Gartbage Film

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!

This week we're getting expended as we wrap up Bong June-ho with Bong Joon-ho's sexy sci-fi farce, MICKEY 17 from this very year of 2025! Full spoilers ahead as we discuss Bong's version of a feel-good love story, Edward Ashton's original novel MICKEY 7, the inherently boring faces of techno-religious fascism, reconciling your morality with your identity in late-stage capitalism, and how "lower" classes can become a self-exploitative population. Y'know, comedy! It's the Robert Pattinson show -- his mondo weirdo energy, falling down stairs, underwear modeling, and the DNA his performances share with Jim Carrey. Plus, we're getting into Naomi Ackie's "he said no pickles" performance, Steven Yeun's underrated comedic chops, and Mark Ruffalo's fake teeth and Toni Collette's sauces. And to wrap up the series, we're giving our top 3 Bongs. We think you'll agree that our choices are very brave.

Malkovich to you and welcome to the second set of Bong June-ho! This pair of episodes is all about thinking about the concept of a Guy. What if several guys became one guy? What if one guy was several guys? We're here to answer these questions and more, starting with Spike Jonze's 1999 dark comedy headtrip, BEING JOHN MALKOVICH. We get into Spike Jonze's BMX and MTV lifestyle, Charlie Kaufman's sketch comedy origins, our feelings on John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, and Catherine Keener. And of course the question everyone wants the answer to: why Malkovich? This movie's prescience lies in its surreal prediction of fan culture, and we are forced to invoke the dreaded phrase: "you couldn't make this today", while dredging up our corporate job histories. We're also drawing parallels between Bong Joon-ho's filmography and why he lists this as one of his favourites! Next time we wrap up our set of Guys by hanging out with several Robert Pattinsons in MICKEY 17!

Bong June-ho enters its second second week, and its first from our mini-series' namesake. It's time to discuss Bong Joon-ho's THE HOST from 2006 to complete our set of screw ups in the backdrop of failed American imperialisms with REPO MAN. One of Bong's trademarks is his depiction of class in his films, and while this isn't the first example in his repertoire, it's his first film expressly focused on class. We love our family of screw up underdogs led by Song Kang-ho, and we're doing our best to determine an Official THE HOST Sibling Order. Alarmingly, this movie's premise is based on a true life incident, the McFarland Incident! Somehow, this film is a less ridiculous version of the real story, and we're discussing this and the political fallout that chased Bong upon this film's release. Next time on the pod: what if a guy was multiple guys? And what if you were all those guys? It's the first part of our next pairing, Spike Jonze's BEING JOHN MALKOVICH 1999!

It's time for another mini-series: it's Bong June-ho! We're taking some of Bong' Joon-ho's favourite films and pairing them with his own and first up: fuck ups trying to survive against the backdrop of failing American imperialism. Today we start things off with Alex Cox's 1984 debut, REPO MAN! We're discussing our journey with this movie as we went from mild haters to powerful lovers, unfiltered punk worldviews, and how the soundtrack to REPO MAN changed America's punk landscape forever thanks in large part to Iggy Pop. We're trashing Reagan and car culture while praising Cox's beautiful ode to character through its casting choices. Plus, Nick tells Erin about the Brat Pack and we commit to at least 200 episodes for a Jazz Punk Teen surprise! Next time, we complete the pairing with Bong Joon-ho's monster movie with a fuck up at its centre: THE HOST.