’s thoughts 20:41 - The Floridian setting and what it does for the story 29:21 - Should Frank have died at the end? 40:26 - Location as character 43:13 - Back to the question of whether or not Frank should’ve died 59:26 - Spare thoughts 1:07:44 - Cody’s Noteys (Bogie’s Hoagies) | |||
| 20 Aug 2021 | Episode 132: NIGHT MOVES (1975) (feat. Matt Clark) | 01:24:53 | |
Featuring returning guest Matt Clark (https://twitter.com/themplsmatt)! If NIGHT MOVES isn’t quite like other neonoirs of the 1970s, it’s because of Harry Moseby (Gene Hackman), a tragic antihero whose fatal flaw can’t really be called “hubris” because he actively seeks out his own problems and never accepts their resolution. When the “perfect” case lands in his lap (the 13-year-old daughter (Melanie Griffith) of a starlet past her prime (Janet Ward goes missing with her ex-lover as the only lead) he snatches defeat from the jaws of victory time and again – with deadly consequences. Oh, and his wife’s cheating on him, too. He handles that about as maturely as you’d expect. Find Matt on Twitter at https://twitter.com/themplsmatt, Letterboxd at https://letterboxd.com/mplsmatt/, and read his movie blog, Kino Ventura, at https://kino-ventura.blogspot.com/ Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Music: “Night Moves” by Michael Small from the NIGHT MOVES soundtrack. 0:00 - Episode 132: NIGHT MOVES (1975) 2:08 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 3:27 - Matt’s thoughts 5:03 - Jason’s thoughts 8:44 - Cody’s thoughts 12:35 - Harry’s thoughts 17:54 - Aaron’s thoughts 22:28 - What NIGHT MOVES does that other neonoirs don’t 27:23 - Harry Moseby is a man-child out of time 54:17 - Remembering back before you were born 1:01:46 - Cody’s Noteys (Note Moves) | |||
| 26 Aug 2021 | Episode 133: KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE (1989) (feat. Charlie Mackin) | 01:26:04 | |
Featuring returning guest Charlie Mackin (https://twitter.com/charliemander13)! KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE is about how the journey to self-actualization, despite being an internal one, is never taken alone. Thirteen-year-old Kiki ventures off to find her own identity as a witch – whatever that may be – and learns more about herself, her talents, and how others appreciate them (or don’t) when she tries doing the thing she loves for a living. We’re known fans of Studio Ghibli’s repertoire, but KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE is Charlie’s favorite movie of all time, so of course we wanted to get her opinion on this anime classic. We talk about what’s held up and why, the movie’s nuanced picture of the material and spiritual exchanges of young adulthood, and what Kiki’s journey means to us as people who’ve grown up to exchange our skills for money. Follow Charlie on Twitter at https://twitter.com/charliemander13 and on Letterboxd at https://letterboxd.com/charliemander/ Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Music: “On a Clear Day/A Town with an Ocean View” from the KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE soundtrack composed by Joe Hisaishi and performed by New Japan Philharmonic World Dream Orchestra. 0:00 - Episode 133: KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE (1989) (feat. Charlie Mackin) 1:25 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 4:53 - Charlie’s thoughts 7:05 - Jason’s thoughts 9:59 - Harry’s thoughts 14:42 - Aaron’s thoughts 19:22 - Miyazaki’s old man politics and the generation gap 27:00 - Kiki’s evolving motivation 31:50 - Kiki’s insecurity and seeing herself through others’ eyes 44:47 - Animation communicating theme 47:19 - The climax & why people don’t like the ending 56:44 - Dubbing differences 1:04:43 - Spare thoughts | |||
| 04 Sep 2021 | Episode 134: SPRING BREAKERS (2012) | 01:25:07 | |
Content warning: Explicit discussions of sexual content, drug use, and some crude but good-natured goofing. Fuck James Franco. The opening scenes of SPRING BREAKERS showcase two intentional worlds: One is a sardonic sensory overload, full of “bikinis and big booties”’ the other is a wry examination of cultural assumption through racial aesthetics, fraught with the implications of finding your own identity at the expense of another. When four college girls break bad to fund their spring break good time, they find themselves on a crash course with a wannabe Scarface who’s on his own destructive path. The whole thing careens toward an incredibly violent end, but ultimately, director Harmony Korine is hoping you’ll see enough of that second movie (an incisive moral play about the roots of modern race relations in the American south) to justify the first (the aforementioned bikinis and big booties). Also check out: - “What About ‘The Breakfast Club’?” by Molly Ringwald for The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/personal-history/what-about-the-breakfast-club-molly-ringwald-metoo-john-hughes-pretty-in-pink Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Music: “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” by Skrillex from the SPRING BREAKERS soundtrack. 0:00 - Episode 134: SPRING BREAKERS (2012) 3:39 - The episode actually starts 5:02 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 7:02 - Jason’s thoughts 8:51 - Cody’s thoughts 12:37 - Harry’s thoughts 19:10 - Aaron’s thoughts 26:23 - Is SPRING BREAKERS a transgressive movie yes or no 33:09 - What are Brit and Candy’s motivations? 40:43 - Does its obviousness make it less effective? 43:18 - Where Faith and Cotty ditch the plot 1:01:48 - The ending 1:04:24 - Spare thoughts 1:06:07 - Cody’s Noteys (Trylibs: Spring Break) | |||
| 08 Sep 2021 | Episode 135: WINGS OF DESIRE (1987) with Kelly Krantz | 01:17:50 | |
Content warnings: Suicide. This week, we’re joined by Trylonteer and movie lover Kelly Krantz (https://twitter.com/kransekage_) to discuss one of Wim Wenders’ classic films: WINGS OF DESIRE! WINGS OF DESIRE tells the story of Damiel and Cassiel, angels floating above Cold War-era Berlin, studying, analyzing, and listening to our inner thoughts – but never revealing their presence. Damiel eventually pines for the inimitable “now”-ness of the human condition, embodied in Marion, a trapeze artist with the roving carnival, whom he would say he loves if he knew what love really felt like. With help from a former angel (Peter Falk, exuding some of his coziest Big Grandpa Energy), Damiel sacrifices his superhumanity (and his anonymity) to know and be known – to the human world and the woman he wants to feel it with. Follow Kelly on Twitter at https://twitter.com/kransekage_ and on Letterboxd at https://letterboxd.com/luckyhoss/ Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Music: “From Her to Eternity” by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds from the WINGS OF DESIRE soundtrack. 0:00 - Episode 135: WINGS OF DESIRE (1987) with Kelly Krantz 3:21 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 5:24 - Kelly’s thoughts 6:34 - Jason’s thoughts 9:21 - Cody’s thoughts 12:18 - Harry’s thoughts 16:21 - Aaron’s thoughts 20:00 - The magic of Peter Falk 26:09 - The colorful final act of the movie 35:55 - Music, casting, and the experiential melting pot 39:03 - Cassiel 45:42 - Spare thoughts 56:05 - Cody’s Noteys (The Falk in Our Stars) | |||
| 14 Sep 2021 | Episode 136: DRUNKEN MASTER II (1994) aka THE LEGEND OF DRUNKEN MASTER (2000) | 01:28:29 | |
DRUNKEN MASTER II, known as THE LEGEND OF DRUNKEN MASTER on its belated stateside release, is an absolute high watermark of the kung fu genre. Its classically dazzling choreography would be enough to earn it a place among the all-time best, but its anti-Western/pro-worker plot and artful filming really put it in another tier. At the same time, it works at a very basic level: watching people move like this, and watching their environments change around them, is a fundamentally joyous byproduct of human ingenuity. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Music: “Main Title” by Michael Wandmacher from the THE LEGEND OF DRUNKEN MASTER soundtrack (international release). Resources: - "Jackie Chan - How to Do Action Comedy" by Every Frame a Painting on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Z1PCtIaM_GQ - "Drunken Master II review" by Glen Stanway on Kung-fu Kingdom: https://kungfukingdom.com/drunken-master-ii-movie-review/ 0:00 - Episode 136: DRUNKEN MASTER II (1994) 2:56 - The episode actually starts 4:55 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 8:22 - Jason’s thoughts 12:59 - Cody’s thoughts 16:54 - Harry’s thoughts 22:38 - Aaron’s thoughts 27:12 - Kung fu movies, elevated 33:21 - A ‘natural extension’ of a decades-long formula 40:52 - Seeing the whole world as a tool 46:03 - Characters, relationships, and the plot 1:00:09 - The coolest parts nobody talks about 1:09:14 - Cody’s Noteys (Drunklove) | |||
| 24 Sep 2021 | Episode 137: BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER (1999) with Emily Csuy & Charlie Mackin | 01:23:32 | |
Featuring special guests Emily Csuy (of Stoop Kidz!: A Hey Arnold! Podcast) and Charlie Mackin (https://twitter.com/charliemander13)! BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER is Jamie Babbit’s tacky, iconic entry in the history of sardonic queer cinema, panned at release but brought back as a cult classic by the queer communities it was made for. Its dire subject matter (an all-American cheerleader discovers her homosexuality by force when she’s sent to conversion therapy) is wrapped in a bubblegum aesthetic and inflammatory, comedic writing, positioning it between somewhere between “quaint queer dramedy” and “John Waters camp”. Its insistence on subverting straight symbology and queering the “traditional Western lifestyle” expands its focus beyond a singular queer girl finding herself to include conversations we’re still having today on gender expression, matrimony, queer joy, and more. Find Emily on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/emilycsuy/, listen to Stoop Kidz! wherever you get podcasts, and find the podcast on Twitter at https://twitter.com/StoopKidzPod and Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/stoopkidzpod/ Follow Charlie on Twitter at https://twitter.com/charliemander13 and Letterboxd at https://letterboxd.com/charliemander/ Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Music: “Glass Vase Cello Case” by Tattle Tale from the BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER soundtrack. - Learn about the anti-LGBTQ practice of conversion therapy and what you can do to help outlaw it at https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/what-is-conversion-therapy-lgbtq/ - “The new girls of summer” cover story in OUT Magazine, July 2000: https://books.google.com/books?id=oWIEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false - “Silk Chiffon” by MUNA feat. Phoebe Bridgers, a music video inspired by BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhyk9rchC2c - Emily referenced “Cheerleader” by St. Vincent on her outro. It’s a good song. Listen to it here: https://youtu.be/LEY9GJAm8bA 0:00 - BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER (1999) 2:17 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary (licensed by Jason Dafnis) 4:51 - Emily’s thoughts 8:03 - Charlie’s thoughts 9:01 - Jason’s thoughts 14:07 - Cody’s thoughts 17:59 - Harry’s thoughts 22:39 - Should BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER be more transgressive? 33:59 - Shame, growth, and Megan + Graham 47:19 - The “ex-ex-gays” and finding community 52:30 - The problematic fifth step of conversion 1:00:13 - Cody’s Noteys (“But I’m a Trylover” trivia) | |||
| 30 Sep 2021 | Episode 138: SHERLOCK, JR. (1924) with Chris Polley | 01:15:20 | |
Featuring special guest Chris Polley (https://twitter.com/qhrizpolley) of Film Trace (https://linktr.ee/filmtrace)! Sure, SHERLOCK, JR. is a century-old masterwork of performance, direction, and editing that still rouses today – but it also demonstrates an awareness of its audience that’s been rarely seen since. In many ways, it democratized physical comedy and stunt craft in general, which is part of what makes it the case study for the value of human labor in practical effects that it is today. In others, it’s also an important entry in the canon of movies about movies and their power to guide and influence behaviors and attitudes. Find Chris on Twitter at https://twitter.com/qhrizpolley and listen to Film Trace wherever you get podcasts (https://linktr.ee/filmtrace) Resources/links - “Sherlock Jr: My Favorite Film to Watch with Others” by Ryan Sanderson on Perisphere: https://www.perisphere.org/2021/09/24/sherlock-jr-my-favorite-film-to-watch-with-others/ Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Music by Matan Porat recorded from a live performance of SHERLOCK, JR. at the 2012 Cleveland ChamberFest. 0:00 - Episode 138: SHERLOCK, JR. (1924) 2:50 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 4:29 - Chris’s thoughts 5:26 - Jason’s thoughts 8:31 - Cody’s thoughts 11:49 - Harry’s thoughts 15:26 - Aaron’s thoughts 19:14 - The active conditioning of the audience 28:27 - The value of practical effects in selling this kind of humor 31:02 - The labor struggle and democratizing stunt craft 33:48 - Connecting Keaton’s work to modern filmmaking 37:28 - The tension of the real 40:42 - Why doesn’t SHERLOCK, JR. feel tropey? 44:09 - The relationship of dreams to fantasy to cinema to audience 54:08 - Our favorite bits, stunts, jokes, and gags 1:01:54 - Cody’s Noteys – Trylibs: Detective (Madlibs) | |||
| 08 Oct 2021 | Episode 139: RUMBLE IN THE BRONX (1995) with Seth Zarate | 01:17:11 | |
Featuring special guest Seth Zarate (https://twitter.com/snzarate)! With one eye on Chinese martial arts and one eye on American ‘tude, RUMBLE IN THE BRONX was Jackie Chan’s breakout Western hit. There’s dirtbike gangs in the streets, diamond-peddling crime syndicates, a hoverboat – everything you’d expect from an American action comedy, just with 100% more Jackie Chan. More violent, more outspoken, more plot-heavy, and just a bit less fun than Jackie’s Hong Kong films, RUMBLE also functions, unintentionally, as a sort of inverse commentary on ethnocentrism in American filmmaking: the same stereotyping cultural lens Hollywood points at Asia is pointed back at the USA in a movie where Vancouver is an unconvincing stand-in for the Big Apple and gun-toting mafiosos tear down a grocery store with tow cables for the hell of it. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Music: Credits theme from the RUMBLE IN THE BRONX soundtrack (Hong Kong release). 0:00 - Episode 139: RUMBLE IN THE BRONX (1995) 3:05 - The podcast actually starts 5:26 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 7:57 - Seth’s thoughts 11:38 - Jason’s thoughts 19:11 - Cody’s thoughts 23:25 - Harry’s thoughts 29:54 - Aaron’s thoughts 36:20 - The contrast of excellent action and a throwaway plot 42:56 - Familiar faces in a new context 48:01 - Danny 51:04 - Final thoughts 57:28 - Cody’s Noteys (Triplove: A Podquest [location trivia]) | |||
| 15 Oct 2021 | Episode 140: HARVEY (1950) | 01:28:24 | |
It’s impossible to deny the charm of HARVEY, because if you do, you’re choosing ‘smart’ over ‘pleasant.’ Of those two, you know which we’d recommend. The titular non-character might be described as an invisible, six-foot-three-and-a-half-inch, anthropomorphic rabbit, but Harvey is so much more than a “benign but mischievous creature”: it’s a highlight of the inherent value of personhood, an appeal to consciousness of the other, and a rejection of the bourgeois pressures of society – all wrapped in an all-time Jimmy Stewart performance. For a generation of people (including many of us) that came of age amid a cultural wave that deified sourness, pretense, and irony, its warmth and crucial insistence on pleasantness elevates it above feel-good cinema and into a personal entreaty. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Music: “Hippy Hippy Hop” from HARVEY (sung by Aileen Carlyle as Miss Tewksbury). 0:00 - Episode 140: HARVEY (1950) 5:37 - The episode actually starts 8:00 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 9:55 - Jason’s thoughts 15:12 - Cody’s thoughts 19:46 - Harry’s thoughts 25:29 - Aaron’s thoughts 29:49 - Empathy vs. society 34:21 - The Ghibli-like scene where Elwood peaks 41:01 - Elwood as catalyst for social consciousness 44:19 - The mystery of Harvey the pooka 50:29 - Could’ve been edited as a horror film à la THE BABADOOK (2014) 52:26 - What makes Harvey more than a coping mechanism for Elwood’s grief 55:53 - Should they have shown the rabbit? 57:39 - The implications of Harvey being real 1:00:11 - Final thoughts 1:04:17 - Cody’s Noteys: Force of Rabbit (trivia) | |||
| 22 Oct 2021 | Episode 141: UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES (2010) | 01:29:50 | |
When was the last time a movie made you consider who you were before, during, and after watching it? Or where those people came from? Or what you do with those thoughts? The final installment in Apichatpong Weerasethakul's "Primitive" project, UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES is an oft-cited example of slow cinema and the movie that made Weerasethakul a darling on the international stage. In this episode, we try to go further than the ‘WTF’ reactions and knee-jerk defenses we found on the internet. We just so happen to pick up a few ghosts along the way and leave little versions of ourselves behind – like the text you're reading or the podcast you might listen to in a few minutes. Say hello to those guys for us, would you? Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Music: “Acrophobia” by Jettamon Malayota (Penguin Villa) from the UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES soundtrack. 0:00 - Episode 141: UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES (2010) 2:19 - The episode actually starts 3:01 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary (franchised by Harry Mackin) 6:06 - Jason’s thoughts 9:54 - Cody’s thoughts 14:34 - Harry’s thoughts 20:38 - Boonmee and modes of being 34:06 - Understanding the movie’s impact on three levels 37:54 - Haunting mundanity 41:31 - The power of images 46:54 - Boonmee dies as he lived: A man 50:33 - Intentional, necessary abstraction & ambiguity 53:43 - A lamentation for the end of the film 1:03:03 - Final thoughts 1:08:43 - Cody’s Noteys: Uncle Notey (trivia) | |||
| 29 Oct 2021 | Episode 142: Horrorthon V: Son of Horrorthon with Seth Zarate | 01:20:07 | |
Featuring returning guest Seth Zarate (https://twitter.com/snzarate)! It’s that time of year again: Four of us hit up the fifth annual all-night Horrorthon at the Trylon! Featuring only horror movie sequels, Horrorthon V: Son of Horrorthon was a surprise collection of some real wild choices: PSYCHO II (1983), PHANTASM II (1988), HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH (1982), DAY OF THE DEAD (1985), CRITTERS 2 (1988), and NIGHT OF THE DEMONS 2 (1994). In our first in-person episode since March 10, 2020, we dedicate exactly eight minutes to dump all our thoughts on each movie before giving our personal rankings. Hope you enjoy the format shakeup – apologies for the quality difference from our usual, but we were just having a bunch of fun this time around. Follow Seth on Twitter at https://twitter.com/snzarate and Letterboxd at https://letterboxd.com/snzarate/ Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Music: “Silver Shamrock Commercial Theme” by John Carpenter and Alan Howarth from the HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH soundtrack. 0:00 - Episode 142: Horrorthon V: Son of Horrorthon 6:18 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 8:02 - The vibe at Horrorthon V 9:45 - The non-feature programming 16:54 - PSYCHO II (1983) 24:57 - PHANTASM II (1988) 33:37 - HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH (1982) 42:10 - DAY OF THE DEAD (1985) 50:22 - CRITTERS 2 (1988) 58:38 - NIGHT OF THE DEMONS 2 (1994) 1:07:07 - Comparing all-nighters at the Trylon 1:08:16 - Ranking the movies of Horrorthon V | |||
| 05 Nov 2021 | Episode 143: NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE (1979) | 01:25:58 | |
A strikingly stylized reimagining of the classic creature figure, NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE indicts the driven for the death of passion. Following the broad strokes of F.W. Murnau’s 1922 expressionist horror film, Werner Herzog’s late-70s take on the myth paints the titular non-human as a pathetic figure marked more by his maudlin, passionless philosophies than his bloodlust. “Give me some of your love,” Dracula commands Isabelle Adjani’s Lucy Harker. “I won't even give that love to God,” she replies, laying clear the philosophical divide at the heart of the movie. It’s a cold, focused, problematic, weird, subtly sexy movie, and we had a blast picking it apart. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Music: “Morning Sun Rays" by Popol Vuh from the NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE soundtrack. 0:00 - Episode 143: NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE (1979) 2:34 - The episode actually starts 4:05 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary (under exclusive license from AG Enterprises, LLC) 6:12 - Jason’s thoughts 12:31 - Cody’s thoughts 18:48 - Harry’s thoughts 24:20 - What makes Jonathan such a perfect victim 33:06 - Jonathan and the #workaholic #grindset 37:11 - There’s no dressing up the devil 42:45 - Freedom and captivity 50:21 - The sympathetic, loathsome Dracula 55:28 - Lucy as messiah 59:40 - The German and English versions of the film 1:01:54 - Final thoughts 1:03:39 - Cody’s Noteys: The Werner Herzog Guessing Game | |||
| 12 Nov 2021 | Episode 144: AGUIRRE, THE WRATH OF GOD (1972) | 01:15:25 | |
You don’t have to squint to see what AGUIRRE, THE WRATH OF GOD is saying about European imperialists hunting for an imaginary city of riches in South America in 1560. It’s saying they’re evil! And stupid! And in that disarming straightforwardness, it’s making an interesting point about what people expect of fiction – of what they expect from movies – and how sometimes, there’s only one right way to tell a story about evil, deluded people: In the meanest, most pejorative way possible. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Music: Peruvian pipe music and ambiance from AGUIRRE, THE WRATH OF GOD. 0:00 - Episode 144: AGUIRRE, THE WRATH OF GOD (1972) 2:21 - The episode actually starts 3:18 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 5:06 - Jason’s thoughts 10:09 - Cody’s thoughts 14:05 - Harry’s thoughts 20:21 - Aaron’s thoughts 25:09 - How the deeply stupid, cruel, pathetic conquistadors differ from The Heart of Darkness 44:20 - The false idea of agency, self-determination, and control in the jungle 50:37 - The inherently evil humanity of imperialists 54:10 - Da animals D: 56:59 - Cody’s Noteys: Trylibs Expedition (Madlibs) | |||
| 18 Nov 2021 | Episode 145: COBRA VERDE (1987) | 01:22:39 | |
Klaus Kinski again appears as That Freaky Guy Who Insists On Going To The Jungle, this time portraying Francisco Manoel da Silva (better known by his outlaw codename, “Cobra Verde”), who’s chased there by his plantation owner boss who has no interest in being his father-in-law after Francisco impregnates the baron’s three teenage daughters. Oops! Cobra Verde’s attempts to kickstart the cold engine of the slave trade on the West African coast, and everything that derail them, make up the rest of an inscrutable plot. In this episode, we discuss our confusion over how the titular character is built, where the movie’s satirical lens is pointed, its fairly misguided attempts at ‘authentic’ portrayal of African cultures, and how the surly, perfectly pitched magic of AGUIRRE, THE WRATH OF GOD (1972) and NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE (1979) don’t seem to have rubbed off on this one. Also check out: - “Picturesque savagery: Primitivism and authenticity in Cobra Verde” by Sam Storey https://www.academia.edu/30156985/Picturesque_savagery_Primitivism_and_authenticity_in_Cobra_Verde Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Choir performance from COBRA VERDE. 0:00 - Episode 145: COBRA VERDE (1987) 2:37 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 4:43 - Jason’s thoughts 7:57 - Cody’s thoughts 12:04 - Harry’s thoughts 16:42 - Aaron’s thoughts 22:41 - Where the film’s sardonic lens is pointed 28:44 - The line between ‘adding authenticity’ and ‘exoticizing’ 36:06 - Who is Cobra Verde?: A discussion 47:06 - Da animals D: 48:40 - A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971) and the systems that grind us all 53:51 - Cody’s Noteys: Snakelove (snake-themed trivia) | |||