The Projection Booth Podcast

Mike spoke with author Jared Stearns about his biography of entertainer Marilyn Chambers. The book, Pure: The Sexual Revolutions of Marilyn Chambers, is now available: https://amzn.to/3xFovvQBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.

On this special crossover episode with The Kulturecast, Chris Stachiw, Father Malone, and Mike White look at the new film from Alex Garland, Civil War.  The film stars Kristen Dunst as Lee, a war photographer, who travels with her print journalist friend, Joel (Wagner Moura).  After a suicide bombing in New York CIty, the two decide to go to Washington DC where they hope to get an interview with the president (Nick Offerman), one of many cast members from Garland’s Devs to show up, including one of their traveling companions, Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson), and the young girl who wants to be a war photographer as well, Jessie (Cailee Spaeny) and… surprise!  It’s actually a movie all about her! Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.

We continue our discussion of Japanese films this month by returning to the world of Yoshishige Yoshida and his 1970 film Heroic Purgatory. It's the story of Nakano (Mariko Okada). She returns home with a lost teenager, Ayu (Kazumi Tsutsui). Meanwhile, a man posing as her dad tries to get her back, causing Nanako's husband, Shoda (Naizo Kamoda) to recall his youth as a revolutionary. Like his previous film, Eros plus Massacre, Heroic Purgatory moves with its own logic moving back and forth in time in order to tell its story.Earl Jackson and Axel Kohagen join Mike to try and parse this dense tale of revolutionaries through the mid- to late-20th century.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.

We continue Japanese month with a request from listener Vaughn Kuhlemeier, Millennium Actress (2001).  Directed by Satoshi Kon, the film  tells the story of Chiyoki Fujiwara, an actress who met a fugitive when she was a young lady who spent the rest of her life looking for him.  She’s approached by a filmmaker and his cameraman to celebrate the studio she helped make famous.  As they learn about her life they enter into her memories and films -- as does the audience.  We move seamlessly between fantasy and reality in this beautifully animated film.El Goro and Professor Earl Jackson join Mike to discuss Kon's work.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.

Actor/Director Stephen Moyer speaks to Mike about his second feature film, A Bit of Light, which stars Anna Paquin and Ray Winstone. Moyer graciously discusses his career from his early days in chorus to his favorite roles on stage and on screen.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.

Mike spoke with cinematographer Laura Hudock about the 2024 documentary Girls State. The film follows 500 adolescent girls who come together to organize a faux-Supreme Court where they debate the most contentious issues facing today.Find out more about Laura at her website: https://www.laurahudock.com/Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.

On this special episode, Mike talks with Ashley Sabin and David Redmon about their 2023 documentary, Kim's Video. It's a brief looks at the video store named for Youngman Kim and a longer look at the journey the videos took after Kim's closed down.Thanks to Kim's Video for stocking Who Do You Think You're Fooling and You're Still Not Fooling Anybody as well as for buying tons of bootlegs from SuperHappyFun.com. Though, no thanks for selling me out to Matthew Barney's lawyers...Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.

We are kicking off a month dedicated to Japanese Film with a look at Hitoshi Matsumoto’s 2013 film R100.  It’s the story of a man who makes a contract with an organization called Bondage.  For a year they’ll surprise him with appearances from a variety of dominatrices who will attack and humiliate him at random.  When they begin to show up where he works and lives he tries to cancel the contract but finds this impossible. This was a suggestion from Jim Vendiola who joins Mike along with Samm Deighan to discuss this hilarious film.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.

Joseph Maddrey and Jonathan Penner join Mike to look at Philippe Mora's unusual and challenging 1989 film Communion. Written by Whitley Strieber and adapted from his own book... and his own life... the film stars Christopher Walken as Strieber, a writer who experiences an alien abduction. Director Phillipe Mora and writer Whitley Strieber discuss the making of the film and its effect on their careers.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.

Animator Bill Plympton discusses his early days of the Spike & Mike's Animation Festival and Liquid Television to his first feature film, The Tune (1992). He also discusses how technology has changed his process as well as his latest project, Slide.Find out more at https://www.plymptoons.com/Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.