Footcandle Films

Big budgets, big stars, & special FX galore. It must be Summertime. Well no, it is only mid-April. Just like Christmas items seem to show up before Halloween costumes leave the shelves, summer tentpole films seem to be creeping earlier and earlier into the year. Two such films “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” and “Noah” are discussed in this episode along with the documentary “Tim’s Vermeer”.

Recommendations: “Wrong”, “Love Bug”, “Luminaris”, “3x3”, “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore”

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After taking in a deluge of films at the 2014 RiverRun International Film Festival in Winston-Salem, NC Alan & Chris sat down and recounted their thoughts on what they saw. Bear with them…it was late at night and films almost started running together. Plus they were a bit giddy because they’d gotten to see director David Gordon Green and actor Tye Sheridan do an unexpected Q&A.

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The Muppets are back in the theater with all new songs and celebrity cameos. What did Alan & Chris think of their efforts this time around? Will it likely be one of their favorites of the year like the previous film? Next up Frodo Baggins (aka Elijah Wood) goes art house with a thriller (Grand Piano) where he’s a pianist staging a comeback. Movie news and recommendations round out the episode…and sadly no review of “Ride Along” yet. Alan learns that the penalty for any further delay might mean he needs to take in an additional screening of “The Single Mom’s Club”.

Recommendations – “The Emperor’s New Groove”, “Crazy Heart”

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The 2014 Oscars have come and gone. Among the winners were the Italian film “The Great Beauty” for Best Foreign Language Film. Fresh from a screening of the film, Alan & Chris weigh the film’s merits and consider whether the Academy made a good choice. Time is also spent discussing “Wadjda” which has the distinction of being the first feature length film ever to be shot entirely in Saudi Arabia.

The results from the Oscar challenge are also revealed…someone is headed to a screening of “Ride Along”.

Recommendations – “Drug War”, “Psychos”

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The Academy decided that “Inside Llewyn Davis”, the latest film by the Coen Brothers, was worthy of only two nominations in the less lauded categories of Sound Mixing and Cinematography. Alan & Chris weigh in with their thoughts on whether or not this was one of those infamous academy slights. They also talk about the recent highly successful kids film “The Lego Movie”. With 2014 promising to be a great year in movies the hosts also share their most anticipated films and then each give a recommendation for a film you might have missed.

Recommendations – “Beware of Mr. Baker”, “A Serious Man”

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Spike Jonze, whose films include “Being John Malkovich”, “Adaptation” and “Where The Wild Things Are”, has an Oscar contender for Best Picture with his latest work “Her”. Alan & Chris give their thoughts on the film and then spend a few moments mourning the passing of Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Also in this episode both hosts pick their favorites to take home Oscar statues in March. To make things interesting they even establish a wager (the loser MUST attend a screening of the lowest rated movie by Rotten Tomatoes and discuss the experience in an upcoming episode). All this plus the fellows close out the episode with their picks for films you might have missed.

Recommendations – “Short Term 12, “Standing in the Shadows of Motown”

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What better way to bring in 2014 than to cram as many reviews into one episode as possible? That's exactly what Alan & Chris try to do…give you the most bang for your podcast listening buck. Oh wait…the show is free right? Well maybe it'll encourage you to pay it forward and give us a kind review on iTunes? Anyways…we do have a great show with reviews of "American Hustle", "The Wolf of Wall Street", & "All Is Lost". For extra measure Alan also starts the clock and has Chris give a sixty second review of "Saving Mr. Banks". Last, but certainly not least, we round the show out with some movie news and our recommendations for movies you might have missed.

Recommendations – "The Way, Way Back", "Oldboy"

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Alan & Chris close out 2013 with a review of the holiday classic "It's a Wonderful Life" and their takes on the current multiplex offerings of "Anchorman 2" and "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug".  Also discussed are the smaller art house films of "Philomena" and "Enough Said".  To close out the show the hosts came up with a unique list of categories that they used to sum up their year in cinema that was 2013.  Put another log on the fire, grab a cup of hot cocoa and enjoy.

Excerpt:

Reviews of "Enough Said", "Anchorman 2" & "The Hobbit"

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Heavy subject matter abounds on this episode of Footcandle Films with reviews of "12 Years A Slave" and the documentary "Blackfish". Afterwards, in an attempt to cheer things up a bit, Alan urges Chris to give brief reviews of "Frozen" and the next installment in the Hunger Games series.

Recommendations – "Hot Rod", "Frances Ha"

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Science fiction. A well beloved film genre of Chris, who also loves to read (when he's not sitting in a darkened theater). How does he feel about the big budget adaptation of the bestseller "Ender's Game"? Alan, who looks at reading books like a plate of steamed broccoli, also gives his thoughts on the film. Shifting gears the gents then discuss another Somali pirate film – no it's not "Captain Phillips 2" but the highly regarded Danish film "A Hijacking". Movies news (featuring Alan's brief review of "Thor: The Dark World") and recommendations then serve as the icing on the cinematic film nerd cake that is this episode of Footcandle Films.

Recommendations – "American Psycho", "Flight"

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