Film School

Vampires in Iran!

Easily one of the 'coolest' films we've ever watched on this podcast, A Girl Walks Home is pure gothic punk rock from foot to fangs. Made in SoCal, it's set in Iran, a place where the subject matter would get you arrested. Hard to imagine when the core of this tale is so sweet, and so wholesome. We discuss!

If it's not going to go off, it shouldn't be hanging there. This week, we're talking about the term "Chekhov's Gun," what it refers to, and how it applies to our writing, storytelling, and just plain-old enjoyment of the stories we consume.

Also, Josh recommends the 90s scifi-camp Johnny Neumonic which is on Netflix right now, and Ira gives a (lengthy) recommendation of the Teal Swan cult-exposé doc The Deep End which is currently on Hulu.

So, go get him for Pete's sake!

Jean-Pierre Jeunet masterpiece is a sweet, charming, whimsical and magic-filled romance about an awkward shut-in who turns to taking care of everyone around her on her journey toward taking care of herself . . . and finding love. Audrey Tatou is Amélie. Good God she's wonderful, as is this film. We discuss!

When driving forward, it can be so easy to go go go so fast that we either burn ourselves out before we can finish, or we miss too much, skimp on the details, and what we have when we finish doesn't work. Crushing, either way. So, how can we avoid that? How can we tell the difference between "ambition" and "impatience."

Also, Josh once again recommends Top Chef, currently on Hulu; Ira recommends Grosse Pointe Blank, which is currently on Amazon Prime.

Imagine, if you will, you're a severed hand.

You wake up in a freezer, no memory of how you got there, just flashes of the chaotic end, where you were separated from your body. All you want is to be reunited. Such is the premise of this delightful, inventive animated French film. We watch and discuss!

When you need to feel inspired, creative, safe and free . . . where do you go? Where--that actually exists--can you go that fills you up with the warm fuzzies, where the memories, sights, sounds, smells and textures are so thick you can still reach out and touch them any time you think about them? We share a couple of those places for us.

Also, Josh recommends Top Chef, which is on Hulu right now, and Ira (with some help from Liz) recommends Chriskirkpatrickmas: A Boy Band Christmas Musical, a brand-new musical playing at Fringe Festival here in Los Angeles. Get tickets here.

Alfredo!

This jaunt down memory lane is credited with reviving the Italian film industry in the late-80s and the 90s. Giuseppe Tornatore dips into his own history in spinning a tale about a young small-town boy who falls in love with movies, falls in love-love, and then abruptly moves away to pursue his dreams as a director. Now, his childhood mentor has passed, and he's called home to face all the ghosts he left behind. The film drips with nostalgia, even though it's all about moving on. Bellissimo. We discuss.

Does writer's block even exist? Some writers--a lot of writers--will tell you that it doesn't. And yet, we have a TERM for it, so sure it must be something. What is it then? Josh and Ira break down their experience with the phenomenon of staring at the empty page and struggling with something to write.

PLUS...Josh recommends one of his comfort shows King of the Hill, and Ira recommends The Dropout on Hulu along with Master Chef for the second week in a row (...because Josh asked about it :)

What's the tale, nightingale?

What a gem! It's always such a rush to find a film that almost nobody else knows about, made by someone you've never heard of (because this is his first feature), acted by faces you don't recognize . . . and it's wonderful. That is The Vast of Night, a tale of secret government projects, odd sounds over the airwaves, and aliens in the skies, all set in the warm and coziness of small-town 1950s. We watched. We discussed. Check it out :)

Act 1, Act 2, and Act 3; how do we tell them apart? What distinguishes the beginning of our story, the middle, and the end? Ya boys talk about how to sort a story into three, neat, easy-to-use parts.

Also, Josh recommends the documentary Closed for Storm and Ira recommends Werner Herzog's doc Wings of Hope, and Anthony Bourdain's travel/food/culture shows No Reservations and Parts Unknown.