2.34 - BACK TO THE FUTURE (1985) & History

Our next franchise is a Robert Zemeckis classic. We talk about different kinds of time travel (Rob has A Theory!), history repeating itself, and how this is a very different film on later viewing.

This Week’s Watching
THE RAID (2011): Gareth Evans, Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim
THE MARTIAN (2015): Ridley Scott, Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain

Recommendations
SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL (1987): Howard Deutch, Eric Stoltz, Mary Stuart Masterson
BILL AND TED’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE (1989): Steven Herek, Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter
THE GOOD WIFE (2009–2016): Robert King, Michelle King, Julianna Margulies
ADDAM’S FAMILY VALUES (1993): Barry Sonnenfeld, Anjelica Huston, Raúl Juliá

Footnotes
The Indonesian martial art whose name Sam so thoroughly butchered is Pencak Silat; for more on this, see here. This BFI list has some good lesser-known exponents of the time travel genre in film. Here’s a short introduction to the Oedipus complex, for those unfamiliar with it. And, finally, here’s a good working definition of dramatic irony, a concept that we touch on towards the end of today’s episode ('GCSE Bitesize’ might seem a bit of a basic resource, but it can actually be really useful).

Podcasts
We’re supporting the ‘trypod’ initiative this month (or at least we are when we remember!) Here are our recommendations (though Sam might change his PCHH tip after hearing this week’s level of snark about BEAUTY AND THE BEAST…)
‘The Comedian’s Comedian Podcast’ (COMEDY/PERFORMANCE: @comcompod) ‘The Partly Political Broadcast’ (POLITICS: @parpolbro)
‘NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour’ (POP CULTURE: @pchh)
‘Lift-off’ (SPACE, THE UNIVERSE, AND EVERYTHING: from @_relayfm)
‘D&D is for Nerds’ (D&D: from @sanspantsradio)
‘The British History Podcast’ (HISTORY: @britishpodcast)

These Twitter links should take you to iTunes, Stitcher, Overcast, or however you consume podcasts. (Sam likes Overcast, but that may just be because he thinks the logo’s cool.) Have a listen to those that take your fancy — and remember to recommend THIS podcast (very important!) using the hashtag #trypod.