The Cusack Cult Cast

We'll we're here, 2022's Pursuit. As of the publishing of this episode, this is the last film in John Cusack's filmography. We originally started this podcast "About John Cusack" but in reality John was just a jumping off point for two best friends to meet up every week to talk about art and just hang out. At times the process was a slog, but never for a minute did it stop being fun. This podcast is by no means a "success" in the traditional sense. We're still nobodies toiling away at our art, but I think this podcast is a reminder of the only skill either of us have and that's our weird sense of seeing something through to the end, even if there are no immediate rewards visible. We're in it for love. We always have been, always will. Spellabee Forever. Keep your heart in it.

We are joined this week by one of our oldest movie buddies and spiritual 3rd mic, James. We have a great conversation about a surprisingly competent late stage John movie, Never Grow Old. A "revisionist western" (whatever that means) from 2019 starring Emile Hirsch and John Cusack. While it's thematically muddy, there is some real-deal filmmaking here and we're happy we got to share the experience with our friend.

Wow oh wow. Episode 80. Pretty swank. This episode we talk the true value of humans in a world soon to be filled with AI, fan art, and memes. We also talk about River Runs Red.

Oh boy, 2018's Distorted. It's a movie alright. Yep, there's a beginning, a middle, and an end. It's got a runtime of an hour and 26 minutes, you better believe it. People are acting in it, that's right. John is in it, Christina Ricci is in it. There's some other people, and guess what, they're talking. And it's all on screen. Three more.

We mainly talk about Cruelty Squad this episode. If for some sick reason you want to hear about the film skip to the 42ish minute mark.

We're at the point in the pod where we are excited about a movie being bad in a "different" way then usual. Blood Money feels like a modern horror film in setup but plays out like every other VOD we've watched. However it features a perfectly executed performance from John on this one and a 90 min runtime which is all we can ask for at this point. We also get into music and the creative process at the beginning.

We got another John Cusack and Nicholas Cage joint. It's about as good as you'd expect which is not at all. Spend some time with actors whose face you know from somewhere but you don't know their name as they play baseball and hang out at the arcade. And Cage has an insane fake nose. Some other stuff happens but you know the deal, I forget what happens in these things the second we're done recording.

Cell is a zombie movie...with a message. Scared yet? Thought so. It also features John in a leading role with Samuel L. Jackson in yet another Stephen King adaptation. Is it as good as the last time this team paired up? No. But did we play a game before talking about it to lessen the blow? Yes.

One of the more unique movies we've seen during the course of the experiment. Is Chi-Raq a good movie? Not particularly. Is it a singular mess of an experience? Yes absolutely.

Same movie, different year, but with less John. I think we have like 9 more to go?

Dragon Blade is a fascinating piece of Eastern art featuring several famous actors from the West. The film is overall fun with a good nature to it. Jackie Chan brings a lot of heart to the film and John adds a welcomed charm.

You'll never guess what we watched this week. A Video On Demand film where John plays a snarky bad guy and the main character is trying to save his daughter. But this time it's with a twist, it takes place in beautiful Puerto Rico and the daughter is adopted. Other than that we're just counting down the weeks.

Love and Mercy? Heroes and Villians? Ruroni Kenshin or Trigun? You be the judge. 2014's biopic about Brian Wilson is slightly convoluted but overall harmless film with some interesting behind the scene glimpse into the creative process of one of the greatest pop song writers of all time.

A movie so forgettable that we forgot the title of the movie as we were watching it. 2014's The Prince is an embarrassing power fantasy and not much more. And truthfully, I'm trying to remember what it was about a week later while writing this and I honest to god cannot remember. 13 more to go. EDIT: There's some sound issues from 27min-30min, sorry about that.

A bizarre viewing experience this week, 2014's Drive Hard is somehow charming in it's ability to subvert expectations, but also still at the whim of them which ultimately leads to it's downfall. But the film features two great performances from both John Cusack and Thomas Jane in an unexpected buddy action film.

If this podcast was a map to getting good movies to watch it'd be the worst map of all time. However, this week we we're blessed with a special film, 2014's Maps To The Stars. Possibly the best film we've watched in the later half of John's career.

I'm going to own up here and I say that I goofed. I spaced on uploading the podcast and by doing that I pretty much forgot everything about this movie. John plays a trained hitman or something? There's some bad people doing bad things? I don't know, man.

Four grown men watching an IFC indie film from 2013 (which by the way is John's busiest year ever it seems) for high schoolers debating it's merits. It doesn't matter look at, it's what you see.

A truly pleasant and refreshing VOD Thriller. I don't think either of us would have ever thought we'd say that. Grand Piano is a hidden gem of a film and a joy to watch. We gotta savor these moments while we can.

Get ready for about 55 minutes of Newport News, Virginia talk and about 5 minutes of talking about 2013's The Butler. Another Lee Daniels' film that stars an all star cast, a very confusing timeline and a fake nose on John.