Episodes
Sunday Jul 18, 2021
Sunday Jul 18, 2021
Terminator 2 Review
In 1984, director James Cameron created the Terminator franchise. His film of the same name explored a war between humanity and sentient machines, in which victory could only be assured by sending a naked bodybuilder back in time. Seven years later, he returned with Terminator 2: Judgement Day, replacing the original film’s lean, gritty action with the pyrotechnics of a swollen Meatloaf video. On episode #120 of the Sordid Cinema Podcast, the Sordid Cinema crew reviewed the entire grim sci-fi action series powered by the uncanny casting of Austrian muscleman Arnold Schwarzenegger as an unstoppable, monotonous killing machine. What follows is the portion of that episode in which we reviewed Terminator 2 just months before Cameron made his return to the big screen with his long-awaited return to sci-fi, Avatar. Present on this episode is hosts Ricky D, Simon Howell, Al Kratina, and Ali McKinnon. Enjoy!
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Tuesday Jul 13, 2021
Sordid Cinema Podcast #586: Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning
Tuesday Jul 13, 2021
Tuesday Jul 13, 2021
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning Review
When is a direct-to-video beat-’em-up also a brutally dark meditation on mortality, identity, and the cyclical nature of violence? When it’s John Hyams’ Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning! This hyperviolent action-horror-sci-fi hybrid divides us: is it a schlocky Z-grade knockoff or a compelling concoction all its own? The always-welcome JCVD and Dolph Lundgren are along for the ride as we hash it out.
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Thursday Jul 01, 2021
Sordid Cinema Podcast #584: Pull the Wool From Your Eyes to See The Parallax View
Thursday Jul 01, 2021
Thursday Jul 01, 2021
Powerful organizations shrouded in secrecy, pulling strings from the shadows, snuffing out all who would dare expose the truth to an unsuspecting populace… It’s hard not to love conspiracy thrillers, and 1970s movie theaters were chock full of them. This week, the Sordid Cinema crew is taking a look at one of the best, the second in director Alan Pakula’s ‘Paranoia’ trilogy, The Parallax View. Clearly taking inspiration from real-life political assassinations, the story features an intrepid reporter investigating a shadowy corporation that appears to be recruiting and training deadly operatives to ‘remove’ political obstacles. But don’t worry about getting bogged down in plot details — there are too many car chases, bar fights, bomb threats, and boat explosions to distract from what’s really happening.
Join Rick, Simon, and Patrick as they explain just what makes The Parallax View such a solid thriller, including the masterful cinematography, excellent staging, and overall likability of star Warren Beatty (even if someone thinks he should have been replaced). But can you trust a film that doesn’t answer all the questions? We may never know exactly what’s goin on, but there’s a lot of fun in trying to figure it out. For all this and more, have a listen!
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Tuesday Jun 22, 2021
Sordid Cinema Podcast #583: Johnnie To’s Drug War
Tuesday Jun 22, 2021
Tuesday Jun 22, 2021
Drug War (2012) Review
Do you love crime movies but wish they’d just jettison all that junk you don’t really need? You know, love interests? Backstories? Metaphors? Who needs ’em? Johnnie To sure didn’t when he put together 2013’s grim, single-minded Drug War, a movie all three of us found something (or several somethings) to enthuse about. We get into Chinese politics, the (possible) effects of snorting heroin, and consider it as the dark, lower-key anti-mirror of John Woo’s Hard Boiled.
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Thursday Jun 10, 2021
Thursday Jun 10, 2021
Raiders of the Lost Arc Review
It’s a movie celebrating how they used to make ’em — and yet, they don’t make ’em like Raiders of the Lost Ark anymore. Steven Spielberg’s action masterpiece has aged easily as well as the most valuable cinematic artifacts, showcasing the thrilling combination of a brisk script, daring stunt work, and crisp staging. Oh, and can we forget Harrison Ford’s iconic portrayal of Indiana Jones? Good luck to the next guy who tries to don the fedora. Yes, it’s a film filled to the brim with excellence, from Douglas Slocombe’s searing desert cinematography to Karen Allen’s turn as a feisty boozer with a mean right fist to whoever was in charge of those melting/exploding Nazi heads.
This week sees Rick, Simon, and Patrick put Indy through the wringer once again, as we take a look at what makes Raiders of the Lost Ark so great. Turns out that giant boulder booby traps, ancient tombs filled with deadly snakes, and 1920s circus strong men are just a small part of it. And how does the story structure compare to the James Bond franchise? What are our favorite moments? How can one possibly pick an MVP from such a sterling list of contributors? What — if any — changes would we make to Indiana Jones’ greatest adventure? For all this and more (including finding out which one of us nerds still has an original action figure), have a listen!
Monday Jun 07, 2021
Monday Jun 07, 2021
Super 8 Review
After a year of anticipation through teasers, images, and speculation, J. J. Abrams’s third feature Super 8 (featuring his first original screenplay) was released in 2011 to much an overwhelming amount of hype. Fans expected big things while critics seemed out to tear it apart— and it didn’t take long before the film became a source of fierce debate. In episode #276 of the Sordid Cinema Podcast (then called Sound On Sight) Ricky D, Justine Smith and Simon Howell sat down to discuss the sci-fi thriller and settle the score. Or at least they tried. What follows is our review of Super 8 recorded way back on June 11, 2011.
Thursday Jun 03, 2021
Sordid Cinema Podcast #581: Stylish Action Elevates De Palma’s Mission: Impossible
Thursday Jun 03, 2021
Thursday Jun 03, 2021
Mission: Impossible 1996 Film Review
The Mission: Impossible franchise may be more known today for its death-defying stunts and blistering action, but director Brian De Palma brought different sensibilities to the very first production of this longstanding Tom Cruise vehicle. 1996’s Mission: Impossible is a visually breathtaking ode to filmmaking skill over filmmaking spectacle, a spy thriller that eschews bullet fights and car chases for actual sneaking around. Cat-and-mouse surveillance, tense conversations, and hanging from wires are where most of the excitement lies (at least until the mask comes off at the end, revealing the summer blockbuster beneath).
At the 25th anniversary of the film that kicked off a billion-dollar franchise, Rick, Simon, and Patrick weigh in on the dense script, enjoy the stylish Dutch angles and diopter lenses, and debate just who was most responsible for making this film a success. Is this entry really so different from those that followed? How is the franchise doing as a whole? And where does the original Mission: Impossible rank among its sequels? For all this and more, have a listen!
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Saturday May 22, 2021
Saturday May 22, 2021
Hard Boiled Review
This week on Sordid Cinema, we travel back to 1992, and for the first time ever on the podcast, we sit down to review a John Woo film. And not just any John Woo film, but arguably one of the single greatest action movies of all time. It’s one of Woo’s masterpieces and along with A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, and Bullet in the Head, it helped revolutionize Hong Kong action cinema! That’s right folks, we finally get around to discussing the effortlessly cool Hard Boiled.
It’s safe to say, Hard Boiled is a masterpiece of action filmmaking and the ultimate expression of everything Woo became famous for. It’s perhaps the granddaddy of a genre once known as Heroic Bloodshed (a term invented by Rick Baker) and it boasts one of the greatest set-pieces ever put to celluloid— a legendary explosion of gunfire and pyrotechnics that takes up the film’s final hour.
In this episode, we break down all three major action set-pieces, from the opening tea house sequence which features two iconic shots of Chow Yun Fat to the warehouse raid where Johnny Wong seizes control of the Triad gangs, and to the climactic siege on a hospital involving hundreds of extras including a dozen or so newborns trying to escape while the building around them goes up in flames.
Expect to hear us gush over Woo’s direction, the movie’s famous unbroken three-minute tracking shot, Michael Gibbs soundtrack, and of course, the stellar performances from Tony Leung, Chow Yun Fat, and Philip Kwok as the eyepatch-wearing maniac Mad Dog, who’s acting and stunt work, often is overshadowed by his co-stars.
Sit back, relax and get ready for a wild ride. This might be the most action-packed episode of the Sordid Cinema Podcast yet!
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Sunday May 16, 2021
Sunday May 16, 2021
Point Blank (1967) Review
Way back on episode 126 of the Sordid Cinema Podcast, we reviewed John Boorman’s gritty, raw crime drama Point Blank, featuring superb performances by Lee Marvin and Angie Dickinson.
The 1967 thriller combines elements of film noir with stylistic touches of the European nouvelle vague and features a fractured timeline (similar to the novel’s non-linear structure), disconcerting narrative rhythms, and a carefully calculated use of film space.
Discussing the film is Ricky D, Simon Howell and former co-host, Ali McKinnon.
Saturday May 15, 2021
Sordid Cinema Podcast #579: Black Coal, Thin Ice
Saturday May 15, 2021
Saturday May 15, 2021
Black Coal, Thin Ice Review
For our first non-English feature in a minute, we take a trip to Heilongjiang Province to dissect Black Coal, Thin Ice, Diao Yinan’s grim 2014 neo-noir. (Its successor, the more widely-seen The Wild Goose Lake, may, or may not be the subject of a future Sordid episode.) We get a little lost in the film’s dense and troubling plot, neon cityscapes, and many acts of cruelty and malice. But hey, at least there are fireworks!
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