Film Trace
Film Trace
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Top 10 Film Trace Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Film Trace episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Film Trace for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Film Trace episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
28 Days Later (2002)
Film Trace
04/09/22 • 58 min
The third film in our Self-Aware Horror cycle is 2002's zombie renaissance 28 Days Later
28 Days Later reanimated the zombie subgenre of horror, which had been left for dead and maligned where it always had been. Yes, technically speaking, the infected in the film are not zombies. But they might as well be. Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead remake came a couple of years later in 2004 and helped pushed the zombie genre fully into the mainstream where it stayed for the next 18 years. The highly popular tv series, The Walking Dead, is finally ending this year after twelve years on the air and two spin-off series with more to come. Zombies don't die.
While director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland have attempted to play down the zombie connection, 28 Days Later plays like an intricate and explosive hommage to George Romero's original Dead trilogy. Shot entirely on early digital video recorders, the film maintains a late 90s early 2000s look that is post analog but Pre HD. Even less appealing than the film's digital graininess is its cynical depiction of humanity as the last vestiges of the civilized world fall away. It is a nightmare that feels all too true and relevant to today's world.
Special Guest: Good friend of the show, Riley, who is our resident Wes Craven scholar.
For our chaser film, we have chosen 1997's Scream 2, the slasher thrill ride that came out less than a year after the original. Craven and Williamson are back here with the mainline cast and a tight story that somehow doesn't tarnish the first film. Often cited as one of the best horror sequels, Scream 2 is now 25 years old, so perhaps it is time to question its lauded status?
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Branded to Kill (1967)
Film Trace
10/02/22 • 63 min
The sixth and final film in our Absurdist Action cycle is Seijun Suzuki's masterpiece, Branded to Kill (1967)
When we decided to do Absurdist Action as the theme of this cycle, we both struggled to find a starting point. Over-the-top action movies were the lingua franca of 1980s American cinema, and we had dozens of Reagan-era films to choose from as an origin. But as we tried to trace the theme back further, things became quite murky: Kung Fu, James Bond, Micheal Cimino, heist movies, cop movies, military shoot 'em ups. Chris wisely choose this yakuza B movie as our starting point, and it rings incredibly true to the theme.
The undercurrent that connects Bullet Train to Bad Boys to 48 Hrs can be seen clearly in Seijun Suzuki's surrealist gonzo hitman film. Branded to Kill was shot in 25 days and edited in the three days before it was released. It was a factory film. The studio hated it and fired Suzuki. It was mostly unseen outside of Japan until the late 1990s when it was released on home video. Branded To Kill is a fever dream that runs solely on poetic logic. It is definitely absurd, and intoxicatingly provocative. Explicit sex, epic violence, and free verse plotting make this the missing link of Absurdist Action films.
For our chaser film, we beat back the current of modern cinema to explore Beat the Devil (1953), a lark from John Huston and Truman Capote that became kitsch for the coastal elite set.
10/07/24 • 58 min
In episode six of our Manhunt series, we face the masterpiece that is Apocalypse Now (1978) alongside the much lesser Logan's Run (1976)
Special Guest: the great Mike Field, Co-host of the Forgotten Cinema podcast
Any film critic or scholar who dares traverse the muddy waters up river within Apocalypse Now feels doomed to be bereft of insight about such a well-established pure cinema magnum opus. But alas, here we are swimming upstream in one of the many backwater tributaries that make up the cultural cache of the definitive 1970s New Hollywood film. Yes, Apocalypse Now is a manhunt movie at its core, but that plot is a thin veneer overlaying a philosophic treatise on violence and madness. Any attempt at trying to decipher it often renders us stupefied. Coppola would probably find the same is true for him. It is the best type of film, an untouchable mystery.
Logan's Run (1976) has been held in somewhat high regard for decades, but it looks quite poor in direct comparison to Apocalypse. Perhaps it is unfair to pair it against one of the best films ever made, but I think this juxtaposition only highlights the flaws that were already there. What was probably a very interesting and unique film for its time, Logan's Run now feels sluggish, stilted, and all together boring. There are some interesting ideas in the script, but those are stuffed into the first 30 minutes. By the time the chase really begins, no emotional foundation has been built for Logan, and we are left filling out a plot box score as the film diddles along to a flaccid conclusion.
The Weather Man (2005)
Film Trace
07/13/20 • 33 min
A lost film from the dynamic duo of crazy man Nic Cage and blockbuster director Gore Verbinski. A rich man's failed attempt at remaking Sideways. In place of a wine metaphor for aging gracefully, we have Cage getting faced by a Big Gulp as a "life crisis." It's literally in your face.
We trace the life of this bizarre mid-Aughts artifact from conception (a 6 digit bidding war for the script) to production (Cage job shadowing a Chicago weatherman) to release (shuffled for a delusional Oscar campaign) to reception (a D+ CinemaScore).
In our journey, we uncover the difference between an authentic indie pinot noir versus a studio system brown-bag merlot.
Listen to found out as we film trace The Weather Man (now showing on Hulu)
06/29/20 • 29 min
We are back with a new episode on Eurovision blah blah blah. The title is dumb, but is the movie? Yes, of course, but is it an enjoyable lark? We trace the life of this absurd film from conception (Will Ferrell said it took 20 years to make) to production to release and reception.
We chat a lot about Netflix's house style for their original content and how comedy has quickly fallen out of grace at the box office. Can Eurovision reignite the golden years of the mid-2000s when improv comedy took over the multiplex?
Listen to found out as we film trace Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
Madame Web (2024) and Pearl (2022)
Film Trace
05/01/24 • 63 min
Welcome to the first episode of Season 13 of Film Trace. In this season, we will explore the notion of Camp in Film. Building off of Susan Sontag's foundational 1964 essay, Notes on Camp, we will explore two films each episode we think demonstrate Sontag's concepts of naive camp and intentional camp.
First off is the financial and critical disaster of Madame Web (2024). We argue this film is a good example of what Sontag would call naive camp: over the top, extravagant, but without much artistic merit. A spectacular failure. The open question with Madame is whether anyone involved thought it should be anything more than a lark inspired by the trashy comic book films of the 1990s.
Countering the cinematic cacophony of Madame Web is the arthouse excess of Pearl. Ti West was given a million dollars by A24 to create a prequel to his 2022 slasher X. The star of that film, Mia Goth, helped write the script and plays the titular Pearl. Boy this one is a doozy. Goth is out there in a place all her own. We think it is a great example of intentional camp: total excess that somehow succeeds in being a good film.
Possessor (2020)
Film Trace
12/10/20 • 52 min
Have you ever felt like a stranger inside of your own head? Brandon Cronenberg takes you on a dissociative bender in his second feature, Possessor. This cyber noir freak show is just as unsettling as the work of Brandon's father, the body horror king himself, David Cronenberg. A mind-jumping hitwoman is sent by the nebulous company to take out soft targets for big dollars. Both disgusting and riveting, Possessor is elevated horror that may leave you nauseous and ponderous or perhaps sick and bored.
Join us as we trace the life of Possessor from conception (philosophy 101 mad libs) to production (7 damn years) to release (Sundance darling) and reception (a split-brain response).
07/06/24 • 61 min
We continue our Camp Cinema season in our seventh episode covering The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) and Barbarella (1968)
Special Guest: Manish Mathur, host of the It Pod to Be You, covering romantic comedies from classics to modern hits and everything in between.
French director Jacques Demy embarked on an ambitious project to create a film in which every line was sung. What initially appeared as a gimmicky opera about everyday life evolved into one of the most acclaimed musicals of all time. The film is imbued with vivid color and adorned with enchanting songs, showcasing Demy's profound appreciation for artifice, a hallmark of camp cinema.
In stark contrast to Demy's refined sensibility stands Roger Vadim's audacious science fiction film, Barbarella (1968). Infamous for the wrong reasons, the film features Jane Fonda in the lead role, navigating an incoherent narrative inspired by a French erotic comic. Here, the camp is strikingly naïve, and the collective artistic intentions remain enigmatic and elusive.
Species (1995)
Film Trace
10/21/20 • 46 min
Chris and Dan along with special guest Evan from the great Spoilerpiece Theatre podcast discuss the finer points of 90s elevated schlock, Species. What starts out as a high concept alien invasion film quickly devolves into a dutch angle thriller with a syfy channel finale. Natasha Henstridge gets her infamous start flanked by a motley crew of thespians: Micheal Madsen, Marg Helgenberger, and Forest Whitaker. Ben Kingsley leads this ragtag team of alien hunters searching LA for a female model who wants to procreate in a plot that could have only be concocted by a frustrated middle-age man.
Join us as we trace the life of Species from conception (8 rewrites of the script) to production (HR Giger sending hate faxes) to release (good enough for 3 sequels) and reception (genrework as its best defense).
Longlegs (2024) and Trap (2024)
Film Trace
08/25/24 • 66 min
We kick off a new season of Film Trace exploring Manhunt Movies with Longlegs and Trap.
In this season of Film Trace, we will dive into movies about being hunted or being the hunter. While these hunted vs hunter films span a wide breadth of genres, we start with the most tried and true model, the serial killer thriller.
Longlegs made a huge splash this summer. A true indie made for under 10 million, Longlegs has broken the 100 million dollar mark at the worldwide box office to become the highest-grossing independent film release of the year. This is particularly bizarre for few reasons. One, the marketing campaign budget was tiny. It was a throw back to the Blair Witch Project campaign from 1999: guerrilla, less is more, driven by word of mouth. Two, Oz Perkins is not a huge director, mostly genre and more experimental fare. Three, while elevated horror has a big profile, it tends to not bring home the bacon. Longlegs starts a new chapter for Neon as studio-distributors and the horror genre at large.
Trap had a huge marketing campaign and a big name behind it, M Night Shyamalan. The trailer seemed everywhere in 2024. The release spot was not great, but it still counts as a summer release. So the hopes were high for fans and the studio. It turns out to be a pretty standard M Night movie: fun, odd, and very polarizing. Josh Hartnett makes a major return in this arena thriller with a conspicuous Hitchcockian flair. Where as a Longlegs tries to get by on mostly just vibes, Trap drives forward with a mousetrap plot that feels compellingly contrived. Neither seems to hit the bullseye, but both are well-made and engaging films that provoke discourse.
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FAQ
How many episodes does Film Trace have?
Film Trace currently has 111 episodes available.
What topics does Film Trace cover?
The podcast is about Film History, Podcasts, Tv & Film and Film Reviews.
What is the most popular episode on Film Trace?
The episode title '28 Days Later (2002)' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Film Trace?
The average episode length on Film Trace is 58 minutes.
How often are episodes of Film Trace released?
Episodes of Film Trace are typically released every 8 days, 23 hours.
When was the first episode of Film Trace?
The first episode of Film Trace was released on Jun 15, 2020.
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