Our wonderful and erudite Chicago-ass pal Eric Marsh (@marshlands) joins us this week for a pretty terrible wannabe-Chicago-ass movie, as we all uexpectedly find ourselves on common and even ground when it comes to Peyton Reed's thin, sour anti-rom-com THE BREAK-UP! We go way out of our way to substantiate our bonafides as cinephiles, invoking the names of Stan Brakhage, Leo McCarey, Agnes Varda, Ingmar Bergman, Maurice Pialat, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and the oeuvre of Elaine May to establish that we didn't hate this movie because it's raw and acerbic and 2 extreme for us, we hated it because it sucks, with empty, irritating, poorly-established characters running through illogical, one-dimensional sitcom paces. We also discuss Rob and I unexpectedly finding ourselves simpatico on Reed's beloved other rom-com, the film's lackluster engagement with its host city, taking over land, sea AND air, naming your kid LUPUS, harassment as courtship, Two Minute Warning, GTA: San Andreas, the vagaries of the art sale world, buying condos with your new girlfriend, getting cucked as marketing strategy, the dead rising, bare behinds and ridin' dirty. We had so much fun, I had wanted Eric on for a long time and I was so thrilled we finally got him, this is a rollicking blast of a thing, check it out! "The Fireside Bowl: An Unlikely Place for Punks of All Ages" (Joe DeCeault, WBEZChicago, 2023) https://www.wbez.org/curious-city/2023/09/14/the-fireside-bowl-an-unlikely-place-for-punks-of-all-ages Brian's Twitter: https://x.com/SchmanthonyP Brian's Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/schmanthonyp.bsky.social Rob’s BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/wormsgreenrealm.bsky.social Rob’s Linktree: https://linktr.ee/ROBDUNSON Eric's Twitter: https://x.com/marshlands Eric's Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/marshlands.bsky.social Eric's Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/marshlandz/ EMAIL US! : boxofficegross@gmail.com THE GREAT FUN BEST OF BOX OFFICE GROSS 2005 GIVEAWAY SPECTACULAR Enter to win a fun little gift giveaway from us by doing any of the following: Leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts Leave us a rating on Spotify or whatever other podcatcher you use that employs a rating system Send us an email at BoxOfficeGROSS@gmail.com with your favorite 2005 thing–something you loved from the first year of the show, your personal favorite movie/music/TV show/whatever from 2005, or whatever other hot take or thought regarding 2005 you may have–we will also read/play this on the Best of 2005 episode (with your consent). What you can win (ALL of the below in one package): - a DVD for a Box Office GROSS covered film; - a little piece of custom art related to that film by Rob; - some boutique highlight selections from the film's letterboxd, printed and collected inside the DVD case; - a little message from Rob and Brian - MAYBE, if Rob figures out the technical stuff soon, a little Box Office GROSS pin or button or sticker. NOT YET DESIGNED, to be clear, but possible. - Anything else we feel like throwing into a padded envelope (but nothing life-threatening or NSFW) Entries will be accepted until at least May 15th, possibly longer but treat May 15th as the deadline for now!!! (If you rate and review the show, screenshot it and include it in your email–one of the better ways to make sure we know you did it) Theme Song: "Any Day Can Be Bicycle Day" by Ether Driver ( https://etherdiver.bandcamp.com/ )
