It makes me think about my favorite vegetable

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It's the hundredth day

It's kinda how we all feel

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Ogdoad —

— the number eight



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Oh John -

How do you think Mommy and Daddy were able to afford that vacation?

Demand Euphoria!

ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour (433)

Thank you for joining us today

Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with another Porky Pig Looney Tunes cartoon, the 1936 Porky's Moving Day, directed by Jack King.



This was Jack King's final cartoon before returning to Disney. He left with hopes that he would be able to direct cartoons in color, something Leon Schlesinger had only allowed Friz Freleng and Tex Avery to do for much of the decade.


Before the start of our feature presentation, the staff of The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour wants to watch with you, one of the most recent NPR Tiny Desk Concert



So remember, everybody gotta get a gimmick


We've picked another entry from the excellent reference book, 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die by Steven Jay Schneider. Today's film is the 1974 drama A Woman Under the Influence), directed by John Cassavetes, and starring Gena Rowlands, and Peter Falk. A Woman Under the Influence opened to somewhat mixed reviews: some found the film breathtakingly raw and honest, others found the performances sometime veered into the melodramatic. The film is now considered one of Cassavates' masterpieces and Gena Rowlands' performance nothing less that brilliant. I will be honest - this is an intense film, possibly too difficult to get through. Even if yo have to take a break or two to get through watching the film, do yourself a favor and do it! So push away from the table, get settled in and join us in watching A Woman Under the Influence.



John Cassavetes could not find a distributor for the film after completion, and was at one point literally carrying the reels under his arm, from one theater to another, in hopes of getting one to play his movie. Finally, Martin Scorsese, who had recently become critically acclaimed following his film Mean Streets happened to be a huge fan of Cassavetes' work and threatened to pull his film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore from a major New York film festival unless they accepted this film.


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During the lean years -

Mickey made his living as a Rick Shaw driver

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So, here are you're choices:

Cram your face with Gofer Cakes,



Or get the hell up and exercise.



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Mean people suck

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Stray thought at 3 AM on a Tuesday

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Noyade —

- an execution carried out by drowning



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The Truth Must Be Told

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ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour (432)

Thank you for joining us today

Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with another Porky Pig Looney Tunes cartoon, the 1936 Porky's Poultry Plant, directed by Frank Tashlin.



This is Frank Tashlin's first cartoon with Warner Bros. as a director. He had briefly been an animator with the studio in 1933 but left after a dispute with Leon Schlesinger over rights to a comic strip Tashlin had created. He would stay with the studio until 1938, departing to become a writer for Disney, but would return once more in 1942.


Before the start of our feature presentation, the staff of The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour is wondering if this is CGP Grey's new obsession, besides flags:



Well, money does make the world go around


We've picked another entry from the excellent reference book, 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die by Steven Jay Schneider. Today's film is the 1974 drama The Mirror (AKA Zerkalo), directed by Andrey Tarkovsky, and starring Margarita Terekhova, Ignat Daniltsev, Alla Demidova, Anatoly Solonitsyn, and Larisa Tarkovskaya. The Mirror is loosely autobiographical, unconventionally structured, and incorporates poems composed and read by the director’s father, Arseny Tarkovsky. It's plot seems straight forward enough - a dying man in his forties remembers his past. His childhood, his mother, the war, personal moments and things that tell of the recent history of all the Russian nation. The film's loose, non-linear structure, was initially received with mixed reviews by critics and viewers alike. In recent years, the film is considered a masterpiece of cinema and Tarkovsky's best. So push away from the table, get settled in and join us in watching The Mirror.



This film was very close to Andrey Tarkovsky's heart: "As I began work on Mirror I found myself reflecting more and more that if you are serious about your work, then a film is not the next item in your career, it is an action which will affect the whole of your life. For I had made up my mind that in this film, for the first time, I would use the means of cinema to talk of all that was most precious to me, and do so directly, without playing any kinds of tricks."



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It was on a Good Friday -

Anjezë realized that she had committed a venal sin;

What she really wanted to be was a film director



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Maybe, it's just me

But I was a little more worried that the guy was a pedophile,





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Pity the small dog

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An interesting thought for the day

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Nonplussed —

- a person surprised and confused so much that they are unsure how to react



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There's a lot of it out there

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ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour (431)

Thank you for joining us today

Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with another Porky Pig Looney Tunes cartoon, the 1936 Porky the Rain-Maker, directed by Tex Avery.



The cartoon Sioux Me would be released three years later with the same story premise. Directed by Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton, it features a Native American main cast and no appearance by Porky Pig.
 

Before the start of our feature presentation, the staff of The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour would like to watch our new favorite stand-up comic, Matteo Lane (no relation to Nathan Lane,) cooking one of our favorite pasta dishes, Carbonara:



Mrs. Dr. Caligari, introduced us to him a few years ago, and we can't quite figure out why he isn't more popular. Check out his very funny podcast, I Never Liked You, with his best friend, Nick Smith.


We've picked another entry from the excellent reference book, 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die by Steven Jay Schneider. Today's film is the 1975 the biographical drama Dersu Uzala (AKA Dersu Uzala: The Hunter), directed by Akira Kurosawa, and starring Maxim Munzuk, and Yury Solomin. Dersu Uzala, shot in Russia is Kurosawa's only non-Japanese-language film. the film chronicles the true story of Russian explorer Captain Vladimir Arsenyev (Yuri Solomin) and his profound friendship with Dersu Uzala (Maksim Munzuk), a nomadic Goldi hunter. As Arsenyev maps the uncharted Siberian wilderness, Dersu’s deep understanding of nature teaches him invaluable lessons about life and humanity. This visually stunning film is a heartfelt ode to the natural world and a poignant reflection on the collision between modern civilization and traditional ways of life. Dersu Uzala won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, the Golden Prize and the Prix FIPRESCI at the 9th Moscow International Film Festival, and other awards. It was also a box office hit, selling more than 21 million tickets in the Soviet Union and Europe in addition to grossing $1.2 million in the United States and Canada. So push away from the table, get settled in and join us in watching Dersu Uzala.



Dersu Uzala is based on the autobiographical writings of Russian soldier Vladimir Arsenyev, chronicling his surveying expeditions in Siberia in the early 1900s. Since childhood, Akira Kurosawa had been a devoted fan of Russian literature — a fact well known to Mosfilm when the studio invited him to suggest a literary source for a film to be shot in the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, the studio was taken aback when he proposed adapting Arsenyev’s book about Dersu Uzala. They were astonished that he had even heard of it, as the book was, at the time, little known outside the USSR. Kurosawa had hoped to make this film as early as the 1950s but struggled to adapt the story to a Japanese setting - never imagining that he would one day be able to film it on location in Russia, with Russian actors.



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The surgeon general strongly advises -

Don't look or think about this photo for too long -

It is the road to madness!



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Unfortunately, no longer containing cocaine

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Don't stand downwind from them

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A random thought during the day

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Noctambulist —

- a condition where someone walks or performs other motor acts while asleep.



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The shameful secret of the parish rec hall

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ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour (430)

Thank you for joining us today

Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with another Porky Pig Looney Tunes cartoon, the 1936 Porky's Pet, directed by Jack King.



This cartoon may have inspired Walt Disney Studios to create the 1937 Donald Duck short Donald's Ostrich, also directed by Jack King, and the 1940 Mickey Mouse cartoon Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip.
 

Before the start of our feature presentation, the staff of The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour would like to watch our favorite panelist of talk shows, Nathan Lane, America's favorite internet boyfriend:



I've said it before, I'll say it again, Nathan Lane is one of the funniest people in America. And who wouldn't want to spend the end days of democracy with him.


We've cracked open another cinematic gem from the ultimate movie bucket list - 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die by Steven Jay Schneider. Today’s pick: the 1974 crime drama Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (AKA Tráiganme la cabeza de Alfredo García), directed by Sam Peckinpah, and starring Warren Oates (rocking one of the greatest pairs of sunglasses in film history), Isela Vega, Robert Webber, Gig Young, Helmut Dantine, Emilio Fernández, and Kris Kristofferson. When it was first released, this film belly-flopped at the box office and got absolutely roasted by critics—so much so that it earned a spot in the 1978 book The Fifty Worst Films of All Time.  But like a fine tequila or that weird uncle with great stories, it got better with age. These days, it’s seen as one of Peckinpah’s rawest, most personal works an, it’s the only film in his career where the studio didn’t mess with his cut. So, slide that plate of tacos to the side, pop open a cold Tecate, and join us in watching, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia.



Production on Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia started in late September 1973. Not long after, director Sam Peckinpah, never one to mince words (or avoid controversy), declared in an October issue of Variety: “For me, Hollywood no longer exists. It’s past history. I’ve decided to stay in Mexico because I believe I can make my pictures with greater freedom from here.” As you might imagine, this bold mic-drop moment didn’t go over too well with the Motion Picture and Television Unions. At their National Conference in Detroit, they issued a public censure against Peckinpah, essentially wagging a very official finger in his direction. They even threatened to boycott the film upon release, branding it a “runaway” production - Hollywood code for “you didn’t shoot it in our backyard, and we’re salty about it.” Peckinpah later insisted he’d been misquoted—though given his flair for provocation, it’s anyone’s guess whether that’s damage control or just part of the show. Either way, the unions eventually cooled down and backed off their boycott threat before the film hit theaters.



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To hell in a handbasket

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It shouldn't be this difficult

to make a cup of tea





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And when she does,

she's one hungery kitty

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A stray thought on a cold spring day

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