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We conclude Czechtember 2020 with a look at Vera Chytilova’s Fruit of Paradise. This may be the most experimental and unusual movies we’ve covered as part of Czechtember. It’s a re-telling of the Adam and Eve story directed by Chytilova and co-written by her and Ester Krumbachova. Kat Ellinger and Samm Deighan join Mike to discuss this experimental narrative and squeeze oranges.

We continue #Czechtember 2020 with the 1969 Slovakian film Birds, Orphans, and Fools by Juro Jakubisco. It’s a story of three young people in the turbulent year and place of 1968 Slovakia. There are birds, the characters are orphans, and they often play the fool as we experience a slice of their lives. Kat Ellinger and Jonathan Owen join Mike to discuss the film, Jakubisco’s other work, and his fellow Slovakian filmmakers.

On this special episode of The Projection Booth, Mike talks to Helena Trestíková (aided by the film’s rep, Daniel Vadocký) — half of the directing team behind the 2019 documentary Forman Vs. Forman — about her life in occupied Czechoslovakia, her 45 year career as a documentary filmmaker, and the importance of Milos Forman.

#Czechember2020 continues with a look at Juraj Herz’s Morgiana. Released in 1972 the film stars Iva Janzurova as both Victoria and Clara Tragen, two sisters who are driven apart by their father’s will and the jealousy of Clara by Victoria. We’ve talked about Herz in the past including his incredible film The Cremator. And, for as subversive as that film was, it was Morgiana that got him into more trouble. Bill Buckingham and Kat Ellinger join Mike to discuss this wonderfully gothic horror film.

On this special episode of The Projection Booth we’re looking at Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy (2003). Based loosely on the manga by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi, the film tells the tale of Oh-Dae-Su (Choi Min-sik), a salaryman who gets abducted and held in a cell for 15 years. Just as he’s abducted without explanation he’s freed just the same. From there the film becomes a mystery where Oh-Dae-Su tries to find not just who abducted him but why. John Atom and Bill Ackerman join Mike to discuss the original manga, the 2006 Indian remake Zinda, the 2013 Spike Lee version, and the Brian DePalma film Obsession (1976).

We continue Czechtember 2020 with a look at Jindrich Polak’s Tomorrow I Will Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea (1977). From a script co-written by Milos Macourek, the film stars Petr Kostka as both Jan and Karel Bures, twin brothers, one of who has helped invent a rocket that allows people to travel through time. A group plans to rent out a rocket just for them and, rather than going back to do a little sport hunting in the time of the dinosaurs like Ray Bradbury’s A Sound of Thunder, they want to go back to 1944 and speak to one Adolf Hitler… Jim Donahue and Noel Thingvall join Mike to discuss the film while Jonathan Owen speaks about the strange history of the film’s screening on the BBC.

We’re doing something a little different for Czechtember 2020 with two commentary track episodes. First up, a discussion of Vojtech Jasný’s All My Good Countrymen (1969), a tragic tale of a group of friends in post-WWII Czechoslovakia. Spencer Parsons and Chris Stachiw join Mike to discuss Jasny’s lyrical film which was banned by Czech authorities. We also talk about the unofficial “remake”, The Moravian Land (1978) and the sequel, Return to Paradise Lost (1999).

On this special episode of The Projection Booth Mike gives a few capsule reviews of titles playing at this year’s Fantasia film festival: Class Action Park, Feels Good Man, Tiny Tim – King for a Day, Clapboard Jungle, Hail to the Deadites, Monster Seafood Wars, Traveling Cat Chronicles, Survival Skills, Patrick, The Columnist. This episode also features an interview with the director of The Columnist, Ivo Van Aarte.

Just when you thought it was safe to download a podcast… On this special episode of The Projection Booth we are looking at Steven Spielberg’s Jaws. Based on the novel by Peter Benchley, Jaws is the story of Sheriff Martin Brody — a former New York City cop who’s moved to the idyllic island community of Amity. All is going well in his white picket world until a Great White Shark picks the waters around Amity as a feeding ground. Jamie Benning (Inside Jaws) and Chris Sasser (Shark City) join Mike to discuss the film that defined what a “blockbuster summer hit” was. Screenwriter Carl Gottlieb (The Jaws Log) and John LeMay (Jaws Unmade) discuss the making of Jaws as well as the many sequels, rip-offs, and inspired films in Jaws’s wake.

On this special episode of The Projection Booth, Mike talks to Amy Stoch about her time on Star Search, working with James Arness, and playing Missy / Mom in the three Bill & Ted films. Party on.