Ryan McNeil
When I started doing this podcast, and decided that a bi-weekly schedule was what I wanted to roll with, I saw it coming with a certain advantage. See, I enjoy editing the raw conversation: I believe that giving it a once over gives the whole thing a certain finesse. So the schedule seemed to write itself: record one week, edit and post the next week.
Every once in a while though, a movie comes along that I want to talk about instantly – thus a recording/editing weekend presents itself. When such occasions arise, I like to record on Friday night or Saturday morning, then edit and post on Sunday.
With episode 55 though, we decided to do things differently. For this show, we recorded Sunday morning and I edited and posted through most of Sunday afternoon…one. long. marathon.
If I ever allude to doing it all in one day again – put a bullet in my kneecap. Don’t just wing me: land it.
The good news though is that this episode features a great friend sitting shotgun, bringing a lot of laughs with her at an ungodly hour, and discussing one of this year’s most hotly anticipated films.
Here’s what’s in store in episode fifty-five…
Runtime
66 minutes, 17 seconds
Up for Discussion
1. Introduction
2. KNOW YOUR ENEMY– Q& A with this week’s guest Sasha James. (3:55)
3. COME TALK TO ME – Fielding some listener feedback on young movie stars (15:31)
4. THE NEW SLANG – Review and reaction of THE HUNGER GAMES (25:10)
5. THE BEST OF YOU: Ryan and Sasha discuss their top five dystopian films. (40:38)
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Comments and feedback are welcome, and thank-you very much for listening.
Enjoy!
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Really looking forward to listening to this, Ryan. I’ve read so many Hunger Games posts lately (and discussed the film quite at length), yet I’m still wanting to hear more people’s take on it.
Wow, the kneecap? Ooof, you know how to make a point.
I’m serious…never. again. If I want to talk about something opening weekend again, it’s getting recorded by Saturday night or not at all.
If you haven’t listened yet, I hope you enjoy it. The conversation was fun, especially given that Sasha and I both had the book to fall back on.
Well it’s always nice to get a mention.
Sorry about that…
So I’m learning now that Sasha got offered The Rum Diary. Not Matt Brown mind you; Sasha.
Just putting that out there.
You two are like north and south on a compass:
You ask for episodes I won’t give you; I offer her episodes she won’t take.
Based SOLELY on the quality of that analogy, the issue is now officially dismissed.
Making it worse: He offered me that podcast at pub night when you were sitting on the other side of him.
You forget though that it was you turning it down that had Matt asking to do it. Now stop trying to stir up trouble.
By the way SASHA, Emma Watson didn’t drop out of college, she transferred to Oxford for a year and she’s finishing at Brown next year. You just hate her because she’s the next Doctor Who.
How are things on that Emma Watson fansite you’re running these days Matthew?
Funny that you would mention Blade Runner in the podcast, since I just rented the film (the full 5-disc blu-ray) for my Revisiting 1982 series (I’m watching the 1982 theatrical version to get the authentic experience).
The voice-over version actually has its fans (Guillermo del Toro amongst them). It was certainly an interesting watch, especially given how slanted it made something so familiar feel.
Hmmmm, a podcast with two of my favourite people… I might consider listening to this one.
I’d wager one month’s worth of groccery runs that you don’t tune in.
I keep forgetting to listen to these :S
This was loads of fun. I love dystopian movies. I’m a huge A Clockwork Orange fan myself. It’s my favourite, closely followed by Children of Men.
Favourite action sequences- I’m sure there are many that I love but am totally blanking on, but I really love The Bride vs the Crazy 88 in Kill Bill Vol 1. And also since I just saw the film, ALL the action sequences in Scott Pilgrim vs the World.
Well, the good news if you forget to tune in is that you get a bounty of them piled up for when you *do* want to tune in! Glad to hear you did give this one a listen.
Was there one sequence in PILGRIM that rose above for you? For me it’s always been the girl-fight between Ramona and Roxy
(Thanks for listening!)
I love hearing Sasha’s laugh. I might turn it into a ringtone, actually. 🙂
Pretty infectious, ain’t it?
*self-loathing*
I love listening to an episode about a movie I’ve actually seen. It’s so rare. Great discussion from two people who were clearly fans of the book. And thanks for the recommendations for a couple dystopian films I’ve missed over the years.
As for favorite action sequence, it’s probably cliche, but I’m still in love with the whole 3-minute “hampster wheel hallway” scene in Inception. Call me boring, but I find myself having to watch that scene at least two or three times whenever I watch the film.
So tell me something then – where episodes of unseen films are concerned, are you using the chapter stops and skipping ahead, or do you just hold off on them entirely?
Sasha was awesome in this episode, but in hindsight, a small part of me wishes I’d chosen a guest who hadn’t read the book as I’m beginning to think they have a different take on the whole experience.
It depends. If it’s a movie I plan on seeing soon (within two weeks, normally) then I’ll hold off until after having seen the film. If it’s one I’m going to let go till dvd release, I’ll listen right away because chances are I’ll forget what you’ve said in that time. And since you don’t do heavy spoilers, I don’t worry about the film being ruined. I just tend to skip episodes for the ones I plan on seeing soon to avoid potential swaying opinions or expectations.
I actually had the pleasure of seeing the movie with one person who’d read the book and one who hadn’t. The one who hadn’t didn’t act as though he was confused or that there wasn’t enough info to fill in the backstory.
This is actually encouraging, since a lot of people forget what I say in much shorter amounts of time than that!
By the way, based on Sasha’s recommendation, I’ve ordered Truffaut’s Fahrenheit 451, and for good measure threw in 2 other 70s sci-fi films I loved: Westworld and Futureworld (with Yul Brynner as a robotic cowboy).
Which means I can borrow 451 after you’ve watched it, right?
Absolutely. You should watch Yul Brynner as a robot cowboy, too.
Well I’ll happily borrow that too!
Great show. I really like the book of Fahrenheit 451, but I struggled to get into the movie and found it pretty boring. Some of the choices like having the same actor playing two parts is interesting, but it just never came together for me. I totally agree about Logan’s Run, which is awesome but really falls apart in the second half. Sasha’s right on with that movie.
There are far too many action scenes to cover in a short comment, so I’ll just stick with 2011. My two favorites this year were the very brief car pursuit in Headhunters (so much tension!) and the tower scene in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. I also really like the opening heist in Drive, though I’m not sure that would truly be an action scene.
Sasha left me with a lot of great suggestions to soak up, so for that alone I’m really happy she did this episode.
Your action scene comment didn’t come in time to be included in episode 56, but I’m happy to report that the tower climb does get a healthy mention anyway.
Thanks for listening sir!
That’s cool. It’s hard to keep up with everyone’s podcasts! I’m looking forward to hearing the action scenes conversation. I had to narrow it down to 2011 because all I kept thinking about were car chases. There are a lot of those.
Finally listened to this today. Had to wait until I after saw “Hunger Games” and I really wanted to wait until the frenzy died down a bit. As someone who hasn’t read the books and went out of his way to avoid reading about the content beforehand, I will say in regards to your discussion that I did pick up on Katniss using the romance as a means to an end. I had other quibbles with the film but I did think they did a good job of making that bit apparent without overdoing it.
Also, 1.) I never thought of Pleasantville as dystopian but I can totally see it. Nice call. 2.) When Sasha said “Oh, I don’t know anything about real life”, that totally hit on an identifiable level. I laughed hard.
Sasha’s awesome for comments like that – such things are part of why I look forward to times where she’s hanging out at our place.
Just out of curiosity, what quibbles did you have with the film? I ask as someone who doesn’t think it is beyond reproach.
In particular, I thought the movie – and I talk about this in my review which I’ve penned but not posted yet – took it too easy on Katniss. Every character she confronts/kills is specifically set up to not be likable so the audience doesn’t turn against her. I think the film is very much about manipulation and then, in a way, the film manipulates us.
I guess I understand a lot had to be toned down so it could appeal to a broader audience, but I thought it could have been a little tougher.
Thing is, that sort of goes part and parcel with the story. She wouldn’t have been chumming up to fellow competitors during the training, right? And it’s not like any of the other players would have lived nearby that she would have known them from outside of the arena.
She did wrestle with the fact that she’d have to kill Peeta though, didn’t she?