podcast 17 (right click, save as)
For our Halloween episode we talk about monster movies. We review 30 Days of Night. Zack talks about how the film measures against the graphic novel and our guest Blaine talks about how it felt like a zombie movie. Then we talk about a handful of other monster movies including George Romero’s Land of the Dead, Silver Bullet, John Carpenter’s The Thing, Peter Jackson’s Dead Alive, Ridley Scott’s Alien, and the Mel Brook’s comedy/monster movie Young Frankenstein.

Blaine points out that my pitch is vaugely like FLCL episode 6 and Zack’s is like an episode of Scary Door from Futurama. Then we philosophize about what it is people like in monster movies: the violence, the voyeurism?

The pumpkin’s name is Corky. Send your grievances and pitch votes: futilepodcast@gmail.com

bump musics: John Williams – Dracula main title theme
Mogwai – Friends of the Night
Dead Can Dance – Advent
Amorphous Androgynous – Liquid Insects
Black Sabbath – Electric Funeral

Bump Music: Cannonball Adderley – Know What I Mean (re-take 7)

podcast 16 (right click, save as)
I give my two cents on Michael Bay’s Transformers. It reminds me of this painting Nude Descending a Staircase by Marcel Duchamp. And also of this scene from Buster Keaton’s Steamboat Bill Jr. This leads to a discussion of big Hollywood blockbusters which invariably gets us talking about Roland Emmerich and some of his monumentally “meh” films. Then I discuss a Wired article I read about how Optimus Prime was a surrogate father figure to many children of the 1980′s. In our under appreciated segment Zack talks about Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey. Then we do pitches on robot movies. Mine is hack distopian stuff and Zack’s is Major League with robots.

Bump Musics: Lion – The Transfomer’s Theme
Eurythmics – I did it all the same.
Amon Tobin – One Day in my Garden
Kid Koala – Roboshuffle

podcast 15 (right click, save as)In this over sized podcast we talk about sports themed movies and sports movies. We talk about The Bad News Bears and I talk about the awesomeness of the training montage in Rocky IV. We delve into a discussion about what makes something a sport? Zack talks about his love for the film Cool Runnings and The Greatest Game Ever Played.

In the pitch segment I basically talk about a stripper/sports movie hybrid idea that leads us to discuss which actresses have large breasts. Zack’s pitch is a sports movie set in World War II. Then we do a new segment where I provide a “deep reading” of Oliver Stone’s Any Given Sunday as an analysis of what sport’s movies say about being a man.

bump music:
Carmen Soundtrack – Habanera
Passport – Looking Through
DJ Food – Juice Soup
Tears for Fears – Broken
Tom Waits – Hang Down Your Head
Bedrock feat.KYO – For What you Dream of
Djengo Reinhardt – Begin the Beguine
Toshiro Masuda – The Raising Fighting Spirit
– Sadness and Sorrow

Unseen reviews (right click, save as)
This is a special segment we’re testing out where one of us reviews a movie or two having not seen it but having some idea based maybe on trailers or word of mouth. In this first installment Zack tackles The English Patient and Godfather III.

Then for some reason he tells the story I told him about how I wore an old bathrobe as a coat coming home from school. Correction: I listened to the first disc ofAphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works Vol. II not Vol. I while shoveling the driveway after I got home and shaved my head.

podcast 14 (right click, save as)We review Peter Berg’s The Kingdom which is set primarily in Saudi Arabia. Then we talk about political action thrillers and I talk about The Delta Force with Chuck Norris and Lee Marvin as my under appreciated movie [correction: the plane is a C-130, C-47s were used in WWII). Zack Talks about Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula. This leads Zack to talk about a new Clive Barker adaptation being brought to the screen … it’s called Midnight Meat Train. We do pitches for political action thrillers so be sure to vote for the one you think is best.
bump music: Torres – Tantalise Touch
Uzuma – Simplicity
Fondouks Foundation – Descend
The Smiths – This Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore

podcast 13

For our 13th episode, in an effort to expand themes of conversation, we cover the topic of romancing a woman. Not really, Because I think it’s apt (only I would, but it’s my podcast and I’ll do what I want) I read a bit from Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff about the Mercury Project test pilots. Then we talk about a weird movie that has some romance and do a few pitches for “romantic comedies”.

Next time we review Peter Berg’s The Kingdom and talk about and pitch political action thrillers.

bump music: Gustav Holst – Mars the Bringer of War
The Cure – The Perfect Girl

things fall apart (right click, save as)

This is supposed to be our sports/video games bit so Zack talks about the Rams. Then Zack feels compelled to tell the story of his sister-in-law’s illustrious high school basketball career … GO PANTHERS !?! For the first part of the recording she is there but then she leaves and so I will ask her to send in any correction/rebuttal so I can read it on the podcast. ‘Cause here at the futilepodcast we are fair, balanced … and unafraid.

Then, we begin preliminary discussion about how to woo a woman, as it is apparently what women want to hear about and we’re all about bringing in new demographics. It has something to do with a Cosmopolitan magazine article on finger length and testosterone levels in utero. I don’t know … things fall apart, ’nuff said.

bump music: Antonio Carlos Jobim – Triste
– One Note Samba
nine inch nails – Slipping Away

Podcast 12 (right click, save as)

We talk about Sunset Blvd. and posthumous narration. Which leads us to talk about film noir protagonists, and anti-heroes. Zack talks about Kingsley in Sexy Beast and I talk about Michael Mann’s Heat. We next talk about con movies since I review The Sting. This invariably leads us to talk about David Mamet for a bit (we’ll return to Mamet in full at some time).

We move on to review Running Scared and Shot ‘em Up. The idea being that there is this new subgenre of action movies that are essentially non-stop gratuitously violent and ironic while thinking it’s awesome. We declare that these films work if they bring the style and don’t wink at the camera too much.

Correction: It was Keith in that episode of Voltron; he was the pilot of the blue Lion.

For our weird movies (we need to come up with a better title for the segment). I review Sneakers with Robert Redford and talk about how it would be nice if he would do more comedies. Then I review Missing in Action II: The Beginning and talk about how sometimes you need to bite a rat to break it’s back so it doesn’t chew your face off. Zack talks about Jack Ryan (Tom Clancy) movies and how the idea of Ryan being some super bad ass high school quarterback isn’t cool.

Our pitch segment this time is for light drama comedies (or what I’m calling James L. Brooks comedies). Zack’s is called Jacquzzi (sp?). Mine is more inane but marketable.

bump music: Brian Eno – Force Marker (Heat Soundtrack)
9 Lazy 9 – No. 9
DJ Food – Strange Taste
David Bowie – Subterraneans (All Saints)

Madden (right click, save as)
In this one Zack does what we hope will become a regular feature about video games and sports. I might talk about cooking or something non-movie related at some point too but not bloody likely. He also talks a bit about how football differs from Baseball as there is much more of an emphasis on statistics in baseball (a game where variables are easier to account for). He talks about SABRmetrics and fantasy sports a bit. Then in keeping with the video game aspect he talks about how newer video games have developed to become quiet cinematic. Specifically he sites Resident Evil 4 and Metal Gear Solid.