Aronofsky Autobiography?
After a few weeks of back to back quiet, moody films for our “underrated or underseen” theme, including Oz Perkin’s The Blackcoat’s Daughter for 2015 and Nicholas Verso‘s 2016 tearjerker Boys in the Trees, Trace and I are ready to get bombastic! For 2017, we – along with guests Gabe and Kat from Ghouls Next Door – are checking out Darren Aronofsky‘s religious/eco horror/bad creator thriller mother!
In the film, struggling poet Him (Javier Bardem) lives in a secluded home with mother (Jennifer Lawrence). One day man (Ed Harris) arrives to disrupt their peace, followed by woman (Michelle Pfeiffer) who derides mother for not having children. When the adult sons of the couple arrives, violence erupts and mother is left to clean up the damage. Tensions mount during a wake that gets out of control, prompting a brief reprieve. Soon, however, the house once again comes under siege by Him’s devoted fans, leading to a combustive ending that confirms that this has all happened before.
Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get a new episode every Wednesday. You can subscribe on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeartRadio, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Amazon Music, Acast, Google Podcasts, and RSS.
Episode 165 – mother! (2017) feat Ghouls Next Door
Grab your crystal heart and prepare for combustion. For 2017’s “underseen or underrated” entry, we’ve recruited Gabe & Kat of Ghouls Next Door to discuss Darren Aronofsky’s big budget flop: mother!
The Jennifer Lawrence movie is more endurance experience than film and features a messy mix of religious, environmental and creative allegories that definitely contributed to its F Cinemascore.
Needless to say, there’s lot of unpack, including plenty of Biblical connections (why is Michelle Pfeiffer’s Eve such a c*nt?!), conservation pleas (get off the damn sink!) and potential autobiographical ties (Aronofsky’s treatment of J. Law, his former girlfriend and muse).
It’s a lot…just like this movie!
Cross out mother!
Coming up on Wednesday: Underseen or underrated continues as we return to Salem for a different kind of witch hunt in Sam Levinson’s Assassination Nation (2018)
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for more than 160 hours of additional content! This month, we’re discussing Sound Cues that Stick Out, as well as Yellowjackets S01, Death on the Nile, Leatherface and an anniversary audio commentary on A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors!