belated September 2022 Patreon round-up • LOST IN THE MOVIES patron podcast #95: The 90s in September (& beyond) + 70s bonus & Concluding the 80s ... Pulp Fiction, Klute, Red Dawn, Do the Right Thing & Hail Mary (capsules on Stranger Things, Top Gun: Maverick, The Goonies, Gremlins, Midnight Run, Scarface, Thelma & Louise, Scream, Gremlins II, Romeo + Juliet, Set It Off, The Firm, Exotica, Network, Superman, Magnolia, Saturday Night Fever, Thelma & Louise, Reality Bites, Boogie Nights, Nashville, The Pelican Brief, The Client, The Ice Storm, Dangerous Minds, archive readings of The Conversation & Enemy of the State + feedback/media/work updates including Encanto & more) + 3 TWIN PEAKS Character Series advances & Twin Peaks Conversations podcast

The Patreon episode intended for a couple months ago was released in two parts:

Listen to Episode 95, part 1: Concluding the 80s... Red Dawn, Do the Right Thing & Hail Mary (capsules on Stranger Things, Top Gun: Maverick, The Goonies, Gremlins, Midnight Run, Scarface + feedback/media/work updates including Encanto & more)

Listen to Episode 95, part 2: The 90s in September (& beyond) + 70s bonus... Pulp Fiction & Klute (capsules on Exotica, Network, Superman, Magnolia, Saturday Night Fever, Thelma & Louise, Reality Bites, Boogie Nights, Nashville, Scream, Gremlins II, Romeo + Juliet, Set It Off, The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, The Ice Storm, Dangerous Minds, archive readings of The Conversation & Enemy of the State)

To represent the postmodern Gen X nineties, I easily chose Pulp Fiction - a film I'd surprisingly never really discussed on this site. Klute, on the other hand, was more a case of happenstance; I'd received the Criterion blu-ray as a gift a while ago but hadn't watched the film in a decade or more and remembered little about it. The film provides a fascinating snapshot of New York City right as the sixties/post-sixties cultural changes were taking hold alongside a phenomenal performance by Jane Fonda as a troubled, fairly independent, and deeply introspective call girl stalked by a mysterious figure. The other films I covered for the September podcast ended up being surprises - for me. I initially watched Red Dawn as something I'd mention briefly in capsule form but I ended up discussing it for much longer than that because there was so much to dig into with this Cold War relic (pairing its absurd premise with a tight, even thoughtful approach to the war film genre). Do the Right Thing and Hail Mary I did initially intend to be films in focus; after watching, I wondered if I'd have enough to say to justify that treatment but ended up elevating them from capsule status while pursuing various threads. My coverage of Hail Mary also serves as a tribute to the recently deceased Jean-Luc Godard - as will another film in focus in the November podcast.

In August, I began an approach that will take me through the end of the year: focusing on a different decade beginning with the eighties and moving in different directions. Each subsequent episode, including this one, would pair at least one full review and a bunch of capsules on films from a post-eighties decade with a review and handful of capsules on films from a pre-eighties decade (plus some more reviews/capsules finishing off the previous episode's decade). So for one of my more sprawling Patreon podcasts, I'm offering capsules on a couple dozen films from the seventies, eighties, nineties - plus the most films in focus I've ever provided in one episode. This one episode, however, is a two-parter separated by several weeks in which I waited to access some of the titles I wanted to discuss. As a result, this patron reward (intended for September) did not conclude until very late in October and I didn't get to sharing it on this site until now. (I was able to immediately catch up with a Halloween special podcast - you can listen to that one on Patreon; it will be cross-posted here soon.)

My advance character studies went up on time in September (I've already released October's round-up, which will be more officially cross-posted alongside the other reward intended for that month). For September, the trio of characters - ranked as always by screentime - included two familiar faces with new material in The Return and one entirely new entry on someone introduced in 2017. Patrons can now unlock each of these pieces...

EXCLUSIVE advance: TWIN PEAKS Character Series #74, 73 & 71 (#72 already published)

(become a patron to discover their identities)

Finally, though I already cross-posted this conversation on its own, September saw John Thorne return to the Twin Peaks Conversations podcast; the longer part of our discussion - on his new book Ominous Whoosh and his further thoughts about Twin Peaks and especially the third season - is reserved for the $5/month tier.

PATREON EXCLUSIVE: Part 2 of Twin Peaks Conversations w/ John Thorne

Podcast Line-Ups for...

Class violence in 4 films: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, The Irishman, Joker, Parasite (LEFT OF THE MOVIES podcast #2/LOST IN THE MOVIES podcast #10)

For the second time (I previously covered Medium Cool in August, in light of the Democratic convention), I am turning my public platform over to Left of the Movies, my nascent political cinema podcast. The episode offers five-to-ten minute capsules of some of the most hyped films of 2019: Quentin Tarantino's reimagining-Manson late sixties dream Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Martin Scorsese's possibly apocryphal Hoffa portrait The Irishman, Todd Phillips' controversial DC-meets-gritty-seventies-crime-film reboot of Joker, and Bong Joon-ho's Best Picture-winning architectural horror portrait of inequality Parasite. All four films climax with violence that can be viewed through a class-based lens - destruction as an almost ritualistic way to either destablize or reinforce the social order. My discussion focuses on how these climaxes express their respective films' political visions.

The bulk of this episode was originally recorded in January 2020 but in the wake of Donald Trump's contentious loss, the Black Lives Matters protests and left-right clashes in the street, the coronavirus pandemic and its unequal economic fallout, and the electoral defeat of Bernie Sanders' populist movement in the Democratic primaries, it seemed like a good idea to revisit these films again in the light of such a world-historic ten months. So I recorded an extra ten or so minutes extending the previous discussion, including Trump supporters' image of him (vis a vis Hoffa and the Mafia in The Irishman), the irony of "white male rage" Joker anticipating the BLM protests six months later, and especially the way that all of these films explore individual outbursts rather than collective action. There's still much to dig into, so I hope some of the listeners will offer feedback that I can further engage in upcoming episodes.

Subscribe, rate, and review on Apple Podcasts

You can also listen on Pinecast and Spotify

LINKS FOR EPISODE 10

Debunking Quentin Tarantino's 'Mockery' of Bruce Lee by Eugene S. Robinson (OZY)

'Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood' Review: We Lost It at the Movies by A.O. Scott (New York Times)

SEVEN AMERICAN GENERATIONS: iGen, millennials, X, boomers, silent, greatest and lost by Joel Bocko (Lost in the Movies)

Boomer Reunion: The Big Chill vs Return of the Secaucus Seven (video) by Joel Bocko (Lost in the Movies)

New on Patreon

(for $1/month)

Episode 73: Twin Peaks cinema - Belladonna of Sadness (+ Twin Peaks Reflections: Norma, Vivian, Ernie, Red Diamond Motel, Golf course, MT Wentz/The Final Dossier, The Devil's Bride & more) & Lost in Twin Peaks #16: S2E8 (Drive With a Dead Girl/"Episode 15")

(for $5/month)

Lost in Twin Peaks #17: S2E9 (Double Play/"Episode 21")

New on my site

(accidentally mentioned in previous episode too)

Post-election status update & explore the directory pages linked on my home page for new, sharp images on mobile

January 2020 Patreon podcasts: LOST IN TWIN PEAKS #12 - Season 2 Episode 4 and LOST IN THE MOVIES #63 - The Longest One Yet w/ Bernie 2020 endorsement, Class violence in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, The Irishman, Joker, Parasite & Twin Peaks Cinema: What Did Jack Do?, Wiseguy, Twin Peaks directors' films (Halloweentown, Zelly & Me, Now and Then, The Escape Artist, The Wizard, Frances, Pay the Ghost, Heaven, After Dark My Sweet, Code Name: Emerald, Losing Isaiah & Matthew Blackheart: Monster Smasher + Midsommar, Shin Godzilla, Ah Wilderness, My Brilliant Career, listener feedback, podcast recommendations, the 60s in the 80s, Twin Peaks Reflections: Bobby, Einar, the Log Lady, the Log Lady's and Jacques' cabins, The Ghostwood Deal/Part 1 & much, much, much, much more)

A year ago, I published my longest podcast episode, one so long I had to divide it into three parts. As 2020 kicks off, I've definitely topped myself. The bulk of Episode 63 not only needed to be divided into six episodes, it also spawned another six mini-episodes' worth of podcast recommendations. This is catch-up for the past nine months, as I gather feedback I've received, podcasts I've listened to, films I've watched, and political events I've observed. And that's not even getting to the main course: my most sprawling "Twin Peaks Cinema" study incorporating a last-minute Lynch short addition, an old show that turned out to be worth an entry of its own, and a dozen capsules to observe the work of each Twin Peaks episode director (save Tim Hunter, featured last month, as well as David Lynch and Mark Frost). Usually I try to dig a little deeper into each episode in this round-up, but there's so much here already I'll trust the titles to do the talking.

Here are all the parts, illustrated and described...

Episode 63A
(Intro/Path to Journey Through Twin Peaks, Twin Peaks Reflections: Bobby, Einar, the Log Lady + her cabin, Jacques' cabin, the Ghostwood Deal/Part 1 & more)

Episode 63B
Twin Peaks cinema - What Did Jack Do?/Wiseguy's Lynchboro arc & Twin Peaks directors' films (Halloweentown, Zelly & Me, Now and Then, The Escape Artist, The Wizard, Frances, Pay the Ghost, Heaven, After Dark My Sweet, Code Name: Emerald, Losing Isaiah, Matthew Blackheart: Monster Smasher & more)

Episode 63C
Media Journal - Class violence in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, The Irishman, Joker & Parasite (+ more capsules on Midsommar, Shin Godzilla & the original Godzilla, Ah Wilderness, My Brilliant Career, Knock Down the House, Ad Astra, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Won't You Be Me Neighbor?, The American Experience: Walt Disney, Glory, Space Men, Seven Days in May, Adopt a Highway, The Kominsky Method, Living With Yourself, Schitt's Creek & much more)

Episode 63D
Listener feedback, part 1 (Lost Highway, Lynch in Twin Peaks season 1, ordinary/mythological character connections, "primal scene" locations, Twin Peaks as Laura's Projection & more)

Episode 63E
Listener feedback, part 2 (Twin Peaks season 3 as Laura's psychodrama, Veronica Mars, Neon Genesis Evangelion & more)

Episode 63F
Endorsing Bernie 2020 (+ the 60s in 80s media, podcast recommendations, 2019 politics - campaigns, Bolivia, UK election, Iran & more)

Bonus #1: Podcast recommendations (1 of 5)

Bonus #2: Podcast recommendations (2 of 5)

Bonus #3: Podcast recommendations (3 of 5)

Bonus #4: Podcast recommendations (4 of 5)

Bonus #5: Podcast recommendations (5 of 5)

Guide to Episode 63

Lost in Twin Peaks #12 - S2E4 (Laura's Secret Diary/"Episode 11")

NOW AVAILABLE: Lost in Twin Peaks #6 ("Episode 5") open to all patrons

How should I release Episode 63 (POLL)

Podcast Line-ups for...

Inglourious Basterds

Inglourious Basterds' hook is clever, canny, and seemingly irresistible. A squadron of Jewish-American soldiers, led by a gentile backwoodsmen (is there any other kind?), drops behind enemy lines in 1944 Germany and sets about killing as many Nazis as possible.  While Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) leads his titular squadron on an Apache-inspired campaign of terror against the Germans, a quiet, beautiful young cinema owner endures the unwanted attention of a chipper Aryan sharpshooter. Unexpectedly, these overtures lead to a meeting with Goebbels, a tense dinner with the man who killed her family (he does not recognize her) and the opportunity to exact retribution on her kin's murderers. The climax sees the Basterds' official mission unknowingly collide with Shoshana's personal revenge plot, as a propaganda print and occupied theater goes up in flames, and the Fuhrer goes down in a flurry of bullets. Yes, the movie's hooky all right, but in the finished film the goofy high concept (Nazi-hunting Jewish guerrillas) is probably the least interesting element; one frequently wonders if Tarantino couldn't have made a better film by foregoing the cartoonish central device and withholding the residual hipster winking (dramatically toned down, but still a dominant element in the director's style).