Film Trace – Détails, épisodes et analyse

In episode four of our Visionary Remakes season, we cross-examine two versions of Cape Fear, the original starring a creepy and enigmatic Robert Mitchum, and the 1991 remake from Martin Scorsese starring a crazed and manic Robert De Niro.

Special Guest: Amanda Jane Stern - writer, producer and star of the award-winning psychosexual thriller Perfectly Good Moment. Streaming now on Tubi! Co-host of the podcast Don't Be Crazy.

Both versions of Cape Fear are anchored by dazzling performances of the antagonist, Max Cady. Robert Mitchum reduces the overtly violent nature of Cady in order to play up his cleverness, obsessiveness , and wiliness. De Niro goes over the top in his version of Cady, playing him as zany, an almost comical but brutal cartoon villain. This difference underlines the drastically opposed tones, vibes, and outcomes of each version of Cape Fear.

The 1962 original focused on the limits of justice. It clearly asks and attempts to answer where the line between enforced law and moral justice lives, albeit wrapped in a juicy and sensational B-movie plot. Scorsese's 1991 remake does not ask those questions, but it does drench us in pulpy genre stimuli: graphic violence, improprietous sexuality, and domestic disputes. The debate we have in this episode is whether either film is successful in its intended mission. Is the original too flat for a genre flick and perhaps too lofty to escape pretension? Do Marty and De Niro swing away and strike out, can a trashy thriller be too much even if it attempts to do nothing more than shock?

In episode three of our Visionary Remakes season, we bite into Dawn of the Dead, the original by George Romero from 1978 and the kinetic remake by Zack Snyder from 2004.

Special Guest: Karl Delossantos, founder and film critic at Smash Cut, editor at The New York Times, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and member of the Online Film Critics Society.

George Romero's Dawn of the Dead (1978) was my favorite film through my 20s and 30s (Dan here). The horror film's intoxicating mixture of gonzo production, revolting gore, pitch black satire, and anti-consumerist musings were a perfect match for my young adult mind. My adoration hasn't faded at all since I first saw it in high school, some 25 years ago. Dawn of the Dead is often considered Romero's masterpiece and perhaps the greatest zombie film ever made.

The remake of Dawn of the Dead landed like an atom bomb in 2004. Running zombies! Zach Snyder's first, and inarguably his best, film helped launch a zombie cultural moment that peaked 10 years later when 22 million people watched the season five opener of The Walking Dead, a tv show heavily indebted to George Romero's dead universe. Zombies had become mass appeal. "What would you do in an zombie apocalypse" became a lamestream icebreaker question. While Snyder's Dawn was a catalyst for this popularity, it was really the ideas in Romero's Dead films that attracted people to this once very niche subgenre of horror.

In episode three of our Manhunt series, we delve into two films that helped redefine and revive the genre of pursuit. From South Korea, Memories of Murder (2003), a haunting and postmodern crime drama. From the United States, The Bourne Identity (2002), an adrenaline-fueled yet grounded spy thriller.

Special Guest: the talented John Brooks from the great 1999 Podcast which covers all the films from that seminal year of film.

Crime stories hinge on a denouement of justice. When that justice is denied, the audience is often left in suspended emotional agitation. We want to believe that violent crimes are always solved, and the villainous perpetrators are caught. That order is restored. Yet, reality dictates a much less clear cut finale to crime stories. Memories of Murder explores this ambiguity in its depiction of a real-life serial killer case, where answers are elusive, and the moral certainties dissolve in a haze of bureaucratic stagnation, intellectual flaccidity, and craven dispositions. Director Bong Joon-Ho crafts a deeply unsettling vibe where the boundary between good and evil fades, exposing the futility of the hunt and the flawed nature of those involved.

In contrast, The Bourne Identity is sleek, fast-paced, and decidedly straightforward. This chase movie skips across Europe with the hunter and hunted dichotomy awhirl. Director Doug Liman invokes the stacco precision of a spy thriller but interweaves melodrama with Jason Bourne's fractured psyche. In many ways, Bourne is more indebted to the dutch-angled noir tradition than its most obvious predecessor, James Bond. With its relentless action and tightly wound narrative, the film strips away the nuance of morality found in Memories of Murder while delivering a linear yet captivating tale of survival, deception, and revenge.

Let the Werewolf renaissance begin! Chris and Dan discuss the new "indie" horror film The Wolf of Snow Hollow from the director-writer-star, Jim Cummings. Wolf is a gumbo of tones and a buffet of horror tropes served piping hot. It is a fun movie, especially for horror nerds who enjoy their gore with a wink. More than anything, this film creates a unique and layered cinematic world without wasting anyone's time (sub 90 minute run time). That is quite a feat. This has been a long season of some pretty bad and mediocre movies, but we finally found a movie we both love.

Join us as we trace the life of The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020) from conception (what if Zodiac was a comedy) to production (guerilla filmmaking in Utah) to release (a pandemic treat) and reception (critics love, audiences like, we praise).

Ian Mungall of the great CineSiblingsPod joins us to discuss the turn of the century maladapted-male classic, High Fidelity (2000). John Cusack plays a thirty-something music nerd who can't seem to find the right rhythm in his love life. Based on the once-beloved now belittled novel of the same name, High Fidelity is a pristine time capsule of how Gen X men translated their suppressed emotions through obsessions about how other people, mostly dead, expressed their emotions. Is the MCU fanboy a newer version of the 1990s vinyl snob? Listen and found out as three white males discuss a sacred text of casual chauvinism. 

Join us as we trace the life of High Fidelity (2000) from conception (I wonder what men think?) to production (Chicago is cheaper to film than London) to release (I don't see a lot of money here) and reception (loved in its time but grown stale with age).

Special guest, good friend Molly, joins us for a deep dive into Aaron Sorkin's attempt at storming the bastille, The Trial of the Chicago 7 (or 8 or 10 depending on who you ask). In 2006, Steven Spielberg tapped Sorkin to write this courtroom thriller about a pivotal moment in American history, a 1969 political show trial Nixon concocted to take out the leaders of the anti-war movement. Sorkin finished the script in a year, but the movie went through development purgatory for a decade before the money men could see a profit with the upcoming last election in America ever. The cast is wonderful. The script is vintage Sorkin. The pieces are all there, but do they fit together?

Join us as we trace the life of The Trial of the Chicago 7 from conception (Sorkin's historical amnesia ) to production (creating a painting, not a photo) to release (a 24-hour bidding war between the streaming giants) and reception (beloved by all except the deeply cynical and the British).

Chris and Dan along with special guest Evan from the great Spoilerpiece Theatre podcast discuss the finer points of 90s elevated schlock, Species. What starts out as a high concept alien invasion film quickly devolves into a dutch angle thriller with a syfy channel finale. Natasha Henstridge gets her infamous start flanked by a motley crew of thespians: Micheal Madsen, Marg Helgenberger, and Forest Whitaker. Ben Kingsley leads this ragtag team of alien hunters searching LA for a female model who wants to procreate in a plot that could have only be concocted by a frustrated middle-age man. 

Join us as we trace the life of Species from conception (8 rewrites of the script) to production (HR Giger sending hate faxes) to release (good enough for 3 sequels) and reception (genrework as its best defense).

The Sandlerverse births another low-brow Netflix comedy that plays for background noise rather than laughs. Adam Sandler may be the most powerful person in comedy filmmaking, but he uses his clout to make this soft-serve swill that appeals to the indolent and ignorant alike. Hubie features an amazing array of SNL cutouts, bored and possibly broke celebrities, and newcomers who have wandered into Sandler's web. We traverse the Sandlerverse to discover the event horizon between art and commerce, a place where Grown Ups 2 plays on repeat for eternity. 

Join us as we trace the life of Hubie Halloween from conception (Sander's posse needed cash) to production (Salem's first film since Hocus Pocus) to release (Netflix  Triple-A) and reception (universally disliked but not hated).

Guests Mark and Brigitte from the Screen Time: A Quarantine Podcast join us for the second episode of season two where we dive into reclusive genius Micheal Cimino's bizarro attempt at a house invasion remake, Desperate Hours (1990). A year before Mickey Rourke temporarily dropped out of acting to become a pro boxer, he played the charismatic gang leader Micheal Bosworth in this genre film gone ham. The all-star cast mostly sits idly in the stands as Cimino and Rourke try to hit dingers in every scene. Little British man Anthony Hopkins plays a Vietnam vet grunt. Supposed femme fatale Kelly Lynch is a brilliant yet also hysterical victim. Elias Koteas and David Morse are both bit-part jesters making the most of it. It's not great, but it's a lot of fun.

Join us as we trace the life of Desperate Hours from conception (a true story sensationalized) to production (randomly Utah) to release (DOA) and reception (the penultimate film of Micheal Cimino).

Season 2 is here! Dan and Chris along with special guest Molly dissect the latest Oscar-bait offering from Netflix, The Devil All the Time.  With a cast stacked like flapjacks and a plot overflowing the brim, this Antonio Campos film is satiating and gluttonous. The story follows non-American actors playing poor Americans who lead desperate lives in the American South or Midwest or maybe Appalachia (it is not very clear). Despite the implicit pretentiousness, the acting is superb and the cinematography is gorgeous. But what does it all add up to?

Find out as we trace the life of The Devil All the Time from conception (guy reads a book) to production (celebrities in rural Alabama) to release (Netflix awards chum) and reception (Number 1 in USA)

Join us as we trace the life of The Devil All the Time...