Watchcast Schedule for the Next Two Weeks: Ghost in the Hunter, or Night of the Shell (Patreon)

Hello, everyone! As you may have noticed, the Watchcast has officially made its return with the Twilight episode featuring Abby Russell. That's live now for our $10-and-up patrons, if you haven't had a chance to check it out yet. For the next two weeks at least, we will be continuing with a guest-oriented slate for the Watchcast. Much as Abby picked out a movie near and dear to her heart, our next two guests have picked some movies of great personal interest to them as well. Here's what we've got coming up for the next two episodes.

Monday, July 20th: Ghost in the Shell (1995) w/ Austin Walker

You know, when I reached out to Austin to join us for another episode, the anime center of my brain began to pulsate. I had no idea what he was planning on picking until yesterday, but somehow, I knew it would be of the Japanese animation variety. Couldn't tell you why. I can just sense when anime is coming around the corner, I guess.

And what a timely pick! A brand new anime series based on the original manga has just started coming out, and Austin thought this would be an ideal time to revisit this classic of animated cyberpunk.

Truth be told, it's been so long since I've seen this one that all I really remember are a few specific scenes and images. This was an early anime experience for me, one I'm pretty sure I saw on a second-generation VHS sometime in the late-'90s and never in totality since. No better time for a refresher, I say!

Where to Watch

Monday, July 27th: The Night of the Hunter (1955) w/ Scott Benson

We're definitely knocking out the "I've been meaning to revisit this for ages" corner of my movie brain this month. I remember picking this up years ago as part of a Criterion batch based purely on its reputation among like-minded film folks, and was absolutely blown away both by the expressionistic and dreadful vibes director Charles Laughton drenches this thing in, and the unbelievably charismatic and freaky performance by Robert Mitchum as Preacher Harry Powell.

Really happy our bud Scott picked this one, as I've had it written down in multiple potential Watchcast categories for years. Let this also be the signal that I have not forgotten my pledge to do more movies made before the 1980s, and honestly, I can't think of a better oldie to do after Citizen Kane than this one. Is this the Citizen Kane of Charles Laughton movies? Probably! He only made one movie, so there isn't anything else to pick from.

Where to Watch

That's the update for now. When we get to The Night of the Hunter, we'll hopefully have a further update on plans for the Watchcast, so stay tuned for that. Until then, we hope you enjoy these guest flicks, and we'll see you at the movies!

--A