Have You Seen This?

Jen and Tim throw a pool party and invite Charles of the No Homework podcast to talk about the enervating suburban world of The Swimmer!Here is a representative sample of the “Hi, Guy!” series of Right Guard ads starring Bill Fiore, aka Mr. Hunsacker in The Swimmer. And here’s Jan Miner, aka Mrs. Hunsacker, as Madge the Palmolive lady.Cheever was indeed only adapted once for the big screen, but there have been a scattering of TV adaptations. This one, The Sorrows of Gin from 1979, stars Sigourney Weaver and Edward Herrmann!

Tim patiently walks Jen through a compilation of philosophies of art, life, and everything: the Cate Blanchett-starring installation film Manifesto.Manifesto is free with ads on Tubi, but you can also watch each segment at director Julian Rosefeldt’s website.If you don’t know the name Nigel Cheese and you love learning about internet lunatics, watch this video from the Down the Rabbit Hole series by Frederik Knudsen.

Jen and Tim enlist Aftermath’s Chris Person to talk about a strange technical footnote in cinema, the moody and trés European fantasy Julia and Julia.Chris expands on the infuriating quality of IMDb reviews in this piece for Aftermath.Crave more pioneering and historical HD video? Stop by Reely Interesting on YouTube! There’s something for everybody, especially if you’re the kind of person who gets excited when they hear the word “encoding.”If you were curious about Morning Patrol, the Greek Philip K. Dick adaptation Chris mentioned, someone has helpfully put it up on YouTube. Also, it’s directed by the same guy who gave us one of our most memorable selections, Singapore Sling!

Jen and Tim receive a remarkable package from returning guest Darren Herczeg, a Breakin’-meets-Porky’s B picture called Delivery Boys!For whatever reason, Darren confidently named “Scorpion Records” as the company that released the blu-ray of Delivery Boys and we ran with it. As you may have guessed, it’s actually “Scorpion Releasing.” They may or may not still exist, as their Facebook page hasn’t been updated since 2023 and if you try to visit their website your ISP will block it and tell you your personal info is at risk, soooooooooooJacqui Shine wrote an article on Ken Handler and the making of Delivery Boys, which confirms that Ken was known to solicit sexual favors in return for parts in his film. Let’s hope the cast had access to therapy.The New Beverly website has a blog post by Marc Edward Heuck about Delivery Boys executive producer Chuck Vincent, a prolific B-movie and skin flick maven.

Tim and Jen get WELL ahead of the holiday season with some help from author Ray Newman, who explains the British tradition of A Ghost Story For Christmas.If you like arcane horror stuff (of course you do, you clicked on this episode), be sure to stop by Ray’s website and read his blog!Wanna see the original run of spooky stories told for the Yuletide season? The Internet Archive has got you.Mark Gatiss hosted an informative documentary on M.R. James that you can see on YouTube.

im lets Jen talk him into discussing an unasked-for remake of a noir classic, The Big Sleep.Jen incorrectly described the short film in which Will Hays introduces the Vitaphone sound system as a public deployment of the Hays Code. In his capacity as chairman of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, Hays did introduce a rubric for self-imposed censorship that would deform the film industry for more than thirty years. However, not only did that not happen until 1930, he didn’t even write the damn thing in spite of putting his name on it! The text of the Hays Code was devised by a handful of Catholic busybodies, including the insidiously influential film censor Joseph Breen. Anyway, if you watch the short you can see Hays’s smoldering sex appeal and naturalistic speaking style.

Tim coaxes Jen into the pool for a Polish horror musical set in a dark alternate 80s Warsaw, The Lure!Director Agnieska Smocyzynska also made The Silent Twins (2022) about June and Jennifer Gibbons. Jen gave a glib and half-accurate version of their whole deal, but this 90s-era BBC documentary features the real June Gibbons and tells it a little more accurately. It’s a story that has been mined over and over again elsewhere as “spooky” content. However, the real narrative is one about two intelligent young girls facing a pressure cooker of racism and ableism, acting out, and being medicalized, misdiagnosed, and punished instead of supported. In 2023 the BBC revisited the case via podcast, again with June Gibbons.Listen to Lady Godiva’s Operation by the Velvet Underground. Listen to it seventeen times in a row, if you’re Jen.

Jen and Tim invite Chris Wade, #1 Music Super Fan, to marvel at the high production values of the dangerously furry Rock & Rule.Hear Chris and wife Molly range far and wide on the subject of music on the And Introducing podcast! Or get your hands on actual physical music magazine Antics!The movie and many fascinating related tidbits may easily be located on the internet, if you know where to look.Read the article on animating oldschool light effects that Jen was too dumb to parse, describe, or even find again.