The Cable Guy (1996)

The Cable Guy (1996)

Author: Film Trace December 30, 2021 Duration: 1:10:28

At the height of Jim Carrey's fame in the mid 1990s, this bizarre pitch-black comedy was released as a summer blockbuster. The Cable Guy is a historical and creative anomaly, especially for millenials old enough to have seen it in the theater. For the last twenty-five years, we have all been trying to piece together and understand the strange feelings this movie put inside of us. The genre here is a white-out blend of gross-out buddy comedy, media satire, and exrotic thriller. The Cable Guy is truly the ideal film for Film Trace. It is so full of contradictions, oscliating successes and failures, that we can't help but try to make sense of this absurd attempt by the Frat Pack to parody The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. In what world could this possibly make sense besides our own? 

Special Guest: Great podcasters and friends of the show, Brigitte and Mark


Ever find yourself falling down an internet rabbit hole after the credits roll, clicking from a film’s trivia page to the director’s biography and then to some obscure piece of production history? That’s the exact feeling Film Trace aims to capture and expand upon in audio form. This isn't just another review show. Instead, each episode is a deep, meticulously researched excavation of a single movie’s entire journey. We start with the initial spark of an idea-the script found in a drawer, the chance meeting that got it greenlit-and follow every twist and turn through casting, chaotic production, and post-production. The story continues to the film’s release, its critical and cultural reception, and what legacy it holds now. Think of it as a comprehensive, narrative-driven biography of a film, built on primary sources and genuine curiosity. The hosts at Film Trace use their collective nerd superpowers to do all that obsessive digging for you, weaving together context, history, and behind-the-scenes details into a compelling story about how art gets made. You’ll come away from each installment of this podcast not just with an opinion on a movie, but with a real understanding of its place in the wider world of TV and film. It’s for anyone who believes the story off-screen is just as fascinating as the one projected on it.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 131

Film Trace
Podcast Episodes
Bound (1996) and Poison Ivy (1992) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:52
The fourth film in our Risqué Romance cycle is Lana and Lily Wachowski's debut film, Bound (1996).Like the Wachowskis' more successful and canonical sophomore effort, The Matrix, Bound both works wonderfully on its own a…
Valley Girl (1983)	and My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:51
The third film in our Risqué Romance cycle is the small yet delightful, Valley Girl (1983).Valley Girl, the paradigm of an indie film, transcended its own means of production to become an oddly dismissed 80s mall romcom.…
Badlands (1973) and Harold and Maude (1971) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:09:22
The second film in our Risqué Romance cycle is Terrence Malick's debut film, Badlands (1973)Loosely based on the real-life murdering spree committed by Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate in the late 1950s, Badland…
Lolita (1962) and A Taste of Honey (1961) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:41
The first film in our Risqué Romance cycle is Stanley Kubrick's infamous Lolita (1962).We start out this new season by tiptoeing through the minefield that is Lolita, a notorious film adaptation of the even more notoriou…
Branded to Kill (1967) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:59
The sixth and final film in our Absurdist Action cycle is Seijun Suzuki's masterpiece, Branded to Kill (1967)When we decided to do Absurdist Action as the theme of this cycle, we both struggled to find a starting point.…
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:50
The fifth film in our Absurdist Action cycle is Michael Cimino's wonderful debut, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot.Special Guest: Daniel Malone from the great ‘You Talkin’ to Me?’ film podcastMichael Cimino will forever be a my…
48 Hours (1982) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:29
The fourth film in our Absurdist Action cycle is Walter Hill's buddy cop paradigm, 48 Hours.Special Guest: Ryan Hendricks, friend of the show and Hollyweird insiderThe buddy cop movie would not exist without 48 Hours. Ir…
Bad Boys (1995) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:07:23
The third film in our Absurdist Action cycle is Michael Bay's debut, the paradigm of absurd action movies, Bad Boys.Special Guest: Harry Mackin from the fantastic Trylove Podcast. Bayhem has its own origin story. Shot wi…
Hot Fuzz (2007) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:35
The second film in our Absurdist Action cycle is Edgar Wright's iconic action comedy, Hot Fuzz.Special Guest: Max Covil, Rotten Tomato Approved Film Critic from the great It's the Pictures podcast and newsletter.If Edgar…
Bullet Train (2022) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:24
A New Cycle Begins! The first film in our Absurdist Action cycle is the rock 'em sock 'em 2022 release, Bullet Train.The action comedy is a delicate balance. Too much comedy and the stakes feel too low. Too little and th…