This week we tackle the Coen Brothers’ gritty debut feature, Blood Simple, starring Frances McDormand, John Getz, and M. Emmet Walsh. Plus: Wayne Shorter, rock climbing, and our experiences with first-time directors. LINKS: <a href='https://youtu.be/YArfyHgKuzE?si=TRHJSIhG-P6P-Fq3'>Trailer for Blood Simple</a> <a href='https://youtu.be/Q97e1gBwNPg?si=HLpS21S9EhFQ0oCy'>Trailer for Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity</a> <a href='https://youtu.be/l3XXwdEZm2Y?si=oqhmZjPkI-xuVWjO&t=160'>Let's go to court: a scene from The Insider</a><a rel="payment" href="https://buymeacoffee.com/alternatesides">Support the show</a>

This week we tackle the Coen Brothers’ gritty debut feature, Blood Simple, starring Frances McDormand, John Getz, and M. Emmet Walsh. Plus: Wayne Shorter, rock climbing, and our experiences with first-time directors. LINKS: Trailer for Blood Simple Trailer for Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity Let's go to court: a scene from The Insider Support the show

This week we tackle the Coen Brothers’ gritty debut feature, Blood Simple, starring Frances McDormand, John Getz, and M. Emmet Walsh. Plus: Wayne Shorter, rock climbing, and our experiences with first-time directors. LINKS: <a href="https://youtu.be/YArfyHgKuzE?si=TRHJSIhG-P6P-Fq3" rel="noopener noreferrer">Trailer for Blood Simple</a> <a href="https://youtu.be/Q97e1gBwNPg?si=HLpS21S9EhFQ0oCy" rel="noopener noreferrer">Trailer for Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity</a> <a href="https://youtu.be/l3XXwdEZm2Y?si=oqhmZjPkI-xuVWjO&amp;t=160" rel="noopener noreferrer">Let's go to court: a scene from&nbsp;The Insider</a><a href="https://buymeacoffee.com/alternatesides" rel="noopener noreferrer">Support the show</a>

1984: Blood Simple

James and Sam have been friends and collaborators for over 20 years. They’ve worked on films and TV shows and commercials together and have written numerous scripts that lie unproduced in their shared Dropbox folder. But James has a secret: he hasn’t actually seen that many movies. And Sam, who’s a bit of a film snob, has been giving him a hard time about it for years. As James enters undeniable middle age, he has finally promised to catch up on some of the films he’s missed. Every week or so, while Sam has to move his Subaru from one side of a Brooklyn street to the other (to appease the street-cleaning gods), they chat about a classic movie that James has somehow managed to avoid until now. One film from each year of James’s life so far: 1973 to 2026…

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James and Sam have been friends and collaborators for over 20 years. They’ve worked on films and TV shows and commercials together and have written numerous scripts that lie unproduced in their shared Dropbox folder. But James has a secret: he hasn’t actually seen that many movies. And Sam, who’s a bit of a film snob, has been giving him a hard time about it for years. As James enters undeniable middle age, he has finally promised to catch up on some of the films he’s missed. Every week or so, while Sam has to move his Subaru from one side of a Brooklyn street to the other (to appease the street-cleaning gods), they chat about a classic movie that James has somehow managed to avoid until now. One film from each year of James’s life so far: 1973 to 2026…

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1984: Blood Simple

1984: Blood Simple