Author Archives: Eric Thirteen

A cynical look at technological progress. Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World. Just what kind of reveries is this about? A guy from Austin talks to an ex-Silicon Valley programmer about Werner Herzog questioning digital pioneers – and none of them have any answers. The problem of how to talk about future technological problems. An entire conversation about Idiocracy beyond “oh my god, it’s basically a documentary.” A society painted in shitty advertisements. The insane basic-income type ideas that will rule the future and how they compete with the vision presented in Idiocracy. Continue reading →

Horror non-horrors (which, it should be noted, is different than non-horror horrors). Eric Thirteen spares everyone else his own depression. Addressing the brilliant, frustrating, vital experience of A Ghost Story. Time’s flat circle doesn’t make it any less fucking sad. Michael Koester is the guy at the party who ate all the pie. It turns out there’s other stuff in A Ghost Story besides self-indulgent millennials and vegan pie. Maybe not on this podcast, but at least in the movie. What We Do In the Shadows: ok, so what is it we do in the shadows then? The many types of vampires, all living in harmony. Making special effects special again. Layers of comedy. Continue reading →

The contagion of madness. Blow Away, a film from a parallel universe where Jeff Bridges stars in Big Trouble In Little China and Tommy Lee Jones did time at The Rock. zMacro shots, they’re fucking everywhere. Being right inside the very bomb itself. Try to tell Blown Away it’s not getting away with exactly what it thinks it is. Go on, try it. Fatal Attraction spreads its wings. It varies but the smallest things. You never know how anything will change. The 90s erotic thriller by way of 1987’s Fatal Attraction. Warning: beware of falling mania. Unique traits of the erotic thriller genre, where that audience was before, and where the audience lives today. Continue reading →

Hammer meets Disney. The second step in a deep drive on two studios. Scream of Fear is probably actually called Taste of Fear. Where does Scream of Fear sit in 1960s horror? Hammer aside from the more commonly known Universal-Monsters style Hammer Horror. It turns out it was an insurance scam the whole decade. Bambi in reputation and actuality. Animals are innocent! Hunting is terrible and ruins everyone’s sweet party. Seriously, why are people still eating meat? It’s gross. This isn’t really part of the episode or anything, but while you’re reading this, stop eating meat. Just stop. There’s no point. It’s terrible for you, it’s expensive, and it’s barbaric Continue reading →

Anthology films as a mechanism for inducing social change. XX is not the band The XX. Tales from the Hood as a group of segments with one coherent vision. How specific is Tales form the Hood to mid-nineties Los Angeles? Which parts of Tales form the Hood are just as relevant today? Portraying the big green monster of domestic abuse. The range of anthology film interstitials. XX as a group of segments with a diversity of voices. The amount of power directing XX is insane. Annie Clark, first time long time. St. Vincent music videos. This is not Roxanne Benjamin’s first anthology film. Double Feature favorite Karyn Kusama. Everyone should watch Jovanka Vuckovic’s short films. Continue reading →

October kicks in with the full force of mystic green Halloween energy. Two fantastical spooky-delights with very different receptions. Horror outsiders then and now. Hocus Pocus hits 25. Eric Thirteen’s film Disposition plays in a theater and heads for the Brooklyn Horror Film Fest. Could Hocus Pocus be made today? Of course it WILL be made today, but CAN it be? Of all the normal elements in Hocus Pocus, what happens to be horror community’s favorite? Who is Mick Garris and why does he never show up on Double Feature? An actual answer to that question (hint: it has nothing to do with how much Double Feature loves spooky vegan Mick Garris, which is plenty). Why it’s ok for everything to just be a horror movie. Slice drops unexpectedly. World building, fresh faces, and an unexacting public! Continue reading →