George Romero's rare departure from horror is an Arthurian tale about a band of traveling performers who have a kind of Renaissance Faire-meets-motocross-meets-professional wrestling, lead by the idealistic King William played by Ed Harris. It's a defense of independent film, a rumination on selling out, a celebration of a receding counterculture, and a clear-eyed examination of utopianism and its faults and contradictions. In short, its one of the best movies we've covered for either of our shows, and one that got right to our hearts. 

It doesn't hurt that it was filmed in Pennsylvania.

We go all over the map with this one, from 19th century Romanticism to labor rights, from the inherent contradictions in Arthurian myth to a love for the woods of Pennsylvania.

This is a preview of the episode, part of our series Hollywood Avalon, a podcast dedicated to Arthurian film; to hear the entire episode, join the Mary Versus the Movies patreon for $3/month to hear this and the entire series Hollywood Avalon: https://www.patreon.com/maryvsmovies