Wednesday, November 18, 2015

F This Movie! - Escape from New York

Patrick and JB are A-number one.



Download this episode here. (64.5 MB)

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Also discussed this episode: Bone Tomahawk (2015), Sicario (2015), Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015), Mistress America (2015), Goodfellas (1990)

18 comments:

  1. *clapping wildly*
    BRAVO, F THIS MOVIE!
    *hands fall off*

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  2. Patrick mentioned all of the movies that ripped off/borrowed from Escape from New York. Sure would love to see that list...so I can make myself a little escape from -wherever- movie marathon.

    Anyone have any suggestions?

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    1. The ones I mentioned are a good place to start: 1990: Bronx Warriors, Escape from the Bronx, Doomsday and Lockout.

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  3. Thoroughly entertaining discussion. Patrick and JB have the easy rapport of say.... Kurt Russell and John Carpenter.

    Since you mentioned Carpenter Commentaries, the one on the Scream Factory release of They Live with Carpenter and the late great Roddy Piper is mind-blowing for a multitude of reasons. Highly recommended.

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  4. JB don't apologize for your tangents. I love hearing your perspective and hearing you recall your experiences from when older films such at this one were new.

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  5. Great episode on one of my favorites. Few quick points and some SPOILERS to follow:

    Since you were wondering what was on the tape: Hauk's comments suggest the tape describes a process for some form of nuclear fusion as an energy source (or possibly a weapon), probably intended to end the war that's vaguely hinted at. By destroying the tape, the implication is that Plissken has ensured the war will continue and possibly escalate. While we see by Escape From L.A. that nuclear war hasn't actually happened, when first viewing the film in the 80s, there was the hint that could be the eventual outcome. Snake remains consistent when it comes to screwing up the state of the planet.

    And that ties into something I really enjoy about Snake's character: the fact that while it isn't really put under a spotlight in the movie, he does have an arc, or more accurately, a circle. He starts the film not giving a shit about anyone or the world at large, as Hauk points out. We even get that moment of him apathetically passing by and doing absolutely nothing as a female inmate is being assaulted. I doubt we'd ever see that in a mainstream movie released now.

    Yet over the course of the film, we see him starting to develop some concern for the people he travels with. Even though he's fighting the clock, he stops to check if Cabby is alive after their crash and to try to get Maggie, for whom he seems to feel a genuine respect, to come with them. And there's of course his final question to the president regarding their deaths. The president's callous answer and the loss of his companions sets Snake back to zero; he's returned to not caring about anyone and expresses it by showing his disdain for cassette tape technology.

    I also have to mention the one character you didn't bring up: Romero, the Duke's bizarre henchman with the Eraserhead bouffant. I get the strong sense that Carpenter just sort of turned Frank Doubleday loose on the character and the results are amazing.

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  6. Pretty surprised JB didn't like Mistress America either. I guess you have to set your sensibilities to early screwball comedies and Ernst Lubitsch films - especially the whole sequence at the house.

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  7. Great episode. I told JB earlier that he has "ruined my life" because every time I listen to these podcasts my viewing list gets longer and I simply do not have the time to watch everything; unless, of course, I quit my job and neglect my kids, my wife and personal hygiene.

    I loved this movie when it came out. Despite the R-rating, I ended up seeing it in the theater when I was 13 years old. I had already seen Halloween and the Fog but this one was different for me. An avid Star Wars fan at the time, Snake Plisskin seemed a more badass hero than Han Solo every was. Perhaps I just felt more "adult" watching it. I remember wanting an eye-patch because eye-patches were suddenly cool.

    I haven't seen it since the 80s when it came out on VHS. So that was my plan this weekend: to re-watch Escape from New York and, for good measure, add the Fog and the Thing to the list as well. However, the only film I could find is the Fog. So that will have to do. For tonight, anyway.

    Thanks once again, guys.

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  8. Dear gents,

    There were things said in this episode that really bothered me. So let me get this right: The flashy camera work in Goodfellas is good because you like the movie. The flashy camera work in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is "up its own ass" and "pointless" because you don't like the main character. Is that correct?

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    1. I would argue the camera work in Goodfellas is there to reflect a particular lifestyle and state of mind, while the camera work in Me and Earl doesn't reflect anything about the characters or their experiences. The stylization serves no thematic purpose as it does in Goodfellas. But hey, sorry if what we said bothered you.

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    2. Does anyone seriously have a negative opinion on the camera work in Goodfellas?

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    3. I would argue the camera work in Me and Earl reflects the characters lifestyle and state of mind as well. They are two kids obsessed with movies, so of course that's how they would see the world. The story is told from the perspective of a narrator who lives and breathes cinema. Ever since I was a kid, I saw my daily life in camera angles and steadicam moves. Everything was a movie to me. I guess that's why I (and several other movie lovers) felt such a personal connection with the movie. Don't get me wrong, Patrick. I love this podcast and I love Goodfellas. It just bothers me when a movie and its style are dismissed because people don't like specific character moments or decisions. Aside from relating to it personally, I also just found Me and Earl to be very entertaining, as did my sister who knows nothing about directors or the art of cinema.

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  9. Really great discussion, as always. I watched this for the first time in Junesploitation, and it is every bit as fantastic as I hoped. So it was really imteresting to hear more about the movie and discussion of it. Oh and Kurt is the man.

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  10. My favorite moment from this episode was when Patrick mentioned that his favorite character in a movie was Marge Gunderson from Fargo. When I heard him say that it was like, 'I'm not the only one!' I've been saying that that same exact thing to people for years. I've showed Fargo to pretty much everyone close to me in my life and none of them seem to get what's so great about it. It's Marge 'Son of a' Gunderson guys!! Glad to know that I'm not alone on this one, she's my favorite part of Fargo and my favorite character in any movie.

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