Junk Filter

Latest Episodes:

TEASER - 33: X Gave It To Ya (with Adam Jackson) May 20, 2021

Show notes

Access the entire 81 minute episode (and additional bonus episodes) by becoming a patron of Junk Filter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/51486104

Toronto’s own Adam Jackson (a former contributor to Vice and Noisey) strikes a victory for Reply Guys everywhere by talking himself onto the podcast as a guest to discuss the late DMX as a screen actor.

We discuss 5 of his performances: his debut, the influential hip hop classic Belly (1998), his trilogy of dumb studio action films by the overqualified cinematographer turned director Andrzej Bartkowiak - Romeo Must Die (2000), Exit Wounds (2001) and Cradle 2 The Grave (2003), and his most ambitious film, Ernest Dickerson’s misunderstood crime drama Never Die Alone (2004). DMX discovered the source material by the Black pulp fiction novelist Donald Goines when he was in prison and used his clout in Hollywood to get it made as a movie: a disturbing and often grimly effective potboiler about how a sociopath’s mind operates.

We also discuss our shared neighbourhood of Bloordale: a magical land of bodegas, ice cream shops and numerous weed dispensaries.

Follow Adam Jackson on Twitter and on Instagram

Trailer for Belly (Hype Williams, 1998)

Trailer for Never Die Alone (Ernest Dickerson, 2004)

DMX meeting Rakim for the first time backstage - a touching clip, RIP king

32: The Nasty Girl (with David Demchuk) May 17, 2021

Show notes

Toronto-based playwright and author David Demchuk (The Bone Mother) joins the pod to discuss Michael Verhoeven’s The Nasty Girl (1990), a coming-of-age tale based on a true story about a precocious and tenacious young student who enrages her small German town as she relentlessly endeavours to uncover what life was really like there during the Third Reich.

Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, The Nasty Girl has kept a lower profile in recent years but is fascinating to reconsider today with its unexpected use of comedy and Brechtian distancing devices (rear-screen projection, direct address, surrealist scene staging) to tell this troubling tale about buried history and the plight of the truth-teller, grounded by an incredible performance by Lena Stolze.

David also discusses his upcoming horror novel RED X.

David’s latest novel RED X comes to you from boundary-pushing Penguin Random House imprint Strange Light on August 31. Preorder now!

Canada: http://tinyurl.com/RED-X-CDA

US: http://tinyurl.com/RED-X-USA

David's website: daviddemchuk.com

David's nice Twitter: @david demchuk

David's not-as-nice Twitter: @dd_toronto

German trailer for Das schreckliche Mädchen (Michael Verhoeven, 1990)

31: Dick Pix (with Jacob Bacharach) May 12, 2021

Show notes

The author Jacob Bacharach joins the pod from Blacksburg, Virginia to discuss selected film adaptations of the work of sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick.

We feature two films that understood the assignment, striking the balance between properly adapting PKD while retaining the integrity of the filmmaker’s vision - Paul Verhoeven’s Total Recall and Richard Linklater’s underrated A Scanner Darkly.

We also talk about two projects that show how you can go wrong adapting Dick: John Woo’s last Hollywood film Paycheck and the recent Amazon series The Man in the High Castle, both works that fundamentally mishandle their source material.

Obviously we talk about Elon Musk, how High Castle feels like Nazi Mad Men, John Woo getting bossed around by Ben Affleck in Vancouver, and how much we both miss the actual acting of Robert Downey, Jr.

Follow Jacob Bacharach on Twitter and check out jacobbacharach.com

Jacob is a Junk Filter patron! Consider being one too, and receive access to bonus episodes - Patreon.com/junkfilter

Teaser trailer for Total Recall (Verhoeven, 1990)

Trailer for Paycheck (Woo, 2003)

Trailer for A Scanner Darkly (Linklater, 2006)

Trailer for The Man in the High Castle, Season 1 (2015)

TEASER - 30: But Seriously, ffolkes (with Corey Atad, Ben Gordon, Meg Shields, Anna Swanson) May 11, 2021

Show notes

Access the entire 99 minute episode (and additional bonus episodes) by becoming a patron of Junk Filter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/51136898

This panel discussion episode is a deep dive into the bizarre 1980 maritime action film ffolkes (aka North Sea Hijack) starring Roger Moore and James Mason, made in between Moonraker and For Your Eyes Only.

A terrorist cell led by Anthony Perkins and Michael Parks hijacks a supply ship in the North Sea, attaches bombs to an oil rig and a refinery platform and demands 25 million pounds in 24 hours or they will blow them all up and create an environmental catastrophe. The Prime Minister does not want to be seen to be negotiating with terrorists so she arranges for Lloyds of London to engage the services of Rufus Excalibur ffolkes, an eccentric counter-terrorism expert who ticks all the Pure Cinema boxes - he’s an alcoholic bearded genius who hates women, loves cats and doing needlepoint, and puts together a covert team to thwart the bad guys in a race against time.

Returning guests Anna Swanson and Corey Atad are joined by Ben Gordon and Meg Shields for a free-wheeling celebration of this stopwatch thriller for Dads that is much more entertaining than it has any right to be.

Follow these lovelies on Twitter:

ffolkes (1980) - trailer

28: Roe v. Wade & Gutfeld! (with Alex Shephard) Apr 23, 2021

Show notes

The New Republic’s Alex Shephard joins the show from Brooklyn to discuss the new Conservative propaganda film Roe v. Wade, filmed three years ago in the hopes of cashing in on the anticipated repeal of a woman’s right to abortion access by a conservative Supreme Court, but only now dribbling out to VOD in the early days of the new Biden administration.

The film’s director Nick Loeb also stars as an amoral abortionist who reveals "the truth" about his profession, the Henry Hill of this shameless attempt to simulate the style of both Goodfellas and Oliver Stone’s JFK, with a cast stuffed with conservative Hollywood stars as well as a raft of cameos from several alt-right personalities. And like JFK, the film presents an alternative conspiracy theory version of recent American history, but loaded with anti-Semitic stereotypes, stomach-churning tactics and outright lies designed to discredit Planned Parenthood and the Women's liberation movement.

It’s a repellent movie on all levels but Alex and I put ourselves through it so you don't have to, for a discussion about the motivations of the filmmakers, our observations on the modern conservative impulse to create entertainment at all costs to own the libs (despite their movement's supposed contempt for showbiz), and the amateurish, mediocre failures that result.

Speaking of which, Alex and I also discuss the worst new show on television - Gutfeld!

Consider becoming a patron of Junk Filter to get access to bonus episodes: patreon.com/junkfilter

Check out Danpilled II, the sequel to the Junk Filter episode on Steely Dan, over at Matthew Perpetua's Fluxpod!

Follow Alex Shephard on Twitter.

"Is Gutfeld! the Worst Show on Television?" - Alex’s article for The New Republic, April 8, 2021

Teaser trailer from when Roe v. Wadewas supposed to be released in 2019

Marlow Stern’s brutal interview with Jamie Kennedy on how he wound up getting involved in this movie, from The Daily Beast, April 2, 2021

27: Shakedown (with Ricky Camilleri) Apr 18, 2021

Show notes

Ricky Camilleri of the Thirty Years Later podcast joins the show from Brooklyn to talk about the 1988 James Glickenhaus thriller Shakedown (released internationally as Blue Jean Cop). Shakedown is a prime example of Dudes Rock cinema: films that celebrate and uphold the ideals of male friendship.

Peter Weller is an overworked but idealistic NYC public defender who takes the case of a crack dealer accused of murder; when the victim turns out to be an undercover cop and his client insists he acted his self-defense, Weller teams up with Sam Elliott, a tough undercover cop who knows all about the “Blue Jean Cops” in the NYPD who run a criminal racket robbing crack dealers. Together this unlikely duo battle New York's crack kingpin and the gang of dirty cops.

Shakedown is simultaneously slick, ridiculous and progressive—an entertaining, go-for-broke movie with serious, relevant subject matter. Imagine “the People’s Lethal Weapon”, as Ricky calls it. Featuring spectacular stunts and action on grimy pre-Giuliani Times Square locations, it’s one of the few American action films to get anywhere near the reigning style of Hong Kong action films of the same period. In this ep we revel in our shared appreciation for this fun James Glickenhaus movie that has flown below the radar for too long.

Consider becoming a patron of Junk Filter to get access to bonus episodes: patreon.com/junkfilter

Follow Ricky Camilleri on Twitter.

Check out Ricky’s movie podcast with Chris Chafin, Thirty Years Later.

Trailer for Shakedown (Glickenhaus, 1988)

“How I Saved A Coked Up Miles Davis After He Crashed His Lamborghini” by James Glickenhaus, for Jalopnik, June 20, 2012

Jesse’s Dudes Rock film list on Letterboxd.

TEASER - 26: Rebels of the Neon God (with Ruairí McCann) Apr 11, 2021

Show notes

Access the entire 68 minute episode (and additional bonus episodes) by becoming a patron of Junk Filter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/49910402

Our first international guest, Belfast-based film critic and editor Ruairí McCann, joins the podcast to discuss the great Taiwanese filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang and his auspicious first feature, 1992’s Rebels of the Neon God, a film that took 23 years to get a North American release.

Rebels of the Neon God set the tone for Tsai Ming-liang's singular film career: his exploration of urban loneliness, the use of public and private spaces, and the beginning of his career-spanning work with actor Lee Kang-sheng, who was a teenager in this film and whose aging process into middle-age Tsai has been chronicling over the course of their partnership, in this most extraordinary ongoing collaboration between actor and director.

Ruairí and I discuss the evolution of Tsai as a filmmaker, his place within the Taiwanese New Wave (and his personal relationship with the legacy of the French New Wave), and I also talk with Ruairí about the recent riots that have been raging in Belfast, and how life in Northern Ireland has been during the pandemic.

Follow Ruairí McCann on Twitter.

Ruairí has a lot on the go these days:

- Ultra Dogme, a film and music criticism website where he’s managing editor

- photogénie, a Belgium-based, internationally-run film periodical where he’s contributing editor

- Electric Ghost Magazine, a film essay and review website based in London, where he’s a staff critic and contributing editor

Ruairí’s recent piece on Tsai Ming-liang's recent film Days, for Ultra Dogme.

Go! Go! Gorillo - King Kong Loves The Blonde One- music video for an Austrian rock band directed by the great Wakaliwood filmmaker Nabwana I.GG

25: Cocktails and Dreams (with Robyn Citizen) Apr 05, 2021

Show notes

Robyn Citizen, TIFF’s Senior Manager of Festival Programming, joins the program to discuss one of her obsessions: 1988's box office smash Cocktail.

Cocktail was adapted for the screen by Heywood Gould from his own novel, but the dark tale was significantly brightened when Disney refashioned the film as a Tom Cruise vehicle for Touchstone Pictures during their domination of the multiplex in the eighties. The film started the “flair bartender” craze and its soundtrack spawned two monster radio hits: “Kokomo” by The Beach Boys and “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” by Bobby McFerrin. Cocktail waspartly shot in Toronto. It was also the film Cruise was working on when he joined the Church of Scientology.

Taken as sunny mass entertainment in the eighties, Cocktail’s darker elements can be seen more clearly today: time has revealed its grim sexual politics and its troubling depiction of “success” in the Reagan era. It's a great example of how sometimes America unintentionally tells on itself through its movies.

And since Robyn is from Texas, we had to talk about the other guy named Cruz.

Follow Robyn Citizen on Twitter.

A good profile of Heywood Gould and his experience working on Cocktail, by Nina Metz, Chicago Tribune, March 21, 2013.

23: Out For Justice (with Maggie Serota) Mar 26, 2021

Show notes

Brooklyn-based writer/journalist Maggie Serota (Spin, Esquire, Rolling Stone) joins the pod to discuss the mysteries of Steven Seagal’s movie career at Warner Bros. in the late eighties through the mid nineties with a deep dive into his bizarre 1991 Brooklyn-set crime thriller Out For Justice.

This was clearly Seagal’s attempt at being taken seriously as an actor, a pretentious mafia drama originally titled The Price of Our Blood with several allusions to On the Waterfront, an opening title card quoting playwright Arthur Miller, an overqualified supporting cast and showy Seagal acting monologues. Warner Bros. hacked this ego trip down to a standard-issue 90 minute Seagal actioner, and the studio-imposed results are fascinating.

Along the way Maggie and I talk through the enigma of Seagal - a cipher, a relentless fabulist, a movie star seemingly created in a laboratory who let the power go to his head, and a bit of a creep (allegedly! allegedly!)

Plus: a little chat about how the first Creed film hilariously skips over the details of how Adonis Creed’s father died, and this month’s 30th anniversary of The KLF’s album The White Room.

Follow Maggie Serota on Twitter.

Check out Maggie’s new podcast, Three Things With Maggie & Mike

"Man of Dishonor" - the notorious Spy magazine article on Steven Seagal's personal conduct, by John Connolly, July-August 1993 issue

"Seagal Under Siege", Ned Zeman, Vanity Fair, October 2002 - this article provides background on Seagal's longtime producer Julius Nasso who had a major hand in Out For Justice, and details the attempted (and partly successful) shakedown of Seagal by the mob.

The KLF - 3AM Eternal (music video)

TEASER - 22: Zack Snyder's Justice League (with Will Sloan, David Hains, Ethan Vestby) Mar 23, 2021

Show notes

Junk Filter patrons have access to the full 73 min episode as well as past and upcoming Premium episodes. Consider becoming a direct supporter of the program by becoming a patron. https://www.patreon.com/posts/49084707

The first panel discussion of the podcast features an in-depth discussion of Zack Snyder’s Justice League (Snyder, 2021). Was it worth the wait? Is the artist’s original vision an improvement on the 2017 studio release heavily doctored by Joss Whedon? And does this film finally answer the question first posed when the Snyder DC Trilogy began in 2013: “How does Superman shave?”

Follow Will Sloan, David Hains and Ethan Vestby on Twitter.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected