Foreign Invader / Movie Marriage

The great Nick Davis and I take a trip down memory lane, to the 2011 Cannes Film Festival to talk about the movies that played there. The Tree of Lie, The Artist, Melancholia, Drive, those are only some of the movies that premiered ten years ago and we are about to revisit. 

I am joined by film critic, podcaster, and Toronto superstar Will Sloan to talk about one of the most famous people that ever lived: it's Charlie Chaplin! 

Filmmaker, screenwriter, and critic Christina Tucker comes on to talk about Cowboy Bebop, one of the most beloved and exciting anime series of all time! 

I am joined by returning guest Louis Gaudio to talk about two of the best summer movie seasons. What was the better summer for movies: 1984 or 2003? 

The great Chris Mello is back, but does our subject need an introduction? We're talking about the man, the myth, the legend: Jackie Chan. 

The great Caden Mark Gardner comes on to talk about Under the Skin, the 2013 movie directed by British filmmaker Jonathan Glazer and starring Scarlett Johansson as a literal foreign invader - she's a mysterious alien who has come to earth to prey on unsuspecting men... kind of? It's a pretty oblique movie, but that doesn't make it any less of a masterpiece. At least both Caden and I think it is. 

Dragon Ball started out as a manga written and drawn by Akira Toriyama in 1984, in 1986 a animated series of the manga began to air in Japanese television, and almost 40 years later, the fans' love for Goku and his adventures remains as strong as ever. I am joined by Dragon Ball megafan P. J. Mancuso to talk about a show that was a huge part of my childhood. 

I am joined by the great Elissa Suh to talk about Korean director Hong Sang-soo an infamous figure in his homeland, but a celebrated auteur in the festival circuit. 

Today on Foreign Invader we are talking about maybe THE greatest action director of all time. John Woo started his career in Hong Kong where he became a pioneer of both the "heroic bloodshed" and "gun fu" genre with movies like A Better Tomorrow, The Killer and Hard Boiled. Then, he made a move to America, where he directed such action extravaganzas as Broken Arrow, Face/Off and Mission Impossible II. To talk about him i have a very special guest. Justin Decloux is a filmmaker, a film writer, a distributor, the host of FOUR different movie podcasts, and one of my favorite people on the internet. He is also a huge fan of action movies, and of John Woo in particular. It was a pleasure having him on the show, and I hope you enjoy the episode! 

Priyanka Chopra Jonas is most well known in America for being the wife of the Jonas brother Nick. What some people might not know, is that she is one of the biggest movie stars back in her home country of India. So, I wanted to take the opportunity to use this podcast to get a little more familiarized with the big stars of Bollywood, and what better way to do it than through the biggest crossover star we know in America. My guest to talk about this is someone who knows much more about Bollywood than I do. He is a writer and podcaster whose shows include Queer & Now (a podcast about queer cinema) and It Pod to Be You (a podcast about romantic comedies): it's Manish Mathur!

Animator Genndy Tartakovsky was born in Russia, and emigrated to the U.S. when he was only seven years old. He's now what I would traditionally call a "foreigner," but the place he holds in contemporary American animation makes him stand out as a bit of an outsider. Throughout his television career working on shows like Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls, and most importantly Samurai Jack. He has developed a unique style that makes him a genre onto himself and one of mine and Trevor Wallace's favorite animators.

In a career spanning more than thirty years, Australian pop diva Kylie Minogue has sold 70 million records, become a fashion icon, and influenced a whole generation of pop stars, including Kim Petras and Dua Lipa. She is huge in the UK, Australia, all across the world... except in America. So, what gives? In order to answer this mysterious question, I am joined by theatre critic and Kylie superfan Jose Solís.

He's a stocky, mustachioed, Italian plumber who gets high on mushrooms... and somehow he's the most famous video game character ever created. The great Louis Gaudio, host of the equally great Robots vs. Dinosaurs podcast, comes on the show to answer all your burning questions about the legendary Mario Mario: What makes him so special, and how did he manage to capture the minds of millions of eighties kids? We talk about his many video game appearances, the history of Nintendo, and his (failed?) incursions into television and film. 

Chris and I talk about Zack Snyder's Justice League. Listen to find out why this is the Attack of the Clones of superhero movies, and why that's a good thing. 

Even if you don't know her by name, you know who Carmen Miranda is. Have you ever seen a Latina woman singing and dancing while wearing a hat full of fruit? Well, that was Carmen Miranda's signature look back in the forties, when she became the most popular entertainer in America. I am joined by writer Francisco Mendoza to talk about Carmen's fascinating, complicated, and ultimately tragic story.

In 2016, audiences across the world, but especially in East Asia, fell in love with Your Name. The movie's mix of science fiction, coming of age, and romance fascinated audiences and made it the most successful anime movie of all time, to the degree that director Makoto Shinkai has been labeled the "next Miyazaki." Here to talk about this phenomenon, is film critic Rachel Wagner, who might very well be the number one Your Name fan in this whole wide world.  

Animal Crossing is a social simulation video game developed by Nintendo in which you live on an island with a bunch of animals and you... like, build houses and stuff. As you can see I know relatively little about it, so I've brought on someone who knows way, way more. He's the voice behind behind the EJ Plays videos on Youtube and an Animal Crossing expert: the great E. J. Meehan!

British pop star Charli XCX is has been described by practically every major music publication as the quote unquote future of music. She is one of the most exciting pop musicians working today and everyone who loves her has the same question: why isn't she the biggest pop star in the world? In order to answer that question I have with me the biggest Charli XCX fan that I personally know. You might know her from the web series Wormholes, the podcast Pod Kweens, and/or the instagram Food Pxrn Friday: It's Sajda Waite! 

One Piece is by most measures, the most successful *and* longest running manga/anime series of all time. What started out as an adventure story about pirates has grown into an epic saga more than one thousand chapters long. Writer and comedian Gamal ElSawah has been praising One Piece ever since I met him, and took this chance to finally convince me to read/watch the thing. 

We've all heard of The Lord of the Rings movies, but the Hobbit invasion of America started way before, when J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy epic took the counterculture movement by storm. I'm joined by filmmaker and Tolkien fan Abie Sidell to talk about our own personal fascinations with Tolkien's work, the Rings of Power, and that rascal Tom Bombadil.