Jason and the Movienauts

Blaize is back one more time to talk Paul Schrader with Jason. This time the guys go deep into their top 11 favorite films Schrader directed. There are some major disagreements here, which of course makes for great listening. Please let us know how you enjoy, and share your lists with us!

Blaize and Jason worked our wat through all the films directed by Paul Schrader. So to sum the effort up, we had to rate his films from worst to best. This week: part one of that rating. There's a few surprises and disagreements in here and we'd love to hear your opinions on these films too!

Shawn and Paul are back again to continue out look at the Aliens series of films, this time to look at Aliens3 and Aliens: Resurrection. Knowing what a fan the guys are of the movies, it's no surprise they have a lot of praise for these two films. But do they stand up to rewatch? And what do we think of the alien baby in Resurrection anyway?

Michelle is back for yet another fantastic discussion of films directed by the great Billy Wilder. This time she and Jason discuss two woefully underrated films in Wilder's auspicious filmography, Five Graves to Cairo and A Foreign Affair. The friends discuss the excellent way Wilder portrays gender, the depiction of history as it happens, why sometimes it's better to cast relative unknowns, and much, much more.

Paul and Shawn are back to start a new series, this time examining the Aliens franchise. And what better films to start with than two of the greatest science fiction films ever, Alien and Aliens. As usual the guys dig deep into the films for a sometimes wild and always freewheeling chat about some brilliant moments on the screen.

Fans often sleep on the late films of Hiroshi Teshigahara, the man who directed Woman in the Dunes and The Face of Another. But, as guest Eric reminds us, Teshigahara's late films are equally as powerful. Rikyu and Basara: The Princess Goh represent a magnificent and unexpected late career peak from the master filmmaker. They are the kinds of masterful films one would expect from a Kurosawa and are startling to watch as delivered by a formalist like Teshigahara.

Jason also especially liked the pseudo-documentary Summer Soldiers, a morally ambiguous story about Americans stationed in Japan during the Vietnam War. This obscure film crystallizes everything likes about this director: a constant quest for innovation, a drive for deep moral truths, and an exploration of the transience of ego and identity.

Great films and a great discussion -- as always.

Michele joins Jason again for a new project: a look at the films of the great Billy Wilder. This week the pair discuss several films Wilder co-wrote before he took up the directing reigns: Ball of Fire, Arise My Love, Ninotchka and more -- and find them to all be pretty special films. We think you'll enjoy the insight the pair bring, and have fun thinking through your own watch of these sublime films!

Eric is back and this time he and Jason are talking about the brilliant short films of Hiroshi Teshigahara (or at least the ones which are actually available). Teshigahara⁠ may be best known for his features like The Face of Another and Woman in the Dunes, but his short subjects are beautiful meditations on art and the power of the arts.

As usual, Jason and Eric connect the dots and really bring the director's obsessions and power to life in this chat.

Michelle is back to conclude our conversation about the remarkable films of Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, this time with looks at the brilliant A Matter of Life and Death and Thief of Bagdad.

Then it's time for the really good stuff as each of us rate the P&P films - and agree on our top choice.

As always, we think this is a fun and interesting listen.

Eric is back again. He and Jason got to chatting about David Lynch and his brilliant legacy, and got on the topic of how Lynch's Lost Highway is an examination of the legacy of the OJ trial. They got onto the idea of other films which discuss the Simpson story and talked about Natural Born Killers as well. Turns out the two movies created a fascinating contrast and a good conversation about two fascinating films.