Special Report: Year End 2023

The Projection Booth kicks off a month devoted to Australian oddities with Shirley Thompson Versus the Aliens, the startling 1972 debut from director Jim Sharman. Long unseen outside of archival corners of the internet, the film sits at the crossroads of experimental theater, pop music, political anxiety, and institutional paranoia. Heather Drain and Chris O’Neil join Mike to unpack the film’s radical shifts in tone and form: the oscillation between black-and-white and color, the omnipresent off-screen voices, the rock-and-roll aliens, and the way Sharman folds Cold War fears, ecological warnings, and Australian cultural touchstones into Shirley’s fractured psyche. The discussion also traces how the film anticipates Sharman’s later work, with its collision of spectacle, provocation, and musical disruption. The episode features an interview with production designer Brian Thomson, who reflects on the film’s theatrical roots, handmade aesthetic, and the creative freedom that allowed such a strange debut to exist. Part asylum drama, part pop-art warning, Shirley Thompson Versus the Aliens stands as a message from the margins nobody was prepared to hear.Become 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

4 Feb 2h 35min

Emir Kusturica’s Arizona Dream drifts between deadpan comedy and waking dream, a film where ambition, escape, and American myth collide at odd angles. Written by David Atkins and directed by Emir Kusturica, the 1993 features Axel (Johnny Depp) stranded between New York routine and Arctic fantasia after his cousin (Vincent Gallo) drags him west to Arizona. There, Axel falls into orbit around his Uncle Leo (Jerry Lewis) and the Stalkers—mother and daughter played by Faye Dunaway and Lili Taylor—each chasing a private version of freedom.Mike, joined by co-hosts Andras Jones and David Rodgers, unpacks how Arizona Dream bends tone and narrative into something closer to folklore than plot, balancing melancholy against absurdity. The conversation explores Kusturica’s outsider view of America, the film’s uneasy relationship with realism, and the way dreams—Inuit or otherwise—function as both refuge and trap. Mike also talks with screenwriter David Atkins about shaping the script, collaborating with Kusturica, and navigating a studio-era release that never quite knew what to do with a movie this strange.Become 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

28 Jan 2h 23min

Mike talks with Michael Premo, director of Homegrown, about embedding himself with right-wing activists in the years leading up to—and following—January 6, 2021. Rather than treating the Capitol attack as an aberration, the film traces how grievance, conspiracy thinking, and political identity seep into everyday life. The conversation digs into the ethics of proximity filmmaking, questions of access and responsibility, and what it means to document extremism without caricature or spectacle. Homegrown emerges as a quietly unsettling portrait of radicalization unfolding in plain sight.Find out more at https://homegrown.film/Become 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 Jan 25min

The Projection Booth turns its attention to Entertaining Mr. Sloane (1970), the adaptation of Joe Orton’s infamous stage play, directed by Douglas Hickox. Jonathan Owen and Rob St. Mary join Mike to dig into Orton’s razor-sharp wit, corrosive humor, and enduring legacy as one of Britain’s most provocative voices.  The hosts unpack how the film confronts taboo subjects—sexuality, class resentment, violence—without softening Orton’s contempt for social respectability or his glee in watching social structures collapse.At the center of the film is Mr. Sloane, a charming, amoral drifter and occasional rentboy played with unnerving poise by Peter McEnery. When Sloane encounters the aggressively lonely Kath (Beryl Reid) and her domineering, closeted brother Ed (Harry Andrews), he quickly embeds himself into their lives—sexually, psychologically, and economically.The group also broadens the discussion to Orton’s screen legacy, touching on the other 1970 adaptation Loot, as well as the biopics Prick Up Your Ears and Joe Orton Laid Bare. Together, they consider how Orton’s work—and his life—continue to challenge audiences, remaining as abrasive, funny, and unsettling now as they were more than half a century ago.Become 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 Jan 1h 44min

Spencer Parsons and Chris Stachiw join Mike to dig into the ideological undercurrents of The Dark Knight Rises, Christopher Nolan’s contentious capstone to his Batman trilogy. Released in 2012, the film finds a broken Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) pulled back into action as Gotham—now pointedly resembling New York—falls under siege by Bane (Tom Hardy) and the League of Shadows.The conversation moves past spectacle to examine the film’s deeply anxious view of revolution, class conflict, and populist politics. Drawing connections to Occupy Wall Street–era fears, Mike, Spencer, and Chris unpack how Bane’s rhetoric of liberation masks authoritarian control, how mass movements are portrayed as dangerous and irrational, and how order is ultimately restored through elite sacrifice rather than systemic change.Become 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

14 Jan 2h 8min

Adam Long and Josh Hadley join Mike to explore Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004), the sweeping documentary from Xan Cassavetes about the rise and fall of Los Angeles’s most influential pay-TV channel. More than a cable station, Z Channel was a film school beamed into living rooms, programming uncut movies, international cinema, director’s cuts, and repertory favorites long before that was standard practice.The conversation digs into the channel’s daring programming philosophy, its outsized impact on American film culture, and the obsessive, self-destructive personality of founder Jerry Harvey. The hosts examine how the documentary balances cinephile nostalgia with a clear-eyed look at the personal and institutional costs of that obsession, while also asking what Z Channel’s legacy means in today’s algorithm-driven media landscape.Become 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

7 Jan 1h 33min

Mike talks with Alan Berry and Mark Enochs, the filmmakers behind Dead Man’s Line, a chilling dive into one of America’s most disturbing true-crime stories. The conversation traces how the directors reconstructed the life and legend of Tony Kiritsis, whose 1977 hostage standoff transfixed the nation and blurred the line between media spectacle and lived horror.Berry and Enochs unpack their research, ethical choices, and the challenge of shaping archival chaos into a tense, humane documentary. They also discuss the struggles for distribution and the obligatory Hollywood remake, Dead Man's Wire, the 2026 release from director Gus Van Sant and writer Austin Kolodney.Watch the full-length documentary, Dead Man's Line, for free on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUcZXVT6888Become 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 Jan 1h 25min

Mike talks with the creative team behind Luger, a provocative Spanish thriller that blurs the line between obsession, power, and violence. Joining the conversation are filmmaker Bruno Martín, director Santiago Taboada, and producer Mario Mayo.Together, they dig into the film’s origins, its unsettling themes, and the choices that shaped its stark tone and moral unease. The discussion explores the challenges of mounting an independent Spanish production, navigating international audiences, and crafting a film that resists easy answers while demanding engagement. From conception to execution, this episode pulls back the curtain on Luger and the collaborative vision that brought it to life.Learn more at https://lugerlapelicula.com/en/ Become 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 Jan 39min