Cinema Shock

THE MATRIX: How the Cyberpunk Classic Rewired Hollywood | The Wachowskis' Cinema of Fluidity

In 1999, THE MATRIX hit theaters like a digital lightning bolt. Combining cutting-edge special effects, philosophical depth, and next-level action, it wasn’t just a blockbuster—it was a paradigm shift.
In this episode, we trace the origin and creation of THE MATRIX, from the Wachowskis’ early worldbuilding ideas to their battles to get the film made their way. We explore its Hong Kong action influences, cyberpunk roots, and the philosophical and trans allegories that helped define it as more than just a sci-fi thrill ride.
We’re also joined by special guest Robyn Scott to help us break down the movie’s lasting legacy and why it still feels ahead of its time.
BUY OUR MERCH: http://cinemashock.threadless.com
Coming Up:
THE MATRIX RELOADED (2003)
THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS (2003)
V FOR VENDETTA (2006)
SPEED RACER (2008)
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.
Visit our website for episode archives, blogs and more: http://cinemashock.net
Follow us:
twitter.com/cinema_shock
facebook.com/cinemashocknet
instagram.com/cinema_shock

BOUND: Neo-Noir and a Queer Cinema Breakthrough | The Wachowskis' Cinema of Fluidity

Before they reinvented cinema with THE MATRIX, Lana and Lilly Wachowski exploded onto the indie film scene with a lean, stylish, and unabashedly queer neo-noir: BOUND.
In the first episode of our new series, The Wachowskis' Cinema of Fluidity, we dive into the siblings' early years—how they went from house painters and comic book nerds to Hollywood screenwriters, and how a bad experience on their first produced script convinced them to take creative control by becoming directors themselves.
We explore the making of BOUND (1996), from its pitch-perfect performances by Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly to the cinematography that caught critics’ attention, and how the film’s reputation has only grown over the years. Once seen as a stylish erotic thriller, BOUND is now rightly celebrated as a landmark in queer cinema—and the first major film directed by transgender women.
BUY OUR MERCH: http://cinemashock.threadless.com
Coming Up:
BOUND (1996)
THE MATRIX (1999)
THE MATRIX RELOADED (2003)
THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS (2003)
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.
Visit our website for episode archives, blogs and more: http://cinemashock.net
Follow us:
twitter.com/cinema_shock
facebook.com/cinemashocknet
instagram.com/cinema_shock

HOLLOW MAN: Verhoeven’s Hollywood Exit | Sex + Violence

For the final entry in our Sex + Violence: The Films of Paul Verhoeven series, we’re examining the director’s last film made within the Hollywood system: HOLLOW MAN (2000).
Often dismissed by critics—and even by Verhoeven himself—HOLLOW MAN is rarely given the credit it deserves. While its story of invisibility and unchecked power may not have landed in its own time, the film’s special effects work was groundbreaking, and its themes hit differently in a post–#MeToo era.
In this episode, we explore how Sony Imageworks and Tippett Studio achieved the film’s remarkable (and Oscar-nominated) visual effects, what Verhoeven hoped to accomplish with the project, and how the film’s reputation has shifted over time. Was HOLLOW MAN simply a misfire, or a misunderstood provocation in disguise?
BUY OUR MERCH: http://cinemashock.threadless.com
Coming Up:
HOLLOW MAN (2000)
Up Next: The Wachowskis: Walking the Path
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.
Visit our website for episode archives, blogs and more: http://cinemashock.net
Follow us:
twitter.com/cinema_shock
facebook.com/cinemashocknet
instagram.com/cinema_shock

STARSHIP TROOPERS: Would You Like to Know More? | Sex + Violence

After the critical and commercial disaster of SHOWGIRLS, Paul Verhoeven returned to familiar territory: big-budget science fiction. This time, he re-teamed with ROBOCOP screenwriter Ed Neumeier to adapt Robert Heinlein’s 1959 novel Starship Troopers—but not in the way anyone expected.
What Verhoeven delivered was less a straightforward adaptation and more a brutal, satirical takedown of militarism and fascist ideology, all wrapped in the glossy sheen of a 1990s teen soap and bug-splattering war epic. The result? Critics hated it. Audiences didn’t get it. And the film was dismissed as dumb jingoistic schlock.
In this episode, we chart the course of STARSHIP TROOPERS from Heinlein’s source novel to Verhoeven’s gleeful subversion, its troubled marketing and release, and its slow but steady transformation into one of the most critically celebrated sci-fi films of its era.
BUY OUR MERCH: http://cinemashock.threadless.com
Coming Up:
STARSHIP TROOPERS (1997)
HOLLOW MAN (2000)
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.
Visit our website for episode archives, blogs and more: http://cinemashock.net
Follow us:
twitter.com/cinema_shock
facebook.com/cinemashocknet
instagram.com/cinema_shock
 
 

SHOWGIRLS: The NC-17 Disaster That Became a Cult Classic | Sex + Violence

After the smash success of BASIC INSTINCT, Paul Verhoeven had the Hollywood clout to push boundaries like never before. For his next film, he wanted total freedom—no rating compromises, no MPAA edits. What he made was one of the most notorious movies of the 1990s.
SHOWGIRLS.
Written by Joe Eszterhas and pitched (literally) on a cocktail napkin, SHOWGIRLS was meant to be Verhoeven’s ultimate statement on American decadence and ambition. Instead, it was universally panned, laughed out of theaters, and quickly became shorthand for “Hollywood disaster.” But over time, the film’s reputation has shifted—from box office bomb to camp classic, and now to a legitimate subject of critical reappraisal.
In this episode, we trace the full journey of SHOWGIRLS: its unlikely origins, wild production, disastrous release, and long road to redemption.
BUY OUR MERCH: http://cinemashock.threadless.com
Coming Up:
STARSHIP TROOPERS (1997)
HOLLOW MAN (2000)
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.
Visit our website for episode archives, blogs and more: http://cinemashock.net
Follow us:
twitter.com/cinema_shock
facebook.com/cinemashocknet
instagram.com/cinema_shock

BASIC INSTINCT: Sharon Stone, Joe Eszterhas, and the Most Controversial Film of the ’90s | Sex + Violence

After back-to-back sci-fi hits with ROBOCOP and TOTAL RECALL, Paul Verhoeven took a surprising left turn. Instead of another effects-heavy blockbuster, he chose a smaller, more intimate (but no less explosive) project—a sexually charged neo-noir thriller that would push American taboos to the brink.
That film was BASIC INSTINCT.
In this episode, we trace the origin of BASIC INSTINCT, from Joe Eszterhas’s record-breaking screenplay sale to the casting of Sharon Stone and Michael Douglas, to the intense scrutiny and controversy the film faced both during production and after release. We also unpack how the film plays today, and how Verhoeven’s unique blend of sexual provocation and formal precision made BASIC INSTINCT one of the defining—and most debated—films of the 1990s.
BUY OUR MERCH: http://cinemashock.threadless.com
Coming Up:
SHOWGIRLS (1995)
STARSHIP TROOPERS (1997)
HOLLOW MAN (2000)
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.
Visit our website for episode archives, blogs and more: http://cinemashock.net
Follow us:
twitter.com/cinema_shock
facebook.com/cinemashocknet
instagram.com/cinema_shock

TOTAL RECALL: Paul Verhoeven, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the Philip K. Dick Mind Trip | Sex + Violence

After the surprise success of ROBOCOP, Paul Verhoeven had officially made it to the A-list—and so it wasn’t long before Hollywood’s biggest star came knocking. Arnold Schwarzenegger, impressed by ROBOCOP’s mix of action and intelligence, personally recruited Verhoeven to direct his next film: TOTAL RECALL.
But the story of TOTAL RECALL doesn’t start there.
In this episode, we trace the film’s complex journey from its earliest incarnation as a Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett script—written in the same era as ALIEN—through a decade of rewrites, studio changes, and near-deaths in development hell. We break down how the film finally came together under Carolco Pictures, how Verhoeven put his stamp on the production, and how its mix of ultraviolence, mutant horror, and psychological ambiguity turned it into a sci-fi classic.
We also discuss the legacy of TOTAL RECALL, including the many attempts at a sequel—and the remake that couldn’t measure up.
BUY OUR MERCH: http://cinemashock.threadless.com
Coming Up:
TOTAL RECALL (1990)
BASIC INSTINCT (1992)
SHOWGIRLS (1995)
STARSHIP TROOPERS (1997)
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.
Visit our website for episode archives, blogs and more: http://cinemashock.net
Follow us:
twitter.com/cinema_shock
facebook.com/cinemashocknet
instagram.com/cinema_shock
 
 

Let's Talk About the ROBOCOP Sequels | Bonus Episode

For our very first Cinema Shock Roundtable, we’re gonna tie things into our current series on Paul Verhoeven by discussing the non-Verhoeven sequels to ROBOCOP.
These Roundtable discussions are designed to be less structured than our regular episodes where we can play around with our format a bit. Got an idea for a bonus episode? Hit us up at @cinema_shock on Twitter or Instagram!
For even further ROBOCOP discussion, check out this episode from our friends at The More You Nerd where they discuss the ill-fated 90s ROBOCOP TV series.
BUY OUR MERCH: http://cinemashock.threadless.com
 
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.
Visit our website for episode archives, blogs and more: http://cinemashock.net
Follow us:
twitter.com/cinema_shock
facebook.com/cinemashocknet
instagram.com/cinema_shock

ROBOCOP: Paul Verhoeven, Corporate Satire, and Ultraviolent Salvation | Sex + Violence

 
After the commercial disappointment of FLESH + BLOOD, Paul Verhoeven made a bold move—he left the Netherlands and relocated to the United States, determined to understand American audiences from the inside out.
His first major project on U.S. soil? A dystopian action movie about a cyborg police officer called ROBOCOP.
In this episode, we track the development of ROBOCOP—from the satirical, ultra-violent script by Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner, to Verhoeven’s initial dismissal (and eventual embrace) of the project, through its chaotic shoot and over-the-top violence that nearly earned it an X rating. We also explore the film’s legacy as one of the smartest, bloodiest, and most influential sci-fi films of the 1980s.
BUY OUR MERCH: http://cinemashock.threadless.com
Coming Up:
TOTAL RECALL (1990)
BASIC INSTINCT (1992)
SHOWGIRLS (1995)
STARSHIP TROOPERS (1997)
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.
Visit our website for episode archives, blogs and more: http://cinemashock.net
Follow us:
twitter.com/cinema_shock
facebook.com/cinemashocknet
instagram.com/cinema_shock

FLESH + BLOOD: The Bloody American Debut of Paul Verhoeven | Sex + Violence

In our new series Sex + Violence: The Films of Paul Verhoeven, we’re diving into the provocative, satirical, and often controversial career of one of cinema’s boldest auteurs.
We kick things off with a look at Verhoeven’s first English-language film: the brutal 1985 medieval epic FLESH + BLOOD, starring Rutger Hauer and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Before we get there, we also spend time exploring Verhoeven’s early life, his rise through Dutch cinema, and how his distinct blend of sex, violence, and social critique began to take shape in films like TURKISH DELIGHT and SPETTERS.
Then, we get into the chaotic production of FLESH + BLOOD—from its battles behind the scenes to the uneasy balance of exploitation and artistry on screen—and how it set the tone for the American phase of Verhoeven’s career.
BUY OUR MERCH: http://cinemashock.threadless.com
Coming Up:
ROBOCOP (1987)
TOTAL RECALL (1990)
BASIC INSTINCT (1992)
STARSHIP TROOPERS (1997)
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.
Visit our website for episode archives, blogs and more: http://cinemashock.net
Follow us:
twitter.com/cinema_shock
facebook.com/cinemashocknet
instagram.com/cinema_shock