The Nextlander Watchcast

The third film in our Coens Comedy Classics lineup is an all-time favorite of Alex's, and a genuine screwball hall-of-famer if you don't mind such bold proclamations. We are, of course, talking about Raising Arizona, a movie chock full of yuks that still has a genuine heart that cannot be denied.
CHAPTERS:

(00:00:00) - The Nextlander Watchcast Episode 176: Raising Arizona (1987)
(00:00:22) - Intro.
(00:08:19) - Some initial impressions, and how Raising Arizona got made.
(00:21:09) - On the subject of Randall "Tex" Cobb.
(00:25:43) - A brief bit on Trey Wilson.
(00:27:05) - On the movie's success and reception (and also a lengthy Siskel and Ebert bit).
(00:33:11) - Break!
(00:33:31) - We're back, and it's time for Hi and Ed's whirlwind romance.
(00:43:32) - Taking your pick of the Arizona Quints.
(00:52:42) - Our new nuclear family, and the Snoats brothers come calling.
(01:01:47) - The demon biker first appears, and Nathan Jr. is discovered missing.
(01:07:57) - The true horror of the nuclear family is revealed.
(01:15:09) - One of the all-time great failed hold-ups in cinema.
(01:18:04) - The bank robbery is pitched, and Junior's origins are discovered by unsavory types.
(01:29:59) - Hi and Ed are nearly done, and the bank robbery pops off.
(01:33:10) - All forces converge on Nathan Jr.
(01:36:47) - Hi and Ed make things right, and a (potential) vision of the future.
(01:44:05) - Final thoughts, and various other Cage musings.
(01:53:42) - Our final Coens movie for this lineup: Burn After Reading!
(01:55:47) - Outro.

Our journey through some of the wackier Coen Brothers capers continues this week as we take on The Hudsucker Proxy, a star-studded, over-the-top affair that is equal parts His Girl Friday and Roadrunner cartoon, and is every bit as ungainly as that description makes it sound.
CHAPTERS:

(00:00:00) - The Nextlander Watchcast Episode 175: The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
(00:00:20) - Intro.
(00:01:28) - Our movie this week: The Hudsucker Proxy!
(00:10:49) - How this movie got made, and discussion of its ill box office fortunes.
(00:25:03) - Break!
(00:25:26) - We're back, and it's time to tell the tale of Norville Barnes.
(00:35:04) - Everything's going great at Hudsucker Industries, until it isn't.
(00:40:04) - Let's hatch a stock scam.
(00:44:22) - Mailroom mayhem, and the introduction of the Blue Letter.
(00:57:17) - A perfect patsy is born, but one ace reporter smells a bunko scam.
(01:05:20) - A fabricated meet-cute at the diner, and Amy becomes a Muncie gal.
(01:10:20) - Taking a letter, and the fancy dress ball.
(01:21:02) - The dawn of the extruded plastic dingus.
(01:28:29) - The stock scam is in shambles, and Norville is tripping on his own dingus.
(01:32:20) - Norville's dancing dreams, and the downfall.
(01:42:25) - Long way down (one more thing).
(01:54:14) - The epilogue, and our final thoughts.
(02:02:13) - Our film for next week is a killer one: Raising Arizona!
(02:03:48) - Outro.

After an unexpectedly long odyssey that delayed the Watchcast's scheduled arrival, we're finally back to our movie watching ways, and launching into our month of Coen Brothers comedies, starting with the duo's southern-fried take on one of the great Homeric works in O Brother, Where Art Thou?!
CHAPTERS:

(00:00:00) - The Nextlander Watchcast Episode 174: O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
(00:01:04) - Intro
(00:02:53) - It took us longer than we expected to get back, but we're finally here. Now, on a totally unrelated subject, let's talk about The Odyssey.
(00:09:17) - The music, and some chatter about our main cast.
(00:16:46) - Some last production notes.
(00:23:32) - What was our familiarity with this one prior to this watch?
(00:27:01) - Break!
(00:30:01) - The blind seer's prophecy, and a night on the farm.
(00:40:41) - A genuine geographical oddity, and the dreamiest Baptism you ever did see.
(00:43:43) - Meeting Tommy at the Crossroads, and singin' into a can.
(00:54:19) - Money talk around the campfire, and the introduction of Babyface.
(01:04:55) - The sirens, a toad, and Big Dan.
(01:13:17) - Homer Stokes, the Wharvey gals, and the pater familias.
(01:21:59) - Reuniting with Pete, and rescuing Tommy from the klan.
(01:30:11) - Everything converges at the music hall.
(01:37:34) - Babyface's fate, and one last challenge to overcome.
(01:44:41) - The McGills reunited.
(01:46:10) - Final thoughts.
(01:49:45) - Next week's movie: The Hudsucker Proxy!
(01:51:57) - Outro.

It's our last Watchcast before we take a two week hiatus, so Alex wants to send us off on a high note, and to do so he has hand selected the 1984 Talking Heads concert extravaganza Stop Making Sense! Join us as we experience together the myriad pleasures of great music, cardiovascular exercise, and enormous suits.
CHAPTERS:

(00:00:00) - The Nextlander Watchcast Episode 173: Stop Making Sense (1984)
(00:00:45) - Intro.
(00:02:46) - Our personal histories with the Talking Heads, if we have them.
(00:10:36) - Brad has a couple of questions.
(00:14:38) - A little bit of history about the band.
(00:33:45) - How the film came to be.
(00:41:13) - The touring musicians who help make this show so dynamic.
(00:48:37) - Break!
(00:48:58) - We're back, and we're kicking things off with Psycho Killer.
(00:54:52) - Heaven is a place where nothing ever happens.
(01:02:33) - Jerry Harrison Found a Job.
(01:04:49) - (Mostly) The full backing crew arrives for Slippery People.
(01:06:19) - A song from the extended edition, Cities.
(01:08:40) - Burning Down the House.
(01:12:32) - The incredible performance of Life During Wartime.
(01:17:54) - Making Flippy Floppy.
(01:20:06) - Swampin' it up.
(01:22:30) - What a Day That Was.
(01:24:21) - This Must Be the Place (Naive Podcasters)
(01:27:43) - This is not my beautiful Watchcast!
(01:30:07) - Big Business / I Zimbra
(01:32:40) - The Tom Tom Club takeover.
(01:35:08) - BIG SUIT (also featuring Girlfriend Is Better).
(01:39:30) - Take Me to the River.
(01:43:42) - Closing out with Crosseyed and Painless.
(01:46:57) - Final thoughts.
(01:56:35) - Housekeeping for next month.
(02:00:35) - Outro.

Brad has made his pick for the month, and he's decided to take a trip down south to Alex Garland's Annihilation, where a funny kind of Shimmer has got everyone all confused and refracted and dead. Join us as we discuss at length the phantasmagoric scenes that await our scientific adventurers, the human drama that plagues them both in and out of the zone, and just how how messed up that bear really is.
CHAPTERS:

(00:00:00) - The Nextlander Watchcast Episode 172: Annihilation (2018)
(00:00:26) - Intro.
(00:04:06) - Brad's pick is up this week, and he has chosen Annihilation!
(00:08:50) - Talking about the book, Alex Garland, and how he set about adapting this story.
(00:16:48) - On the production, and the trouble it ran into pre-release.
(00:27:02) - The flashback.
(00:38:23) - This is not my beautiful house. This is not my beautiful wife. How did I get here?
(00:42:35) - Break!
(00:42:54) - We're back, and it's time for our first look at the Shimmer.
(00:53:28) - Meeting the squad.
(00:59:34) - Time becomes immediately weird.
(01:03:11) - The mutations start to become apparent.
(01:15:33) - Video logs and environmental storytelling.
(01:24:24) - Another flashback in a flashback, and the bear makes its first appearance.
(01:33:44) - They find Cassie, then they find some tree people.
(01:42:50) - Sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear absorbs your consciousness at the moment of grim death.
(01:52:28) - Josie becomes one with the field.
(01:56:59) - That lighthouse is messed up.
(02:07:51) - The titular line.
(02:13:13) - Dancing with...myself?
(02:26:20) - Are you you? Am I me?
(02:30:59) - Final thoughts.
(02:37:57) - Housekeeping for next week's movie: Stop Making Sense!
(02:41:21) - Outro.