Nineteen-Eighty-Four & A Half:  Terry Gilliam's Brazil 

On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I sit down to discuss Terry Gilliam's masterful take on Totalitarian Rule and Orwellian Dystopia in 1985's Brazil. Featuring a great lead role by character actor Jonathan Pryce and a wonderful supporting cast including: Katherine Helmond, Jim Broadbent, Charles McKeown, Kim Greist, Ian Holm, Peter Vaughn, Bob Hoskins, Michael Palin, and Robert DeNiro (in one of his earliest cameo performances). From the struggles in getting it made, the brilliance of what was created, and the subsequent attempts by Universal Studios (specifically President & CEO, Sid Sheinberg) to wrestle the film from Gilliam and shape it into a more palatable and audience-friendly product. 

This was a great discussion between someone who loves the film and has seen it numerous times and someone who is viewing it for the very first time. Take a listen and let us know if you have us much fun listening as we had in discussing it. Questions, Comments, Complaints, & Suggestions can be directed to gondoramos@yahoo.com. Our Continued Love & Thanks. 

Addio Maestro:

Ennio Morricone (November 10, 1928 - July 06, 2020)

On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I sit down to talk the passing of a giant in the world of cinema - Ennio Morricone. From his genre-defining work with Italian director Sergio Leone in A Fistful of Dollars, A Few Dollars More, The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly, as well as Once Upon a Time in the West and Once Upon a Time in America. Noted for his work with Brian DePalma (Casualties of War and The Untouchables) and his Oscar-winning score for Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight as well, it is with regret that we say goodbye to one of the greats, but it's a hell of a time remembering what he has gifted us over nearly 70 years.

We hope that you enjoy this episode. Thank you for your continued love and support. Questions, Comments, Complaints, & Suggestions can be directed to gondoramos@yahoo.com.

"We Gotta Eat Away At Ourselves" - Bad Lieutenant & Uncut Gems

This week on WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I jump back into The Darkness with a look at Excess and Addiction in two great performances, Harvey Keitel playing the titular character in Abel Ferrara's Bad Lieutenant (1992) and Adam Sandler in The Safdie Brothers' Uncut Gems (2019). Two of the most powerful depictions of addiction and self-hatred ever committed to celluloid. Each film approaches the subject from a different angle, but the passion, truth, and brutality is there as warning. It was a pleasure to sit down and revisit these honest, ugly, and awe-inspiring performances in two films that are a rarity of truth in modern cinema. Take a listen and let us know what you think. Questions, Comments, Complaints, & Suggestions can be directed to gondoramos@yahoo.com.

Thanks for the continued love and support.

"If it bleeds . . . we can kill it." - The Predator Saga

On this episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I have a fun time sitting down to discuss one of the great movie monsters in cinema history. - Predator. After a rocky start (replacing Jean Claude Van Damme in a rubber suit) the great Stan Winston was given the opportunity to create a classic of make-up and animatronics. A character that has spanned nearly three decades (sourced from a legendary short story by Richard Connell - The Most Dangerous Game), John McTiernan's original film (1987), it's Stephen Hopkins sequel  (1990), and the Robert Rodriguez produced/Nimród Antal directed re-boot (2010). We skip the Aliens crossovers films as well as Shane Black's 2018 sequel to focus on the three best films (at least we believe) and focus on the mythology of the story as well as the success and importance in modern monster, sci-fi cinema. Take a listen . . . it's a fun discussion.

Questions, Comments, Complaints, & Suggestions can be directed to gondoramos@yahoo.com. Our Continued Love & Thanks.

"Have Fun Stormin' The Castle." - The Beauty, Humor, & Magic of Rob Reiner's

The Princess Bride

On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I sit down to talk one of the great fantasy/adventure/comedies in all of cinema (and certainly the best of the 1980's) - Rob Reiner's The Princess Bride (1987). A film that displays romance, comedy, action,  a princess (Robin Wright), an over-confident genius (Wallace Shawn), a drunken Spanish swordsman (Mandy Patinkin), a rhyming giant (André the Giant), an evil prince (Chris Sarandon), his trusted and sadistic right hand (Christopher Guest), a miracle worker and his wife (Billy Crystal & Carol Kane), an impressive clergyman (Peter Cook), a grandfather (Peter Falk), grandson (Fred Savage), and a stable boy turned pirate and hero (Cary Elwes). That's a lot. Take a listen as we remember this great family adventure.

Questions, Comments, Complaints, & Suggestions can be directed to gondoramos@yahoo.com. Our thanks for your continued love and support.

The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same - John Carpenter's Escape From New York/Escape From LA

On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I sit down to discuss a favorite - "Snake" Plissken in John Carpenter's Escape From New York (1981) & Escape From LA. A classic action hero, Kurt Russell and Carpenter (with co-writer Nick Castle) created one of the greatest cinema has ever known. This week take a look at the lasting power of "Snake".

This was a fun conversation, take a listen and let us know what you think. Questions, Comments, Complaints, & Suggestions can be directed to gondoramos@yahoo.com. Many Thanks!

Black Man's Burden: The Vietnam War - A Spike Lee Joint

On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I dive into Netflix to look at Spike Lee's newest - Da 5 Bloods. Featuring Clarke Peters, Isiah Whitlock, Norm Lewis, Jean Reno, Jonathan Majors, with Chadwick Boseman, and an Oscar caliber Delroy Lindo. One of only two films that we can think of that looks at the African-American experience during the Vietnam War, we focus on Lee's new film as well as The Hughes Brothers sophomore effort Dead Presidents (1995). Racism, class issues, and the psychological scars of an immoral war . . . a whole lot of good conversation.

Questions, Comments, Complaints, & Suggestions can be directed to gondoramos@yahoo.com. Thanks for the continued love and support.

This is America - Los Angeles Burns: 1965/1992/2020

On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I sit down to discuss the current social and political climate as well as how it's only more of the same. To do this right we take a look at two documentaries L.A. Burning: The Riots 25 Years Later (2017) & LA '92 (2013). From a narrative vantage we discuss Ron Shelton's Dark Blue (2002) starring Kurt Russell, Ving Rhames, Scott Speedman, Michael Michelle, and Brendan Gleeson. Each film approaches the material in a different way and gives powerful insight into the drama of the uprising. We look at these films with the hope of understanding the current political and social climate. Take a listen. We hope that you walk away with another perspective, one which helps with your understanding.

Questions, Comments, Complaints, & Suggestions can be directed to gondoramos@yahoo.com. Our Thanks For Your Continued Love & Support.

Nobody Loses All The Time: Pain, Suffering, Purpose, & Mexico - Sam Peckinpah's Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia

Ibrahim & I are thrilled to showcase Sam Peckinpah's most personal film (and the only one he claims was released as intended), Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974). A painfully honest depiction of an American ex-patriot living in Mexico who is given one last chance to get ahead. In the role of his career - and one of the only films in which he was cast as a romantic lead - the great character actor Warren Oates gives his most naked and beautiful performance. Alongside Mexican actress Isela Vega as Elita, Robert Webber and Gig Young as hitmen, Kris Kristofferson, and the great Mexican actor/director Emilio Fernandez, Oates shines as Bennie in a role modeled, almost embarrassingly on director Peckinpah. The less said the better. If you're a fan of Peckinpah than you owe it to yourself to watch his most personal film.

Thanks for listening. Questions, Comments, Complaints, & Suggestions can be directed to gondoramos@yahoo.com. Thanks!

Weep and You Weep Alone - Park Chan-wook & Spike Lee's Oldboy (2003/2013)

On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I sit down to discuss a film that did much to establish South Korea as a major force in International Filmmaking, Park Chan-wook's 2003 paranoia-riddled Oldboy. One of the earliest films to establish South Korea cinema, Oldboy has only grown in it's importance. Park's look at a man who is imprisoned for 15 years without any knowledge of his crime or who he has wronged takes elements of Hitchcock and reinvents them into a modern and disturbing story.

With the financial and critical success of Park's film, it was only a matter of time before Hollywood would attempt a re-imagining. For years Spike Lee's 2013 take on the material would be derided, however it is the opinion of these two critics that Lee (although not completely successful) has made an interesting and challenging film that is not entirely deserving of the criticism that has been heaped on it. Take a listen and formulate your own opinion.

Questions, Comments, Complaints, & Suggestions can be directed to gondoramos@yahoo.com. Our Continued Thanks.