This week we travel to gritty 80’s London via Neil Jordan’s MONA LISA. Our hero is the elegant and inscrutable Simone (Cathy Tyson), a high end call girl who has gained a degree of independence in her work. Our narrator is her driver/bodyguard George (Bob Hoskins), recently released from prison, who is looking to reconnect with his estranged daughter. George wears his heart on his sleeve, and Simone never shows her hand, but they are (maybe) able to find some degree of connection in spite of complicated circumstances. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2021 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson

Shut Up and Watch This

#78: Mona Lisa (1986)

Is it noir? Is it a woman’s picture? Why not both? On this week's episode we talk MILDRED PIERCE. Joan Crawford is the hardest working woman in the greater Los Angeles area, at least. She cooks, she cleans, she founds a successful chain of mid-range restaurants through a series of increasingly strange real estate maneuvers, all while raising two daughters and fielding advances from various contemptible men. Maybe you can have it all! Actually, maybe not. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2021 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson

#77: Mildred Pierce (1945)

In the words of noted 90s philosopher, Jack Handey, “If you ever discover that what you're seeing is a play within a play, just slow down, take a deep breath, and hold on for the ride of your life.” Bertolucci’s 1970 classic THE CONFORMIST is similarly layered; a flashback within a fantasy within a frame story. Beyond the complex structure, this film is also rife with striking imagery, symbolism and camera movement. Dave and Ashley discuss how The Conformist has influenced generations of filmmakers from Coppola to Gerwig, plus how Freud ruins everything. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2021 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson

#76: The Conformist (1970)

Perhaps HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY is an odd choice considering our general weariness with sequels and franchises and Dave’s aversion to superhero films. But this is a different kind of sequel and Hellboy is a different kind of hero, and it doesn’t hurt to have Guillermo del Toro directing, too. Del Toro is clearly having a great time bringing all kinds of interesting and creepy creatures to life. This film is a whole lot of fun, proving that there is an exception to every rule even among the seemingly endless superhero movies. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2021 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson

#75: Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)

This week’s pick is about some ruthless people and some not so ruthless people acting in some very ruthless ways, but also some not very ruthless ways. Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Judge Reinhold and Supergirl star in RUTHLESS PEOPLE, a 1986 revenge comedy with a whole lot going on. We’ve got attempted murder, kidnapping, failed blackmail plots, a history of stereo retail sales practices, and an amazing house which is either a tribute to the Memphis style or a ruthless takedown of it. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2021 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson

#74: Ruthless People (1986)

Film and other art forms are in near constant dialogue, influencing each other. This is particularly true in genre films, where quotations of influential works are used to draw viewers in. And so this week we have a film about a female tank driver in a post-apocalyptic wasteland that is controlled by one man who has all the water, and all the power. But this is not Mad Max: Fury Road, it is TANK GIRL (1995), an adaptation of an underground, post-punk comic, which was in turn almost certainly inspired by the original Mad Max series. A financial failure at the time, this film is not perfect, but it’s a whole lot of fun, and surprisingly progressive, too. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2021 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson

#73: Tank Girl (1995)

This week we have a little truffle of a Truffaut film, romantic comedy-drama STOLEN KISSES. Third in Truffaut’s series of films about Antoine Doinel, this film concerns the misadventures of Antoine in his early 20s as he tries to figure out work and love, largely failing at both. With a cast of delightful side characters and involving the strange goings-on at a Paris detective agency, Stolen Kisses feels like something of a mix between Peter Seller’s Pink Panther films and The Graduate. A perfect cinematic treat to go with the beautiful spring weather we’re having in Texas. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2021 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson

#72: Stolen Kisses (1968)

It’s Springtime in Austin, which means bluebonnets, beautiful weather and South by Southwest Music, Film, everything Festival. SXSW 2021, like many festivals during the pandemic, was held entirely online and we were there on our couch watching it all (or some of it). Listen as we share our reviews of INBETWEEN GIRL, ISLANDS, THE FALLOUT, and INTRODUCING, SELMA BLAIR, plus a few other favorite narrative films, documentaries, and shorts from the festival. We hope to pique your interest and nudge you to seek out and support these great films and their talented filmmakers. 02:26 - Inbetween Girl 09:28 - Islands 17:09 - The Fallout 29:30 - Introducing, Selma Blair 42:10 - The End of Us 44:41 - Women is Losers 49:02 - Our Father 52:16 - Potato Dreams of America 55:35 - Kid Candidate 1:00:25 - Are You Still There? (Short) 1:01:31 - Soak (Short) 1:02:08 - Summer Animals (Short) Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2021 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson

#71: SXSW 2021 - Inbetween Girl / Islands / The Fallout

Why don’t we have a word for a breakup comedy? Anti-romantic comedy doesn’t quite get the idea across in the right way. Maybe it's because breakups aren’t funny in the conventional sense. Maybe there just aren’t enough of them, but there should be more films like Ashley’s pick, CELESTE & JESSE FOREVER. Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg play a couple having the best breakup ever until complications come along. Like the best relationships this film is funny, sad and maybe we even learn a little something from it. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2021 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson

#70: Celeste & Jesse Forever (2012)

What do you get when you mix horror, comedy, and romance with martial arts, stop motion, and a ghost story. Something that feels a little like Evil Dead, a little like Princess Bride, and a whole lot like a kung fu Ray Harryhausen film. Dave’s pick this week is A CHINESE GHOST STORY, a Hong Kong cinema gem that never saw a wide release in the U.S, but has since become a cult film. This film is jam-packed with action, plot, and imagery. It’s all a little too much in a really good way. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2021 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson

#69: A Chinese Ghost Story (1987)

WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER (2001) was at one point in the mid to late 00’s required viewing for those interested in the comedy world, or at least it felt that way to someone who had just discovered comedy podcasts by way of Marc Maron. It certainly stars many up-and-coming actors and comedians who are now major names in television and film, including Amy Poehler, Ken Marino, Michael Showalter,  and….Bradley Cooper.. But does it continue to deserve its required viewing status or has time and comedy moved on? Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2021 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson

#68: Wet Hot American Summer (2001)

Two guys, one dog, a remote hot spring, and some palpable tension. This week’s pick, Kelly Reichardt’s OLD JOY, couldn't be more stripped down, just two old friends going on a weekend trip. And yet, the scenes are subtle and emotionally fraught. There is a lot going on just below the surface. At the end of the weekend it’s not clear that anyone had a good time except for Lucy the dog and maybe Dave and Ashley as they unpack it. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2021 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson

#67: Old Joy (2006)

If there is any movie that proves that how you feel about art can change over time, or even during the course of a single conversation, it is Ashley’s pick, Alexander Payne’s ELECTION (1999). This pitch black comedy features a usually likable Matthew Broderick playing teacher, Mr. McAllister against a difficult-to-love Tracy Flick, an against-type Reese Witherspoon. Though this seems like a simple story about what happens when a mid-life crisis mixes with a high-school election, it actually is a more subtle character study about how people use boredom and jealousy to justify some truly heinous actions. This film brings up some strong emotions from Dave and Ashley, so join us for an interesting conversation. Pick Flick! Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2020 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson

#66: Election (1999)

This week we are reviewing WITNESS, the 1985 film starring Harrison Ford and directed by Peter Weir. Not, The Witness, not Witness for the Prosecution, Witness for the Defense, and definitely not Silent Witness or Hostile Witness. Name confusion aside, this film has a lot more to offer than one would expect from what seemed at first to be a Harrison Ford thriller, but is actually a more subtle exploration of the role of violence in modern life. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2020 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson

#65: Witness (1985)

DON’T TELL MOM THE BABYSITTER’S DEAD is perhaps a strange choice for a podcast that has covered such illustrious films as Notorious, Seven Samurai and Pan’s Labyrinth. It is very much a B movie, but there is just something about this film. Certainly part of it is Christina Applegate’s charming performance, and David Duchovny’s standout turn as a general slimeball. But also, this story subverts expectations again and again. Far from perfect, this is a fun, silly fable that has something to say about growing up, taking responsibility, and finding yourself in the process.  Also mentioned: DEAD TO ME (2019) - TV Series. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wordpress.com Send your feedback to shutupwatchthis@gmail.com Please consider leaving a review or a star rating on iTunes, so other folks can find us. © 2020 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson

#64: Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991)

Join us as we uncover each other's media and pop culture blindspots. We're a couple getting to know each other better by sharing the must-see movies from our past.

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Shut Up and Watch This

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