Shut Up And Watch This

Are there times in your life when you’re more open to a particular show or movie? We find out when we revisit a series that Dave just couldn’t get into the first time Ashley brought it up, long before they ever started dating. PARTY DOWN was Rob Thomas’s (the writer-director, not the singer of “Smooth”) follow-up to VERONICA MARS. The series follows Adam Scott as a washed-up actor and his co-workers at a second-rate catering company in LA as they work disastrous parties and events, while trying to figure out their careers, or lack thereof, in and around the fringes of the entertainment industry. The humor is dark, sarcastic, and frequently silly, so it’s right in Ashley’s wheelhouse. But will Dave come around? 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. © 2019 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson

This week we’re talking Slartibartfast, Zaphod Beeblebrox, and Ford Prefect. No, we aren’t advertising for some weird diet shake, an odd new laundry detergent, or a car that ceased production in 1961…it’s just a few of the interestingly named characters from the 1981 BBC TV adaptation of THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY. Ashley, a huge fan of the book series, wonders if one needs a live action version of a near perfect story. For Dave, who knew the story from books, radio and the series, his pick is pure nostalgia. Will it stand the test of time? Speaking of time, we’re recording this episode live-ish from GALLIFREY ONE 2019, the US’s largest fan-run DOCTOR WHO convention. We’ll rundown some of our favorite moments from the conference so far, plus give a brief history of how Dave and Ashley got into WHO in the first place. 01:50 - Dave’s Pick: Hitchhiker’s Guide 37:05 - Gallifrey One 2019 Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our site: shutupwatchthis.wor

Dave and I saw a truly outstanding film this weekend, and although it breaks the rules for our podcast, we really wanted to talk about it. The film was ROMA. Director Alfonso Cuarón takes us into his childhood in the Colonia Roma neighborhood of Mexico City. Told from the perspective of the beloved nanny who helped raise him and his siblings, this film is gorgeous from first shot to last, and it is all the things a film should be: engaging, evocative, deeply moving, and most of all profoundly human. Go see it if you haven’t, and maybe see it again if you have. 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. © 2019 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson

It seems everything gets a gritty remake these days, but did LM Montgomery’s classic book series ANNE OF GREEN GABLES really need the Batman Begins treatment? Disapproving of the recent remakes, this week Dave and Ashley review the original, Kevin Sullivan’s 1985 adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (yes we realize there is a 1934 film as well). Ashley tries and (perhaps) fails to be somewhat objective about her pick and one of her childhood favorites. And Dave waxes poetic about the joys of watching Anne (Megan Follows) find her chosen family and make a place for herself in the world. 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. © 2019 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson

It’s a Bergman bonanza as Dave and Ashley review FANNY AND ALEXANDER (1982). This portrait of a large family seen through the eyes of young Alexander is both joyful and devastating. Ashley is drawn in by the powerful and grounded female characters, and the wonderful, terrible portrayals of characters coping (or not) with their own mortality. Dave finds some connection to his past, and is inspired by the contrast of Alexander’s Christmas spent with a large, warm family versus time spent in the austere home of his sadistic stepfather, the Bishop. All this plus Dave’s review of Criterion’s monumental new 39-film box set, INGMAR BERGMAN’S CINEMA. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook 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. © 2019 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson

A listener poll of Ashley’s Christmas related picks decided our next film. By a landslide listeners chose THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, an actual Christmas/Halloween classic, over some lesser known and less well respected films (MIXED NUTS has a 10% Rotten Tomatoes rating). Dave is on the record as having complicated feelings about Tim Burton films. And Ashley was a little hesitant to revisit a childhood favorite, considering how mainstream Nightmare has become. Will they be charmed by the spirit of this film nonetheless?

A stranger walks into a small town cafe somewhere in the California desert and proceeds to change the lives of everyone connected to said cafe. Interesting how so many American stories start in nearly the same way and end up in very different places. This week we’re talking about BAGDAD CAFE (1987), a charming indie by German director Percy Adlon. This movie has Dave nostalgic for the Mojave Desert of his youth, and sends Ashley on a tangent about American idealism, interstates, and the slow starvation of small towns. All this plus lederhosen, magic kits, later days romance, and an unexpected female friendship. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook 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. © 2018 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson

We’re finishing off a very eventful October by reviewing John Carpenter’s 1978 horror classic HALLOWEEN…on Halloween! Dave has somehow never seen this film due to his general disdain for the dead teenager/slasher genre. Ashley thinks he’ll love this homage to Hitchcock’s genre-defining PSYCHO, or at least enjoy watching her jump a foot and a half off the couch with every jump scare. So let’s watch the film that launched a thousand horror movie cliches and at least as many sequels. Turn on the lights, check the backseat, and always, always pay attention to warnings from dogs and kids named Tommy. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook 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. © 2018 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson

October’s here and we, like the rest of the western world, have gone into spooky mode. This week we're talking about obscure psychological thriller, DON’T LOOK NOW (1973) directed by Nicolas Roeg. A portrait of grief with a bit of the supernatural mixed in, Dave’s pick stars Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie as a couple coping with the loss of their young daughter.  A fan of late 60s and 70s psychological horror, Ashley finds plenty to love here, especially in the abandoned, labyrinthine Venice that serves as both backdrop and symbol in this film. Can this couple escape from a prophecy of doom? Want to watch for yourself first? Ample spoiler warnings are provided so you’ll know to stop the episode before we discuss the ending. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook 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. © 2018 Ashley Carr & Dave

As an actor, how does one follow a performance in a record breaking blockbuster like JURASSIC PARK? If one is Laura Dern, you star in a controversial indie film by a first-time director about the abortion debate, of course. This week it’s her movie, her choice as we discuss Ashley’s pick, dark comedy CITIZEN RUTH (1996) by Alexander Payne. Ashley and Dave marvel at Laura Dern’s ability to render a character with virtually no redeemable qualities as vaguely loveable, and the fact that this film still feels extremely relevant even 20 years later. Plus an appearance by the late, great Burt Reynolds, and SaWT favorites Mary Kay Place and Swoosie Kurtz. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook 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. © 2018 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson

Gather your gas cans, canteens and studded leather chaps, this week we go traveling through a post-apocalyptic Australian wasteland with a very unlucky but ultimately heroic man named Max. On this episode we are watching not one, but two films from the Max Max series, namely 1981’s THE ROAD WARRIOR (MAD MAX 2) and MAD MAX: BEYOND THUNDERDOME (1985). Dave saw Thunderdome when he was 14 and has been a fan of the series ever since. Ashley has only seen the latest installment, FURY ROAD. What will Ashley make of the origin material? And how well does Thunderdome stand up against the ravages of times (and the 80s)? Two movies enter, one movie leaves…  Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook 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. © 2018 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson

This week Ashley introduces Dave to the delightful silliness of Steve Martin and THE JERK, a movie that was not only one of her dad’s favorite comedies, but also a constant source of quotes and in-jokes around the house when she was growing up. Will Dave be able to look past some of the more problematic aspects of this movie to see the pathos in this madcap story about the rise and fall of simple, sheltered Navin Johnson and his love for a girl named Marie (Bernadette Peters)? Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook 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. © 2018 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson

This week Dave and Ashley discuss THE REMAINS OF THE DAY, based on Kazuo Ishiguro's novel about the life and regrets of Stevens (Anthony Hopkins), dutiful butler of Darlington Hall, who values housekeeper Miss Kenton (Emma Thompson) a great deal. Dave discusses some of his own regrets, which may extend to selecting a film for the show that no longer resonates the way it once did. Curious thing, looking back on one's life. Nevertheless, Ashley welcomes the opportunity to carry on her acquaintance with spirit animal Emma Thompson and to utter witticisms at regular intervals.  Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook 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. © 2018 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson

When Ashley was 26 years, 51 weeks, 3 days, 6 hours and 26 minutes old she discovered a delightfully dark new television series. Ten years, 36 weeks, 6 days, 4 hours and 2 minutes later, after a chance encounter in the DVD section of a used-book store, Ashley shared this same series with her new beau. Dave and Ashley continue to explore cult TV with Ashley’s pick, psychedelic twee fantasy, PUSHING DAISIES (2007-2009). What will Dave make of the day-glo colors and dark comic sensibility? And will the show live up to Ashley’s fond memories? Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook 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. © 2018 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson

This week Dave and Ashley wander into a brave new world: cult TV. First up is Dave’s pick, psychedelic/spy/sci-fi classic THE PRISONER (1967-1968). This genre-defying series about a kidnapped former spy (Patrick McGoohan), who awakens in a seemingly idyllic coastal enclave called The Village, has Ashley looking for information, information, information. Dave counters with “that would be telling,” while attempting to explain what makes this bewildering series a cult phenomenon. To give Ashley a taste of the show, we watch and discuss 2 episodes: “ARRIVAL” and "FREE FOR ALL.” All this, plus our first email from a fan of The Prisoner who literally could not wait for this episode to drop. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook 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. © 2018 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson

It’s nearly Summer, and you know what that means….superhero movies. So many superhero movies... This week Dave and Ashley take on the Disney industrial complex in the form of Ashley’s pick 2004 Pixar film THE INCREDIBLES. Listen as Dave confronts his aversion to all things superhero, and Ashley geeks out over the mid-century production design. Does THE INCREDIBLES soar above the competition to be a classic or are we doomed to yet another basic hero film? Find out this week on Shut Up and Watch This. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook 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. © 2018 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson  

This week Dave and Ashley may have stumbled on a previously unknown life defining event. Did you come of age before Tarantino or after Tarantino? Dave was a film student at UCSD when his pick, cinematic earthquake RESERVOIR DOGS was released. Ashley was…..in middle school. There’s a lot to unpack here as Dave describes how shocking this film was when he saw it in the theater, and Ashley reveals the ice that flows through her veins having grown up in a post-Tarantino world. All this plus speculations on an alternate timeline where John Travolta never had a career revival, and a takedown of the diamond industry. Links: Ashley's favorite diamond industry takedown article: Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond? - Edward J. Epstein (The Atlantic, Feb. 1982). Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook 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. © 201

Find out what happens when Elrond the Elf King (Hugo Weaving), a British Gangster (Terence Stamp), and that guy from MEMENTO (Guy Pearce) take a drag show on the road across the Australian desert in a ramshackle bus. We’re talking great characters, small towns, and nordic pop music when we cover Ashley’s pick, PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT. This 1994 Australian cult film has great performances, stunning photography, and manages to find a balance between very silly and very dramatic. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook 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. © 2018 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson  

On this week’s very special episode of Shut Up and Watch This, differing viewpoints lead to one of our most interesting, and certainly longest, discussions. Dave’s pick is NAKED, a 1993 film by Mike Leigh, a favorite director of both Dave and Ashley. Does Dave accurately express what this film meant to a young man out in the world for the first time? Will Ashley be able to look past her visceral reaction to the violence to truly appreciate the manic magnetism of Johnny?  Yes! No! Maybe?! Plus, discussions of Greek classics, modern anti-heroes, and the worst date movie of all time. Subscribe in iTunes, Android, or Spotify. Follow us on Facebook 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. © 2018 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson

Ashley and Dave are proud to review COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER, the story of country singer Loretta Lynn (Sissy Spacek). Along the way, they confront Dave's country music blind spot and argue over the correct pronunciation of the word "biopic." Subscribe in iTunes or Android Follow us on Facebook 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. © 2018 Ashley Carr & Dave Wilson