This week on the podcast: Dan, Jenna and Veronica take a compare-and-contrast look at the original Suspiria, as well as the 2018 companion piece.
Suspiria's Problematic Take on Fascism and Guilt
With the character of Dr Klemperer, Luca Guadagnino and David Kajganich make an assumption of guilt that should be unpacked. In weighing the insinuations of this storyline, Auschwitz survivor Primo Levi comes to mind.
Naughty By Nature: Films That Wrestle With Instinct Over Intellect
Movies spend a lot of time ruminating on how much of who we are is inherent and how much is learned. Yet the films Good Manners, The Woman, and Spring ask us: what if nothing about us is a choice?
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs Sends The American Dream To The Gallows
“All day I face the barren waste / Without the taste of water, cool water
Old Dan and I with throats burned dry / And souls that cry for water, cool, clear, water.”
I Watched It So You Don't Have To: Foodfight!
“The worst animated feature film of all time.” Argle-bargle or foofooraw? We find out!
Episode 7 - Saturday Night Live Comedies
This week on Notes From the Back Row, we are talking about every Saturday Night Live feature-film ever! Strap in, it’s going to be bumpy!
The World of Surreal and Experimental Horror Movies
There are scores of horror movies that follow formulas, rules, and tropes to the bitter end. Even with the 2018 glut of art house horror, plenty of familiar aspects linger. To really see beyond the rainbow on this one, we need to look to experimental horror.
Episode 6 - Horrific Hilarious Horror (and Other H Words)
It's the Halloween episode of Notes From the Back Row! We're discussing everything from horror franchises, teen horror, horror comedies and VHS horror.
Double Feature: The Dangers of Peer Pressure (Last Summer & The Party's Over)
If you watch The Party’s Over and Last Summer in a row and you'll come away realizing not only was the dream of the 1960s a lie, but we've never actually accomplished anything.
I Watched It So You Don't Have To: Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom
We tend to think of Fascism as everyone “agreeing” to the same ideals, but those boundaries are rarely ever publicly decided. Instead of a commentary on what fascism does, Salo presents what it allows for.
Back Row Cinema Blog
An alternative movie review site brought to you by a buncha weirdos. Updated M W F.