It was getting seriously embarrassing that the Crit Club has been around this long and still did not have a take on Cassavetes. Coire decided to right that wrong this week and picked John Cassaveses’ 1974 film A Woman Under the Influence, a true to life domestic story about mental illness, flailing attempts at emotional intelligence and traumatizing beach days. It led to a great and intense discussion, but we don’t want to give our thoughts away just yet. Come listen!

Other things we discussed:

Next week, it’s Peter’s pick and we’re staying in the ‘70s to explore Elaine May’s directorial debut. We’re watching her 1971 dark comedy, A New Leaf. We’d love for you to join us.

And drop us a line! You can email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter with the handle @critclubcast.

Apparently not through with winter, the Crit Club has fled to the Great White North, home of Wizard Chris himself, to learn about Canadian history from Matthew Rankin's deeply weird film The Twentieth Century. Telling the story of former Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, who was apparently something of a weirdo himself, this surrealist acid trip lovingly chides the chilly country with humor, fetishes, and disappointment. Did we gain a greater appreciation of the world's second largest country, or did we have a bad trip? Come find out!

Other things we mentioned: 

- El Topo

- Dogville

- My Winnipeg

- Holy Motors

- First Contact

- Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell

- State & Main

Next week, it's Coire's pick and we hope to finally have a take on Cassavetes, by watching John Cassavetes 1974 film A Woman Under the Influence. Will we think he's a genius, misogynist, messiah, alcoholic, or all of the above? Wait and see!

And drop us a line! You can email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter with the handle @critclubcast.

As we emerge slowly from the dark doldrums of a cursed winter, the Crit Club is more than eager to take French director Clair Denis up on her offer to Let the Sunshine In. Starring the ever-wonderful Juliette Binoche, and told through a fragmented bits of a broken life, this movie follows a middle age painter in Paris desperately trying to find a connection or maybe herself. Will the Crit Club enjoy the journey or will we crawl back into our hole and wish for six more weeks of winter? Come listen!

Other things we mentioned:

- Gummo

- Cleo From 5 to 7

- The Wire

- Dune

- Treme

- Trixie Mattel

- Le Bureau Des Legendes

Join us next week when mush our way to the Great White North for a surrealist, and enormously silly, history lesson with Matthew Rankin's 2019 film The Twentieth Century.

And drop us a line! You can email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter with the handle @critclubcast.

After weeks of wrestling with some pretty weighty films, the Crit Club was glad to lighten things up a bit with Police Story, Jackie Chan's cartoonish 80s action flick that propelled him onto the international stage. While the stunts are stunning, the tonal shifts are jarring. Come see if we thought this movie stuck the landing or missed its mark. 

Other things we discussed: 

- Commando

- Die Hard

- Predator

- Schitt's Creek

- Letterkenny

- Dune 

- Zack Snyder's Justice League

Join us next week, where we'll return to France (as is our wont) to sink into the middle-aged dating scene, as shown by Claire Denis' 2017 film Let the Sunshine In. 

And drop us a line! You can email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter with the handle @critclubcast.

This week the Crit Club watched Héctor Babenco's 1981 drama Pixote, about a group of children who fall through the wide cracks in an extremely broken system. It is decidedly not an easy watch, but it left us with a lot to chew on as we discussed both sheer systemic injustices and the filmmaking ethics of putting young actors in potentially harmful situations. Buckle up for a great discussion about how we wrestle with troubling art. Come listen!

Other things we discussed: 

- Full Metal Jacket

- Welcome II the Thunderdome

- Black Moon

- Bob's Burgers

- Johnny Mnemonic

- Blade Runner

- Gravity Falls

Next week, we're desperately hoping to find lighter fare with Jackie Chan's 1985 Police Story, an action crime story, written and directed by Chan, that launched him to international stardom. Join us for that!

And drop us a line! You can email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter with the handle @critclubcast.

Punk isn't dead to the Crit Club this week as we warp back to experience the intense angst of 1970s Britain with Derek Jarman's Jubilee. This fever dream roughly posits what Queen Elizabeth I would think of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, only to find the Commonwealth has become a lawless, nihilistic dystopia. Is there no future for this movie or will god save our opinion of it? You should listen and find out.

Other things we discussed:

- The Young Ones

- Multiple Maniacs

- Welcome II the Terrordome

- Binding of Isaac

- Saga

- WandaVision

- Bobs Burgers

Join us next week for an onslaught of complicated emotions around Héctor Babenco's 1980 film Pixote, which unabashedly explores the plight of Brazilian kids who fall through the large cracks of an extremely broken system. 

And drop us a line! You can email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter with the handle @critclubcast.

Journey back to the turn of the 20th century with Crit Club this week as we sit quietly with Jan Troell's delicate 2008 film Everlasting Moments, a movie about a woman caught in the oppressive conventions of rugged Scandinavian society while exploring her pull towards creative expression. As Maria's attraction to photography blossoms, will her stalwart perseverance through multiple hardships bring her story into focus for us? Or will we find the film a bit blurry? Listen and find out!

Other things we discussed: 

- Desert Hearts

- The Nightingale

- Captain America

- Into the Spiderverse

- Saga

- The Danish Girl

- Korean Pork Belly Rhapsody

Join us next week when we'll be flung into the anarchic wastelands of 1970s England for the nihilistic punk semi-dystopian film Jubilee. 

And drop us a line! You can email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter with the handle @critclubcast.

Tired of being shut in, the Crit Club has taken a virtual trip to the mountains of South Korea, but this idyllic hunting lodge we found has a pretty sinister aura. This week, we try to keep up with Kim Jee-woon's 1998 black comedy The Quiet Family, in which a new family business turns into an escalating series of unfortunate events. Give this episode a listen and see if we're won over by this madcap burst of late '90s dark energy, or if we're ready to check out as soon as possible. 

Other things we discussed: 

- Shaun of the Dead

- Evil Dead

- Seven Stages to Achieve Eternal Bliss

- The Trixie and Katya Show

- Crime Scene

Join us next week while take a quiet turn into Jan Troell's 2008 drama Everlasting Moments. 

And drop us a line! You can email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter with the handle @critclubcast.

This week, the Crit Club revisits the late aughts, and all its existential malaise, with the help of Todd Solondz's 2009 film Life During Wartime. It zooms back into the lives of the Jordan sisters, who were introduced in Solondz's 1998 film Happiness, and catches them at another pivotal point in their lives as they reunited in sun-bleached Florida against a backdrop of a languishing Iraq war. We had plenty to discuss on the themes, the humor and the surreal aura of this film, so come hang out with us!

Other things we discussed: 

- Happiness

- She Dies Tomorrow

- Valheim

- Bridgerton

- Gilmore Girls

- The Wire

- Star Wars: Fallen Order

Join us next week, when we prolong our cabin fever with a trip to an isolated South Korean lodge with Kim Jee-woon's 1998 debut, The Quiet Family.

This week, Crit Club heads out on a journey in Mali with Souleymane Cissé's film Yeelen. This movie explores an ancient legend of the Bambara people as the young Nianankoro strikes out on his own to confront his father. It's a classic Wizard Chris pick and leads us into a great conversation about myths, filmmaking and the hero's journey.

Other things we talked about: 

- Patherfinder

- Moonlight

- The Next Picture Show

- The Alienist

- Framing Britney Spears

- RuPaul's Drag Race

- Superstore

Join us next week when we'll explore Todd Solondz's 2009 film Life During Wartime. It's a classic Coire pick and we'll have plenty to discuss while living in Florida, floundering in the interminable Iraq War.

And drop us a line! You can email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter with the handle @critclubcast.