The Cult of Matt and Mark Archive01

This week Matt stupefies Mark, and possibly raises the ire of all those who consider themselves fans of cinema, by shrugging off the film noir classic The Third Man, starring Orson Welles. Yep, Matt must admit he did not enjoy the film, despite its essential place in cinematic history. Mark makes the case which Matt respects, but in the end, film will always be a subjective media. Anyway, we'll let the listener decide. Hate mail welcome! Download: 068 The Third Man

Chinatown... not so much a place as it is an unknowable reality which Jake Gittes attempts to understand when he follows John Huston's Noah Cross down his amoral rabbit hole. Steeped in classic film noir tropes, Chinatown isn't so much an homage as it is a synthesis of the classics. The water-tight script has been called the "greatest script ever" by film scholars and it's hard to argue otherwise, although Mark manages to point some a few ambiguous inconsistencies. Polanski, familiar with the abyss himself, takes us on a tour. Download: 080 Chinatown

Perhaps our most controversial film review yet! This week we discuss Sam Peckinpah's 1971 masterpiece Straw Dogs starring Dustin Hoffman. Actually Matt and Mark don't see what all the fuss is about, while graphic, the depiction of violence and rape fits a context of the human animal that isn't necessarily distorted or exaggerated. It's perhaps easy to view the events of the film through the lens of civilized man with all of modernity's prejudices, but once removed, what we're really viewing is a primal (and hated) truth.
Download: 039 Straw Dogs

Not a spectacular movie but one of Matt's cult films none-the-less, Killing Zoe has the heavy hand of Quarantino all over it. A churn of graphic violence, drug use, criminality, friendly prostitutes, KZ is a walk on the wild side. Lacking the thematic meat of other films, Matt and Mark get slightly tangential, which is why we're soliciting topics for our 100th podcast! Make sure to email us desired topics at [email protected]. Film based or other-wise, we will discuss ALL emails sent in!
Download: 099 Killing Zoe

Finishing out our Christmas movie theme, we review the nearly perfect In Bruges directed by Martin McDonagh. Matt and Mark both agree, that the film achieves what the likes of Quentin Tarantino set out to do with conversation-based character driven crime stories in the 90's. However, unlike QT's recent bombastic over-the-top cinematic daring, In Bruges relies on expansively 3D dimensional characters with tactful nuance. All actors are firing on all cylinders including the memorable supporting cast. So, kick back, enjoy the fairy-tale shit, and take in the medieval marvel of Bruges! Download: 144 In Bruges