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Travis Bickle On The Riviera


Hi there! I'm Tucker Stone, one of the three guys who hosts a podcast called Travis Bickle on the Rivieria. I've written for places like Flavorwire, The Comics Journal, Comixology and The Factual Opinion, and am currently punching the clock at Nobrow, a publisher of comics, graphic novels and children's books. Back in 2012, my friend Sean Witzke, a movie critic whose most recent work can be read at Grantland, started this podcast as a way to continue the conversations (and arguments) we had been having about movies amongst our mutual blogs.

Although neither one of us had listened to a lot of podcasts, we felt that our cantankerous, expletive laden diatribes might be of interest to others, and in the years since, we have been extremely lucky to be proven right: people, for whatever reason, like to listen to a couple of miserable depressives wax nostalgic over action movies from the 80's. (It probably didn't hurt that the hugely talented Michel Fiffe drew our logo image!)

When I became a father in 2013, longtime friend of the show and frequent guest host Morgan Jeske came on board to keep Sean from going stir crazy with backed-up opinions. Jeske--the talented cartoonist behind books for Image Comics like Change and Zero--rapidly made himself indispensable, and after my return to the show, it only made sense to welcome him on as an official host, turning this gruesome twosome into the trio it had always been destined to be. As the episodes have piled up (you can check out our episode guide, with every movie, director and special episode listed here), the show was continually graced with a murderers row of guests from the world of comics and film--you can see all of those amazing people at that link as well.

All of that brings us right up to right now, a cold day in October: the day where we ask for help. Simply put, the increased interest in the show has meant that we've had to put a bit more into the nuts and bolts of paying for it than we used to, and we thought 133 episodes (at most recent count) was enough to try passing the hat to help meet the costs. The show isn't in danger of going anyway anytime soon--Sean, Morgan and I like hurting each others feelings just a little too much for that to be a real concern--but we would appreciate the breathing room that financial support will allow.  Below you'll see the various levels of pledge options and the rewards they provide--we're pretty excited about them, especially the one where we send you surprises you can't return--but even if you come away thinking that we don't deserve one thin dime, it still means a lot that you stopped by in the first place. Thank you for reading, but most of all thank you for listening!

Sep 9, 2015

  • 0:00:00 - 0:24:28 - Tucker has been reading Lee Child's Jack Reacher novels again.

Discussed in this section: Lee Child, Prime Suspect, James Ellroy, Blood Meridian, Against the Day, The Book of Numbers, Finnegan's Wake, Dune, John Carter, Gravity's Rainbow, William Gaddis, Preacher, Recognitions, JR, Garth Ennis, The Boys, Suspiria, The Darkness, Marc Silvestri, Stephen Hunter, Werner Herzog, A History of Violence, Tom Cruise, Will Smith, Raymond Chandler, Nicholas Cage, Maze Runner, Mayor Carcetti, 12 Rounds, Teen Wolf, American Ultra, Bourne Identity, G.I. Joe 2, Noah, Batman, 311, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Adrian Tomine, Steve Ditko, Jay Z, and Dr. Dre.

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  • 0:24:29 - 0:41:03- We talk a little (not enough, he deserves a full show) about Wes CravenSean wrote about Last House on the Left/secret obituary for Grantland. If you'd like to spend more time on Craven, the Nightmare on Elm Street documentary Never Sleep Again has some great interviews with him even though the whole thing is pretty tiring. Adam Simon's fantastic documentary on American horror The American Nightmare (which is on youtube) and Jason Zinoman's history of American horror Shock Value are indispensable for Craven's interviews. 

Here's my favorite Craven quote, from American Nightmare

“I think there is something about the American dream, the sort of Disneyesque dream, if you will, of the beautifully trimmed front lawn and the white picket fence. Mom and Dad and happy children. God fearing and doing good whenever they can. That sort of expectation. And the flip side of it, of the anger and sense of outrage that comes from discovering that’s not the truth of the matter. I think that gives American horror films in some ways  kind of a… An additional rage” 

Also discussed in this section: Dr. Wayne Dyer, Oliver Sacks, Last House on the Left, Scream Nightmare on Elm Street, Cursed, Scream 3, Scream 4, The Hills Have Eyes, Vampire in Brooklyn, Red Eye, Music of the Heart, Olivier Assayas, Gaspar Noe, The Hills Have Eyes remake, The Last House on the Left remake, Takashi Miike, Tobe Hooper, Walking DeadSinister, Michael Bay, Joe Swanberg, John Cassavettes, Garret Dillahunt, Tony Goldwyn, Ingmar Bergman, Luis Bunuel, Carl Theodor Dreyer, George Romero, John Carpenter, Halloween, The Virgin Spring, Max Von Sydow, the Saw movies, Star Wars at Disney World, The Visit, and Richard Brody.

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  • 0:41:04 - 0:52:40 - SPECIAL GUEST DROP-IN BY MISS NINA - Mindhunters (2004), directed by Renny Harlin, starrring Christian Slater, Val Kilmer, Kathryn Morris, Patricia Velasquez, LL Cool J, Clifton Collins Jr, and Johnny Lee Miller. 

Also discussed in this section: NCIS LA, Mr. Robot, CSI, Elementary, Cold Case, Trainspotting, The Big Sleep, The Thing, Armageddon 2001, Inferno, John Romita Jr. Walt Simonson, Abel Ferrara, Cutthroat Island, board games, Jumanji, Zathura, John Favreau, Swingers, The Pagemaster, Cowboys and Aliens, Michael Mann, Tom Noonan, Sicario, and Blackhat.

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  • 0:52:41 - 1:06:24 - True Detective Season 2, starring Colin Farrell, Taylor Kitsch, Rachel McAdams, Vince Vaughn, Kelly Reilly, and Rick Springfield.

Also discussed in this section: Thief, Kill List, American Gigolo, Lethal Weapon, James Ellroy, 24, Friday Night Lights, Silent Rage, HP Lovecraft, Eyes Wide Shut, Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Quentin Tarantino, Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, Jaws, Tom Hanks, American Tabloid, Richard Chew (SHOUTOUT TO RICHARD CHEW THE GOD), Justin Lin, The Comeback, and Deadwood

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  • 1:06:25 - 1:21:09 - Black Christmas (1974), directed by Bob Clark, starring Olivia Hussey, Margot Kidder, Kier Duella, and John Saxon. 

Also discussed in this section: Steve Martin, Videodrome, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Halloween, Porky's, Deathdream (that is the Vietnam vet movie I could not remember the name of), Lone Wolf and Cub, Copra, Jason Shiga's Demon, Bookhunter, Scud, and Detention. 

  • Next Week: Two American men talk Eyes Wide Shut for a very long time.
  • Music this week: "Moya" by Godspeed You Black Emperor from The American Nightmare. And our intro, as always, is from Escape From New York.

 

  • R.I.P. Wes Craven, you will be missed.