Mary Versus the Movies

Giant worms destroy a town in Nevada. That's it, that's the movie. It's glorious. Starring Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Finn Carter, Michael Gross, and Reba McEntire. Written by S.S. Wilson and Brent Maddock. Directed by Ron Underwood. Listen without ads when you join the Patreon: patreon.com/maryvsmovies

We bring back Alana Phelan for our yearly horror-watch, and she brings us the not-great adaptation of every 12 year old girl's favorite forbidden gothic novel. It's the story of a family locked in an attic because the tree couldn't be bothered to fork. Fun stuff. Staring Kristy Swanson, Victoria Tennant, Louise Fletcher, and Jeb Stuart Adams. Written and directed by Jeffrey Bloom from V.C. Andrews' novel. Get the extended version and listen without ads when you join the Patreon: patreon.com/maryvsmovies

We cover the fourth Best Picture winner, Cimmeron: an epic history of the settling of Oklahoma that is, unfortunately, both slow-moving and mired in the racial prejudices of its time. Still, not unlike Killers of the Flower Moon a century later, it attempts to wrestle with the mistreatment of the Osage Nation. We also watched The Front Page, the Ben Hecht/Charles MacArthur comedy about newspaper reporters, corrupt mayors, and an escaped prisoner. Front Page has been adapted several times, the most notable being the stunning His Girl Friday, and while this doesn't quite reach that film's heights (what could?), Lewis Milestone's direction and Duncan Mansfield's editing is fast and funny and pretty revolutionary for early sound film. Finally, we watched a few more Silly Symphonies, "Spring", "Summer", "Autumn", and "Winter", the first three directed by Ub Iwerks before he left Disney. This is a preview of the latest episode of our series The Winners. To hear the entire episode, join the Mary Versus the Movies patreon for $3/month to hear this and the entire series The Winners: https://www.patreon.com/maryvsmovies. 

Twin gynecologists descend into madness in this claustrophobic psychological horror story about love, jealousy, misogyny, and body horror. We talk with author Emma Cole about one of the greatest Canadian films of all time, and about her new book Love Never Dies: Romance in Horror Movies. Check out her work at https://editrixemma.com/ Starring Jeremy Irons and Geneviève Bujold. Written by David Cronenberg and Norman Snider. Directed by David Cronenberg.

Farmer Vincent and his sister Ida are just humble hoteliers and charcuterie aficionados. Is it really so bad they cut a few corners? And necks? Spooky month continues with this horror comedy about cannibalistic countryfolk and the people who cross their paths. Starring Rory Calhoun, Nancy Parsons, Paul Linke, and Nina Axelrod. Written by Robert Jaffe and Steven-Charles Jaffe. Directed by Kevin Connor. Listen without ads when you join the Patreon: patreon.com/maryvsmovies