220: The Driver [1978]

If you’re looking for film that epitomizes ‘cool’ then The Driver from 1978 may be the film for you. However, is this neo-noir thriller going to prove the theory that just because you’re cool doesn’t necessarily mean you have any substance. We all have slightly differing views this week on a film that was somewhat despised in it’s day, but is starting to show it’s influence on film and video games 40 years on. This time we focus on: fewer (but longer) car chases than we expect, Bruce Dern being Bruce Dern, humorous car demolition, 70’s “style” and getting confused somehow by the very simple plot.

Dir: Walter Hill
Wri: Walter Hill
Cine: Philip H. Lathrop
Edi: Tina Hirsch
Mus: Michael Small
Prod: Lawrence Gordon, Twentieth Century Fox, EMI Films
Cast: Ryan O’Neal, Bruce Dern, Isabelle Adjani, Ronee Blakley
[Ep/220, Rec. 09/2018]

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219: SFFCH – Titus [1999]

Time to raise those brows up high here at Spoiler Filled as we tackle some proper Shakespeare (Shakespeare in Love didn’t count) with Titus, one of the numerous adaptations from the 90’s Shakespeare explosion. Can the crew shake off those school-day bred prejudices against The Bard enough to enjoy this bold and striking film? What will they think of the acting, the costumes, locations style? Can we handle all the horribleness and gore? Will we even understand what’s going on? Tune in to find out.

Dir: Julie Taymor
Wri: Julie Taymor, William Shakespeare (Play)
Cine: Luciano Tovoli
Edi: Francoise Bonnot
Mus: Elliot Goldenthal
Prod: Clear Blu Sky Productions, Overseas Filmgroup
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange, Alan Cumming, Colm Feore, James Frain, Laura Frasier, Harry Lennix, Angus Macfadyen, Matthew Rhys, Jonathan Rhys Meyers

[Ep.219, Rec. 09/2018]

218: SFFCH – Sneakers [1992]

Was Ocean’s Eleven a little too slick for you? Was Mission Impossible a little too action-packed? Was Hackers just a little too modern? Well, then we here at Spoiler Filled have found the perfect movie for you in 1992’s Dad Jokes: The Movie. OK, OK, that’s just our little nickname for the movie Sneakers though, to be fair, it is well deserved. “Computer dates”, various anagrams, cool Braille technology, Ben Kingsley’s funny run, Stephen Tobolowsky’s show-stealing and Dan Aykroyd’s real life slipping into the film are all things up for discussion in this surprisingly goofy action caper.
Warning, if you are not Welsh and don’t know what ‘daps’ are, you may not understand the first two minutes of this podcast. Enjoy!

Dir: Phil Alden Robinson
Wri: Phil Alden Robinson, Lawrence Lasker, Walter Parkes
Cine: John Lindley
Edi: Tom Rolf
Mus: James Horner
Prod: Universal Studios
Cast: Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, Dan Aykroyd, Ben Kingsley, Mary McDonnell, River Phoenix, David Strathairn, Stephen Tobolowsky
[Ep. 218, Rec, 08/2018]

217: SFFCH – Red Sonja [1985]

We journey back to a time we at Spoiler Filled refer to as BLOTR, or ‘Before Lord Of The Rings‘, where Fantasy films were their own special kind of schlocky and this weeks film, Red Sonja, belongs in a particularly Dark Age of the period. It’s essentially Conan the Barbarian, but if Conan was a minor role, and not actually Conan, and replaced with an inexperienced female model and an annoying kid. So if you are looking for some uncomfortable Asian stereotypes, uncomfortable looking (if elaborately varied) clothing and some very uncomfortable acting, then you’ve come to the right place!

Dir: Richard Fleischer
Wri: Clive Exton, George MacDonald Fraser
Cine: Giueseppe Rotunno
Edi: Frank J. Urioste
Mus: Ennio Morricone
Prod: Dino De Laurentiis Company, MGM/United Artists Entertainment Company
Cast: Brigitte Nielsen, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sandahl Bergman, Ernie Reyes Jr, Paul L. Smith, Pat Roach

216: SFFCH – Jury Duty [1995]

This week, Rich flogs a dead horse by bringing Jury Duty to the Spoiler Filled table for Abi and Anthony to ‘enjoy’. Listen in as Rich learns the hard way not to nominate films you haven’t seen, Anthony has an adventure in inverted commas and Abi laments the butchery of a potentially middling screenplay. There’s also a painful look back at 90s gay jokes as well as Pauly Shore’s catch phrases in general. Enjoy!

Director: John Fortenberry.

Writers: Barbara Williams, Samantha Adams, Neil Tolkin.

Starring: Pauly Shore, Tia Carrere, Stanley Tucci.

 

215: SFFCH – Hair [1979]

For the purposes of rehab, Abi brought this film to the table this week in the hopes of purging the lingering confusion from watching it a year ago and somewhat succeeds. Listen in as  Jamie and Abi teach Rich the difference between astrology and astronomy, Jamie slags off Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals and Rich embraces his inner old man, waving his stick at those damn hippies. There is also a rare ‘Let’s Speculate On The Play Time!’ that Rich hated almost as much as ‘Let’s Speculate On The Book Time!’. Enjoy!

Director: Milos Foreman

Writers: Gerome Ragni, James Rado, Michael Weller

Cast: John Savage, Treat Williams, Beverly D’Angelo, Annie Golden, Dorsey Wright, Don Dacus.

[Ep 215, Rec. 08/2018]

214: SFFCH – The Crying Game [1994]

Movies can be ruined if one of it’s plot twists becomes more famous than movie. Ant thought that’s what he was bringing to the table this week with The Crying Game, but it seems the rest of the Spoiler Filled Crew were not as clued-in as he thought. Could the first half of this film be a movie all of its own? Is it annoying when you communicate through bartenders? What the hell is wrong with Forest Whitaker’s voice? And just what did everyone make of that infamous twist? All this and more answered in this weeks podcast!

Dir: Neil Jordan

Wri: Neil Jordan

Cine: Ian Wilson

Edi: Kant Pan

Mus: Anne Dudley

Prod: Palace Pictures, Channel Four Films, British Screen, Miramax

Cast: Stephen Rea, Jaye Davidson, Miranda Richardson, Forest Whitaker, Adrian Dunbar, Jim Broadbent, Ralph Brown

[Ep. 214, Rec. 08/2018]

213: SFFCH – Mean Machine [2001]

Ya know, we do seem to blow through a fair few sports films here at Spoiler Filled. And prison based films come to think of it. We may not claim to know much about football (or soccer, for those who like to be wrong), but we do seem to be able to pick a decent football movie. Mean Machine is a fairly formulaic movie, but it seemingly does the impossible and gets a good leading performance out of a ex-sports star! So come and listen to us: express our curious love for Vinnie Jones, need more info about camp bookies, not care too much about all the clichés and get enjoyment out of abusing Danny Dyer (but probably not in the way you’d expect).

Dir: Barry Skolnick
Wri: Tracy Keenan Wynn (Original), Charlie Fletcher, Chris Baker, Andrew Day
Cine: Alex Barber
Edi: Eddie Hamilton, Dayn Williams
Mus: John Murphy
Prod: SKA Films, Paramount Pictures
Cast: Vinnie Jones, David Kelly, David Hemmings, Ralph Brown, Jason Flemyng, Danny Dyer, Jason Statham, Omid Djalili, Sally Phillips, Jeff Bell
[Ep. 213, Rec 07/2018]

212: The Dog Who Stopped The War a.k.a La Guerre Des Tuqués [1984]

What do the Spoiler Filled Crew like to get upto at the height of Summer? That’s right, build a snow fort and watch obscure foreign films! This week we’ve decided to take a respite from the midsummer sun and travel to cold, snowy, rural Quebec where we observe The Dog Who Stopped The War and ultimately learn that war is far more than just fun and games.

[Ep. 212, Rec 07/2018]

211: SFFCH – Strictly Ballroom [1992]

Well, what have we learned this week on Spoiler Filled from our watch of Baz Luhrman’s Strictly Ballroom? No, not about matters of the heart and following your dreams and all that nonsense. I’m talking about the way to improve any movie is to expect a straight-up, dance-based romance. That way you’ll never be disappointed. Other topics up for discusiion this week: Baz Luhrman’s distinctive style and the rating of his back catalogue, Australian humour, making product placement acceptable with sequins and far too many Australian impressions to count.