Jan 27 2019
12 Comments
Blog, Episodes

Episode 69: The Fack Lives!: 2018 Year in Review

Andrea and Alex return for their annual year in review episode. From their favourite films of 2018 to FAQs and bloopers, few stones are left unturned… and those are probably haunted anyway.

EXTRA CREDIT

Alex’s Favourite Films of 2018:
Suspiria
Pyewacket
Annihilation
Assassination Nation
Cam

 

Andrea’s Favourite Films of 2018:
Suspiria
Hereditary
Assassination Nation
Tigers are Not Afraid
Summer of ’84

 

Alex’s Horror-Adjacent Film Faves:
Border
Sorry to Bother You
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch

 

Books mentions:
Be sure to check out the Faculty of Horror Reading List!
Different Seasons by Stephen King
The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum
The Troop by Nick Cutter
Bird Box by Josh Malerman

 

Other sources mentioned:
In Conversation with Paul Schrader – An interview from New York Magazine’s Vulture about the state of the film industry and how players like Netflix and Hulu are mining our algorithms.

LISTEN

Right click or option-click here and choose “Save Target As…” to download the mp3.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Tagged , ,
Dec 23 2018
15 Comments
Episodes, Uncategorized

Episode 68. House Proud: Mother! (2017)

Andrea and Alex break down the foundational elements of Darren Aronofsky’s divisive mother! From authorship to ecofeminism to sink instillation, few stones are left unturned or unexamined.

REQUIRED READING

mother! Dir. Darren Aronofsky, 2017.

EXTRA CREDIT

What is Ecofeminism? An overview of the term that rose to prominence in the 1970s.

 

The Death of the Author by Roland Barthes. Barthes’ influential piece on the declining importance of God-like authorship.

 

The Directors Cut Podcast, episode 90. Aronofsky interviewed by William Friedkin about mother!

 

IndieWire Filmmaker Toolkit podcast, episode 47. Aronofsky on the process and ideology behind mother! 

 

“The Yellow Wall-Paper.” Charlotte Perkins Stetson’s scandalous novella from 1892.

LISTEN

Right click or option-click here and choose “Save Target As…” to download the mp3.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Tagged ,
Nov 27 2018
11 Comments
Episodes, Uncategorized

Episode 67. Where is my mind: The Stepford Wives (1975) and Get Out (2017)

This month, Andrea and Alex tackle two films whose hearts lie in the darkest, most secret parts of suburban utopia. In Bryan Forbes’ The Stepford Wives and Jordan Peele’s Get Out, we follow protagonists who are socialized to make room for the privileged and examine what happens when they strike back.

REQUIRED READING

The Stepford Wives. Dir Bryan Forbes, 1975.
Get Out. Dir Jordan Peele, 2017.

EXTRA CREDIT

The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. The second-wave feminism manifesto that examines “the problem that has no name.”

 

The 21st century cult of domesticity. As relevant today as ever.

 

The Cyborg Mystique. Anna Krugovoy Silver’s examination of the opposing and overlapping views in The Feminine Mystique and The Stepford Wives.

How to Dress Like a Stepford Wife. Great fashion advice without a trace of irony.

On Photography by Susan Sontag. Sontag’s influential treatise on photography and its power.

Capitol Couture via ladyhellbat.com. In which Andrea gets her Hunger Games in a twist.

HORROR BLACKADEMICS: THE GET OUT (2017) SYLLABUS. Graveyard Shift Sister’s compilation of essays about Get Out.

The Horror, The Horror: “Get Out” And The Place of Race in Scary Movies. NPR’s Code Switch’s episode on Get Out and race in horror.

Jordan Peele on Why Get Out Is an Important Movie. Oprah’s interview with Jordan Peele.

‘Horror Noire’ Author Robin R. Means Coleman: The Horror News Network WiHM Interview. An interview with Means Coleman about horror, her book and Get Out.

Surveilling the City: Whiteness, the Black Man and Democratic Totalitarianism. John Fiske’s examination of the normalization of Whiteness through surveillance.

Whitopia: My Trip Through the Whitest Towns in America. Rich Benjamin’s TED talk about his experience living in the fast-growing white communities in America.

 

Why Hollywood’s White Savior Obsession Is an Extension of Colonialism. An examination of the problematic trope embedded in numerous popular films.

 

The White-Savior Industrial Complex. How the White Savior trope is embedded in day-to-day life.

LISTEN

Right click or option-click here and choose “Save Target As…” to download the mp3.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Tagged , , ,
Nov 03 2018
1 Comment
Episodes, Uncategorized

Episode 66. Personal Hell: The House of the Devil (2009)

Join Andrea and Alex live at Salem Horror Fest! In this episode they tackle Ti West’s The House of the Devil and it’s reliance on the 1980s Satanic Panic movement. From modern technology to notions of the real and unreal, how much of the devil is in the details?

REQUIRED READING

The House of the Devil. Dir. Ti West, 2009.

EXTRA CREDIT

The history of Satanic Panic in the US — and why it’s not over yet Vox’s piece on the enduring impact of the Satanic Panic in the US.

Satanic Panic: Pop-Cultural Paranoia in the 1980s Spectacular Optical’s deep dive into the cultural influence of Satanic Panic.

The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction Walter Benjamin’s 1936 article delving into the notions of authenticity and aura in works of art.

LISTEN

Right click or option-click here and choose “Save Target As…” to download the mp3.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Tagged , ,
← Older posts
Newer posts →