Released just months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Ernst Lubitsch's TO BE OR NOT TO BE (1942) combined farce and thrills in Nazi-occupied Poland. A satire that was once considered "too soon" has aged into one of the great anti-fascists landmarks of cinema. PLUS: Remembering the golden age of "Twitter comedians."
PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/136400200
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#645 - NatSec: Shock and Terror
In WAR OF THE WORLDS (2025), Ice Cube stars as a Homeland Security analyst who uncovers a Deep State surveillance plot AND foils an alien invasion - all without ever leaving his Zoom window. We watched the certified Bad Movie that's sweeping the nation.
Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus
Luke's substack - https://www.lukewsavage.com/
Come see Will will at one of the stops on his book tour:
LOS ANGELES - August 30, book signing and Q&A with Dana Gould at Artbook - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ed-wood-made-in-hollywood-usa-la-book-launch-with-will-sloan-dana-gould-tickets-1560019523389
LOS ANGELES - August 30, "Ed Wood on VHS" at WHAMMY - https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/ed-wood-on-vhs-feat-the-sinister-urge-1960-presented-by-will-sloan-tickets-1568174324619
CHICAGO - August 31, "Trust Fall" at Davis Theater - https://davistheater.com/special_events/trust-fall/
TORONTO - September 12, Glen or Glenda screening at the Paradise Theatre - https://paradiseonbloor.com/movies/glen-or-glenda/
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#644 - Her Celluloid Self
Donald Trump has said repeatedly that Billy Wilder's SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950) is one of his favorite movies. We revisit one of Hollywood's enduring classics and try to figure out if the current president identifies more with Norma Desmond or Joe Gillis. PLUS: Are we entering the worst season for political memoirs of all time?
"President Trump isn’t happy about the Oscar for ‘Parasite.’ What movies does he like?" by Josh Rottenberg - https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2020-02-21/president-trump-favorite-movies-parasite-oscar
"The Worst Campaign Book Season of All Time Is Here" by Katherine Krueger - https://www.discourseblog.com/p/the-worst-campaign-book-season-of
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PREVIEW - #643 - In Search of Lost Timelines
Ari Aster's EDDINGTON (2025) takes us back to the lockdown year of 2020, satirizing the many archetypes and discourses - right, left, and centre - that flourished during the pandemic. We attempt to analyze what, if anything, Aster is saying, and dredge up a lot of unpleasant sense-memories in the process!
PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/135554313
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PREVIEW - #642 - Penn and Teller's Bullshit
In the 2000s, there was one form of political iconoclasm that was guaranteed to never get you in any trouble, and it was called libertarianism. At the behest of our Superdelegate patron tier, we return to... (deep, heavy sigh)... PENN & TELLER: BULLSHIT!, with special attention to the episodes "College" and "Safety Hysteria," and remember a popular form of "skepticism" that sounds an awful lot like just being a Republican.
PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/135327052
A podcast about culture, politics, and our crumbling world. Hosted by Luke Savage and Will Sloan.
Exclusive subscriber-only episodes: https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus/overview
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