Fifteen Minute Film Fanatics

Mike knew that Dan liked Talking Heads and Dan knew the same about Mike--but this is their first conversation about Jonathan Demme's 1984 concert film. Mike analyzes "Naive Melody" as he compares David Byrne to a fun uncle showing you a magic trick and the two come up with a theory on why this is the best concert movie of all time. (Note the lack of qualifiers and caveats in that last sentence.)

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A perfect quarantine film, Jeff Nichols's Take Shelter (2011) examines the struggles of a man trying to protect his family from an unspecified natural disaster. Dan and Mike talk about how the film dramatizes the protagonist's struggle with schizophrenia--or the burden of being a prophet. Either way, it's an impossible situation in a harrowing film.

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Mike and Dan have a secretly-recorded conversation about The Conversation, Francis Ford Coppola's 1974 examination of wiretapping, privacy, and conscience. Dan notes that the film takes its spiritual themes seriously; Mike talks about Gene Hackman's remarkable performance. Dan confesses to thinking there was a mistake in the screenplay but then realizing that what he first assumed was lazy writing turned out to be just the opposite. Take a listen to our show about the film Coppola made between The Godfather and The Godfather Part II.  

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In the previous episode, Mike doubled-down his Pacino bet and challenged Dan to watch Heat (1995) for the first time in 25 years. Dan did and surprises Mike with his reaction. Dan talks about the cleanliness of the film, Mike explains why it could be renamed Oceans 1 and Dan asks why we sometimes qualify our praise with phrases like, "a great crime movie." Is Heat a good movie, period? Listen to find out!

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Mike suggested that they cover Pacino's 1989 thriller Sea of Love. Before he watched it, Dan texted Mike everything he remembered about the film, based on the last time he saw it 31 years ago. Of the seven things he remembered, one became a source of debate. So is Sea of Love a great "popcorn movie?" Or is it a cringefest of Pacino missing the mark for 90 minutes? Does playing a detective involve more than loosening one's tie? Listen and choose your side.

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During a quarantine in which long, depressing movies are mana from Heaven, Mike and Dan discuss Prince of the City (1981), Sidney Lumet's sprawling morality play about a corrupt cop who flips and tries to have his moral cake and eat it, too. Dan applies one of Mike's remarks on Lawrence of Arabia to this film, which they both heartily recommend as a movie that reminds the viewer of The Shield and countless late 70s movies in which money in manilla envelopes is slid across restaurant tables.

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Mike comes out swinging, stating his "fierce loyalty" to David Lean's 1962 epic. Dan throws some softballs: is it too long? Does Lean insist upon his hero's greatness more than he dramatizes it? And is Lean unable to really articulate what the story of Lawrence is "about?" Mike responds to all of these and more while carrying a man across the Sun's Anvil!

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Shelly Duvall rocks this but Mike and Dan still can't explain those posters in Scatman Crothers's room.

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.

Dan and Mike kick off season 2 with a look at the Coen Brothers' True Grit (2010). They talk about the greatness of Charles Portis, why this version of the novel is better than the 1969 adaptation with John Wayne, and the subject of remakes in general. They end by theorizing about why the Coens reversed the last two lines of the novel. Fill your hand!

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.