FS #283: The Road / Dancer in the Dark / Top 5 DVDs of 2009

Dec. 4: This week on Filmspotting, Adam and Matty try to avoid roving bands of cannibals as they travel down director John Hillcoat’s well-worn, post-apocalyptic "The Road," starring Viggo Mortensen as the father of the millennia -- a man determined to keep his young son off an unwashed Garret Dillahunt’s barbecue at any and all costs. Then, the Filmspotting Cannes Palme d’Or Marathon trips the light fantastic with Bjork in Lars Von Trier’s "Dancer in the Dark," an uplifting musical about a young woman with a degenerative eye condition that will soon leave her blind and caught up in a terrible crime that may result in the loss of her life. Yeah, basically a modern retelling of a "The King and I." To close out the show, the lads welcome in the great Mike Spring from DVD Snapshot to help them list their Top 5 DVDs of 2009 (or as it’s better known around Filmspotting studios, The List that Got Matty Kicked Out of Macy’s Santa Wonderland).

Also on the show: Music by Colin Hay and Massacre Theatre -- presented by Pixar Talk. This week's winner will get the Pixar DVD of their choice.


Filmspotting #283
:13-17:47 - Review: "The Road"
Music: Colin Hay, "I Can't Get Up Out of This Bed"
18:46-24:20 - Massacre Theatre (Winner: M. Foote)
24:21-28:53 - Notes / Polls
28:54-43:26 - Cannes #4: "Dancer in the Dark"
Music: Colin Hay, "Oh California"
44:13-55:18 - New DVDs / Donations
55:19-1:17:09 - Top 5: DVDs of 2009
1:17:10-1:19:54 - Close / Next Show / Outtakes

NOTES

- Check out Filmspotting's new iPhone app here!

- Matty should have referred to Selma's native country in "Dancer in the Dark" as Czechoslovakia. The country didn't split until 1993.

- Jeff Goldsmith's Creative Screenwriting Podcast can be accessed through iTunes here.

- Follow more notes and corrections at http://twitter.com/filmspotting.

FS #279: An Education / Antichrist / Top 5 Taboo Relationships

Oct. 30: Yes, we are obviously trying to seduce you. This week, Adam and Matty decide to forgo their spot at Oxford next semester and instead fall head over heels for the much older Peter Sarsgaard's fast car, cool jazz and French cigarettes. The lads sneak out during fifth period to gossip with the girls about their love for the new Lone Scherfig film, "An Education," starring the aforementioned dreamy Mr. Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina, Olivia Williams and the lovely Carey Mulligan in a jaw-dropping performance.

And after a lost weekend of dissecting Camus beside the Seine, Adam and Matty head out to the countryside to further lose their innocence (and quite possibly their stomachs) at the hands of Lars von Trier and his latest rollicking cinematic parable, "Antichrist." Humbled and confused by their time spent with Mr. von Trier (and his playful anthropomorphic realizations of Grief, Chaos, and Despair -- Br'er Fox eat your heart out [literally]) -- and in light of a couple of pending lawsuits, Filmspotting has been advised by counsel not to comment on this week's Top 5 outside of giving its title: Top 5 Taboo Relationship Movies."

But Filmspotting (ahem, Matty) would like to remind the fine civil servants of Kane County, particularly the two members of the local constabulary that might have been sitting in the West Dundee Steak and Shake at 2:00 am last Friday night, that "Excuse me, miss, do you know where the high school girls hang out around here?" is a QUOTE from the movie "Swingers." Thank you, Senator, no further comment.

Also on the show: Listener Feedback, music by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Massacre Theatre -- presented by Pixar Talk. This week's winner will get the Pixar DVD of their choice.


Filmspotting #279
:13-17:46 - Review: "An Education"
17:47-32:05 - Review: "Antichrist"
Music: The Pains of Being Pure..., "Higher Than The Stars"
32:52-38:36 - Massacre Theatre (Winner: R. Nemec)
38:37-44:15 - Voicemail, Polls, Notes
44:16-53:48 - Feedback (Bad Day Movies)
Music: The Pains of Being Pure..., "Everything With You"
54:22-1:01:48 - New DVDs/Donations
1:01:49-1:18:52 - Top 5: Taboo Relationships
1:18:53-1:21:56 - Close/Next Show/No outtake, sorry!

NOTES

- Good "Antichrist" reviews: Karina Longworth and Roger Ebert.

- The addictive website that will destroy your productivity is Flickchart.com.

- Jeff Goldsmith's Creative Screenwriting Podcast can be accessed through iTunes here.

- Follow more notes and corrections at http://twitter.com/filmspotting.