A collaborative exploration of cinematic rhetoric.
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
In another deep dive into a fairly narrow sub-genre, Alex and Jonathan crack the code on heist films by looking at Rififi (1955), Ocean's Eleven (1960), and Inception (2010). We talk about the origins and draw of heist films, the way the activity of a heist lends itself to storytelling, and how to modify the… Continue reading Episode 123. One Last Job
As a contrast to the majority of Indian film covered on the podcast so far, today Alex and Jonathan look at the works of Satyajit Ray in Pather Panchali (1955), Charulata (1964), and Nayak: The Hero (1966). We discuss what makes Ray stand out from other Indian films we've covered, how Ray is able to… Continue reading Episode 122. Subtle Satyajit
Our Patrons voted on which of the directors we touched on in our Season 1 World Tour we should do a deep dive on and the winner was the essential Japanese director Yasujirô Ozu. We look at his films Late Spring (1949), Floating Weeds (1959), and An Autumn Afternoon (1962). We talk about the common… Continue reading Episode 116. …Ozu
From acting, to starting her own production company, to directing both film and television, Alex and Jonathan take a look at the extensive career of Ida Lupino in Hollywood's golden age through her work in High Sierra (1941), The Hitch-Hiker (1953), and The Trouble with Angels (1966). We discuss her popular acting persona as the… Continue reading Episode 112. Mother Lupino
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
In the third installment of our World War II series we finally get to the films showing the actual conflict across the various fronts of the war in The Great Escape (1963), Come and See (1985), and The Thin Red Line (1998). We talk about how WWII action films present the horrors of war from… Continue reading Episode 103. WWII: Action
After nearly a hundred episodes, Alex and Jonathan finally get around to some of the biggest films in cinema history, specifically in the romance genre. We take a look at Gone with the Wind (1939), Casablanca (1942), and West Side Story (1961) and discuss the effect of the studio system on large budget productions, elements… Continue reading Episode 99. You’ve Probably Heard of this One Before
Our Patrons voted recently on what film remake they'd like to hear more about so Alex and Jonathan get into the weird world of Roger Corman's sci-fi classic The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) and Frank Oz's musical remake Little Shop of Horrors (1986). We talk about the way Roger Corman mixes comedy and horror… Continue reading Episode 93. Little Shop of Remakes
After the studio system ended in the 1960s a new era of American cinema was born known as the American New Wave. Today Alex and Jonathan take a look at three milestones of that era: Bonnie and Clyde (1967), The French Connection (1971), and The Deer Hunter (1978). We talk about how Bonnie and Clyde… Continue reading Episode 90. The American New Wave
The Filmlings 