Breadline Optimists: A Film Podcast

 A mega edition of the Scream Drafts (called Scream Drafts when horror is covered in October) podcast involves at least three players and at least 13 picks. This the route we went 13 choices, 3 players (a friend Scott, who came up with this game topic, and my wife Vanessa and I) and the topic was Frankenstein films. Frankenstein (doctor or monster) had to be a major character in the film or the film had to be heavily inspired by the plot (like Rocky Horror Picture Show or the indie film Depraved). Two films that were deemed ineligible (deeming so required a 2/3 vote) before we started were Monster Squad and (much to my chagrin) Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman. It was decided that these did not have enough scenes featuring the monster or the doctor or they just were integral to the plot. The first part of the game was the prep. Then I contacted podcast master and man of many blu ray commentaries Rod Barnett (The Bloody Pit, The Naschycast). We needed a person to provide trivia to det...

My wife V and I are into some dark imagery. We watch enough spooky door cam videos to be happy have an upstairs condo. We both watch the bleakest horror films. I watch the bleakest art films. When I am feeling sad I can watch Amour  (the one Haneke we skipped because we have been hit with some real life similar death recently and I did not think my wife would want to watch it) or 'Night Mother  (1986) where Sissy Spacek spends the whole movie listing reasons for suicide to her mother. That's how I handle sadness. To clear her head, V can watch more gnarly true crime YouTube videos than I can stomach. There was a revival screening of Funny Games (1997) last month. And halfway through, I whispered to V, don't tell me if you like this film or not. We are going to play a game. I thought we were both ready to tackle Michael Haneke's depressive and distinct filmography.  Before that screening I had only seen Amour  & Funny Games  (2007). V had only seen the latt...

A normal episode of the Screen Drafts is played with two people. It is a 7 film draft. Each Player gets a veto. And order is determined by trivia (related to the topic of film being discussed, a long ago pod episode was on Tobe Hopper). The winner of trivia can chose if they want more picks (7,6,4 and 2) or the number one pick (5, 3, and 1). The films being chosen are usually theatrical films but if both parties agree, a rule called "the mooch rule" can allow for television films to be played. Screen Drafts also has mega episodes and mini mega where far more than seven picks are drafted. and more than two people play. In November, my wife V was kind enough to play a Three Stooges feature film drafts with me. I told her she could pick the next topic, and since we both love international horror, she opted for the Ringu and Ju-On films, of course we watched the American remakes and sequels as well, even the direct to video Grudge III. I won the trivia; don't ask me how becau...

A friend mentioned recently that it had been a while since a film left a whole audience in awe. We discussed The Force Awakes . And I remember suggesting Top Gun: Maverick  though I was not exactly sure of the audience reaction since, despite the fact that I attend the cinema once a week (at least 52 times a year anyhow), I somehow ended up catching that one at home.   There's an art theater near me called The Loft. My wife and I have usual seats at the front balcony. When a film really has me in awe, I lean closer to the screen and hold onto the railing with both hands. I watched a couple hundred 2022 releases and saw some fantastical things. Here are a few: Alex Cox's appearance in Mad God , the Yiddish references in Blood Relatives , Dan Hedaya's great, gloomy work in Slapface , Gordy the Chimp from Nope and the moment in Exorcist Vengeance when the Father (Robert Bronzi) gives a  dying woman her last rites then pulls out his gun and chases after her...

In the past, I have played or hosted games of The Incinerator Podcast; most of those are listed somewhere on this blog. I was not able to do a write up on the Nicolas Cage game a friend and I played. I was deep into my podcast at the time and I lost my notes. But for anyone curious the top three of that game were: 3) Color Outside Space 2) Mandy and 1) Joe. But my wife and I wanted to play a game of Screen Drafts for a change.  A normal episode of the Screen Drafts is played with two people. It is a 7 film draft. Each Player gets a veto. And order is determined by trivia (related to the topic of film being discussed, a recent pod episode was on Tobe Hopper). The winner of trivia can chose if they want more picks (7,6,4 and 2) or the number one pick (5, 3, and 1). The films being chosen are usually theatrical films but if both parties agree, a rule called "the mooch rule" can allow for television films to be played. Screen Drafts also has mega episodes and mini mega where far ...