Enter The Void

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SXE2: 8½ Feb 20, 2019

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Today Renan and Bill lose their neorealist chains and grapple with the 1963 Federico Fellini film 8½, hailed by armchair film scholars as one of the greatest films of all time. More than 50 years on, how does it hold up? Undoubtedly and deservedly a classic, 8½ today looks different than it did in the 1960s, or even the 1990s. In this episode: 8½'s attitudes toward women; Pauline Kael's critical review; Guido's heirs including Don Draper; Fellini's virtuosic filmmaking; whither the imperial film director; and other films about filmmaking. Also, Bill offers some hot Sundance tips, and we highlight a listener's electronic music project providing an alternate score to Eraserhead.

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SXE1: 12 MONKEYS / LA JETÉE Feb 06, 2019

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We're back with the first of our last run of episodes, and today's episode is a two-for-one deal: we mostly discuss Terry Gilliam's 1996* time travel thriller 12 MONKEYS, with Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe and Brad Pitt, and weave throughout discussion of the 1962 French featurette that inspired it, LA JETÉE. Discussed in this episode: how does time travel work (or not) in these movies? What do we think happens after the events of 12 Monkeys? Is there anything La Jetée does better? What lessons do these movies have for modern audiences? Did you find all the character actors from The Wire in 12 Monkeys? How about the Nas Illmatic posters? And, what are we to make of Terry Gilliam's career overall?

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SXE0: PREVIEW Jan 23, 2019

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Well, what have we here—it's the tenth season of ENTER THE VOID! Your patience has been rewarded: Bill and Renan are back for what we are gratuitously terming "Season X". (Multiple pronunciations accepted.) This time, we're doing things a little bit differently. The good news: we'll be doing 10 films instead of 8; we're going bimonthly, which may be bad if you need your fix, or good if you already have a lot of podcast obligations (we know the feeling); and we're doing a couple of bonus episodes, including a long-overdue discussion of mindfuck television, plus a finale / retrospective / wrap-up. And here's the bad: yep, about that finale—this will be the last season of ETV, at least for awhile, as Bill and Renan turn their attentions to new projects after this. We're not saying goodbye, we're saying "indefinite hiatus". But we're excited to go out with a bang, hit 100 total episodes, and we hope you'll come along for the ride. Here are the films we've got in store for you this season:

12 Monkeys (Gilliam) / La Jetée (Marker)
8½ (Fellini)
Inception (Nolan)
Being John Malkovich (Jonze)
The Fly (Cronenberg)
Fight Club (Fincher)
Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie / Un Chien Andalou (Buñuel)
Perfect Blue (Kon)
Groundhog Day (Ramis)
Blue Velvet (Lynch)

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S9E8: THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER Oct 31, 2018

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At last, it's the season 9 finale, and we go out with a bang: THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER by writer-director Yorgos Lanthimos and co-writer Efthymis Filippou is one of the most searing film experiences of the last few years. Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, and Barry Keoghan star in this family drama / suspense thriller / haunted house / horror film, which despite being a tough hang that no one's really sure what it's about, was also widely praised upon release in 2017. In this episode, your hosts discuss their experiences watching it a second time, the story's roots in Greek mythology, Lanthimos' cold but invigorating style, and appraise the slippery career of one Mr. Farrell. Also: RIP FilmStruck, the streaming service that was too good to live.

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S9E7: ALTERED STATES Oct 24, 2018

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For the penultimate episode of season 9, your hosts alter their consciousness and explore ALTERED STATES, a 1980 sci-fi horror film written by Paddy Chayefsky, directed by Ken Russell, and today known as much for its far-out story as for its creators' infamous feud. William Hurt stars as Eddie Jessup, an academic whose experiments with sensory deprivation and hallucinogenic drugs lead him to "regress" to an earlier evolutionary state. (Literally!) Fully committed and totally bonkers, Altered States is something you have to experience for yourself, especially the wild, sexually charged religious visions; the preposterously verbose dialogue; not to mention that whole thing with the acrobatic caveman. Plus: did this movie make anyone else think of Ghostbusters? Episode links:

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S9E6: SUNSHINE Oct 17, 2018

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In today's episode, your hosts grapple with the Danny Boyle-directed, Alex Garland-written 2007 science-fiction horror-thriller SUNSHINE. A commercial failure at the time, with a mixed reception among critics, the film has over the past decade gained an appreciable cult following. But what do your hosts think? Is it a spooky, contemplative outer space film with some third act troubles? Is it a stylish but conceptually thin entertainment that needed a major rethink? Maybe both! You'll just have to listen and find out. Also discussed: which story elements worked and which ones didn't; how much we should care about scientific accuracy, the career arcs of Boyle and Garland; and whether it's ever a good idea for smart characters to do dumb things.

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S9E5: JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN Oct 10, 2018

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Once nearly impossible to find and now... still pretty tough to obtain via legitimate means, Dalton Trumbo's JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN—the 1971 film he wrote and directed based on his own 1939 novel—is both legendary and forgotten at the same time. It tells the disturbing tale of a young soldier who loses his limbs and nearly all of his senses, but whose mind remains intact as he's trapped inside his own body in a military hospital. Adapted into Metallica's music video "One" and rubbing shoulders with the great anti-war and surrealist films, Johnny Got His Gun is not easy to watch. Also discussed: the film's most effective techniques; Trumbo's career and politics; other adaptations on stage and film; and its maybe-possible influence on Better Call Saul. Plus: does Metallica really own the film outright?

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S9E4: ANGEL HEART Oct 03, 2018

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Alan Parker's 1987 ANGEL HEART contains explicit sex, voodoo rituals, amnesia, chickens, and a few shocking twists that your hosts figured out at different points. In today's episode, they reveal when they knew what and compare their impressions of this not-quite-successful but still semi-legendary Hollywood thriller, now more than thirty years old. Combining elements of gothic horror and film noir, featuring performances from early period Mickey Rourke, mid-period Robert DeNiro, and only-period Lisa Bonet, Angel Heart is worth considering for its religious motifs, keen historical detail, uncomfortable datedness, sometimes horrifying imagery, sometimes goofy dialogue, and its relationship to films like Devil's Advocate, Jacob's Ladder (which we covered in season 3) plus Sixth Sense and even Big Lebowski.

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S9E3: FANTASTIC PLANET Sep 26, 2018

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Our third episode this season is about the semi-obscure but recently-Criterioned 1973 French animated film FANTASTIC PLANET, or La Planète Sauvage(literally, "wild planet"), from the minds of René Laloux and Roland Topor, with music by Alain Goraguer, based on a novel by Stefan Wul. It's a psychedelic audiovisual trip, and tells the story of an advanced alien society of blue people who like to meditate almost as much as they like to toy with the fates of the comparatively-tiny humanoids who roam their planet. It's a film about interplanetary race relations, or maybe it's unfamiliar environmentalism, or telling the difference between pest control and genocide. Also discussed in this episode: what other animated works would you like to see get a Criterion release?

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S9E2: RAW Sep 19, 2018

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Is Julia Ducornau's 2016 film RAW (French: Grave) a coming of age film about cannibalism? A body horror film about family relationships? A tale of sexual discovery and veterinary practices? Yes, no, and maybe—but not necessarily in that order! In this episode, Bill and Renan consider a film they might not otherwise have been drawn to... with sexy results! Discussed: what the film has to say about cannibalism and teenage sexuality, not to mention college hazing rituals; whether Raw is a true horror movie or something else; references to Kubrick, PTA, and Cronenberg; other films about bloodthirsty teenage girls (and veterinarians); what would people say about Raw if a man directed it; and, Bill's own recent up-close experience with wild horses.

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