The Flick Lab

Mohammad Malas is one the most recognized, pioneer Syrian auteur directors and a public intellectual. His films are embedded in the contemporary history of Syria and his themes do not shy away from addressing sensitive societal topics.
Our guest in this episode is professor Nezar Andary. He has a PhD in comparative literature, he is a filmmaker and a scholar who has studied a plethora of cultures, art, the cinema of the Arab world and Mohammad Malas. He is the co-author of The Cinema of Muhammad Malas: Visions of a Syrian Auteur, and is the director of the feature documentary Unlocking Doors of Cinema.

Films covered in this episode:

Quinetra 74 (1974)
Dreams of the City (1984)
The Night (1992)
Passion (2006)
…and more

We would like to thank Irit Neidhardt from mec film. 

Hosted by Karri Ojala and Henrik Telkki. Edit by Karri Ojala. Guest Nezar Andary. The Flick Lab theme tune written and performed by Nick Grivell and Karri Ojala.

This show can be listened to on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. You can find us also on social media – Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram, and www.theflicklab.com.

Original picture of Mohammad Malas by Habib M’henni, released under CC BY-SA 4.0 license. Changes were made to the original work.

In this episode of the podcast, Aikido gone wrong with Steven Seagal. Karri and Henrik look at Seagal’s roots, his successes, some of his personal life involving mafia, Putin, sexual misconduct allegations, onset antics and dead puppies. Finally we dive into his direct-to-video failures and recent ventures.

Films covered in this episode:

Above the Law (1988)
Under Siege (1992)
On Deadly Ground (1994)
Fire Down Below (1997)
Attack Force (2006)
Beyond the Law (2019)

Hosted by Karri Ojala and Henrik Telkki. Edit by Karri Ojala. The Flick Lab theme tune written and performed by Nick Grivell and Karri Ojala.

This show can be listened to on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. You can find us also on social media – Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram, and www.theflicklab.com.

In this episode of the podcast, The Flick Lab visits the cult classic horror comedy character Dr. Phibes, played by the iconic Vincent Price in both ‘The Abominable Dr. Phibes’ and the sequel ‘Dr. Phibes Rises Again’. What is behind the appeal of Dr. Phibes? Do the films hold up today? What were the shortcomings of the sequel? What do we know about the 3rd film that never happened?

Films covered in this episode:

The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)
Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972)

Hosted by Karri Ojala and Henrik Telkki. Edit by Karri Ojala. The Flick Lab theme tune written and performed by Nick Grivell and Karri Ojala.

This show can be listened to on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. You can find us also on social media – Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram, and www.theflicklab.com.

Suicide, politics, religion. The Oscar-nominated Polish director Jan Komasa doesn’t shy away from dangerous topics. Internationally, he’s known for ‘Corpus Christi’, but lately also for ‘The Hater’ due to its availability on Netflix. In Poland, ‘Suicide Room’ was a cult hit amongst the youth, whereas ‘Warsaw ’44’ was an artistically peculiar war film. The Flick Lab decided to watch all of his feature films, discuss the flicks in detail and look for commonalities across them. We do not touch much on Corpus Christi, because this was already covered in-depth in Episode #94.

Films covered in this episode:

Suicide Room (2011) (Sala samobójców)
Warsaw ’44 (2014) (Miasto 44)
Corpus Christi (2019) (Boże Ciało)
The Hater (2020) (Sala samobójców. Hejter)

And shorts:

Nice to See You (2003) (Fajnie, że jesteś)

Hosted by Karri Ojala and Henrik Telkki. Edit by Karri Ojala. The Flick Lab theme tune written and performed by Nick Grivell and Karri Ojala.

This show can be listened to on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. You can find us also on social media – Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram, and www.theflicklab.com.

Picture “Rezyser Jan Komasa” released by Franciszek Vetulani under the license CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made to the original.

He pulls the rug from under your feet. He will torture you emotionally. He will demonstrate how societal stereotypes become lethal when combined with an ineffective police force. Dive with us into the unforgiving and emotional roller coaster of the South Korean director Na Hong-jin.

Films covered in this episode:

The Chaser (2008) (Chugyeokja / 추격자)
The Yellow Sea (2010) (Hwanghae / 황해)
The Wailing (2016) (Gokseong / 곡성)

And shorts:

A Perfect Red Snapper Dish (2005) (완벽한 도미요리)
Sweat (2007)

Hosted by Karri Ojala and Henrik Telkki. Edit by Karri Ojala. The Flick Lab theme tune written and performed by Nick Grivell and Karri Ojala.

This show can be listened to on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. You can find us also on social media – Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram, and www.theflicklab.com.

Picture “Na Hong-jin in Deauville Asian film festival” released by ENoz under the license CC BY-SA 3.0 . Changes were made to the original.

[DISCLAIMER: This episode was made for April Fools. But it was also a fun ‘simulation’ for us, and hopefully for you. We DO NOT have any sort of full version of ‘The Day the Clown Cried’. The episode content is part factual, part improvised fantasy.]

The Day the Clown Cried is one of the most wanted ‘lost’, or rather, unreleased films ever made. Set in Nazi Germany, it tells the story of a clown who gets sent to a political concentration camp. Due to the controversial subject matter, it was never released. To this day, it has been seen only by a handful of people.

It was long believed that only a rough cut exists, but as it turns out, industry professionals close to Jerry Lewis had put together a copy that is as finished as the film will ever be, but it remains unreleased. However, our podcast has now obtained that finished copy.

Join us for the exclusive analysis of the full version of ‘The Day the Clown Cried’.

The Day the Clown Cried (1972). Directed by Jerry Lewis. Starring Jerry Lewis, Harriet Andersson, Lars Amble, Anton Diffring, Carl Billquist.

Hosted by Karri Ojala and Henrik Telkki. Edit by Karri Ojala. The Flick Lab theme tune written and performed by Nick Grivell and Karri Ojala.

This show can be listened to on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. You can find us also on social media – Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram, and www.theflicklab.com.

The late Satoshi Kon was a highly respected and creative anime director. His first two films tackle the topic of fandom. When does fandom reach toxicity and what are the underlying triggers for such behavior?

Films covered in this episode:

Perfect Blue (1997) (パーフェクトブルー) 
Millennium Actress (2001) (千年女優) 

Hosted by Karri Ojala and Henrik Telkki. Edit by Karri Ojala. The Flick Lab theme tune written and performed by Nick Grivell and Karri Ojala.

This show can be listened to on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. You can find us also on social media – Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram, and www.theflicklab.com.

Are the Hellraiser sequels worth your time? What worked, what went awry and why? Karri and Henrik discuss all the sequels of Hellraiser. Previously parts 1, 2 and 3 were analysed in detail in individual episodes. This episode here concentrates on the theme of ‘What went wrong with Hellraiser’, hence the focus is on the later, remaining sequels – 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 9 and 10.

Films covered in this episode:

Hellraiser IV: Bloodline (1996) – Kevin Yagher
Hellraiser V: Inferno (2000) – Scott Derrickson
Hellraiser VI: Hellseeker (2002) – Rick Bota
Hellraiser VII: Deader (2005) – Rick Bota
Hellraiser VIII: Hellworld (2005) – Rick Bota
Hellraiser IX: Revelations (2011) – Víctor García
Hellraiser X: Judgment (2018) – Gary J. Tunnicliffe

Hosted by Karri Ojala and Henrik Telkki. Edit by Karri Ojala. The Flick Lab theme tune written and performed by Nick Grivell and Karri Ojala.

This show can be listened to on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. You can find us also on social media – Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram, and www.theflicklab.com.

In this episode of the podcast, Karri and Henrik look at ‘An Elephant Sitting Still’; an almost 4-hour feature, one of the most acclaimed feature debuts of the last decade. Is ‘Elephant’ a cascade of suffering? Does it depict life’s meaninglessness? Does the late Hu Bo offer us a silver lining even amidst his character’s darkest hours? The episode also covers the two short films ‘Night Runner’ and ‘Man in the Well’.

Guest appearance by Chinese Sen.

Films covered in this episode:
Night Runner (夜奔, 2014)
Man in the Well (井里的人, 2017)
An Elephant Sitting Still (大象席地而坐, 2018)

You can watch ‘An Elephant Sitting Still’ on Amazon Prime, Vimeo or order DVD/Blu-Ray on Amazon. Regional restrictions apply.

Hosted by Karri Ojala and Henrik Telkki. Guest visit by Sen. Edit by Karri Ojala. The Flick Lab theme tune written and performed by Nick Grivell and Karri Ojala.

This show can be listened to on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. You can find us also on social media – Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram, and www.theflicklab.com.

The original Jurassic Park is a loved classic that revolutionised the blockbuster cinema. Following the previous Jurassic Park episode, now The Lab will look at the more maligned sequels. Why did the once thought omnipotent franchise go dormant for years and return? Can the franchise be rejuvenated, or will the weight of the original drag everything down?

Films covered in this episode:

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) – Steven Spielberg
Jurassic Park 3 (2001) – Joe Johnston
Jurassic World (2015) – Colin Trevorrow
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) – J.A. Bayona
Battle at Big Rock (2019) – Colin Trevorrow

Hosted by Karri Ojala and Henrik Telkki. Edit by Karri Ojala. The Flick Lab theme tune written and performed by Nick Grivell and Karri Ojala.

This show can be listened to on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. You can find us also on social media – Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram, and www.theflicklab.com.