Culture Gabfest: Does Voice-Over Kill the Killer?

Slate Culture

Slate Podcasts

Arts, Tv & Film, Music

4.4 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 8 November 2023

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week, the panel is joined first by Isaac Butler, co-host of Slate’s Working podcast and author of The Method: How the Twentieth Century Learned to Act, to debate the merits of David Fincher’s The Killer and whether the director’s latest “thriller” (which stars Michael Fassbender) is a masterful example of craft or simply a logic-free time-suck. Then, Dana, Julia, and Stephen explore the world of Letterboxd, the self-proclaimed “Goodreads of movies” that may be the only positive social media platform left. Finally, the trio is joined by Extreme Friend of the Pod Chris Molanphy to discuss his wonderful new book, Old Town Road, which considers Lil Nas X's debut single as pop artifact, chart phenomenon, and cultural watershed. In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel asks: what’s the deal with long movies? Are today’s films getting longer or is it just a figment of our imagination? Email us at [email protected]. Endorsements: Dana: A hometown endorsement of Slate’s excellent coverage of the Sam Bankman-Fried trial, specifically a piece by Nitish Pahwa entitled “The Days the Chips Fell,” which chronicles what Pahwa witnessed in the courtroom the day Bankman-Fried was found guilty. Julia: The Last Waltz, Martin Scorsese’s iconic 1978 concert documentary that captures the Band’s legendary farewell performance in San Francisco. It depicts a very specific image of the male rockstar era, highlighting both the vanity and vulnerability of its stars. Dana also wrote about The Last Waltz for Slate in 2012! Stephen: Taken by the retro-feel of The Holdovers’ trailer, Stephen endorses the song featured in it, “Silver Joy” by Damien Jurado. Outro music: “Go Slow” by Daniel Fridell Podcast production by Cameron Drews. Production assistance by Kat Hong. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and exclusive content on many shows. You’ll also be supporting the work we do here on the Culture Gabfest. Sign up now at Slate.com/cultureplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I'm Stephen Metcalf and this is the Slate Culture Gap Fest.
0:13.2	Does Voice-The-Killer edition?
0:16.2	It's Wednesday, November 8, 2023.
0:19.4	On today's show, The Killer,
0:20.7	it's a dark existential noir from director David Fincher. It stars Michael Fastbender in the title role. And then, Letterboxed is to movies what Goodreads is to books. We discuss what some people say is the only good social media site now going.
0:35.8	And finally, the wonderful Chris Milamfe joins us to discuss his new book, Old Town Road,
0:41.5	about the little Nasak song that was not only a huge, huge,
0:45.5	unpressitedly huge hit but also a cultural watershed. But first joining me today is
0:51.9	Julia Turner of the LA Times. Hey Julia.
0:54.5	Hello hello. And of course Dana Stephen's the film critic for slate. Hey Dana
0:59.4	Greetings. All righty then let's make a show right? We'll do it. All right well the killer is a dark
1:06.4	thriller from director David Fincher he of Fight Club and seven and on and on tons of movies.
1:12.4	This one's based on the French graphic novel of the same name and stars Michael Faspender as an ice-cold assassin who after a hit goes wrong finds himself caught in an international manhunt, the movie also stars
1:25.5	Arles Howard, Charles Parnell, and you get some Tilda Swinton in a supporting role.
1:30.6	Netflix hasn't released a clip of the movie yet, but why don't we listen to a bit of the trailer.
1:34.8	You're going to hear Michael Fastbender, as the killer describing his own indifference to human life.
1:39.8	Let's have a listen.
1:41.0	I find music a useful distraction.
1:46.4	A focus tool keeps the inner voice from wandering. is what it takes. My process is purely logistical. If I'm effective, it's because of one simple fact.
2:17.0	I don't give a... Give a scheduling reasons but in fact I could because I've seen it a thousand times before
2:34.7	but that said I'm still gonna cede the microphone to Isaac Butler.
2:39.1	Isaac of course is an old-time friend of the program he's also the author of the method how the 20th century
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Slate Podcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Slate Podcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.