Episode 186 - THE PARENT TRAP (1998)

If remakes are like cinematic offspring, then 1998's The Parent Trap is full of youthful exuberance. Already notable for launching the acting career of Lindsey Lohan and the directorial career of Nancy Meyers, the film is determined to be a spunkier, more worldly version of its forebear, while sneaking in a complex adult romance alongside its tween twin hijinks.

Jenny Rudloff joins our WWWW family - and it's like discovering a long-lost sibling as we get together (yeah, yeah, yeah) to discuss the movie's queer subtexts and question the parenting strategies in this mischievous Disney flick.

The Parent Trap (1998)
Directed by Nancy Meyers
Written by David Swift and Nancy Meyers & Charles Shyer
Based on Lottie and Lisa by Erich Kastner and The Parent Trap (1961)
Starring Lindsey Lohan, Dennis Quaid, Natasha Richardson, Lisa Ann Walter, Simon Kunz, and Elaine Hendrix

Episode 64 - THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT

A shrewd blend of the old and the new made The Blair Witch Project a polarizing phenomenon and a runaway box office hit in the summer of 1999. It was a nearly ancient story--naive young people get lost in the spooky woods--dressed up in a fresh (at the time) found footage approach, implying through its first-person perspective and savvy marketing that this time, the horror was real.

But are the gimmicks that turned Blair Witch into one of the most successful independent films of all time still as effective after so many imitators made its innovations seem trite and commonplace? We gird ourselves to experience the worst student film shoot ever and search for meaning in this infamous cinematic experiment.

The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez
Produced by Robin Cowie and Gregg Hale
Written by Jacob Cruse and Eduardo Sanchez
Starring Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, and Joshua Leonard