Afleveringen
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CW: This episode contains discussions of alcoholism and cinematic violence including animal cruelty.
The writer, comedian and musician Patrick Marlborough returns to the podcast from Perth, WA to discuss Wake in Fright (1971), the landmark Australian film by the late Canadian director Ted Kotcheff.
One of only two films to be shown twice in the history of the Cannes Film Festival, and influential in shaping both the Australian New Wave and Ozploitation genres, Wake in Fright was acclaimed around the world but outraged local audiences with its brutal and merciless depiction of Australian toxic masculinity, violence, and alcoholism.
Patrick gives us some insight on how Wake in Fright captures some of the ugliest aspects of the Australian national character, and we discuss how Kotcheffâs Canadian-ness was an asset for his outsiderâs view of this world, the amazing supporting performance by Aussie comic screen icon Chips Rafferty in his final role, and how this great film was nearly lost forever.
Over 30% of all Junk Filter episodes are only available to patrons of the podcast. To support this show directly and to receive access to the entire back catalogue, consider becoming a patron for only $5.00 a month (U.S.) at â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â patreon.com/junkfilter
Follow Patrick Marlborough on Bluesky, and subscribe to their wonderful Substack The Yeah Nah Review.
Trailer for the new restoration of Wake in Fright (Ted Kotcheff, 1971)
Original US trailer for Wake in Fright (aka Outback)
"The Making of Wake in Fright", Peter Galvinâs extensive 3-part feature on the production, for SBS
âWake in Fright understood the horrors of Australian booze culture. 50 years on, nothingâs changedâ by Joseph Earp, for The Guardian, April 9, 2025
âAndor in the Genocideâ by Patrick Marlborough, for the literary journal Overland, April 30, 2025
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The writer and podcaster Will Sloan returns for a show about Robert De Niroâs latest film, Barry Levinsonâs The Alto Knights, where he plays two parts on screen, the mob boss Frank Costello and his hotheaded rival Vito Genovese, and their decades-long struggle for control of the New York mafia.
The Alto Knights was the pet project of Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who brought this expensive vanity production to the screen seemingly as a personal favour to the veteran screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi, a film made by elderly creatives that flopped hard at the box office on release. So why this project? And why is Robert De Niro playing both lead parts? This is what Will and I wanted to know, and so we discuss the failures of The Alto Knights along with a look at De Niroâs public persona as one of Trumpâs biggest haters and how he can still deliver as a great actor from time to time, depending on the director.
Over 30% of all Junk Filter episodes are only available to patrons of the podcast. To support this show directly and to receive access to the entire back catalogue, consider becoming a patron for only $5.00 a month (U.S.) at â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â patreon.com/junkfilter
Follow Will Sloan on Twitter and Bluesky and subscribe to his wonderful podcasts The Important Cinema Club and Michael and Us.
Willâs new book Ed Wood: Made in Hollywood USA (OR Books) can be purchased now!
Trailer for The Alto Knights (Barry Levinson, 2025)
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Access this entire 92-minute episode (and additional monthly bonus shows) by becoming a Junk Filter patron for only $5.00 (US) a month! Over 30% of episodes are exclusively available to patrons of the show. â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â https://www.patreon.com/posts/209-beekeeper-126797811
The writer and friend of the pod Adam Jackson returns for a look at the new dynamic duo of American action cinema, Jason Statham and director David Ayer, who are on a roll these days at the multiplex.
2024âs The Beekeeper was a solid hit, a ludicrous conceit milked for every drop of its potential, starring Statham as a retired secret military operative who goes back to the life when a friend is exploited by a shady phishing operation, and as he moves up the pyramid taking revenge it turns out this criminal enterprise goes all the way up to the heights of state power.
The followup, A Working Man (co-written by Sylvester Stallone!) finds Statham as Levon Cade, a former British soldier now working in construction in Chicago, who is asked to rescue the daughter of his employer from a sex trafficking ring run by the Russian Mafia.
We discuss this unique writer/director partnership, a lightning round of some of our favourite Jason Statham movies, and the many highlights from both The Beekeeper and A Working Man, action films that know what they are, deliver the goods and correctly identify the worst people in todayâs society (scam artists, crypto bros, white South African psychos and guys with Jared Leto beards).
Follow Adam Jackson on Twitter and Bluesky.
Follow Junk Filter on Bluesky too!
Trailer for The Beekeeper (David Ayer, 2024)
Trailer for A Working Man (David Ayer, 2025)
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To mark the passing of the great Gene Hackman, the writer and critic Sean T. Collins and the cartoonist and graphic novelist Julia Gfrörer are my special guests for a deep dive into one of our favourite films, Francis Ford Coppolaâs The Conversation (1974).
The Conversation was groundbreaking in terms of film editing; when Coppola was pulled away to direct The Godfather Part II, editor Walter Murch had to streamline a narrative out of an incomplete film shoot and synthesized new approaches to picture editing and sound design which he credited to studying Hackmanâs precise performance as the surveillance expert Harry Caul, a lonely middle-aged man whose Catholic guilt and past sins begins to weigh on his conscience as he obsesses over his latest spycraft job, plagued with worry over the fate of the young couple heâs recorded and what the tape will be used for by his sinister corporate client.
We discuss the autobiographical details Coppola lent to the characterization and Jungian psychoanalysis that can be applied to the content, some of our favourite moments, and how the themes of The Conversation continue to resonate with audiences over half a century later.
Follow Sean T. Collins and Julia Gfrörer on Bluesky. And support Sean and Juliaâs work on Patreon!
Julia Gfrörerâs newest collection of fiction World Within the World: Collected Minicomix & Short Works 2010-2022 (Fantagraphics) is now available.
âIâm Not Afraid of Deathâ: How Gene Hackmanâs Dream in The Conversation Mirrors Our Dark Moment, by Sean T. Collins, for Decider, February 27, 2025
âThe Making of The Conversation: An Interview with Francis Ford Coppolaâ by Brian De Palma, from Filmmakers Newsletter, 1974, reproduced by Cinephilia & Beyond
âI Spent 12 Hours a Day for 16 Months with Gene Hackman â But Never Met Himâ: by Walter Murch, for The Guardian, February 28, 2025
Trailer for The Conversation (Coppola, 1974)
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Access this entire 87-minute episode (and additional monthly bonus shows) by becoming a Junk Filter patron for only $5.00 (US) a month! Over 30% of episodes are exclusively available to patrons of the show. â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â https://www.patreon.com/posts/207-john-ford-124925337
The writer and film programmer Chris Cassingham returns to the podcast from Milwaukee to discuss one of John Fordâs greatest films, 1955âs The Long Gray Line, Fordâs only film shot in the CinemaScope format.
Starring Tyrone Power in one of his final films before his unexpected death at age 44, The Long Gray Line tells the true story of Marty Maher, a young Irish immigrant who arrived to the West Point military academy in the late 1800s and lived and worked there for 50 years, moving up from the kitchen to become a non-commissioned officer and athletic instructor and a beloved figure to generations of cadets. The film spans this half-century and the narrative evolves from a wacky comedy to a stark and tragic tale of loss, as Maher and his wife Mary (Maureen OâHara) continue to age as the continuum of young cadets come and go, some to die in combat through the two World Wars.
We talk about Fordâs innovations in the use of the then-new technology of CinemaScope, with his camera favouring the Z-axis (the depth of the widescreen image) to visually depict the theme of the film, lifeâs vanishing points, with a protagonist who slowly realizes the lack of control he has over his own life, a film certainly influential on Scorseseâs The Irishman, with Ford offering at once a tribute to West Point and a questioning of the futility of Maherâs task, a lifetime spent training young men to die for their country.
Follow Chris Cassingham on Twitter and Bluesky and subscribe to his new substack Dark Optimism.
The Long Gray Line is currently available to watch for free (with ads) and in CinemaScope on YouTube and Tubi.
Trailer for The Long Gray Line (John Ford, 1955)
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CW: Spoilers for Conclave.
The author Jacob Bacharach returns to the pod for a show about Edward Bergerâs entertaining political thriller Conclave starring Ralph Fiennes as a conflicted Cardinal who is required to preside over the selection of the new Pope, and amidst the infighting among the Cardinals, uncovers a shocking conspiracy within the halls of power in Vatican City.
To discuss the reaction to Conclave from some offended Catholics means we have to spoil the big twist, but despite this movie being practically a commercial for the virtues of The Holy See and the future of the church, many have been outraged by the filmâs âliberal agendaâ and its interpretation of Catholic dogma and we review some of the apoplectic highlights, from Megyn Kelly to Catholic film critics. We also discuss some of Our Boys in this: John Lithgowâs ambitions to be the first Canadian Pontiff, and the two Italian men who would be Pope, Sergio Castellittoâs racist, vaping Cardinal and the American liberal Stanley Tucci.
We also discuss a completely forgotten all-star religious epic that is vaguely relevant to Conclave, 1972âs Pope Joan, starring Liv Ullmann as a pious ninth-century woman who disguises herself as a man to save her life, moves up the hierarchy of the Catholic Church and is elected Pope, a medieval legend the film presents as fact.
Over 30% of all Junk Filter episodes are only available to patrons of the podcast. To support this show directly and to receive access to the entire back catalogue, consider becoming a patron for only $5.00 a month (U.S.) at â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â patreon.com/junkfilter
Follow Jacob Bacharach on Twitter and Bluesky and visit jacobbacharach.com
Trailer #1 for Conclave (Edward Berger, 2024)
Pope Joan (the shortened cut without the modern framing device) is currently available to watch for free on YouTube!
SCTV sketch âThe Man Who Would be King of the Popesâ, 1977
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Access this entire 70-minute episode (and additional monthly bonus shows) by becoming a Junk Filter patron for only $5.00 (US) a month! Over 30% of episodes are exclusively available to patrons of the show. â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â https://www.patreon.com/posts/205-woman-in-2-123622191
In part two of our discussion about Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Jessica and I discuss Jane Campionâs 2003 âerotic thrillerâ In the Cut, savaged by critics on release for its graphic portrayal of a womanâs complex sexual desires in a dangerous New York City, also based on a best-selling novel.
Itâs possible that In the Cut is Campionâs response to Mr. Goodbar, only directly from a womanâs perspective, and we talk about the sexist cruelty Meg Ryan was subjected to in the press for playing this role, and what Campion has to say about a womanâs sexuality amidst the violence of the patriarchy, and its implication of the NYPD as part of the problem, especially bold for a movie made in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
We also discuss a fun TV movie that acts as a bridge between Mr. Goodbar and In the Cut, 1982âs Hotline, starring Lynda Carter as a young woman working at a crisis call center who finds herself playing a dangerous cat-and-mouse game with a serial killer, in a film that continually threatens to tip over into a TVM Giallo.
Follow Jessica Ritchey on Bluesky, and support her work on Patreon.
Hotline (Jerry Jameson, 1982) is available to watch for free on YouTube.
Trailer for In the Cut (Jane Campion, 2003)
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CW: This episode contains spoilers and discussions of cinematic sexual violence.
The film writer Jessica Ritchey returns to the show for a two-part series about two controversial films about a womanâs complex sexuality, films that took a couple of decades to be rediscovered and better understood.
In part one we discuss Richard Brooksâ 1977 drama Looking for Mr. Goodbar starring Diane Keaton, based on the popular seventies bestseller by Judith Rossner, based on the true story of a New York City schoolteacher who was murdered by a man she picked up at a singles bar. Mr. Goodbar was a major hit for Paramount upon release, but a few weeks later it was overshadowed by another Paramount release with an even bigger cultural impact and hit soundtrack, Saturday Night Fever.
Mr. Goodbar has been hard to see properly for decades due to its reputation as a misogynist, depressing film and the extremely expensive licensing costs for its disco soundtrack, until the end of 2024 when Vinegar Syndrome unexpectedly released a limited-edition restoration. Jessica and I dig into the thorny and complex issues this film presents about a womanâs sexuality, partly due to Richard Brooksâ determination to tell a more empathetic story than the more punishing tone of Rossnerâs novel (she was angered by the adaptation). Brooks may not have been the ideal person to make this film being two generations removed from the subject but nevertheless his film contains an interesting and useful critique of the patriarchy, using his understanding of New Hollywood techniques.
Jessica and I also discuss the filmâs use of music, Diane Keatonâs tremendous performance as Theresa Dunn, the depiction of all the terrible men in her life, and our responses to the shocking conclusion of the film.
Part two of this discussion is exclusive to the Patreon feed: more about Mr. Goodbar, contrasted against a controversial 2003 film that could be seen as a feminist response to it, Jane Campionâs In the Cut, and a 1982 TV movie about a woman in danger that echoes some of these themes, Hotline starring Lynda Carter.
To support this show directly and to receive access to the entire back catalogue, consider becoming a patron for only $5.00 a month (U.S.) at â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â patreon.com/junkfilter
Follow Jessica Ritchey on Bluesky, and support her work on Patreon.
The limited edition Vinegar Syndrome release of Looking for Mr. Goodbar can be purchased here.
âGoodnight Theresaâ, a YouTube playlist Jessica and I cooked up of disco songs that came out too late to be included on the Goodbar soundtrack but would have fit right in.
Trailer for Looking for Mr. Goodbar (Richard Brooks, 1977)
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Gus Lanzetta returns to the podcast from SĂŁo Paulo to discuss two films by the Brazilian director Walter Salles: 1998âs Central Station, starring Fernanda Montenegro, and his latest, Ainda Estou Aqui (Iâm Still Here) starring Montenegroâs daughter Fernanda Torres, both Academy Award-nominated for their respective performances.
In Central Station Fernanda Montenegro gave one of the greatest screen performances of the 20th Century as Dora, a retired schoolteacher running a scam writing letters for illiterate people at Rioâs train station who winds up rescuing an orphaned boy and transporting him to the far reaches of the country to try and reunite him with his long-lost father, in a film that reaches an overwhelming emotional power.
Fernanda Torres received universal acclaim in Sallesâ latest film as Eunice Palva, the wife of a former leftist congressman in Rio before the coup d'Ă©tat. When he is disappeared by the secret police and she is also interrogated for weeks by the state, their happy domestic life is shattered and Eunice devotes the rest of her life to social justice work and getting the state to finally admit what they did to her husband, refusing to give in to the fear, in a film that Torres has described as a ânational therapy sessionâ for a country that would wish to ignore this period in their history.
Gus and I talk about these two acting dynamos, the Tropicalia movement, Burt Lancaster, Bugs Bunny, MF DOOM, crying at the movies, and our hopes that Brazil finally wins the first Oscar for their cinema. Is it coming home?
Over 30% of all Junk Filter episodes are only available to patrons of the podcast. To support this show directly and to receive access to the entire back catalogue, consider becoming a patron for only $5.00 a month (U.S.) at â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â patreon.com/junkfilter
Follow Gus Lanzetta on Bluesky.
Listen to Gusâ podcast project that is relevant to the topic of the Brazilian dictatorship, Um EspiĂŁo Silenciado (A Silenced Spy, in Portuguese)
âFernanda Torres Has Already Wonâ by Seth Abramovitch, for The Hollywood Reporter, February 15, 2025
French trailer for Central Station (Walter Salles, 1998)
Brazilian trailer for Ainda Estou Aqui (Walter Salles, 2024)
International trailer for Iâm Still Here (Walter Salles, 2024)
âMinha Genteâ (My People), Erasmo Carlos, 1972
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CW: This episode discusses cinematic sexual violence.
Violet Lucca, the author of the new monograph David Cronenberg: Clinical Trials, returns to the podcast from Brooklyn to discuss the book and his controversial 1991 adaptation of William S. Burroughsâ Naked Lunch starring Peter Weller and Judy Davis, filmed in Toronto standing in for 50s New York and Morocco, recreated by Cronenbergâs longtime production designer Carol Spier in a former General Electric plant in Torontoâs west end.
We discuss Cronenbergâs lifelong connection to Canadian cinema and the city of Toronto with digressions on Videodrome, The Dead Zone and The Fly before grappling with Naked Lunch, which is less of a literal film version of the novel and more a meditation about the life of Burroughs and what it is to be an artist in general. We also discuss Cronenbergâs cinematic explorations of paranoia and conspiracy theories, and his relationship to the queer artistic community in Canada reflected across his career, even if heâs always identified himself as a heterosexual man.
And we (briefly) contrast Naked Lunch with the new Burroughs cinematic adaptation, Luca Guadagninoâs Queer starring Daniel Craig, which we feel misses the boat on how to adapt Burroughs for the screen.
Over 30% of all Junk Filter episodes are only available to patrons of the podcast. To support this show directly and to receive access to the entire back catalogue, consider becoming a patron for only $5.00 a month (U.S.) at â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â patreon.com/junkfilter
Follow Violet Lucca on Bluesky.
David Cronenberg: Clinical Trials, by Violet Lucca (Abrams Books) is now available!
City TV commercial for their public service program âToronto the Goodâ (1975)
Universal Pictures' studio trailer for Videodrome (Cronenberg, 1983)
Trailer for The Dead Zone (Cronenberg, 1983)
Trailer for Naked Lunch (Cronenberg, 1991)
Trailer for Queer (Guadagnino, 2024)
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Access this entire 70-minute episode (and additional monthly bonus shows) by becoming a Junk Filter patron for only $5.00 (US) a month! Over 30% of episodes are exclusively available to patrons of the show. â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â https://www.patreon.com/posts/201-michael-mann-122785625
James Slaymaker, the author of Time is Luck: The Cinema of Michael Mann, returns to the podcast for a show about Mannâs much-maligned 2015 techno-thriller starring Chris Hemsworth as a blackhat hacker named Hathaway, granted release from prison by the FBI in a secret mission between American and Chinese police to track down the leader of an international cybercrime terror organization that is remotely manipulating the stock market to cause global chaos.
Blackhat was a financial failure upon release that resulted in an eight year break between Mannâs feature film works. James and I discuss the directorâs cut of the film (recently released on video) which addresses some of the theatrical cutâs issues and James makes a case for the film as a misunderstood work that anticipated some of the next decadeâs concerns with technology and the real world consequences of living in a surveillance state, as Mann continues to explore the possibilities of digital cinema.
Follow James Slaymaker on Twitter.
Jamesâ book Time is Luck: The Cinema of Michael Mann, is now available in paperback and Kindle.
Trailer #1 for Blackhat (Michael Mann, 2015)
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Roxana Hadadi, film and tv critic for Vulture and New York magazine returns to the pod for another episode about Tony Gilroy, this time looking at his screenplay for Taylor Hackfordâs kidnapping thriller from the year 2000,Proof of Life, starring top-billed Meg Ryan and the ascendant superstar Russell Crowe.
Crowe plays Terry Thorne, an Australian K&R (Kidnap & Ransom) consultant sent down to the fictional South American Republic of Tecala to negotiate the release of an American oil company engineer (David Morse) held hostage by anti-government forces in the Andes mountains, who finds himself falling for Morseâs distraught wife Meg Ryan.Proof of Life is best remembered today as the movie where Crowe and Ryan had an affair on location which doomed the movie to tabloid gossip; she was blamed for the end of her marriage to Dennis Quaid, and then for the financial failure of the film, leading to her decline as an A-list star.
Proof of Life feels like a laboratory for some of Tony Gilroyâs future works (for instance Croweâs character is based on a real life Australian hostage negotiator named Thomas Clayton!); viewing it through aMichael Clayton lens reveals a film that might have been better were it not for the nervousness of the studio that led them to play down the chemistry between the leads and the filmâs critique of co-operation between unethical corporations and corrupt governments in the Global South. Itâs a great example of the âFive-Star Three-Star Movieâ which time sometimes helps to reveal.
Over 30% of all Junk Filter episodes are only available to patrons of the podcast. To support this show directly and to receive access to the entire back catalogue, consider becoming a patron for only $5.00 a month (U.S.) at â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â patreon.com/junkfilter
Junk Filter is on Bluesky now!
Follow Roxana Hadadi on Twitter and Bluesky.
Trailer forProof of Life (Taylor Hackford, 2000)
âAdventures in the Ransom Tradeâ, by William Prochnau, for Vanity Fair, the main source material for Tony Gilroyâs screenplay, April 1998
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Access this entire 92-minute episode (and additional monthly bonus shows) by becoming a Junk Filter patron for only $5.00 (US) a month! Over 30% of episodes are exclusively available to patrons of the show. â â â â â â â â â â â â â â https://www.patreon.com/posts/199-mcu-munich-2-121674522
In part two of our look at Munich, Corey Atad and I continue to discuss Spielbergâs masterpiece, and expand our discussion to other works that stem from the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, including more on the 1986 Canadian TV movie Sword of Gideon, Kevin Macdonaldâs Oscar-winning documentary from 1999 One Day in September and the effective new German docudrama starring Peter Sarsgaard, September 5, a detailed recreation of the hostage crisis from the perspective of the ABC Sports team there to cover the games who suddenly found themselves covering the terror attack as a live event for a worldwide audience, forcing the media to grapple in real time with the ethics of reporting on terrorism and how Black September and the West German police could also adapt their tactics to weaponize this live coverage, in this case with tragic consequences. The medium is the message, you could sayâŠ.
Follow Corey Atad on Twitter and visit coreyatad.com
Trailer for September 5 (Tim Fehlbaum, 2024)
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CW: This episode discusses cinematic sexual violence.
The film writer Corey Atad returns to the pod for a two-parter on Steven Spielbergâs 2005 masterpiece Munich, which turns 20 years old this year and yet has barely aged a day.
Spielberg starts the film with Black Septemberâs terror attack on the Israeli team at the 1972 Munich Olympics and then follows a secret team of Israelis dispatched by their government to hunt down and kill 11 Palestinians around Europe said to have played a role in the massacre. But as their violent mission continues, Avner (Eric Bana) and his team start to doubt the nobility of their task as the compounding violence they commit corrodes their souls.
In this first episode, Corey and I discuss Spielberg as a master filmmaker at the height of his powers, the brilliant, clear-eyed screenplay by Tony Kushner and how a film understood to be a comment on the 9/11 attacks when first released can be seen better now as a film about the harsh truths of the Israel/Palestine conflict and the futility of fighting terrorism with counter-terrorism.
We contrast this look at Munich with another adaptation of the source material, the forgotten 1986 Canadian TV movie Sword of Gideon based on George Jonasâ 1984 non-fiction book Vengeance, a more openly Zionist interpretation of the text. And we discuss some of our favourite parts of Munich including the notorious sex scene!
Part two of this discussion is available on the Patreon feed: more about Munich and Sword of Gideon, the documentary One Day In September and an extended discussion of the new film about the Munich Olympics massacre, September 5.
Consider becoming a patron of the podcast to access this and dozens of exclusive bonus episodes for only $5 (US) a month! patreon.com/junkfilter
Follow Corey Atad on Twitter and visit coreyatad.com
Extended international trailer for Munich (Spielberg, 2005)
Commercial for Sword of Gideon (Michael Anderson, 1986)
A breakdown of one of the complex camera movements in Munich.
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The hosts of the left politics and film podcast Pod Casty For Me, Jake Serwin and Ian Rhine, return to Junk Filter for a supersized episode about Christian Gudegastâs Den of Thieves films, starring the new King of January movies Gerard Butler in his greatest role as debauched cop Big Nick OâBrien of the Los Angeles County Sheriffâs Department.
The first Den of Thieves features a cat and mouse plot where Big Nick leads his team of dirty cops against a heist crew planning to rob the Federal Reserve in LA, using their informant Donnie played by OâShea Jackson Jr., a film that had ardent defenders including the German director Christian Petzold who raised eyebrows when he placed it on his list of the best films of the decade.
Coming seven years later, the sequel Pantera takes the story to Europe, where Big Nick tracks Donnie down in the French Riviera as he and his new European gang are planning a complex heist of the World Diamond Center, forcing his way into the crew.
We discuss the evolution of the series, how the sequel doubles down on the Dudes Rock qualities of the first film, and reveals how smart this dumb guy series actually is, with all the things it has to say about gang culture in the LA Police, toxic masculinity, and the healing powers of a summer in Europe with your boys as Den of Thieves evolves into an actual action franchise. If the first one feels like a variation on Michael Mann, the second one evokes Rififi, Ronin, Tenet, Clint Eastwoodâs The 15:17 to Paris and most unexpectedly Richard Linklaterâs Before series.
Plus: we discovered there are two cuts of Pantera in circulation and we discuss their differences.
Over 30% of all Junk Filter episodes are only available to patrons of the podcast. To support this show directly and to receive access to the entire back catalogue, consider becoming a patron for only $5.00 a month (U.S.) at â â â â â â â â â â â â â â patreon.com/junkfilter
Follow Pod Casty For Me on Twitter, and you can find out more about the show and subscribe to their Patreon feed at their website.
âA Tradition of Violence: The History of Deputy Gangs in the Los Angeles County Sheriffâs Departmentâ reported by Cerise Castle for Knock LA, March 2021
Final trailer for Den of Thieves (Gudegast, 2018)
First trailer for Den of Thieves 2: Pantera (Gudegast, 2025)
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Access this entire 87-minute episode (and additional monthly bonus shows) by becoming a Junk Filter patron for only $5.00 (US) a month! Over 30% of episodes are exclusively available to patrons of the show. â â â â â â â â â â â https://www.patreon.com/posts/196-complete-119875574
Jared Bailey (aka Twitterâs @Stolendans) returns to the podcast from Columbia South Carolina for a show about James Mangoldâs A Complete Unknown, starring TimothĂ©e Chalamet as the young Bob Dylan, and Edward Norton as Pete Seeger.
Choosing to portray the rise of Bob Dylan as a mainstream Music 101 period piece may have been a commercial choice that has rubbed some true Dylan Heads the wrong way, but the director has at least made an entertaining prestige picture that looks and feels right with Chalamet up to the challenge of playing a difficult part.
We discuss how this film retools the actual history for the sake of Hollywood conventions, how Mangold chooses to portray the women in Dylanâs life and the filmâs cautious treatment of any political content, keeping things vague enough that itâs been left open to interpretation; in some conservative circles they think the film is really about Dylan the individual artist taking on the Marxist folk music scene, portrayed here as The Establishment.
Plus: Jared and I discuss Bob Dylan, the pioneer of singing with a funny voice (a big influence on Paul McCartney, we think) and dreamcast some future Dylan biopics!
Follow Jared Bailey on Twitter and Bluesky.
Trailer for A Complete Unknown (James Mangold, 2024)
The Highwaymen on the New Zealand talk show Holmes, 1991
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The writer and friend of the pod Adam Jackson returns for a show about what has turned out to be the finale of Sonyâs "Spider-Man Movies Without Spider-Man In Them Cinematic Universe", Kraven the Hunter, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Russell Crowe.
Directed by J.C. Chandor (Margin Call, All Is Lost), Kraven was originally set for release in January 2023 but after guild strikes, reshoots and several schedule changes was finally released at the end of 2024, and on the eve of its debut Sony announced they were wrapping up this attempt to make standalone origin stories of Spider-Man villains like Venom, Morbius and Madame Web, which led to Kraven having the weakest series opening yet. But Adam and I were surprised at how much fun we had watching it, full of good actors delivering ludicrous performances, with the added hilarity of this âorigin storyâ being a dead-end for the âfranchiseâ.
Plus: Adam provides us with a year in review of the comic book movie, which would have been the weakest one in history were it not for the massive success of Deadpool & Wolverine, and we talk about what weâre looking forward to in 2025.
Over 30% of all Junk Filter episodes are only available to patrons of the podcast. To support this show directly and to receive access to the entire back catalogue, consider becoming a patron for only $5.00 a month (U.S.) at â â â â â â â â â â â â â patreon.com/junkfilter
Follow Adam Jackson on Twitter and Bluesky.
First Red Band trailer for Kraven the Hunter (J.C. Chandor, 2024)
âReverse Psychologyâ commercial for the 2020 Russell Crowe thriller Unhinged, calling us back to the cinema
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Access this entire 68-minute episode (and additional monthly bonus shows) by becoming a Junk Filter patron for only $5.00 (US) a month! Over 30% of episodes are exclusively available to patrons of the show. â â â â â â â https://www.patreon.com/posts/194-die-harder-118608075
In part two of our discussion of the Die Hard series, Brian Abrams, the author of Die Hard: An Oral History and I go over the sequels to John McTiernanâs 1988 masterpiece.
We make a case for Renny Harlinâs Die Hard 2 (1990) as the platonic ideal of a blockbuster sequel - a bigger, dumber version of the original with a great supporting cast which delivers on the formula and also serves as a better âChristmas movieâ than the first one to boot.
We itemize our issues with McTiernanâs return to the franchise with Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), and trash the final two films in the series, Len Wisemanâs Live Free or Die Hard (2007) and John Mooreâs rock-bottom final entry, 2013âs A Good Day to Die Hard, inexplicably set in Russia.
Follow Brian Abrams on Letterboxd and check out his website.
âDie Hard: An Oral Historyâ by Brian Abrams is available to download as a Kindle Single
"Robert Costanzo, the Essential Worker", by Brian Abrams, for Lowbrow Reader, 2022
âDie Hard is Backâ: Bruce Willisâ final performance as John McClane in a 2020 battery commercial
Music video for âLooking Down the Barrel of a Gunâ, The Beastie Boys
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The writer Brian Abrams returns to the show from Brooklyn for the first of two episodes on the Die Hard series.
In part one, Brian, the author of Die Hard: An Oral History, gives us the details on the genesis of the franchise, which perfected a formula for action comedy films that producers Joel Silver and Lawrence Gordon had been developing through the eighties with 48 Hrs, Commando and Predator and instantly converted Moonlightingâs Bruce Willis into a legit movie star.
Brian spoke to dozens of members of the Die Hard creative team for his oral history and we discuss the filmâs major players, the genre innovations, its politics, and the recipe for what makes a good Die Hard movie. And I force Brian to explain the Bill Clay scene; what tipped John McClane off that Clay was Hans Gruber?
Part two of our discussion, on the other four films in the Die Hard series, is available on the Patreon feed.
Over 30% of all Junk Filter episodes are only available to patrons of the podcast. To support this show directly and to receive access to the entire back catalogue, consider becoming a patron for only $5.00 a month (U.S.) at â â â â â â â â â â â â patreon.com/junkfilter
Happy Holidays from Junk Filter!
Follow Brian Abrams on Letterboxd and check out his website.
âDie Hard: An Oral Historyâ by Brian Abrams is available to download as a Kindle Single.
Trailer for Die Hard (John McTiernan, 1988)
Canadian Labatt Ice Beer commercial featuring Alexander Gudenov, 1993
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CW: This episode discusses cinematic sexual violence.
Aaron and Carlee from the Hit Factory podcast return from San Francisco to discuss one of Anthony Mannâs best films, the psychological western Man of the West, starring Gary Cooper in one of his final performances as a former outlaw who has worked to get away from his sordid past and rebuild his life, only to find himself by circumstance back in league with the very âfamilyâ of killers who raised him, in a classic film noir scenario transposed to the Western genre.
Jean-Luc Godard hailed Man of the West as the best film of 1958 and in this episode we discuss the psycho-sexual complexities of this western and how it pointed the way to the future of American cinema including the horror genre, how like Michael Mannâs Manhunter it implicates the audience by depicting an âaudienceâ within the movie forced to watch sexually-charged violence unfold, and the modernity of the performances by Lee J. Cobb as the crazed paterfamilias of the killers and the singer Julie London as the âsaloon singerâ held hostage by the gang. We also discuss what this film has to say about violence as the substance that forged Western expansion and which, as weâve seen in the wake of Donald Trumpâs re-election, still courses through the American bloodstream today.
Over 30% of all Junk Filter episodes are only available to patrons of the podcast. To support this show directly and to receive access to the entire back catalogue, consider becoming a patron for only $5.00 a month (U.S.) at â â â â â â â â â â â patreon.com/junkfilter
Follow Aaron and Carlee on Twitter, and support the Hit Factory Patreon.
Julie Londonâs title theme for Man of the West, un-used in the film itself
Trailer for Man of the West (Anthony Mann, 1958)
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