Gartbage Film

132: Bound (1996) - Butch Fatale

It's beginning to look a lot like Noirvember! This week we're getting steamy with the Wachowski's debut film, BOUND from 1996. Before getting into the film we're discussing the Wachowskis at large, their graphic novel and Hong Kong cinema influences, and how Bound was their Hollywood guarantor. This unique noir takes the Billy Wilder and Hitchcock influences and makes it the Wachowskis' own - we're breaking down the how's and why's, and how this feeds perfectly into the Matrix. Gina Gershon, Jennifer Tilly, and Joe Pantoliano are in the finest forms of their career, with Gershon and Tilly fighting over casting, and Joey Pants fighting to be nude on screen. Plus we learn how the crew became fluent in Wachowski as Susie Bright's proto-intimacy coordinating, Bill Pope's visuals, Zach Staenberg's editing, and Don Davis' music bring the sisters' style to the screen. Plus: sex, sex, SEX!

131: Interview with the Vampire (1994) - Rat Capri Suns

Our exploration of the spooky south continues with Neil Jordan's 1994 adaptation of Anne Rice's INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE! We love the insane family dynamics of our vampire trio, and so this episode importantly praises Kirsten Dunst, is okay with Brad Pitt, is in awe of whatever Tom Cruise is doing, and is surprised by least erotic Antonio Banderas performance. We are of course finding a way to make this story about class, Nick compares Rice to Charles Dickens, and we ask the ultimate question: what does this have to do with Cher? Plus, more teenaged Erin lore surrounding her experience with this book, how this book and film changed fan fiction forever, and another edition of Graboid Onto These Facts. Next time on the pod we're getting into Noirvember with the Wachowski sisters' debut, BOUND! Note: there is a little audio hiccup around 46:00-47:00 -- it is temporary and does not occur throughout the episode.

130: Lone Star (1996) - Miller/Daddy Time

Hot off SINNERS last week, this week we're tackling a different kind of story about racial tensions in the south: independent filmmaker novelist John Sayles' neo-western mystery, LONE STAR from 1996! We're talking Sayles' career and how his fingerprints cover Hollywood from Roger Corman to ET the Extraterrestrial before diving into thoughts on the Alamo. And in our discussion of this film's themes and central mystery that deal with the grey areas of borders we all experience, we define once and for all what "politics in movies" means. The cast is all on fire, and we discuss how Chris Cooper plays subtext to the back walls, how we need to see more Elizabeth Peña & Joe Morton, how Kris Kristofferson is always scary, and how Matthew McConaughey has always been Daddy. Next time we're squeezing in something spooky just in time -- Tom Cruise goes southern gothic in INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE!

129: Sinners (2025) - Michaels B Jordanin'

Gartbage is back and we're heading south with several Michael B Jordan's for Ryan Coogler's period horror musical SINNERS! As always, we're discussing with full spoilers. We're tracing Sinners' path from conception to theatre, from Coogler's visit to a cotton plantation outside of Atlanta, to discovering Miles Caton and treating Jack O'Connell like Beyonce, to one of the best theatre experiences of the year. This film trusts its audiences in ways that recent blockbusters haven't, so we're getting into some of the details that make up this (our?) world: Hoodoo, the Great Migration, Juke Joints, Choctaw vampire hunters, we've got it all. Plus, Erin breaks down how Ludwig Goransson's blues-based score helps tell this story of racism, colonialism, and vampires. And how did we feel about the big Generations dance scene? The answer may surprise you! Next week we're taking another look at racial and colonial attitudes in the south with John Sayles' LONE STAR (1996)

128.5 Criterion Closet - France, Please Adopt Us

We're back! It's a mini-sode to catch us up after a long break, and we're breaking format to discuss our recent visit to the Mobile Criterion Closet! We made new movie folk friends, played some movie trivia for fabulous prizes, and, most importantly, made our Official Criterion Closet picks. We're also talking about our recent cinematic obsessions, finally getting French New Wave films, guys we made up to get mad at, and lament not getting to participate in TIFF this year. Join us next time for a return to our typical format with this year's vampire musical, SINNERS!