I revisit Paul Thomas Anderson’s debut feature, Hard Eight (1996), a film I remembered as being all about gambling but discovered is really about guilt, redemption and surrogate family. I also look at the wonderful performances from Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow and Samuel L. Jackson, and compare this understated first feature with the remarkable films PTA would make over the next few years.

Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece still has the power to shock more than 60 years later. I revisit Psycho and talk about why it’s much more than just the famous shower scene, Anthony Perkins’ unforgettable performance, Bernard Herrmann’s iconic score, Hitchcock’s genius for suspense, and why the film completely changed cinema forever. Plus, I discuss how it holds up today and where it sits among Hitchcock’s greatest works.

Available on Spotify, Apple Music, and Dave’s Movie Diary on YouTube.

A revisit of one of the great prison dramas, with Clint Eastwood giving one of his most restrained performances in a tightly directed true-story thriller from Don Siegel. I talk prison films, Eastwood’s dramatic range, why this works so well as pure storytelling, and whether this is a date film or hangover film.

This episode of Dave’s Movie Diary looks back at Caddyshack, one of those chaotic comedies that probably shouldn’t work as well as it does. From Chevy Chase and Bill Murray to Rodney Dangerfield stealing every scene he’s in, I revisit a film I grew up with and look at why its loose, anything-goes energy still makes it such a fun watch all these years later.

This episode of Dave’s Movie Diary revisits The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle — a wildly entertaining snapshot of the chaos surrounding the Sex Pistols and the late 70s punk explosion.

Still funny, provocative and completely off the wall, this one brought back a lot of memories of my teenage fascination with punk music and everything it represented.

This episode of Dave’s Movie Diary takes a look at Another Woman, one of the more serious and overlooked films from Woody Allen.

It’s a thoughtful film about regret, emotional distance, and looking back on the choices we make in life. Not classic Woody Allen comedy, but a mature and intelligent drama that probably hits harder the older you get.

Definitely one of his quieter films, but one I appreciated a lot on this rewatch.

A revisit of Rosemary’s Baby after first reading Ira Levin’s brilliant original novel and comparing how closely the film follows one of horror’s most influential stories.

In this episode I discuss Roman Polanski at the height of his early powers, the performances from Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes, what made the film so shocking for 1968 audiences, and whether revisiting the book immediately beforehand changed the experience of rewatching this horror landmark.

Revisiting Repulsion after years away — and it hit very differently this time. Polanski’s early psychological horror about isolation, breakdown and reality collapsing inside an apartment. A film that feels slow, unsettling and far more internal than I remembered, and one that raises bigger questions about perception, pressure and control than I expected.

This episode is on Weapons — a horror film I actually gave up on the first time around despite all the hype. Revisiting it now, I found a lot more to admire, particularly the performances, the atmosphere and some genuinely effective scares, even if ultimately it reminded me that supernatural horror just doesn’t hit me the same way more grounded horror films do.

This episode is on Bonnie and Clyde, Arthur Penn’s landmark crime film that helped change American cinema forever. I revisit this classic and talk about its incredible energy, iconic performances, daring filmmaking and why it still feels fresher than films made twenty years later.