We wrap up our series on the films of S. Craig Zahler with perhaps is least palatable film DRAGGED ACROSS CONCRETE. In the 2018 crime thriller, Zahler focuses his increasingly fascistic lense on the issue of........police brutality (oof!). Starring Mel Gibson (double-oof!) and Vince Vaughn, Zahler's brand of gritty celluloid violence goes full-mask off and asks the big questions like: Why can't cops beat up whoever they want? Conversation also includes:

• Craig complaining about baseball;

• Hutton Gibson, Mel's nazi-sympathizing, conspiracy-enthusiast father.

• Joe Biden's renewal of the Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance Act; an

• We discuss our recent watches including BODY DOUBLE, THANKSGIVING, SALTBURN, and ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD.

We continue our series examining the films of S. Craig Zahler and their increasingly bizarre depiction of a violent, conservative "utopia/dystopia". This week we watched BRAWL IN CELL BLOCK 99, Zahler's attempt at a prison exploitation flick starring Vince Vaughn, Don Johnson, and Udo Kier. Also: we celebrate the death of Henry Kissinger, one of history's greatest villains; upcoming movies we're geeked for: THE IRON CLAW, THE SWEET EAST, POOR THINGS, and FERRARI; the Daily Wire has released an anti-trans comedy called LADY BALLERS (or based JUWANNA MAN); and what makes an exploitation film an exploitation film?

We celebrate our 1 year pod-iversary by beginning a new series of conservative films, specifically the violent fantasies of S. Craig Zahler. We begin with Zahler's directorial debut Bone Tomahawk, a western-horror starring Kurt Russell, Richard Jenkins, Matthew Fox, and Patrick Wilson. Zahler has a stylish eye and works well in genre conventions, but what lies beneath this horror western is a lot of tired tropes painting native tribes as inhuman. And we start tracking the different types of Manly Men in the Zahler-verse. Discussion also includes: Scorsese's KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON; under-appreciated mensch David Arquette; Traditional vs. Revisionist westerns and; some of our favorite moments from our first year of podcasting!

We finish off our triptych of latter-year Clint Eastwood films with THE MULE about an old man who gets mixed up with the Cartel, but in a cool old man way. Discussion also includes: Prano Bailey-Bond's 2021 film CENSOR; “Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America” by Josie Riesman; The documentary TAKE CARE OF MAYA; and again, we discuss which of Clint Eastwood's children he dislikes the most (still Scott).

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/ 

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 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 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 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.