Afleveringen
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The lads get all aughty with Roger Spotiswoode’s charming and unthreatening Ripley, Underground, where Tom Ripley is a glib opportunist instead of the darker, unpredictable Ripleys. The result is an entertaining romp that feels a little like going to a Bare Naked Ladies show: you probably won’t go again but it was fun while it lasted. It’s a welcome addition to the Ripley Cinematic Universe, bringing back an air of fantasy to Highsmith’s invention.
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UCLA professor Peter Lunenfeld joins us to talk about Robert Altman's neo-noir based on Raymond Chandler's novel. Some reviewers call the film "satirical" but we argue, it's more a riff than a satire. It treats the source material lovingly, even as it updates it to match the 70's zeitgeist. Our guest Peter argues that the elusive Courry Brand cat food is a metaphor for the film, something that is labelled one way, but containing the unexpected.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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The American Friend is loosely based on Patricia Highsmith’s third Tom Ripley novel Ripley’s Game. But Wim Wenders plays fast and loose with the source material, borrowing elements of another novel Ripley Underground and referencing Easy Rider, Rebel Without a Cause, and other cinematic forebears. The visuals are beautiful, and even if the plot is a bit puzzling, the lads find the mood of the film compelling.
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Chris and Jesse charge into our next group of works, Ripley en Filmes, beginning with René Clement's visually stunning 1960 film Plein Soleil, an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley. Clement casts Alain Dumont as Tom Ripley, Maurice Ronet as Philippe (a renamed Dickie Greenleaf), and Marie Laforêt as Marge. Clement makes some major divergences from Highsmith's plot in some places while hewing closely to it in others, leading to an interesting discussion about directors' responsibility to their source material. The lads are both thirsty for Alain Dumont, but does the plot rise to the level of the film's metaphorical weight?
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Our favorite education researcher joins us to talk about Ted Chiang’s collection Exhalation, which includes the story “The Life Cycle of Software Objects” which Chris read from in our earlier Robot Friends show. We discuss several stories in the collection, and marvel at Chiang’s ability to surface the BIG questions by tugging at a small speculation about what our future might hold.
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The Lads finish out James S.A. Corey's 2011 novel Leviathan Wakes, a huge success that powered The Expanse, the SyFy and then Amazon Prime space opera. Bagg and Dukes talk about whether or not you can marry noir and space opera effectively, how important the first sentence of a book can be, and whether or not the novel rises to the level of its ambition. Both of the boys prefer Detective Miller's chapters, but understand that, in novels such as these, your main character (James Holden, in this case) might need a little more curb appeal than the characters one deploys to explore...existential questions.
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Leviathan Wakes is cracking good solar system space opera, combined with very strong elements of noir. The lads think that at moments, the prose is reminiscent of Raymond Chandler’s lyrical voice, but wonder if there’s a little too much action for the noir themes to land.
Show Notes
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The lads continue to admire China Miéville's genius premise for this novel, but will the second half of the book escape the issues we've seen in the noir and noir-adjacent works the UMBers have read? As Inspector Borlu closes in on the answer to this spiraling whodunit, the boys discuss the choices Miéville makes and whether or not they are to our taste—we're curious to know what YOU think once you've finished the book, too.
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We invite podcast buddy Leah Jones from Finding Favorites to follow up on a recommendation she made to Dukes last year: to watch the film M3gan. We thought it would be fun to talk about films and books with robot friends (and enemies) more broadly, and we each make a recommendation. Since we don’t yet have actual robot friends (although according to Silicon Valley, they’ll be here soon) what are we really talking about when we tell stories about robots? Loyal servants? Monsters? Children? We discuss examples of each, and contemplate what makes a good story with robots.
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The City and the City has a wholly original premise, and the pleasure of the book comes from the dawning realization of exactly what is going on between the two adjacent cities, Besźel and Ul Quma. China Mieville dribbles out occasional hints and clues, raising the question of whether the book is a murder mystery, or whether, like the characters in the book, it operates in two places at the same time.
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The boys hop to it, chum, and talk about Dashiell Hammett's 1929 debut novel Red Harvest. While the socialist connotations of the title never truly materialize ("Communism was a red herring"), leaving the lads scratching their heads, Hammett definitely crafted a new sound and a new genre. Jesse and Chris find the jaunty dialogue compelling, but both speculate as to why audiences of this period seemed to just love lots and lots and lots of plot.
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Dukes and Bagg were both a little disappointed with how LONG the second half of The Long Goodbye is, with a rather Byzantine and confusing series of plot machinations that only slightly support the ending. But, as Bagg says, “the craft creeps in” as Chandler continues to write lyrical and insightful passages. Dukes enjoyed the ending, which feels coherent and profound. And even though Marlowe refers to “A Thousand Crimes”, (and describes many of them), we struggle to articulate THE crime that drives this particular story.
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The lads kick off this series of Chris' called "Relativistic Noir" with Raymond Chandler's remarkable 1959 The Long Goodbye. Both Chris and Jesse are rendered somewhat slack-jawed at the sheer audacity—and skill—of the prose and of Chandler's ability to build a world so stylized while still remaining plausible. They wonder, though, if maybe there aren't just a few too many similar cops, and couldn't this have used maybe one more editorial pass? The plot is, at points, as ponderous as the sentences are lively.
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Gary Shteyngart’s overtly Chekhovian novel ends in a distinctly non–Chekhovian manner, with hope. However, the hope is dearly earned, as one of the country friends sadly does not survive the second half of the book. The lads wonder if Act Four is a bit padded, and sort out the layers of satire in which Shteyngart wraps what is at heart, a tender story of love, friendship, and forgiveness.
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With a small but loyal Zoom audience, Dukes and Bagg propose TWELVE new series, and pick five, including a LISTENER'S CHOICE series. Throughout, they kibbitz, lobby, and respond to chatted questions from the audience. (For people who don't like drama, you can find the list of future works here.)
Also, be sure to check out the lads' guest appearance on Big Campaign Stories. -
Gary Schteyngart’s 2021 pandemic novel is overtly Chekhovian, and the lads love it. A group of friends and family gather in the Hudson valley during the 2020 pandemic leading to betrayals, love triangles, secrets, lies, but also some joy and camaraderie. We discuss how Schteyngart’s precise portrayal of his characters’ inner lives, and marvel at moments of satirically brilliant prose.
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Bagg and Dukes watch Louis Malle's wild 1994 film that takes, as its subject, a rehearsal of Andre Gregory's..."performance" of Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya. If that sounds convoluted, it is. Gregory and an amazing cast (Julianne Moore, Wallace Shawn, Larry Pine and more) rehearsed the play in a dilapidated theater, inviting a few guests each night to watch what they were working on. Malle's film shoots an entire performance/rehearsal, nesting the theatrical performance in his own film. Yikes.
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Anton Chekhov's 1897 play is in many ways even more minimalistic and sad than The Cherry Orchard. Dukes once again struggles to imagine the three dimensions of the story, while recognizing the almost documentary realism of the drama. Bagg finds the pathos of characters struggling for transcendence in the wrong direction heartbreakingly real.
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UMB Theater presents Dr. Dukesimov and his old friend Baggya, commiserating about dreary life, and looking forward to the Upper Middlebrow LIVE Draft. That's coming October 10th, at 5pm PDT, and there will be door prizes and a chance to vote on a new Upper Middlebrow series. Watch this space!
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The National Theatre production glimmers with an excellent cast, including Zoe Wanamaker and Conleth Hill. Dukes finds that the performances and the direction/translation choices help raise the stakes and steepen the conflict. He wonders if there’s a kind of “oral history” or collective theatrical knowledge of Chekhov that aids live productions, and Bagg suggests that Chekhov’s genius lies in creating a scaffold which great directors and actors flesh out (while acknowledging that having an oral history of prior productions helps A LOT).
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