FilmDrunk Frotcast

This week, OJ Patterson of Courting Comedy/Super Trashed Bros is in the Frotquarters to discuss the #CONTROVERSY surrounding Jeremy Renner’s alleged slut-shaming of Black Widow. Is it okay to call a fictional character a slut? Did he ruin his original non-apology by trying to explain it? Also, why did Joss Whedon quit Twitter, or rather, where did Patton Oswalt & Co come up with their explanations for Joss Whedon quitting Twitter? After that, we talk about A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night. Underrated? Overrated? Accurately rated? X-Rated? Is the setting supposed to be Iran? Also, BRET FINALLY SELLS OUT! “I want a slice of that idiot pie,” Bret says. “In a world of monsters and shills, I want to be a shill.” “I want you to be a shill with me,” Matt Lieb says. “People always try to make it about Batman and the Joker, but it’s not about Batman and the Joker. It’s about the Joker and Ronald McDonald, and I want to be Ronald McDonald. I want to feed you, but in a clownish sort of way.”

After losing a week to technical difficulties, we’re back! This week, we’re discussing the release of the Star Wars trailer and the people competing to see who can be the most nostalgic for Star Wars. The big question is, what’s the line between acceptable, earnest fandom for something that meant a lot to you, and cheering while a corporation sells you your childhood? We try to answer that, talk about “thug” as we solve race relations in Baltimore, listen to some of Joe Sinclitico’s stand-up comedy about koala hunting, and try to figure out if Matt Lieb actually likes us. As for the listener who asked if the Frotcast was dying, no, it is not, we just had some troubles upgrading our recording set up. We’ve come a long way, from shouting into a single mic to multi-track recording. Not successfully, mind you, but it’s been a journey. 

I was in SoCal this week for the MTV Movie Awards and Alison Rosen’s podcast, so the regular Frotcrew is gone this week (though Bret did still show up to the Frotquarters, poor Bret). Not to fear, though, because I was able to get a couple fan-favorite guests to record the make-up ‘cast, comedians Joe Sinclitico and Matt Louv (the museum of comedy). We talked about Joe’s righteous mustache and it smelling like a condom, the MTV Movie Awards, Furious 7, and discussed whether Vin Diesel is trying to bring up Paul Walker as much as Rudy Giuliani brings up 9/11. Enjoy.

There’s a new bus service in San Francisco that basically helps rich tech nerds pay a few more dollars not to see poor people. Is this a sign of the apocalypse or is it basically all capitalism in a nutshell? Either way, it seems like we the San Francisco residents are guinea pigs in an experiment to see what it’d be like if tech companies ruled the world. WE HAVE SEEN YOUR FUTURE, AND IT SUCKS. We discuss the infantilizing effect of tech before moving onto ‘Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief,’ with Ben back on the pod after two months in Central America. He talks where to go and what to spend and all that good stuff. We finish up with your emails and voicemails about your personal encounters with Name Of The Year contestants like Dr. Loki Skylizard, and Tokyo Sexwale.

We couldn’t get the Frotcast crew together for a proper Frotcast this past week, but I did interview Paul Fischer ‘A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator’s Rise to Power.’ While it’s not the same thing as a normal Frotcast, I did go all Teri Gross for a Fresh Air-style, hour-long interview. The book tells the story of Choi Eun-Hee and Shin Sang-Ok, who at one point were the most popular actress and director in South Korea. They were kidnapped by Kim Jong-Il in 1978, and after Shin tried to escape twice and spent five years in North Korean gulags, he eventually got out, was reunited with Choi (his ex-wife at that point) and they made seven movies for Kim Jong-Il, including the so-bad-it’s-good cult classic, Pulgasari. They tried to make movies good enough that they’d be in Jong-Il’s good graces, so that he eventually gave them just enough freedom that they were able to escape back to the west. Shin eventually went to Hollywood and made a few movies, including ‘3 Ninjas Knuckle Up.’ I talk to Fischer about North Korea, parallels betwen North Korea and Scientology, The Interview, his personal experience in North Korea, and all about himself, writing the book, Kim Jong-Il, and everything else. Enjoy.

Twollie Vanderworf! Tokyo Sexwale! Taco BM Monster! Dr. Loki Skylizard! These are all people’s real names, uncovered every year by the folks at NameOfTheYear.com. Using their 2015 Name Of the Year bracket, we all chose our Name Of The Year fantasy teams, with guest and fantasy sports expert Matt Ufford of The Inactives podcast. After that, we discuss competitive Paul Walker grieving among the Furious 7 cast, and go down the rabbit hole of conspiracy theory websites. Enjoy, and go to AudibleTrial.com/Frotcast for your free Audiobook download. 

This week on the Frotcast, we talk The Jinx and Robert Durst. The appeal of the show, is it closure or characters? Or is it just that Robert Durst is nuts in so many different ways that it seems like there’s a new one every week? And why would people feel closure at the end of the show, because the weird guy was talking to himself? Wouldn’t any rational human being know how did it from the very beginning? Did you hear the story about his rubber mask? About him killing his dogs? So we talk about that for a while, and compare it to Serial. Then we bring on Laremy Legel to talk about 30 for 30’s I Hate Christian Laettner and tell us about The Divergent Series: Insurgent. As Bret says, “This is the dumbest book I’ve ever had told to me.” Matt also tells the story about a listener trying to make Matt look bad so he could have sex with his girlfriend. No snitching!

The usual crew couldn’t get together in the Frotquarters this week, so in lieu of a regular frotcast, I’m posting audio of FilmDrunk interviews with Homegrown Video’s Farrell Timlake, Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking author Anya Von Bremzen, and a couple quickies from the AVN Awards. Sorry, and I hope you enjoy these! As always, email us at frotcast@gmail.com, leave us a voice mail at 415 275 0030

This week, we welcome Somerville, Mass’s finest (don’t say Boston…), comedian Steve Post to talk about the Edward Snowden documentary CitizenFour (as well as the upcoming Oliver Stone biopic and Oliver Stone movies in general). We also Skype in Ben from Costa Rica to talk about his Kickstarter project, his post-testicular cancer vision quest and current swing through Central America. He updates us on staying fit and the backpacking ladies, we get in deep to talk about the Oxy epidemic that drove Steve Post to leave Somerville, talk about Matt Lieb’s latest Xfinity commercial and getting “shrunk” in a Nature Valley commercial. Then Steve one-ups him with his story about playing a bartender in a Silicon Valley episode, thanks to his nine years of actual bartending experience. Enjoy, and check out audibletrial.com/Frotcast to sign up for a free trial and get your free audiobook.

This week on the Frotcast, comedian Jane Harrison joins Matt Lieb, Vince, and Bret in the Frotquarters. We open talking about Mystique from X-Men being the perfect woman, which leads us to the appeal of ‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’ and pretty much all things porn – watching it, guilt surrounding it, evolution of desires, the search for novelty, whether the younger generation’s ideas about sex have been skewed by, whether it changes intimacy in a relationship, etc. etc. It just sort of happened. We also talk about the Oscars and pitch a TV show about Matt Lieb and his silicone sex butt, which he kept in his closet when he lived with his mom. Matt Lieb is a sick, sick, man. ALSO. Check out http://www.audibletrial.com/Frotcast and get your free Audiobook. All you have to do is sign up. For one thing, it’s a great way to support the Frotcast, and for another, Audible is actually a great company. I go through three audiobooks a month myself, so it’s not like I’m recommending something I don’t use myself – I use the sh*t out of it.