My guest for this month is Allen Pike, and he’s joined me to discuss the film I chose for him, the 1985 dystopian science fiction film Brazil. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly.
Show notes:
- My original review of Brazil
- The film was directed by Monty Python alum Terry Gilliam
- Who doesn’t love a good black comedy
- Or 1940s fashion
- Or 1980s technology
- Some might argue that bureaucracy has already gone wrong
- 1985 is, in fact, before 1990
- I love Michael Palin in basically everything he’s ever done
- Another Terry Gilliam film was Time Bandits, I like this one a lot more
- The studio that initially butchered the film was Universal, nice try Sid Sheinberg
- The underground screening was for the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, who awarded the film Best Picture
- Comparisons with George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four are just silly
- The only thing they have in common is some sense of mass surveillance
- 2006’s Idiocracy by Mike Judge, on the other hand, does sound similar to this film
- Seriously. Seriously! No one should get a Pizza Hut tattoo on their face. That’s a bad idea
- Ian Holm does a wonderful job as a fairly inept boss
- Consistentize isn’t a word, but standardize is
- The whole essay by David Sterritt for Criterion is a great read
- Robert De Niro’s character is named Archibald “Harry” Tuttle
- Bob Hoskins' character is named Spoor, and his partner is named Dowser
- Star Trek represents the most hopeful version of the future that I know of
- Ok, but for real, don’t get a Pizza Hut tattoo on your face. Not cool
- The app design studio Allen runs is called Steamclock, they’re great, you should hire them
- The DMV definitely still loves paperwork
- TSA Precheck, which is totally available for Canadians too
- India has plenty of bureaucracy of its own
- San Francisco is an ABC city, which makes opening a bar an insane pain
- Vancouver, British Columbia is apparently also a tough place to open a bar
- Disruption doesn’t justify all actions, some of these companies need to cut it out
- The theme song, also called Brazil, was recorded by Geoff Muldaur
- It was also used in the first trailer for WALL-E
- There are really, seriously, almost no similarities between this film and Cannibal Holocaust
- You should read all the interesting things Allen writes at his website
Rent or buy the film from iTunes
Rent or buy the film from Amazon
