Considering the lack of movies that revolve around audio engineers (which happens to be this week’s theme), it’s remarkable how incredible our selections for this double feature are! First up: Franny For Co’s slender goddess,The Conversation (1974). It’s an engrossing, paranoid mood-piece starring Gene Hackman as a surveillance expert grappling with the morality of his work. Second: Brian De Palma’s meta-leaning Blow Out (1981). Inspired by Antonioni’s Blow Up and rendered with characteristic De Palma panache, John Travolta stars as a sound designer who happens to capture the audio of a dubiously accidental car crash. Both highlight the importance of audio as a medium and are stellar examples of film en general. You’ll never listen to movies the same way again! Join us for a round of Hot Mikes and we discuss fetishized analog audio gear, bloody toilet overflow anxiety, and a big bucket of pennies, this week on Ex Rated Movies!