This week Eden and Peter dive into William Friedkin’s gritty 1977 thriller Sorcerer, a tense and sweat-soaked remake of The Wages of Fear. They talk through the film’s nihilistic worldview, Friedkin’s unrelenting direction, and Tangerine Dream’s eerie score that pushes the movie into fever-dream territory. Along the way, they share personal stories of how the film lingered in memory for decades, debate whether Sorcerer deserved its original flop status, and marvel at the sheer intensity of the bridge sequence. They also connect the film to broader cultural legacies—from the shadow of Star Wars to the way cult classics find redemption years later.
Show Notes
Opening catch-up
- Summer weather updates and life events.
- Peter finishes Donkey Kong Bonanza and shares thoughts on Taskmaster series 7 vs 8.
- Music chat: new Deftones (Private Music), Testament’s upcoming Parabellum, and the death of Mastodon’s Brett Hinds.
Work & reading tangents
- Eden’s deep dive into accessibility struggles with LaTeX, Pandoc, and PDFs (“the world’s worst file format”).
- Reading The Apothecary Diaries and Azumanga Daioh; comparisons with Nichijo and City.
- Listening to Tangerine Dream’s catalog and soundtrack prep for the film.
Imperfect Practice launch
- Peter introduces his new blog and YouTube channel, “Imperfect Practice,” focused on experiments with productivity, journaling, and workflows.
Main Event: Sorcerer
- Eden’s blind pick, Peter’s buried childhood memory of the Tangerine Dream LP, and initial impressions.
- Full plot breakdown with detailed discussion of:
- The four opening vignettes.
- Building the trucks and loading unstable dynamite.
- The infamous 12-minute bridge sequence.
- The brutal downer ending and themes of fate and nihilism.
- Discussion of the title Sorcerer (why it’s terrible, Friedkin’s explanation).
- Behind-the-scenes misery, budget overruns, and authenticity (actors did most of their own stunts).
- The soundtrack’s role in creating alienation and tension.
- Release woes: arriving weeks after Star Wars and being critically panned before decades-later reevaluation into cult-classic canon.
Wrap-up
- Reflections on its heavy but unforgettable impact.
Links
Imperfect Practice
Imperfect Practice on YouTube
