S01E17 - War

Published: May 1, 2018, 11 a.m.

Four renegade directors this week offer alternative perspectives on the second world war. We start with Sam Peckinpah’s only war movie, about a German reconnaissance patrol on the Russian front, Cross of Iron (1977). Samuel Fuller's personal experiences in the European theater inform the story behind America’s 1st Infantry Division; The Big Red One (1980). Terrence Malick questions the human condition and purpose of war in the Pacific theater with The Thin Red Line (1998) and cuts out tremendous star power in the process. We finish with Paul Verhoeven’s Black Book (2006) about the Dutch resistance in the final weeks of the war and a stand-out performance from Carice Van Houten. Also: We critique the hardware on show. Soldier superstitions. How not to get your dick bitten off. We are pro punching Nazis. Mark Hamill’s credentials. We blame our grandparents for our obsession with war movies. Joe falls asleep to the strangest movies. We love Elias Koteas. Joe does Werner Herzog does The Predator. #PERL the cat goes crazy for a pen. We play a game of “Opposing Forces”. Improvised Nerd Fight is our favorite war movies and why.