The Projection Booth Podcast

Mike talks with filmmaker Phoebe Jane Hart about her latest short film, Bug Diner, which has been playing at major festivals in 2024. Be sure to catch it if you can.Visit https://www.phoebejanehart.com/ to learn more about Ms. Hart.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.

Mike talks with author Alonso Duralde about his latest book, Hollywood Pride: A Celebration of LGBTQ+ Representation and Perseverance in Film, an exhaustive look a queer film history and its participants. The book is now available for purchase. Buy it now at https://amzn.to/3UWpCPRBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.

Friend-of-the-Podcast Jonathan Penner returns to discuss the line-up for 2024's Escape from Tribeca program at the Tribeca Film Festival as well as some other events and programs of interest. The festival runs June 5-16. Get more details at https://tribecafilm.com/escape-from-tribecaBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.

Our story takes us to Memphis where Mike White is hot on the trail of John Michael McCarthy... a so-called "filmmaker" that trades in skin and sin, making lurid movies like The Sore Losers, Teenage Tupelo, Superstarlet A.D., and so much more.White gets every filthy detail about JMM's rap sheet and his new book filled with depravity and available via Fantagraphics: https://www.fantagraphics.com/products/teenage-tupelo Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.

Nine years after we took our first trip down the Fury Road, we're re-introduced to Furiosa (Alyla Browne / Anya Taylor-Joy) and told the tale of her journey from The Green Place to the Citadel and beyond.This is a cross-over episode with The Kulturecast where Chris Stachiw, Mike White, and Father Malone discuss this latest entry in George Miller's stunning filmography.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.

Mike spoke with production designer Victor Molero about his career from his early films in Spain to Tom Kallan's Savage Grace to his recent work on Paramount+'s A Gentleman in Moscow. Learn more about Mr. Molero at https://www.victormolero.com/Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.

Mike speaks with producer Glen Zipper about his career from being a prosecutor in New Jersey to being a documentarian. They speak about Zipper's latest film, The Blue Angels, a love letter to the amazing performers of the U.S. Navy.The film is playing theaters as well as being available on Amazon Prime.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.

Our month appreciating comedic films continues with The Coen Brothers’ Hudsucker Proxy.  Released in 1994, the film stars Tim Robbins as Norville Barnes, a graduate of Muncie Indiana’s business school.  He gets a job at Hudsucker Industries whose CEO, Waring Hudsucker, happens to join the great hereafter the day Norville begins work.  After a mix-up, Barnes goes all the way from the mail room to the boardroom and becomes the new interim head of the corporation. Rahne Alexander and David Kittrredge join Mike to discuss the ins, the outs, and the what-have-yous about this oft-overlooked tribute to classic screwball comedies told only in the way that the Coen Brothers (and Sam Raimi) could tell it.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.

Ian Brownell and Otto Bruno join Mike for a discussion of Preston Sturges and his 1944 film The Miracle of Morgan's Creek which stars Betty Hutton as Trudy Kockenlocker, a woman who really helps support the troops going off to World War Two. When she finds herself married to an unknown soldier and pregnant in her small town, she eyes 4F local Norval Jones (Eddie Bracken).Author Stuart Klawans talks about his outstanding book, Crooked, but Never Common: The Films of Preston Sturges , before the guys also visit Sturges's Hail the Conquering Hero (1944).Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.

Comedy month continues with a film that could be categorized as "pure action" film has a hard time being taken seriously, Tango & Cash (1989). Directed by Andrey Konchalovskiy, Albert Magnoli, and more, the film stars Sylvester Stallone as the stockbroker cum supercop Ray Tango and Kurt Russell as slobby supercop Gabriel Cash. Yes, they're an odd couple of cops who get sent up the river by crime boss Jack Palance. Chris and Lizzie of the What Went Wrong podcast join Mike to discuss the film while original screenwriter, Randy Feldman, and producer Peter MacDonald talk about the making of Tango & Cash.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.

As part of #Spider-Mondays, Mike was invited to do a live podcast at the Redford Theatre in Detroit after the screening of Spider-Man 2 (2004). He was joined by Dan Merritt of Green Brain Comics in Dearborn, Michigan. The two discussed director Sam Raimi's best entry in the Spider-series -- if not the best Spider-Man film of the bunch.Thanks to the Motor City Cinema Society and the Redford Theatre for making this possible.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.

We’re kicking off a month discussing comedy films with a look at Frank Oz’s Bowfinger.  Released in 1999, the film was written by and stars Steve Martin as the titular Bowfinger, a struggling filmmaker who, along with his group of misfit artists, makes a movie around the unknowing presence of unstable superstar Kit Ramsey, played by Eddie Murphy.Kevin Lehane and Rob St. Mary join Mike to keep it together. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.

Mike speaks with Nick Roth, writer and co-director (along with his wife, Lindsey Haun) of the 2024 film, Hanky Panky. The film is a comedy featuring a talking handkerchief.Find out where it's streaming at https://hankypankythemovie.com/Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.

Mike spoke with director Stefon Bristol about his new film, Breathe (2024), in which the earth is bereft of breathable air. They also discussed his earlier work, See You Yesterday.Breathe opens on April 26, 2024.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.

Mark Begley (Wake Up Heavy), Chris Stachiw (The Kulturecast), and Mike White (The Projection Booth) host this monthly podcast. Join us on an exciting journey through the illustrious career of this comedy icon as we explore his groundbreaking roles, behind-the-scenes stories, and timeless contributions to the world of entertainment.Each episode of the Chasing Chevy Chase podcast brings you expert analysis, and nostalgic reflections on Chevy Chase's most iconic characters in classic films like National Lampoon's Vacation, Caddyshack, and Fletch.On our official first episode we're discussing Joe Camp and his Benji Empire which includes the film Oh! Heavenly Dog (1980) in which Chevy plays a private dick whose killed on a case and gets sent back to Earth not as Warren Beatty but Benji the dog.  He tries to solve the case of his own murder and continue wooing Jane Seymour. Subscribe today at http://www.chasingchevypodcast.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.

We conclude a month of discussing Japanese films with a look at Toshio Matsumoto’s 1971 film Demons aka Shura.  The story of the film is part of the fabric of the larger 47 Ronin narrative and is the story of a ronin who is cheated by a geisha and how he carves a bloody path for revenge.Emily Intravia and Samm Deighan join Mike to discuss this breathtaking, disturbing film.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.

Mike spoke with author Jared Stearns about his biography of entertainer Marilyn Chambers. The book, Pure: The Sexual Revolutions of Marilyn Chambers, is now available: https://amzn.to/3xFovvQBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.

On this special crossover episode with The Kulturecast, Chris Stachiw, Father Malone, and Mike White look at the new film from Alex Garland, Civil War.  The film stars Kristen Dunst as Lee, a war photographer, who travels with her print journalist friend, Joel (Wagner Moura).  After a suicide bombing in New York CIty, the two decide to go to Washington DC where they hope to get an interview with the president (Nick Offerman), one of many cast members from Garland’s Devs to show up, including one of their traveling companions, Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson), and the young girl who wants to be a war photographer as well, Jessie (Cailee Spaeny) and… surprise!  It’s actually a movie all about her! Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.

We continue our discussion of Japanese films this month by returning to the world of Yoshishige Yoshida and his 1970 film Heroic Purgatory. It's the story of Nakano (Mariko Okada). She returns home with a lost teenager, Ayu (Kazumi Tsutsui). Meanwhile, a man posing as her dad tries to get her back, causing Nanako's husband, Shoda (Naizo Kamoda) to recall his youth as a revolutionary. Like his previous film, Eros plus Massacre, Heroic Purgatory moves with its own logic moving back and forth in time in order to tell its story.Earl Jackson and Axel Kohagen join Mike to try and parse this dense tale of revolutionaries through the mid- to late-20th century.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.

We continue Japanese month with a request from listener Vaughn Kuhlemeier, Millennium Actress (2001).  Directed by Satoshi Kon, the film  tells the story of Chiyoki Fujiwara, an actress who met a fugitive when she was a young lady who spent the rest of her life looking for him.  She’s approached by a filmmaker and his cameraman to celebrate the studio she helped make famous.  As they learn about her life they enter into her memories and films -- as does the audience.  We move seamlessly between fantasy and reality in this beautifully animated film.El Goro and Professor Earl Jackson join Mike to discuss Kon's work.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.