The post I Saw the TV Glow: Don’t Sit So Close, by Scott Nye appeared first on Battleship Pretension. For the past twenty years, and exploding further in the days of streaming, most everyone you meet seems to be addicted to some TV show. It’s one of the easier addictions to feed – if it’s not already on a service you subscribe to, a month’s use is available at the click of a button for, at most, a fairly modest fee. In the 1990s, however, TV devotion required a genuine compulsion – you had to sit down at a specific time and day of the week, or be pretty handy with your VCR’s labyrinthine reco ..read more

The post The One Where I Met Your Mother: Season Seven, Episode Six: “The One with the Nap Partners”/”Mystery vs. History” appeared first on Battleship Pretension. Natalie and David break up with a girl for gaining weight with Chandler in “The One with the Nap Partners” and break up with a girl for losing weight with Ted in “Mystery vs. History.” Friends season seven, episode six, “The One with the Nap Partners”: Rachel and Phoebe compete to be Monica’s maid of honor but Monica doesn’t want to make the decision. How I Met Your Mother season seven, episode six, “Mystery vs. History”: Ted agree ..read more

The post Home Video Hovel: Dogfight, by Scott Nye appeared first on Battleship Pretension. “I’ll sing you the gentlest protest song I know,” Joan Baez says in her introduction to “What Have They Done to the Rain” on her 1962 album Joan Baez in Concert. “It doesn’t protest gently, but it sounds gentle.” A little more than halfway through Nancy Savoca’s remarkable, quietly moving 1991 film Dogfight, Rose (Lili Taylor) performs the song for Eddie (River Phoenix) in a San Francisco music club. She is a meek waitress devoted to folk music. He is a Marine on twenty-four hour leave. It is 1963. We k ..read more

The post Monday Movie: Metropolis, by Jason Eaken appeared first on Battleship Pretension. Every Monday, we’ll highlight a piece of writing from our vaults. This review of Metropolis originally ran as part of our top 100 movies list. Sometimes the earliest cinematic examples of a given genre are only as useful as the moniker declaring them as such. Metropolis is not that kind of film. Fritz Lang’s 1927 film remains a masterpiece, perhaps because the film is, at this point, still incomplete, with new footage often being discovered (in fact, a new DVD is being released in the next yea ..read more

The post Episode 893: TCM Classic Film Festival 2024 Wrap-Up appeared first on Battleship Pretension. In this episode, David and Julie Sesnovich are joined by Kyle Anderson and Scott Nye to discuss the films they saw at TCM Classic Film Festival 2024. Films discussed in the TCM Classic Film Festival 2024 wrap-up include Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction and more! Battleship Pretension is a movie discussion podcast started in 2007 by Tyler Smith and David Bax. Since then, we’ve done live comedy shows, written reviews, commentaries and more. Battleship Pretension is a film discussion show and a ..read more

The post Patreon: Burger King Taste Test appeared first on Battleship Pretension. This week on the Patreon, David and Josh Long conduct a Burger King taste test. This episode is available to Patreon subscribers only. Tiers start as low as $2 per month. Become a Patron! Does the Burger King taste test make David and Josh want to see Mike Mitchell and Stephanie Stine’s Kung Fu Panda 4? Find out! Become a Patron! Swabbie Tier ($2 per month): A great way to dip your toes in the water. This tier gets you one bonus episode per month. Petty Officer Tier ($5 per month): This will grant you access to ..read more

The post Tombstone Is Not OK, by Tyler Smith appeared first on Battleship Pretension. If you were to gather a number of American men, age 40-50, and ask them their favorite movies, you won’t be waiting long before somebody mentions George P. Cosmatos’ Tombstone, the 1993 Western about Wyatt Earp and the gunfight at the OK Corral. Between the film’s action and one-liners, Tombstone is often cited as among the best Westerns of the modern era (maybe even the best).  A quintessential “guys’ movie,” the film’s rewatchability is touted as one of its many virtues. I myself have seen the film mu ..read more

The post The One Where I Met Your Mother: Season Seven, Episode Five: “The One with the Engagement Picture”/”Field Trip” appeared first on Battleship Pretension. Natalie and David have an inappropriate relationship with their assistant with Rachel in “The One with the Engagement Picture” and have an inappropriate relationship with their therapist with Robin in “Field Trip.” Friends season seven, episode five, “The One with the Engagement Picture”: Joey tries to teach Chandler how to smile for the camera. Phoebe and Ross bicker over their divorcing friends. How I Met Your Mother season seven ..read more

The post Home Video Hovel: Werckmeister Harmonies, by Scott Nye appeared first on Battleship Pretension. I’ve seen Werckmeister Harmonies three times – first in 2012 on 35mm at a Los Angeles retrospective dedicated to its director, Béla Tarr; then in 2018 at a one-off screening, also 35mm, in New York; and finally this past week, via the new 4K UHD edition Criterion has just released. Each screening was six years apart, and each came about through some element of chance – in 2012, I was working nights, and happened to have that evening free; in 2018 I happened to be in New York for work and i ..read more

The post Home Video Hovel: La haine, by Rudie Obias appeared first on Battleship Pretension. When we think about movies from France, it’s very likely that we automatically go to films from the French New Wave with directors, like Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Agnès Varda, Jacques Demy, and others. (Somewhat) modern French cinema is still as full of life and exciting with a dash of American and influences that give it a bit of edge (as it was in the 90s, as it was in the 60s). The Criterion Collection re-released Mathieu Kassovitz’s seminal 1995 film La Haine (Hate) with a new 4K Ultra H ..read more