found footage

Rei Hance in *The Blair Witch Project* (1999), directed by Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sánchez

Gobbledygeek episode 485, “The Blair Witch Project,” is available for listening or download righ t h ere, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

We all get lost, every now and then. Most of us don’t get quite as lost as the three film students at the center of The Blair Witch Project, a massive hit in 1999 whose reputation among the average moviegoer has also taken a massive hit. If you ask Arlo, though, it’s one of the greatest horror films ever made–and he tells Paul exactly why, as they celebrate the second and final week of this year’s abbreviated Gobbledyween. The boys discuss the incredibly convincing performances, why the characters being so annoying makes the movie so believable, how the found footage genre has expanded in the years since, and just how easy it is to get lost in America.

NEXT: why are you standing in the corner, Paul?

BREAKDOWN

00:00:32 – Intro
00:02:34 – The Blair Witch Project
01:39:11 – Outro / Next

MUSIC

“Gilligan’s Island” by Television’s Greatest Hits Band, Television’s Greatest Hits: Classic TV Theme Songs (2021)
“Out of the Woods” by Taylor Swift, 1989 (2014)

GOBBLEDYCARES

Abortion Funds in Every State: https://bit.ly/AbortionFundsTwitter
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
Support AAPI communities and those affected by anti-Asian violence: https://www.gofundme.com/c/act/stop-aapi-hate
Support the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund: https://aapifund.org/
Support Black Lives Matter and find anti-racism resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
The Trevor Project provides information and support to LGBTQ youth: thetrevorproject.org
Trans Lifeline: https://translifeline.org/
- US (877) 565-8860
- Canada (877) 330-6366
National Center for Transgender Equality: transequality.org
Advocate for writers who might be owed money due to discontinuance of royalties: https://www.writersmustbepaid.org/
Help teachers and classrooms in need: https://www.donorschoose.org/
Do your part to remove the burden of medical debt for individuals, families, and veterans: https://ripmedicaldebt.org/
Register to vote: https://vote.gov/

Superhero origin stories are de rigueur, as are attempts to translate those stories to the “real world.” Chronicle, from newcomers Josh Trank (director) and Max “son of John” Landis (screenplay) pulls it off surprisingly well, featuring three teenage protagonists that behave in completely believable ways when gifted with burgeoning telekinetic powers. The first half of the film is a fun, wild ride as the kids play around with levitating Legos and blowing up cheerleaders skirts. The second half gets more serious as one of them succumbs to the urge to strike back at a world that has admittedly been smacking him in the face for some time. By the time the kids master flight, forcefields, and bus-tossing, we’ve arrived at the predictable but very well played showdown of “good vs. evil.” It’s been said that heroes are defined by their villains, and trite but true it’s never more apparent than the schism between abused and angry Andrew and idle and indolent Matt. Without the need to protect innocent bystanders threatened by Andrew going all Tetsuo on downtown Seattle, it’s entirely possible Matt would have never moved past the pranking phase of superherodom. In fact I could imagine a world where he grew bored by it and actually never even used it again. But “Tetsuo” did happen, and Matt stepped up to the “Kaneda” plate…

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Gobbledygeek

Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 485 – “The Blair Witch Project”

BREAKDOWN

LINKS

MUSIC

GOBBLEDYCARES

Review: Chronicle