Paul And Corey Cross The Streams

Based on Corey's Charade (1963), Paul took out his red string and connected the dots: 1963. Walter Matthau. The CIA... Oliver Stone's JFK (1991)! One of Paul's favorite films, which he's been threatening Corey with for the past five years, finally makes its appearance on the podcast. Controversial even while the film was barely into production, a conversation about JFK has a lot to unpack. A cast loaded with stars. Editing. The Cold War and Vietnam. Deep and parapolitics. Conspiracy theories and the material conditions that allow for them to flourish. Why does Paul care so much? Why doesn't Corey? So, sit yourself down on the closest grassy knoll and enjoy.

Based on Paul's One Sings, The Other Doesn't (1977), Corey also wanted to keep it in Paris. And so... Charade (1963). Famously known as "the best Hitchcock movie Hitchcock never made," Charade was actually directed by another movie god: Stanley Donen. (Look at his filmography and deny it.) Charade is a romantic screwball comedy mystery - about as 1960s as a film can get. Gorgeous locations (Paris), gorgeous costumes (Givenchy), and gorgeous stars (Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant, Walter Matthau)! Audrey Hepburn plays Reggie Lampert, an unhappy wife who longs for a divorce from her secretive husband. When she finds out he's been murdered, the thrills...I don't know, man. These '60s comedies are so boring... Paul and Corey talk about what works and what doesn't in the film, the incredible careers of all involved, and only barely talk about the CIA! Enjoy, or as the French would say "Enjoy." (This was a French person who knows English.) 

Based on Corey's The 15:17 to Paris (2018), Paul wanted to keep it in Paris. And so... One Sings, The Other Doesn't (1977).  The film is directed and written by "one of the Gods of cinema" Agnès Varda - preeminent member of the Left Bank/French New Wave film movement. Varda's style wove documentary and narrative storytelling in an intuitive and overtly feminine way. One Sings, The Other Doesn't tells the story of two friends - Pomme/Apple (nee Pauline) and Suzanne - as they make their way into and through adulthood. It spans the course of 14 years of their lives together, following the Women's Liberation movement and the legalization of abortion in France. As Varda put it, "My message sounds better when it's sung," and the film is sort of a dreamy musical, with lyrics also written by Varda.  You should absolutely watch this film.

Based on Paul's Richard Jewell (2019), Corey wanted to keep it simple: What else does Clint Eastwood have to say about heroes? And so... The 15:17 to Paris (2018). Directed by Eastwood, written by Dorothy Blyskal(!), and starring the three men at the center of the story as themselves(!!!), The 15:17 to Paris is definitely...something. Largely derided at the time of its release, there's lately been a small reappraisal of it across Film Twitter. Lots to discuss!

Based on Corey's Waiting for Guffman (1996), Paul wanted to take a deeper look at people who struggle with being deluded (in so many words). And so... Richard Jewell (2019). Directed by king Clint Eastwood and written by Billy Ray - who brought us the "We Make Movies Better" campaign with Nicole Kidman, Richard Jewell tells the true story of Richard Jewell. He was working as a security guard at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, discovered a bomb on the grounds, saved hundreds of lives, became a hero in the media, and then... The film is packed with amazing performances. Paul Walter Hauser is simply stunning in the title role. The film garnered a fair amount of pushback around its representation of journalist Kathy Scruggs, and there's a lot to discuss there. A great film, and a great episode of PACCTS. Take a listen!

Based on Paul's In the Mood for Love (2000), Corey was swept up into the world of Chinese cuisine and figured, "We need a movie with a great scene in a Chinese restaurant." And so... Waiting for Guffman (1996). Directed by Christopher Guest and co-written by Guest and Eugene Levy, Waiting for Guffman is the mockumentary that kinda started it all. With a Murderers' row of improv performances, infinitely quotable dialogue, and catchy showtunes, Guffman is a brilliant comedy that holds up nearly 30 years later.  What am I telling you for? If you've ever done theatre, someone has made you watch this.

In the Mood for Love (2000) - written, directed, and produced by Wong Kar-wai - takes a loving look back at his parents' generation: Shanghainese professionals who immigrated to Hong Kong following the Revolution. In 2022, In the Mood for Love placed 5th in Sight & Sound's "Greatest Films of All Time" critics' poll, and it's tough to argue with that. Gorgeous art direction, costuming, set design, cinematography...if you have the chance to see this on the big screen, do. With all that said, the film's non-linear storytelling can be a hurdle, and Paul and Corey talk about how and why the film feels more like an improvisation at times than a story. There's a lot to discuss!

So, in this episode, the boys discuss All That Jazz (1979) - Bob Fosse's thinly-veiled fictionalized autobiography. For good and for ill, Bob Fosse, through his art, made a hell of a case for the celebration of the auteur. With All That Jazz, he grapples with the fallout of it. But is this unrelenting examination of his own failures courageous or further manipulation?

Based on Corey's Amsterdam (2022), Paul figured, "Let's keep the FDR-train rolling!" and so he chose Annie (1982). Once again set in 1933, Annie asks the question we thought Paul McCartney had answered, "Can I buy me love?" From the classic right-wing comic strip to the inscrutable decision to have John Huston direct to the Michael-Mann-esque climax to Corey's teenage infatuation with Ann Reinking in Pippin to even (leapin' lizards) Bolsheviks, this episode has it all.

Welcome back to season five of Paul and Corey Cross the Streams! To start things off, Corey chose last year's Amsterdam (2022) - the star-studded, post-canceling-ish film from auteur David O. Russell. Just a baffling, horrid piece of trash. The worst film Paul and Corey have watched yet? Why did Corey choose it? What are Paul's deep thoughts on Tár? You'll have to listen to find out!

This month, *both* Paul and Corey decided to get into the holiday spirit with something Christmas-ish: The Hudsucker Proxy (1994). Enjoy!

This (elongated) month, Paul and Corey decided to expand their horizons a bit and talk about Animation: a style of filmmaking they don’t generally watch for good and ill. Paul chose the... content that is The Emoji Movie (2017). Loaded to the brim with cancelled stars and n'er-do-wells, The Emoji Movie may be the most evil thing that Paul and Corey have watched for the podcast. Enjoy!

This month, Paul and Corey decided to expand their horizons a bit and talk about Animation: a style of filmmaking they don’t generally watch for good and ill. This time, Corey chose a stop-motion project written and co-directed by Charlie Kaufman – Anomalisa (2015). Adapted from a play(!) he’d written, Anomalisa is the simple story of a man flying into Cincinnati for a business conference but quickly escalates into an examination of loneliness, desire, alienation, fantasies, and mental illness. There’s a lot to discuss in this one!

This month's theme is an easy one: A Long One and a Short One. Clocking in at a tight 68 minutes, Paul picked the Marx Brothers’ Duck Soup (1933). The film was their fifth and final with Paramount before moving on to a new contract with MGM. While the film was greeted with a lukewarm reception from critics and audiences, Duck Soup is today broadly considered their best film and one of the best (albeit idiosyncratic) political satires of American cinema. This episode was a real treat to record.

This month's theme is an easy one: A Long One and a Short One. First up, Corey picked Magnolia (1999) - clocking in at 3 hours and 8 minutes. Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, this is the kind of opus that really doesn't get made anymore in Hollywood - a studio gives an indie darling carte blanche to have fun. Set in the Valley and focused on about a dozen lives that interconnect around a TV quiz show, Magnolia is about a LOT. It's one of Paul's top ten favorite films, so strap in, folks. It's a long episode in which you get to hear both Paul and Corey tear up!

It’s August, everyone is on vacation, and Paul and Corey wanted to take it easy. This month: Wild Card (Whatever the Hell You Want)! After the Fight Club debacle, Paul wanted to pick a movie that would restore Corey’s faith in humanity, so he chose a beloved little Italian neorealist classic about an old man and his dog, Umberto D (1952). It…um…didn’t work. It’s the first film both Paul and Corey have jointly hated in a long time.

It’s August, everyone is on vacation, and Paul and Corey wanted to take it easy. This month: Wild Card (Whatever the Hell You Want)! Corey picked a doozy. Fight Club (1999). It’s the year the show has been circling around for a while, and the emblematic sleeper hit of that year that has written thousands of thinkpieces, YouTube videos, and gotten Paul to focus on his delts. Corey had never seen it and had no idea “the twist.” Paul had no idea how the film would hold up after not watching it for 20 years. Obviously, a lot to unpack.

Who says Pride is only 30 days? Paul and Corey are discussing queer films in this month’s theme, “Pride and Prejudice.” This week, Paul’s friend recommended the British film, Pride (2014). Based on the true story of the small organization (created by communist and gay-right activist Mark Ashton) Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) success in fundraising for the National Union of Mineworkers’ (NUM) yearlong (1984-1985) strike against Margaret Thatcher’s neoliberal assault. With a star-studded cast, the film does a truly brilliant job of combining the personal and the political, showing how solidarity works to overcome prejudice and distrust and builds power, and rejecting the tendency of stories like this to lionize a heroic leader – instead showing how people working together gets the goods.

Who says Pride is only 30 days? Paul and Corey are discussing queer films in this month’s theme, “Pride and Prejudice.” This week, they’re discussing Hulu’s new feature, Fire Island (2022). A rom-com based on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Fire Island follows a group of friends as they navigate the pitfalls of love, sex, racism, and more on the famous LGBTQ+ vacation destination off the coast of Long Island. From Quibi, to #activist thirst traps, to Joel Kim Booster’s hilarious stand-up, there’s a lot to discuss in this film that…just doesn’t quite work.

“I’ll see you in court!” is this month’s theme. A courtroom is about as dramatic as it gets, folks. Competing interests in which only one side can win, and the power of the state is there to call the balls and strikes (allegedly). This week, Paul chose to interrogate that “allegedly” part. Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory (1957). Based on Humphrey Cobb’s novel, which was based on a true story, Paths of Glory follows a court-martial of three French soldiers accused of cowardice by proxy. Kirk Douglas plays the heroic/foolish Colonel Dax who defends them. This is Kubrick’s fourth film, and the themes and styles he would clarify over the following decades are just beginning. This Month's Theme: I'll See You in Court This Episode's Focus: Paths of Glory (1957)