TMR 033 – The Devil and Daniel Johnston

Total Movie Recall

This week on Total Movie Recall, we stare into the void and find out that hipsters are terrible people that treat the mentally ill like zoo animals and Ryan swears he’ll never wear skinny jeans again. Steve declares that the word “genius” is thrown around way too much and that it should only be applied to people who discover new kinds of particles or create nudity mods for video games. We watched The Devil and Daniel Johnston, so burn your Sonic Youth records and point your plane straight at the ground, because life just may not be worth it.

The Devil and Daniel Johnston (2005) d. Jeff Feuerzeig

Starring: Daniel Johnston Butthole Surfers (Gibby Haynes) Sonic Youth (Thurston Moore, Steve Shelley) Half Japanese (Jad Fair, David Fair) Matt Groening

Filmmaker Jeff Feuerzeig chronicles the life of a manic-depressive musician and artist, using a blend of home movies, Johnston's own audiotapes, vintage performances and current footage. Johnston has recorded more than 10 full-length albums and amassed a prolific portfolio of sketches, and has among his supporters Matt Groening, David Bowie, Sonic Youth, Beck, and Tom Waits.

Things discussed in the show: Moleskine notebooks and the Necronomicon Baby Driver (2017, Edgar Wright, Ansel Elgort, Jon Bernthal, Jon Hamm) Far Cry 5 400 Blows (1959, François Truffaut, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Albert Rémy, Claire Maurier) Looney Toons (2020, Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam) The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo (2020, Ryan Dillon, David Rudman, Kacey Musgraves, Lil Nas X) Lovebirds (2020, Michael Showalter, Issa Rae, Kumail Nanjiani) Kumail Nanjiani's X-Files podcast Devs, teleportation and quantum computers Death at a Funeral (2007, Frank Oz, Matthew Macfadyen, Peter Dinklage, Ewen Bremner) The Gentlemen (Guy Ritchie, Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Michelle Dockery) King Arthur: Legend of the Sword / Snatch / Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels Val Kilmer's memoir - I'm Your Huckleberry / Tombstone / Top Gun / Heat / Batman Forever / The Saint The Ghost and the Darkness (1996, Stephen Hopkins, William Goldman, Michael Douglas, Val Kilmer, Tom Wilkinson) Predator 2 (1990, Stephen Hopkins, Danny Glover, Gary Busey, Kevin Peter Hall) Jeffery Epstein: Filthy Rich (2020, directed by Lisa Bryant), illuminati and class war Lex Luthur's will they/won't they with Superman Le Cercle Rouge (1970, Jean-Pierre Melville, Alain Delon, Bourvil, Gian Maria Volontè) My Dinner With Andre (1981, Louis Malle, Andre Gregory, Wallace Shawn, Jean Lenauer) What makes someone a genius? John Cale & David Cronenberg John Carpenter The Justice League Snyder cut David Lynch George Lucas will never stop messing with A New Hope Joss Whedon - Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Cabin in the Woods Dan Harmon's story circle (writing structure) J.J. Abrams Will Johnson, Damien Jurado, Conner Oberst / Bright Eyes Firehose (Mike Watt) Daniel Johnston on KCRW with Ben Lee, Mike Watt, Joey Waronker, Guy Blakeslee John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Paul McCartney Mental illness, homelessness, bipolar disorder Van Gooh, Brian Wilson, Wesley Willis Dead Milkmen Ben Stiller

Next week: The Cable Guy