Movieland: Recent Episodes
CJ Johnson
WHAT JOSIAH SAW is a fully-committed Southern Gothic thriller dropping globally on Shudder on August 4. Robert Alan Dilts wrote it and he joins CJ to talk about it.
Benjamin Zeccola is CEO of Palace Cinemas, who run an ongoing slate of international film festivals across Australia throughout the year, including the French, Italian, Spanish, German, Scandinavian, British, Irish and Japanese Film Festivals. Benjamin talks about the humble beginnings and current strengths of his festival slate, the audience demand for such content, the challenges and rewards of sourcing and programming so much global product, and why Australia just may be the best country in the world for seeing European cinema on the big screen. This discussion will also form the basis for a future article in Metro Magazine and is posted with Metro's permission.
CJ and Octavia share their love for Juho Kuosmanen's COMPARTMENT NO. 6, now in cinemas in Australia; then they share what's working for them - and not - in episode 5 of HBO's IRMA VEP.
The HBO / Foxtel / Binge 8 episode film industry satire IRMA VEP is a funhouse of mirrors. It is a remake, by Olivier Assayas, of his own 1996 film, which was in itself a meta-take on the famous 1915 French silent film serial Les Vampires. CJ and Octavia gleefully go down the rabbit hole after viewing the first four episodes of the new show and the 1996 original film.
CJ and Octavia get into Baz Luhrmann's ELVIS, starring Austin Butler, Tom Hanks and half the actors in Australia.
The Many Saints of Newark was meant to be HUGE. It wasn't. Critically, commercially and culturally, it landed with an "eh." Octavia Barron Martin wasn't satisfied. She was a huge Sopranos fan and this was not the masterpiece she was hoping for. Not at all. She and CJ try to identify why the film was so disappointing to so many, before announcing a new miniseries: they'll be watching, and podcasting about, the new HBO series Irma Vep.
Craig Boreham's second feature film, LONESOME, is a raunchy, tender, heartfelt and sexually adventurous follow-up to his debut TEENAGE KICKS, and follows that film into the Sydney Film Festival. Craig joined CJ on the eve of his State Theatre premiere and the beginning of his own, and the film's, international Festival adventure.
Phil Tippett's animated feature MAD GOD has been 30 years in the making. It's a magnum opus from the Oscar-winning stop-motion pioneer and CGI wizard, a hellish vision informed by the psychosis of modern America, Jung, Paul Verhoeven and Bob Dylan's electric era. Tippett joined CJ from Berkeley, California.
The Ritz Cinema in Sydney is an art deco jewel. Owner Eddie Tamir is about to make it even shinier.
Jim Flanagan and CJ get into the weeds around the Oscar nominations 2021-style. Should Collective be nominated for Best International Film? Should My Octopus Teacher be nominated for Best Documentary? And what if Sir Anthony Hopkins passes away before everyone casts their final ballots?
Luke Eve's debut feature I MET A GIRL is dropping on Netflix in Australia, on streamers in the US, and in cinemas in Korea and Germany. On the eve of these releases he joins CJ to talk about the film, its trek to screens during the pandemic year, and the Oscar nominations!
CJ discusses cinema restoration with Angelica Waite of Cinema Reborn, a restored-cinema film festival in Sydney.
Jim Flanagan, cineaste, restauranteur, beer brewer, musician and record label owner brings some of his favourite films from 2020 to the table to chew over with CJ, including BACURAU, THE VAST OF NIGHT, POSSESSOR, RELIC, LES MISERABLES, HONEYLAND and GUNDALA.
Kitty Green's debut fiction feature, THE ASSISTANT, is CJ's Best Film of 2020. Kitty talks to CJ about the film from her home in NYC. This episode interrogates specific themes, scenes, moments and motifs in the film: the discussion will be most valuable if you watch THE ASSISTANT first.
CJ and podcaster Shahir Daud from THE ONLY PODCAST ABOUT MOVIES discuss THE GODFATHER CODA: THE DEATH OF MICHAEL CORLEONE in relation to the first two GODFATHER movies, Coppola's re-working of THE GODFATHER PART THREE, and whether it all works.
Alexandra Heller-Nicholas joins CJ to discuss six of the best films of 2020, all made by women.
Maziar Lahooti, debut feature director of 2020 Australian dystopian black comedy BELOW, joins CJ to talk about all aspects of making the film, from helping to adapt the original stage play, re-conceptualising his central location after a budget cut just prior to shooting, and getting the most entertaining Australian performance of the year out of Anthony LaPaglia.
Alexandra Heller-Nicholas joins CJ Johnson to discuss Promising Young Woman in the context of "Rape-Revenge Films", which is the title of one of her many books. NOTE: This episode features frank discussion about the portrayal of sexual assault and rape in cinema. SPOILER ALERT: Once we begin discussing the film in detail we will give a spoiler alert.