It's very difficult to keep the line between the past and the present.

You believe that someone out of the past can enter and take possession of a living being?

We may be true with the past, but the past is not through with us.

Welcome to The Next Picture Show, a movie The Week podcast of a classic film and how it shaped our thoughts on a recent release. I'm Keith Phipps here with Genevieve Koski. Tasha Robinson. Scott Tobias. Here on the Next Picture Show, we believe that no film exists in a vacuum and that all culture is more interesting in context. So every week, we get together to talk over a classic film and consider how it relates to a current movie. This week, we're looking at two films about capitalism, race, what it might take to burn down an unjust system, and whether we're doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. Also, they're comedies. Genevieve, what can you tell us about our latest pairing? Can I do it via charades? You can try. Okay, how many syllables, Genevieve? How many syllables? Genevieve, how many syllables? Actually, maybe we should just use words. Okay, then. From the moment it premiered at Sundance this year, Boots Riley, sorry to bother you, started earning comparisons to Robert Downey's 1969 satire Putney Swope. Any similarities, however, seem to be purely coincidental,

since, whenever asked, Riley has pointed out that he's never seen the film. Still,

movies don't have to have a direct influence on one another to be worth comparing, particularly

when they have this much in common. Released in 1969, Downey's Putney Swope looks at the world

of advertising via the story of a black executive's attempt to remake an ad firm in his own image when he becomes its unlikely chairman.

It's a satirical comedy with a broad, sometimes overstuffed sensibility, a distinctive visual style, and some strong ideas about capitalism and revolution, all of which connected to Sorry to Bother You, in which Lakeith Stanfield stars is a telemarketer who makes another unlikely ascent up the corporate ladder and it covers a terrible secret in the process. Both are daring films that go on a limbs that others wouldn't attempt to navigate, and both pack more ideas into a few minutes than some movies manage at feature length. On today's show, we'll dive into the chaos of Putney Swope's Capital's Rebellion. The next Tuesday, look at how sorry to bother you, brings the rebellion into the 21st century.

We'll be right back on the... On today's show, we'll dive into the chaos of Putney Swipes' Capitalist Rebellion. The next Tuesday, look at how sorry to bother you, brings the rebellion into the 21st century.

We'll be right back after a message from our sponsors, Harvey's Beer and Lucky Airlines.

Congratulations, Putney.

It's going to be a pleasure working with you, Swope.

You're gonna make a great chairman if you stay in line.

My father would have wanted it this way.

He dug you very much.

Your father was a horse's ass.

Yeah, but he dug you very much.

The changes I'm going to make will be minimal. I'm not gonna rock the boat.

Rocking the boat's a drag.

What you do is sink the boat.

There's no sense sinking nothing unless you can salvage with productive alternatives.

...