Episode Description
With Kris Montello!
Just as star student Yuka (Hiroko Yakushimaru) awakens to her otherworldly powers (and her feelings for kendo athlete Koji [Ryôichi Takayanagi]), Venusian imperialist Kyogoku (Toru Minegishi) issues an ultimatum: Use her powers to force the universe into conformity and order or be flattened with the rest of it. When Yuka refuses the call, Kyogoku instead enlists transfer student Michiru (Masami Hasegawa) and begins his conquest with the student body at Yuka’s school.
It goes without saying that SCHOOL IN THE CROSSHAIRS is a visual feast. But no matter how ‘out there’ it gets, inside every Nobuhiko Ōbayashi film is an incredibly human heart animating its zanier flair. That’s what we’re here for!
Find Kris…
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On Twitter at kris_montello
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On Bluesky at krismontello.bsky.social
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At the the Asian-American International Film Festival
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On Trylove episodes about SAMURAI REINCARNATION (1981), AN AUTUMN AFTERNOON (1962)
References:
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“Anti-Fascist, All Fun: Disobedient Whimsy in Nobuhiko Ôbayashi’s School in the Crosshairs” by Chris Polley for Perisphere, the Trylon blog
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"Memories of Summer," Harry Mackin's essay on HIS MOTORBIKE, HER ISLAND (1986) for Perisphere, the Trylon blog
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Give to the Trylon’s Film Forever Fund so they never have to increase ticket prices!
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Check the calendar, preview upcoming series, and buy tickets
#TheUntetheredVisionsOfNobuhikoÔbayashi #DCP
Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch!
Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: “I Want to Protect You” by Yumi Matsutoya from the SCHOOL IN THE CROSSHAIRS soundtrack.
Timestamps
0:00 - Episode 358: SCHOOL IN THE CROSSHAIRS (1981)
3:40 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary
4:37 - Digging deeper on Ōbayashi
11:16 - Where Ōbayashi’s tendencies show in SCHOOL IN THE CROSSHAIRS
22:21 - The world of the young and the world of the old
31:37 - What if you could control your growth?
44:14 - Yuka’s struggles with her new powers
50:26 - The second act
58:10 - The craft
1:03:17 - Ōbayashi’s oeuvre
1:15:50 - What Ōbayashi wanted us to understand about the future
1:18:10 - The Junk Drawer
1:23:51 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1981
1:31:53 - Cody’s Noteys: Trying Down the Love (trivia for movies with five-syllable titles)