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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!

Dec 22, 2014

In our gift to you this holiday season, Morgan Jeske is back. He has made his preliminary best of the year list, and he has joined us to share it. Tucker and Sean will be doing a definitive best of 2014 episode with a countdown and everything the first or second week of the new year. People who made their list in November either have far more access than we do or are garbage people who act like whatever five things they sat in front of must have be the best of the year. I mean, what other conclusion could you make? It has a talking raccoon in it. 

  • 0:00:00 - 0:12:16 -  We start off this week talking about Nightcrawler (2014), direced by Dan Gilroy, starring Jake Gyllenhall, Rene Russo, Bill Paxton, and Riz Ahmed. Also mentioned in this section: Paul Thomas Anderson, Collateral, Enemy, Prisoners, Taxi Driver, Michael Mann, The Driver, Terminator, Bill Paxton, Gary Oldman, Robert Deniro, Takeshi Kitano, Joaquin Phoenix, Boyd Crowder on Justified, Michael Fassbender, Robert Elswitt, Mission Impossible 5, Peyton Reed, Jimi Hendrix, The Thomas Crowne Affair, and Get Shorty
  • 0:12:17 - 0:22:24 - While we're at it, check out Abhay's Best of the Year round up over at the Savage Critics, including a few movies we talked about a lot this year only because he tipped us off to them. First up? Morgan's List! Also discussed in this section: Louie, The Nick, True Detective, Drive, Ryan Gosling, You're Next, Tom Cruise, Guardians of the Galaxy, Cliffhanger, Cliff Martinez, Inherent Vice, John Carpenter, Walter Hill, John Woo, Martin Scorsese, Bruce Lee, Jet Li, Django Unhchained, Kill Bill, and Deadwood.
  • 0:22:25 - 0:36:18 - Morgan has been watching Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008-2009), show-run by Josh Friedman. 

    Also discussed in this section: Dollhouse, Person of Interest, David Cronenberg, Dawn of the Dead, The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, Criminal Minds, The Prowler, Maniac, the senate report on CIA torture, 24, Person of Interest, Neuromancer, Terminator, The Wire, The Warriors, Daredevil, Transformers, Jag, Enemy, John Wick, Notting Hill, and Days of Thunder. 

  • 0:36:19 - 0:41:31 -  The movie Morgan watched the most this year may have been The Hitcher (1986), directed by Robert Harmon, starring C. Thomas Howell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and RUTGER HAUER.

    Also discussed in this section:Near Dark, Body Parts, Blue Steel, American Psycho, Night Breed, Hellraiser, and Under The Skin

  • 0:41:32 - 0:49:12 - Morgan watched Birdman (2014), directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Innaratu, starring Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis, Amy Ryan, and Naomi Watts. 

    Also discussed in this section: Austin Powers, The Passenger, The Incredible Hulk, Robert Downey Jr., Tobey Maguire, Christian Bale, Alec Baldwin, Ben Affleck, Val Kilmer, Marvel comics movies, and American Idol.

  • 0:49:13 - 0:58:10 - Morgan and Sean talk about similar film Clouds of Sils Maria (2014), directed by Olivier Assayas, starring Juliet Binoche, Kristen Stewart, and Chloe Moretz.

    Also discussed in this section: X-Men movies, Suicide Squad, Demonlover, Carlos, Apres Mai, Summer Hours, Biutiful, Amores Perros, 21 Grams, I Saw The Devil, David Fincher, Gravity, Peter Suchizitsky, Emmanuel Luzbeki, and Empire Strikes Back.

  • 0:58:11 - 1:10:33 - Finally Sean watched The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji (2014), directed by Takashi Miike, starring Toma Ikuta. 

    Also discussed in this section: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, Sketchers commercials, Only God Forgives, early technicolor musicals, Full Metal Yakuza, Sukiyaki Western Django, Ace Attorney, Fu-doh, MPD Psycho, Ichi The Killer, Hara-Kiri, Ingmar Bergman, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Sam Fuller, Steven Soderbergh, Guy Maddin, Joe Swanberg, Johnnie To, Fred Orland Reye, Ed Wood, Paul Thomas Anderson, David Fincher, Brian De Palma, and Will Ferrell.

  • Next Week: Best of 2014?

    Our outro music this week: "Jet Jaguar Theme" from Godzilla Vs. MegalonAnd our intro, as always is from Escape From New York. 

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