Tag Archives: bonus

Frotcast Bonus: Smearing Pedro, with Kat Tenbarge

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Did you know Pedro Pascal gropes women to deal with his anxiety? If you were online at all in the past week or two, you might have noticed this narrative going around, or people making memes about it, or sharing supposedly damning video evidence of such a thing. Maybe involving Vanessa Kirby, or possibly Willem Dafoe’s wife. And yet, when did Pedro Pascal ever actually say anything about anxiety? Who was making the accusations? The narrative didn’t quite pass the smell test from the start, and as it turns out, that’s probably because it seems to have been some kind of strange astroturfing campaign.

Kat Tenbarge wrote all about it in Spitfire News this week, and in this bonus podcast, I (Vince, that is) interview her all about the Pedro Pascal campaign, where it started, why it’s happening, and what it tells us about bots, the slop internet, and why it’s easier to manipulate celebrity news for bespoke political ends. In Pascal’s case, it all seems to trace back to his trans sister and some rabid JK Rowling fans (though possibly also Bella Ramsey and The Last of Us).

Of course, the Pedro Pascal smear campaign is only the latest in a line of these odd, fake-grass-roots social media influence campaigns which seem to have no higher goal than to make you think that, say, Blake Lively is kind of a bitch or whatever. It’s only when you dig a little deeper that you discover what seems to be the true motivation, like a messy legal battle between Lively and her former director. Something I actually got drawn into myself when a post of mine appeared to get artificially boosted, possibly as part of a larger influence campaign. Are these mini-viral moments just a way for reputation management firms to justify their paychecks, or is there actually legitimate damage being done?

And did this particular kind of shady reputation management begin with the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial, or does it go back even further? Even before Depp/Heard, why did writing about particular celebrities (Hugh Jackman, Tom Cruise, Kamala Harris) always seem to summon a flood of uncanny-seeming replies?

All this is Kat Tenbarge’s particular beat, and she hangs around for a wide-ranging discussion of celebrity culture and niche smear campaigns.

This one is free for everyone, but patrons get a good two hours of the hottest #content every week.

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Bonus Frotcast: ‘Gladiator II,’ with Scott Weinberg

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PLEASE SIGN UP ON PATREON, EVEN IF IT’S FOR FREE! Posting everything here has become a burden, and if you’re only listening to this feed you probably aren’t getting all of the episodes. Patreon dot com slash frotcast! This episode is free, but Patreon subscribers saw it earlier. 

Matt and Brendan couldn’t (wouldn’t?) Frot with me this week, but content waits for no one, and so I brought on Philadelphia’s phinest philm critic, Scott Weinberg from Overhated to scream at about Gladiator II. Scott has had me on Overhated quite a few times, to discuss all the bad movies I love, from the Point Break remake to Chappie, as well as an upcoming episode about Jonah Hex. And so I brought Scott on the Frot to discuss a movie neither of us quite loved or hated. Actually, that’s not quite true. I loved AND hated Gladiator II. I loved it so much I saw it twice, and enjoyed myself both times, but also hated it because it’s kind of accidental fascist apologia, and in a way that was entirely avoidable and mostly only happened because it just couldn’t help repeating the laziest sequel tropes. And yet! Denzel shreds! Fred Hechinger is a perfect villain! Paul Mescal has a masculine nose and thighs! Plus rhinos, baboons, and sharks! So many things to love and hate about this movie, it just had to be discussed, dissected, and debated.

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[Teaser] ‘Rebel Ridge’ Director Jeremy Saulnier

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PLEASE SIGN UP ON PATREON, EVEN IF IT’S FOR FREE! Posting everything here has become a burden, and if you’re only listening to this feed you probably aren’t getting all of the episodes. Patreon dot com slash frotcast! Sign up at Patreon to listen to this episode.

Paying piggies can or already have listened to this week’s full Frotcast, but we did such a good interview with Rebel Ridge director Jeremy Saulnier that we’re making it free for everyone. Previously of Blue Ruin, Green Room, and Hold the Dark, Saulnier is a friend of the Frotcast from way back. We discuss Netflix vs. theatrical, Civil Asset Forfeiture, casting Aaron Pierre, jiu-jitsu, and Jeremy’s secret past as a B-Boy (!!). Check it out. Or don’t, it’s your life, man.

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Interview: Killers of the Flower Moon Author David Grann (from 2017)

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As loyal Frotcast listeners may have already known, I interviewed David Grann, author of the best-selling book on which the new Martin Scorsese movie was based, back in 2017. We got deep into what the book meant, the  characters involved, why he wanted to write it, what it means, and how  he reported it. At the very least, it’s a nice little  background/companion piece for the film (which is much different than  the book, even if most of the facts are the same).

Here’s how I described the book in my review that I haven’t finished writing:

Flower Moon the book is a lot of things,  but mostly it’s the story of a genocide told through the structure of a  true crime tale. Grann delivers a barn burner of a murder mystery about a  greedy landowner, his cat’s-paw nephew, his nephew’s Osage wife, and  the FBI agent who uncovers it all, before zooming out to reveal that it  was all part of a larger-scale plan of dispossession and erasure in  which virtually the entire state of Oklahoma was complicit.

Anyway, enjoy the interview, I certainly did.

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Frotcast Bonus: Top Chef World All-Stars Winner Buddha Lo

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Big news for fans of Top Chef Power Index: I interviewed Top Chef World All-Stars winner Buddha Lo. Buddha became the first back-to-back Top Chef champion in the show’s history. In terms of how dominant he was, all I need to say is that I had him ranked number one in the first episode of his first season, and then had him number one again after all but one of this season’s episodes (and don’t think he didn’t know that I snubbed him in my episode one recap this year — I had him at number two).

You expect a guy as exacting in his approach as Buddha is to be kind of dull or a dick, but Buddha is just too Australian for that. He retains his casual appeal, and has such a unique background that he always makes for a great interview. Who else could I ask such pointed questions about what a dugong tastes like and expect such specific (and weirdly mouth watering) answers?

Read the whole write-up over at GQ, or (AND) listen to it here.

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Frotcast Bonus! ‘Borat 2’ Director Jason Woliner On ‘Paul T. Goldman’

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If you liked Borat or Nathan For You, I think you’re going to enjoy Paul T. Goldman. Director Jason Woliner directed Borat 2 and a few episodes of Nathan For You, but this time around says he was inspired by things like Grizzly Man and American Movie (I would stick Windy City Heat in there too). Basically 11 or 12 years ago this guy, Paul T. Goldman, starting tweeting at Jason Woliner (among many other directors) trying to get Jason interested in directed Paul’s life story. Paul had supposedly been taken advantage of by his ex-wife (his second, the first was a mail-order bride from the Ukraine) and had written not only a memoir about it, but a whole series of detective fiction starring himself, trying to stop human trafficking, which he believed this ex-wife was involved in.

Woliner did direct Paul’s life story, starring Paul as Paul, but he also shot a documentary about the making of said show, and also a documentary trying to get to the truth of Paul’s whole story. The show, produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, is this mix of all three — Paul’s show, the making of Paul’s show, and Jason’s story trying to figure out what the hell actually happened. I obviously enjoyed it, so I thought I’d share my two interviews with Jason Woliner here with you.

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Frotcast: Billy Corben On ‘God Forbid’

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Good Night And Good Cuck

Director Billy Corben is absolutely SMASHING the record for the director with the most Frotcast appearances, with three or maybe even four already. Who can even say?! The man behind Cocaine Cowboys, The U, 537 Votes, Screwballs, et. al. is always a great interview — a “raconteur,” you might even say, which happens to be the name of his production company — so any time he has a movie out it’s a great excuse to get him on.

This week (month?) he has ‘God Forbid’ out on a Hulu, a documentary about Jerry Falwell Jr.’s swingery relationship with a “Miami pool boy” named Giancarlo Granda, who was really only a pool boy for one year of his life but now is forever associated with the phrase because of the scandal. Jerry ALLEGEDLY liked to watch Giancarlo have sex with his wife, Becki, but, because Giancarlo and Jerry caught tied up in a real estate deal with some sketchy Miami dudes, they ended up suing and the whole pool boy/swinger thing got out. ALSO, Trump lawyer Michael Cohen knew about the relationship and has claimed that he used this knowledge as leverage in trying to get Jerry Jr. to support Trump’s bid for president — which Jerry Jr did, and probably had some hand in evangelicals voting for Trump in record numbers.

Phew, now you know why this conversation lasted for a whole hour. Lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what have yous. Hope you enjoy, and don’t forget to check out God Forbid on Hulu.

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Bonus Frotcast: Steve-O From Jackass On Sex Addiction, And ‘A Hard Kick In The Nuts’

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Hey, what’s up, gang. It’s Vince here, and boy have we got a treat for you guys on the free feed today! Not that you deserve it. In fact, you should definitely stop listening right and go sign up for the Patreon at Patreon dot com slash frotcast. Are you still listening? God dammit. Oh well. Anyway, this week, I’m talking to Steve-O. You know, from Jackass. You know Steve-O! Steve-O has a book coming out. The Book is called A Hard Kick In THe Nuts, What I’ve Learned From A Lifetime of Terrible Decisions, and it’s available everywhere books are sold. It’s about Steve-O’s sex addiction, his recovery from sex addiction, his relationships, what he’s learned in recovery… All that stuff! Anyway, that’s the context of the interview today, and I hope you enjoy it, even if you think you’re too damn good to sign up for our Patreon. Do it! Matt’s baby just got born! Congrats, matt! Sign up for the Patreon so she doesn’t go hungry. Okay, love you all, enjoy.

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Frotcast Bonus: Ti West on ‘Pearl,’ ‘X’, And ‘Maxxxine’

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Well, it’s that time of the month again, free feed Frotcast fans. That’s right, I did an interview and now I’m sharing it with you. Perhaps you saw X when it came out in March? That was about a group of kids making a porn in the seventies who travel out to an isolated farmhouse where terror ensues. Now, just (*counts on fingers*) six months later, the sequel is opening. Or rather, the prequel. Pearl tells the origin story for the creepy old lady played by Mia Goth in X (who also played the porn starlet), again starring Goth in a story set in 1918, just after the Spanish Flu pandemic. Both movies were directed by my interview subject, Ti West. If you’re a long-time Frotcast listener, you may remember West from my interviews with him for The Sacrament and In A Valley Of Violence. Which is to say that Ti and I known each other for a bit, even though 90% of our conversations are generally about MMA, including the very end of this one. I admit it feels (and probably even sounds) a little weird when I do my Teri Gross act, but I’m also genuinely curious about the insane process of shooting two (and soon to be three, since the X/Pearl sequel, Maxxxine was greenlit shortly after we recorded this) horror movies back to back in New Zealand. And it’s nice to hear it from someone you know who isn’t just giving you the stock press tour answers.

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Frotcast Bonus: BJ Novak On ‘Vengeance’

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Hey, Frotcasters. Nice little treat for the free feed this week: I got to talk to BJ Novak for his new movie, Vengeance. You most likely know BJ Novak as Ryan from The Office, and that was about all I knew about Vengeance before I put it on. It turned out to be a funny riff on NPR and the podcast world, and making fun of NPR is of course very much up our alley here on the Frotcast (staaaaaged). BJ plays a wannabe Ira Glass type who goes to West Texas to do a podcast about the death of some girl he was hooking up with but doesn’t remember that well. It sort of evolves from a fish-out-of-water, Doc-Hollywood-with-a-podcaster type comedy to something almost resembling a thriller. It has Boyd Holbrook from Narcos and Ashton Kutcher, both doing some of their best work. It should be playing in a theater not too far from you right now. Anyway, I talked up BJ about NPR, working on Punk’d, and that quote about him saying going to Harvard made it harder that went around last week.

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