Cinematic Respect

We welcome history major and film lover Taylor Anderson to the show to talk about the perennial and undeniably essential 1976 movie "All the President's Men". Of course, we recorded on the same day that a guilty plea and a conviction rocked the current president's administration, so our conversation takes on a sudden urgency. The parallels are uncanny! But before we get to politics we discuss Robert Redford's push to make the film, the historical accuracy of the script and set design, sound design and the mesmerizing shot construction. Let's put our nose to the grindstone, shall we?

We're reviewing another Cary Grant/Howard Hawks collab, 1938's screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby with our guest Lee from the podcast Faking Movies. It really is strange that this movie wasn't a traditional box office success, what with Katherine Hepburn and TWO leopards! We talk about the tightly packed script, wacky characters and crippling production delays. And just like Cary Grant, we eventually just give ourselves over to the craziness! Join us, will you?

What better way to celebrate a boys weekend than with Georges Méliès' 1902 work A Trip to the Moon? Jessica couldn't make it this week, but we've got Executive Producer Adam Gobeski in the co-host chair with TWO returning guests, Doug Gobeski and Paul Wilcox! We talk about the history of cinema, the innumerable soundtracks available for the film and why Thomas Edison is kind of a jerk. Paul comes to the startling conclusion that maybe we're not smarter than people from the early 20th century...

Charlie, Jessica and Adam alternate between high emotion and utter confusion while reviewing the 1980 David Lynch film The Elephant Man with return guest Brianne Gobeski. We discuss what material the movie is based on (and NOT based on), Mel Brook's contribution, and how it compares to the stage play. We all agree that acting and sound design are strengths of the film, but what about the dream/otherworldly sequences? You'd better believe we spend a while talking about the intro and finale, the style of which is much more "the rule" for David Lynch than "the exception".

Author and cinephile Amber Elby is back to discuss the 1993 indie film What's Eating Gilbert Grape, and she records live from the same town it was filmed in! We dive right into the appropriateness of Leonardo DiCaprio's performance and Johnny Depp's inappropriate hair. Is this a film that would have been made today? Or would it have taken a completely different approach? And WATCH OUT FOR THE SYMBOLISM, IT'S COMING RIGHT AT YOU!!!

We come off a "Die Hard" high by watching the equally exciting but exceedingly dark 2006 film "Children of Men" with return guest Patrick Hill. We contemplate what defines a "dystopian" movie and name some of our favorites. Then, we marvel over the masterful long-takes but probably spend too much time talking about animals. And does the movie have a hopeful ending, or does it reveal more about the viewer than the characters?

Somehow we have managed to make it to episode 30 without discussing a pure action film, but this week we're doing so in style by reviewing Die Hard with our returning guest Megan Heneke! We appreciate John McClane's All-American charm, except for Charlie who seems to be in Hans Gruber's corner. Did Gruber come up with the (almost) perfect plan? And speaking of perfect, is this the best action screenplay of all time?And most importantly, we weigh in on the eternal "is it a Christmas movie" debate.

We remain perplexed at the 1965 French New Wave film Alphaville but manage to make some sense of it with our Executive Producer Adam Gobeski. We find out that Jessica is much less likely to be executed in this dystopian sci-fi universe. And what amazing executions those are! We touch on what Jean-Luc Godard really intended for the viewer to feel while watching this bizarre film, and we attempt to answer some of the riddles contained within! Time is a circle - but what KIND of circle is it?!

Bryan from The SilverScreen Redemption podcast talks with Charlie about why he originally missed out on the 2010 David Fincher film "The Social Network". We discuss Mark Zuckerberg's real personality vs how he's portrayed in the film. Is he really an asshole, or is he just trying really hard to be one? And Bryan can't help but pitch a ripped-from-the-headlines sequel which sounds genuinely intriguing.

Clarifications:

We sit down and get all teary-eyed with Dan Hess and review the movie that spawned a Baby Boomer nostalgia revolution, 1983's The Big Chill. We talk about that High Fidelity quote that causes Millennials like us to go into this movie blind. And the world has come a long way with regards to surrogacy, but we struggle to get into the free-love spirit. Is it just a case respectful relationship between three friends? Jessica and Dan have some strong thoughts.