My guest for this month is Allen Pike, and he’s joined me to discuss the film I chose for him, the 1985 dystopian science fiction film Brazil. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly.

Show notes:

• My original review of Brazil
• The film was directed by Monty Python alum Terry Gilliam
• Who doesn’t love a good black comedy
• Or 1940s fashion
• Or 1980s technology
• Some might argue that bureaucracy has already gone wrong
• 1985 is, in fact, before 1990
• I love Michael Palin in basically everything he’s ever done
• Another Terry Gilliam film was Time Bandits, I like this one a lot more
• The studio that initially butchered the film was Universal, nice try Sid Sheinberg
• The underground screening was for the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, who awarded the film Best Picture
• Comparisons with George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four are just silly
• The only thing they have in common is some sense of mass surveillance
• 2006’s Idiocracy by Mike Judge, on the other hand, does sound similar to this film
• Seriously. Seriously! No one should get a Pizza Hut tattoo on their face. That’s a bad idea
• Ian Holm does a wonderful job as a fairly inept boss
• Consistentize isn’t a word, but standardize is
• The whole essay by David Sterritt for Criterion is a great read
• Robert De Niro’s character is named Archibald “Harry” Tuttle
• Bob Hoskins' character is named Spoor, and his partner is named Dowser
• Star Trek represents the most hopeful version of the future that I know of
• Ok, but for real, don’t get a Pizza Hut tattoo on your face. Not cool
• The app design studio Allen runs is called Steamclock, they’re great, you should hire them
• The DMV definitely still loves paperwork
• TSA Precheck, which is totally available for Canadians too
• India has plenty of bureaucracy of its own
• San Francisco is an ABC city, which makes opening a bar an insane pain
• Vancouver, British Columbia is apparently also a tough place to open a bar
• Disruption doesn’t justify all actions, some of these companies need to cut it out
• The theme song, also called Brazil, was recorded by Geoff Muldaur
• It was also used in the first trailer for WALL-E
• There are really, seriously, almost no similarities between this film and Cannibal Holocaust
• You should read all the interesting things Allen writes at his website

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