FS #237: Milk / Australia / Top 5 Biopics We'd Like To See

Dec. 5: This week Adam and Matty break out their best polyester and bell-bottom ensembles for a march on the 1970s San Francisco Castro district with a review of "Milk," Gus Van Sant's highly anticipated cinematic biography of Harvey Milk, the country's first openly gay politician. Will Sean Penn manage to approximate the real-life Milk's unfettered joie di vive, or will the intense actor's performance leave Matty wanting less? And will "Milk" displace "Paranoid Park" as Adam's favorite Gus Van Sant movie of the year?

Then the lads set the dial on the Way Back Machine even farther and take a trip to 1940's Australia with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman in Baz Luhrmann's epic love story "Australia." Listen as Adam and Matty alienate their devoted followers in Melbourne, trotting out every obvious Australian reference they can find while debating the finer points of a shirtless Hugh Jackman, magical Aborigines, and the '80s American classic "Cocktail."

Also, in honor of "Milk," your hosts roll out the Top 5 Biopics We'd Like To See. Adam makes his pitch for "Steven," a four-hour chronicle of the life and times of Steven Soderbergh -- an upcoming guest on Filmspotting! -- while Matty counters with "Finding The Gooch," his Charlie Kaufman-esque unorthodox biography of Bob Guccione.

Music this week courtesy of The Sea and Cake.

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Filmspotting #237
:13-16:39 - Review: "Milk"
Music: The Sea and Cake, "Aerial"
17:37-21:20 - Mass. Theatre (Winner: M. Whitehead, Vancouver, WA)
21:21-24:27 - Polls
24:28-34:28 - Review: "Australia"
Music: The Sea and Cake, "a Fuller Moon"
37:06-48:27 - Feedback (Mancrushes)
Music: The Sea and Cake, "on a Letter"
49:37-55:32 - New DVDs, Donations
55:33-1:11:20 - Top 5: Biopics We'd Like To See
1:11:21-1:14:23 - Close/Next Show/Outtakes

NOTES/CORRECTIONS

- I (Adam) wasn't suggesting ugly things don't take place in "Australia" because plenty do. They just aren't depicted in an ugly way.

FS #202: Funny Games / Paranoid Park / Live Flesh / Top 5 Fourth Wall Movies

March 21: This week Adam outfits Matty in requisite black sweater and beret and forces him to enjoy an arthouse double feature. Will Matty reject Michael Haneke's ultra-violent "Funny Games" and Gus Van Sant's languid "Paranoid Park," or revel in both? Plus, the boys dabble in Verfremdungseffekt for a countdown of their Top 5 Movies That Break the Fourth Wall.

Also on the show: Listener Feedback, Massacre Theatre and the Pedro Almodóvar Marathon continues with a pregnant Penelope Cruz and a wheelchair bound Javier Bardem in 1997's "Live Flesh."

Music by The Nadas from their new album "The Ghosts Inside These Halls" courtesy of Authentic Records.

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Filmspotting #202
:35-12:33 - Review: "Funny Games"
12:34-20:08 - Review: "Paranoid Park"
Music: The Nadas, "Loser"
21:09-25:01 - Anthony Minghella, Notes, Polls
25:02-34:53 - Listener Feedback ('60s Movies)
Music: The Nadas, "Blue Lights"
36:11-39:36 - Massacre Theatre (Winner: Josh Jenkins)
39:38-46:05 - Almodóvar #2: "Live Flesh"
Music: The Nadas, "Goodnight Girl"
46:56-50:04 - New DVDs, Donations
52:37-1:02:54 - Top 5: Fourth Wall Movies
1:02:55-1:05:50 - Close/Next Show/Outtakes

NOTES/CORRECTIONS
- Lest you think my No Country-ish reading of "Funny Games" is completely nuts, check out this video interview I found with Michael Haneke discussing his original "Funny Games" -- note particularly the last 45 seconds or so. "All the rules that exist to keep society functioning are nothing to them. And faced with characters like that, you don’t stand a chance. I think that’s what is so shocking." Indeed, Mr. Haneke. Indeed.

- Check out Frederick Wiseman docs on DVD from Zipporah Films.

- Alas, no "Matty's Movie Minute" this week as Matty just couldn't squeeze in another film.

- During the '60s movies feedback it was suggested that "Shampoo" was a Warren Beatty movie. Of course, Hal Ashby directed it; however, Beatty wrote it and it has his fingerprints all over it. I still say it's a bit overrated. It was also suggested that "Shampoo" was Beatty's first movie; it wasn't.

- You can find a decent plot summary for "Live Flesh" here.