A defunct podcast about trading films with friends. Each month I chose a film for a friend to watch and they chose one for me. Then we discussed. There were two episodes a month, first my choice and then theirs. Subscribe via iTunes or Overcast.

My guest for this month is Christa Mrgan, and she's joined me to discuss the film she chose for me, the 2001 surreal horror-comedy film The Happiness of the Katakuris. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly.

Show notes:

• Takashi Miike has made an astonishing 90 films in his career, but none quite like this one
• Thematically it would be hard to have two films as different as this one and our last episode on Ozu's An Autumn Afternoon
• Arcadia, California was home to at least one video store, in 2004
• It really is quite hilarious that both An Autumn Afternoon and this were released by Shochiku, how the world changes
• Shochiku were, of course, also the sometime home to films by Nagisa Oshima, and Mikio Naruse
• As well as the phenomenally goofy films of their horror period, so brilliantly captures by Criterion in the When Horror Came to Shochiku Eclipse set
• Those films were inspired by the likes of Godzilla), and Jigoku)
• House), by Nobuhiko Obayashi, is a much watch film if you even kind of enjoy this one
• The RankinBass production of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) has undoubtedly caused its share of nightmares
• The Big Lebowski is one of my all-time favorite films. I can quote it endlessly
• I'd really like to see The Quiet Family someday, just to see how far this adaptation strayed
• Sadly you won't find this film on Netflix
• As of this writing, you can still watch the film on Fandor though
• The film is also coming to iTunes, as of the end of August, 2016
• It was also released on Blu-ray by Arrow in a Region A and B edition
• If you can find a copy of Nowhere you're in for a treat, there has never been a Region 1 DVD
• If you're ever in Portland you should absolutely check out Movie Madness, it's an incredible store
• And, yes, they have the knife from Psycho)
• I love Letterboxd
• Civil Comments is amazing. You should all check it out!

Buy the film from Amazon, or buy or rent the film from iTunes