In this episode of the show we are joined by Jak and Carson to celebrate the show's 250th episode. In this show we spare a few minutes reminiscing and we also engage in a brief game of Uncut Gems trivia before talking about the movie of the day, John Dahl's Red Rock West. In this part of our show we discuss the film's difficult fate, cult resurrection and universal critical acclaim. We talk about Dahl banking on a great story and the cast plucked out of David Lynch's closet, Nic Cage at his most subdued and nuanced and the unwieldy Dennis Hopper as the film's agent of chaos. We also talk about how noir films tend to emerge on the fringes of the mainstream, whether we admire Cage's skill of doing one-armed pushups and if Dahl's choice of aspect ratio is enough to send at least some of us into a tailspin.
Tune in and enjoy!
Hosts: Jakub Flasz & Randy Burrows
Featuring: Jak-Luke Sharp & Carson Timar
Intro: Infraction - Cassette
Outro: Infraction - Daydream
Head over to uncutgemspodcast.com to find all of our archival episodes and more!
Follow us on Twitter (@UncutGemsPod), IG (@UncutGemsPod) and Facebook (@UncutGemsPod)
Subscribe to our Patreon! (patreon.com/uncutgemspod)
In this episode of our Mike Nichols Marathon we enter the 90s with a conversation about Postcards from the Edge. In this show you will hear us talk about the challenge of adapting a seemingly unfilmable material and how it was a task for its first-time author Carrie Fisher. We talk about the many facets of mirroring reality this movie allows, how it thinly veils its relationship with Carrie Fisher and her mother Debbie Reynolds and how it pulls no punches when it comes to describing the rotten core of Hollywood. We also spare a few comments on the way Postcards from the Edge poaches both from All that Jazz and Terms of Endearment, how Mike Nichols repaid an old debt to Gene Hackman and how Carrie Fisher's writing acumen remains thoroughly underrated.
Tune in and enjoy!
Subscribe to our patreon at patreon.com/uncutgemspod (3$/month) and support us by gaining access to ALL of our exclusive podcasts, such as bonus tie-ins, themed retrospectives and director marathons!
Hosts: Jakub Flasz & Randy Burrows
Follow us on Twitter (@UncutGemsPod) and IG (@UncutGemsPod)
Buy us a coffee over at Ko-Fi.com (ko-fi.com/uncutgemspod)
Subscribe to our Patreon (patreon.com/uncutgemspod)
In this episode of the show we are embarking on the 11th mini-run of the year and we are contributing to the tradition of observing Noir-Vember. On this occasion, we will spend the entire month talking about films directed by John Dahl - The John Dahl Fall, so to speak. And we begin our deliberations with Dahl's 1989 debut Kill Me Again. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about the ways in which Dahl's movie adds to the noir tradition, how it executes on the genre playbook and whether it attempts to subvert any of its staples. We also position the film within the wave of neo-noir sweeping the medium at the time, if the movie had enough star power to stand out in the busy release slate and if it needed some extra oomph to become more noticeable.
Tune in and enjoy!
Hosts: Jakub Flasz & Randy Burrows
Featuring: Rich Foster
Intro: Infraction - Cassette
Outro: Infraction - Daydream
Head over to uncutgemspodcast.com to find all of our archival episodes and more!
Follow us on Twitter (@UncutGemsPod), IG (@UncutGemsPod) and Facebook (@UncutGemsPod)
Subscribe to our Patreon! (patreon.com/uncutgemspod)
In this episode of the show we are parting ways with Stuart Gordon-Tober as we are discussing his 1991 The Pit and the Pendulum. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about Gordon moving from adapting Lovecraft to another challenging godfather of horror, Edgar Allan Poe, how challenging it must have been to essentially have to invent a story to wrap around a sparse narrative and whether this exercise bore any fruit. We also talk about the place of violence in this movie, its intersection with humour, swashbuckling while wielding soup ladles and - of course - Lance Henriksen's hair.
Tune in and enjoy!
Hosts: Jakub Flasz & Randy Burrows
Intro: Infraction - Cassette
Outro: Infraction - Daydream
Head over to uncutgemspodcast.com to find all of our archival episodes and more!
Follow us on Twitter (@UncutGemsPod), IG (@UncutGemsPod) and Facebook (@UncutGemsPod)
Subscribe to our Patreon! (patreon.com/uncutgemspod)
In this podcast we are tying into the Lovecraftian vibe of our Stuart Gordon October by talking about the Richard Stanley-directed Color Out of Space. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about this movie as a cult classic and an exemplar of cosmic horror, how it treats Lovecraft's prose and adapts it for the modern viewer and how it attempts to mesh sensibilities of The Thing with an atmosphere of an ayahuasca ceremony. We also talk about raising alpacas and doing witchcraft in the woods as rich white people hobbies, Lovecraft's problematic views seeping through the narrative, how the filmmakers' choice to use magenta as the titular color out of space is a decision rooted in physics, how the word fuchsia doesn't make sense and much more!
Tune in and enjoy!
Subscribe to our patreon at patreon.com/uncutgemspod (3$/month) and support us by gaining access to this show in full in addition to ALL of our exclusive podcasts, such as bonus tie-ins, themed retrospectives and director marathons!
Hosts: Jakub Flasz & Randy Burrows
Featuring: Hillary White
Follow us on Twitter (@UncutGemsPod) and IG (@UncutGemsPod)
Buy us a coffee over at Ko-Fi.com (ko-fi.com/uncutgemspod)
Subscribe to our Patreon (patreon.com/uncutgemspod)
In this episode of the show our October series of Stuart Gordon's early movies continues with a conversation about the 1987 Dolls. Over the course of our chat you will hear us talk about Gordon's brief departure from adapting H.P. Lovecraft and directing what could easily look like a dark fairy tale in the vein of the Grimm Brothers. We talk about Gordon's time filming in Italy, the movie as a showcase of practical special effects and a cross between Gordon's own sensibilities and inspirations plucked from giallo and other masters of Italian horror. We also touch on the sublime camp in the acting department, logical conveniences, werewolf teddy bears and the fact that at under eighty minutes of running time, Dolls still looked padded out.
Tune in and enjoy!
Hosts: Jakub Flasz & Randy Burrows
Featuring: Tony Larder
Intro: Infraction - Cassette
Outro: Infraction - Daydream
Head over to uncutgemspodcast.com to find all of our archival episodes and more!
Follow us on Twitter (@UncutGemsPod), IG (@UncutGemsPod) and Facebook (@UncutGemsPod)
Subscribe to our Patreon! (patreon.com/uncutgemspod)
In this tenth instalment of our 2025 series where we talk about iconic movies from 1995 and 1975, we finally take on the David Fincher-directed Se7en. Joined by the all-star guest Hillary White we leave no stone unturned as we talk about Se7en as a cultural touchstone, with a great tangent on how movies used to be cool and their cultural primacy has since been diminished, how it immediately entered the cultural conversation where it persists to this day and how it was a rebirth both for David Fincher and Brad Pitt, as the former needed a win after Alien 3 and the latter sought a rebrand from becoming a romantic leading man. We also talk about the film's incredible worldbuilding, its aesthetic anchoring to noir and serial killer thrillers, Kevin Spacey's overacting and the occasional heightened moments more at home in music videos than movies of the time.
Tune in and enjoy!
Hosts: Jakub Flasz & Randy Burrows
Featuring: Hillary White
Follow us on Twitter (@UncutGemsPod) and IG (@UncutGemsPod)
Buy us a coffee over at Ko-Fi.com (ko-fi.com/uncutgemspod)
Subscribe to our Patreon (patreon.com/uncutgemspod)
In this episode of the show, our Stuart Gordon-Tober continues with a great chat about his sophomore piece From Beyond. Joined by Kevin and Erin, the wonderful duo of hosts behind The Podcast That Wouldn't Die, we delve deep into the thick of things as we discuss how this movie came together, how it translates (or doesn't) the H.P. Lovecraft story to the screen and how it co-exists with other 80s horror movies, like The Thing or Prince of Darkness. We also talk about the movie's BDSM fetish and how it makes From Beyond look like a cousin of Hellraiser, Barbara Crampton as a cosmic horror dominatrix, the wonderful special effects and how everything gets better with more pineal gland action.
Tune in and enjoy!
Hosts: Jakub Flasz & Randy Burrows
Featuring: Kevin & Erin (The Podcast That Wouldn't Die)
Intro: Infraction - Cassette
Outro: Infraction - Daydream
Head over to uncutgemspodcast.com to find all of our archival episodes and more!
Follow us on Twitter (@UncutGemsPod), IG (@UncutGemsPod) and Facebook (@UncutGemsPod)
Subscribe to our Patreon! (patreon.com/uncutgemspod)
In this episode of our ongoing Mike Nichols Marathon, we are touching base with our man as he's on a career rebound with his featherlight-yet-nuanced rom-com Working Girl. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about Nichols at the tail end of the 1980s, how it fits in the landscape of escapist comedy and how it subverts the 80s yuppie excess with its cutting commentary on class, workplace culture and feminism. We also talk about finding value in re-enacting Cinderella, the indomitable hair of Joan Cusack and the ins and outs of vacuuming in the nude.
Tune in and enjoy!
Subscribe to our patreon at patreon.com/uncutgemspod (3$/month) and support us by gaining access to ALL of our exclusive podcasts, such as bonus tie-ins, themed retrospectives and director marathons!
Hosts: Jakub Flasz & Randy Burrows
Follow us on Twitter (@UncutGemsPod) and IG (@UncutGemsPod)
Buy us a coffee over at Ko-Fi.com (ko-fi.com/uncutgemspod)
Subscribe to our Patreon (patreon.com/uncutgemspod)
In this episode of the show we are beginning a brand-new monthly retrospective and this time we are setting our sights on one Stuart Gordon and his debut feature Re-Animator. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about Stuart Gordon's beginnings, how his debut draws from exploitation cinema and how it anchors itself in literary connections to H.P. Lovecraft and Mary Shelley. We also talk about Gordon's splatter horror and its place between Italian masters, Troma, Roger Corman and Hammer Horror, the film's own self-awareness and playfulness and much more!
Tune in and enjoy!
Hosts: Jakub Flasz & Randy Burrows
Intro: Infraction - Cassette
Outro: Infraction - Daydream
Head over to uncutgemspodcast.com to find all of our archival episodes and more!
Follow us on Twitter (@UncutGemsPod), IG (@UncutGemsPod) and Facebook (@UncutGemsPod)
Subscribe to our Patreon! (patreon.com/uncutgemspod)
In this episode of the show we are closing our September retrospective of David Ayer's crime movies with his 2020 outing The Tax Collector. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about how this movie was poorly received by the critics and suffered financially thanks to its mid-pandemic rollout and how it eventually found its place on streaming where general audiences ended up liking it quite a bit. We address the controversies surrounding the movie as well as the fact that David Ayer's movies seem to be out of step with the progressive mainstream of the critical community. We also talk about The Tax Collector borrowing a lot from Shakespeare, Tony Scott and Antoine Fuqua and functioning as a piece of heightened guy cinema.
Tune in and enjoy!
Hosts: Jakub Flasz & Randy Burrows
Intro: Infraction - Cassette
Outro: Infraction - Daydream
Head over to uncutgemspodcast.com to find all of our archival episodes and more!
Follow us on Twitter (@UncutGemsPod), IG (@UncutGemsPod) and Facebook (@UncutGemsPod)
Subscribe to our Patreon! (patreon.com/uncutgemspod)
In this show, we are tying into our September retrospective of David Ayer's crime movies with his found footage police procedural End of Watch. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us debate Ayer's use of the found footage aesthetic, how it plays fast and loose with its own rules and whether it adds or detracts from the experience. We also talk about this movie standing out from a crowd of police procedurals by virtue of its raw authenticity and the filmmaker's desire to tip his had to the uniformed servicemen and women guarding the thin blue line, how the organic chemistry between its leads bolsters the film's realism and how the idea of gangsters in minivans recording themselves might be one of the film's most contentious concepts.
Tune in and enjoy!
Subscribe to our patreon at patreon.com/uncutgemspod (3$/month) and support us by gaining access to this show in full in addition to ALL of our exclusive podcasts, such as bonus tie-ins, themed retrospectives and director marathons!
Hosts: Jakub Flasz & Randy Burrows
Follow us on Twitter (@UncutGemsPod) and IG (@UncutGemsPod)
Buy us a coffee over at Ko-Fi.com (ko-fi.com/uncutgemspod)
Subscribe to our Patreon (patreon.com/uncutgemspod)
In this episode of the show, our cruise through David Ayer's crime movies continues with his 2014 effort titled Sabotage. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about the many reasons why this movie failed at the box office and how it would have been a slayer on home video just ten years prior, David Ayer giving Arnold Schwarzenegger a rather atypical assignment and the idea of bringing authenticity into the realm of B-movie filmmaking. We also talk about how Sabotage was supposed to have a different ending altogether, how some of its resolution makes little sense and why it doesn't matter as long as the action is compelling and that making movies aimed exclusively at adult male audiences has become frowned upon over the years.
Tune in and enjoy!
Hosts: Jakub Flasz & Randy Burrows
Intro: Infraction - Cassette
Outro: Infraction - Daydream
Head over to uncutgemspodcast.com to find all of our archival episodes and more!
Follow us on Twitter (@UncutGemsPod), IG (@UncutGemsPod) and Facebook (@UncutGemsPod)
Subscribe to our Patreon! (patreon.com/uncutgemspod)
In this episode of our 2025 series where we take on the big-hitting movies from 1975 and 1995, we are talking about the Sidney Lumet-directed masterpiece Dog Day Afternoon. Over the course of our sprawling conversation you will hear us talk about Al Pacino's towering performance, the genesis of the story taken from real life, and how this stranger-than-fiction crisis turned into a media circus, invigorated masses and presaged the almighty influence of television on society. We also talk about John Cazale's hairstyle, Pacino's vocal chords and how the movie perhaps reflects on Sidney Lumet's own position as an outside observer watching the arrival of New Hollywood.
Tune in and enjoy!
Hosts: Jakub Flasz
Featuring: Hillary White
Follow us on Twitter (@UncutGemsPod) and IG (@UncutGemsPod)
Buy us a coffee over at Ko-Fi.com (ko-fi.com/uncutgemspod)
Subscribe to our Patreon (patreon.com/uncutgemspod)
In this episode of the show we are continuing our conversations about crime movies directed by David Ayer with a chat about Street Kings. You will hear us talk about the genesis of the project as a James Ellroy script and how multiple directors had a crack at it before David Ayer, how the movie is unmistakably a relative of LA Confidential and how Ayer's hand distinguishes it from its prestige relative. We also talk about drawing inspiration from gritty cop shows like The Shield and NYPD Blue, how Keanu Reeves plays against type and how the movie occasionally undermines itself on the back of its heavily written dialogue.
Tune in and enjoy!
Hosts: Jakub Flasz & Randy Burrows
Intro: Infraction - Cassette
Outro: Infraction - Daydream
Head over to uncutgemspodcast.com to find all of our archival episodes and more!
Follow us on Twitter (@UncutGemsPod), IG (@UncutGemsPod) and Facebook (@UncutGemsPod)
Subscribe to our Patreon! (patreon.com/uncutgemspod)
In this episode of the show we are embarking on a brand new monthly mini-journey through the cinema of David Ayer, specifically his crime movies, and we begin with his directorial debut Harsh Times. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about Ayer's beginnings as a writer, his transition into directing and how his work owes a heck of a lot to Antoine Fuqua, Ridley and Tony Scott and the entire generation of MTV filmmakers. We talk about writing what you know and how the movie encapsulates stories Ayer grew up around in LA, how the movie is a hangout experience akin to Dazed and Confused until it isn't, how the filmmaker earnestly embraces violence and genre (sometimes to a fault) and how Christian Bale's performance is a stunning showcase of character prep.
Tune in and enjoy!
Hosts: Jakub Flasz & Randy Burrows
Featuring: Nicolò Grasso
Intro: Infraction - Cassette
Outro: Infraction - Daydream
Head over to uncutgemspodcast.com to find all of our archival episodes and more!
Follow us on Twitter (@UncutGemsPod), IG (@UncutGemsPod) and Facebook (@UncutGemsPod)
Subscribe to our Patreon! (patreon.com/uncutgemspod)
In this episode of our Mike Nichols Marathon we are continuing through the 80s with his reunification with Neil Simon to adapt Biloxi Blues for the screen. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about this movie being a "comfort zone" project for Nichols, the movie functioning as a favour to Simon after Bogart Slept Here fell apart in the 70s and how it is the Full Metal Jacket you can show to your granny. We also talk about how not every journal entry needs to become a story, how Neil Simon's war story lacks an identity crisis and coasts on its stage-like demeanor and the film benefits from having Christopher Walken around with his quirky line delivery, eating onions like apples and waving a gun for added drama.
Tune in and enjoy!
Subscribe to our patreon at patreon.com/uncutgemspod (3$/month) and support us by gaining access to ALL of our exclusive podcasts, such as bonus tie-ins, themed retrospectives and director marathons!
Hosts: Jakub Flasz & Randy Burrows
Featuring: Rich Foster
Follow us on Twitter (@UncutGemsPod) and IG (@UncutGemsPod)
Buy us a coffee over at Ko-Fi.com (ko-fi.com/uncutgemspod)
Subscribe to our Patreon (patreon.com/uncutgemspod)
In this episode of the show we move out to the country to put a bow on our August with George Roy Hill as we talk about his final movie Funny Farm. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about how this movie fits into the catalogue of George Roy Hill's directorial exploits, how it fits in the landscape of 80s comedies and whether it succeeds as a fish-out-of-water concept it was designed to be. We also talk about our feelings towards Chevy Chase's performance, the messiness of the movie's identity that seems not to be able to decide if it wants to embrace a fish-out-of-water comedy, a screwball or something completely different and how even the title seems to be completely detached from reality because neither of us thought the movie was funny and we couldn't find a farm in it either.
Tune in and enjoy!
Hosts: Jakub Flasz & Randy Burrows
Intro: Infraction - Cassette
Outro: Infraction - Daydream
Head over to uncutgemspodcast.com to find all of our archival episodes and more!
Follow us on Twitter (@UncutGemsPod), IG (@UncutGemsPod) and Facebook (@UncutGemsPod)
Subscribe to our Patreon! (patreon.com/uncutgemspod)
In this bonus episode of our show we are tying into our August with George Roy Hill series with a conversation about his arguably biggest hit, the 1973 The Sting. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about how at the time when The New Hollywood wave was cresting, this movie became one of the biggest success stories of the year, how its convoluted plot machinations have contributed to the movie being referred to as one of the best written films in Hollywood history and how it managed to succeed at the box office despite competing against The Exorcist. We also talk about whether the movie's central story makes logical sense, if Paul Newman and Robert Shaw could cheat using the same tampered deck of cards and how the movie did for men's fashion what Bonnie and Clyde did for lady chic.
Tune in and enjoy!
Subscribe to our patreon at patreon.com/uncutgemspod (3$/month) and support us by gaining access to this show in full in addition to ALL of our exclusive podcasts, such as bonus tie-ins, themed retrospectives and director marathons!
Hosts: Jakub Flasz & Randy Burrows
Follow us on Twitter (@UncutGemsPod) and IG (@UncutGemsPod)
Buy us a coffee over at Ko-Fi.com (ko-fi.com/uncutgemspod)
Subscribe to our Patreon (patreon.com/uncutgemspod)
In this episode of the show, we are putting on our ice skates to talk about Slap Shot as part of our August jaunt through the cinema of George Roy Hill. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about how this movie fits together with Rocky into the tapestry of 70s underdog stories, how it paints the picture of hockey as a working man's sport and small town entertainment with panache and grit and how George Roy Hill's immediate direction helped the movie become one of the most beloved sports movies. We also talk about the class and gender dynamics found in the film, Paul Newman's performance as a player-coach functioning superficially as a conversation on filmmaking and we also introduce at least one of our co-hosts to the word "goon" used as a verb.
Tune in and enjoy!
Hosts: Jakub Flasz & Randy Burrows
Featuring: Carson Timar
Intro: Infraction - Cassette
Outro: Infraction - Daydream
Head over to uncutgemspodcast.com to find all of our archival episodes and more!
Follow us on Twitter (@UncutGemsPod), IG (@UncutGemsPod) and Facebook (@UncutGemsPod)
Subscribe to our Patreon! (patreon.com/uncutgemspod)