Episode 143. Pugnacious Preminger

Another legend of Hollywood's Golden Age is the spotlight for this episode as Alex and Jonathan talk about some of the classic works of Otto Preminger: Laura (1944), Bonjour Tristesse (1958), Anatomy of a Murder (1959), and Bunny Lake is Missing (1965). We discuss how Preminger builds character driven narrative through visuals, his real and…

Episode 85. Wreaking Revenge

Revenge is a universal motivator and today Alex and Jonathan take a look at how it also works to create great stories in Lady Snowblood (1973), Memento (2000), and The Revenant (2015). We talk about the various conclusions about revenge in each movie, creating films that transcend gimmicks, and revenge as an "archegenre" that can…

Episode 84. The New Noir

As a follow up to last season's episode on classic film noir, Alex and Jonathan travel through the evolution of the modern subgenre of neo-noir in The Long Goodbye (1973), L.A. Confidential (1997), and Drive (2011). We discuss ways that noir themes cross over into neo-noir, the ways neo-noir uses violence, and the changing aesthetics…

Episode 71. Detectives, Dames, and Deception

Diving into maybe the darkest genre in film-history, Alex and Jonathan take a look at the moral complexity of film noir in The Maltese Falcon (1941), Double Indemnity (1944), and Touch of Evil (1958). We talk about the increasing darkness of the subject matter as the period goes on, common elements like the femme fatale, and the continuing…

Episode 67. Hundreds of Holmes

The game is afoot this week as Alex and Jonathan take a look at three adaptations of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective, Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939), The Sign of Four (1987), and Sherlock's "A Study in Pink" (2010). We discuss the different personality traits of Sherlock Holmes that are emphasized in each…