Podcasts
The Demon Twink Lives On in ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’ [Horror Queers Podcast]
Boring!
After concluding March with a discussion of Velma’s queer erasure in Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (listen) and a revisit to the world of James Whale in The Invisible Man (listen), we’re heading to the ’50s to analyze Anthony Minghella‘s 1999 adaptation of Patricia Highsmith‘s novel The Talented Mr. Ripley.
The 1950s-set film sees Tom Ripley (Matt Damon), a con artist who is sent from New York City to Italy to convince Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law), a rich and spoiled playboy who is vacationing with his girlfriend Marge (Gwyneth Paltrow), to return home. Tom becomes infatuated with Dickie after getting a taste of his extravagant lifestyle, leading to a sinister turn of events.
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Episode 276: The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Scratch out that passport photo and don’t be boring because we’re discussing Anthony Minghella‘s 1999 adaptation, The Talented Mr. Ripley! Tagging in for the conversation is Jordan Gustafson, the co-host of the Queer Quadrant Podcast!
Join us as we go all in on this adaptation of Patricia Highsmith‘s classic novel, from Matt Damon‘s stellar performance as evil twink Tom Ripley to Jude Law‘s massive cakes. The film also puts a heavier emphasis on Tom’s queerness, so you know we’ll have a lot to say about that!
Plus: homoerotic bathtub chess matches, a lengthy tangent on the Oscars, and a compulsive need for more Cate Blanchett.
Cross out The Talented Mr. Ripley!
Coming up on Wednesday: We’re headed to the North York Moors to see someone about a werewolf in John Landis’ 1981 classic An American Werewolf in London.
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Aaliyah Innocent.
May was a busy subgenre-switching month. After kicking things off with disaster “slasher” The Poseidon Adventure (listen), we watched American Giallo The Fan (listen), then wrapped things up with Vincent Price’s horror comedy Theater of Blood (listen).
Now, in honor of Pride Month and the return of AMC’s Interview with the Vampire (renamed The Vampire Lestat for S03), Trace and I had to check out the straight-washed second attempt to bring Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles to life.
Back in 2002, director Michael Rymer pitched Hollywood on his vision for Rice’s second Chronicle book, The Vampire Lestat. Instead, the suits opted to adapt the third book, Queen of the Damned (likely due to the ancillary opportunities of the soundtrack, written entirely by Korn frontman Jonathan Davis).
In the film, Lestat (Stuart Townsend) awakens from slumber to reinvent himself as a leather-pant-wearing rocker. Lestat’s very public vampire persona attracts the attention of Talamasca novice Jesse (Marguerite Moreau), as well as the vampire’s maker Marius (Vincent Perez). But the nu-metal has the greatest impact on Akasha (Aaliyah), who awakens and promises to take over the world if her old foe Maharet (Lena Olin) doesn’t stop her.
Whose side will Lestat join? Will Marius help his fledgling or abandon him to public sacrifice? And does anyone actually care about Jesse? (Please note: that last question is rhetorical.)
Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get a new episode every Wednesday. You can subscribe on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeartRadio, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Amazon Music, and RSS.
Episode 389: Queen of the Damned (2002)
Practice your Egyptian accent and bare that midriff because we are talking the troubled “adaptation” of Anne Rice’s Queen of the Damned (2002).
Directed by Australian Michael Rymer, this one was doomed by the suits before it was even greenlit (which happened AFTER all of the songs were written by Korn frontman Jonathan Davis). It’s a bit of a clusterfuck.
Plus: praising everything Aaliyah (RIP); critiquing everything Stuart Townsend (aside from his abs and leather pants); a soft queer reading of Marius; and bemoaning boring protagonist/audience surrogate JESSE.
Cross out Queen of the Damned!
Coming Up Next: We’re tackling Ben Stiller’s horror-adjacent dark comedy The Cable Guy (1996), in anticipation of its 30th anniversary!
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 495 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on Hannibal Season 3 Episodes 5 & 6, Backrooms, Passenger, Leviticus, an audio commentary on the original Scary Movie (2000), and the return of our Requel Tier as we begin our episode coverage of AMC’s The Vampire Lestat.