Episode Five - Fantastic Planet

Its not often you can say 'I have never seen anything like that before' come the end of a given film. 's Fantastic Planet might just be one of those films however; in age where directors can literally do and put anything on screen achieving the desired 'wow' factor has become an increasingly rare thing. Laloux didn't have 3D or CGI at his disposal in 1971; just some extremely talent cartoon artists a seriously funky score and some extremeley crazy ideas and still manages to leave jaws on the floor.

It maybe easy to dismiss Fantastic Planet as some post Hippy movement nonsense complete with psychedelic imagery barely concealable political allegories and although it maybe very much a product of its time it remains a compelling and indeed visionary odity.

In this episode we dig into why this film maybe of interest and try not to lose ourselves down the rabbit hole by thinking too much about it....

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Episode Four - Two-Lane Blacktop

Monte Hellman's 1971 film Two-Lane Blacktop is rare film. Judging by appearances it is a typical road movie, fast cars, cool guys, pretty girls and endless roads yet Easy Rider this is not. Its two main characters have no names other than The Driver and The Mechanic - they barely say a word and when they do its just about cars anyway. For light relief we have Warren Oates in the kind of role that only Warren Oates could play but for those wanting something a little more deeper or indeed a little more...well anything then Two-Lane Blacktop maybe something of a slog.

It simply refuses to act like a film should. The main plot is not that gripping, you don't really get to know the characters in any great depth and its doesn't even have a score to tap you foot too. But sometimes cinema is about those moments of silence between characters, that reflective look out the window and where that story you have seen many times before should be is something altogether different.

In this episode Joakim and Tom and joined by Hunter Duesing from the Midnight Movie Cowboys Podcast to discuss this cult oddity as well as go on a fair number of tangents. Enjoy.

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Episode Three - M.

A colleague of mine recently asked about 'that film that used to be on with Peter Lore'. I instantly replied 'M'; it wasn't some smug retort to show how film literate I was it, was because of the simple fact M is not shown on television anymore. Why? Well I dare say the answer may have something to do with the fact that despite being made in 1931 it is as shocking today as it was upon its original release. Indeed, M is one of the rare films to never lose its relevancy, to never cease asking the type of questions that society chooses to ignore.

Fritz Lang didn't just make a film about a serial killer and a police investigation designed to thrill audiences, he made a film that probed areas of psychology and the world we live that wasn't just native to the films country Germany; but one that transcends national boundaries and more worryingly time.

In this episode we delve into M share our thoughts on what makes it such an important addition to the Masters of Cinema collection.

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