Creaky Chair Film Podcast

It's the week of Valentine's Day and we're old romantics here at Creaky Chair, so we decided to spend our 69th episode discussing some of our very favourite romance movies.

Bill chooses the Rob Reiner/Nora Ephron rom-com classic 'When Harry Met Sally', the decidedly steamy 'The Big Easy' by Jim McBride, and guilty pleasure 'How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days' starring Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey.

Sam opts for another Nora Ephron/Meg Ryan rom-com, 'Sleepless in Seattle', the chaste British masterpiece from David Lean 'Brief Encounter', Céline Sciamma's French historical romance 'Portrait of a Lady on Fire', and 'A Cinderella Story' starring Hilary Duff and Chad Michael Murray.

Michael talks about the minimalist romance of 'Before Sunrise' starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, the heartbreakingly real French film 'Blue is the Warmest Colour', the Bill Forsyth coming-of-age story 'Gregory's Girl', and the bizarre dark comedy 'Harold and Maude'.

In our Make Believe Moviehouse segment we talk to David Jenkins, editor of the wonderful film magazine Little White Lies.

On this episode we bring you a review double-header of films that are polar opposites from one another. Michael reviews 'Enys Men', the low-budget Cornish folk horror from Mark Jenkin, while Bill and Sam review the mega-blockbuster 'Avatar 2: The Way of Water' from James Cameron.

We also chat about Bela Tarr's 1994 masterpiece of slow cinema 'Satantango', the new Darren Aronofsky film 'The Whale' which is heralding the comeback of Brendan Fraser, and Scott Cooper's new mystery/thriller 'The Pale Blue Eye' starring Christian Bale.

Also, in our Make Believe Moviehouse segment, we chat with Gareth Humphreys and Josh Lawson, co-founders and directors of Dead Northern horror film festival.

We are back with our first proper episode of 2023. We review the film everyone was talking about over Christmas, Rian Johnson's 'Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery' starring Daniel Craig and another ensemble cast.

We talk about the films we are most looking forward to over the year ahead. In addition, Michael rhapsodises over Charlotte Wells' debut film 'Aftersun' starring Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio, Bill talks about the Mark Mylod black comedy 'The Menu' starring Ralph Fiennes, and Sam has nothing but praise for the Sara Dosa documentary 'Fire of Love'.

If that were not all, we pilot a new segment for the podcast - Make-believe Moviehouse. Our first guest is Sean McGeady, a freelance writer/sub-editor who has written for the likes of Empire, Fangoria, Little White Lies and TimeOut. He tells us about what films he would programme in his fantasy film festival and his passion for the little-known sub-genre of 'melt movies'.

Join us for this special episode as we look back over 2022 and pick out some of our favourite films that we've covered on the podcast.

We also select the film the three of us unanimously agree was the worst of the year, as well as the very best of the year.

Thanks for listening, do stick with us for our third year of talking all things film.

Join us for our final episode of 2022 as we discuss three of our favourite films that we associate with, and tend to rewatch, over the festive period.

First up, Bill talks about John McTiernan's 1988 Christmas action classic 'Die Hard' starring Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman.

Second up, Sam discusses Billy Wilder's 1960 film 'The Apartment' starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine.

Lastly, Michael reminisces about first watching Robin Hardy's 1973 seminal folk horror 'The Wicker Man' on New Year's Eve and how it's become indelibly linked to the end of year celebrations.

Join us for this episode where we discuss the Australian crime/thriller 'The Stranger' from director Thomas M. Wright, starring Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris. Two men of fine beard mumbling in a bleak Australian landscape...

News-wise, we discuss the reported attempts by a 'consortium' of interests to resurrect 60s counterculture classic 'Easy Rider' for the 21st century, and the newly released trailer for Indy 5.

We also discuss the new seasonal comedy/action 'Violent Night' from Tommy Wirkola; the latest Gasper Noe film, the experimental 'Vortex', and one of Steven Spielberg's oft-overlooked films, 1997's slave epic 'Amistad' starring Anthony Hopkins and Morgan Freeman.

On this episode, join us as we discuss the controversial new film from Andrew Dominik - 'Blonde' starring Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe in a 'fictional reimagining' of the Hollywood superstar's life and death.

We also discuss the new Martin McDonagh black comedy 'The Banshees of Inisherin' starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, the 2015 gambling comedy/drama 'Mississippi Grind' starring Ryan Reynolds, and the latest Olivia Wilde film 'Don't Worry Darling' starring Florence Pugh and Harry Styles.

We're a little late for Halloween, but nevertheless, we bring you a spooky special - our Creaky Chair guide to the vampire movie. We explore the quintessential horror trope and the innumerable different guises it has taken over the decades.

We begin with Year Zero for the vampire film - F. W. Murnau's seminal 'Nosferatu', marking its centenary this year.

We then proceed to discuss our favourite examples of the sub-genre. Michael opts for the Hammer classic 'Dracula - Prince of Darkness' (1966) and Werner Herzog's masterful remake 'Nosferatu the Vampyre' (1979). Sam talks about the New Zealand mockumentary 'What We Do in the Shadows' (2014) and the black comedy/horror with the tour de force Nic Cage performance, 'Vampire's Kiss' (1988). While Bill chooses Guillermo del Toro's 'Cronos' (1993) and Neil Jordan's glamorous and gory 'Interview with the Vampire' (1994).

We also highlight some other quirky examples of the vampire film, from 'Blacula' to 'From Dusk till Dawn' to 'Blade', and more.

On this episode, we discuss the much-talked-about Indian historical/action epic 'RRR' from director S. S. Rajamouli. Set in the time of the British Raj, and based on two real-life revolutionaries, this was the most expensive Indian film ever made. FInd out whether we thought that budget, and the social media hype, translates into a good film.

Bill reviews a handful of short horror films from this year's Dead Northern Film Festival - 'Woodland Cemetery' (Niels Bourgonje), 'The Baby Monitor' (Frank Appio), and 'Sucker' (Alix Austin).

Continuing with horror, Sam climbs aboard the 'Horror Express' (1972), a creepy overlooked film from Eugenio Martin starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.

Michael rounds off the episode by revisiting Richard Fleischer's 1973 sci-fi 'Soylent Green' starring Charlton Heston - a dystopian vision of a world in 2022.

Join us for this special bonus episode as Bill and Sam report back from their time at Dead Northern Film Festival 2022 - a cracking horror film festival based in the city of York.

They review the world premiere of horror/comedy/mockumentary 'Searching for Veslomy', and the world premiere of horror/comedy anthology 'Calling Nurse Meow'. The world premieres continue with British horror/drama 'The Stranger', and last but definitely not least - the "absolutely batshit" British horror/comedy 'Eating Miss Campbell'.