Director's Club

For this excursion into something besides movies, I would recruit friend and Austin-based journalist Dan Solomon to go back 20 years to talk about a year in music - an art form that I love every bit much as film.

For this retrospective, my guests and I curate a new list of ten favorite records from that year, playing snippets of certain songs and discussing our feelings about music in general. As of 2021, I decided to include my dear friend Jason Simpson, also a pop culture writer, to join us in this endeavor.

I've been going back 30 years to talk about the year in film with Collin Souter and Erik Childress, so I asked Jason and Dan to do the same with records. A full archive will be available soon. Hopefully everyone enjoys this discussion about our favorite records from a weird year for music. It was such a blast sharing memories with dear friends from high school as well as getting to hear a lot of incredible music from the late 90s. Thank you so much for listening and much gratitude to Dan & Jay for their insights, opinions and a 30-year friendship.

Also be sure to check out this obscure Canadian band (my number 10 pick): https://www.discogs.com/master/1523139-Thrush-Hermit-Clayton-Park

Listen to me talk about my favorite album of 1999 on this podcast here:https://podbay.fm/p/the-great-albums/e/1496635200

All Yearly Music Retrospectives (feat. Jason & Dan)

1992199319941995199619971998199920002001

Coming in Fall of 2025 - B-Side Me - a spin-off show about music/bands!

Director's Club is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit directorsclub.substack.com/subscribe

For this excursion into something besides movies, I would recruit friend and Austin-based journalist Dan Solomon to go back 20 years to talk about a year in music - an art form that I love every bit much as film.

For this retrospective, my guests and I curate a new list of ten favorite records from that year, playing snippets of certain songs and discussing our feelings about music in general. As of 2021, I decided to include my dear friend Jason Simpson, also a pop culture writer, to join us in this endeavor.

I've been going back 30 years to talk about the year in film with Collin Souter and Erik Childress, so I asked Jason and Dan to do the same with records. A full archive will be available soon. Hopefully everyone enjoys this discussion about our favorite records from a weird year for music. It was such a blast sharing memories with dear friends from high school as well as getting to hear a lot of incredible music from the late 90s. Thank you so much for listening and much gratitude to Dan & Jay for their insights, opinions and a 30-year friendship.

Also be sure to check out this obscure Canadian band (my number 10 pick): https://www.discogs.com/master/1523139-Thrush-Hermit-Clayton-Park

Listen to me talk about my favorite album of 1999 on this podcast here:https://podbay.fm/p/the-great-albums/e/1496635200

All Yearly Music Retrospectives (feat. Jason & Dan)

1992199319941995199619971998199920002001

Coming in Fall of 2025 - B-Side Me - a spin-off show about music/bands!

Director's Club is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Do you like explosions?! Well you're in for a summer treat. Thank you so much to guest hosts Chloe Waryan and Luther Moss for covering a director on Director's Club I never would want to cover without losing my mind. What a delightful discussion and it’s an honor to put this out for all to hear! You "don't want to miss" this episode! You also don't want to close your eyes, you don't want to fall asleep. Animal crackers optional.

00:00 - 05:40 - Show Changes / Intro from Jim!

05:41 - 07:15 - Introduction from Chloe

07:16 - 09:55 - Luther's Film History

09:56 - 14:06 - Jim's Thoughts on Mr. Bay

14:07 - 42:34 - Intro to Bay / Commercials

42:35 - 01:07:33 - Bad Boys / The Rock

01:07:34 - 01:40:30 - Armageddon / Pearl Harbor

01:40:31 - 02:20:41 - Bad Boys II / The Island

02:20:42 - 02:40:54 - Transformers

02:40:55 - 02:46:20 - Our 3 Favorites / Outro

Works Mentioned:

Bilge Ebiri - The Politics of Michael Bay's Supposedly Apolitical Movies

Michael Bay in Esquire

Variety - Bay Receives Honor 2017

The Perverts Guide to Ideology

Follow all-things Chloe:

@ChloesNotScared

Director's Club is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Do you like explosions?! Well you're in for a summer treat. Thank you so much to guest hosts Chloe Waryan and Luther Moss for covering a director on Director's Club I never would want to cover without losing my mind. What a delightful discussion and it’s an honor to put this out for all to hear! You "don't want to miss" this episode! You also don't want to close your eyes, you don't want to fall asleep. Animal crackers optional.

00:00 - 05:40 - Show Changes / Intro from Jim!

05:41 - 07:15 - Introduction from Chloe

07:16 - 09:55 - Luther's Film History

09:56 - 14:06 - Jim's Thoughts on Mr. Bay

14:07 - 42:34 - Intro to Bay / Commercials

42:35 - 01:07:33 - Bad Boys / The Rock

01:07:34 - 01:40:30 - Armageddon / Pearl Harbor

01:40:31 - 02:20:41 - Bad Boys II / The Island

02:20:42 - 02:40:54 - Transformers

02:40:55 - 02:46:20 - Our 3 Favorites / Outro

Works Mentioned:

Bilge Ebiri - The Politics of Michael Bay's Supposedly Apolitical Movies

Michael Bay in Esquire

Variety - Bay Receives Honor 2017

The Perverts Guide to Ideology

Follow all-things Chloe:

@ChloesNotScared

Director's Club is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

I once saw a film called Sherman’s March which of course I adored. But then a year or so ago, I watched another film by the same director, Bright Leaves. For some reason, it had a profound effect on me. This episode goes into detail as to why.

Joining me throughout is Illinois archivist and historian Eric Edwards for this unconventional approach to this podcast. A lot of it edited, scripted, even EQ’d, but the most obvious difference are included excerpts from other shows. We hear a lot from Ross McElwee himself thanks to an array of interviews/clips from his own work. Best hear it straight from the horse’s mouth.

The main focus is on the two films that resonated the most - Sherman’s March and Bright Leaves. But other recommendations turn up in the conversation as well with Time Indefinite and Six O’Clock News. I did revisit Photographic Memory which is harder to watch now knowing the director lost his son at a young age. Rumor has it that Ross might be working on a follow-up over 15 years later.

I think of this is as my homage to the great Karina Longworth’s You Must Remember This since I do provide quotes, context and things I uncovered throughout (works cited and linked below). It’s also a birthday gift to me. There isn’t as much of a back-and-forth approach this time but a lot of monologuing in the spirit of Ross’ work. I hope you listen even if you’ve never heard the name Ross McElwee — then track down one of the best filmmakers I’ve come across.

Thank you all for the support and for listening. There will be surprises, but now taking a short break. Have a great summer, I’ll be back in a new abode, ready to record come August and everything after.

Works / Songs / Clips Used

Director's Club is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

I once saw a film called Sherman’s March which of course I adored. But then a year or so ago, I watched another film by the same director, Bright Leaves. For some reason, it had a profound effect on me. This episode goes into detail as to why.

Joining me throughout is Illinois archivist and historian Eric Edwards for this unconventional approach to this podcast. A lot of it edited, scripted, even EQ’d, but the most obvious difference are included excerpts from other shows. We hear a lot from Ross McElwee himself thanks to an array of interviews/clips from his own work. Best hear it straight from the horse’s mouth.

The main focus is on the two films that resonated the most - Sherman’s March and Bright Leaves. But other recommendations turn up in the conversation as well with Time Indefinite and Six O’Clock News. I did revisit Photographic Memory which is harder to watch now knowing the director lost his son at a young age. Rumor has it that Ross might be working on a follow-up over 15 years later.

I think of this is as my homage to the great Karina Longworth’s You Must Remember This since I do provide quotes, context and things I uncovered throughout (works cited and linked below). It’s also a birthday gift to me. There isn’t as much of a back-and-forth approach this time but a lot of monologuing in the spirit of Ross’ work. I hope you listen even if you’ve never heard the name Ross McElwee — then track down one of the best filmmakers I’ve come across.

Thank you all for the support and for listening. There will be surprises, but now taking a short break. Have a great summer, I’ll be back in a new abode, ready to record come August and everything after.

Works / Songs / Clips Used

Director's Club is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

What an honor and a joy it was to talk with Rachel Bellwoar, an extremely talented writer and pop culture enthusiast whose work I’ve enjoyed discovering over the years. Thanks to many mutual cinephile friends and podcasters, we crossed paths in the world of Facebook and I couldn’t be more thrilled to have her on the show to talk about an underappreciated British director, Jack Clayton!

Pauline Kael praised The Innocents as "one of the most elegantly beautiful ghost movies ever made” and rightfully so. We also talk about the majority of his work since his filmography was surprisingly on the lower end. Of course we sing the praises of his renowned gothic horror masterpiece but along the way, we discover a few other works of his that we highly recommend seeking out too. Thank you Rachel for coming on the show and looking forward to a future appearance.

Just a heads up that I’ll be taking a short summer break from podcasting starting in late May, hopefully returning in August. There may be a couple of surprise episodes popping up but I’ll be moving and working on other projects for a bit. Stay tuned for the first week of May for an exciting episode before the hiatus featuring Marya Gates and Ryan McNeil, returning to talk about Martha Coolidge!

00:00 - 08:47 - Introduction

08:48 - 01:02:05 - Room At The Top / The Innocents

01:02:06 - 01:33:10 - The Pumpkin Eater / Our Mother’s House

01:33:10 - 02:03:50 - Other Clayton Films / Outro

Follow Rachel’s Work:https://rbellwoar.wordpress.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/ziggystarlog.bsky.social

Director's Club is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

What an honor and a joy it was to talk with Rachel Bellwoar, an extremely talented writer and pop culture enthusiast whose work I’ve enjoyed discovering over the years. Thanks to many mutual cinephile friends and podcasters, we crossed paths in the world of Facebook and I couldn’t be more thrilled to have her on the show to talk about an underappreciated British director, Jack Clayton!

Pauline Kael praised The Innocents as "one of the most elegantly beautiful ghost movies ever made” and rightfully so. We also talk about the majority of his work since his filmography was surprisingly on the lower end. Of course we sing the praises of his renowned gothic horror masterpiece but along the way, we discover a few other works of his that we highly recommend seeking out too. Thank you Rachel for coming on the show and looking forward to a future appearance.

Just a heads up that I’ll be taking a short summer break from podcasting starting in late May, hopefully returning in August. There may be a couple of surprise episodes popping up but I’ll be moving and working on other projects for a bit. Stay tuned for the first week of May for an exciting episode before the hiatus featuring Marya Gates and Ryan McNeil, returning to talk about Martha Coolidge!

00:00 - 08:47 - Introduction

08:48 - 01:02:05 - Room At The Top / The Innocents

01:02:06 - 01:33:10 - The Pumpkin Eater / Our Mother’s House

01:33:10 - 02:03:50 - Other Clayton Films / Outro

Follow Rachel’s Work:https://rbellwoar.wordpress.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/ziggystarlog.bsky.social

Director's Club is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Not too big of a summary this time around since the title says it all and there’s a lot to get to in terms of the episode proper. Every year around late February / early March, I call upon my Chicago film critic buddies Collin Souter & Erik Childress to join me for an epic episode discussing as many movies as we possibly can, traveling back in time to cover an entire year.

In the midst of the joyful conversation are lots of clips, songs excerpts, trailers, sound effects and general weirdness from yours truly. Not to mention a Daft Punk remix after our first break around the 02:47:40 mark. Towards the end you can hear our Top 20 Favorites of 1995 as well. Thank you so much for the continued support and to Collin and Erik for ten years of this insane tradition that is always a treat to put together.

Follow Collin:https://letterboxd.com/cdsouter

https://www.nowplayingnetwork.net/christmasmoviesactually

Follow Erik:https://letterboxd.com/erikthemovieman

https://www.nowplayingnetwork.net/moviemadness

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit directorsclub.substack.com/subscribe

Not too big of a summary this time around since the title says it all and there’s a lot to get to in terms of the episode proper. Every year around late February / early March, I call upon my Chicago film critic buddies Collin Souter & Erik Childress to join me for an epic episode discussing as many movies as we possibly can, traveling back in time to cover an entire year.

In the midst of the joyful conversation are lots of clips, songs excerpts, trailers, sound effects and general weirdness from yours truly. Not to mention a Daft Punk remix after our first break around the 02:47:40 mark. Towards the end you can hear our Top 20 Favorites of 1995 as well. Thank you so much for the continued support and to Collin and Erik for ten years of this insane tradition that is always a treat to put together.

Follow Collin:https://letterboxd.com/cdsouter

https://www.nowplayingnetwork.net/christmasmoviesactually

Follow Erik:https://letterboxd.com/erikthemovieman

https://www.nowplayingnetwork.net/moviemadness