Jason and the Movienauts

Eric is back and he and Jason are continuing their deep dive into classic Japanese cinema with a look at two pitch-dark films directed by Yasuzō Masumura: Black Test Car and Giants and Toys. These dark satires of Japanese corporate life are fascinating, intense, often funny and often horrific satires of Japanese corporate life.Eric and Jason make the case that these are under-seen true classics of cinema, very well worth rediscovery and the deluxe Criterion type presentation.

Michelle is back for another episode discussing the filmic career of the great Bily Wilder. This time the pair discuss perhaps Wilder's final great film, the complicated and butchered (but still fascinating The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. They also take up one of Wilder's intriguing final movies, the very strange and oddly sweet Avanti!Avanti! (exclamation mark and all) is a film that comes remarkably close to being a great Wilder film. It has all the makings, but Jason and Michelle get into a long and intriguing discussion of why it's too full of old man energy to make the film worthwhile.

Eric Hoffman joins Jason to talk about one of Alfred Hitchcock's classic films, the 1934 version of The Man Who Knew Too Much. You may be familiar with the 1950s version of this film starring Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day, but the earlier movie is actually better than th remake, with more complex characters, more clever scenes and a more satisfying climax. Eric and Jason explore what makes the earlier film better as well as how it fits into Hitchcock's long career. It's a fast paced hour long conversation we think you will enjoy.

In honor of Jason's upcoming trip to Japan, Eric is back to talk about two classic Japanese crime dramas - one of which is frequently listed as one of the greatest films ever to come out of that country.A Fugitive from the Past is a deeply immersive and deeply impressive cop drama from director Tomu Uchida, while Vengeance is Mine is a deeply upsetting journey inside the mind and life of a serial killer/rapist/general terrible person, from director Shohei Imamura. Uchida and Imamura both show sympathy for their reprehensible lead characters, but do both of them make the audience feel that same sympathy? Eric and Jason debate, compare and contrast to come to some interesting insights.

Eric is back again, and as usual, he and Jason are talking about Japanese films. In fact, they're continuing their series on the work of Shohei Imamura with two fascinating, odd, contrasting films: The Eel and The Pornographers. The former is an intriguing tale of redemption, guilt and the obscure love of a fish. The latter is, well, about the obscure love of a fish, as well as bizarre families, an intiguing filmic style, and some very unsexy pornography.These are fascinating works of film art. Even if you're not familiar with them, we think this will be a good listen.

Paul and Shawn are back, and this time the guys are taking on a new project. It's time to dig into the movies of the great John Carpenter. We're not going to go completely chronological through his filmography (this later movies are famously bad) but we wanted to get his two earliest movies out of the way.Dark Star and Assault on Precinct 13 are early works, but both have a lot to make them highly enjoyable. The slacker energy of Dark Star is especially fun for everybody this week.Join us for the kickoff of what should be a fun series!

Eric is back so it's time for him and Jason to dig into obscure masterpieces. Today the guys take on two brilliantly intense fils by British master Peter Watkins: Edvard Munch and The War Game. Eric fills Jason in on Watkins's long and well documented history of making avant-garde films, then the guys dig deep into two of the most highly serious but emotionally satisfying movies of their experience. The Munch film in particular has so much complexity and integrity to it that the film sets a standard for biopics that may never be reached again.

Jacques Tati directed some of the most wonderfully humorous and charming comedies of all time. Eric Hoffman joins Jason to discuss Tati's short filmography and delight in Tati's meticulous attention to detail, his clashes between urbanism and tradition, and his deep influences on other filmmaking greats. This was Jason's first time watching a Tati film and he was blown away by the experience. It's an hour of great discussion we're sure you'll enjoy.

Shōhei Imamura's 1968 epic Profound Desires of the Gods is a brilliant, dizzying, extremely complex drama/satire focusing on a Japanese island in transition. The film focuses on one family on the island, a group of highly inbred people, and how the whole island reacts when post-WWI modernity starts to come to the island.In other words, Profound Desires is just the kind of strange, heady and often surreal movie Eric and Jason love to talk about for this podcast. And talk they do, with 75 minutes of attempts to wrangle this unwieldy masterpiece into some kind of shape...

Shawn and Paul are back, which means it's time for the guys to wrap up their look at the Alien and Predator franchises with a review of Alien: Romulus and Predator: Badlands. Will the guys like the kids of Romulus and the family dynamics of Badlands ior will they demand the return of Sigourney and Arnold?

When Paul Moyer joins Jason to talk movies, that means it's '70s dystopia times. This time: two different sci-fi visions of the future from the mid-1970s. Rollerball seems prophetic in some ways, a deeply intriguing tale of future sports that imagines a future similar to the one we're living in now. Logan's Run, on the other hand, seems a little half-baked and poorly thought through, a clever idea contained in a movie that can't quite carry it. The discussion makes for an hour of interesting listening we hope you'll enjoy.If you did enjoy the episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a review in the Apple Podcasts app. Thanks!

Michelle is back to continue our discussion of the films of Billy Wilder. This time, two films which are on and around the second world war: the wartime prison drama Stalag 17 and the mapcap Cold War comedy One, Two, Three. Michelle has some nuanced takes on Stalag 17 that Jason finds fascinating, but no nuance is needed to know that One, Two, Three is an absolute wild delight.Good listening from them as always!