Trash, Art, And The Movies
The podcast that pits arthouse cinema against brainless entertainment—and then declares a victor.
TAATM #137: Solaris vs. Event Horizon

Paul and Erin review two films about supernatural goings-on aboard understaffed space stations. First: SOLARIS, Andrei Tarkovsky's cerebral 1972 sci-fi classic about a cosmonaut scientist who encounters a simulacrum of his dead wife while in orbit around a sentient planet; then, EVENT HORIZON, Paul W.S. Anderson's 1997 sci-fi/horror film about a team of astronauts who answer a distress call from a remote starship, only to discover that the ship is empty and possibly possessed by a malevolent force from Hell itself. Drinking liquid oxygen or gouging your eyes out with your bare hands: which will prevail?

Plus our quick takes on CINDERELLA, TV's HANNIBAL, THE KINGDOM OF DREAMS AND MADNESS, THE LAST FIVE YEARS, IT FOLLOWS, and ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: THE WIND, UNTOLD STORY OF CANNON FILMS.

Direct download: TAATM_137__Solaris_vs._Event_Horizon.mp3
Category:TV and Film -- posted at: 2:20am EDT

TAATM #136: Beyond The Lights vs. The Bodyguard

Erin and Paul review two films about female pop divas, and the men who try to protect them. First: BEYOND THE LIGHTS, Gina Prince-Bythewood's 2014 romantic drama starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw as a troubled R&B singer and Nate Parker as the handsome cop she falls in love with after he rescues her from a suicide attempt; then, THE BODYGUARD, the 1992 melodrama starring Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston, about a stoic security expert who finds himself falling in love with the Academy Award-nominated singer/actress he is hired to protect from a murderous stalker. A fight at the BET Awards, or an assassination attempt at the Oscars: which will prevail?

Plus: our quick takes on SONG OF THE SEA, THE VOICES, LOVE IS STRANGE, and THE OVERNIGHTERS.

Direct download: TAATM_136__Beyond_The_Lights_vs._The_Bodyguard.mp3
Category:TV and Film -- posted at: 1:47am EDT

TAATM #135: Quiz Show vs. The Running Man

Erin and Paul review two films about game shows—one cerebral, one physical, both of them rigged. First: QUIZ SHOW, Robert Redford's 1994 film about the quiz-show scandal of the 1950s, starring Ralph Fiennes as Charles Van Doren, whose string of victories on the program TWENTY-ONE turned out to have been engineered by the show's producers feeding him the answers; then, THE RUNNING MAN, the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle, set in a totalitarian future where the most popular show on television is a ruthless AMERICAN GLADIATORS-style competition in which convicted criminals must fight for their lives against outlandishly costumed trained killers. Soundproof isolation booths, or frictionless underground transport tubes: which will prevail?

Plus our quick takes on CHAPPIE, THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY, and WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS.

Direct download: TAATM_135__Quiz_Show_vs._The_Running_Man.mp3
Category:TV and Film -- posted at: 3:24am EDT

TAATM #134: The Defiant Ones vs. Black Mama White Mama

Paul and Erin review two films about prison escapes, racism, and unbreakable chains. First: THE DEFIANT ONES, Stanley Kramer's 1958 classic starring Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier as two escaped convicts—one an angry black man, the other a white racist—attempting to evade the authorities while shackled together at the wrist; then, BLACK MAMA WHITE MAMA, Eddie Romero's 1972 sleazefest, set on a corrupt tropical island, starring Pam Grier and Margaret Markov as two shackled-together female convicts who must put aside their mutual hatred of each other when they escape from a women's penitentiary. A special appearance by SPIDER BABY star Lon Chaney Jr., or a special appearance by SPIDER BABY star Sid Haig: which will prevail?

Plus our quick takes on STILL ALICE, FOCUS, WATERLAND, and WILD TALES.

Direct download: TAATM_134__The_Defiant_Ones_vs._Black_Mama_White_Mama.mp3
Category:TV and Film -- posted at: 1:33am EDT