Fifteen Minute Film Fanatics

After having such a great time with The Last Detail, Mike and Dan talk about another film written by Robert Towne: Brian DePalma's Mission: Impossible (1996). After Dan opens up about his longstanding admiration for Tom Cruise's acting chops, the guys talk about how Ethan Hunt is the American James Bond, the one moment in the film where Brian DePalma calls attention to himself, and what they imagine happens as future MI films are planned. So peel off that mask, climb aboard the bullet train, and give it a listen!  

Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at [email protected]. Incredible bumper music by John Deley.

"Don't you ever get mad at nobody?  Don't you ever just wanna whomp and stomp on someone, bite off their ear, just to do it--just to get it out of your system?" So asks Buddusky (Jack Nicholson) in Hal Ashby's The Last Detail (1973), the story of two Shore Patrol sailors who escort an essentially innocent man to an eight-year stint in jail. But who's really in jail--and can someone escape? Mike and Dan have a great time talking about this "musical without music" in which the characters try to rise above the small-minded, petty people whom they encounter while fighting for their liberty. So open a Schlitz, slam that pistol on the bar, scream, "I AM THE M*^#$^!#(^% SHORE PATROL" and give it a listen!  

Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at [email protected]. Incredible bumper music by John Deley.

Stunned by their getting to 100 episodes, Mike and Dan celebrate by responding to some questions from listeners near and far.  Thank you to everyone who has supported the show!

Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on Twitter @15MinFilm.   You can also contact us at [email protected], and support the show with a buck or two at Venmo @FifteenMinuteFiIm.  We'll use any donations to buy half and half at Ralph's.  

Incredible bumper music by John Deley.

Wait--you don't know Ricky Jay, the world's greatest sleight-of-hand artist and fascinating author, raconteur, and entertainer?  And you've never seen his unbelievably great Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants?  Watch it at the link below--then throw your cards at the melon and give this a listen!

You can see Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants here: https://youtu.be/FtgUSUHnzLI

Please follow or subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and on Twitter @15MinFilm.   You can also contact us at [email protected], and support the show with a buck or two at Venmo @FifteenMinuteFiIm.  All proceeds go right back to the show!

Terrific bumper music by Jackson Frederick Smith.

URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jackson_F_Smith/Jackson_Frederick_Smith/Cantina_Rag

How is falling for a con game like buying a movie ticket? What happens when we want to be conned? And what role does confidence--in the game and elsewhere--play in our daily lives? Mike and Dan talk about David Mamet's first film House of Games (1987). As always, spoiler alert: if you haven't seen it, watch it first. It's only 90 minutes and we guarantee you'll have a good time watching the film and then listening of this episode, where we connect the poker game here to the famous Nigerian prince emails.  

Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at [email protected]. Incredible bumper music by John Deley.

Mike and Dan talk about one of their favorites for the first time: The Big Lebowski, the Coen brothers' 1998 masterpiece. They begin with a seemingly obvious question--What makes this film so funny and rewatchable?--before moving into the subject of how much the Coens love movies and share that love with their viewers. Mike talks about The Dude as a soft-boiled detective and Dan picks up the thread by comparing Lebowski to Double Indemnity, The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, Chinatown, and The Shield.  Mike also talks about seeing it on a big screen for the first time after years of watching it on TVs. So make a White Russian and turn it on!

Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at [email protected]. Incredible bumper music by John Deley.

Have we lived good lives? How could we tell? Mike and Dan talk about Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan (1998) and how the film explores the thousand moral decisions that war forces people to make. The guys discuss the justly-famous opening segment, what the viewers want as they move through the film, and the powerful bookends that open and close one of Spielberg's best. To all those who served, thank you.

Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at [email protected]. Incredible bumper music by John Deley.

After Se7en the guys move onto the next number and ask, "How does what we know about people make us change the way we perceive them?" Mike and Dan talk about how this occurs in Paul Thomas Anderson's first film, Hard Eight (1996). What makes a P. T. Anderson picture unique, how he manipulates the viewer in a way similar to how Sydney (Philip Baker Hall) manipulates John (John C. Reilly), and how the film toys with ideas of innocence and confession are all covered here. So place your bets, blow on those dice, and bet on another great episode.  

Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at [email protected]. Incredible bumper music by John Deley.

How does a person respond to evil? Can any response make a difference? Why bother? Mike and Dan consider these questions as they talk about David Fincher's 1995 thriller Se7en.  Topics include the many things the film does so well, from small moments that reveal character (like SOmerset's refusing a cup of coffee) to bigger issues that bring to mind the work of Flannery O'Connor, Cormac McCarthy, and Ernest Hemingway. So throw that switchblade into the dartboard, smash that metronome, and give it a listen.  

Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at [email protected]. Incredible bumper music by John Deley.

Playwright, screenwriter, essayist, novelist, and all-around wonderful crank David Mamet appeared on his friend Jeffrey Tambor's incredible podcast, Acting Schmacting, and gave advice to young actors about how to break into the game.  As great admirers of Mamet's work, Dan and Mike listened and recorded their reactions. 

You can listen to the Acting Schmacting episode here: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-huary-c71c51

You can see Ricky Jay (referenced in the episode) here: https://youtu.be/FtgUSUHnzLI

Please follow or subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and on Twitter @15MinFilm.   You can also contact us at [email protected], and support the show with a buck or two at Venmo @FifteenMinuteFiIm.  All proceeds go right back to the show!

Terrific bumper music by Jackson Frederick Smith.

URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jackson_F_Smith/Jackson_Frederick_Smith/Cantina_Rag