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.

Can You Dig It? -

The Warriors: Walter Hill's Exhaustive Look at Youth Culture

On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Mr. Chavez & I take a look at one of the great "Cult" Films of the 1970s - Walter Hill's imagining of Xenophon's Anabasis (look it up). Hill has been a favorite of mine for some time. It's a pleasure to dive into his filmography - Hard Times, 48 Hours, Southern Comfort, The Long Riders. Hill has been one of the great figures in American Action Cinema. His work has been criminally-neglected in critical circles. It's time for that to change. Ibrahim & I are excited to continue our look into cult, midnight, and underground cinema. Take a listen and let us know what you think. Questions, Comments, Complaints, & Suggestions can be directed to gondoramos@yahoo.com. Our Continued Thanks.

More Human Than Human - The Legacy of Robocop

On this week's episode of WatchThis W/RickRamos, Ibrahim & I sit down to discuss Paul Verhoeven's 1987 Action-Satire Classic, Robocop as well as it's 2014 remake (from director José Padilha). It's a fun discussion that breaks down what works beautifully in one film and fails miserably in the other. We also discuss the passing of Rock 'N Roll Architect and Legend Richad Penniman, better known as Little Richard. We've got a lot to say. Take a listen and let us know what you think. Questions, Comments, Complaints, & Suggestions can be directed to gondoramos@yahoo.com. Many Thanks!