In the year of our Lord, 2004, the world was beginning to turn on the War in Iraq, shadowy organizations were seemingly taking over politics, and the late, great Jonathan Demme released his vision for The Manchurian Candidate. 

We Vote for the Manchurian Candidate

Welcome back to your favorite film analysis podcast, the GenreCast from GoodTrash Media. This week, on the GoodTrash GenreCast, we kick off our Denzel Watch-a-thon, #ABWD—Always Be Watching Denzel. On our Devil in a Blue Dress episode, we realized the GenreCast has long overlooked Denzel. However, we are in the process of remedying that. Over the next few weeks, we will look at films from each part of Denzel's career. We will also look at many of his long time collaborations—Fuqua, Lee, Scott—and we begin with Jonathan Demme.

The Manchurian Candidate is based on the 1959 Richard Condon novel of the same name. In 1962, John Frankenheimer directed a version starring Angela Lansbury, Frank Sinatra and Janet Leigh. Demme's version follows the same basic plot, but updates it for a modern setting. The film tells the tale of Major Bennett Marco (Washington) and Senator Raymond Shaw (Schreiber) who served together in the Gulf War. Shaw won the Medal of Honor for his heroic exploits, but Marco came home with nightmares. Marco begins to unveil a conspiracy that will rattle the political world.

The gang gets together this week to look back at this somewhat overlooked Denzel piece from 2004. After their reviews, the hosts play the weekly game. This week, the game is a discussion of underrated films from great directors. Finally, the team get down to analysis and talk about the timeliness of the film, the political discourse at work and whether the film works as strongly against capitalism as last week's film, Robocop.

So, dear listener, tune in now to find out which of our hosts is a sleeper cell, and which ones are just sleepy.

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In 1987, capitalist greed was soaring high—enter Paul Verhoeven and Robocop. 30 years later, not much has actually changed, probably the scariest thing about this movie.

Dead or Alive, it's Robocop

Paul Verhoeven's Robocop is a simple, promising story. Tragically struck down by a violent crime lord, Alex Murphy is on his death bed. This tragedy is seen as a corporate triumph as Murphy's remains are used for the first Robocop prototype. Designed to serve and protect, Robocop patrols the streets of Detroit. Everything goes smoothly, until the memories become the ghost in the machine.

Arthur returns to discuss the Verhoeven classic. The gang has seen the film before. But now, after 30 years, does it still hold up? During quick reviews, the gang debate the technical merits of the film. But, the analysis for this film is ripe. The obvious discourse is the commentary on capitalism. But, this analysis goes much deeper. Questions of personhood, and a debate of whether Robocop serves a messianic role conclude the analysis section.

But, before the analysis, a game is played. This week, the hosts talk about their favorite Super Cops. A good time is had by all. But the ultimate question is, will Dalton every truly admit his mistakes? He has 20 seconds to comply.

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This week, the GenreCast goes deep inside the mind of a monster. They also discuss the Tarsem Singh film The Cell. 

Trapped inside The Cell

The Cell is a sci-fi/horror/thriller-infused procedural which sees psychologist Catherine Deane (Lopez) recruited to literally go inside the mind of the comatose serial killer, Carl Stargher (D'Onofrio). With Stargher's latest victim's life on the line, Deane and FBI agent Peter Novak (Vaughn) must race the clock and search Stargher's subconscious for clues.

Arthur returns this week to join Dalton and Dustin in their discussion of this genre work from 2000. For this week's game, the gang decide to discuss their favorite cinematic technology—inspired by the machine Catherine Deane uses in the film.

As the hosts break down the film, they discuss the problematic failings of the narrative. They also analyze the character portrayed by Vince Vaughn, as well as the idea of sympathy for the devil. There is also a discussion of the tropes being used as well as the intertextuality of the artwork that inspired sequences of the film.

If you think you're ready to go inside the mind of Dalton, strap in and hit play!

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Denzel Washington makes his GenreCast debut as the gang gathers around to discuss the 1995 noir, Devil in a Blue Dress.

The Devil in a Blue Dress is in the Details

According to Wikipedia, "Devil in a Blue Dress is a 1995 American neo-noir mystery film directed by Carl Franklin and photographed by Tak Fujimoto. The film is based on Walter Mosley's novel of the same name and features Denzel Washington, Tom Sizemore, Jennifer Beals and Don Cheadle."

Arthur joins Dalton and Dustin to discuss this overlooked gem. After their quick reviews, the game gets underway. This week, the game is a round table pitch game. Each host discusses Noir/Genre mashups they would like to see. It is similar to the noir out of water game from the Brick episode.

After the game, the discussion turns towards analysis. Race, coding, formalism, expressionism and the American dream all come up in discussion. The hosts also discuss how this film would fair in today's political climate.

If you're wondering which of the hosts are wearing the blue dress, you'll have to tune in and find out!

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Kill Some Time Talking about A Time to Kill

A Time to Kill is a great example of the 90's explosion of courtroom dramas and Dalton and Dustin are here to put it on trial technically and thematically. 

According to Wikipedia:

A Time to Kill is a 1996 American crime drama film adaptation of John Grisham's 1989 novel of the same name, directed by Joel Schumacher. Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson, Matthew McConaughey, and Kevin Spacey star, with Oliver Platt, Ashley Judd, Kiefer and Donald Sutherland, and Patrick McGoohan appearing in supporting roles. Set in Canton, Mississippi, the film involves the rape of a young girl, the arrest of the rapists, their subsequent murder by the girl's father, and the father's trial for murder. The film was a critical and commercial success, making $152 million at the worldwide box office.

Now we realize that this makes two Schumacher films in a row, but this is very different from last week's Flatliners. We talk all about justice, race, Black Lives Matter, and even O.J. Simpson. This week our game is our favorite courtroom dramas. What are some of yours?

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Dalton and Dustin are back from the dead with Flatliners!

According to Wikipedia:

Flatliners is a 1990 American science fiction psychological horror film directed by Joel Schumacher, produced by Michael Douglas and Rick Bieber, and written by Peter Filardi. It stars Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, William Baldwin, Oliver Platt, and Kevin Bacon. The film is about five medical students who attempt to find out what lies beyond death by conducting clandestine experiments that produce near-death experiences.

Dalton and Dustin have a good time talking about a movie that is better on paper than it is on celluloid. We like the performances, play a game about our favorite cinematic experiments, and we handle life and death's great metaphysical mysteries in our analysis.

Dalton and Dustin are back with War on Everyone which is oddly appropriate for the week of the Fourth of July.

According to Wikipedia:

War on Everyone is a 2016 British black comedy buddy cop film written and directed by John Michael McDonagh. The film stars Alexander Skarsgård, Michael Peña, and Theo James. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, it was screened in the Panorama section of the 66th Berlin International Film Festival.

We heat up some fun conversation as we talk about discourses of violence, America viewed from the outside, police brutality, nuance in religion and gender/sexuality and a movie we overall felt was kind of a mess.

Our game was good times because we got to talk about our favorite cinematic henchmen.

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Hey we're back with The Voices! 

This week we explore mental illness, popular perceptions thereof and the nuances of medication. Also tune in for our game in which we discuss actors we would like to play the voices in our heads.

Next Week: War on Everyone!

Hey Gang! We did not do a show on The Voices this week because we went to DeadCenter!

According to Wikipedia:

The deadCENTER Film Festival was founded in 2001 in Oklahoma City. The festival was named "deadCENTER" because it is located in the exact center of the United States. Although presenting over a hundred films, and an international assemblage of filmmakers, deadCENTER has remained focused on being open to independent local filmmakers.^[1]

According to Us: It's a ton of fun! We saw a bunch of movies and did some quick and dirty recaps, live from just outside the theater on what Dalton and Dustin saw together. Even if you are not from the OKC metro, there's some good gems to be found that will be getting broader theatrical and VOD distrubution in the weeks and months to come. 

So sit back and give us a listen and let us know what you think. Next Week: The Voices!

Get ready for Vampires as we discuss Daybreakers!

Dalton and Dustin are back in the studio talking about Daybreakers. Weirdly, this makes an excellent pairing with last week's film, Bulworth. There's defintely a spectre haunting the GTGC studios as we discuss, please join the conversation!