notes on a recording:
All the way back in episode 0045, titled ”Music to my Ears” I talked with Derek Richmond from the band DROPOUTS for the first time. Well, he’s back and top of that DROPOUTS have a new album, Off the Leash (2022), that is now available on Spotify. What’s really cool about this album is that they used a different lead guitarist for each of their songs. How cool is that! Derek also shares his inspiration behind their album cover.
In this week’s bonus episode we get into a ton of stuff. Not only does Derek come by to talk about his three favorite films of the year (All Quiet on the Western Front, The Batman, and Banshees of Inisherin) but he shares a story about his time at Pretty Bird and DANIELS (Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert). We begin our episode talking about the director duo, hot off 11 Academy Award nominations for their film ”Everything Everywhere All At Once.”
This leads us to Derek’s top 3, and in no particular ranking. I haven’t talked about Edward Burger’s All Quiet on the Western Front on the show yet. I watched it recently and was deeply moved and disturbed about the content of human callousness. It is a beautifully shot, gruesome and de-moralizing World War 1 epic that reminds me of a cross between ”1917” and ”Saving Private Ryan.” This is a German film that can be found on Netflix. Next up, we talk another film that I haven’t talked much about on the show, ”The Batman.” A film just as dark and gritty as the aforementioned WWI film, this was one of the best adaptations of the character I have ever seen. It reminded me a lot of the golden age of Batman comics in the late 80s, early 90s. I find out in this episode, that Derek collects comic books, so I see how he comes to appreciate the Matt Reeves film from a comics perspective and with an understanding of Batman as a detective. This film really captures the feel of some of the darker stories like Jeph Loeb’s ”The Long Halloween” and Frank Miller’s Batman Year One. This one is also on HBO MAX. His last film in the top 3, ”Banshees of Inisherin,” which has made most of my guests top films of the year lists. If you haven’t seen this film about the end of a friendship, hop on over to HBO MAX, because this film is seriously good despite it’s deceptively simple premise. Of course, we shoutout the great performances from Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleason, Barry Keoghan, and Kerry Condon-- these performances alone is reason enough to watch Martin McDonagh’s well-written tale.
And lastly, before the show’s wrap up Derek gets into some honorable mentions (and one dishonorable mention) that include: Dio: Dreamers Never Die, Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Northman, Hustle, and Emily the Criminal. Definitely, take a listen to this episode to get our full thoughts on and all these films! Now: off to the next film!
Dial F for Film is a podcast about the love of movies and host’s -- J. Carlos Menjivar -- attempt to watch 1001 movies before he dies. A lover of lists and film, Carlos is a firm believer that all film lists should be tackled with one goal in mind: completion. Steven Jay Schneider’s ”1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die” is the subject of this podcast. Each episode features one guest and five movies from the massive list, compiled into themed lists by the host. Guests each week will select one category without any prior knowledge as to what films are included. Once a category is chosen, Carlos reveals the five films and the viewing begins. The guests then come on Dial F for Film via Zoom and the discussion begins.
