Film School

What's it liked to get older? As Josh and Ira dip their toes into 'middle age,' things start to change. You're not old yet, but you're not young anymore. Some things improve. Some things get worse. Ya boys talk about it. Enjoy!

Also, Josh recommends Seinfeld which is currently on Netflix, and Ira recommends Alien 3, which is currently on Disney+.

I think, Captain Wiles, we're tangled up in a murder...

Old Al is trying his hand again at a comedy. This time, its a country community with a dead body on their hands, and they don't want anyone to know about it. Hitch's comedies have been hit and miss so far. How does this one stack up? We watch and discuss :)

How many drafts is the right number of drafts??? Is it okay to write the thing once and then call it done? Or do we need to write and rewrite and edit and write some more and more and more? Or...is it something in between? Josh and Ira discuss what works for them!

Also, Josh again recommends Chernobyl on Max, and Ira recommends Mountain Queen which is on Netflix.

The cat has a new kitten...

Hitch and Grace Kelly team up again, this time with Cary Grant swapped in for Jimmy Stewart, and the vast, gorgeous French Riviera rather than a single, confined apartment. Grant plays a jewel thief being framed for a robbery he didn't actually commit, and Grace is the woman he falls for. We watch and discuss!

Back in Ira's DJing days, he put together literally hundreds of sets. An interesting pattern developed during that time: no matter how much his skill increased as he went (and it did), some sets just worked better than others. Some were great, others weren't, and no amount of skill could make a set great that wasn't from the outset. So...just how much of greatness comes from the Muse? And how much is due to skill and within our control? We discuss!

Also, Josh recommends Chernobyl on Max, and Ira recommends X-Men: The Animated Series which is on Disney+.

That's a secret, private world you're looking into out there...

It's Hitchcock's first true classic. Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly star in one of the crime film concepts for the ages: a man is laid up with a broken leg and a view out his window into the apartment courtyards behind his building...and he thinks he witnesses a murder. What a delight to revisit this film and watch it again (the first time being back on the AFI's Top 100, of which this film ranked #56)! Join us!

The feedback loop is at the heart of developing any skill. But, the vast majority of the work we do as storytellers is done alone. So, where and when do you open yourself up for other people to comment on? And once get that feedback, what do we DO with it? We discuss!

Also, Josh recommends some of his all-time favorite shows, The Office (UK), Arrested Development, Whites, W1A, and People Just Do Nothing, and Ira recommends Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War which is on Netflix.

Do you really believe in the perfect murder...?

Hitchcock certainly does! This time, it's a man who wants to knock off his cheating wife. Can he get away with it??? Or can the old school, meticulous, quiet Scotland Yard inspector see through it all and figure it out? We watch and find out :)

Have you ever thought of your script, book, or film as a persuasive argument? It is. Drama quite literally arises from two (or several) characters with very different, very persuasive points of view clashing with each other. That's called rhetoric. And if our characters' rhetorical skill can only ever be as strong as the person who wrote that character...well, maybe we all of us writers need to work on our rhetoric, don't we? The better our rhetorical skills become, the more persuasive our characters become, the more compelling our stories become. We discuss that dynamic.

Also, Josh recommends Top Chef on Peacock, and Ira recommends the Shrek series of movies, also on Peacock.

I want to make a confession...

Hitchcock has a nose for a character in a bind, and that's on full display with this one, where a priest takes confession from a murderer, then becomes the main suspect in that very same murder. Will he break his oath as a priest and tell the authorities the truth? Or will he hang for another man's crime? We watch and find out!