Film School

You gentlemen aren't REALLY trying to kill my son, are you...?

Might be Ira's favorite Hitchcock. It's the prototypical spy film, predates even James Bond, except that this spy is actually just a regular dude. Handsome Cary Grant, of course, but he's pulled into an international conspiracy entirely by mistake. Chock full of some of the most iconic sequences ever put to film. What a time '59 must have been! We're (again) watching...North By Northwest!

Finishing something can make a lot of things suddenly become clear. There are revelations about our work that can literally only be gained by seeing something through and marking it as "done" in our own heads. So...what have we learned, Josh and Ira, in finishing our own projects? We discuss.

Also, Josh recommends Annihilation which is playing on Pluto TV, and Ira recommends Succession with is on HBO and Max.

You shouldn't keep souvenirs of a killing...

We're back to Vertigo! The last time we watched this one, it was late summer of 2021, deep in the AFI's Top 100 list. Top ten, in fact. Seems like an age ago, and yet, the movie took us right back there. It's still great, undeniably one of Hitch's absolute best; probably the closest he ever got to a proper film noir, stunningly shot in San Francisco, a spectacular sound track, some neat camera work, A-list cast, and a screenplay the zips and zig-zags. A true classic. Enjoy!

Josh calls DVD Extras his film school. The interviews, commentaries, documentaries, featurettes, and other bonus material has been as valuable in his filmmaker education as any class or study. We talk about the benefits of all this extra material around movie making that you might not be tapping into.

Also, Josh recommends Kitchen Nightmares, and Ira recommends the original Star Trek movies, and Grand Designs.

An innocent man has nothing to fear...

Alfred is doing something new this time: he's telling a true story, every word of it, top to bottom. Henry Fonda plays Manny Balestrero, bass player at the famous Stork Club and father of two, just scraping by to support them. And then he's fingered for being the hold-up man terrorizing the neighborhood shops and offices. But he didn't do it. Except the police think he did. Will he go down for a crime he didn't commit, or will the justice system to him and his family right? We watch and find out.

Harold Bloom defined 'strangeness' as a mark of originality that is endemic and absolutely required for any work of literary art to be considered a masterpiece or a classic. Dan Simmons goes further to define it as a quality in the writing or storytelling that indicates to us, the reader (or viewer for Film/TV), are in the presence of an intelligence that is unique or different enough to be able to teach us something about ourselves. So...how does one achieve 'strangeness?' Is it something that can be taught? Practiced? Or is it something you either have or you don't? We discuss!

Also, Josh recommends Men which is on HBO Max, and Ira recommends It Follows which is on Prime.

A man... a statesman... is to be killed...

Hitchcock does his one and only remake! Twenty+ years earlier, back in his British period, he did this story once before, under the exact same name! So...does he mix it up? Does he IMPROVE on the original? We watch and find out!

Let's suck in the guts, guys. We're the Ghostbusters...

Bustin' still makes us feel good! The boys are back and saving New York yet again from the spookies. It's been five years, everyone has done a bit of going their separate ways, but there are shenanigans afoot. Ghosts need busting! Can they capture some of the magic of the original? We watch and find out. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

They're here...

This movie is the perfect horror film for beginners; Spooky 101, if you will. It's not super violent, super scary, or super disturbing...but it DOES bring the noise. It IS scary, and unquestionably a horror movie that gets appropriate crazy by the end. It exists in that weird middle-ground between E.T. and Nightmare on Elm Street, and in that way, there's nothing out there quite like it. It's undeniably a classic. We watch, we scream, and we discuss!

Who you gonna call?

It's hard to understate just how large of an impression this movie made on the kids who grew up in the 1980s (and 90s). This movie felt like it was EVERYONE'S favorite movie. Deadpanned Bill Murray, nerdy Harold Ramis, golden retriever Dan Akroyd, skeptical/wtf Ernie Banks, goofy Slimer, possessed Sigourney Weaver, that-neighbor Rick Moranis...it's alchemy. One of those films that captured magic. We're watching it!