Call It, Friendo

200. Chungking Express (1994) & In the Mood for Love (2000)

This week, we discuss two films from celebrated Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai. The first is Chungking Express (1994), The film consists of two stories told in sequence, each about a different lovesick Hong Kong policeman mulling over his relationship with a woman. The second is In the Mood for Love (2000). The film follows a man (Tony Leung) and a woman (Maggie Cheung) in 1962 who discover that their spouses are having an affair.   Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:00:30) – Generation Kill, Pluribus season one, Wake Up Dead Man, Avatar: Fire and Ash, Zootropolis 2, Sentimental Value, Weapons, Hot Tub Time Machine, Darkest Hour, Pulp Fiction Chungking Express (00:34:05) In the Mood for Love (00:55:55)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com [https://www.justwatch.com] Carry On podcast - conversation with Josh Ray Person from Generation Kill - https://youtu.be/YQ9NLG8RNMk?si=oHSWzYbFnvOXWxRU [https://youtu.be/YQ9NLG8RNMk?si=oHSWzYbFnvOXWxRU]

199. Kanal (1957) & Ashes and Diamonds (1958)

This week, we discuss two WWII films from Polish director Andrzej Wajda. The first is Kanal (1957), the first film made about the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, telling the story of a company of Home Army resistance fighters escaping the Nazi onslaught through the city's sewers. The second is Ashes and Diamonds (1958). The film takes place in 1945, shortly after World War II. The main protagonist of the film, former Home Army soldier Maciek Chełmicki, is acting in the anti-Communist underground. Maciek receives an order to kill Szczuka, the local secretary of the Polish Workers' Party. Over time, Chełmicki increasingly doubts if his task is worth doing.   Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:00:30) – For All Mankind season three, The Death of Bunny Munro, Margin Call, A Generation Kanal (00:11:30) Ashes and Diamonds (00:30:45) Coin toss (00:48:30)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com [https://www.justwatch.com]

198. Devil in a Blue Dress (1995) & One False Move (1992)

This week, we discuss two films from director Carl Franklin. The first is Devil in a Blue Dress (1995), a smoky noir set in postwar Los Angeles, where a seemingly simple missing persons job pulls an everyman detective, played by Denzel Washington, into a web of corruption, racial tension and moral compromise. The second is One False Move (1992), starring Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton, a slow-burn crime thriller that begins as a manhunt and evolves into something far more unsettling.   Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:00:35) – The Bourne Trilogy, The Big Short, Dumb Money, The Godfather Part II, Dangerous Animals, Black Rabbit, Pluribus Devil in a Blue Dress (00:33:00) One False Move (00:58:00) Coin toss (01:22:20)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com [https://www.justwatch.com]

197. I for Icarus (1979) & The Day of the Jackal (1973)

This week, we discuss two films about political assassinations. The first is I for Icarus (1979), directed by Henri Verneuil and starring Yves Montand. The film is a fictionalised account of the JFK assassination, with the state attorney, played by Montand, investigating a potential conspiracy. The second is The Day of the Jackal (1973), directed by Fred Zinnemann and based on the novel by Frederick Forsyth. It tells the story of a British assassin recruited by the French OAS to assassinate President Charles de Gaulle.   Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:00:30) – Shallow Grave, A House of Dynamite, The Parallax View I for Icarus (0014:15) The Day of the Jackal (00:41:45) Coin toss (01:16:05)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com [https://www.justwatch.com]

196. Kafka (1991) & Brazil (1985)

This week, we examine two films shaped by the influence of Franz Kafka. The first, Kafka (1991), directed by Steven Soderbergh from a screenplay by Lem Dobbs, intertwines biographical details of Kafka’s life with motifs drawn from his fiction. The second, Brazil (1985), directed by Terry Gilliam, is frequently cited as one of the most profoundly Kafkaesque films ever made.   Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:00:26) – Eight Men Out, Entourage, The Sopranos, Project Almanac, Boss Level, Die My Love Kafka (00:27:06) Brazil (01:00:04) Coin toss (01:34:00)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com [https://www.justwatch.com]