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In Episode 094 of Considering the Cinema, your hosts Jason Pyles (aka “Jay of the Dead”), filmmaker Mack Robins (aka “Mackula”), and Dave “Dr. Shock” Becker return for the 17th installment of The Weekly Watchlist! Mack kicks things off with American Movie (1999) and its infamous companion short, Coven (1997). Inspired by Mark Borchardt’s struggles to complete his film, Mack wrestles with whether the documentary is an inspiring celebration of artistic perseverance or a frightening warning about the hardships of independent filmmaking. His investigation also leads him into an existential crisis over whether a 36-minute production can officially count as a feature film. Dave brings two dramatically different selections: First, he strongly praises the intriguing, papal-election drama, Conclave (2024), and its powerhouse ensemble cast. Then he revisits National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985) after nearly 40 years to determine whether the Griswolds’ overseas adventure deserves a critical pardon.
Finally, Jason gets personal while discussing his lifelong passion for songwriting and his efforts to resurrect the musician within him. This leads to reviews of two Elton John documentaries: Classic Albums: Elton John – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (2001) and Two Rooms: A Tribute to Elton John & Bernie Taupin (1991). Jay also celebrates Bernie Taupin’s extraordinary lyrics, reveals his favorite lesser-known Elton John songs, and names the song he would choose to cover. Naturally, the episode continues long after everybody supposedly wraps up, spiraling into hilarious conversations about Elvis Presley movies, Burt Reynolds’ romantic history, Barney the Dinosaur, irritating children’s videos, and a hypothetical cross-country movie road trip. Join us!
Note: This episode was recorded on Friday, January 24, 2025.
THE WEEKLY WATCHLIST is the type of episode where we simply talk about whatever we’ve been watching lately from our own, personal watchlists. Here’s how it works: Jay, Mack and Dave have zero “movie-watching homework.” We are completely free each week to watch whatever we want from any era, year, genre, country, etc! We can finally go through our own personal watchlists and catch up with the films we’ve been meaning to see. So, every week will be vastly different. Let us know what you think of this format.
Jay of the Dead also hosts a WEEKLY HORROR MOVIE PODCAST with Mister Watson at Horror Movie Weekly.com. And of course, every Horror fan should check out Jay of the Dead’s New Horror Movies, The Gold Standard of Horror Movie Podcasts.
Thanks for listening to Considering the Cinema Podcast and Considering Horror Cinema, The Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of Movie Podcasting… Don’t forget: You can email Jay, Mack and even Dr. Shock at ConsideringTheCinema@gmail.com or post a comment in the show notes for this episode.
SHOW NOTES: Considering the Cinema Ep. 094: The Weekly Watchlist
Introduction
– Jason welcomes Mack and Dave
– The Weekly Watchlist format: No homework, no assignments and only 15 minutes for each host’s coverage—allegedly
Mack’s Weekly Watchlist:
American Movie (1999) and Coven (1997)
Rating and Recommendation: Mack had one job but did not provide a formal rating or recommendation.
– Mack finally watches the 4K release of American Movie
– Mark Borchardt’s attempts to finance and produce his feature film, Northwestern
– Borchardt temporarily abandons Northwestern to complete Coven
– Mack investigates whether Coven runs 36 minutes or 40 minutes
– According to the Academy’s definition, a film must exceed 40 minutes to qualify as a feature
– Mack times Coven with a stopwatch and submits a runtime correction to IMDb
– The first film Mack has ever removed from his personal movie list because it technically qualifies as a short
– Can a 36-minute film justify a $14.95 VHS price?
– Mark Borchardt’s persistence, abrasive personality and “warts-and-all” depiction
– Is American Movie an inspirational account of following one’s dreams—or a cautionary story about artistic failure?
– Mack considers whether watching the film encouraged or discouraged his own filmmaking aspirations
– Naturalistic dialogue and surprisingly thoughtful moments in Coven
– Mark Borchardt’s later acting appearances, including Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever (2009)
– The unforgettable Uncle Bill
– Mack wants to devote a future Considering the Cinema episode to explaining his elaborate personal movie watchlist
– Mack teases an unfinished Basque-language film involving the Devil
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Dave’s Weekly Watchlist:
Conclave (2024)
Dave = 9 ( Buy it! )
– Ralph Fiennes leads the process of selecting a new pope
– Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Isabella Rossellini
– Progressive and traditionalist factions compete for control of the Catholic Church
– Secrets emerge about several leading candidates
– Figurative and literal explosions
– Dave describes the film as an edge-of-your-seat thriller
– Jackie Becker also enjoys the movie during their cinematic date night
National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985)
Dave = 5 ( Rental )
– Dave revisits the movie nearly 40 years after finding it disappointing
– The Griswold children are recast with Dana Hill and Jason Lively
– Recasting Rusty and Audrey becomes a tradition throughout the Vacation series
– The London roundabout sequence
– Eric Idle’s recurring, increasingly injured cyclist
– Dave enjoys portions of the English sequences but dislikes much of the material set in France
– Predictable jokes atop the Eiffel Tower
– The absence of Randy Quaid
– Clark Griswold feels less like a lovable family man and more like a clueless authoritarian obsessed with following his itinerary
– Dave believes Beverly D’Angelo fares much better than Chevy Chase
– John Astin’s unsettling game-show host
– Comparisons with National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983), National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) and Vegas Vacation (1997)
Jason’s Weekly Watchlist:
Alien: Isolation Update
– Jason bought his son the Alien: Isolation video game for Spawn of the Dead
– Jason and his son plan to explore the game before watching the animated digital series
– More Alien-universe coverage will come in a future episode
– Jason’s Musical History
– Jason’s two great lifelong passions: movies and music
– Teaching himself to play piano by listening to Billy Joel and Elton John
– Jason’s years as a dedicated musician, songwriter and performer
– Producing two CDs of original music
– Jason’s former show, The Songwriting Podcast
– Interviews with Dave Eaton, Fred Ingram, Midnight Corey, Nate Johnivan, the Yo Gabba Gabba musicians, Jeff Feuerzeig and Glen Phillips
– Jason’s interview with Jeff Feuerzeig provides bonus insight into The Devil and Daniel Johnston (2005)
– Trying to resurrect the musician and songwriter within himself
– Elton John: Never Too Late (2024) on Disney+
Classic Albums: Elton John – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (2001)
Jason = 5.5 ( Low-priority Rental for Elton John fans )
– Directed by Bob Smeaton
– A retrospective look at the creation of Elton John’s landmark 1973 album
– Jason finds the documentary less informative than expected
– Bernie Taupin explains the inspiration behind “Candle in the Wind”
– The song concerns the tragedy of someone dying at the height of fame rather than a particular obsession with Marilyn Monroe
– The album artwork that helped inspire the silhouetted movie-theater presentation of Mystery Science Theater 3000
Two Rooms: A Tribute to Elton John & Bernie Taupin (1991)
Jason = 7 ( Low-priority Rental for Elton John fans )
– Directed by Jonathan Bendis and Bill Richmond
– The unusual songwriting partnership between Elton John and Bernie Taupin
– Bernie writes the lyrics before Elton composes the melodies and music
– The accompanying tribute album features covers by Eric Clapton, Sting, The Who, The Beach Boys, Bon Jovi, Rod Stewart, Sinéad O’Connor, Phil Collins and George Michael
– Bernie Taupin says he wrote the lyrics to “Your Song” over breakfast
– The true inspiration behind “Daniel”
– Taupin based the lyrics on a wounded Vietnam veteran who returned home wanting privacy rather than attention or hero worship
– Jason objects to the amount of footage recycled in the later Goodbye Yellow Brick Road documentary
– The documentary makes Jason want to revisit Rocketman (2019), starring the gifted and talented Taron Egerton
Jason’s Elton John Deep-Cut Must-Listen Songs Countdown
“Come Down in Time”
“Someone Saved My Life Tonight”
“Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters”
“Harmony”
“High Flying Bird”
“The Greatest Discovery”
– “The Greatest Discovery” is the Elton John song Jason would choose to cover
– Dave reveals the famous Elton John song that Elton reportedly despises performing: “Crocodile Rock”
The Episode That Refuses to End
– Dave teases a serious 1960s surfing movie that features several musicians
– Jason teases two excellent, overlooked films that he wants to champion
– Elvis Presley movies, including King Creole (1958), Blue Hawaii (1961), Viva Las Vegas (1964), Girl Happy (1965) and Clambake (1967)
– The urban legend that Elvis appears in Home Alone (1990)
– Elvis, Tupac and John F. Kennedy battle a mummy in Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)
– Burt Reynolds and the deleted romantic-confession scene from The Last Movie Star (2017)
– Daniel Radcliffe and Elvis’ final meal in What If (2013)
– Jason and Dave discuss Elvis (2022)
– Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge! (2001) and The Great Gatsby (2013)
– Elton John’s “Your Song” brings the conversation full circle
– A hypothetical Jason, Mack and Dave movie-location road trip
– Visiting the Field of Dreams (1989) baseball field
– Ending the trip at America’s last remaining Blockbuster store
– Mack’s accidental hot-mic complaint: “How is this still going on?”
– The torturous experience of waiting for children’s YouTube videos to end
– Barney, Teletubbies and increasingly inappropriate children’s-show humor
Wrap-Up
– The hosts invite listeners to share their thoughts about the featured movies
– What is your favorite Elton John song?
Thanks for listening to Considering the Cinema, the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of Movie Podcasting!
Links for this episode:
Catch up with Mack here:
– Horror podcast: Jay of the Dead’s New Horror Movies
— IMDb.com Page: Mack Robins
Catch up with Dr. Shock here:
– Horror podcast: Jay of the Dead’s New Horror Movies
— Blog: DVD Infatuation.com
— Podcast: The DVD Infatuation Podcast
— Horror podcast: Land of the Creeps
— Podcast: The Illustrated Fan
— Movie Podcast Weekly has returned for MONTHLY releases
— Listen to Jay of the Dead’s Horror Movie Weekly with Mister Watson every Sunday!
Jay recommends Nate Johnivan’s music:
— Spotify Playlist
— Quarantine Dream iii
CTC on X: @ConsiderCinema
Film Blog / Audio Podcast: ConsideringTheCinema.com
HORROR-Only Content: ConsideringHorrorCinema.com
Email: ConsideringTheCinema@gmail.com
Voicemail: (801) 215-9704
Letterboxd: Letterboxd.com/ConsiderCinema
Don’t forget to check out Considering the Cinema’s new Episode Archive