More Than One Lesson

Tyler and Josh discuss Elia Kazan’s On The Waterfront, the Best Picture of 1954.

There are precious few subgenres of film I enjoy more than a good horror-comedy. The best of the bunch succeed on both levels and manage to frighten as much as they induce laughter. Paying homage to that subgenre, and attempting to find its way on the same shelf with the greats, is the new film from director Torey Haas called The Neon Dead. Unfortunately, the film becomes a bit too bogged down by its own ambition, but that doesn’t mean it’s not quite a bit of fun.

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As a film fanatic in my teens and early twenties I took part in the time honored tradition that so many of us do. Waking up at 5:30 AM to watch the Oscar nominations and immediately begin complaining about them. After a few years of this I decided that if I wasn’t happy with the Academy’s choices then I should create my own awards. So I started the imaginatively named…Bob Awards. (It only occurs to me now that had I been named Oscar I’d have had a problem. Bullet dodged. Thanks, Mom and Dad.)

I have been doing these for a little over a decade now but this is the first time I will be sharing the Bob Award nominations as a writer for More Than One Lesson and I am very excited. I really hope you enjoy them. If you don’t like these nominees then by all means create your own movie awards. Go on. Do it! I dare you!… No, really, you’ll feel better. It works for me. (If your name is Bob or Oscar though then I’m so sorry, but you’ll just have to accept these.) Of course I still complain about the Oscar nominations. But slightly less. And I guess that’s something.

I will be back before the Oscars to reveal the winners in not only these categories but several others.

Best Picture
ARRIVAL
FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS
HELL OR HIGH WATER
LA LA LAND
MIDNIGHT SPECIAL
A MONSTER CALLS
MOONLIGHT
SILENCE
SWISS ARMY MAN
ZOOTOPIA

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In this episode, Reed and Nathan tackle Stephen King’s Carrie.

In this minisode, Tyler and Josh discuss Delbert Mann’s Marty, Best Picture of 1955.

In this episode, Reed and Nathan discuss S. Craig Zahler’s Bone Tomahawk.

In this episode, Tyler and Reed discuss J.A. Bayona’s A Monster Calls and Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth.

In this bonus episode, Reed and Nathan break down the ending of Robert Eggers’ The Witch.

Martin Scorsese has never kept his Catholic upbringing a secret. While he has certainly never made Christian films, his lifelong internal struggle of faith has informed his work throughout his now 50 year career as a filmmaker. It is most overt in works such as Mean Streets, The Last Temptation of Christ, and Gangs of New York. But it is such a part of him that his films that don’t have at least a small piece of Christian iconography are notable for the absence of it. He is probably the only mainstream filmmaker of which that can be said. Now with Silence, Scorsese takes an unflinching look into what it means to truly be a follower of Christ under the harshest of circumstances.

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Rob Zombie frustrates me. On one hand, he’s clearly a distinct and visionary director, with a strong command of imagery and a rich understanding of the foundational horror films of the 20s and 30s. With each new film announcement from him, I’m immediately curious. I reacted the same way when his recent death-match slasher 31 was announced. However, with every film of his besides The Devil’s Rejects, I’ve walked away disappointed.

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