Tag Archives: Interviews

‘The Smashing Machine’ (2002) Retrospective, with John Hyams

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Before it was a presumed Oscar contender starring Dwayne The Rock Johnson, The Smashing Machine was a documentary about MMA pioneer Mark Kerr, directed by John Hyams. Arguably one of the most influential documentaries of the 21st century, I was so obsessed with it that the first time I tracked down John Hyams to pepper him with questions about it was 13 damned years ago. That’s right, before my retrospective about The Smashing Machine documentary was a GQ feature, it was a FilmDrunk Frotcast. I haven’t seen the upcoming scripted A24 version starring The Rock, but knowing that Benny Safdie was at least as obsessed with John Hyams’ documentary with I am, obsessed enough to recreate certain scenes right down to getting the hats and trunks right, makes me think it’s going to be pretty good. Point is, this has no spoilers for The Smashing Machine (2025), because I haven’t seen it yet.

What this is is the most comprehensive behind-the-scenes interview about The Smashing Machine (2002) that I could conduct. Did you know it was originally supposed to be called “The Specimen?” That HBO considered calling it “The Bloody Punch?” That Hyams wrote his own scripted version of it that was once intended as a vehicle for Mark Wahlberg? That in a roundabout way, it would go on to evolve into what became Warrior? All of these things are true, and we know them because John Hyams was cool enough to sit in for an hour-plus interview. A handful of quotes made it into my GQ retrospective (up there with my Freddy Got Fingered oral history in terms of things I’m most proud of having written) but I always intended to post the whole conversation. Feel like I owed it to posterity.

Funny that Dana White and the UFC are now gung ho on Dwayne Johnson playing Mark Kerr–as Hyams recalls it, Zuffa used to try to scrub every mention of the documentary back when the UFC was still fighting for legitimacy (perhaps understandably so). The original came from a different time, when MMA fighters were far more concerned with convincing the public that they were legitimate athletes and not scary monsters (let alone trying to do rightwing demagoguery or whatever). That’s what makes it such an incredible time capsule, and Hyams was more than game to let yours truly Remember Some MMA Guys, specifically from the PRIDE days. Not always successfully, but that’s why editing exists. Hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I did, and don’t forget to check out some of John’s other great movies like Universal Soldier: Regeneration and Sick while you’re at it.

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649: For The Epsteinth Time, with Billy Corben (Rent ‘Men of War!’)

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Returning champion Billy Corben (The U, Screwball, Cocaine Cowboys) is on this week to discuss his new documentary Men of War, which covers a wide-eyed Canadian idealist’s journey from thinking Full Metal Jacket is a movie about how the military is cool, to the US Special Forces, to ham-fistedly attempting a coup in Venezuela. It’s quite a ride.

Billy generously goes deep on Venezuelan politics to set the stage for how this unlikeliest of coup plotters got himself in that position to begin with. Billy also discusses his interpretation of coup leader Jordan Goudreau as a “post-modern” soldier in that his entire point of reference seems to be old war movies. “I’ll infiltrate with an inflatable boat, suit up theatrically on the beach, attack the island, scalp a guy with a saw blade, then impale Maduro with a steam pipe. Just like Commando!”

Billy has to go because the people running the studio he’s in have turned the lights off like bouncers at last call, so we then segue into this week’s hot topic that surely no one is tired of discussing, the Charlie Kirk shooting. Specifically, why are we still trying to shoehorn people into a left/right spectrum, and where does a guy making jokes about a furry with a boner fit in? Political incoherence is the new manifesto. Also, we are begging just one reporter to ask what “trans ideology” entails and how it can fit on a shell casing.

We wrap up by discussing the Verhoeven-esque scene that emerged from the shooting as  Mormon influencer “Elder TikTok” posted a selfie video from the ensuing moments after the shooting, imploring his audience to like and subscribe to both his Instagram and the Church of Latter-Day Saints. Grim stuff. He also contaminated the crime scene by picking up blood-soaked items, presumably to sell on eBay. Nevermind, this is worse than anything Verhoeven came up with. Smash that like button and sound off in the comments!

Rent Men of War on Prime Video and Apple TV (or wherever Men of War are sold!). Please.

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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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Frotcast Bonus: Zeke Faux Talks ‘Number Go Up,’ Crypto Scams, Fake Texts, and What SBF Eats

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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!

Here’s a bonus pod for your eager snouts, Vince interviews financial journalist Zeke Faux about his book, Number Go Up: Inside Crypto’s Wild Rise and Staggering Fall. It’s a fascinating read containing a number of surprising revelations, like that all those fake text messages you get every day are part of a billion dollar scam carried out by human trafficking victims in Cambodia, which arguably wouldn’t exist without crypto (I’ve written an explainer all about that part, which you can read here). Of course, there are also way more anecdotes than could ever fit in an article, which was why a podcast made perfect sense. I picked Zeke’s brain about all the stuff Sam Bankman-Fried ate, how a former child actor with connections to a pedophile ring was central to the establishment of crypto currency, and in what ways crypto guys are similar to Juggalos. Hope you enjoy, buy the book, subscribe to all the things and you’re welcome for the extra slop.

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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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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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Bonus Frotcast: Pauly Shore Talks ‘Encino Man’ 30th Anniversary

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Last week I got to talk to Pauly Shore for the 30th anniversary of Encino Man, and now I’m sharing the audio version for you earholes. This was a pretty cool interview, because as you can hear, I wore out quite a few Pauly Shore movies back when I was a kid. I also think he’s a really interesting character, who sort of got unfairly punished just for getting famous right at the tail end of the hair metal era. Not to mention having had an interesting life, being the son of the owners of the Comedy Store and becoming basically a superstar in his early twenties. As you can hear, he’s still a pretty funny dude. One of my favorite things about this was Pauly effortlessly shutting down my attempts to riff with him, which to me ended up being way funnier than if he’d actually played along and yes-anded me. “What? Yeah, whatever, anyway..”

Like I said, I think Pauly is a super interesting guy and I hope you guys enjoy listening to this interview as much as I enjoyed doing it. Frot on.

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Bonus Frot: ‘Dual’ Director Riley Stearns

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This week I (Vince) got to talk to Riley Stearns, the director of Dual, so I’m sharing the audio version with you guys here. Riley previously directed The Art of Self-Defense, which I didn’t like nearly as much as I liked his new one, Dual, starring Karen Gillan and Aaron Paul from Breaking Bad, which is a sort of light sci-fi set in a world where you can clone people, and sometimes you have to fight your own clone for the right to your identity. Riley shot this one in Finland because of COVID, so all the extras are Finnish, which actually gives it a weird effect that adds to the film. We also talk about jiu-jitsu (which we both practice) and an incident during Sundance when Riley objected to a film critic who had previously made fun of him over his divorce (to Mary Elizabeth Winstead) reviewing his new movie. There was kind of a thing about it, but unless you’re extremely online and follow “film twitter” closely you probably didn’t hear about it (and are probably better off). Anyway, check it out, and see if Dual is playing near you go see it.

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TEASER – Noomi Rapace and Valdimar Jóhannsson from LAMB

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FULL EPISODE AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS AT PATREON.COM/FROTCAST

Hey, Frotcast fans. I’ve gotten mostly positive feedback on the interviews I’ve shared, so I thought what the hell, I guess I’ll keep posting them.

This week I got to talk to Noomi Rapace and Valdimar Johansson from the movie Lamb. Valdimar directed it and Noomi Rapace stars. You may also know her from such films as Prometheus, the original Swedish versions of the Girl with The Dragon Tattoo movies, and The Drop. Which, just as an aside, to me was the superior dog revenge movie, though it got got unfairly overshadowed by John Wick.

Anyway, that’s neither here nor there. Like I said, the movie is called Lamb, it’s from A24, and it’s out in theaters this weekend. It’s about a couple, named Maria and Ingvar, who live on a farm in Iceland, who sort of have their lives changed by this baby lamb. I thought it was beautifully shot and just enjoyably weird.

We don’t get into too much spoiler territory in this, at least nothing that’s not in the Trailer. Aaaaand. Well, I’m pretty sure that’s all you need to know. Anyway, hope you enjoy it, and if not we’ll have lots of regular Frotcasts coming your way.

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