Bonjour and welcome back for Week 2 of our Viva La France AntiTrash 2021 Marathon! That's right, we continue pushing our way through the French canon with Jean Renoir's lauded 1939 masterclass, The Rules of the Game or Le Régle du Je\u. This week, we discuss his influential style, keeping up appearances, the look at class, and the interwar context of this upstairs-downstairs comedy.

Timestamps

00:30 - Introductions and Synopsis

03:32 - Quick The Rules of the Game Reviews

17:47 - Expanding the Syllabus

37:41 - Analysis

58:20 - Shelf or Trash

59:54 - Wrap up and Next Week's Film

Bonjour! And welcome to our 2021 AntiTrash Marathon celebrating French cinéma, Viva la France!

We kick things off on Episode 400 with the aptly titled The 400 Blows (Le Quatre Cent Coups) from the lauded French New Wave director and critic François Truffaut. 

This week, as we take a look at a troubled French youth, we discuss destiny, decisions, the French New Wave, the style of The 400 Blows and much, much more. 

So, thank you for 400 Episodes! And tune in now as we start a brief dive into French film.

Timestamps

00:30 - Introductions and Synopsis

06:52 - Quick The 400 Blows Reviews

19:23 - Expanding the Syllabus

34:51 - Analysis

1:06:13 - Shelf or Trash

1:07:34 - Wrap up and Next Week's Film

If you've got a hankering for some steamy YA vampire romance, then TwiLit is the podcast for you. This month, Erin and Kirsten have plenty of new thoughts on your favorite franchise. Have you ever thought about which vampire powers you would want or hate to have? So have your hosts! The Batman makes his way onto the topic train. And, a very hard-hitting consideration of tax fraud in the vampire society is discussed. You've been wanting more TwiLit! So, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year, it's a Festivus miracle!

Producer's Note: We lost a good bit of audio due to some technical issues, but we salvaged as best we could, mostly leaving our reviews and analysis, which is hopefully why you're all here. 

We wrap up our Part 3s, Chapter 2 marathon the way we have every year for the past few years—talking about the highest grossing (domestic) film of the year. And this year, things got wild as a early winter release lead the pack due to COVID. That's right, we're heading to Miami to talk all about Bad Boys for Life. This week, we're talking all about the films approach to gender and identity. We look at some of the films its cribbing from, and weather its work is a proper homage or played out pastiche. We also talk the state of current popular cinema. 

Our trilogy celebration continues this week with a look at 2017's Pitch Perfect 3. The as-of-now concluding chapter in the a cappella franchise reunites the cast for an existential post-college crisis that takes them to Europe. This week, we're talking about film production and gender, female friendships, and much more as we break down the third entry in our Part 3s, Chapter 2 marathon. 

TIME STAMPS

00:30 - Introductions and Synopsis

03:08 - Quick Pitch Perfect 3 Reviews

18:57 - Expanding the Syllabus

43:38 - Analysis

1:07:58 - Shelf or Trash

1:09:04 - Wrap up and Next Week's Film

Its Part 2 of our Part 3s, Chapter 2 marathon! That's right, we're back with another threequel as we go where no podcast has gone before. Or, where several podcasts have surely gone before. We're taking a look at the latest Star Trek film from 2016, Star Trek Beyond. Justin Lin's entry in the franchise sees the rebooted team finally underway on their 5-year mission. We talk federation politics and ideology. We also discuss J.J. Abrams as a filmmaker and his impact on the Trek universe. 

TIME STAMPS

00:30 - Introductions and Synopsis

04:32 - Quick Star Trek Beyond Reviews

28:14 - Expanding the Syllabus

47:19 - Analysis

1:10:18 - Shelf or Trash

1:11:29 - Wrap up and Next Week's Film

Happy Mank Day! In honor of David Fincher's newest movie, we're kickstarting our new marathon Part 3s, Chapter 2 with Fincher's first film, Alien3. Through the years, Fincher has been evoked a number of times, through our early Fincher Rule that we harnessed Dalton with to talking a number of his films. So, it only made sense we'd tackle the notorious third entry in the Alien franchise to celebrate the release of his newest work Mank. On this week's show, we're talking all about religious groups in films, studio intervention, the film's messaging in contrast with Alien and Aliens, and much more. 

TIME STAMPS

00:30 - Introductions and Synopsis

06:07 - Quick Alien3 Reviews

21:55 - Expanding the Syllabus

38:51 - Analysis

1:02:21 - Shelf or Trash

1:03:24 - Wrap up and Next Week's Film

As we all record from our own variation of The Zone, Dustin wraps up his celebration month with a trademark choice — Andrei Tarkovsky's Stalker. The 1979 genre-bending art house picture is a textbook example of the type of stuff Dustin likes to make us watch. This week, we're diving deep on formalism, spiritualism, ideology, and much more as we tackle this titan of Soviet cinema. 

Time Stamps

00:30 - Introductions and Synopsis

03:53 - Quick Stalker Reviews

15:42 - Expanding the Syllabus

33:29 - Analysis

1:17:27 - Shelf or Trash

1:18:29 - Wrap up and Next Week's Film

Dustin's second pick of the month was required to be a martial arts film. Why? Because he has focused his PhD work on martial arts and kung fu cinema. So, Dustin picked a film from 2002 that made its way stateside following the success of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. We're talking Zhang Yimou's Hero. Once we get it on the analysis table, Dustin digs into his PhD work and how Hero represents that. We discuss form and genre in regards to Wuxia films. The film's ideology and politics are ripe for discourse. And, finally, we try to figure out the film's gender representation. So, tune in for our 3rd week in the celebration of Pops, and take time to watch Hero if you've not seen it before—or just give it a rewatch because it's good!

Time Stamps

00:30 - Introductions and Synopsis

02:28 - Quick Hero Reviews

13:23 - Expanding the Syllabus

28:27 - Analysis

56:45 - Shelf or Trash

57:20 - Wrap up and Next Week's Film

Pops has picked his first movie, and there can be only one! His very trashy GoodTrash pick is none other than Highlander. He admits he partially picked this one in honor of the late, great Sean Connery. This Christopher Lambert-starring action-fantasy-sci-fi became a cult classic in the time since. We give a queer reading of the film, and dive deep into the other themes present in the film. 

TIME STAMPS

00:30 - Introductions and Synopsis

04:06 - Quick Highlander Reviews

24:05 - Expanding the Syllabus

34:48 - Analysis

55:15 - Shelf or Trash

57:36 - Wrap up and Next Week's Film