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StrangeloveFor the 16th Movie Roundtable—or rather Dialogue this time—we are joined once again by our good friend Antony Rotunno, for a discussion on Stanley Kubrick's classic movie Dr Strangelove (1964), starring Peter Sellers, George C Scott and Sterling Hayden (among others).

Imagining the USA to be inflitrated by Soviet polluters of the domestic water supply, the deranged General Jack D Ripper, commander of Burpelson Air Force Base, initiates "Wing Attack Plan R"... and you probably know the rest! This one has been near the top of my "roundtable" list for some time, but it took Antony's particular fondness for it to nudge it into first place. And I'm very glad of that; it's a truly great film, and my enthusiasm for it has only continued to grow as I've rewatched, read and thought about it again over the last few weeks.

Some say Dr Strangelove is the darkest of all comedies. And maybe that's so. Could there be anything darker than a nuclear end to the world brought about by human madness, ignorance, stupidity and hubris? Or a "Mutually Assured Destruction" revealing itself to be exactly that—M.A.D.? And yet, somehow, Kubrick and his brilliant team manage to make us laugh. Almost in spite of ourselves. After all, no matter how "over the top" it all might seem, there's always been something very real about Dr Strangelove. And I think we know it.

Join us as we discuss the production, consider its themes, and reflect on (just some of) what the film might have to say to us today.

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Nigglings "Just as jellyfish, and woodpeckers, and ostriches have no rights, Homo sapiens have no rights also."—Yuval Noah Harari (2014)

Once again, out of the blue, I'm putting out a short podcast. (This time it really is quite short.) It has to do with a TEDx talk by a certain Dr Yuval Noah Harari—a well-known professor of history and "public intellectual" (who is mates with Star Fleet Commander Klaus Schwab, I believe)—which he gave almost ten years ago, but which has recently "gone viral" and drawn comment from everyone and their cat (and their dog and their rabbit). Quite understandably though, because in that talk Dr Harari said some rather controversial things—things like: "Just as jellyfish, and woodpeckers, and ostriches have no rights, Homo sapiens have no rights also." Which—again, understandably—has niggled people somewhat. So, given that I was also niggled somewhat, I thought I'd niggle back. Somewhat. And share my nigglings.

Anyway, that's what it's about. A niggle.

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Neph23 If a $6,000,000 golden toilet fell on a spider would it look like an accident? Why are Vegemite sandwiches outlawed in Van Diemen's Land under the Treason Felony Act of 1848? How many giant mammoth meatballs does US President O'Biden keep under his chin? And will Frank Johnson raise enough cash through this evening's kickstarter to fund his ological research into the question: "Was Jesus born in Somerset?"

These (and other important questions) are answered as we kick off 2024 here at TMR with our annual New Year's Eve show, a zany roundtable chat with high-ranking members of The Fireside Nephilim Chaps secret society.

Join us—Jenifer Thyssen (classical singer), GK (Like Flint Radio), Frank Johnson (toaster strudel), Jeff Bankens (Strongman for Christ), Charles Philip Arthur George Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (affectionately known as His Majesty King Charles III, King of the United Kingdon and Other Commonwealth Realms), and Yours Truly—as we put aside the cares of this world for about an hour and discuss everything under the sun in aid of Frank's latest skientific research.

Be there, or be square.

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3Crumblings "People went a little crazy, a little fascist, during the so-called Covid pandemic. And now, here we are. There are two roads ahead. We have to choose ... you, me, all of us."—CJ Hopkins

Out of the blue, I'm putting out a short podcast—short by my standards, that is; it's still almost half an hour—in which I simply talk about three recent (related) events that I think are important to note. And I'm calling it "Three Crumbings" because each item, in its own way, symbolises the ongoing crumbling of the old covid narrative as it tries to slope off into the distance in the hope of being forgotten. I won't reveal what items one and two are here—you'll probably know them anyway—but item three (which maybe fewer of you know about, and which is the main reason for doing this) concerns the extraordinary case of CJ Hopkins, the American playwright, author and political satirist living in Berlin whose court case has just ended with his being found not guilty of something that it was patently obvious he wasn't guilty of in the first place! "Kafkaesque" he calls it, and rightly so. Anyway, that's what it's about.

 

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Eraserhead“It is a personal film, and no reviewer, or critic, or viewer has ever given an interpretation that is my interpretation.”—David Lynch

For the 15th Movie Roundtable here at TMR we welcome back our good friends Frank Johnson, Antony Rotunno and Mark Campbell for another four-way discussion, this time on David Lynch's cult surrealist "horror" film Eraserhead from 1977.

Or is that perhaps not quite right? Each of us in the discussion loves the film Eraserhead (for various reasons), but I don't think any of us finds it exactly horrifying. Certainly, my reaction is more one of bemusement plus amusement, and the feeling that I'm a fly on the wall inside someone else's nightmare. So perhaps it would be better (for me) to call Eraserhead a "cult surrealist dark comedy nightmare film"? Or maybe that's not quite right either. Perhaps: a "cult surrealist nightmare-that-is-somehow-also-dark-comedy-without-ceasing-to-be-a-nightmare film"? That works for me, but I'd be just as happy to say that this film—which seems as strange today as when it first came out back in 1977—simply defies description.

Join us as we discuss the film's production, ponder its meaning(s)—or lack thereof (?)—and consider what this "dream of dark and troubling things” might have to "say" to us today.

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More Articles ...

  1. TMR 303 : Jacob Hornberger : On the JFK Autopsy Fraud
  2. TMR 302 : Prof. Thomas N. Seyfried : Cancer as a Metabolic Disease
  3. TMR 300 : Thirteen Days (2000) (Movie Roundtable)
  4. TMR 299 : Is Satan Woke? (With Rev Phill Sacre and Julian Charles)

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