Episode 622: The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970)

We kick off the first annual "Czechtember" with a look at the most-easily accessible films of the Czech New Wave, the charmingly disarming 1966 film Closely Watched Trains (AKA Ostre Sledované Vlaky or Closely Observed Trains). Co-written and directed by Jirí Menzel and based upon Bohumil Hrabal's novella, the film stars Václav Neckár as Milos Hrma, a young man from a family of eccentrics. Not wanting to work too hard, he gets a job at the local railway station where he's mentored by the earthly Hubicka (Josef Somr) and Nazi-sympathizer Zednicek (Vlastimil Brodský).Samm Deighan and Jonathan Owen (author of Avant-garde to New Wave: Czechoslovak Cinema, Surrealism and the Sixties) join Mike to discuss Menzel's subversive film and the way it plays with "sex comedy" themes against the backdrop of Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/projectionbooth

5 Sep 20172h 33min

The 1968 film by Frank and Eleanor Perry, The Swimmer (based on the John Cheever short story of the same name), stars Burt Lancaster as Ned Merrill, a Connecticut executive who decides to head back home by swimming through the pools of his neighbors, a "river" which he names "Lucinda" after his wife. Along the way, Ned is met with drinks, laughs, reminders of his affairs that went sour, and maybe even reminders that what he pretends to be may be no more.Elric Kane and co-host emeritus Rob St. Mary join Mike to discuss the trouble production and ground-breaking ideas of The Swimmer.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/projectionbooth

29 Aug 20174h 45min

We're up all night to get lucky as we discuss the 2001 film from director and co-writer Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Intacto which stars Leonardo Sbaraglia as Tomás, a man who survives a plane crash and who may just be the luckiest man in the world. He's found by Federico (Eusebio Poncela), who introduces him to an underground world where luck is something of a commodity and the man who rules over this kingdom, Samuel Berg (Max von Sydow).Co-hosts Jamey Duvall and Heather Drain discuss the film as well as other related movies like 13, Fearless, and The Cooler.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/projectionbooth

22 Aug 20171h 55min

On this special episode, Mike talks with writer Michael Lucker about his career in Hollywood (including co-writing the screenplay for A Vampire in Brooklyn) as well as his recent book, CRASH! BOOM! BANG! How to Write Action Movies.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/projectionbooth

21 Aug 201733min

On this special episode, Mike talks with writer/director Albert Pyun about his latest film, the sci-fi epic Interstellar Civil War: Shadows of the Empire (2017). They also discuss Pyun's dementia and how he was able to use this as an artistic method in the creation of his film.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/projectionbooth

18 Aug 201727min

The first feature film from director George Lucas, THX-1138 (1971) features a world in which love is outlawed and mind-altering drugs are mandatory. The film stars Robert Duvall as the titular THX-1138 and Maggie McOmie as LUH-3417 as roommates who eventually develop into something much more despite the totalitarian regime in which they live.Co-written by Walter Murch, the film ponders materialism, religion, and love.Chris Bricklemyer (Outside the Cinema, Are You Serious?) and Jay Bauman (Red Letter Media) join Mike to discuss Lucas's freshman film, how its themes would echo in his other work, and how he revised it in the 2004 "director's cut."Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/projectionbooth

16 Aug 20174h 2min

The 1960 directorial debut from Jerry Lewis, The Bellboy, also stars Lewis in the titular role. He's Stanley, a put upon hotel worker at the Fountainbleu hotel in Miami. The film doesn’t necessarily have a three act plot per se but is more an opportunity for a string of gags.Filmmaker Peter Flynn and actor Craig Bierko join Mike to discuss The Bellboy as well as many other aspects of Lewis's career. Special guest Shawn Levy is the author of King of Comedy: The Life and Art of Jerry Lewis.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/projectionbooth

9 Aug 20172h 8min

Also known as The Streetwalker, The Margin, and sometimes even as Emmanuel 77, La Marge film stars Joe Dallesandro as Sigismond, a loving husband who leaves his wife and child to head to Paris. While there he learns of the sudden, unexpected death of his aforementioned family and spends a few days living in fringes of society, spending most of his time with Diana, played by Sylvia Kristel, a prostitute. The 1976 film is one of several adaptations of André Pieyre de Mandiargues by director Walerian Borowczyk.Samm Deighan and Daniel Bird school Mike in the work of Walerian Borowczyk with the help of Jeremy Richey (author of the upcoming Sylvia Kristel in the Seventies: From Emmanuelle to Chabrol), cinematographer and cameraman Noël Véry, and Walerian Borowczyk's assistant, Michael Levy.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/projectionbooth

2 Aug 20174h 1min