Hal and Craig return to watching some latter-career Clint Eastwood films, this time it's Clint's 2008 film GRAN TORINO, a movie made for old white people to feel okay about being racist! Fun? Discussion also includes:

• The new season of Black Mirror;

• Clive Barker's Faustian novel THE DAMNATION GAME;

• The best airplane movies;

• An update on the Tampa 5, the five people arrested in Tampa for protesting Ron DeSantis' anti-DEI efforts;

• Which of Clint Eastwood's children he dislikes the most; and

• A quick history of the Hmong people.

RESOURCES & LINKS:

More info on the Tampa 5:

• https://www.axios.com/local/tampa-bay/2023/06/22/tampa-five-usf-protest-diversity-lauren-pineiro-arrest

• http://www.fightbacknews.org/2023/4/19/florida-statewide-protest-demands-justice-tampa-5-drop-charges

• https://naarpr.org/updates/drop-the-charges-now-defend-student-activists-justice-for-the-tampa-5/

More info on the Hmong People:

• https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/chart/top-10-u-s-metropolitan-areas-by-hmong-population-2019/)

• https://www.hmongamericancenter.org/

• https://iimn.org/publication/finding-common-ground/minnesotas-refugees/asia/hmong/ 

Hal and Craig are flipping up the formula a bit for this one! Instead of looking at just one movie in this episode, we are looking at writer/director Adam McKay's informal "Liberal Savior" Trilogy: 2015's The Big Short, 2018's Vice, and 2021's Don't Look Up. Hal and Craig discuss McKay's evolution from slapstick absurdity to political satirist and ask two important questions: Do these films work? And who are they for? Discussions also include:

• Do Hal's parents know what a "soy boy" is?

• Some TV comedies we are digging, including The Righteous Gemstones and The Other Two;

• Craig's new favorite right-wing YouTube grifter;

• McKay's formative run of 2000s comedies (Anchorman, Talladega Nights, and Step Brothers).

• And Hal proves to have become an ace at our favorite game "Did Armond White Like This Movie?"

SOURCES & LINKS:

• Petition to get safe abortion access on the ballot in Florida: https://flfree.link/petition

• "Oh-So-Mature Trump Aides Want Him to Focus on DeSantis' Penis": https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-desantis-2024primary-personal-attacks-1234765006/

• Rent Chop & Steele: https://www.amazon.com/Chop-Steele-Joe-Pickett/dp/B0BX2XC7Y7/ref=tmm_aiv_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

• MJF's Beautiful Flying Elbow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-2MriEqMXM

In this episode, the first of a three-episode series examining the later career films of Clint Eastwood, Hal and Craig invite Thomas Greene to discuss Eastwood's 2014 jingoistic war film AMERICAN SNIPER. Discussions also include: Clint Eastwood's best performance ever: screaming at a chair at the 2012 RNC; Elon Musk going full mask-off; Craig conquers some personal demons regarding how he rates films on Letterboxd; Thomas gives us some necessary context around the Sunni and Shiite conflict in Iraq; and the return of our favorite game: Did Armond White Like This Movie?

Hal and Craig welcome guest Kevin Cole aka The Primal Root—owner and proprietor of the oft-mentioned Cap City Video Lounge—to discuss John Carpenter’s 1988 anti-capitalism, sci-fi masterpiece THEY LIVE. Discussions also include: the petition to put access to safe abortions on the ballot in Florida; our new(ly indicted) king: George Santos; what we’ve been watching lately, including EVIL DEAD RISE, THE MOTHER, and RENFIELD; the stranglehold Reaganomics has had on the world for the last forty years; and the police as the enforcers of capitalism.

In this episode, Hal and Craig discuss Oliver Stone’s 1986 Vietnam film PLATOON (starring Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe, and Tom Berenger). Discussions also include: the colonial history of Vietnam; Steven Crowder’s very bad 2023; the brutality of SCREAM VI; and Ari Aster’s much anticipated new film BEAU IS AFRAID.

Hal and Craig reconvene to discuss TERROR ON THE PRAIRIE, the third and (so far) final narrative film produced by conservative darling and full-time adult man Ben Shapiro and his merry gang of bigots over at the Daily Wire. Discussions also include:

• Harlan Crow, Clarence Thomas' political sugar daddy with a weird Hitler obsession;

• The shootings of Ralph Yarl and Kaylin Gillis;

• MLB Baseball and the recent rule changes;

• Craig's performance in an awful short film nearly 20 years ago, with a VERY tenuous connection to the world of the Daily Wire

In this episode, Hal and Craig discuss Sidney Lumet's 1975 crime caper DOG DAY AFTERNOON starring Al Pacino. Discussions also include: the cruelty of Ron DeSantis and his time overseeing Guantanamo Bay, MLB superstar Randy Arozarena, and our favorite John Cazale performances.

In this episode, Hal and Craig welcome their first guest, Lauren Brenzel (they/them), to discuss SHUT IN, the first film fully produced in-house by Ben Shapiro and his gang of well-behaved propagandists at the Daily Wire. WARNING: this movie is intensely boring. Discussions also include:

• The downfall of Dilbert (as well as Dogbert & Catbert);

• HBO’s The Last of Us;

• The New York Times opinion page’s crusade to sanitize Ron DeSantis;

• Does Michael Mann’s MANHUNTER count as a home invasion movie?

In this episode, Hal and Craig discuss Luis Bunuel's 1962 The Exetermingating Angel, a biting satire of the wealthy elite. In addition, Hal and Craig discuss: Ron DeSantis' growing war on public education; how awesome the WWE is; Terry Gilliam's surrealist masterpiece Brazil; Daniel Day Lewis' son turned rapper (who is about to Gabe Day Lose It); and Armond White's catholic fascism.

Hal and Craig discuss Robin Campillo’s BPM, an unflinching look at grassroots activism during the height of the AIDS epidemic, following members of Act Up Paris in the early 1990s as they plan direct action against the pharmaceutical companies and politicians who exacerbated the crisis. Other topics of conversation include:

• Our Top 5 Movies of 2022;

• Craig is exasperated at why none of the characters in Godfather III were weirded out by the film’s cousin/cousin romance;

• Hal explains Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ attempts to give himself sweeping executive power;

• DeSantis’ war on public education;

• And the return of our OG Conservative Reaction segment: “Did Armond White Like This Movie?”

In this episode, Hal and Craig decided to watch a conservative film! We watched RUN HIDE FIGHT, the first narrative feature film distributed by Ben Shapiro (Conservative "intellect", W.A.P. Truther, and All-Star Moron) and his propaganda outfit The Daily Wire. We also discuss the dubious production history of this stupid movie; how most of the Daily Wire's funding coms from fracking billionaires; our favorite "Die Hard on a ____________" films; we fantasy re-cast RUN HIDE FIGHT with Ben Shapiro, Candace Owens, Matt Walsh, and other Daily Wire nincompoops; and we read some truly despicable 2002 commentary from a teenage Ben Shapiro.

In this episode, Hal and Craig talk about Sean Baker’s 2017 film The Florida Project. Other topics include Jerry Falwell and Jerry Falwell Jr. (and their respective shitheadery), our Top 3 Willem Dafoe performances, Elon Musk getting booed by Dave Chapelle fans, how the Democrats (and Joe Biden specifically) betraying rail workers, and how the state perpetuates poverty.

Hal and Craig discuss Spike Lee’s 2000 joint BAMBOOZLED, a satire that takes aim at the way the media uses black art, culture, and pain for profit. Other topics include our Top 3 Spike Lee films, the long running Spike vs. Tarantino beef, the right-wingers who encouraged the violence at Club Q, and MC Serch’s illustrious, bizarre career.

Hal and Craig discuss Boots Riley's electric satire on capitalism and the exploitation of the working class. Other topics include: the beautiful films of Peter Greenaway, how the Red Wave of 2022 only hit Florida, Tessa Thompson's fantastic earrings, and we turn again to the National Review Online for dependably stupid film criticism!

Hal and Craig discuss Bong Joon Ho's 2019 film Parasite. Topics also include a passionate defense of the Final Destination franchise, laughing at Herschel Walker's hilarious campaign disasters, discussing Kanye unfortunate (most recent) heel-turn, and a critical analysis to determine which movie Jake Gyllenhaal is hottest in.