American Scene

Box office juggernaut Oppenheimer is expected to dominate awards season this year, but while the US government had the Manhattan Project team hard at work at Los Alamos, it was also incarcerating over 120,000 Japanese Americans in camps from eastern California to Arkansas.

Desmond Nakano's American Pastime takes place at the Topaz camp and centers on a family and community coming together to find strength, hope, and dignity.

Happy Halloween, horror fans! Spooky season is upon us, and it's the perfect time to talk about 1988's American Gothic with local Pacific Northwest filmmaker and Executive Director for endHaven Productions, Jason Wilkinson! Jason has written and directed several award winning horror films like Killing Time, She Picked Me, and the short film Tabitha, which is part of the feature film Sinphony: A Clubhouse Horror Anthology, now available to stream for free on Tubi.

Jason tells us about what he's been enjoying this Halloween season, what's on his watchlist, and why the Pacific Northwest is the best place to shoot horror. Then we get into the movie, discussing the appeal and endurance of Backwoods Horror, the portrayal of evil characters living in rural and remote places, and how contemporary news and politics exacerbate the urban-rural divide.

Jason Wilkinson

Ben is back with three more movies that have been released since 2020! First he chats about American Sicario's apparent rebuke of American male privilege and ego. Then he finds an extended metaphor for attitudes and challenges faced by those seeking shelter in the US in American Refugee. And finally, he feels the urgency to reach out and understand each other in American Insurrection.

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"Conversations with People Who Hate Me" by Dylan Marron

Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman and Emmy winner Dennis Franz star in American Buffalo, the 1996 adaptation of the 1975 David Mamet play set in a seedy second-hand junk shop about a couple streetwise losers who plot the robbery of a valuable coin. Very much a contemporary inner city riff on Waiting for Godot, we discuss the toxic traits of the central characters that keep them stuck in a cycle of failure and the cynical portrayal of the American hustle. PLUS: our American moments and a teaser for what's to come in our first Phase 2 minisode!

Return with us to Camp Firewood for the 20th anniversary of the cult classic directed by David Wain and starring Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Michael Showalter, Marguerite Moreau, Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Molly Shannon, Ken Marino, Joe Lo Truglio, Michael Ian Black, Amy Poehler, and Bradley Cooper. We discuss the history of summer camps in America, the universality of summer camp experiences, and riffs on camp movies and summer crowd-pleasers. Plus, Allen does not know the lyrics for Jason Mraz's "The Remedy," Ben doesn't know who won at the 1980 Summer Olympics, and as always, we run down our favorite American moments. And Allen shares a heartfelt tribute to the late Norm Macdonald. (recorded September 14, 2021)

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Sometimes there's so much Beauty in the podcast... we feel like we can't fit it all in one episode. So we recorded a special minisode just for American Beauty! We add to our previous conversation on the theme of maintaining appearances, discuss some interesting alternate casting ideas, and redo the 1999 Best Supporting Actor & Actress categories. We also touch on the script's original ending, some IMDb trivia, and one more great American moment.

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Olivier Megaton directed this 2020 Netflix film based on the 2009 graphic novel of the same name by Rick Remender and Greg Tocchini that stands out with an incredible 0% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 2.5 hour runtime. Édgar Ramírez, Anna Brewster, Michael Pitt, and Sharlto Copley star in a film about an American dystopia in which a nationwide signal will inhibit all citizens from committing illegal acts. We discuss government control in post-9/11 America and the increased militarization of police, and we also poke several holes in the film's world-building. (recorded April 1, 2021)

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When this film was released, America was over five years into the Bush presidency and the War in Afghanistan and over four years into the reign of American Idol. Directed by American Pie's Paul Weitz, "American Dreamz" stars Hugh Grant, Mandy Moore, Dennis Quaid, Sam Golzari, and Chris Klein in what Roger Ebert calls a satire. We discuss the influence of entertainment on its audience and in the world of politics. Plus, Allen shares his love of Golden Globe-winner (and future Oscar-winner) Mr. Grant. (recorded March 12, 2021)

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Jeff Bridges and Edward Furlong - two actors who will appear again on this podcast - are the stars of "American Heart," directed by documentary filmmaker Martin Bell. We discuss the conflict between the dangers of city life and the freedom of the frontier as well as the prevalence (and ultimately the failure) of individualism as a governing philosophy. We also debate which characters would be likely to wear a KN95, and Ben surprises Allen with an American name drop. (recorded Mar 3, 2021)

In the late 2000's run of teen musicals (High School Musical, Hairspray, Camp Rock, Fame) came MTV's "The American Mall" starring a pre-Vampire Diaries Nina Dobrev as an aspiring singer-songwriter. We discuss the rise (and fall?) of the American shopping mall and the conflict between the corporate world and the independent world. (recorded January 27, 2021)

Swapping the grime of 1970's NYC for the gleam of LA, 1980's "American Gigolo" shows writer-director Paul Schrader's continued fascination with the country's underbelly, and it fits in a long history of portraying the world of American sex work on screen. Your patriotic co-hosts discuss the Los Angeles aesthetic, the story's morality, social hierarchies, and superficiality. (recorded January 20, 2021)

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This little movie brought hilarious meta-commentary to a comic book adaptation long before Deadpool! Revisit Paul Giamatti's breakthrough performance as Harvey Pekar as we discuss the Everyman, the tradition of the American working class novel, and our favorite breakfast cereals. (recorded Jan 2, 2021)

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The best-selling book series by Vince Flynn that started in 1999 gets its first adaptation nearly 20 years later with the 2017 film that mercilessly killed off its own franchise potential. We discuss the story's dangerously unstable yet inexplicably successful protagonist and the manipulative government forces who champion him.

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20 years after its release, Mary Harron's "American Psycho" starring Christian Bale remains a timeless, sharp, and darkly comic indictment of the economic elite, toxic masculinity, and the fragile male ego. (recorded August 6, 2020)

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