Kael Your Idols: A New Hollywood Podcast

Tonight’s episode of Kael Your Idols will be MASH! That’s right, Robert Altman’s MASH. Join Alana and Sam, that lovable pair of married movie fans as they dish the dirt on this beloved classic of early seventies cinema. A few laughs and a few tears, some contextual analysis of misogyny, and more on this evening’s Very Special Episode of Kael Your Idols! Topics include: the recent death of Donald Sutherland, the meaning of “Altman-esque”, and why this episode is so laaaaate (we’re sorry)!

Alana and Sam search for the familiar within the unknown as they immerse themselves in the world of Ridley Scott’s genre-defining classic Alien. They ruminate on the disturbing picture it paints of space and the cycles of nature and remark upon the hilarious improv skills of Yaphet Kotto. They also find time to touch on the recently released Alien: Romulus so that they can, you know, hitch onto the crass bandwagon of nostalgia along with everyone else. Topics include: I, Claudius, exploitative nudity, and the relatively high percentage of knights involved in the making of this film.

What? What are your problems with this episode huh? Go ahead and take a piece of paper and write them all down. Go ahead! Tell us what’s wrong! Well?? Why aren’t you writing?? Look, I promise you we WILL discuss the 1974 Ellen Burstyn vehicle Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. We WILL litigate Scorsese’s overactive camera. And we WILL describe the episode we watched of the sitcom Alice with guest star Art Carney. Topics include: “realism”, “feminism”, and Kris Kristofferson AKA Big Daddy Santa Claus.

In this episode we delve into one of the signature commercial and critical flops of New Hollywood: Dennis Hopper’s The Last Movie. This gorgeous yet impenetrable film was a crucial turning point bridging the early hippie-influenced films of the late 60s with the more cynical and popular mainstream cinema that came to define the 1970s. We are joined by Stephen Lee Naish, author of two different books discussing this week’s subject - Create or Die: Essays on the Films of Dennis Hopper, and Music and Sound in the Films of Dennis Hopper. So enjoy listening to someone actually qualified to talk about this stuff for a change! Topics include: American New Wave vs. New Hollywood, Jorge Luis Borges, and Charles Manson.

Question: If a movie about doppelgängers is itself a doppelgänger of another movie about doppelgängers... uh... like... what’s up with that, huh? Our hosts will attempt to answer at least a version of that question as they voyeuristically peek into the world of Brian De Palma’s “Obsession”. This episode could prove extra confusing if you haven’t actually seen the movie given that: not only is it relatively obscure, its only reason to exist is as a comment on the 1958 Hitchcock masterwork Vertigo. So... you should really at least watch THAT movie before you listen. But whatever. Do what you want to do. It’s a pretty good episode if we do say so ourselves! Topics include: Veneta vs. Cornell ‘77, Game of Thrones, and Hollywood-gate.