Gruncle's Movie Month: Recent Episodes
Tristan N Burke
Your new favorite film podcast where every month is Movie Month. Join Elliot and their Great Uncle Mustache for your weekly prescription of self-indulgent critical film ramblings. Watch along with us as we break down (spoilers) four handpicked films each Monday.
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🎶 We are the GruUuncle and we are the NeEephew 🎶
What is going on GruncNation? How are you all coping with your internal and external horrors? Us over here at Gruncle's Movie Month are doing great, because we have the supreme power of cinema to keep us happy and healthy. Our dosage this week consists of: 2016's The Handmiaden from director Park Chan-Wook, 1967's Young Girls of Rochefort from friend of the show, Jacques Demy, and Big Ol' Marty's Silence, also from 2016.
A little weeb energy over here, a little franchophilic energy over there, you know how it is.
In a geographic miracle, Nephew and Gruncle were able to watch the next three films on the same couch! That's right, it was all in Chicago baby!
Besides housing some deep dish and gawking at the Art Institute, Gruncle and Nephew did what they do best: watch films! This week we watched Robert Altman's Nashville (1975), Edward Yang's A Brighter Summer Day (1991), and none other than Danny Devito's Death to Smoochy (2002). Another banger as always.
Have you heard? The discourse is expanding. Can a single podcast contain the intellect of three film studies powerhouses? I doubt it...
We were delighted to have 90s/00s film enthusiast and physical media collector Sophie Siegel on the show this week! It's so refreshing to have a third voice on this godless program. The three of us discussed AI: Artificial Intelligence (2001), Mind Game (2004), and Josie and the Pussycats (2001). It's an early-aughts fest folks!
Fed up with the malaise and paranoia of post-modern living? Boy do I have the solution for you! Simply candy-flip with your Great Uncle and Nephew and devolve until you revert back to the supreme from: Monkey.
Or...
You can listen to our soothing voices talk about some more movies! To return to Grunke, one must watch the following films: Ken Russel's 1980 sci-fi thriller Altered States, Sofia Coppola's controversial 2008 Marie-Antoinette, and Kyle Mooney's directorial debut, Brigsby Bear.
If this installment doesn't get the simian hairs that lay dormant under your back to spring out like the feathers of a molting chicken, I don't know what will!
The whispers you hear at night are true! The only film podcast worth listening to is back and just as profoundly and grounbreakingly intellectual as ever.
On our epic return to the scene (not like this episode was actually recorded months ago or anything...), the big wretched Gruncle and his whimsical, but ill-tempered Nephew discuss yet another 3 movies (One of which you've probably actually seen!). For this installment we watched: Peter Greenaway's The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover, Stephen Spielberg's Jaws, and Andrei Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev. Good shit y'all, good shit.
God what the hell? There's more of these assholes?
In our first of (hopefully) many guest episodes, Gruncle's Movie Month welcomes Casey to the extended Grunc universe. In this one, the trio blab on about another three movies you don't care about: 12 Monkeys (1995), Certified Copy (2010), and Spirit of the Beehive (1973). Big thanks to Casey for coming on! It was lovely to talk to somebody that isn't that brat of a nephew.
Like Vin Diesel says time and time again: "It's all about family". On this week of Gruncle's Movie Month we honor this hallowed sentiment from Mr. Diesel and apply it to the intellectual masterclass discourse you know and love us for. With this triptych of familial relations we touch on everything from inter-generational trauma to fraternal and national civil war to the composite that is a family unit. It's family talking about family people, meta-as-heck amirite?
The films discussed are Ken Loach's 2006 Irish historical tale,The Wind that Shakes the Barley, Charles Burnett's 1990 modern-folkloric domestic melodrama To Sleep with Anger, and maybe just one of the greatest film of all time with Edward Yang's 2000 film Yi Yi.
Do you have a hard time staying awake during movies? Is your nerd ass significant other always trying to watch lame-ass long-ass European arthouse sleepers? Well doze off no longer with the first ever energy drink for movie watching: GRUNKL PIZZ! Grunkl Pizz is made from our secret non-organic basement formula that is guaranteed to keep them peepers wide open during all those 3hr+ historical epics. No more waking up and rewinding, no more "Ah I'll finish this tomorrow", no more "I don't think I have that long of a movie in me"! Order now while supplies last because you're for sure going to need it for this week's movies.
This Pizz'd up week, we watched Lenny Abrahamson's 2014 papier-mâché-headed Frank, Spike Lee's fattest joint to date Malcolm X, and Hiroshi Teshigahara's 1964 sandy psychological thriller Woman in the Dunes. Don't forget to chug 2 Grunkl Pizz beverages before Malcolm X. You'll need it!
Ah! Ah! Ahhhhhh! Jesus Christ, do you feel that? Feels like time as we know it is slipping from our meaty mortal fingers! My sense of linear reality is being shattered! Am I in the 90s or the 50s? What's that big black Monolith doing here? Did I just stumble into a colonial war?
Hahaha, no you fucking dunce, you're just watching movies with Le Grand Gronc and le Petit Neveu! Why don't you grab yourself some tea and join us for this week's time-bender extravaganza! Listen to us discuss the inimitable 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Whit Stillman's snobbish anti-snobbery, Metropolitan (1990), and Wojciech Has' fusion of personal and global historicity in The Hourglass Sanatorium (1973).
Don't forget to pass that dutchie folks!
Gruncle and Nephew come back for...(Season 2?) of the world's most endearing film podcast. Your drives to work and dish washing sessions shall be boring no longer, as they can now be filled with heavily researched expert takes on films you've totally seen. This week those takes touch upon the equally uncomfortable and inspiring "Crumb" (1995) from Terry Zwigoff, the Love and Hate of "Night of the the Hunter" (1955) from Charles Laughton, and the most recent work from Park Chan Wook, "Decision to Leave" (2022). Stay tuned, we've got a lot more delicious pies coming soon.
From the sound of things, Gruncle was straight up falling asleep when he recorded this shit. Someone oughta let his Nephew know that he may need to be put in a home soon :0Â
Despite Gruncle's transition into the dream state, your favorite family duo is back with a fresh batch of movies to talk about, or fall asleep to. This week we discuss Federico Fellini's "Juliet of the Spirits" (1965), Akira Kurosawa's "Kagemusha" (1980), and Ernst Lubitsch's "Shop Around the Corner" (1940).Â
Challenge: Try not to fall asleep alongside Grunc
Difficulty: Impossible
TW: During the discussion of Ingmar Bergman's "Virgin Spring" we discuss SA.
Oh shit. Oh shit. It's finally happening. Gruncle is finally being replaced. And by who other than the immensely talented, totally non-problematic, Tom-fucking-Cruise baby! Hopefully he'll pick nice and enjoyable films unlike that old fart we replaced. This week Tom and Nephew chugged along without stinky Grunc as they talk about Douglas Sirk's timeless romance "All That Heaven Allows" (1955), Ingmar Bergman's crushing look at guilt in "Virgin Spring" (1960), and Todd Haynes' exercise in pastiche in "Far From Heaven" (2003). Hopefully now that Cruise is behind the wheel we won't have to endure Bergman anymore.
What's your favorite cereal huh? If it's Trix, I will find out where you live and do unthinkable things to your abode. Just kidding! I'll just have you arrested. But what does cereal have to do with movies anyway? Well for starters, both are enjoyed by your favorite fun-loving family duo: Gruncle and Nephew. The two of which get up to their usual shenanigans on this week's episode, which features conversations surrounding Ken Loach's social-realist drama "Kes" (1969), Bill Duke's subversive crime film "Deep Cover" (1992), and John Cassavete's claustrophobic and aptly-titled "Faces" (1968). Email me your favorite cereals so that I can judge you.Â
Hankering for some historical epics and morally outraged fathers from Michigan? Well you've come to the right place, because this week Gruncle and Nephew return with August Movie Month! This week we discuss Luchino Visconti's 1954 tale of Italian independence and aristocratic manipulation in "Senso", and two joints from 1979: Paul Schrader's Michigan sex-thriller "Hardcore" and veteran friend-of-the-show Reiner Werner Fassbinder's historical melodrama "The Marriage of Maria Braun".
June is over folks! Pack it up and get yourself over to the couch, or theater, and watch some Gruncle approved bangers. You'll have time to catch up because, DISCLAIMER: There will not be a July Movie Month, we are taking the time off so that we can return bigger and better than ever. But, please do enjoy the last installment o June, in which we discuss: The 1964 concert film "TAMI Show" from Steve Binder, the Paul Schrader certified masterpiece "Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters" from 1985, and the 1978 Beatles jukebox musical "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" starring Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees. What a Gruncle Dream of a week, amirite folks? (I'm always right).
This is madness! No, you dullard, this is the Gruncle Movie Month podcast! The best in the god damn biz. Hosted and created by superstar duo, Gruncle and Nephew, this episode tackles the high, the low, and the in-between. For this week, we watched the 2009 high-octane action race film "Red Line" from Takeshi Koike, the 2006 ab-fest epic "300" from Zack "Boy Toy" Snyder, and the 2017 collage-like masterpiece from Nobuhiko Obayashi, "Hanagatami". Drop your favorite Certified Snyder Moment â„¢ in my personal email inbox.Â
Bleak Russian fiction and the evils of colonialism? Sounds like a great time to me. This week on Nephew's Film Time, we watched differing takes on colonial narratives with Terence Malick's 2005 film "The New World" and Ciro Guerra's 2015 "Embrace of the Serpent". In-between the two, we talk Uncle Vanya in Louis Malle and Andre Gregory's 1994 theater-film synthesis "Vanya on 42nd Street". Give us money so we can book Wallace Shawn to appear on the show, we don't want to have to kidnap him.
We're back and we're live baby! Tell your friends and family that June Movie Month has officially begun! Gather 'round the living room, watch some movies, and then listen to your Gruncle and Nephew spew genius take after genius take about said movies. For the first week of the month we watched: Terry Gilliam's 1991 Arthurian Rom-Com "The Fisher King", Melvin Van Peeble's 1971 radical protest film "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song", and Ryusuke Hamaguchi's 2021 smash hit "Drive my Car". Don't forget y'all, all life is suffering!
Can your favorite family duo finally destroy the absolute evils of fascism? Of course we can! Through our groundbreaking discussions on film we can achieve anything. This week we achieved the impossible and finished March Movie Month with our final four films. On this episode we discuss the 1959 family melodrama "Imitation of Life" from director Douglas Sirk, Sean Baker's continuation of his American Neo-realism bangers with 2021's "Red Rocket", "THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL HORROR FILM OF THE '70s" with Ken Russell's 1971 "The Devils", and the 1970 deep dive into conformity and fascism with Bernardo Bertolucci's "The Conformist". Join us next month for June! Please! We're desperate!
What do you glean from this podcast? From life? From the wrinkled hands of Agnes Varda? From Harambe's Death? Well, we here at Gruncle's Headquarters glean that y'all can't get enough of our familial shenanigans. That's why we bring to you the perfectly curated film discussions you're begging for. This week we watched Greta Gerwig's 2017 smash-indie-hit "Lady Bird", from the same year, Abbas Kiarostami's slow cinematic experiment "24 Frames", Mike Leigh's dynamic exploration of Gilbert and Sullivan in "Topsy-Turvy" and Agnes Varda's 2001 tender documentary on gleaning in "Les Glaneurs et La Glaneuse" (Gleaners and I).Â
What does the word "arthouse" mean to you? Is it a useless marketing label, or a legitimate identifier for a certain style of filmmaking? Or is it somewhere in-between? Maybe you'll obtain the answers you desire in this week's installment of Gruncle's Movie Month: The Greatest Film Podcast of All Time. This week we ravenously consumed our healthy dose of 4 films: Lars Von Trier's 2011 cosmic-depression-fest "Melancholia", Elaine May's 1976 subversive gangster flick "Mikey and Nicky", Mike Mills' 2021 b&w tender familial journey "C'mon C'mon", and King Hu's 1979 fusion of the mystical and the scientific in "Legend of the Mountain". Don't trust that Gruncle fellla.Â
Does all art manipulate? Is Gruncle losing it? Is Dennis Hopper worthy of anything? Is Pabst Blue Ribbon better than Heineken? As always, get your answers on this week's episode of Gruncle's Movie Month as we discuss our next four films. This week we watched the much discussed 1988 Studio Ghibli film "Grave of the Fireflies", the 2008 Sion Sono epic "Love Exposure", the 1995 camp extravaganza Showgirls, and Dennis Hopper's polarizing "The Last Movie".Â
I can't believe we were able to get Richard Linklater on the show! I must be dreaming! This week we watched, or maybe dreamt of watching, Jacques Demy's vibrant "Donkey Skin" (1970), Fritz Lang's silent-epic "Die Nibelungen: Siegfried" (1924), Rainer Werner Fassbinder's anxiety-inducing take on class in "Fox and His Friends" (1975), and Guest Host, Richard Linklater's "Waking Life" (2001).Â
At the end of this episode we state that we'll be watching "Matewan", we instead watched Dennis Hopper's "The Last Movie".
Wow, what a surprise, Gruncle and Nephew watched some bleak and emotionally draining cinema to kick off March Movie Month. At least the duo's playful buffoonery is able to keep things from getting too dark. For the first week of the new month, Gruncle and Nephew discuss Takashi Miike's samurai bloodfest "13 Assassins" (2010), Ingmar Bergman doing Ingmar Bergman with "Through a Glass Darkly" (1961), Takeshi Kitano's puzzle-like "Hanabi" (1997), and Jean-Jacques Beineix's cycle of deterioration in "Betty Blue" (1986). We have to start picking some more uplifting, less upsetting films...
!!TW!!: On this episode we discuss the Reiner Werner Fassbinder film 'In a year with 13 Moons' which contains extremely graphic footage of a slaughterhouse and outdated notions of transhood in its use as a filmic device to explore personal tragedy. We discuss the film from 26 minutes in to 46.5 min in. Elliot (Nephew) hits the nail on the head in much of their analysis. There are many ways you can be an ally, but consider donating to somewhere like The Transgender Law Center, which is a trans-led advocacy group which uses legal-expertise and community oriented goals to fight the good fight. Visit here for more: transgenderlawcenter.org/ways-to-giveÂ
Otherwise, Gruncle and Nephew get up to their usual off-the-cuff shenanigans in their discussions about the 1984 social-doc 'Streetwise' dir. by Martin Bell, the 2021 French new extremity film from Julia Ducournau 'Titane', and Akira Kurosawa's 1960 Hamlet adaptation 'The Bad Sleep Well'. Many thanks to Nephew for carrying this one.Â
On this week's episode, Nephew hijacks the podcast and shifts the focus to Australian Survivor, much to the Gruncle's disgruntlement. Luckily for you, the two also get around to discussing your weekly prescription of masterfully handpicked cinema. For this episode, they watched Ingmar Bergman's bleak psychological-drama The Passion of Anna (1969), Hitoshi Matsumoto's absurdist kaiju mockumentary Big Man Japan (2007), Jim Jarmusch's minimalist road film Stranger Than Paradise (1984), and Francesco Rosi's biting political drama Hands Over the City (1963). We hope you watch along with us to the best of your ability! We do not actually have a Patreon btw, but follow us on instagram: instagram.com/grunclemustache and listen to Proper Tea!
Wowee, would you look at that? Somehow Ol' senile Grunc and his heathen nephew have made it all the way to episode 4. In this godless episode, your favorite intellectuals dive deep into Claire Denis' masterpiece Beau Travail (1999), Bob Fosse's take on a real life tragedy in Star 80 (1983), Mel Brooks' Hitchcock parody (1977), and the domestic epic of Bill Gunn's Personal Problems (1980). Please send us cash in the mail so that nephew can afford the epic soundboard we deserve.
Episode 3 of your new favorite podcast sees a nephew and their Gruncle get into their first major disagreement as the two discuss Harmony Korine's 2012 film Spring Breakers. After the dust settles, listen to the two film geniuses discuss the slow-cinema staple, Sleep Has Her House (2017), the Scorsese classic, King of Comedy (1982), and the ever-charming, Loves of a Blonde (1965). Maybe you'll even get a great new music recommendation out of all the chaos.
As always, be sure to take some big sips of NYC band Proper Tea, and you can find us on Instagram here: instagram.com/grunclemustache/
In their second week of unhinged film podcasting, Gruncle and Nephew tackle yet another four cinematic delights. This time around they discuss the political comedy In the Loop (2009), the romantic comedy Brief Encounter (1945), the noir-infused crime drama The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1978 version), and the meta-docufiction of Jafar Panahi's Taxi (2015). Can Gruncle keep it together and maintain coherent sentence structure? Can Nephew keep the podcast afloat with their youthful exuberance? And what does Henry Kissinger have to do with all this? Listen and find out!
In the first ever installment of the Gruncle's Movie Month Podcast, Gruncle Mustache and his Nephew Elliot take on their first four films. This week they watched the psychological thriller, Klute (1971), the wartime melodrama, The Cranes are Flying (1957), the espionage drama, Army of Shadows (1969) and the meta-biopic, Jacquot (1991). With this episode having been recorded in January, we did not foresee how prescient our wartime picks were at the time. Hopefully our conversations help give some filmic context to current global events, or at least provide a welcome distraction from all the craziness.Â