In this week’s episode, Jamelle and John discuss “Without Warning,” a made-for-television science fiction film from 1994, produced as if it were an actual breaking news event, with “reports” from on-the-ground correspondents from around the world. They discuss the inspiration for this “docudrama” genre as well as the general wave of “asteroid attack” films in the 1990s. They also talk the psychology behind the idea that a global disaster would bring humanity together (under American leadership, ...
Feb 03, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 37
New Episode This week, Jamelle and John are joined by historian Gillet Rosenblith to discuss the 1994 action thriller “Surviving the Game,” a loose adaptation of “The Most Dangerous Game” and a glimpse into anxieties and fears regarding poverty, homelessness and urban decay in the 1990s. They also discuss other, similar films of the era, like John Woo’s “Hard Target,” and they discuss further what distinguishes the action movies of the 1990s from their predecessors in the 70s and 80s. Connor Lyn...
Jan 21, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 36
Happy New Year! In this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, we watch “The Puppet Masters,” an adaptation of a 1951 Robert Heinlein novel that feels aimless in the absence of the original Cold War context. Jamelle and John discuss, among other things, the “Body Snatcher” genre, science fiction as a vehicle for allegory, and the war on drugs. Connor Lynch produced this episode. Artwork by Rachel Eck . Contact us! Follow us on Twitter! John Ganz Jamelle Bouie UnclearPod And join the Uncle...
Jan 09, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 35
What do you get when you mix Boston, bad accents and a lot of explosions? The 1994 thriller “Blown Away” starring Jeff Bridges and Tommy Lee Jones! Jamelle and John are joined by Clare Malone of The New Yorker to talk Irish-American identity, Irish nationalism, the racial politics of Boston and much, much more. Connor Lynch produced this episode. Artwork by Rachel Eck . Contact us! Follow us on Twitter! John Ganz Jamelle Bouie UnclearPod And join the Unclear and Present Patreon ! For just $5 a m...
Dec 24, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 34
Hello listeners! This on the Patreon week we continued our journey into the work of Graham Greene and Carol Reed with the 1949 British noir “The Third Man.” It suffices to say that this is one of the most famous and acclaimed movies of all time, so Jamelle and John had a lot to say about its production, its writing and its themes. They also spoke a great deal about Orson Welles, the politics of postwar Europe, existentialism, and the career of star Joseph Cotten. Connor Lynch produced this episo...
Dec 16, 2022•9 min•Ep. 33
In this week’s episode, Jamelle and John scrape the bottom of the cinematic barrel with the 1994 environmentalist action flick, “On Deadly Ground,” directed by and starring Steven Seagall. It’s not a good movie, but they had a good conversation covering Seagall’s political trajectory, right-wing misogyny, and the psychological origins of authoritarian politics. Connor Lynch produced this episode. Artwork by Rachel Eck . Contact us! Follow us on Twitter! John Ganz Jamelle Bouie UnclearPod And joi...
Dec 10, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 32
For this week’s Patreon episode, Jamelle and John cover the 1959 film “Our Man in Havana,” an adaptation of a 1958 Graham Greene novel by the same name. We talk Graham Greene, director Carol Reed, and Alec Guinness, the star, as well as esoteric topics like motivated reasoning, the nature of intelligence work, and the power and peril of propaganda. We also, as always, looked at the news for the day the film was released, December 30, 1959. Connor Lynch produced this episode. Artwork by Rachel Ec...
Dec 02, 2022•Ep. 31
In this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle, John and special guest Jay Willis of Balls and Strikes discuss the 1993 adaptation of John Grisham’s “The Pelican Brief,” and ask whether anything about the movie’s plot actually makes any sense. They also discuss the early days of the conservative legal movement, the political hegemony of capital, and Stanley Tucci. Connor Lynch produced this episode. Artwork by Rachel Eck . Contact us! Follow us on Twitter! John Ganz Jamelle Bouie ...
Nov 25, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 30
We have another Patreon episode for you and this week, it’s a John favorite: the 1979 BBC adaptation of “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.” We go deep into the character of George Smiley, John le Carre’s critique of the British ruling class, and the idea of national “decadence.” Jamelle also spends a little time talking about the American constitutional system, so it’s basically an episode where everyone is on brand. Connor Lynch produced this episode. Artwork by Rachel Eck . To hear the full episode, ...
Nov 18, 2022•11 min•Ep. 29
Jamelle and John are joined by Michael Liroff of the Five Four podcast to discuss “The Fugitive,” a masterpiece of Dad cinema. They talk the liberal politics of the 1990s, the surprisingly nuanced racial politics of the film, and complain, as always, that they just don’t make them like this anymore. Connor Lynch produced this episode. Artwork by Rachel Eck . Contact us! Follow us on Twitter! John Ganz Jamelle Bouie UnclearPod And join the Unclear and Present Patreon ! For just $5 a month, patron...
Nov 11, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 28
Episode 26 — The Hunt for Red October (Take Two) In this one year anniversary episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John return to the film that started it all, “The Hunt for Red October.” They discuss the film as an elegy for the Cold War era, and further explore the dilemma of American power and identity in the post-Soviet world. Next week’s episode…”The Fugitive.” Contact us! Sign up for our Patreon show on the films of the Cold War! Connor Lynch produced this episode. Artwork by...
Oct 30, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 26
Episode 25 — The Firm In this episode of Unclear and Present Danger, John and Jamelle discuss the 1993 John Grisham film adaptation “The Firm.” They use the genre of the legal thriller to discuss the legalization of American life in the 1990s and the turn from politics in crucible of history to management at its putative end. They also talk about Wilford Brimley, so there’s that too. Connor Lynch produced this episode. Artwork by Rachel Eck . Contact us! Follow us on Twitter! John Ganz Jamelle B...
Oct 16, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 25
In this episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John are joined by Amanda Smith of the Disaster Girls podcast to discuss the Wesley Snipes vehicle “Passenger 57,” which features an extremely charismatic Snipes facing off against an off-band Hannibal Lecter and also, casual racism. Connor Lynch produced this episode. Artwork by Rachel Eck . Contact us! Follow us on Twitter! • UnclearPod • John Ganz • Jamelle Bouie • Amanda Smith Links from the episode! • New York Times front-page for N...
Oct 03, 2022•1 hr 14 min
Somehow, a crime thriller starring Willem Dafoe, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Mickey Rourke set in the New Mexico desert isn’t especially good. Still, the 1992 film “White Sands” gave Jamelle and John a little bit to discuss for this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger. Connor Lynch produced this episode. Artwork by Rachel Eck . Contact us! Follow us on Twitter! John Ganz Jamelle Bouie Links from the episode! New York Times front-page for April 24, 1992...
Sep 21, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 24
Jamelle, John and special guest Adam Serwer of The Atlantic watch one of the great crime movies of the 1990s — Bill Duke’s “Deep Cover” — and talk about post-Cold War anxiety over the drug trade, Black “tough on crime” politics, and the war on drugs. Connor Lynch produced this episode. Artwork by Rachel Eck . Contact us! Follow us on Twitter! John Ganz Jamelle Bouie Links from the episode! New York Times front-page for April 15, 1992 James Forman’s book on the Black politics of the early 1990s, ...
Sep 02, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 23
Welcome to episode 22 of Unclear and Present Danger. This week, we watched “Die Hard 2: Die Harder,” the sequel — of course — to “Die Hard.” In this conversation, Jamelle and John talk the 1990s panic over violence in pop culture, the working-class qualities of John McClane, and the lost days of American suspicion of, even hostility to, the military. Connor Lynch produced this episode. Artwork by Rachel Eck . Contact us! Follow us on Twitter! John Ganz Jamelle Bouie Links from the episode! The N...
Aug 21, 2022•57 min•Ep. 22
On episode 21 of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John discuss the horrifically problematic 1993 thriller “Rising Sun” starring Wesley Snipes and Sean Connery. It’s lurid, salacious and incredibly racist, which makes it fertile ground for a discussion of the anti-Japanese panic of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Additional topics include Wesley Snipes' career, Michael Crighton’s whole deal, and the question of whether it is even possible to forge a unifying national narrative. Connor Lync...
Aug 06, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 21
In this, our twentieth episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John watched the hit 1993 thriller “In the Line of Fire,” directed by Wolfgang Petersen and starring Clint Eastwood, Rene Russo and John Malkovich. They discuss Eastwood’s career and star persona, the anti-political apathy of the 1990s, and the “end of history” vibes of Eastwood and Malkovich’s characters. Contact us! Follow us on Twitter! John Ganz Jamelle Bouie Links from the episode! New York Times front-page for July 9...
Jul 24, 2022•54 min•Ep. 20
For episode 19 of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John watch “In the Line of Duty: Ambush in Waco,” a ripped-from-the-headlines-style movie about the siege at Waco. They use the movie as an occasion to discuss right-wing extremism, abuse and overreach among federal law enforcement, and how both played themselves out in American culture. Connor Lynch produced this episode. Artwork by Rachel Eck . Contact us! Follow us on Twitter! John Ganz Jamelle Bouie Links from the episode! New York Ti...
Jul 09, 2022•57 min•Ep. 19
Jamelle, for one, has been very excited about this episode, an analysis of Joel Schumacher’s 1993 film “Falling Down.” In the conversation, Jamelle and John discuss the populist moment of the early 1990s, the discourse around the “angry white man,” the class politics (or lack thereof) of the film, and the erosion of the post-war anti-fascist consensus. Connor Lynch produced this episode. Artwork by Rachel Eck . Contact us! Follow us on Twitter! John Ganz Jamelle Bouie Links from the episode! New...
Jun 25, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 18
In this episode of Unclear and President Danger, Jamelle and John discuss “Sniper,” a delightful piece of genre trash that also happens to speak to some of the paranoias and prejudices of the era. To that point, their conversation veers from the anti-Bill Clinton conspiracy theories of the early 1990s to the militia aesthetic that emerged later in the decade. Contact us! Follow us on Twitter! John Ganz Jamelle Bouie Links from the episode! New York Times front page for January 29, 1993 “The Pana...
Jun 11, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 17
For episode 16 of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John discuss “Under Siege,” 1992 action thriller directed by Andrew Davis and starring Steven Seagal in what is clearly his best role. We talk about Seagal’s career, Hollywood’s view of the American military in this era of filmmaking, and the strange, almost left-wing politics of this movie in particular. Jamelle also attempts a bad impression of Seagal. It’s a good time. “Under Siege” is available for rent on Amazon and iTunes. Our logo,...
May 28, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 16
On episode 15 of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John are joined by Mike Duncan ( Revolutions podcast , “ Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution ”) to discuss the delightful 1992 thriller Sneakers . It’s a movie about a tech mogul who hopes to stage an information revolution and, not surprisingly, John, Jamelle and Mike discuss the internet, social revolutions, and the challenge of building something out of nothing. Our logo, as always, is courtesy of the g...
May 14, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 15
It’s episode 14 of Unclear and Present Danger and we’re talking Oliver Stone’s ridiculous yet incredibly-compelling conspiracy thriller, JFK. Jamelle and John are joined by the historian Alexis Coe to discuss the film, as well as the real John F. Kennedy, his life and legacy. This is a long and fruitful conversation, that covers everything from the Boomer wish-fulfillment which animates the movie to the political consequences of conspiracy-thinking. Once again, our new logo is courtesy of the gr...
Apr 30, 2022•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 14
Is a Star Trek movie a political and military thriller? We think so! Which is why, for this thirteenth episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John (and their guest, Sam Adler-Bell of the “ Know Your Enemy ” podcast) discussed Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country . They talked about the nature of Star Trek’s utopianism, questioned whether the Federation is actually a good thing, and gave a close reading of the film’s Cold War allegory. Our new logo is courtesy of the great Rachel Ec...
Apr 16, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 13
On episode 12 of Unclear and Present and Danger, Jamelle and John talk about, and puzzle over, the 1991 action comedy (comedic thriller?) “Company Business.” They have an extended discussion of Gene Hackman’s career, talk Mikhail Gorbachev and the collapse of the Soviet Union, and think about the surge of populism that struck American politics in the early 1990s. Our new logo is courtesy of the great Rachel Eck! You can find her on Instagram . Contact us! Follow us on Twitter! John Ganz Jamelle ...
Apr 01, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 12
On this 11th episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John are joined by the journalist and author Jonathan Katz to talk John Milius' 1991 Vietnam drama, “Flight of the Intruder.” Among many other things, they talk Milius' work and career, the place of Vietnam in American’s historical memory, the political impact of the Gulf War, and the search for meaning through conflict. Our logo is courtesy of the great Rachel Eck! You can find her on Instagram . Contact us! Follow us on Twitter! J...
Mar 18, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 11
In this tenth episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John talk a little about this week’s movie, the 1991 submarine farce “Going Under,” but devote most of the episode to discussing the war in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin’s regime in Russia, and the way the world has underestimated the power of democracy. Also, you might notice that we have a new logo. That is courtesy of the great Rachel Eck! You can find her on Instagram . Contact us! Follow us on Twitter! John Ganz Jamelle Bouie Links ...
Mar 04, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 10
On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John talk the 1990 John Le Carré adaptation “The Russia House,” starring Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer. They discuss the social base for intelligence work during the Cold War, the period of glasnost and perestroika in the Soviet Union, the politics of nostalgia and the film’s excellent wardrobe. You can rent “The Russia House” on iTunes or on Amazon. Also, you might notice that we have a new logo. That is courtesy of the grea...
Feb 19, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 9
In this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John tackle yet another movie about the Troubles, the 1990 film “Hidden Agenda.” This one, however, is more concerned with British politics than the well-being of the Irish people. They discuss Margaret Thatcher, talk a little about colonialism and the intra-European origins of racism, and complain about the dearth of well-made political thrillers. You can watch “Hidden Agenda” for free on Tubi . Contact us! Follow us on Twitter! ...
Feb 04, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 8
