The Arts Hole
A long stare into the pop culture abyss as one award winning script writer and one unemployed drunk try to take films, TV shows and books apart and work out what‘s gone wrong.
Listen on:
Episodes
Sunday Jun 26, 2022
Sunday Jun 26, 2022
We've all woken up from a blackout with consequences hanging over us, but spare a thought for the women of Midwich, who are all knocked mysteriously unconscious and wake up pregnant.
John Wyndham's iconic sci-fi story is the basis for its recent third adaptation, now on Sky. We watched the pilot, which if nothing else perfectly captures the feeling of a missing chunk of time in your life that you'll never get back...
EDIT TO ADD: We recorded this before the recent American Supreme Court Decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade, back in the days when forced pregnancy was still a creepy, science fiction idea and not a horrifying reality. Solidarity with women in Northern Ireland, Malta, America and anywhere else where they have no right to control their own bodies.
SHOW NOTES:
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Sunday Jun 19, 2022
Sunday Jun 19, 2022
In this Pride Month Arts Hole special we take a look at the baffling 90s time capsule that is 'In & Out' This comedy - from the creative team that would go on to punish us with the 2006 'Stepford Wives' remake - can't really decide what we're laughing at or where it stands. We're out.
SHOW NOTES:
Khadija Mbowe's Video Essay "Maybe you should stay in the closet? Coming out re-examined"
Borat 2020 Debutante Ball scene
The documentary Luke mentions "Killing Patient Zero"
Buzzfeed article about best and worst LGBTQ+ movie representation as voted by LGBTQ+ viewers
Jessica Kellgren-Fozard's Youtube channel
Rowan Ellis' Youtube channel
We didn't mention her on the podcast but Contrapoints also talks about media representation on her excellent Youtube channel, primarily about Trans representation.
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Sunday Jun 12, 2022
Sunday Jun 12, 2022
We go on an epic, five year quest to find a missing girl. Or at least John Wayne does and this whole film feels like we're tagging along in real time.
Often cited as John Wayne's finest film, Luke has long argued that John Ford's 1956 western is a rare example of a classic in dire need of a remake. The themes of racism, obsession and madness are buried under layers of folksy nonsense but Bea is on hand to fix the problems and re-structure this into something that could be really compelling.
A film we can't improve? That'll be the day...
SHOW NOTES:
The legendary Leroy Jenkins, patron saint of failed frontal assaults: https://youtu.be/mLyOj_QD4a4
Hank Worden, the cowboy actor who played Mose and whose name Luke couldn't find: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Worden
When Bea mentions 'whiteness' as being invented; this brilliant podcast series unpacks the construction of the idea of the 'white race' which is a relatively new idea:
https://www.sceneonradio.org/seeing-white/
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Sunday Jun 05, 2022
Sunday Jun 05, 2022
In 1972, Ira Levin wrote a novella so iconic it became an instant shorthand in pop culture and social discourse. In 2004, Hollywood adapted this novel - and changed the beginning, and the end, and put robot dog in it, and Matthew Broderick.
Join us for a classically head-in-hands episode of our Masters & Disasters series as we pit a literary classic against its movie adaptation.
Oh, and Matthew Broderick killed two women, just in case we forget to mention it.
P.S. Disco the podcast puppy was frolicking in the garden during the recording of this episode so she does not appear but she is fine and well and covered in grass cuttings.
SHOW NOTES:
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Sunday May 15, 2022
Sunday May 15, 2022
As it is Bea's birthday week/month she choose Oscar winning Cher vehicle 'Moonstruck' as her Arts Hole pick. But as the movie ran, Nicholas Cage wasn't the only one losing his shit...
We don't recommend you listen to this episode unless you're up for arguments about kitchen sink dramas, the wacky world of John Waters movies, Emma Thompson grudge match round #2 and some TV recommendations instead.
Enjoy?
SHOW NOTES:
Moonstruck trailer - https://youtu.be/M01_2CKL6PU
Sir Arthur Striebgriebling - https://youtu.be/iuE_a1pTsO4
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Sunday May 08, 2022
Sunday May 08, 2022
In this musical edition of Masters & Disasters, we take a deep dive into Grease 2 and ask "Is 'Grease' still the word?" Turns out, we have some other words that could more aptly describe it... Still, there's a young Michelle Pfeiffer, a leading man who can't hold a tune and the threat of nuclear war, what's not to love? Just don't mention the Hawaiian Luau, Bea still hasn't recovered.
SHOW NOTES:
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Sunday May 01, 2022
Sunday May 01, 2022
Raganarok! The death of the gods! The end of all things! Will this third entry from Chris Hemsworth's Thor be able to handle such high stakes? We'll never know, as it didn't bother to try. Join us for a dip into the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we explore why Thor: Ragnarok was so weirdly un-engaging.
SHOW NOTES:
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Sunday Apr 24, 2022
Sunday Apr 24, 2022
Villainous origin stories have become de rigeur in recent years, with 'Joker' becoming a critical darling and 'Maleficent' making a fortune. Even Marvel's Loki has his own TV show. Surely, however, nobody could make Cruella DeVil sympathetic?
Which is true. They couldn't. But they insisted on trying for two and as half hours and we sat through all of it. Will Disco the podcast puppy survive this episode unscathed or will Cruella's fashion and sympathetic origin story tempt Bea to the dark side?! PUUUUUPPIES!!!!! **thunder crack, lightning flash**
SHOW NOTES:
**Corrections**
1) Cruella was released in 2021 not 2019
2) Luke did not mean to say "they're stupid cos they're orphans." He just meant that the care system often unfortunately leaves children with sub-par education opportunities and that people who grow up in care can be disproportionately under-educated, which is not the same as being stupid. His views on Emma Thompson remain unchanged.
Video essay on Cruella from The Take - https://youtu.be/luEEV_UiArQ
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Sunday Apr 17, 2022
Sunday Apr 17, 2022
This week is a listener request - or should that be listener troll? - either way, we bring you Rockstar. The 2001 movie nobody heard of starring those titans of rock, Mark Wahlberg and...Jennifer Aniston...but nevermind the odd casting, this movie just wants to deliver that classic rock 'n' roll message, "work hard and follow your dreams"...yeah, it's less "turn it up to 11" and more "switch it the fuck off"
SHOW NOTES:
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Sunday Apr 10, 2022
Sunday Apr 10, 2022
A much belated finale to our Valentines romcom season, hey - it was hard to feel all that love in the air with sewage coming through the ceiling... Bea picks the best romantic comedy movies of the last three years meanwhile Luke is digging out overlooked gems from the Arts Hole of the past.
We hope you fall in love with some of these movies and yes, we know, we had you at 'hello' x
SHOW NOTES:
Become a patron! www.patreon.com/theartshole
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