PASSION. TRADITION. MIX IT UP.

In a typical hard left turn for us out of the action genre, this week we cover Mira Nair's MISSISSIPPI MASALA, a stunningly steamy romance set very near to where a lot of us grew up. We talk about diving into a West African history that we aren't familiar with, Denzel at his most charismatic, and how romance films work best when you're unbelievably attracted to both leads. Josh also walks us through Venom 3, Here, and Anora, Joey checks out Conclave and Trap, Jackson talks comfort television, and Sutherland finishes the Human Condition trilogy.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro

00:03:16 Sutherland's Thoughts on The Book of Eli

00:05:28 What We Watched

00:38:25 Mississippi Masala

01:17:17 Final Thoughts + Ratings

01:26:27 Outro

Email us at [email protected] with any feedback, suggestions, or messages that we can read on the show!

Links:

⁠Jackson on Letterboxd⁠

⁠Joey on Letterboxd⁠

⁠Josh on Letterboxd⁠

Sutherland on Letterboxd

Film Explorers is mixed and edited by Josh :)

SOME WILL KILL TO HAVE IT. HE WILL KILL TO PROTECT IT.

As our Denzel Washington marathon continues, we move forward a bit in his career and cover the Hughes Brothers' THE BOOK OF ELI. We talk expressions of religion in modern film, Denzel at debatably his coolest, and finally getting Mank himself on the show. We also talk about being way too busy to watch as many movies as usual, catching up on The Penguin and Agatha All Long, and the weird feeling of returning to the original Film Explorers hosts for a week.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro

00:03:19 What We Watched

00:24:16 The Book of Eli

01:18:16 Final Thoughts + Ratings

01:25:50 Outro

Email us at [email protected] with any feedback, suggestions, or messages that we can read on the show!

Links:

⁠Jackson on Letterboxd⁠

⁠Joey on Letterboxd⁠

⁠Josh on Letterboxd⁠

Sutherland on Letterboxd

Film Explorers is mixed and edited by Josh :)

CREASY'S ART IS DEATH, AND HE IS ABOUT TO PAINT HIS MASTERPIECE.

Spooktober is over, and as we approach the release of one of the year's biggest films in Gladiator II, we're knocking out some blindspots in the filmography of one of the titans of the film industry: Denzel Washington. This week we tackle his 2004 film from the great Tony Scott MAN ON FIRE. We talk revenge narratives, 2000s editing styles, strange Walken performances, and Denzel chewing the scenery every chance he gets. We also talk new releases like We Live in Time, Conclave, and Venom: The Last Dance, break down the legacies of 80s racism through Soul Man, and of course, we revisit Moonfall.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro

00:02:12 What We Watched

00:33:44 Man On Fire

01:21:28 Final Thoughts + Ratings

01:27:29 Outro

Email us at [email protected] with any feedback, suggestions, or messages that we can read on the show!

Links:

⁠Jackson on Letterboxd⁠

⁠Joey on Letterboxd⁠

⁠Josh on Letterboxd⁠

Sutherland on Letterboxd

Film Explorers is mixed and edited by Josh :)

FEAR WHAT'S INSIDE.

In what will probably become one of our most controversial episodes so far, we finally tackle one of our nemeses (nemesises? nemesi?!) Alex Garland and his 2018 sci-fi horror ANNIHILATION. We talk about not seeing the vision, how digital cinematography can make or break your movie, and why some people just need a new writer. We also talk about Saturday Night, Passing, Evil Does Not Exist, and The Amityville Horror. And we announce November's theme and all of our picks for the month right at the top of the show!

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro

00:02:20 November's Theme + All of our Picks

00:10:20 What We Watched

00:32:28 Annihilation

01:19:58 Final Thoughts + Ratings

01:30:27 Outro

Email us at [email protected] with any feedback, suggestions, or messages that we can read on the show!

Links:

⁠Jackson on Letterboxd⁠

⁠Joey on Letterboxd⁠

⁠Josh on Letterboxd⁠

Sutherland on Letterboxd

Film Explorers is mixed and edited by Josh :)

HOW DO YOU KILL SOMETHING THAT CAN'T POSSIBLY BE ALIVE?

After some more adventurous choices the last few weeks, Josh brings us back to basics with some more Stephen King and a second John Carpenter in 1983's CHRISTINE. We talk about what it means to gender your vehicles, having the worst most awful protagonist imaginable, and how Christine shapes up among the rest of Carpenter's films. We also spend some time on The Apprentice (use those chapters, folks), talk some other horror films we've been watching, and break down our recent television watching at the top of the episode.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro

00:02:19 What We Watched

00:19:06 The Apprentice Talk

00:32:28 What We Watched (continued)

00:40:16 Sutherland's Pick for Next Week

00:44:58 Christine

01:22:09 Final Thoughts + Ratings

01:32:12 Outro

Email us at [email protected] with any feedback, suggestions, or messages that we can read on the show!

Links:

⁠Jackson on Letterboxd⁠

⁠Joey on Letterboxd⁠

⁠Josh on Letterboxd⁠

Sutherland on Letterboxd

Film Explorers is mixed and edited by Josh :)

DO YOU WANT TO MEET A GHOST?

It's just getting scarier, babes. We're diving straight into J-Horror with Kiyoshi Kurosawa's PULSE, an absolutely terrifying film about all those little ghosts that are hiding right behind the screen you're currently reading this on. We talk about the rise of Internet technology, our childhoods finding random horror shorts on little corners of the web, and how reversing footage of someone walking backward is actually the single most horrifying thing we've ever seen. We also talk Joker 2 at the top, Joey follows in Josh's footsteps with some M. Night Shyamalan, and Sutherland watches some capital C Classics.

References:

The Mandela Catalogue

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro

00:02:28 Joker: Folie à Deux Talk

00:11:05 What We Watched

00:32:28 Josh's Pick for Next Week

00:37:29 Pulse

01:26:56 Final Thoughts + Ratings

01:38:45 Emails from Our Friends <3

01:44:51 Outro

Email us at [email protected] with any feedback, suggestions, or messages that we can read on the show!

Links:

⁠Jackson on Letterboxd⁠

⁠Joey on Letterboxd⁠

⁠Josh on Letterboxd⁠

Sutherland on Letterboxd

Film Explorers is mixed and edited by Josh :)

“WE DON'T WANT TO GIVE ANYBODY SLEEPLESS NIGHTS."

Spooktober Vol. 2 is upon us, and as part of our favorite season of the year, we're tackling 1992's GHOSTWATCH, a film that's truly unlike anything we've ever covered. We talk tricking your audience, ghosts lurking in the background, scarring childhood memories, and one of the most insane production stories we've ever heard. Also plenty of Megalopolis talk at the top of the show, Joey finally finishes the Hobbit movies, Jackson checks out The Wild Robot, and Sutherland rolls through his Criterion Challenge.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro

00:02:18 Megalopolis Talk

00:10:03 What We Watched + Some Random Tangents

00:39:50 Joey's Pick for Next Week

00:43:31 Ghostwatch

01:19:22 Final Thoughts + Ratings

01:26:16 Outro

Email us at [email protected] with any feedback, suggestions, or messages that we can read on the show!

Links:

⁠Jackson on Letterboxd⁠

⁠Joey on Letterboxd⁠

⁠Josh on Letterboxd⁠

Sutherland on Letterboxd

Film Explorers is mixed and edited by Josh :)

MEMORY BURNS.

Quick little disclaimer: we do talk about topics relating to depression and suicide this episode. If any of that content is particularly sensitive to you, feel free to skip around with the chapters.

Wrapping up our month of all female directors with Charlotte Wells' AFTERSUN, a movie that seeps so deeply into your subconscious that you don't even realize you're as sad as you are until the tears start flowing. We talk about Polaroids as memories, obscuring your characters through screens and reflections, and using songs we've listened to our whole lives to absolutely wreck us. Also some talk about Challengers and The Substance at the top of the show, whatever Ryan Murphy's been up to, and of course, the devil elevator movie.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro

00:04:50 What We Watched

00:30:32 Next Month's Theme + Jackson's Pick

00:36:14 Aftersun

01:24:10 Final Thoughts + Ratings

01:32:39 Outro

Email us at [email protected] with any feedback, suggestions, or messages that we can read on the show!

Links:

⁠Jackson on Letterboxd⁠

⁠Joey on Letterboxd⁠

⁠Josh on Letterboxd⁠

Sutherland on Letterboxd

Film Explorers is mixed and edited by Josh :)

In a hard shift into what has to be our deepest dive into arthouse cinema and the avant-garde art scene, we go back to 1976 for Chantal Akerman's NEWS FROM HOME, a film that left us legitimately speechless. We talk about how personal the film is to all of us, how painful it is, and how optimistic we can truly be about it all.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro

00:03:26 What We Watched

00:10:17 Surprise Guest Appearance

00:12:28 What We Watched Vol. 2

00:40:13 Sutherland's Pick for Next Week

00:43:38 News from Home

01:28:09 Final Thoughts + Ratings

01:42:22 Outro

Email us at [email protected] with any feedback, suggestions, or messages that we can read on the show!

Links:

⁠Jackson on Letterboxd⁠

⁠Joey on Letterboxd⁠

⁠Josh on Letterboxd⁠

Sutherland on Letterboxd

Film Explorers is mixed and edited by Josh :)

REVENGE NEVER LOOKED SO PROMISING.

Disclaimer: we talk about some really difficult content this week, since Promising Young Woman is a film about sexual assault. We always include chapters in our episodes so you can skip around, but if you feel in any way uncomfortable with that material, feel free to skip our discussion of the film. Love you all <3

This week, Joey brings us to the explosive world of Emerald Fennell with her directorial debut and Oscars darling PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN. We talk about how weird this film feels even just four years from its release, our really complicated takes on the ending and what it's really trying to say, and how successful Fennell's takedown of this system really is. Also Beetlejuice Beetlejuice talk at the top of the show and Joey starts the Terrance Malick journey with a brand new favorite.

00:00:00 Intro + Disclaimer

00:04:29 What We Watched

00:41:23 Promising Young Woman

01:26:38 Final Thoughts + Ratings

01:35:38 Josh's Pick for Next Week

Email us at [email protected] with any feedback, suggestions, or messages that we can read on the show!

Links:

⁠Jackson on Letterboxd⁠

⁠Joey on Letterboxd⁠

⁠Josh on Letterboxd⁠

Sutherland on Letterboxd

Film Explorers is mixed and edited by Josh :)