Emerald City Video

New Release Wall #16: I, Tonya

Russ Burlingame and Zach Roberts talk about I, Tonya -- a good movie that could have been great, featuring a number of stellar performances and a filmmaker who either did not KNOW what kind of movie he was making, or at least could not commit to it.

Staff Picks #4: Zero Effect at 20

Twenty years ago today, Zero Effect was released in theaters. Ben Stiller & Bill Pullman gave wonderful performances and I spent all of my college years in love with Kim Dickens (something another reporter once told her at a roundtable to embarrass me).

Back when I managed a family-owned video store, I used to recommend Zero Effect (directed by Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle's Jake Kasdan, btw) to customers so often that it made our 100 most-rented movies of the year -- IN 2006. We had to buy a bunch of extra copies.

It was during that time that Zero Effect became my favorite movie of all time. Maybe not the BEST movie I have ever seen, but it's a great, fun, incredibly likable movie with some great, incredibly likable performances. In all those dozens/hundreds of recommendations to customers.

I never once had anybody come back and say they didn't enjoy the movie.

Five years ago, Chronological Snobbery did a really great job of looking back at Zero Effect's production.

You can get a gorgeous (and fan-made) Zero Effect movie poster here.

Zero Effect is available on DVD through the Warner Archive print-on-demand service. You can purchase it through third-party retailers like Amazon who will use the Warner Archive service to fulfill your order. You can also rent or buy it digitally.

The film almost became a TV series. You can see the never-aired pilot, which starred Alan Cumming, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBBaEijZwnY

Antiheroes - Wherein Zach Compares Tony Stark to Jesus

In this special episode, recorded in October and forgotten until now, Zach and Russ talk about the trend of making every protagonist an antihero, what (if anything) can bring more traditional heroes back to the forefront, and the role of superhero films in setting that tone.

Also, Zach compares Iron Man to Jesus. Like, a lot.

You can support the show here: http://paypal.me/emeraldcityvideo

New Release Wall#10: Thor: Ragnarok

Zach Robers and Russ Burlingame take aim at Marvel's best-reviewed movie to date, Thor: Ragnarok.

Do we love it as much as everybody else, or was it more of a Captain America: Civil War situation? Find out within!

If you want to hear more like this, check out our Patreon -- you can find it here, and among other things backers can get a quarterly, exclusive video podcast DELIVERED ON VHS.

Why Do We Love White Crime?

On the one hand, a huge number of movies are made every year that show the bad guy getting brutalized, humiliated, or otherwise getting a much-deserved comeuppance.

On the other, there is an increasingly common and popular subgenre of movies that seems to illustrate that the only thing we like more than watching bad guys get punished, is watching rich, white bad guys get away with it.

Yep -- this is gonna be that kind of podcast.

If you want to hear more like it, check out our Patreon -- you can find it here, and among other things backers can get a quarterly, exclusive video podcast DELIVERED ON VHS.

 

 

New Release Wall #7: Dunkirk

Russ and Zach respond to Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk -- and the microphone gets...most of it.

For another look at the story of Dunkirk, check out the upcoming reprint of Sam Glanzman's Combat comics, the first of which will center on Dunkirk.

To Riverdale and Back Again

There's no new episode of Riverdale this week, so Russ, Craig, and Chris decided to check out Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again, a 1990 TV movie in which Archie Andrews is -- unsurprisingly -- the worst.

 

This time, though, so is the movie, and holy cow, we had some fun skewering it, all while trying to have a semi-serious discussion about what Riverdale does better, what it might learn from this movie, and more. We hope you enjoy it almost as much as we didn't enjoy watching this turkey for you.

 

Since Russ is footing the bill for hosting and had to buy some new editing software recently so that he can make all this magic happen quickly and quietly, we’ll probably put together some kind of Patreon so that you can sponsor the show in exchange for swag soon enough. For now, though, if you want to contribute anything and everything, you can do so at Paypal.me/emeraldcityvideo. Anyone who contributes $10 and up will get an 8”x10”, framed original photo of Pop’s Chock’Lit Shoppe, taken by Russ Burlingame during one of our visits to the set of Riverdale.

 

We've also put together a RedBubble Store at https://www.redbubble.com/people/archiedigest/ where you will be able to get t-shirts, stickers, cell phone cases, and other goods inspired by Riverdale and our show. Currently there's just one design -- #SheriffKiller -- but there's more to come in the next few days.

 

Lastly, you can check out a new tie-in comic Russ wrote for The Belko Experiment -- in theaters today -- at http://tinyurl.com/belkocomic. The story is set within the narrative of the film, which comes from director Greg McLean and writer James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy, Slither).

Episode 9: If You Liked JOHN WICK, Try These...

It's not a five for five deal, but it's something else that you might remember from the days of brick and mortar video stores being a commonplace thing: "If you like this, try this..."

We remember back when we used to have to fill out these little employee recommendation cards for major new releases, and here, we get to do it all over again...but on the internet. And with audio.

Also, I think we forgot to introduce ourselves, so bear in mind this episode is Russ and Zach.

Anyway, with John Wick 2: Electric Bugaloo in theaters now, we figured it was as good a time as any to make some suggestions for movies you can watch if you really enjoyed John Wick.

Also, Russ and Zach both have new podcasts. Check 'em out here:

The Insurgency USA Podcast with Zach Roberts

Archie Digest: A Riverdale Podcast with Russ Burlingame, Craig Byrne, and Chris Hayner

Episode 8: Deadpool & The Punisher (1989)

Dan, Logan, Dave, and Russ talk about Deadpool and The Punisher -- plus a whole lot of other stuff in one of our less-structured episodes.

Five for Five: Donald Trump's America

Russ is drunk. We ran long.