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Watchcast Schedule for March 2025: Weird-Ass Dystopian Cities!
🕑 Added 2025-02-28 21:11:29 +0000 UTCGreetings, Nextlanders! Once again I am here to tell you what we've got cooking for the Watchcast in the coming month, and this March we're ticking off another category that's been floating around on our big doc for ages: Weird-Ass Dystopian Cities! To be clear, this is about as loose a category theme as we've done in a while. Yes, all these movies feature varying degrees of dystopias, but some are more like "Here's New York City circa 1979 but it's overrun with clown gangs" versus some of the more fanciful entries. One thing that does link all these films, however, is that neither Brad nor Vinny have seen any of them. Or, to be more accurate, Vinny has seen one of them, but doesn't remember all of it. Close enough.
Two quick asides here before we go through all the films. One, we aren't doing a Watchcast on the last Monday of the month as I'm going to be on vacation for a couple of weeks around then, which means the Watchcast will have a two week hiatus once we're wrapped on March. The other thing is that several of these movies have at least a couple of different available cuts. I will specify which versions we're watching as I go through each entry. Now that you've got all that, let's get on to the movies!
Monday, March 3rd: Brazil (1985)
We'll be kicking off the month with Terry Gilliam's satirical masterwork Brazil, a movie I've seen precisely once before and it was when I bought the Criterion edition sight unseen. I'd seen other Gilliam stuff, but Brazil was that one I kept putting off until the promise of a fancy Blu-ray finally forced my hand. And it is one hell of a picture, as bleakly funny and absurd a portrayal of insane bureaucracy and totalitarian buck-passing as you'll ever see, with some all-timer performances from Jonathan Pryce, Ian Holm, and a few other actors I think you're best off discovering on your own if you've never seen it before.
Now, as far as which version we're watching, we're tackling what is in essence Gilliam's "final" cut, which is the main one you'd find in the Criterion edition. It's also known as the "European" and "International" cut. There is also a 132 minute version out there that is the American cut. There is also a 94 minute version "Love Conquers All" cut that is an extra on the home video release. We will talk about that version briefly, but you do not need to watch it. I specify all of these because depending on which streaming service you use, they might have different versions available. Just try to find that 142 minute cut if you can.
Monday, March 10th: The Warriors (1979)
Finally closing the loop on our "memorable David Patrick Kelley performances" list, we're gonna watch Walter Hill's gang battling classic, The Warriors! While I think it's fair to call this one a highly specific artifact of its era, it's still a tremendously enjoyable run through the dark city streets of New York as ridiculous caricatures of street toughs try to ice the movie's titular Warriors.
I had been thinking of saving this one to time with some kind of replay of Rockstar's 2005 video game based on the movie, but hell, maybe I'll just figure out a slot to jam that into anyway. I have REALLY wanted to revisit that game for a while to see if it holds up to my extremely positive memory of it. And even if I don't, I'm always happy to revisit this movie...so long as it's the theatrical cut. Yes, there is a years-after-the-fact director's cut of this one, and we are NOT doing that version. Streaming services may not always label this one clearly, so here's what you need to know: If you're watching the movie and a bunch of really shitty looking comic book panels appear along the way, that's the director's cut. Theatrical has none of that.
Also, if you want a good home video release, the most recent Arrow release is, to my knowledge, the most widely available one that features both cuts, and not just the director's cut.
Monday: March 17th: City of Lost Children (1995)
This is, sincerely, one of my all-time favorite movies, and I am thrilled we have a chance to do this one for the show. Sometimes a movie just comes to you at the exact right moment in life, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro's City of Lost Children arrived in my life right when I was starting to expand my mind when it came to cinema. If you've seen Amelie or Alien: Resurrection, you might get a decent sense of what you have in store for you, at least visually. But beyond that, I think this is such a cut above the director's other work that I hesitated even bringing those other movies up.
Thankfully, there are no alternate cuts of this one. There is an English dub that is totally acceptable, but this is one I think you should watch in its original French. Specifically, because there's one particular actor you'll want to hear speaking it. If you don't know, you'll probably know when you see him.
Monday: March 24th: Dark City (1998)
We're closing things out with, quite frankly, the reason for the theme-son. Wait, that's terrible. Well, too bad I don't have a backspace key to fix it.
This is definitely one of those movies we've discussed reasons to watch pretty much since the Watchcast began, and now we're finally gonna do it. Alex Proyas' sci-fi noir has an outsized reputation, and it's one of the rare films that I think exceeds it. This is a very difficult one to discuss without spoiling what makes it special, so instead I'll just make sure you don't do anything that spoils it accidentally. Specifically, you're gonna want to watch the director's cut of this thing, as the original theatrical cut opens with a bit of narration that more or less gives the whole game away. They got rid of that in the DC, and thankfully that version is very widely available. Some people like the pacing of the theatrical cut better, and they might be right, but I don't think anything they add to the DC ruins the experience. Most streaming services that I've seen do clearly mark the two versions at least, so you should hopefully find the one you want relatively easily.
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And that's what we've got cooking in March! When we get to the end of the month, we'll let you know what our next theme is, as well as the return date for the Watchcast, so stay tuned for that. Until then, we'll see you at the movies!
--A
Comments
Martyn Hackett
I love "Dark City". Kiefer Sutherland's weird Peter Lorre impression is my favorite thing he's ever done.
Willow Ryan
Brazil one of my all time faves. Wonder if it’ll dethrone The Thing for my own top spot
Michael Jacobson
This is a great set of movies. Brazil was also my first Criterion DVD after a friend got it and turned me onto it. And I don't even know HOW or WHY I saw City of Lost Children, but I remember that as an early 2000's DVD rental from either Blockbuster or Netflix. Maybe it was because of Alien Resurrection? But regardless I was glad I saw it however I did.
Kevin Cormac Lenaghan
Thank you for an excuse to watch Brazil again! One of the greatest things ever committed to celluloid, I think. Might go on a Terry Gilliam spree now and watch The Fisher King and Twelve Monkeys too... oh no, what have I done?!?
LandonVanBus
Brazil is exactly one of two actually good Terry Gilliam movies! That dude has an absolutely atrocious batting average.
Brian Streleckis
I've seen all of these except City of Lost Children, though with Brazil and Dark City my memories of them are a little foggy.
