The Ballad of Buster Scruggs 

The Coen Bros. Re-Imagine The West & How Netflix is Changing the Face of Cinema 

On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos Ramos goes it alone to talk The Coen Brothers new film, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, a film that is the culmination of nearly everything the Brothers have produced over the past 30-plus years. Ramos was overwhelmed by this film and was thrilled to finally sit down and talk about it . . . although it did take him three viewings before he was able to fully put together his feelings and attitude regarding this new classic. On this episode he talks the film itself, but also the changing world of movie-watching. Netflix is definitely changing the world of movies. Take a listen and let us know what you think. Questions, Comments, Complaints, & Suggestions can be directed to gondoramos@yahoo.com. Thanks for your continued Love & Support. 

Psycho - Hitchcock & Van Sant

On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I sit down to discuss Hitchcock's masterpiece Psycho (1960) and Gus Van Sant's shot-for-shot re-imagining from 1998. We discuss the brilliance and importance of Hitchcock's original and the pointlessness of Van Sant's remake. An interesting conversation that forces both of us to understand the films better, we are proud to put out an episode that we hope captures the quality of the first film and understanding of the purpose of the second.

As always, we appreciate your continued love and support. Questions, Comments, Complaints, and Suggestions can be directed to gondoramos@yahoo.com

Catching Up On The Classics:

To Be or Not To Be (1942) 

Director: Ernst Lubitsch

On this week's episode of WatchThis w/RickRamos, I go solo to talk Ernst Lubitsch's 1942 Classic To Be or Not to Be, starring the great Jack Benny, Carole Lombard (in her last role), and - a very young - Robert Stack. A profile of a Jewish acting company in war torn Poland, Lubitsch's film was one of the earliest films to tackle the Nazis on screen (in a comedy, nonetheless!) and was not considered entirely "respectable" when first-released, however it has grown in its importance over the years. 

We're trying something a bit different with the podcast this week . . . a new angle that we hope to implement throughout the life of the show. Focusing on individual films in my collection, I'm looking forward to finding and talking about the great films that I have somehow missed. Take a listen as I discuss #607 in the Criterion Collection with hopes to get through everything that I own and have not watched. Thanks for listening. Questions, Comments, Complaints, & Suggestions should be directed to gondoramos@yahoo.com. 

The Dead Man's Hand: A Goodbye to Ricky Jay & Others in 2018 

On this week's episode of WatchThis w/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I sit down to mourn the passing of the great sleight of hand artist, magician, writer, actor, and historian Ricky Jay (June 26, 1946 - November 24, 2018). Focusing heavily on directors Molly Bernstein & Alan Edelstein's Deceptive Practices: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay (2012) - a fascinating study of the great sleight of hand magician, this is an examination of - probably - the greatest practitioner of magic the 20th & 21st Centuries have ever known. We round this episode out with a discussion of others who have passed this year including: Mitzi Shore (Owner and Co-Founder of The Comedy Store), Stan Lee, and former president George H.W. Bush. We look back on what these lives have meant to us as well as the lessons learned from them. As always, we appreciate your continued Love & Support. Questions, Comments, Complaints, and Suggestions can be directed to gondoramos@yahoo.com. Many Thanks!

THE HORROR OF CRONENBERG

(PART II): SCANNERS/THE DEAD ZONE/VIDEODROME  

On this week's episode of WatchThis w/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I sit down to continue discussing the work of Canadian cult director David Cronenberg who somehow found mainstream success with a series of strange and controversial films. In this hour and a half episode we talk Scanners (1981) as well as Videodrome and The Dead Zone (both from 1983). We take a look at this evolving filmmaker in our second examination of his work. Take a listen and let us know what you think. As always, Questions, Comments, Complaints, & Suggestions can be directed to gondoramos@yahoo.com. Many, Many Thanks!

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World -

55th Anniversary

On this weeks episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos I take a look back at the 1963 Stanley Kramer Comedy Classic It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. With an all-star cast including Spencer Tracey, Sid Caesar, Milton Berle, Jonathan Winters, Phil Silvers, Ethel Merman, Dick Shawn, Mickey Rooney, Buddy Hackett, and Edie Addams, and cameo appearances by Jerry Lewis, The Three Stooges, Buster Keaton, Don Knotts, Jack Benny, and so many more this was a once in a lifetime production. A short, sweet episode about once of my favorite films. It was a good time reminiscing about this classic. Thanks for the continued support. Questions, Comments, Complaints, and Suggestions can be directed to gondoramos@yahoo.com. Thanks!

In Theaters:

Can You Forgive Me? Finding Meaning in Misery & Loneliness 

On this week's episode of WatchThis w/Rick Ramos I go it solo to talk Melissa McCarthy in Can You Ever Forgive Me? A new film in theaters profiling the life of biographer Lee Israel who turned to a career of forgery and found purpose in her criminal endeavors. I loved this film and connected with it in a strange way. Movies do that. Take a listen as I dig deep into my own psyche in order to understand the darkness. 

. . . it'll make more sense after listening to the episode. 

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

Michael Meyers - Return to Haddonfield

On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos Ibrahim & I sit down (almost a year after our last visit to Haddonfield, IL) to continue our talk on that blank-faced masked bastard, Michael Meyers. Screenwriters Jeff Fradley, Danny McBride, and David Gordon Green (with Green directing) bring us all back to that sleepy little town to re-introduce us to Meyers. With a returning Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode (the lone survivor of the first film) and a whole new generation to murder - all in one night - audiences are reminded of the brilliance that has been with us for 40 years. Take a step into The Fortress and remember what all of the excitement was originally about. Questions, Comments, Complaints, and Suggestions can be directed to gondoramos@yahoo.com. As always, a Million Thanks! 

THE CHANGING WORLD OF HORROR (THE WITCH, HEREDITARY, THE BABADOOK)

On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos Ibrahim & I sit down to discuss The Changing Face of Horror Films. We take a look at three recent hits: Robert Eggers' The Witch (2015), Ari Aster's Hereditary (2018), and Jennifer Kent's The Babadook (2014). From The Universal Horror Films of the 30s, 40s, and 50s through the emergence of the Slasher genre of the 70s, the Torture Porn of the 90s and early to mid-2000s, we have finally settled on a more subtle and mind-numbingly patient series of films that are looking to burrow their way into the psyche. Take a listen as two guys hash it out over a genre that has been criminally underrated. Questions, Comments, Complaints, and Suggestions can be directed to gondoramos@yahoo.com. As Always, Thanks For The Continued Love & Support. 

The Horror of Cronenberg (1975-1979)

On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I sit down to talk one of the most innovative and disturbing filmmakers to emerge out of the 1970's - David Cronenberg. From his earliest (professional) film 1975's Shivers, through 1977's Rabid, and finally 1979's The Brood, Cronenberg has proven a filmmaker of immense depth and powerful imagery and one whose early worker would lay the foundation for some of the most ground-breaking and artistically challenging films to emerge out of the studios. This episode is a continuation of our look at Horror Cinema, as well as a preview to a future episode focusing on Cronenberg's 80s & 90s work. Take a listen and let us know what you think. Questions, Comments, Complaints, & Suggestions can be directed to gondoramos@yahoo.com. As always, Thanks for the Love & Continued Support!