A collaborative exploration of cinematic rhetoric.
For the first episode of season 5, Alex and Jonathan take a look at the many and on-going adaptations of the works of Jane Austen. The specific adaptations we'll be talking about are Sense and Sensibility (1995), Northanger Abbey (2007), Love & Friendship (2016), and Emma. (2020). We discuss the changing style of period pieces,… Continue reading Episode 126. Adapting Austen
For the final installment of the Silver Screen Sports series Alex and Jonathan look at three documentaries that cover a range of sports: Tokyo Olympiad (1965), Hoop Dreams (1994), and Senna (2010). We discuss three different approaches to the creation of a documentary, the difference between fictional and non-fictional representation of sports, and the appeal… Continue reading Episode 124. Silver Screen Sports: Documentary Dreams
The Patrons voted on what contemporary female director we should talk about and the winner was Scottish filmmaker Lynne Ramsay! So today Alex and Jonathan talk about her films Ratcatcher (1999), We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011), and You Were Never Really Here (2017). We discuss Ramsay's very personal and close-to-home debut feature, the… Continue reading Episode 121. Rueful Ramsay
The seemingly small but poignant movement of the Taiwanese New Wave is in the spotlight today as Alex and Jonathan take a look at A City of Sadness (1989), Eat Drink Man Woman (1994), Yi Yi (2000). We discuss the atmospheric tone of the films, the introduction of humor to the second Taiwanese new wave,… Continue reading Episode 118. Taiwanese New Wave
The inexplicable draw towards the dark and twisted psyche of serial killers is the focus today as Alex and Jonathan talk about three films revolving around killers real and fictional, The Night of the Hunter (1955), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), and Zodiac (2007). We discuss elements that give depth to an otherwise sensational… Continue reading Episode 115. Killing in Serial
Music and movies have always been linked, but today Jason Harden joins the show once again to talk with Alex and Jonathan about three films which detail the life of three modern music legends, What's Love Got to Do with It (1993), Ray (2004), and Love & Mercy (2014). We talk about when depicting a… Continue reading Episode 113. Music and Manipulation Feat. Jason Harden
There haven't been a lot of movies about pandemics, yet, but today Alex and Jonathan take a look at the various ways they have been done in the past, specifically in Outbreak (1995), Contagion (2011), and Flu (2013). We talk about the ways pandemic movies suffer from not having a defined genre, what they might… Continue reading Episode 108. Pandemic Panic
Friend of the podcast Aaron Johnson joins the show today to talk about three animated films from Europe about various animals: Watership Down (1978), The Plague Dogs (1982), and Felidae (1994). We discuss how animals are used to depict very mature thematic stories, the distinction between Martin Rosen's animation style and the classic Disney look,… Continue reading Episode 107. Brutal Beasts Feat. Aaron Johnson
Our Patrons recently voted on what two oft-paired actors we should cover and decided on Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan! Alex and Jonathan talk about the only three films starring the two: Joe Versus the Volcano (1990), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), and You've Got Mail (1998) and discuss the evolution of romantic comedies in the… Continue reading Episode 106. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan and Meg Ryan and Meg Ryan
Continuing through our exploration of WWII, Alex and Jonathan turn the focus to the civilian level in Europe and look at the dramatic films Paisan (1946), Army of Shadows (1969), and Schindler's List (1993). We discuss the uniqueness of films being made in the immediate aftermath of the war, the difference in tone between war… Continue reading Episode 104. WWII: Drama
The Filmlings 