Movies About Places: Seoul. After a long break, we’re back with Season 2 of our podcast, which is now named “Movies About.” Our first episode is in the category of Places. Our place is Seoul and our movie is Parasite. We picked this not only because it tells us a lot about contemporary Seoul, but because of recent events in the city: The tragic Halloween deaths in the Itaewon neighborhood, the raging capitalism and rush for profit that drives the city, and how hard it is to have a border collie in Seoul. In Bong Joon-Ho’s film, money is a disease that effects everyone in horrific ways. It’s a genius film that says a lot about the city we live in.

May 23, 2022 marks the 40th anniversary of the Alan Parker helmed film Pink Floyd The Wall. We mark this moment with CeCe’s deflowering experience of the movie (okay, pun intended there) and a wide-ranging discussion about this work of art. She found it genius and Jim agrees. We talk politics, fascism, identity, Roger Waters’ songwriting, symbolism and editing in film, the connection of 완성도 with “world” and “concept,” and whether music like this is even possible anymore. We also address the question, “which one’s Pink?,” and close with a pitch to CeCe’s upcoming Liquid Arts performance / gathering in Seoul on May 28. Liquid Arts No. 36 event information: https://facebook.com/events/s/liquid-arts36-featuring-poet-j/697365654849615/

Episode 16 is a discussion about the popular 1984 movie Amadeus, directed by Miloš Forman. We focus on the cultural impact of the film, its very ‘80s aesthetic codes, art versus commerce, notation as the “recording” of music in the past, and the genius narrative. While we loved the film and all its lush extravagance, we both found it odd in 2022 to hear very American speaking styles in a story about Vienna. Other random topics include similarities with Shakespeare in Love, music and corporatism, censorship, Mozart and hiphop, and travel in Austria. Somehow we end the show singing Whitney Houston before closing with a tease of Episode 17.

Our 15th episode centers on FooFighters horror comedy Studio 666. But the episode is much more than this. The film, the loss of Taylor Hawkins, and the Chris Rock v Will Smith incident allow us to dig into themes of narcissism, violence, delusions of grandeur, being a band leader, drugs and rock n roll, the pressures of success, 90s music, drumming styles, and many other related topics. We begin by discussing the Oscar winners and The Slap (hint: we’re fully #TeamChrisRock); then discuss Studio 666, a fun, campy B-movie that turns out to be deeply allegorical; and end with a proper (and tearful) tribute to Taylor Hawkins.

We conclude our two-part Oscar special with a wildly undisciplined but mostly spoiler-free discussion of all the major nominees for the 2022 Academy Awards. We pick our favorites and unreservedly criticize what we feel are less deserving nominations. Hint: we loved Belfast, CODA and Drive My Car, and we’re confused why Power of the Dog and West Side Story were nominated for anything. We finish up with a rave review of Summer of Soul for documentary, and do a spoiler-filled comparison of Encanto and Raya for animated film, one of which we loved and the other not so much. Podcast Info RSS Feed: http://www.jimbatcho.com/feed/podcast/moviesaboutmusic Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/movies-about-music/id1587809806 Amazon Podcasts: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/15ebb340-23ab-4585-8def-8569d7c6c45d/movies-about-music Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/movies-about-music Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jqaiHvjgfR28DLfkzQqM7 YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgf2uGXgLNhQ2q4_tubCSKA Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5qaW1iYXRjaG8uY29tL2ZlZWQvcG9kY2FzdC9tb3ZpZXNhYm91dG11c2lj Instagram: @moviesaboutmusic

Welcome to Part 1 of our two-part Oscar special. In this first part, we heap lavish praise on CODA (2021), a beautiful, emotional movie about music nominated as Best Picture. In addition to discussing the film and how it made us cry, we move into discussions about deafness and how it is represented, translation and its frustrations, the notion of living in multiple worlds, and the genius of Joni Mitchell. Our conversation continues in Part 2. Podcast Info RSS Feed: http://www.jimbatcho.com/feed/podcast/moviesaboutmusic Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/movies-about-music/id1587809806 Amazon Podcasts: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/15ebb340-23ab-4585-8def-8569d7c6c45d/movies-about-music Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/movies-about-music Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jqaiHvjgfR28DLfkzQqM7 YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgf2uGXgLNhQ2q4_tubCSKA Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5qaW1iYXRjaG8uY29tL2ZlZWQvcG9kY2FzdC9tb3ZpZXNhYm91dG11c2lj Instagram: @moviesaboutmusic

In our 12th episode, we take our first look at a Korean film about music, 해어화 or “Love, Lies” by director Park Heung-sik. Available on Netflix, this 2016 film explores the collision of tradition and modernity in 1940s Japanese-occupied Seoul through two singers. In addition to working through this complicated and heart-wrenching tragedy, we discuss a wide range of cultural factors surrounding the film and its story. In particular, we examine the pressures placed on Korean women to perform, an issue that continues today, and the uniquely Korean phenomenon of the “hostess bar.” We close with a preview of our Oscar Special podcast coming in two weeks. Be sure to subscribe to the pod, and if you have a moment, please post a positive review of the show!

Fellow musician, podcaster and friend Gino Brann joins us for a discussion of the Coen Brothers film Inside Llewyn Davis (2013). We talk about folk music, Llewyn’s disgruntled outlook on his life in music, and debate the tensions of purity, performance and attitude through his character. Gino brings the research, situating these songs within the folk tradition and the period of time depicted in the film. We end the show with Gino’s performance of the ballad played the film, “The Death of Queen Jane.” Gino’s Liquid Sound podcast can be found at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/liquid-sound/id1538454444 and his YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/EnablingHarmonic.