Filmsuck

Joel Coen in Person: Definitely Meet Your Heroes

Since the recording of co-host Eileen's interview with Joel Coen and Frances McDormand about The Tragedy of Macbeth is not going to be widely released after all--a decision made by Coen himself in accordance with the curating team at the Pacific Film Archive where the screening and interview took place--here's a fulsome discussion of the event with co-host Dolores, who was in attendance that evening! Aspects of the entire "Joel Coen in Person" film series, which took place over two exhilarating weekends in late January, are thrashed through for your listening pleasure!

The Pale Blue Eye: Poe Lingers On

The new Netflix film The Pale Blue Eye, featuring Harry Melling as Edgar Allan Poe when he was an eccentric young West Point cadet, here aiding an alcoholic detective (Christian Bale) to solve the grisly murder of a fellow cadet at the military academy. The film's a train-wreck, and a good opportunity for co-hosts Eileen and Dolores to rant about the strange dearth of Poe biopics and adaptations of his work, considering he was a master of horror and the detective-centered mystery, both thriving genres right now. WTF, entertainment industry?

Holiday Movie Meldown

BONUS Filmsuck episode for holidays! Dolores and Eileen discuss the Christmas movies they can't or won't see because childhood trauma, and offer up some alternative holiday films for your viewing pleasure. Dolores suggests Goodfellas as heartwarming family fare, and Eileen recommends Curse of the Cat People a a lovely yuletide entertainment.

White Lotus: Playing in the Shallow End

Filmsuck co-hosts Eileen and Dolores grapple with their bewildering lack of love for White Lotus, the highly praised, much-Emmy-ed HBO Max series satirizing the vacationing ruling class. Sorry in advance to all those who revere it!

A Big Hand for Banshees of Inisherin

Filmsuck co-hosts enthuse about the new Martin McDonagh film The Banshees of Inisherin, a dark comedy that turns pitch-black by the end! Set in 1923 Ireland as the civil war rages on the mainland, this fable-like tale reunites Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell, the stars of McDonagh's 2009 cult favorite In Bruges, as former friends whose increasingly bitter estrangement creates severe consequences for the tiny island community of Inisherin. And that includes the animals--lotta animals involved!

Tracking the Vampire

For your Halloween pleasure and edification, this week on Filmsuck we're talking about the vampire film from Nosferatu (1922), Dracula (1931), and Vampyr (1932) through Martin (1976), The Hunger (1983), Near Dark (1987), Let the Right One In (2008), and A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014), in order to analyze how this popular movie monster represents such an array of human fears and desires, it can adapt easily to different eras and cultures.

Three Thousand Years of Longing for This Film to End

Both Filmsuck co-hosts hated the new George Miller movie Three Thousand Years of Longing, a feeling shared by audiences everywhere, it seems, as the romantic fantasy wastes the talents of Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba in the lead roles and becomes one of the biggest box-office failures of 2022. The film raises the question "Why can't mainstream filmmakers do emotionally powerful movies about love anymore?" as well as "How can a movie with such a shocking 'Magical Negro' storyline have been blandly accepted by so many critics who gave the film glowing reviews?"

Bullet Trainwreck

This week on Filmsuck we're lamenting the shiny, busy, but oddly inert action comedy Bullet Train that mostly wastes the talents of an excellent cast. Bullet Train stars Brad Pitt as a sweet-natured assassin who's back at work after an extended interlude in therapy, and wants to do a nice, simple, non-violent "snatch and grab" job in keeping with his newfound peace of mind. Unfortunately, he's on a high-speed train from Tokyo to Kyoto with several other stone-cold killers who are either after the same silver briefcase or some sort of gory revenge. 

2 Yeps for Nope

Though if you talk to your friends and acquaintances you're likely hear a range of opinions on Nope--from 1) best Jordan Peele film so far, he's transcended himself, to 2) worst Jordan Peele film ever, Get Out (2017) and Us (2019) were so much better--your Filmsuck co-hosts agree on their pro-Nope stance. Dolores thoroughly enjoyed it, and Eileen thinks it's one of the most brilliant and thrilling genre films made in ages.  

So calling all cinephiles, you need to get in on this public debate while it's hot!  See the film, listen to the episode, argue with your people! 

Elvis and the Hysteria of Baz Luhrmann

You may know writer-director-producer Baz Luhrmann from such expensive spectacles as The Great Gatsby, Australia, and Moulin Rouge! Co-hosts Dolores and Eileen talk about Luhrmann's hysterically melodramatic films and disagree sharply on how successfully his new biopic Elvis represents the life and career of legendary performer Elvis Presley, debating in particular how the film stands on the entrenched "Elvis authenticity thesis." (Short version of theory: young "real" pioneering rocker Elvis = good, and older "fake" Las Vegas Elvis = bad.)