Episode 263: BURST CITY (1982) with Blake Hester

Trylove

With returning guest Blake Hester!

BURST CITY is arguably more of a cultural document than a movie with a plot and a story. It consists largely of musical setpieces by the Japanese punk groups of its time, with plot threads (vengeful bikers, nuclear infrastructure, etc.) being more hinted at than shown. In this episode, Blake joins us to talk about BURST CITY's content, context, and creation.

Find Blake…

• On Trylove episodes about POSSESSION (1981) and PULSE (2001)
• At Game Informer
• On Something Rotten, the podcast he co-hosts about nihilism in video games
• On Twitter at @metallicaisrad
• On Letterboxd at @blakedtfp

Nuclear Punks Run Amok: Gakuryu Ishii’s “Burst CIty” by Margaret Barton-Fumo for Metrograph: https://metrograph.com/nuclear-punks-run-amok-gakuryu-ishiis-burst-city/

“REVIEW: Burst City (1982)” by Grant Watson for Fiction Machine: https://fictionmachine.com/2021/11/15/review-burst-city-1982/

DCP

Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at [e-mail] to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/.

Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Closing audio: “Wild Supermarket” by The Rockers from the BURST CITY soundtrack.

Timestamps

0:00 - Episode 263: BURST CITY (1982)

00:45 - Poop talk, video game movies

10:12 - The episode actually starts

14:49 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary

17:49 - Ishii and the Japanese cyberpunk cinema movement

23:30 - BURST CITY’s inspirations

25:11 - Appreciating BURST CITY vs. enjoying it

34:24 - BURST CITY as deconstructive cacophony

40:06 - American cyberpunk vs. Japanese cyberpunk

50:40 - Japanese appropriation of Western punk in BURST CITY

56:55 - BURST CITY as a cultural document

1:03:46 - Blake’s pairing recommendations

1:08:42 - Other Loves We’ve Tried: 1982

1:10:48 - The Junk Drawer

1:16:08 - Cody’s Noteys: Splurge City (movie-buying ultimatum)

1:31:34 - Good Grief, Give Me a GIF!