The Worst Person In The World" (2021)

Our guest today is David Ridker, a filmmaker originally from the D.C. area.  The fellas deep dive into a film that Chad brought along: "The Worst Person In The World", from 2021 - a film with a lot to say - about what?  Well, we try to find out.

This is another episode of THE HELL WITH THIS - where we'll spend the first half of the podcast talking about all things SPOILER FREE... but once you hear the film's trailer play near the episode's midway point, the SPOILERS WILL FLY FREELY, so be sure to catch up and watch the film prior to listening to the second half!!!

Performers of note: Renate Reinsve, Anders Danielsen Lie, Herbert Nordrum, Joachim Trier.

"One Cut of The Dead" (2017)

Mark said not to post the trailer for this week's movie (mid-podcast), but unless you're fluent in Japanese, you won't understand it anyway.  That should say just about everything you need to know about this episode.   That, and we never spoil a movie in the first half of the podcasts - sooooo, Mark will be happy as long as you watch the movie by the time you listen to the second half of the episode.  It's a weird one, suggested by a reddit thread to Mark, apparently.  Glad to bring this one to the surface for anyone who hasn't seen it.

Performers of note: Shinichiro Ueda, Takayuki Hamatsu, Yuzuki Akiyama, Harumi Shuhama.

"Watcher" (2022)

The boys are back! 86 episodes deep and our first episode of 2023. The WGA & SAG strikes appear to be wrapping up and work should resume again soon in Hollywood. We discuss AI and all the fun stuff that everyone's been arguing about - before jumping into "Watcher", a fantastic little indie from 2022. Welcome Back.

Performers of note: Maika Monroe, Karl Glusman, Burn Gorman, Chloe Okuno

"Hereditary" (2018)

Mark and Chad return with a modern horror classic, "Hereditary" - a film Chad's never seen.  Our first episode back in some time finds the fellas mid-break between jobs, catching up and talking exhaustion in the film industry, amongst other... things.

Performers of note: Toni Collette, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro, Gabriel Byrne, Ann Dowd, Ari Aster

"Booksmart" (2019)

One of these days Mark and Chad will start an episode by talking about something that's in line with the week's chosen movie.  This is not one of those episodes.  Recorded on the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the fellas dive into all sorts of uplifting topics, such as where they were on 9/11, or should "Hollywood" & films be held more accountable for the crazy ideas they place into the world.  When they finish their wildly diverse array of topics, they jump straight into director Olivia Wilde's wonderful debut "Booksmart", which we don't think enough of you have seen.

Performers of note: Kaitlyn Dever, Beanie Feldstein, Jessica Williams, Jason Sudeikis, Billie Lourd, Skyler Gisondo, Victoria Ruesga, Mason Gooding, Diana Silvers, Molly Gordon, Lisa Kudrow, Eduardo Franco, Nico Hiraga, Austin Crute, Olivia Wilde

"Explorers" (1985)

If only the past lived up to the memory of it.  Some movies exceed our expectations when we revisit them for the first time in years - some don't.  In Chad's case, he's never seen the 1985 film "Explorers", even though he fit the age demographic for it, at the time.  How will it hold up now that Mark and Chad are geriatrics?  Let's find out!

Performers of note: Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix, Jason Presson, Amanda Peterson, Roberto Picardo, Joe Dante

"Like Crazy" (2011)

Mark and Chad reunite to bring focus back to indie filmmaking in its most intimate form: handheld and off-the-cuff.  2011's "Like Crazy" brought us tremendous performances from a new generation of actors - Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones, and Jennifer Lawrence.  If this movie disappeared from view, we're here to remind you: this is a great "little" film.

Performers of note: Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones, Jennifer Lawrence, Drake Doremus

"Road Games" (1981)

We're back!  Did we miss anything?

Mark and Chad are right back into the thick of it, putting the 1981 road movie "Road Games" under the spotlight for a quick look.  The boys catch up, talk life, and discuss this week's film (which Chad has never heard of, until now).  Welcome back! 

Performers of note: Stacy Keach, Jamie Lee Curtis, Richard Franklin.

"Dirty Pretty Things" (2002)

What a difference a month can make, eh?  Today's episode was recorded on Oscar Sunday, which couldn't be more apparent than now, given all the happenings 'round ol' planet Earth.

That said, now you've got no excuse to hunker down and watch this week's movie, 2002's seemingly forgotten "Dirty Pretty Things".  Despite its horrible title, this movie isn't about pretty things, though it could be said the seedy underbelly of humanity can make up for the "dirty" part of the title.  The movie takes on some rather topical and still-relevant topics, like immigration and the things people have to suffer through to achieve it.  Chad takes this time to introduce co-host Mark to this week's movie.

Performers of note: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Audrey Tautou, Sergi Lopez, Sophie Okonedo, Benedict Wong, Zlatko Buric, Steven Frears.

"Paris, Texas" (1984)

This episode has been a long time coming.  Returning guest Steve Phelan and co-host Chad Peter have been waiting to force fellow co-host Mark Heiliger into watching "Paris, Texas" for a good, long while now - and the time has come to do so.  Unfortunately, or fortunately (if you're into this sort of thing), we had an additional guest on the podcast as well (one that wasn't happy about being on the podcast with us).

Also be sure to listen for the addendum we've added at the end of the podcast!

Performers of note: Harry Dean Stanton, Dean Stockwell, Aurore Clément, Nastassja Kinski and Hunter Carson.

"Bumblebee" (2018)

Oh ho ho, boy oh boy we bet you never saw this one coming.  Chad and Mark invite guest (and actress) Kat Schmidt onto the podcast to help explain her love of the Transformers movie franchise, or specifically - 2018's "BUMBLEBEE".  They deep dive into the WHY and WHAT, going so far as to attempt to explain why these movies are still being made - and why certain folks enjoy them more than others.  (editor's note: after this podcast was recorded, it was announced that there's MORE Transformers films in the works).

Performers of note: Hailee Steinfeld, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., John Cena, Jason Drucker, Pamela Adlon, and Travis Knight.

"Ready or Not" (2019)

Fasten your seat belts, ladies and gentlemen, because we're going back - WAY BACK - to another decade.  All the way back to... 2019, for a surprisingly fun soon-to-be-cult film called "Ready or Not".  This might be on the borderline for deeming it "underrated" - after all, it made its money back and then some - but not everyone has seen it, so here we are.  Specifically, for this episode, co-host Chad Peter hasn't seen it, so Mark is here to present it to him for the first time.

Performers of note: Samara Weaving, Adam Brody, Mark O'Brien, Henry Czerny, Andie MacDowell, Melanie Scrofano, Kristian Bruun, Elyse Levesque, Nicky Guadagni, John Ralston, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, and Tyler Gillett

"Anguish" (1987)

Revisiting the podcast for the first time since "Lost Highway", guest Ryan Wick drops another batshit crazy movie upon the ears (and especially eyes) of co-host Mark.  The rabbit hole they go down is so deep, not even Mark will make it out alive.  "Anguish" has all but disappeared from public view, but naturally the guys stir it up and discover some rather squeamish topics - you know, like, EYES and EYE SURGERY.  Fun things like that.  Enjoy!

Performers of note: Zelda Rubinstein, Michael Lerner, Talia Paul, Clara Pastor, Àngel Jové, and Bigas Luna.

"Under The Silver Lake" (2018)

Is the sophomore slump a real thing?  Can our 75th episode count as a sophomore effort?  Mark and Chad devolve back into opening an episode with a quick discussion about STAR WARS - only they could derail their own podcast by discussing a topic that has nothing to do with their choice of "movie of the week".

On topic now: David Robert Mitchell made his mark with a fan favorite of ours "It Follows" - and this follow-up had us waiting with some excitement... but then it kinda disappeared from view for about a year.  A24 picked it up and there were rumors of a re-edit occurring, but from what we gathered that re-edit never happened.  This week Chad revisits the film, while Mark has yet to see it.

Performers of note: Andrew Garfield, Riley Keough, Riki Lindhome, Topher Grace, Zosia Mamet, Jimmi Simpson, Grace Van Patten.

"Tremors II: Aftershocks" (1996)

Tremors is one of those sci-fi(?) franchises that just seems to keep on going... and going... and going... and... really we're not sure why, exactly.  Or at least Chad doesn't.  Mark, on the other hand, proudly brought Tremors 2: AFTERSHOCKS for this week's movie for the team to view & discuss.  Are you a Tremors fan?  ARE YOU?

Performers of note: Fred Ward, Chris Gartin, Helen Shaver, Michael Gross

"Sing Street" (2016)

Sneaking out of Ireland in 2016, "Sing Street" made it across the pond to America and had a relatively decent success, considering most movies of a similar nature never reach much of an audience in America with the mass of content blasted through our eyeballs these days.  Still, this movie was missed by MOST - and we're here to remind you - it's probably not the movie you think it's gonna be, and it's pretty damn good.

From the director of "Once" and "Begin Again", "Sing Street" again captures director John Carney's sensibilities as a filmmaker, songwriter and showman for the modern "Hollywood" musical (albeit not connected to Hollywood).  In our setting, Chad has seen this movie (and loves it), and Mark is seeing it for the first time.

Performers of note: Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Jack Reynor, Lucy Boynton, Aidan Gillen, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Peter Campion, Ian Kenny, Mark McKenna

"Cutter's Way" (1981)

John Heard.  The man.  The myth.  The le... wait, who?

You'd recognize him from "Home Alone" as Kevin's dad, OR maybe you're one of the five people that saw "Cutter's Way" back in 1981 when it opened for United Artists' "art film" division "United Artists Classics".  Heard leads the way here with a great performance as Alex Cutter.  He is followed up by some solid performances by Jeff Bridges and Lisa Eichhorn.

"Cutter's Way" is a film buried by its own film studio, partly because the studio was a.) broke and b.) clearly didn't know how to market it.  Marketed as a zany dark comedy, this brooding mystery noir was nothing like the film's trailers - its edginess is a welcome refresher from all the mind-numbing droll currently at the box office.

Returning to the podcast this week is guest is Matt "Lank" Hingstman.  Matt joins hosts Mark Heiliger and Chad Peter for a jolly chat about, uhh, stuff.

Performers of note: John Heard, Jeff Bridges, Lisa Eichhorn, Ann Dusenberry, Stephen Elliott, Arthur Rosenberg, Patricia Donahue, Ivan Passer, Jordan Cronenweth

"The English Patient" (1996)

Okay, sure - this week's movie isn't exactly "underrated", considering it won ALL THE OSCARS in 1996, but hey - it still seems to have slipped under most peoples' radars, so here we are.  Chad and Mark are back (and so very rusty at this whole podcasting thing), but gosh-darnit - they're gonna sit down and watch a movie together.  Side note: my god, "The English Patient" has one of the worst trailers of all time.

Performers of note: Ralph Fiennes, Kristen Scott Thomas, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Naveen Andrews, Colin Firth

"The Hudsucker Proxy" (1994)

A podcast, you know, for kids!  And you.

The Hell With This(!) is back for a fun episode with guests Jake Lloyd and Alexandra Hoey (aka fellow podcasters on the Dragon Wagon Radio network).  It's shocking, but neither Jake nor Alexandra have seen the Coen Brothers' CLASSIC film "The Hudsucker Proxy", so co-host Mark Heiliger has taken it upon himself to right that very wrong.  Strap in, it's a good one!

Performers of note: Tim Robbins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Paul Newman, Bruce Campbell, Charles Durning, John Mahoney, and an amazing cast of character actors as only Joel and Ethan Coen could find.

"Girls" (2012-2017)

Dogs and cats. LIVING TOGETHER. MASS HYSTERIA. That's right - our movie podcast is doing something strange this week. We're talking about a TELEVISION SHOW. You've heard of those, right? After all, we're supposedly in the "Golden Age" of TV right now - so it's time we finally talk about it. And by "we", we mean co-host Chad Peter and first time guest, filmmaker Shana Gagnon. Shana talks about the importance of the show on so many levels - what it means to her as a female, a filmmaker, and how the show speaks to a generation on another level. Plenty - PLENTY - of discussion about what it is to be a director, what types of actors there are, and being a filmmaker in general. Oh, and what it means to trust your creative gut.

This is a first for us - podcasting about a TV show - but it'll likely happen again someday, uncommonly. In this particular case, we'll be viewing and discussing only the pilot episode.

Fun aside: Shana is currently raising money for a feature film she will be directing called "Maude" - check it out!  https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/maude-the-full-length-feature-film#/

Performers of note: Lena Dunham, Adam Driver, Allison Williams, Jemima Kirke, Zosia Mamet, Becky Ann Baker, Peter Scolari and many, many more.