FS #221: American Teen / The Italian Job / Top 5 Swan Songs

August 1: Glory days... while Adam and Matty may share common Midwestern roots, turns out they enjoyed quite disparate high school experiences. One of your hosts was (and still is) a dashingly handsome former class President, coasting through life; for the other, high school left him a neurotic and brooding mound of bitterness. Perhaps not surprisingly then, your in-house Zac and Screech offer (violently) differing takes on Nanette Burstein's new documentary focusing on five small-town Indiana seniors, "American Teen."

Plus, the Filmspotting Classic Heist marathon rolls on in style with Michael Caine, Noel Coward and Benny Hill singing "Rule Britannia" behind the wheels of their 1968 Mini-Coopers in "The Italian Job." Finally, in honor of Heath Ledger's latest turn as the Joker in "The Dark Knight," the lads list their Top 5 Swan Songs.

Also on the show: Listener Feedback, Massacre Theatre and music by Sea Ray.

** Filmspotting is presented by SpoutBlog and the FilmCouch podcast. Find out why The New York Times says, "SpoutBlog's got it all," at blog.spout.com. **

CONTEST
Cast the villain in Batman 3 now for a shot at great prizes!



Filmspotting #221
:24-14:12 - Review: "American Teen"
Music: Sea Ray, "Nicholas Ray"
14:59-20:05 - Voicemail, Notes, Polls
20:06-31:34 - Feedback (Dark Knight)
Music: Sea Ray, "Revelry"
32:05-35:29 - New Contest
35:30-39:44 - Massacre Theatre (Winner: Se Young Kang)
39:45-48:23 - Heist #4: "The Italian Job"
Music: Sea Ray, "Swear To Your Face"
48:45-53:36 - New DVDs, Donations, Winners
53:37-1:06:00 - Top 5: Swan Songs
1:06:01-1:08:29 - Close/Next Show/Outtakes

NOTES/CORRECTIONS
- The non-dashingly handsome host would like to note that his high school experience was actually pretty pleasant; he came out of the womb neurotic and brooding.

- For all the families listening, note that two of the Top 5 movie clips contain a bit of swearing -- around the 55 and 60 minute marks.

- I figured out what Matty was referring to when discussing the 'superimposed' text messages in "American Teen." Yes, there is at least one instance where Burstein basically captions for us what is appearing on somebody's cell phone. Matty's implication seemed to be that Burstein was making the content of the message up or being dishonest in some way, and I didn't see it that way.

- Don't ask me what Harvey Dent's "transmission" is.

- Apologies to Isaac McKeithen from Auburn, AL who gave us the scene from "The Prestige" we announced the winner of on episode #220. We had two chances to give him his due credit and failed. Sorry!

- More apologies... to listener and former message board mod Alex Knesnik. He bought me "Giant" as a birthday present last year so I didn't need to Tivo it and I definitely should have watched it by now!

- My research on Richard Farnsworth was terrible. He DID get nominated for "The Straight Story" and for "Comes a Horseman" but did NOT win Best Supporting Actor for the latter.

- Also expanding to more screens this weekend... the movie we reviewed in the first segment, "American Teen"!

FS #204: The Bank Job / Flawless / Talk To Her / Top 5 Heist Movies

April 4: On this week's show... Matty promises not to do his Michael Caine impression as long as Adam doesn't break out his Saffron Burrows. In honor of 'Heist Week' on Filmspotting, the guys review a pair of new British caper flicks -- "The Bank Job" (Burrows, Jason Statham) and "Flawless" (Caine, Demi Moore) -- and share their all-time Top 5 Heist Movies.

Also on the show: Listener Feedback, Massacre Theatre, and the latest Almodóvar Marathon entry, "Talk To Her," inspires Matty to vow to stay by Adam's side in the event he is ever gored by a bull and his once-beautiful cherubic frame is kept alive only by machines.

Music by Justin Townes Earle courtesy of Bloodshot Records.

Filmspotting is presented by SpoutBlog and the FilmCouch podcast. Find out why The New York Times says, "SpoutBlog's got it all," at blog.spout.com.

...And by TLAVideo.com. Buy DVDs online at the Filmspotting store!

CONTEST
Spout.com invites Filmspotting listeners to recast "The Princess Bride" for a shot at great prizes at recast.spout.com. One winner will receive Walk the Line Extended Cut, a new 2-Disc Special Edition that includes 17 minutes of bonus footage, extended musical sequences, director commentary, featurettes and more.



Filmspotting #204
:24-8:51 - Review: "The Bank Job"
8:52-15:18 - Review: "Flawless"
Music: Justin Townes Earle, "The Good Life"
15:47-20:22 - Voicemails, Poll Questions
19:11-33:17 - Feedback (Stop-Loss, Up-and-Coming Actors)
Music: Justin Townes Earle, "Who Am I To Say"
34:02-37:43 - Massacre Theatre (Winner: Emily Guerrero)
37:48-48:17 - Almodóvar #4: "Talk To Her"
Music: Justin Townes Earle, "Hard Livin'"
48:39-54:51 - New DVDs, Contests, Donations
54:52-1:09:01 - Top 5: Heist Movies
1:09:02-1:11:29 - Close/Next Show/Outtakes

NOTES/CORRECTIONS
- Our first voice-mailer was Nat in Dallas, not Matt. Sorry, Nat!

- Check out the winning entries in last week's Recast "The Last Dragon" Contest.