Junk Filter

The film writers Brian Abrams and Will Sloan return to the podcast for a salute to one of our favourite screen presences, the great American character actor Joe Don Baker, who passed away this month at the age of 89.  We discuss the full arc of Joe Don’s career, thrust into leading man status in the early seventies playing Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser who waged war against the Dixie Mob in 1973’s populist smash hit Walking Tall, and the less financially successful followup with the same director (Phil Karlson), the brutal, sweaty noir thriller Framed, to the role that (like it or not) defined him for so many in the culture as a scuzzy cop in 1975’s Mitchell (immortalized on one of the funniest episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000) to his comeback in the eighties in the masterful BBC miniseries Edge of Darkness (where he received the most acclaim he ever got as an actor), his several appearances in the Bond series (where he played both a good guy and a bad guy), and his notable supporting role in Scorsese’s remake of Cape Fear.  Over 30% of all Junk Filter episodes are only available to patrons of the podcast. To support this show directly and to receive access to the entire back catalogue, consider becoming a patron for only $5.00 a month (U.S.) at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/junkfilter [patreon.com/junkfilter ] Follow Brian Abrams on Twitter [https://x.com/BrianAbrams] and Letterboxd [https://letterboxd.com/brianabrams/]. Brian and Liz Charboneau have a new film podcast: It Gets Better [https://open.spotify.com/show/06GZbt5dBBng9oUiPMjL1s?si=c306c8f431b14865]. Follow Will Sloan on Twitter [https://x.com/WillSloanEsq] and Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/willsloanesq.bsky.social] and subscribe to his substack [https://willsloan.substack.com/] and his podcasts The Important Cinema Club [https://soundcloud.com/the-important-cinema-club] and Michael and Us [https://soundcloud.com/michael-and-us]. Will’s new book Ed Wood: Made in Hollywood USA [https://orbooks.com/catalog/ed-wood/] (OR Books) can be purchased now!  “RIP JDB [https://open.substack.com/pub/willsloan/p/rip-jdb?r=zehz&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false]”, from Will’s substack, May 19, 2025 Trailer gallery: Walking Tall [https://youtu.be/gdK46jC7ADk?si=C5fu1zViiEgVcnfU] (Phil Karlson, 1973) Golden Needles [https://youtu.be/CTi2DvIgPdc?si=49lYeQonndHUonXQ] (Robert Clouse, 1974) Mitchell [https://youtu.be/3RMqsRe-BxM?si=oD0tyVBqy3K-7S5M](Andrew V. McLaglen, 1975) Checkered Flag or Crash [https://youtu.be/yQwkNP5DvHA?si=pXrOunsXnJki-kuk] (Alan Gibson, 1977) Joysticks [https://youtu.be/MTN6SlYfGnM?si=XJDiW5o3mUUiyHcF] (Greydon Clark, 1983) German trailer for Getting Even [https://youtu.be/cL8bslZDM_Q?si=u60cV5KXsV4f6OqB] (Dwight H. Little, 1986)

Access this entire 90-minute episode (and additional monthly bonus shows) by becoming a Junk Filter patron for only $5.00 (US) a month! Over 30% of episodes are exclusively available to patrons of the show. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.patreon.com/posts/186-apprentice-2-115230237]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.patreon.com/posts/188-teri-garr-21-116729215]https://www.patreon.com/posts/212-accountant-2-128936873 [https://www.patreon.com/posts/212-accountant-2-128936873] The comedy writer Ursula Lawrence returns to the podcast from Madison Wisconsin for a sequel to our Junk Filter episode about Ben Affleck’s ludicrous 2016 thriller The Accountant. Coming along almost 9 years after the original, Gavin O’Connor’s The Accountant 2 chronicles the continuing adventures of Christian Wolff, the autistic number-cruncher slash hitman who is brought in to solve the murder of retired Financial Crimes detective J.K. Simmons and crack a human trafficking ring with the help of his estranged assassin brother Braxton (Jon Bernthal) and his silent partner Justine who runs a secret school of autistic hacker children who can break into any computer system to help him solve the case. Whereas the first film was so serious in tone it lapsed into unintentional comedy, the sequel doubles down not only on the laughs (and convoluted plotting) but also on the controversial portrayal of autism as a superpower to create an equally loopy thriller / hangout film that forges the way to this becoming a regular franchise, and stands as a necessary cultural corrective to Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s ongoing real-life demonization of people with autism. In fact we hope RFK Jr. is the villain in The Accountant 3! Plus: a discussion of the Oscar-winning short film The Accountant (2001) starring a pre-fame Walton Goggins, and a deluge of bad puns from the reviews of The Accountant 2! Follow Ursula Lawrence on Twitter [https://x.com/UrsulaLawrence] and Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/ursulalawrence.bsky.social] and you can purchase the latest edition of her French Republican Wall Calendar [https://frenchrepublicanwallcalendar.com/] here! Trailer #2 for The Accountant 2 [https://youtu.be/HPMh3AO4Gm0?si=eoeZWjG4HWmMsRsb] (Gavin O’Connor, 2025)

CW: This episode contains discussions of alcoholism and cinematic violence including animal cruelty. The writer, comedian and musician Patrick Marlborough returns to the podcast from Perth, WA to discuss Wake in Fright (1971), the landmark Australian film by the late Canadian director Ted Kotcheff.  One of only two films to be shown twice in the history of the Cannes Film Festival, and influential in shaping both the Australian New Wave and Ozploitation genres, Wake in Fright was acclaimed around the world but outraged local audiences with its brutal and merciless depiction of Australian toxic masculinity, violence, and alcoholism. Patrick gives us some insight on how Wake in Fright captures some of the ugliest aspects of the Australian national character, and we discuss how Kotcheff’s Canadian-ness was an asset for his outsider’s view of this world, the amazing supporting performance by Aussie comic screen icon Chips Rafferty in his final role, and how this great film was nearly lost forever. Over 30% of all Junk Filter episodes are only available to patrons of the podcast. To support this show directly and to receive access to the entire back catalogue, consider becoming a patron for only $5.00 a month (U.S.) at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/junkfilter [patreon.com/junkfilter ] Follow Patrick Marlborough [https://www.patrickmarlborough.com/] on Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/cormacmccafe.bsky.social], and subscribe to their wonderful Substack The Yeah Nah Review [https://yeahnah.substack.com/]. Trailer for the new restoration of Wake in Fright [https://youtu.be/7Cv75ZDOVx8?si=5xn9ZQ9tan8_Jz4r](Ted Kotcheff, 1971) Original US trailer for Wake in Fright [https://youtu.be/2A3b9H0-yFY?si=2PV_lrnJKtuMHJKg](aka Outback) "The Making of Wake in Fright [https://www.sbs.com.au/whats-on/article/the-making-of-wake-in-fright-part-one/f7bhxp6vi]", Peter Galvin’s extensive 3-part feature on the production, for SBS  “Wake in Fright understood the horrors of Australian booze culture. 50 years on, nothing’s changed [https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/apr/10/wake-in-fright-understood-the-horrors-of-australian-booze-culture-50-years-on-nothings-changed]” by Joseph Earp, for The Guardian, April 9, 2025 “Andor in the Genocide [https://overland.org.au/2025/04/andor-in-the-genocide/]” by Patrick Marlborough, for the literary journal Overland, April 30, 2025

The writer and podcaster Will Sloan returns for a show about Robert De Niro’s latest film, Barry Levinson’s The Alto Knights, where he plays two parts on screen, the mob boss Frank Costello and his hotheaded rival Vito Genovese, and their decades-long struggle for control of the New York mafia. The Alto Knights was the pet project of Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who brought this expensive vanity production to the screen seemingly as a personal favour to the veteran screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi, a film made by elderly creatives that flopped hard at the box office on release. So why this project? And why is Robert De Niro playing both lead parts? This is what Will and I wanted to know, and so we discuss the failures of The Alto Knights along with a look at De Niro’s public persona as one of Trump’s biggest haters and how he can still deliver as a great actor from time to time, depending on the director.  Over 30% of all Junk Filter episodes are only available to patrons of the podcast. To support this show directly and to receive access to the entire back catalogue, consider becoming a patron for only $5.00 a month (U.S.) at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/junkfilter [patreon.com/junkfilter ] Follow Will Sloan on Twitter [https://x.com/WillSloanEsq] and Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/willsloanesq.bsky.social] and subscribe to his wonderful podcasts The Important Cinema Club [https://soundcloud.com/the-important-cinema-club] and Michael and Us [https://soundcloud.com/michael-and-us]. Will’s new book Ed Wood: Made in Hollywood USA [https://orbooks.com/catalog/ed-wood/] (OR Books) can be purchased now!  Trailer for The Alto Knights [https://youtu.be/1aayuOp0AnE?si=vzTsZBgVJoplaxY4] (Barry Levinson, 2025)

Access this entire 92-minute episode (and additional monthly bonus shows) by becoming a Junk Filter patron for only $5.00 (US) a month! Over 30% of episodes are exclusively available to patrons of the show. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.patreon.com/posts/186-apprentice-2-115230237]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/posts/209-beekeeper-126797811 [https://www.patreon.com/posts/188-teri-garr-21-116729215] The writer and friend of the pod Adam Jackson returns for a look at the new dynamic duo of American action cinema, Jason Statham and director David Ayer, who are on a roll these days at the multiplex. 2024’s The Beekeeper was a solid hit, a ludicrous conceit milked for every drop of its potential, starring Statham as a retired secret military operative who goes back to the life when a friend is exploited by a shady phishing operation, and as he moves up the pyramid taking revenge it turns out this criminal enterprise goes all the way up to the heights of state power.   The followup, A Working Man (co-written by Sylvester Stallone!) finds Statham as Levon Cade, a former British soldier now working in construction in Chicago, who is asked to rescue the daughter of his employer from a sex trafficking ring run by the Russian Mafia.  We discuss this unique writer/director partnership, a lightning round of some of our favourite Jason Statham movies, and the many highlights from both The Beekeeper and A Working Man, action films that know what they are, deliver the goods and correctly identify the worst people in today’s society (scam artists, crypto bros, white South African psychos and guys with Jared Leto beards).  Follow Adam Jackson on Twitter [https://twitter.com/adamjacksonreal] and Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/adambyadamjackson.bsky.social].  Follow Junk Filter [https://bsky.app/profile/junkfilterpod.bsky.social] on Bluesky too! Trailer for The Beekeeper [https://youtu.be/SzINZZ6iqxY?si=C3EuYiXWx59dtd6Y](David Ayer, 2024) Trailer for A Working Man [https://youtu.be/zTbgNC42Ops?si=1nb-meijQhCCJGHY] (David Ayer, 2025)