Podship Casters is a miniseries focusing on the English-language films of Paul Verhoeven; i.e. the films made in Hollywood.
Summary[]
Paul Verhoeven was an accomplished film director in his native Netherlands. So why did he move to Hollywood mid-career, and what did he learn about filmmaking while in America? How does he keep managing to get funding for his projects, which seemingly grow increasingly bonkers as time goes on? What's up with his seemingly sour view on most parts of humanity, and how is he different from other filmmakers with some similar traits, say, Lars von Trier or Werner Herzog? Many of his films have had strong satirical elements, but did he lose touch with how that satire would be received by audiences or was it his own directorial touch that he lost - essentially, whose fault was it when some of his later movies flopped critically and popularly?
#TheTwoFriends note that Verhoeven's movies have some very difficult and uncomfortable material in them - often of a sexual and violent nature - so be warned. Producer Ben was noticeably shaken by watching the first movie in this miniseries, so it can have an effect even on the most unflappable of professionals.
This miniseries is preceded by Pod-19: The Widowcaster miniseries on the films of Kathryn Bigelow. It is followed by the Podcast News miniseries, on the films of James L. Brooks.
Milestones and Ephemera[]
- Again, please proceed with caution if sexual violence is a trigger for you!
- The Dutch Verhoeven films were part of the 20th Century Bracket in March Madness 2022, but he got absolutely poleaxed by early Spielberg in round 1.
- Producer Ben nickname: RoboHoz
Episodes[]
| # | Title | Audio | Guest(s) | Blank Check? | Length | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 142 | Flesh + Blood | 🔊 | no | 1:36 | 1/7/2018 | |
| 143 | RoboCop | 🔊 | The Guarantor | 2:27 | 1/14/2018 | |
| 144 | Total Recall | 🔊 | Andrew Jupin Stephen Sajdak |
yes | 1:57 | 1/21/2018 |
| 145 | Basic Instinct | 🔊 | Miriam Bale | yes | 1:36 | 1/28/2018 |
| 147 | Showgirls | 🔊 | Caroline Framke | yes | 2:14 | 2/11/2018 |
| 148 | Starship Troopers | 🔊 | J.D. Amato | yes | 2:25 | 2/18/2018 |
| 149 | Hollow Man | 🔊 | Alex Ross Perry | yes | 2:09 | 2/25/2018 |
| 150 | Elle | 🔊 | Emily Yoshida | no | 2:02 | 3/4/2018 |
| 354 | Benedetta | 🔊 | Marie Bardi | 2:35 | 12/12/2021 |
Ranking His Filmography[]
- Griffin and David shared their rankings towards the end of the Elle episode. As a guest on that episode, Emily Yoshida also offered her list though she did so with the caveats that she had not seen two of the films, and that her rankings were off-the-cuff.
- Only the films watched during the miniseries were ranked - no Dutch films, no Black Book.
- After the conclusion of the miniseries, the Blankies rankings were compiled from the Reddit voting thread found on the r/Blankies sub-reddit, where the results were also later posted.
| Rank | Griffin | David | Emily | blankies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | RoboCop | Starship Troopers | RoboCop | RoboCop |
| 2 | Starship Troopers | RoboCop | Starship Troopers | Starship Troopers |
| 3 | Elle | Elle | Elle | Total Recall |
| 4 | Total Recall | Total Recall | Basic Instinct | Elle |
| 5 | Basic Instinct | Showgirls | Showgirls | Basic Instinct |
| 6 | Showgirls | Basic Instinct | Total Recall | Showgirls |
| 7 | Flesh + Blood | Flesh + Blood | Flesh + Blood | |
| 8 | Hollow Man | Hollow Man | Hollow Man | |
| ... | Flesh + Blood (unseen) Hollow Man (unseen) |