The Cult of Matt and Mark

It's summertime folks! And you know what that means, vacation! Mark is out of town, so to tide you over until our review of The Omega Man, we bring you one from the archives (Archive01 that is)... D. Darko!! Remember jet engines make strange bedfellows and don't hit the cinemas with Frank the Bunny, he talks to goddamn much. Enjoy! Download: Donnie Darko (Archive01)

Are you as mad as Hell? Are you going to keep taking it?.... yeah, probably. What's better than raging against machine? Raging against the machine for profit and marketshare. The duplicitous nature of corporate television news seems to somehow continue to masquerade as impartial, a shabby illusion we continue to buy into even today. "Damn, liberal media!" Network not only exposes this thin facade, but it hints at television gutters to come, infotainment, scripted reality t.v., etc... What's the abyssal chthonic terminus of all this? Take a look at your 2016 ballot, and we're almost there. Download: 202 Network

It's been awhile, but Matt and Mark are back! We review the 1996 sci-fi actioner Demolition Man. Despite the titular song by the stung solo artist Sting, Demo Man satisfies the action itch while deftly inserting humor into a farcical future. Stallone and Woody Allen may live in separate universes, but Demo Man mirrors the classic Sleeper in more ways then you'd suspect. And, who the f*%k doesn't love Wesley Snipes (well, besides the IRS).. Download: 201 Demolition Man

It's our long awaited bonus episode! This one's for the fans (and friends) who've managed to get it together to listen to our inanity for four years running! A free-from mix of topical tangential nonsense and our morning coffee house ramblings. There's a good 2.5 hrs dosage here. Binge away. We'll be back for another 100 episodes of cult film reviews in a couple of weeks. And if you're longing for more, hit our back episodes by following the links on our blog at cultfilmreview.blogspot.com or head over to iTunes and search The Cult of Matt and Mark Archive01.. Download: Bonus Episode #2

We made it! This week Matt and Mark celebrate our 200th Podcast with Lynch's masterpiece Mulholland Drive. A dream film with a reality coda, Lynch creates an evocative experience that never loses sight of its character study. This is a film about the jagged hard edge of Hollywood's ego trip and its menace to the dreamers who dare give it a go. Diane/Betty's downward spiral of mediocrity and failure is nothing new, but Lynch teases out a world that is like a Grimm fairy tale, a mix of innocent intentions and nightmare. Download:  200 Mulholland Drive

This week Matt and Mark go ape shit over Planet of the Apes. A straightforward piece of beautiful science fiction, PotA does the classic turn of reversing the world we take for granted. While assuming the position of a middle-ages clergymen, Dr. Zias is oddly perhaps the most sympathetic character of the film (at least he's not a miserable nihilist like that asshole Taylor). Is there such thing as a benign charlatan? While absolute truth my serve the individual, its role in culture may be something more complicated. Download: 199 Planet of the Apes

Can anyone ever make a truly "good" porn film? Most of the time the subject matter's visceral mechanics deny any higher humanization of performers, and no one ever seems to have time for back story, plot, or character development. But 1972's Behind the Green door attempts to rise above its stag film pedigree.... and kind of fails. Matt and Mark agree that, while interesting in a historical sense, its not a good film, neither as a 'film' or pornographically. Swept under the rug of VHS tapes and Youporn, it's time has past but its psychedelic money shots remain in our collective consciousness. Download: 198 Behind the Green Door    

It's hard not to discuss the nature of Trump supporters without bringing up the seminal 80's schlock fest C.H.U.D. Despite the nuclear sized plot-holes and inadequate monster origins story, C.H.U.D. manages a little bit of charm by utilizing the acting talents of its strong second tier cast to the fullest. If anything, it harvests the zeitgeists of 80's era nuclear waste trains and rogue sewer alligator urban-myths, welcoming us back to this bygone Reagan era. Download: 197 C.H.U.D.

And we're back! Sorry for the delay, but after almost 200 episodes, life occasionally gets in the way of getting the podcasts out. This week we review an early Kubrick masterpiece Paths of Glory as part of our ultra-mini WWI movie marathon to commemorate the 100th anniversary. Mark boldly states this is one of the finest films he's ever seen and Matt can't really find anything wrong with such a pronouncement, as PoG manages to defy his nihilistic and cynical tendencies without contradicting them. From a film that exclusively depicts men at war, it's hallmark denouement, featuring the film's only female actor (Kubrick's future wife), is a cinematic landmark that resonates and transcends its subject material. Download: 196 Paths of Glory

Once again, a cold has seized Matt's vocal chords and is holding them hostage. It appears 12 hours in an airplane over two days will guarantee a winter virus. In lieu of our Paths of Glory podcast, we serve up one from The Cult of Matt and Mark Archive01, our most downloaded podcast ever actually, The Shining! Download: The Shining (Archive01)

Mark and Matt is kicking off a mini-World War I movie marathon (actually two movies) to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the Great One. While not exactly a heavy anti-war film, Gallipoli isn't so much about war as it is about the personalities that populate them. Has romanticism and combat really been exorcised from young men? If there is a solid thematic element to Gallipoli, it questions the strange draw young men have to fighting strangers in strange lands. Download: 195 Gallipoli

Matt has no voice due to an epic daycare cold. So we invite you to listen to an oldie but a goodie this week. From The Cult of Matt and Mark Archive01.... Blade Runner. We'll be back next week with our review of Gallipoli. Download: Blade Runner (Archive01) 

This week Mark has a slight fever and decides to promptly take a Tylenol to get rid of it. Long after the disco inferno has gone to ash and receded a whole new pop landscape, John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever still draws a crowd. Matt and Mark attempt to figure out why this was Gene Siskell's favorite movie... hmm... Despite it's ancillary (and terrible) sub-plot elements the idea of rising above one's station seems to be the overriding attraction, perhaps. Regardless, it's hard to not think you're watching an episode of the Jersey Shore circa 1977. GTL ya'll. Download: 194 Saturday Night Fever

If kinked up pornography were the domain of aliens and/or computer programs, they would no doubt eventually arrive at Chronenberg's 1996 Crash. Cars are sexy status symbols which are extensions of ourselves. Middle-aged graying men buy Porsches to reclaim lost virility, etc... Is there an S&M analogy? Not really. But there should be, right? That question is what makes Crash so cold and perplexing. As watchers we are meant to be turned away from this particular fetish. It's supposed to not make sense. It is paradox. Download: 193 Crash (1996)

Time to drop some Prozium and review Equilibrium this week om The Cult of Matt and Mark. Despite being a highly derivative film, Equilibrium promotes and explores ideas, which has always been the currency of decent science fiction. The film does work on a certain level, even the contrived made-for-Hollywood martial art Gun-kata is intriguing and entertaining. M&M wonder if Libria is in fact a metaphor for pharma-fueled child rearing these days. Is prescribing an answer for negotiating the inner caveman of toddlers? Download: 192 Equilibrium