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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Episode Two - Mad Detective

The Hong Kong film industry is one of the marvels of cinema. How such a small place can often put out more films than most countries over the course of a given year is not only impressive; it is also maddening. I say maddening because more often than not a great deal of these films never make it it out of the tiny cultural enclave in which they are born.

Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai's 2007 Mad Detective was one of the few that landed on western shores having been a hit upon its domestic release. In a collection that so often thought of as being about the past Masters of Cinema often shines a light on more contemporary offerings with Mad Detective being one.

It is a fairly simple story, a cop loses his gun and there maybe some corruption in the force. Sounds fairly familiar doesn't it? Well, that is until you watch the film and realise Mad Detective like its title suggests is a little more left field than you might think.

In this episode Joakim and Tom try and get to grips with a film that like its lead character is slightly more hardwork than your average cop thriller.

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Episode One - Punishment Park

Peter Watkins is arguably one of the most underrated and under appreciated filmmakers of all time. His documentary approach to fictional filmmaking is both unique and challenging in a way many modern audiences may have become unaccustomed too.

Watkins career never saw him become a mainstream director, his one studio production 1967’s Privilege was not a commercial success although it did not stop Watkins from making several more films.

In this first episode of the Masters of Cinema Cast Joakim and I will be discussing the Blu Ray re-release of his 1971 film Punishment Park.

It is a film that could hardly be described as easy going wearing its political heart well and truly on its sleeve. It is possibly the most angry of Watkins films too, the 60’s had come and gone and the cultural and sociological revolution many had anticipated had failed to materialise. Vietnam was still raging and even the Apollo moon landings were now barley making the news.

Yet Punishment Park is not merely a relic of its time. Even today it is still frightening pertinent and in the wake of the War on Terror and the blurring of the lines of morality remains as powerful now as it was on its release.

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A few things before we begin.

Welcome to The Masters of Cinema Cast. Before we begin with the shows here is a few things about the show.

The idea behind this new podcast venture was to shine a light on the excellent releases of Masters of Cinema. For those of you who don't know Masters of Cinema are a UK based distributor of contemporary and classic cinema; much like Criterion, Masters of Cinema release titles that in many cases would not see the light of day were it not for them.

Distributors such as Criterion and Masters of Cinema deserve to be celebrated which is exactly what Joakim and I intend to do with this new podcast. Much like the excellent Criterion Cast each episode of The Masters of Cinema Cast will pick a release and review the film as well as taking a look at what special features the release has along with news and rumors.

This blog space is very much a holding page with a more detailed and functional site to come soon. In the meantime enjoy the show and please let us know your thoughts.

Tom and Joakim.