Cinema Gadfly

By Arik Devens

A podcast about trading films with friends. Each month I choose a film for a friend to watch and they choose one for me. Then we discuss. Two episodes a month, first my choice and then theirs.... more

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FAQs about Cinema Gadfly:

How many episodes does Cinema Gadfly have?

The podcast currently has 24 episodes available.

Cinema Gadfly episodes:

September 24, 20154. Inception
My guest for this month is Jake Desaulniers, and he’s joined me to discuss the film he chose for me, the 2010 dreamscape heist film Inception. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly.
Show notes:
This is a film from British director Christopher Nolan
Richard Burton was a totally big star when The Spy Who Came in from the Cold was released
Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark are both excellent play-acting movies
This movie was released in 2010, which is something like 2011
Ocean’s Eleven is a classic example of a heist film
Jules Dassin’s Rififi and the various Jean-Pierre Melville films are also excellent examples
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation is a very dumb movie
And so is Darren Aronofsky’s Pi, don’t let anyone tell you differently
Hans Zimmer has done quite a few amazing film scores
Sweet Smell of Success, with Tony Curtis and Burt Lancaster, has an absolutely perfect score by Elmer Bernstein
As does, in a completely different way, the Three Colors trilogy, directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski
All three films in the trilogy were scored by Zbigniew Preisner
The inventive, but not beautiful, cinematography for this film was done by Wally Pfister
Sucker Punch is seriously a terrible, terrible film. Don’t watch it, you won’t like it
I strongly dislike most of the work of its director, Zack Snyder
The Fountain is another film with a score that Jake loves
Even though he doesn’t like the film Prometheus, he still likes the score
Christopher Nolan is probably an Auteur
The Big Chill is not a popular film with Criterion Cinephiles
It was directed by Lawrence Kasdan, who you may know from his writing The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi
My review of The Big Chill, where I talk about what it means to me
John Williams is probably the modern era’s most well known film composer
Jake also likes Clint Mansell, who did the score for Moon
Seeing Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey at the Castro theatre was so amazing
Sol Kaplan did the score for The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
We both absolutely adore the films of Wes Anderson, and we love the scores as well
All the Indiana Jones films have great scores
Hotel Chevalier with Jason Schwartzman, which is the prequel short film to The Darjeeling Limited, has an incredible song by Peter Sarstedt
The song, which I listen to all the time, is called Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?
Saving Private Ryan uses a different song, but they are both by Édith Piaf
We should all have things to say about The Goonies
Rent or buy the film from iTunes
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...more
37min
September 03, 20153. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
My guest for this month is Jake Desaulniers, and he’s joined me to discuss the film I chose for him, the 1965 cold war spy thriller The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly.
Show notes:
My original review of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Although I say at the beginning that this is the second episode, it’s really the third
The film stars Richard Burton, AKA Mr. Elizabeth Taylor
It’s based on the book of the same name, by John le Carré, AKA David John Moore Cornwell
MI6 is a real world British spy agency
John le Carré didn’t like Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels
Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy is another film based on a le Carré novel
Dr. No, From Russia With Love, and Goldfinger, are very different in tone from this film
Technically 1970 was halfway into the Cold War
I remember when the Berlin Wall fell, I even brought a piece back for my mom
The film opens at the infamous Checkpoint Charlie
The British Communist Party also ended in 1991
The film takes place nine years after the McCarthy Hearings
I always notice when the title is in the film, ever since Family Guy
British labour exchanges have existed since 1909
The Criterion Blu-ray is the best way to watch this film
My review of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy from Letterboxd
British cold war spy thriller television show The Game
Jason Bourne is a superhero
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation definitely didn’t pretend to be about anything
Apparently putting Scotch in your coffee is called Highland coffee
The director who didn’t get along with Richard Burton was Martin Ritt
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...more
29min
August 17, 20152. Katy Perry: Part of Me
My guest for this month is Clarko Clarko, and he’s joined me to discuss the film he chose for me, the 2012 tour documentary Katy Perry: Part of Me. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly.
Show notes:
The film follows the tour for her Teenage Dream album
It was produced by Max Martin and Dr. Luke; musical masterminds
Her next album was Prism
The film features her relationship with Russell Brand, who is probably unmarriable
I’m apparently a Highbrow kind of guy, with very particular tastes in music, film, and comic books
Belle & Sebastian are a somewhat more laid back affair
I highly recommend everyone watch the Jonathan Demme directed Talking Heads film Stop Making Sense
I believe Life Is But a Dream is the Beyoncé documentary
Katy Perry’s parents are not actually Televangelists, but they’re close
This is what a combination of Whitesnake and Kanye West looks like
Britney Spears was a Mouseketeer
Lana Del Rey is not a good live performer
We find similarities between Katy Perry’s career and that of golfer Tiger Woods
Chris Carraba is “this guy” from Dashboard Confessional
NOFX is lead by a guy who calls himself Fat Mike
Oh Honey
Both Clarko and I think Disneyland is basically the best thing in the world
This film takes place during Katy Perry’s Candy Land period
Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, and John Lasseter; three people I would love to be compared to
June is where Clarko is currently putting his Katy Perry derived inspiration to work
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...more
26min
August 03, 20151. Kind Hearts and Coronets
Welcome to the first episode! My guest for this month is Clarko Clark, and he's joined me to discuss the film I chose for him, the 1949 British black comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly.

Show notes:
My original review of Kind Hearts and Coronets
A definition of black comedy
Koyaanisqatsi and my review of it
Charles I of England, who is mentioned early in the film
This film takes place in the Edwardian era
It stars Alec Guinness, who also played Obi-Wan Kenobi, and who was apparently similar to Eddie Murphy
It was released in 1949
Alice in Wonderland
Clarko likes How I Met Your Mother, Scrubs, and Grey’s Anatomy
Some of which feature an unreliable narrator, as perhaps does this
Yes, a British general really did choose to go down with his ship after making a mistake in directions
American Pyscho, a really apt and interesting comparison
Ealing Studios is actually still around, and releasing films
The fancier studio down the road was the Rank Studio
The Hays Code, which was eventually overthrown, in part by Howard Hughes
Making out on a fainting couch is less common these days
Black and white films should not be colorized, under any circumstances
Buy the film from iTunes
Rent or buy the film from Amazon
...more
32min

FAQs about Cinema Gadfly:

How many episodes does Cinema Gadfly have?

The podcast currently has 24 episodes available.