Unclear and Present Danger

Jamelle Bouie and John Ganz
Unclear and Present Danger

New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie and freelance writer John Ganz delve into the world of 90s post-Cold War thrillers with Unclear and Present Danger, a podcast that explores America in an age of transition to lone superpower, at once triumphant and unsure of its role in the world.

  1. 1 天前

    Men in Black

    On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John watched Men in Black, the 1997 sci-fi action comedy directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and starring Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Linda Fiorentino, Vincent D’Onofrio and Rip Torn. Men in Black was written by Ed Soloman and shot by the late Donald Peterman — whose credits include Flashdance, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Point Break — with a score by Danny Elfman. In Men in Black, Smith plays James Darrell Edwards III, a New York City police officer who finds himself in chase through the city with a unnaturally fast and agile criminal, who later commits suicide. He soon learns that this criminal was an alien from another planet, and that New York is host to a secret government agency tasked with tracking alien lifeforms on Earth. He is recruited into the Men in Black by Agent K, and is deemed Agent J. Agents K and J are soon on the hunt for a Bug, an extra-terrestial cockroach who seeks “the galaxy,” a precious energy source that has been left on Earth. As the Bug, donning the skin of a human farmer, rampages through New York, K and J try to mitigate the damage and protect the galaxy, and the Earth itself, from the Bug.

    1 小時 12 分鐘

  2. 11月10日

    The Saint

    In The Saint, Kilmer plays Simon Templar, a professional thief known as “The Saint” for using Catholic saints as aliases. He steals a microchip from a Russian oil company but is caught by the owner’s son. He is then hired by the owner, a billionaire oligarch named Tretiak, to steal a cold fusion formula discovered by Emma Russell, an American chemist. Tretiak plans to use the formula to monopolize the Russian energy market. Once he obtains the formula, he also plans to kill Simon. Simon seduces Emma but falls for her. He abandons his plan to steal from her until Tretiak threatens to kidnap her.  At this point the plot becomes a little convoluted to me but here’s what I think happens. Simon does end up stealing the formula but when analyzed, Tretiak finds that it is useless to him. His plan now is to sell the incomplete formula to the Russian president and then attack him for spending billions on worthless technology, using the resulting chaos to make himself president.  Emma finishes the formula, Simon delivers it to a scientist who hopes to use it for good, and in a confrontation in Red Square, Tretiak is exposed as a fraud when it becomes clear that the formula works. Emma and Simon reunite, they start a relationship and it is revealed that Simon has donated billions to charity using money from Tretiak’s accounts.  All ends well!

    1 小時 47 分鐘

  3. 11月4日

    The Second Civil War

    On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, we watched the The Second Civil War, a 1997 satirical film directed by Joe Dante for HBO. Starring James Earl Jones, Elizabeth Peña, Denis Leary, Beau Bridges, Phil Hartman and James Coburn, The Second Civil War takes place in a future where rapid, unlimited immigration has produced a balkinized society of ethnic enclaves. California is essentially been re-absorbed into Mexico and Rhode Island is home to millions of Chinese migrants. When an international relief organization makes plans to bring Pakistani refugees into Idaho, the state’s governor, played by Beau Bridges, orders the its national guard to close the borders, sparking a stand-off with the federal government. As both sides escalate, Americans start to choose sides, with other western states joining Idaho in its pushback against Washington. Eventually, the war of words becomes an actual war, as shooting starts between the U.S. Army and the various national guards now allied with Idaho. As viewers, we see all of this unfold through the eyes of a news network, whose anchors and reporters are on the scene, covering developments as they occur.

    1 小時 11 分鐘

  4. 9月27日

    The Devil's Own

    On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, we watched the 1997 thriller The Devil’s Own, directed by Alan J. Pakula and starring Brad Pitt and Harrison Ford. In The Devil’s Own, Pitt plays Frankie McGuire, an IRA soldier who travels to the United States to obtain advanced weapons for the fight in Ireland. He is put up in the home of NYPD Sergeant Tom O’Meara, played by Ford, who does not know McGuire’s mission. The two develop an easy rapport and McGuire becomes a part of O’Meara’s family, of sorts. When McGuire’s mission begins to intrude on the O’Mearas, however, the relationship — along with the family’s safety — is threatened.

    52 分鐘

  5. 9月14日

    Absolute Power

    In this week's episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John watched Absolute Power, the 1997 conspiracy thriller directed by Clint Eastwood from a screenplay by William Goldman and based off of a David Baldacci novel of the same name. In addition to Eastwood, Absolute Power stars Gene Hackman, Ed Harris, Laura Linney, Judy Davis, Scott Glenn and Dennis Haysbert.  In Absolute Power, Eastwood plays Luther Whitney, a master thief who makes the fateful decision to rob billionaire Walter Sullivan, a close friend and ally of the president of the United States. During the burglary, Whitney sees President Alan Richmond assault Sullivan's wife, Christy, with whom he is having an affair. When she fights back, the president's security detail kills her. Sullivan, who witnesses the altercation, escapes with evidence of the killing. When he becomes prime suspect in an investigation led by local police, Whitney devotes himself to exposing the president's misdeed while evading Sullivan's hired assassin — who believes Whitney is responsible — as well as a secret service agent who wants to silence the only witness.

    54 分鐘

  6. 8月24日

    Shadow Conspiracy

    On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John watched Shadow Conspiracy, the 1997 political thriller directed by George P. Cosmatos and starring Charlie Sheen, Linda Hamilton, Donald Sutherland and Sam Waterston. In Shadow Conspiracy, a young White House aide uncovers a plot to assassinate the president, making him a target of the conspirators. What follows is a race to evade the assassin, expose those responsible, and save constitutional government from a shadowy group of deep state operators. If this sounds generic, that’s because it is! The movie feels like it was written by ChatGPT. Despite the total absence of anything original, Jamelle and John do find much to discuss in the film, including the ways in which it is rooted in the anti-political ethos of the 1990s.

    1 小時 3 分鐘

  7. 8月9日

    Mars Attacks!

    On this week’s episode of the podcast, we watched Tim Burton’s 1996 sci-fi comedy Mars Attacks!, starring Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michael J. Fox, Martin Short Pam Grier, Rod Steiger, Jim Brown, Lukas Haas, Danny DeVito and Natalie Portman. Mars Attacks! was based off of the 1960s-era trading card series by Topps. In the series, Earth is invaded by cruel, hideous Martians who hope to colonize the planet and enslave its population.  In the movie, Earth is invaded by cruel hideous Martians. But they don’t seem to want to colonize the planet as much as engage in wanton destruction for its own sake. To the extent that the film has a plot, it follows several groups of people. There is President James Dale, played by Nicholson, his wife and daughter. There is a young donut shop employee and his family in Nevada. There is an aging boxer turned casino employee, his ex-wife and their children. And there are a pair of talk show hosts. The film shows first contact followed by the Martian war on Earth. Most of the characters are either weak and incompetent, like President Dale and the American military, vain and oblivious, like the various members of the media, or outright rubes, like some of the more ordinary people in the film.  The Martians rampage across the country, killing everyone they see including the president and the first lady. They are eventually stopped when two characters, the young donut shop employee and his grandmother, discover that the yodeling on Slim Whitman’s “Indian Love Call” is enough to cause their heads to explode. They defeat the Martian invasion and are awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for their exploits. The taglines for Mars Attacks were “Nice planet. We’ll take it!” and “Yikes! They’ve landed!” Mars Attacks is available for rent or purchase either Amazon or Apple TV.

    1 小時 5 分鐘

  8. 7月15日

    Independence Day

    In this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John watched the 1996 sci-fi action thriller Independence Day, written and directed by Roland Emmerich and starring an ensemble cast of Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell, Judd Hirsch, Robert Loggia, Randy Quaid, Margaret Colin, Vivica A. Fox and James Rebhorn, among many others. In Independence Day, humanity makes its first contact with an alien race. What follows is one day of destruction, one of despair, and one day where the human race, led by the United States, fights back. Jamelle and John use the film to discuss the triumphalist American optimism of the 1990s as well as the political afterlife of the imagery of the film, which extends into the post-9/11 era.

    1 小時 9 分鐘
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538 則評分

簡介

New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie and freelance writer John Ganz delve into the world of 90s post-Cold War thrillers with Unclear and Present Danger, a podcast that explores America in an age of transition to lone superpower, at once triumphant and unsure of its role in the world.

資訊

  • 創作者
    Jamelle Bouie and John Ganz
  • 活躍年代
    2021年 - 2024年
  • 集數
    81
  • 年齡分級
    兒少適宜
  • 版權
    © Jamelle Bouie & John Ganz
  • 節目網站
    Unclear and Present Danger

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