Briggs' love of movies has never been more apparent than in the latest iteration of his hosting show,The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs,on the Shudder network. While the movie host has appeared in bit roles on television and movies such asMarried With Childrenand Martin Scorsese’sCasino(a not-too-shabby feature premiere), Briggs has yet to land a leading role in a major motion picture, and that needs to be rectified.
Born John Bloom, Joe Bob Briggs is an alias that dates back to a news column he used to write for theDallas Times Herald. Bloom found his true calling in the almost extinct realm of movie hosting, where his nuance and clearly brilliant mind is better understood in person than in written form. Known for his colorful listing of eye-popping visuals he calls out before a movie of his choosing begins, the Southern-style cinephile makes the all too bizarre and overly quirky deep realm of cinema consumable to common folk. Any self-respecting fan or professional working in the industry would be wise to notice him.
As the internet threatens to obliterate cinema and media consumption at its foundation,Joe Bob Briggs is here to save the day. The wit and charm present in his meditations on the film industry are shockingly comprehensive and well-informed, inspiring one to ponder his IQ and potential genius spectrum. Either that or he’s got a solid relationship with his teleprompter. While his all-American Southern branding may confuse some people at first glance, anyone who has spent time listening to his thoughts and ponderings on cinema, and life in general, will come away inspired and better for it. He represents a dying breed of unfairly demonized"Boomers" in a modern culturethat is quick to cancel.
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For many, Briggs is a living contradiction, forcing a reassessment of what a “nerd” can look like. It’s interesting to compare the host to his earlier decades on TNT. Many fans have uploaded his content to YouTube, showing an even more handsome version of the movie guru, where he’s potentially keeping some of his next-level entertainment knowledge at bay.
Let us ponder a feature film starringThe Last Drive-In Hostand why Briggs could be a golden ticket for the next Quentin Tarantino or Robert Rodriguez style director.
Joe Bob Briggs Speaks the Language of Cinema
Whether cast as the hero or villain, filmmakers would be hard-pressed to find a performer who speaks the language of cinema better than Joe Bob Briggs. When watchingLast Drive-In,one cannot help but be inspired to imagine the cinematic possibilities involving the host.
Occasionally, the show will employ its small staff to craft narrative content, like dressing up his co-host, Diana Prince, aka Darcy The Mail Girl, in fullCreature From The Black Lagoongarb for a heartfelt send-off to the season or breaking into a full existential art-house montage inspired by Werner Herzog. Recently he featured one of the few other still-active broadcast network movie hosts on his show, Svengoolie, performed by Rich Koz (the current iteration of the character) while hosting George A. Romero’sNight of the Living Dead. Seeing the two geek out over such a niche realm of the industry was magical and lit a fire of nostalgia for a bygone era.
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While Darcy mostly fiddles with her phone throughout the segments (managing the show’s social media), she occasionally perks up to share her passions for the genre. Her presence also represents a stark generational divide between a previous era’s sensibilities and the one we currently find ourselves in.
Joe Bob Briggs Could Take the Film World by Storm
Briggs is a writer on the upcoming seriesLove and Deathfor HBO Max, starring Elizabeth Olsen, about the true story of Candy Montgomery, who murdered her friend with an ax in a small Texas town in 1980. Weirdly enough, the same story has been adapted for a Hulu series titledCandythat is currently streaming. Simultaneous big studio adaptations of the same real-life story certainly speak to the media overload of modern times, and Joe Bob Briggs could probably tell you every single time this has happened throughout the history of cinema and television. Hopefully, this is the first of many creative contributions from the movie host.
Recently, Briggs sighted Italian horror movie director Mario Bava as having broken into the industry at the ripe age of forty-six with 1960’sBlack Sunday. Speculating beyond simply starring in a movie, perhaps Briggs will break this record with a directorial debut from an artist in his 70s. It would likely be a masterpiece, but if not, the one he makes when he’s 90 will surely take the world by storm.
