Podcasts
‘Team Foxcatcher’ Follows the Fall of the American Dream [Murder Made Fiction Podcast]
The world of wrestling is curious. Both masculine and intimate, the sport involves highly regulated hand to hand combat in which one wrestler tries to dominate his opponent and hold him down for a count of three.
After years of training, American millionaire John du Pont reached the limits of his physical ability well short of his coveted Olympic gold. Hoping to continue his involvement in the sport, the philanthropist used his vast family wealth to build an elaborate training facility on the ancestral Foxcatcher Farm where he housed a slew of elite wrestlers and coaches. But this sports utopia soon began to sour as John became increasingly paranoid and began to lose track of reality.
In the latest episode of Bloody FM’s Murder Made Fiction podcast, Jenn and Joe explore this strange story and the tragic murder of wrestler Dave Schultz. Jon Greenhalgh’s 2016 documentary follows the surprising trajectory of du Pont’s privileged life as it highlights the destruction of the American dream.
And if you want even more Murder Made Fiction, be sure to check out the pod’s Patreon feed, where Jenn and Joe have ~130 hours of coverage including a bear attack double feature with Grizzly Night and Cocaine Bear and discussions about the powerful documentaries The Perfect Neighbor, Predators, and Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke.
On the DL.
After spending June on explicitly queer texts like Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn (listen) and William Castle’s Homicidal (listen), it’s only appropriate that Horror Queers celebrate the American holiday with a blockbuster film with a not-so-secret gay connection.
In Independence Day, an unlikely group of people come together when the human race faces extinction from a threatening alien race. After spaceships destroy every major city, pilot Steven Hiller (Will Smith) must team up with secret tech genius David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum), as well as the US President (Bill Pullman), to execute a daring plan to save the planet from annihilation.
Along for the ride are the two saviors’ romantic partners – WH Communications Director Constance (Margaret Colin) and stripper Jasmine (Vivica A. Fox) – plus eccentric scientist Dr. Okun (Brent Spiner), who is at the center of the film’s most horrific set piece.
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 393: Independence Day (1996)
Today, we celebrate our Independence Day…courtesy of gay German director Roland Emmerich.
As the summer blockbuster celebrates its 30th anniversary, we’re looking back on an alien disaster film that scared young Trace (thanks to that alien autopsy scene) and turned Will Smith into a star.
Plus: the death that upsets the most; bemoaning Vivica A. Fox’s career; pondering what could have been with the casting; why Smith’s bravado and the film’s patriotism doesn’t always work for Joe; and plenty of riffing on the atrocious sequel.
Cross out Independence Day!
Coming Up Next: We’re retreating to the country for some questionable therapy courtesy of Joe Dante’s 1981 classic, The Howling!
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 503 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Forbidden Fruits, Saccharine, Evil Dead Burn, an audio commentary on the utterly ridiculous sequel Howling II: Your Sister Is A Werewolf (1985), and the conclusion of our Requel Tier coverage of AMC’s The Vampire Lestat.