Episode 145: Persepolis (2007)

So, our series “Semi-Real People” has been held over by popular demand (meaning Mike and I both demanded it and that’s one hundred percent of our staff, so that’s pretty popular) for a couple more episodes and here is one of them! Guess what’s coming next week? That’s right, the other one! Oh, I guess you think you’re pretty smart, figuring that out. You think you’re better than me, is that it? College has changed you, man! Ahem. Anyway. This week’s entry is “Persepolis,” our first animated biopic; actually it’s an animated autobiographical pic, as this movie tells the story of Marjane Satrapi and her life growing up in Iran during the turbulent times of the 1970’s through the 1990’s, with the overthrow of the Shah, the bloody war with Iraq, and the rise of religious extremism. Yes, it’s a laugh-riot the whole way. Yes, I’m lying but it’s actually a really interesting story. Is it grim and disturbing the whole way though? Are there amusing moments? Why are you expecting me to answer these questions here? Listen to the podcast, smarty-pants!

Poll question: Is there a book you love, which you would really like to see made into a movie but which has not yet been made into one? Please answer in the comment field below.

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ACLU: https://www.aclu.org/

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Southern Poverty Law Center: https://donate.splcenter.org/

Episode 144: Houdini (1953)

Gather round, ladies and gents, gather round! Hear the most amazing podcast ever seen on stage! Thrill to the death defying escapes from logic and narrative flow that Max and Mike will astound you with! Quake with fear as Bumpy the Wonder Pony hangs suspended over a tank filled with truly cranky piranha . . . and then is promptly eaten to the delight of the children! Tremble with ontological doubt as we continue our interest-defying series “Semi-Real People” with this week’s astounding entry “Houdini”! Gasp as you see Tony Curtis try to convince you he’s a Hungarian-American legend of escape artistry! Puzzle, if your heart can stand it, over what Janet Leigh is doing in this movie! Search, if you dare, for any actual nuggets of biographical facts in this most Hollywood of biopics! Quiver at the sight of costumes by Edith Head! Nod thoughtfully at the razor-sharp arguments marshalled before you! Without the use of a net! Or Frankie! Step right up, don’t be shy! Free chunks of piranha-chewed pony for the kiddies! And by the way … is THIS your card?

Poll question: Has a movie adapted from another source (be it book, video game, theme park ride or breakfast cereal) ever EXCEEDED your expectations? If so, what movie?

George Floyd Memorial Fund:  https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd

ACLU: https://www.aclu.org/

Black Lives Matter: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ms_blm_homepage_2019

Southern Poverty Law Center: https://donate.splcenter.org/

Episode 143: Mank (2020)

Awright, M.L., I got one dilly of a flicker here, see? Good golly, it’s gonna be smash, see? Picture this: a drunk, washed up Hollywood screenwriter, see? Gotta weird name: Herman Mankiewicz. No, he didn’t work with Laurel and Hardy, he’s a serious gent. But here’s the kicker: he’s amazing, see? Just the bee’s knees when it comes to slapping those typewriter keys, get me? Fella’s on the outs and all but whammo! He gets a jingle from Hollywood’s wunderkind, that new guy Mormon Fells . . . sorry, M.L.? Right, right, Orson Wells, that’s the jimmy! And he’s doing this fantabulous new picture, see? Simian Brain or something, doesn’t matter, but it’s dynamite, got the whole of Tinseltown riled up, and he’s writing the whole thing with a busted pin! We got intrigue! Gorgeous cars! Gorgeous dames! Booze! Drugs! And best of all, it’s about Hollywood itself, and if there’s one thing America’s always going to go gaga for, it’s yarns about the City of Dreams, am I right? And we’ll stick in Bumpy the Wonder Pony for the kiddies! It can’t miss!

So, tune your shells into your squawk box and see if anything sticks to this flypaper or if it turns out we’ve got us nothing but an over-cooked slappywag from Aunt Sally’s yard sale out in the klimsy darling! [Warning: previous sentence may have not been actual English]

Poll question: sometimes during a film series, a major character will be replaced with a different actor. In your opinion, when has this worked really well and when has it really NOT worked. We’re excluding the James Bond films for this question.

George Floyd Memorial Fund:  https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd

ACLU: https://www.aclu.org/

Black Lives Matter: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ms_blm_homepage_2019

Southern Poverty Law Center: https://donate.splcenter.org/

Episode 142: Miles Ahead (2015)

Hey there, all you hep cats and kitties! We are movin’ and groovin’ here at Max, Mike; Movies with our wild and outta-sight episode of “Semi-Real People.” This week, unwind your minds and rethread your heads as we stretch the concept of the bio-pic to new dimensions.  How many times has this happened to you: you’re sitting around, flinging plates of mashed parsnips at passing marmosets (like you do) and you find yourself asking yourself that most profound musical question: what if jazz legend Miles Davis was in a caper movie? Boy, if I had a nickel for every time that happened to me . . . well, I’d have eighty-five cents.  Yes, join us for our dissection of a sadly lesser-known creation of writer-director-star Don Cheadle, a story of the creative process, the nature of musical greatness, and punching Ewan MacGregor in the nose.  And really, isn’t that what life is all about? Come and improv with us, babies!

Poll question:  Should directors be allowed to go back and change their own movies (should Han have shot first, that sort of thing)? Let us know is the comments!

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ACLU: https://www.aclu.org/

Black Lives Matter: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ms_blm_homepage_2019

Southern Poverty Law Center: https://donate.splcenter.org/

Episode 141: On the Basis of Sex (2018)

Get your minds out of the gutter, you stunningly good-looking and flawlessly dressed listeners! This isn’t the week we talk about porn; this is another entry in our series “Semi-Real People” and while our other biopics have focused on legendary musicians, this week our subject is a different kind of rock star. Yes, this is the story of the early days of the N.O.T.O.R.I.O.U.S. R.B.G., Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. She may not have been a musical legend but she’s a rock star in the world of jurisprudence! Yeah! Tort reform! Constitutional challenges! Rock on! We see Felicity Jones playing the vertically-challenged Bader Ginsberg alongside the towering Armie Hammer as Marty Ginsberg (Mr. Hammer has recently become a bit notorious himself, but we’ll leave that to the tabloids and TMZ) as she deals with blatant sexism in the legal profession and her first major legal challenge: Charles E. Moritz v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Woo! Tax law challenges! We know how to keep the party going here at Max, Mike; Movies! So, is this movie as dry as a reading of the municipal tax code? Do we get some idea of what made R.B.G. so notorious? Well, I’m certainly not going to tell you here! Listen to the podcast and find out. Court is adjourned.

Poll question: is there any movie you really wish DIDN’T have a sequel? Please reply in the comment section below.

George Floyd Memorial Fund:  https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd

ACLU: https://www.aclu.org/

Black Lives Matter: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ms_blm_homepage_2019

Southern Poverty Law Center: https://donate.splcenter.org/