Four Favorites with Jamelle Bouie: Black Dynamite, political thrillers, baby’s first art film

Podcaster, The New York Times columnist and Letterboxd member Jamelle Bouie joins Gemma and Slim to talk about American political thrillers and his four Letterboxd faves: Children of Men; Black Dynamite; The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) and Touch of Evil.

Plus: why is filmmaker David Lowery starstruck by Jamelle, the two faces of Harrison Ford, the days of loafing around watching TBS and TNT, why the world needs more star-driven, character-actor-saturated, mid-budget thrillers, why movies with people in meetings shouting at each other is Jamelle’s sweet spot, baby’s first art film, the many talents of direct-to-video king Michael Jai White, why we need more Blaxploitation spoofs, the intoxication of a dirty city, how it’s too easy to do stuff these days, bring back foot chases, subway-tunnel nightmares, will The Rock ever be in a good movie? And a great holiday double-feature to watch with the family.

Lists, Reviews & Links:
The Letterboxd list of films mentioned in this episode; WMcGinty’s “First Seen During Covid”, Silent Dawn’s “Effortlessly Cool”, Jamelle’s Unclear and Present Danger Podcast. Reviews of White Sands by Sammypants69, Children of Men by Matthew, Luke Hicks, Black Dynamite by Branson, Sally Jane, and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three by Will Menaker.

Credits:
This episode was recorded in Charlottesville, Auckland and greater Philadelphia, and edited by Slim. Facts by Jack. Booker: Brian Formo. Transcript by Sophie Shin. Art by Samm. Theme: ‘Vampiros Dancoteque’ by Moniker. The Letterboxd Show is a TAPEDECK production.