Galactiac

I'm in.

So I watched The Shawshank Redemption recently and wanted to go back and listen to the Canon episode about it.... that's when I discovered the new paywall for all the old episodes. Not a fan. I understand it's difficult to figure out a business model for free content, but this just makes it more difficult to share the show with other people in the future. Unfortunately I couldn't justify 5 dollars to listen to a single episode that I'd already heard before so I didn't get to revisit it. I know the same thing happened to HDTGM? and it took them by surprise so I'm not blaming anyone specifically. Just disappointed.

Maybe she's just scheduling a guest every week instead of introducing a new host. Not a bad idea.

I'm in. I hope she picks someone she can have a good argument with.

I think he's going for a really bad transatlantic accent. Unfortunately it just comes off as bad acting.

I didn't either until all this happened. Feel free to join us. I like hearing your thoughts.

It's not all about forgiveness though. They have to think about how survivors would feel if Earwolf and Birth Movies Death continued on like nothing had happened. Especially in the current political climate. It's perfectly fine to forgive Devin, but there are also issues of trust, and the implicit meaning of standing behind someone who's involved in a controversy. In other words, because of what allegedly happened, and when it became exposed, it became about much more than whether or not Devin is forgiven and it would probably make the situation worse to just forgive and carry on. I think it's actually better for Devin this way believe it or not.

I was going to vote yes if it counts for anything now. I'd seen Happiness and Storytelling, but never Welcome to the Dollhouse. I vividly remember when this became a surprise hit in 1995. I was 13 and the marketing was all over MTV. When I watched it recently I had that strange feeling you get when you remember an actor that was close to your age when you were young, but then you see see them in that same movie 20 years later and realize they were JUST A BABY. Wow. Heather Matarazzo was brilliantly cast, and I honestly think she has this unconventional beauty that's somehow easily covered up by those ugly glasses. Love Todd Solondz. He's a master of this almost entirely unexplored area of comedy and gut-wrenching pathos. A lot of the teenage cruelty and shitty parenting came close to being hard to watch for me, but it's just too damn perfect and honest not to. Great choice for the now dormant canon. It wasn't until I got involved in the conversation here that I realized I'd been unconsciously avoiding almost every female coming of age film. Now I feel like I need to catch myself up.

Nice to hear from you, Amy. I feel bad for @spacecrone and Devin for totally different reasons, but I also feel bad for you. I'm just a listener and it felt like this goddamn election from hell indirectly ripped away something that I enjoy. If it means anything to you, I really wasn't THAT much of a film geek before I got really serious about this podcast about four months ago, but I've been devouring movies since then. I have you and Devin to thank for that. Whatever you decide to do, you ABSOLUTELY need to be recorded having contentious conversations about movies. You're great at it, and it's nice to know someone else out there isn't particularly enamored with Goodfellas. <3

Just set up an account: http://letterboxd.com/Galactiac/

It's a great format. I'll show up for whatever form it takes in the future.

Guys I don't want the podcast to end either, but this isn't just a host leaving; this is an extremely nasty scandal. People have to think about what it means for their careers to be associated with it in any way. Who wants to be the new co-host of a podcast after something like that? Who wants to try to continue on after 97 episodes as though nothing happened? How many listeners are they going to lose no matter what they do? I think Amy has an extremely bright future, but if she continues with this concept it might be better to just start over with a new podcast. But there's also a strong chance that it's just over. It's really awful guys, but I think that's the reality of the situation.

Guys, the genie is out of the bottle. There's no going back.

This is what Amy should do: -abandon The Canon because there's a massive dark cloud over it that's never going to go away. -try to find another critic that she's friendly with while also contrasting in taste just enough to make for a good show -take the same premise, maybe adjust it slightly, start a new podcast with a new title. New forum on Earwolf. Clean slate. Or if she really doesn't think it's going to happen she should release a list of movies she was considering for the show. I'm going to miss all the obscure movies I was watching.

Right now I only know one thing for certain. There will be no call-in episode.

The fact that "Earwolf Admin" started the Face in the Crowd thread and not Devin seems odd.

Damn.

I loved this film. I feel like every voter should watch it just to see the falseness they can get wrapped up in. Trump is a really obvious example, but I think it's more common than not unfortunately. There's so much pandering in politics which doesn't necessarily make for good leaders. Big Yes. Also I found Patricia Neal insanely charming in this role.

I feel really wishy-washy about this one. I find it really interesting and frustrating at the same time, and like everyone else says the ending really undermines the whole thing. There's a lot of entertaining stuff here. The pseudo-psychology is an interesting artifact, but it begins to feel heavy handed. There are quite a few monologues that feel more like they're running out the clock than serving the story. It's definitely a fun little movie, but I'm going to trust my ambivalence and give it a soft no.

Context still plays a role even in those examples. You absolutely can't say Citizen Kane wasn't a product of its time whether it was appreciated then or not. In fact that just becomes a part of the context through which we appreciate it now. Either way it's absolutely been an influence since then. The Birth of a Nation and Triumph of the Will both make arguments for evil ideologies, but they also both possessed incredibly groundbreaking film techniques. The racism and propaganda is sickening to watch, but they're incredibly important films anyway. That doesn't mean you MUST vote for anything that's had a significant influence, but it's still a perfectly good reason to.

Chekov gets more to do in this movie than Spock. I think Spock's death scene is a classic scene, but if they really wanted to knock it out of the park they should have given him some kind of beefy arc that resolved itself when he died. It feels a bit like they set up the "needs of the many" line near the beginning, and then took him for granted until they need him to save the ship.

Just watched it. I'd only learned it was a play right before, and it was pretty clear while I was watching that they'd added to it.

Well I'm sorry Devin feels that way, but I've obsessed over Trek enough to feel pretty strongly about everything I've said. Still love the podcast. Let me just leave this here: Kirk starts out the movie feeling like he's old and that he's lost a step. As they approach the unresponsive Reliant ship, Saavik begins to quote regulations about raising shields in this specific scenario. She's cut off, Kirk doesn't do it, the ship is critically wounded and members of his crew die because of it. It's a massive fuck up for Kirk, and he acknowledges it. Great scene. But the rest of the movie only happens because of Kirk's arrogance in this one moment, and he never really makes it right. He outmaneuvers Khan, but not before even more of his crew dies, and now The Enterprise is too crippled to get away from the Genesis wave until Kirk's BEST FRIEND has to sacrifice his life to fix Kirk's mistake. At the end of the movie they force this thematic resolution on us by having Kirk say, "I feel ...young!" Why exactly? He was worried he'd lost a step and proceeds to get a bunch of his subordinates killed, including his best friend. Why feel young now? Did they earn that thematic resolution? This is the kind of thing that creates a disconnect with me and this movie. I like it, I think it's fun, but I only like it a certain amount.

At the end of the day when I watch Wrath of Khan I'm consistently reminded that with another director, and some script improvements this could be a much better movie.

I love that Amy gives these kinds of movie a hard time. They need to be challenged because the "geeky" movies that transcend their genre are the ones that really deserve extra recognition. It's vital to have someone that isn't steeped in the fandom so that they can approach it more objectively. I think that's a critical test for these kinds of movies, and as a huge genre fan I'm constantly thinking about how these films play for someone that comes in cold because those are the ones you can share with the most people.