Stereoactive Presents

Welcome to the third installment of USELESS/USEFUL, in which we discuss topics of interest, broken into two categories. USELESS covers topics that have to do with pop culture, music, film, etc. – and the term “useless” is used lovingly, hearkening back to the DIY Brooklyn venue Fort Useless and the community around that. USEFUL covers topics like relief efforts, charitable campaigns, and social issues that we want to draw attention to. We’ll also share about projects going on at Stereoactive Media. Here are our topics for this episode… USELESS ITEM ONE: ‘When the Clock Broke: Con Men, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 1990s,’ is a book by John Ganz that I’ve been reading. I’m only a third of the way through it, but I already consider it a valuable decoder ring for both the 1990s and today. Early on, it gets into the rise of David Duke to a quasi-mainstream perch in the GOP as he tried to move past his KKK and Nazi past – or at least framed it that way. And eventually it gets to the even further mainstreaming of some of what Duke stood for that occurred when Pat Buchanana ran his insurgent 1992 primary campaign against incumbent President George H.W. Bush. It’s impossible to read either of these sections and not recognize the clear parallels with the more recent rise of the Donald Trump era, which we’re currently living through. Really, though, I guess it’s more that Trump is indebted to Duke and Buchanan for widening the so-called Overton Window enough for him to slither through. The book is much more wide ranging than just those two important stories, though, and best of all, it’s a really smooth read that manages to thread a lot of needles in a seemingly effortless way. USELESS ITEM TWO: ‘Unclear & Present Danger,’ a podcast hosted by both John Ganz and Jamelle Bouie. This is a show that combines often trashy (but fun) pop culture with rather high brow, insightful takes on, again, the 1990s – often related, again to our current day. I started listening to this show because I was a fan of Jamelle Bouie, both for his incredibly sharp writing about current events and his appearances on podcasts I enjoy – namely Blank Check, Doughboys, and We Hate Movies, though now that I think about it, I believe I first came to know of him through his appearances on a different type of podcast: Slate’s Political Gabfest. ‘Unclear & Present Danger’ focuses on action movies that came out after the Cold War. Their first episode covered 1990’s ‘The Hunt for Red October,’ and they’ve moved chronologically from there, with their most recent episode covering 1997’s ‘The Saint.’ My favorite part of the show tends to be when they look at the front page of the NY Times for the day of a film’s release and pick out some stories that might offer a bit of context for something in the movie or related to today. And their takes on the films themselves tend to delve into the politics either on or under the surface of the narrative and how that may or may not connect with the politics of the time. To my mind, the show is a really perfect amalgamation of high and low brow – and both extremely entertaining and informative. When I first started listening, I’d heard of John Ganz, but didn’t really know much about him, but I really came to enjoy listening to him and Jamelle Bouie talk. And over the course of the show, I heard him talking about the book he was writing that really tied well into the theme of the show, so it was really great to finally go out and buy ‘When the Clock Broke’ once it was out.USELESS ITEM THREE: ‘Mahashmashana’ is the latest album from Father John Misty and I’m enjoying it immensely. I have to admit that, for quite a while after I first became aware of him, I was resistant to his whole thing. In retrospect, I admittedly mistook for hipster schtick what was actually satirical observation. For whatever reason, though, sometime in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, I had one of his songs on and the tone of it just hit me perfectly and I locked in to his particular lyrical bent – a mix of tones that tends to weave back and forth between sardonic and what I can best describe as a fleeting sense of sorta-maybe-sincere-but-please-don’t-hold-me-to-it. Not quite sure what it could have been about that moment in time that made that tone connect with me… Anyway, it also doesn’t hurt that everything about his recordings is completely in the pocket, from the interplay of melody and harmony to instrumentation and production. I mean, even if I wasn’t a convert to his work, I’d have to admit it sounds immaculate in a casual kind of way that is disarming. So, yeah, ‘Mahashmashana’ continues that trend while expanding on it and I highly recommend it.USEFUL ITEM: If you’re like me and a lot of people I know, Election night and the days since have been incredibly disappointing – to put it lightly. Where I am, in Florida, we were really hoping a ballot initiative would pass to roll back restrictions on abortion in the state and enshrine reproductive rights in the state’s constitution. Unfortunately, due to Florida’s 60% threshold for passing these kinds of things, the initiative failed. But really, even if it had passed, I’m not sure how much it would have mattered in the long run because no matter what BS Trump said to get elected, it is likely that the erosion of reproductive rights in this country is going to only continue, perhaps even with some version of a national ban. So, now’s really the time for people to prepare for that eventuality and Jessica Valenti, as usual, had great advice to share about this in her newsletter, ‘Abortion Every Day.’ The day after the election, she sent out what she called “Five Things You Can Do Right Now: How to protect yourself and each other.” And I’ll link to this in the show notes for the episode, along with everything else discussed, but here’s the overview…Order abortion medicationDonate to an abortion fund or organizationProtect your digital safetyTurn off your location sharing.Trade out text messaging for an app like Signal.Disable ad ID tracking.Use a VPN.Know your legal rightsCheck in with your communityAs she points out in the post, the laws around abortion didn’t change overnight, so these are things you can do now to help further down the line. She goes into useful detail about how each one of those suggestions specifically helps, so I definitely recommend you check it out.STEREOACTIVE BULLETIN BOARD: The main thing to let you know about is that Stereoactive Media just relaunched the When We See Each Other podcast, which I produce with host Nikkiesha McLeod. And here’s a producer’s note we included when the first new episode went out on November 8th…"We're proud to finally officially relaunch When We See Each Other with the first new episode of the podcast in over three years! This has been in the works for months and we recorded this episode with SuperKnova back in mid-September. Obviously, though, the week preceding this release brought about major news that really shook us up. As much as we wish circumstances didn't make it so, hearing the stories of BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ voices is even more important now than it was when we recorded this – and especially the voices of trans and nonbinary folks who have been very specifically targeted by the incoming regime. The stories heard on this show are ones of positivity and tend to invoke the power of music and art in the realization and expression of ideas and identity. They stand in clear contrast to the misinformation and bigotry that is much too pervasive in our world and we hope you'll listen and support these artists and their work."Since then, we’ve also released a 2nd new episode featuring Najla Said, the author of 'Looking for Palestine: Growing Up Confused in an Arab-American Family' discusses her perspective as a Palestinian-Lebanese-American.Also, both When We See Each Other and Stereoactive Media are now on Bluesky, so please follow us there.===EPISODE CREDITS:Producer/Host - J. McVayMusic - Hansdale Hsu, Maia Macdonald===LINKS & MENTIONS:When the Clock Broke:  https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374605445/whentheclockbroke/Unclear & Present Danger: https://episodes.fm/1592411580‘Mahashmashana’ by Father John Misty: https://fatherjohnmisty.bandcamp.com/album/mahashmashana-2“Five Things You Can Do Right Now” from Abortion, Every Day: https://open.substack.com/pub/jessica/p/five-things-you-can-do-right-nowWhen We See Each Other: https://www.stereoactivemedia.com/whenweseeeachother/WWSEO on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/wwseopod.bsky.socialStereoactive Media on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/stereoactive.bsky.social

J. McVay and Joe Virgillito discuss the final days of the campaign between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, including the following events that have happened since they spoke last month… 1) Senator JD Vance and Governor Tim Walz, the Republican and Democratic nominees for Vice President, debated in New York, hosted by CBS. 2) Both the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post withheld endorsements for Kamala Harris at the direction of their billionaire owners. 3) John Kelly, the longest serving White House Chief of Staff during Trump’s term in office, said in an interview that he believes that his former boss is indeed a fascist; this came apparently in response to Trump saying he would be willing to use active-duty military personnel against American citizens and also came after it was reported by Bob Woodward that General Mark Milley, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Trump, had called the former president “fascist to the core” and “the most dangerous person to this country.” 4) Former President Donald Trump held a rally at Madison Square Garden that many compared with a 1939 rally of American Nazis at the same venue. 5) Vice President Kamala Harris held a rally on the ellipse in Washington DC, the same spot where Trump urged his followers on January 6th, 2021, to march on the US Capitol – of course ultimately resulting in an insurrection and attempt to overthrow the 2020 election.===Episode Credits:Producer/Host - J. McVayGuests - Joe VirgillitoMusic - Hansdale HsuProduced by Stereoactive Media

Okay, so here I am again with a reminder about a simple truth about Donald Trump that, if the world were a rational place, would easily disqualify him from public life and public office. I’m mainly doing this as a means to maintain my own sanity in the run up to election day because considering how terrible a person Trump is, it’s ludicrous that the election is so close. He truly doesn’t deserve to have a platform for anything in public life and should not be close to the White House again… and he never should have been able to reach the office the first time around.Somehow, though, here we are. Again.And what I’m going to talk about in this episode could probably be considered the original sin of Trump – the thing that should have kept him out of public life before we had to ever suffer through all the other sins.So, here’s just another reminder of one thing that should disqualify Donald Trump from being President: The man is a bigot.I mean, seriously. What the hell? He started his career discriminating against black folks who wanted to live in the buildings owned by his family. Famously, the Nixon administration sued his family’s company over it. How racist do you have to be for Nixon, of all people, to come after you for discrimination. So that’s example one.Example two, and I’m skipping ahead now, is his treatment of the so-called Central Park 5. These were children who were swept up by New York City police for supposedly attacking a jogger in Central Park in 1989. And those kids were the targets of racism from all sides. The NYPD essentially pinned the attack on them because of the color of their skin and little else. And that was good enough for Trump. He took out a full page ad in the NY Times calling for the death penalty to be brought back in New York so that these kids could be put to death. Over the years it became clear that they were innocent and police had coerced confessions out of them. As a result, all five were eventually released from prison and exonerated. But Trump still apparently thinks they’re guilty and they’ve even sued him for defamation in recent days because of comments he’s recently made to that effect.Then of course, there’s Trump’s inane quest to prove that the first Black president of the United States wasn’t born here and therefore was illegitimate. Despite all his PT Barnum bluster about bombshell evidence that he was always on the verge of being able to share with the world, the evidence never came. And it never came due to a simple truth: it was complete and utter bulls**t. Barack Obama was born in the United States. But as has become abundantly clear through the years, if you’re not a rich, white, straight, cis man, Donald Trump just thinks you’re worth less and worthy of his scorn.Then, of course, he launched his first presidential campaign with a thick dose of prejudice against Mexicans and went on, after taking office, to try and block people from Muslim-majority countries from entering the US. Fast forward to the COVID-19 pandemic, and he tried his damnedest to blame it on the Chinese. Oh, and let’s not forget the supposed horde of invading brown people he’d warn everyone about every time there was an election. Now, in recent weeks, he’s been demonizing trans people as yet another one of his many bigoted get-out-the-vote schemes. Plus, for all his supposed love of Jewish folks, you don’t have to dig very deep to connect how he talks about them to antisemitic tropes and conspiracies.And here’s some late-breaking, wholly unsurprising news: The preferred candidate of David Duke and plenty of other American Nazis has, according to his former chief of staff, expressed admiration for Adolph Hitler and his generals.So, yeah, these are pretty much the greatest hits of Trump’s prejudices… Suffice it to say, though, that you could devote a long-running weekly podcast to dissecting all the ways in which he’s a racist and a bigot. In a sane world, this would disqualify him from the presidency.===Episode Credits:Producer/Host - J. McVayMusic - Man In Gray, The Unsacred HeartsProduced by Stereoactive Media

In a continuing attempt to maintain my own sanity in the run up to election day, I’m presenting reminders of some simple truths about Donald Trump that, if the world were a rational place, would easily disqualify him from public life and public office. This is the second in a series and, as I said in the first installment, I know I might be preaching to the choir to some extent. But as has become way too clear in the last decade or so, things that would have brought on certain consequences in the past have become normalized.So, here’s just another reminder of one thing that should disqualify Donald Trump from being President: The man led an attempted coup against the United States of America.On January 6th, 2021, Donald Trump stood before a crowd of his supporters and urged them to march on the US Capitol. This came after weeks and weeks of rhetoric and actions after his loss of the 2020 election that ratcheted up tensions around the prospect of a peaceful transfer of power. Through evidence and testimony uncovered by reputable reporters, as well as the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, it is clear that, at the start of that day, Donald Trump intended to stay in power despite 1) his clear loss of the election and 2) the clear inability of him or anyone on his disreputable team to uncover any evidence of election fraud that he claimed cost him the election. The truth is Joe Biden won the 2020 election and, rather than accept that fact, Donald Trump followed the 3 rules of his mentor, Roy Cohn: Attack attack attack. Admit nothing, deny everything. Always claim victory. In recent months, Trump and the people around him have tried to rewrite history, saying January 6th, 2021, was a quote “peaceful” day. It was not. Those of us who watched it live, or saw it after the fact, witnessed a violent mob storm the US Capitol with the intention of blocking the certification of a legitimate election. Police officers were injured and, in the aftermath, several died. One of Trump’s supporters died. Some in the mob sought to physically harm members of Congress and Vice President Mike Pence.Again, this was instigated by the then-sitting President of the United States, Donald Trump. He not only meant for his supporters to violently storm the capitol, he also meant for them to do worse harm than they even did. But failure to execute a successful coup does not mean nothing happened. I can’t recall who I’m paraphrasing here, but failing at attempted murder doesn’t mean you just get to go on living life; attempting a crime is still a crime. Donald Trump attempted a crime. In a sane world, this would disqualify him from the presidency.===Episode Credits:Producer/Host - J. McVayMusic - Man In Gray, The Unsacred HeartsProduced by Stereoactive Media

In the first in a series of short episodes, I'm highlighting some of the many reasons that Donald Trump should be disqualified from the presidency... So look, I’m probably largely preaching to the choir here, but if you’re like me, this election might have you questioning your own sanity to some extent. And it’s not like this is new or anything. At this point, Donald Trump has been a fixture of American politics for going on a decade – or more, really. How anyone can find him to be anything other than a repulsive human being utterly unqualified to do anything, much less be President of the United States, is so far beyond me that I’ve tried my best to just just stop attempting to even figure it out. He’s always been a crook. He’s always been a bad person. He’s always aimed for the lowest common denominator and ended up falling short of even that. But even knowing all that, I personally find it helpful sometimes to just remind myself that if we were living in a 100% rational world, the things he has done would disqualify him from at least public life, but especially public office. If you’re like me, maybe just hearing a reminder of the facts helps you to keep some sort of perspective on things. So, here’s just a reminder of one thing that should disqualify Donald Trump from being President: The man is a convicted felon. Let’s remember that on May 30th of this year, a New York jury found him guilty of 34 felony counts related to paying hush money to Stormy Daniels to cover up an affair he had with her. As the Associated Press put it the day after the conviction, “For another candidate in another time, a criminal conviction might doom a presidential run…” It is just worth reminding ourselves that 1) it is not normal for a former president to be a convicted felon, and 2) it is not normal for a convicted felon to be so close to potentially being president. Trump not only clearly committed crimes, according to testimony and evidence presented to the public and to a jury, but was convicted of that crime. In a sane world, this would disqualify him from the presidency.Check back in the coming days for more short episodes like this, as I continue to scream into the proverbial void.===Episode Credits:Producer/Host - J. McVayMusic - Man In Gray, The Unsacred HeartsProduced by Stereoactive Media

Welcome to the second installment of USELESS/USEFUL, in which we discuss topics of interest, broken into two categories. USELESS covers topics that have to do with pop culture, music, film, etc. – and the term “useless” is used lovingly, hearkening back to the DIY Brooklyn venue Fort Useless and the community around that. USEFUL covers topics like relief efforts, charitable campaigns, and social issues that we want to draw attention to. We’ll also share about projects going on at Stereoactive Media. Here are our topics for this episode… USELESS ITEM ONE: ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story’ and the very Nineties phenomenon of true crime crossing over into pop culture.USELESS ITEM TWO: Malvina Reynolds, the folk-singer perhaps best known for her song, “Little Boxes.”USEFUL ITEM: “A smart, seasoned collective of writers, editors, and creatives — are launching The Flytrap, an independent, collectively owned media outfit that’s bringing feminist thought and cultural criticism against the algorithm back to the internet and into your inbox, starting November 5, 2024. (Yes, Election Day!)”STEREOACTIVE BULLETIN BOARD: Our latest RedactedAV release features Lafayette, LA band FIGHTs performing “Shellac” for our ‘Hear & There’ series.LINKS:‘Monsters’ trailer: https://youtu.be/_EaEllq5FLk“Little Boxes” by Malvina Reynolds: https://youtu.be/-Cjk0zst3CsThe Flytrap Kickstarter: http://kck.st/3Y75MUI“Shellac” by FIGHTs: https://youtu.be/JVYnYgh-lyM

Welcome to the first installment of USELESS/USEFUL, in which we discuss topics of interest, broken into two categories. USELESS covers topics that have to do with pop culture, music, film, etc. – and the term “useless” is used lovingly, hearkening back to the DIY Brooklyn venue Fort Useless and the community around that. USEFUL covers topics like relief efforts, charitable campaigns, and social issues that we want to draw attention to. We’ll also share about projects going on at Stereoactive Media. Here are our topics for this episode… USELESS: R.E.M. – specifically, their 1994 album, ‘Monster’ /// ‘The Substance,’ now in theaters and starring Demi Moore, Margaret Quallet, and Dennis QuaidUSEFUL: Relief efforts related to Hurricane Helene.STEREOACTIVE MEDIA: RedactedAV /// When We See Each OtherLINKS:https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/hurricane/2024/09/28/keaton-beach-damage-photos-hurricane-helene-florida-video/75426982007/https://www.commoncause.org/north-carolina/articles/what-you-can-do-to-help-western-north-carolina/https://www.redactedav.com/https://redcircle.com/shows/whenweseeeachother

Jeremiah and Joe discuss the evolving 2024 election landscape, reviewing key events like the Democratic National Convention, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s endorsement of Trump, and the Harris-Trump debate, analyzing their potential impact on voter sentiment. Joe shares his fatigue and mixed feelings on the campaign’s warped timeline, following President Biden's dropping out and VP Harris dropping in. They also delve into the debate performances, particularly Harris's assertiveness and Trump’s controversial moments, and discuss the importance of moderators in upholding journalistic standards such as, you know, fact-checking. As we near the election on November 5th, they reflect on the unpredictable nature of the race and the significance of the upcoming VP debate and whether there may be any further Presidential debates.===0:00 - Introduction to the 2024 Election1:28 - Overarching Thoughts on the Race4:34 - Impact of the Democratic National Convention6:57 - Harris's Campaign Strategy11:54 - The Big Tent Democratic Party17:24 - Analysis of the Recent Debate32:14 - Fact-Checking and Moderator Dynamics47:10 - Importance of Vice Presidential Debates49:58 - Conclusion and Final Thoughts===Episode Credits:Producer/Host - J. McVayGuests - Joe VirgillitoMusic - Hansdale HsuProduced by Stereoactive Media

Back in 2020, J. McVay and Joe Virgillito did a regular series of discussions on the previous incarnation of this podcast, leading up to that year’s election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Now that the looming specter of a depressing rematch between those two is behind us, they’re now embarking on hopefully the first of a new series of chats leading up to this November’s election. So, here;s the state of the race so far: 1) Joe Biden did terribly in his June debate with Donald Trump; 2) Trump was shot at a rally; 3) JD Vance was announced as Trump’s running mate; 4) The Republican National Convention happened; 5) Democrats managed to convince Biden to drop out of the race and Vice President Harris immediately became the heir to the nomination; 6) Tim Walz was picked to be Harris’ running mate. With all of that as table setting, along with the looming possibilities of Project 2025 if Trump is elected, and the “uncommitted” movement showing Biden’s weakness in Democratic primaries earlier in the year, Joe and J tackle the following questions… How surprising was Vice President Harris’ quick ascension as Biden dropped out of the race, and how does she seem as a candidate now as compared to 2020? Where does JD Vance fall on the Palin Scale – is he more or less of a drag on the Trump ticket than Palin was for McCain in 2008? How does Tim Walz stack up as a running mate for Harris as compared to Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shaprio and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly? With Democrats adopting the messaging that the GOP is “weird,” and the Harris/Walz team seemingly presenting themselves as something like a “return to normalcy,” what are their prospects as they head into a Democratic National Convention where they’re probably going to be largely selling the idea of “Normcore 2024?”===Episode Credits:Producer/Host - J. McVayGuests - Joe VirgillitoMusic - Hansdale HsuProduced by Stereoactive Media

J. McVay reviews George Miller’s 'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,' distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.Since its release in 2015, Mad Max: Fury Road has moved close to the top of many, if not most, lists of the greatest action films ever made. So, it was never going to be an easy feat to create a film that could be viewed as a worthy follow up to such an accomplishment.Of course, throughout his career, director George Miller has proven that he is anything but averse to challenges. After all, it took him two or three decades to finally get Fury Road made, depending on which point in the early gestation of the project you start counting from. So, at least as far as time is concerned, bringing Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga to screens less than a decade after the previous film could be viewed as a sign the process was at least a bit smoother this go-round.That said, reports on the production of Fury Road make it pretty clear that it would be hard to outdo the difficulty of that past endeavor. Again, though, Miller is anything but averse to challenges and in Furiosa, against the odds, he has managed to create a work that rivals his masterpiece.In terms of story and theme, Furiosa vastly deepens Fury Road. Part of the way it does this is that it takes a sort of incidental, yet incredibly important, element of previous entries in the franchise and moves it more front and center, thematically, than it's ever been before. As much as Furiosa is about the backstory of its title character, previously played by Charlize Theron – played here by Anya Taylor Joy and Alyla Browne – it’s also about the importance of storytelling itself.With that in mind, it makes a certain sense that, unlike other Mad Max films, this one features delineated chapters with titles telegraphing what’s to come and imbuing the internal plotting and characters with a sense of thoughtful importance. The key to this meta-element of the film’s storytelling about storytelling is a climactic scene between Furiosa and her antagonist, Dementus, played expertly against type by Chris Hemsworth.“Do you have it in you to make it epic?” he goads her.And perhaps this is an oblique comparison, but it immediately made me think of the scene in Steven Spielberg’s The Fablemans when that film’s protagonist got this sage advice from one of his filmmaking heroes, John Ford, about how to frame a shot:“When the horizon’s at the bottom, it’s interesting. When the horizon’s at the top, it’s interesting. When the horizon’s in the middle, it’s boring as shit.”The point of both, within the context of their respective films, is that approaching something straight on may get the job done, but it’s often not the most fulfilling way to go. In the world of Mad Max, especially as envisioned in Furiosa and Fury Road, self-mythology is a means of survival. For the big bads of this post-apocalyptic world, self-mythology helps them to maintain power by giving their underlings something to strive toward and buy into. For the tentative heroes, though, it offers some small yet crucial avenue toward freedom. If, as the so-called History Man tells Furiosa early on in the movie, making yourself invaluable to those you are forced to serve is important for self-preservation, the message she receives from Dementus about making it “epic” is her key to becoming invaluable. It’s her way of tapping into the power of self-mythology that her vicious boss, Immortan Joe has fostered. If she can build herself into an epic figure, so good at her given job that she must be relied on regardless of how much incidental trouble she may carry with her, then she can survive her current low status long enough to find a way toward her inevitable goals, as depicted in Fury Road.But the History Man is not only a giver of sage advice; he is also the narrator of the story we’re seeing on screen. In this way, we the audience are made a part of the film, essentially cast as silent listeners taking in his tale from some future time. This is not the first time the franchise has used this trope, but it’s arguably the most self-reflexive and effective.Ultimately, what we’re left with is perhaps the most thematically, emotionally, and dramatically complicated Mad Max film of all. This is not to say it either is or isn’t better than Fury Road. But just as that film’s standing and reputation only grew over time, almost certainly, the same will happen for Furiosa – even if it, disappointingly, hasn’t found its full audience yet, as unfortunately evidenced by its relative box office revenue so far.===Episode Credits:Producer/Host - J. McVayMusic - Hansdale HsuProduced by Stereoactive Media https://www.stereoactivemedia.com/===Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/hF0CffGCWqY

J. McVay reviews Dev Patel's debut as a director, 'Monkey Man,' distributed by Universal Pictures.The backstory of Dev Patel’s directorial debut, Monkey Man, is nearly as compelling as the film itself. The film was first announced back in 2018 and was set to begin production in early 2020, though it had to be postponed once the COVID-19 pandemic shut the world down.By March of the following year, filming was complete and Netflix acquired it. But the subject matter apparently made them squeamish and they nearly canceled its release. Eventually, though, Jordan Peele saw the film and convinced Universal Pictures to buy it and give it a theatrical run.For that, we’re lucky.It’s an impressive looking film that plays great on a big screen. The action, along with the film’s production design, cinematography, and editing make for a truly visceral experience that becomes overwhelming in a theater, in the best way.Patel has been a welcome big screen presence since his debut in Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionare back in 2008 – even in films that never quite lived up to his own appeal and talent as an actor. And Monkey Man proves that, if he likes, he can create his own path now that he’s a distinguished and capable multi-hyphenate: a writer-director-producer-star. But he’s more than just capable. The story he’s crafted with his co-screenwriters is a solid revenge tale that touches on the corruption often inherent at the intersection of religion, politics, and industry. Overall, they’re smart to let those elements live around the margins and bleed into the main thrust of the plot just enough to elevate the stakes and offer a sense of higher purpose to Patel’s central character. That said, the villains he’s after are drawn a bit too faintly, leaving the climactic moments feeling just a bit underwhelming. But the previously mentioned viscerality of the filmmaking does a surprisingly good job of making the journey of the 2 hour runtime feel satisfying enough to overcome a good deal of that let-down of the climax. And that’s a feat in itself, as so many films with underwhelming climaxes feel retroactively deflated once the credits roll.===Episode Credits:Producer/Host - J. McVayMusic - Hansdale HsuProduced by Stereoactive Media

J. McVay and Charles Hinshaw discuss How to Blow Up a Pipeline, which is directed by Daniel Goldhaber, and is available on Hulu.How to Blow Up a Pipeline essentially plays like a heist movie where the object of the heist is a future that otherwise seems so futile and bleak that to not successfully execute the caper is simply not an option. Propelled along by a bustling, plaintive, largely electronic score composed by Gavin Brivik, we follow our cast of characters from several walks of life as they converge on the representative object of their derision. That object is the titular pipeline – somewhere in arid West Texas. And the relative isolation only aids in the film’s success at making the viewer feel immersed in the microworld the group of characters have chosen to now exist in, away from a society that may judge their actions separate from their meaning and, at least as far as they’re concerned, necessity. This immersion through isolation makes it all that much easier for us to feel as if we’re a part of the plot ourselves.The result is a vital commentary on the state of our world – a world where the idea that we may actually be able to make a difference for the sake of humanity’s very future can seem not only daunting, but often impossible.===Episode Credits:Producer/Host - J. McVayGuests - Charles HinshawMusic - Hansdale HsuProduced by Stereoactive Media

J. McVay and Charles Hinshaw discuss the second film written and directed by Emerald Fennell. Saltburn stars Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver, and Archie Madekwe and is distributed by Amazon MGM Studios and available on Prime Video.Since we’re recording this a couple of months after the film’s release and even longer since it first began playing at festivals and reviews of it started coming out, it may be worth mentioning that there seem to be a lot of critics who do not like Saltburn. In fact, I pretty much avoided watching the film until now because so many critics I follow had so little good to say about it. So, perhaps my low expectations played a part in this, but I found it mostly pretty compelling to watch. I mean, it’s pure pop melodrama trash playing at being deep and sophisticated, and I think another couple of passes on the screenplay may have leveled it up from that to either the true satire or social commentary it strives to be – something more along the lines of The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Rules of the Game, Gosford Park, A Place in the Sun, or something more recent like Parasite. But the talent and craft brought to the film from other quarters certainly elevate it into something more than it would be otherwise.Barry Keoghan not only swings for the fences as the class interloper at the heart of the film, but he also more than proves his ability to lead a high profile movie with a top notch cast. And whether some of his choices pull you in or make you cringe, it’s impossible to deny his commitment to his character and the themes of the film.For his part, between this and Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, Jacob Elordi is fast becoming an actor whose presence in a project is going to make me more interested in checking it out. That said, I do wish he had more to do at times in Saltburn – especially after his character, Felix, first shows Keoghan’s Oliver around the estate and introduces him to the other residents, then seems to melt into the background or wholly disappear for quite some time. Richard E. Grant and Rosamund Pike, as Felix’s staggeringly British parents, are both bright spots when the film allows them space to shine and Archie Madekwe, as Felix’s cousin Farleigh, certainly does all he can to make his character as unlikable as the script requires.Add to all that, the striking visuals delivered by the cinematography and production design, and I’m honestly more excited now to see director Emerald Fennell’s next film, than I was after I had mixed feelings about her last one, Promising Young Woman.===Episode Credits:Producer/Host - J. McVayGuests - Charles HinshawMusic - Hansdale HsuProduced by Stereoactive Media

J. McVay and Charles Hinshaw discuss Bradley Cooper’s second film as a director and co-writer. Maestro stars Cooper as conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein, Carey Mulligan as his wife Felicia, and is available on Netflix.Before 2012’s Silver Linings Playbook, Bradley Cooper may have seemed like he was destined to be in nothing but pulpy movies like Limitless or bro-flicks like The Hangover – at the time, both fairly recent hits for him that had already changed his career and made him a more bankable leading man. But Silver Linings Playbook put him into that different category of quote-unquote “serious actor” seemingly destined to one day win an Academy Award. And 2018’s A Star Is Born proved him also a serious prospect as a writer and director. So anticipation for his second film as a triple hyphenate actor-writer-director, Maestro, was obviously highly anticipated.Unfortunately, there’s also been a certain narrative building up around Cooper – at least with the very-online portion of the film commentariat – that his supposed thirst to prove himself by winning an Oscar and being taken seriously as not only an actor, but an all around filmmaker is cringey and unseemly. But if you can deliver the goods, maybe you deserve a bit of allowance in that regard.And ultimately, Cooper has the goods. Between Maestro and A Star Is Born, he’s clearly proven himself to be a great director. As far as acting goes, I don’t think the jury was still out on that one. Really, the only real problem with Maestro, which portrays the relationship between famed conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein and his wife Felicia, is its screenplay… which, counter-intuitively, is not to say the writing is bad, necessarily. Each scene is internally impressive on its own, but the film as a whole lacks a solid throughline and feels disjointed and unfocused. Perhaps this can at least be partly attributed to the decision to position the film as if it’s actually more about Felicia (wonderfully played by Carey Mulligan, by the way) than it is about Bernstein himself. It’s a perplexing decision because it leaves Bernstein feeling inadequately explored, while the centering of Felicia seems forced and, itself, inadequately justified.All that said, it’s not everyday we get a movie as otherwise beautifully shot, crafted, and performed as Maestro, so here’s hoping the next screenplay Cooper co-writes is up to his skills as a director and performer, as well as the skills of the excellent crew and cast he surrounds himself with.===Mentioned in the episode:Stereoactive Presents: Oscars Nomination Reactions for 2023 Filmshttps://www.stereoactivemedia.com/stereoactive-presents-oscars-nomination-reactions-for-2023-films/===Episode Credits:Producer/Host: J. McVayGuests: Charles HinshawMusic: Hansdale HsuProduced by Stereoactive Media

J. McVay and Charles Hinshaw discuss the debut film written and directed by Celine Song. Past Lives stars Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, and John Magaro as the three sides of a romantic triangle that spans decades and continents.There are thin and thick lines running through every life. These may run through personal situations or society as a whole. Celine Song’s Past Lives explores the intersection of at least a few such lines. There’s the sometimes thin line between the platonic and the romantic, then there are the often thicker lines between times and places that separate moments by decades and people by continents and oceans.Greta Lee stars as Nora, an immigrant from South Korea to New York City by way of Toronto, who reconnects with an old friend from her youth named Hae Sung – played by Teo Yoo – who was coincidentally already trying to reconnect with her. Their early 2010s Skype calls seem to be drifting toward the romantic side of the aforementioned thin line before they’re paused for a reassessment that never comes and they both continue their lives outside of the bubble they’d constructed for themselves. Eventually, they meet up in person again, but Nora is now married to Arthur, played by John Magaro. A tension amongst all three ensues that raises questions about the nature of the trio’s internal interpersonal relationships, as well as their identities and how they’ve become the people they are.The strength of Past Lives comes from the way it deftly flirts with ideas such as fate, culture, ethnicity, and especially through its brief but essential opening scene, projection of self. Each idea or subject is teased in such a way that it naturally unravels in front of your eyes without ever seeming contrived – or, really, to even announce itself. Consequently, you’re already thinking about each idea before you realize you are, just as happens so often in life. The final result is a sublimely crafted story that only improves with subsequent viewings.===Episode Credits:Producer/Host: J. McVayGuests: Charles HinshawMusic: Hansdale HsuProduced by Stereoactive Media

J. McVay and Charles Hinshaw discuss the Oscar nominations for films released in 2023, which were announced yesterday, sharing their reactions on everything from the lack of directing and acting nominations for Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, respectively, to the seemingly inevitable sweep by Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer that is expected when the Academy Awards are handed out on March 10th.===Mentioned in the Episode:Stereoactive Presents: 'The Killer' // a movie discussion /// https://www.stereoactivemedia.com/stereoactive-presents-the-killer-a-movie-discussion/Stereoactive Presents: ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ // a movie discussion /// https://www.stereoactivemedia.com/stereoactive-presents-indiana-jones-and-the-dial-of-destiny-a-movie-discussion/Stereoactive Presents: 'Oppenheimer' // a movie discussion /// https://www.stereoactivemedia.com/stereoactive-presents-oppenheimer-a-movie-discussion/===Episode Credits:Producer/Host: J. McVayGuests: Charles HinshawMusic: Hansdale HsuProduced by Stereoactive Media

J. McVay and Charles Hinshaw discuss the latest film directed by David Fincher. The Killer stars Michael Fassbender as the meticulous hitman of the film’s title. Also in the film are Tilda Swinton, Charles Parnell, Sala Baker, Arliss Howard, and Kerry O’Malley.It's almost a cliche to talk about how filmmakers known as auteurs often make movies that are, in some way, seemingly about themselves. But in a year when Christopher Nolan made a film about a man whose groundbreaking work helped change the landscape of the world arguably for the worse and Wes Anderson made a film about locking a cast of characters into a tightly controlled environment in order to serve a narrative to the outside world, it's perhaps hard to dispute this sometimes does in fact happen. And now, David Fincher has made a film in which a cold, calculating professional must grapple with the resultant fallout from the failure of his usual perfectionist work ethic.In The Killer, Michael Fassbender stars as the titular character in a performance as precise and intentional as any Fincher has ever directed. And it can hardly be a coincidence that the director chose as his perhaps-avatar an actor whose work bringing an android to life was the best parts of both 2012's Prometheus and 2017's Alien: Covenant.The film is something of a rarity in its dedication to a mostly subjective point of view, as we experience the thoughts and actions of Fassbender's unnamed character through matter of fact voiceover, as well as sound design and cinematography that often allows us to see and hear the world through his eyes and ears. But for all the access we're given to the killer's interiority, he's still largely inscrutable in many ways. That said, what's compelling about both the character and the film are the small ways in which he reveals himself as human, by either accident or momentary surrender to circumstance. Any small moment of humanity presents as a nearly monumental display in the context of the otherwise methodical procedural the film pretends to be and, as a result, those small moments become incredibly satisfying.The Killer is now available on Netflix.===Mentioned in the episode:Stereoactive Presents… Fight Club and Mank.https://www.stereoactivemedia.com/stereoactive-presents-david-fincher/===Episode Credits:Producer/Host: J. McVayGuests: Charles HinshawMusic: Hansdale HsuProduced by Stereoactive Media

J. McVay and Charles Hinshaw discuss the latest – and, most likely, final – installment in the Indiana Jones series. Directed by James Mangold, ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ stars Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, John Rhys-Davies, Toby Jones, Boyd Holbrook, Ethann Isidore, and Mads Mikkelsen. It’s now available to watch on Disney+.Back in 2005, J. McVay went to a midnight screening of ‘Raider of the Lost Ark’ at the Paris Theater in New York City. Karen Allen was there and talked about a fourth Indiana Jones movie was finally about to happen and she'd heard that Natalie Portman was in talks to play the daughter of Indy and Marion. A few years later, the movie she seemed to describe was out, but with Shia as their son, instead of anyone as their daughter. And now we have a fifth movie in which Indy has a daughter figure. Perhaps this was a course correction to whatever developments Karen Allen spoke of… or perhaps not. Who knows?‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ is more than capably directed by James Mangold. That said, Spielberg’s absence is somehow felt throughout. After all, it seems a bit odd that a film that almost certainly will be the last in the series due to its star’s age doesn’t doesn’t just… have the same director as the four that came before it.Harrison Ford is reasonably believable as an octogenarian action star, and the film does embrace his aging, but it’s all an odd choice for a character that, River Phoenix and Young Indy aside, seemed in some ways ageless. In the end, it’s hard to see this as a necessary installment in the franchise. ===Episode Credits:Producer/Host: J. McVayGuests: Charles HinshawMusic: Hansdale HsuProduced by Stereoactive Media

How does one reconcile great achievement with a resultant aftermath that includes a massive death toll and perhaps the eventual death of the world? Can anything with those actual results and possible further outcomes even be considered a success at all? And how should we either celebrate or punish the people responsible for such things? These questions, along with plenty of others, are at the heart of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, a film with a relentlessly intense pace and swirling collection of talents flexing almost ridiculous levels of craftsmanship. At the center of the swirl is Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer. Murphy's portrayal of a complicated genius who sees the world and its constituent parts in ways others don't or can’t, and who seems to feel he deserves both praise and punishment for what he's accomplished, is in the mold of Peter O'Toole's turn in Lawrence of Arabia. Playing the counterweight, as Lewis Strauss, Robert Downey Jr. gives what is certainly one of his best performances of recent years, and quite possibly also of his career. Each actor holds the screen in transfixing ways, while together providing something of a balancing act across the film. On one side we have the rare person whose thoughts can change the world in irreversible ways, while on the other we have the epitome of a bureaucrat. Friction was inevitable.The multi-layered, non-linear narrative and stylized cinematic theatrics are, in their way, surprisingly reminiscent of Oliver Stone’s work, especially ‘JFK.’ That said, the themes of the story and the styles employed in its telling are at once very much in line with Nolan’s previous work, even while representing a major leap of maturity. His interest in playing with time and chronology has never worked so well and his exploration of the often blurred lines between heroic and villainous figures has never been put to such perfect use. The ultimate result is one of the best movies of recent years.J. McVay and Charles Hinshaw discuss the latest film written and directed by Christopher Nolan. Oppenheimer stars Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical theorist who led the team that created the first atomic bombs during WWII. Also in the film are Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., and plenty of others.===Mentioned in the episode:Stereoactive Movie Club Ep 21 // Hiroshima Mon Amourhttps://www.stereoactivemedia.com/ep-21-hiroshima-mon-amour/===Episode Credits:Producer/Host: J. McVayGuests: Charles HinshawMusic: Hansdale HsuProduced by Stereoactive Media

J. McVay and Charles Hinshaw discuss ‘'Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One' – directed by Christopher McQuarrie and starring Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, and Pom Klementieff.They also discuss the current strikes by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA, the unions representing writers and actors who work in film and television – including Charles’ perspective as a member of SAG-AFTRA.===Episode Credits:Producer/Host: J. McVayGuests: Charles HinshawMusic: Hansdale HsuProduced by Stereoactive Media