Queen is Dead - A Film, TV and Culture Podcast

In this new episode, Sanjeet & Dhruv discuss Ari Aster's new nightmarish surreal comedy, "Beau is Afraid." We juggle between praising his filmmaking and critiquing his indebtedness to the many inspirations -- ranging from Powell & Pressburger's "A Matter of Life and Death" to Guy Maddin's "Cowards Bend The Knees" -- that overpower that very filmmaking.

Dhruv remains annoyed (as usual) by the film's never-ending runtime, and Sanjeet mentions the word interesting more than 6 times throughout the recording.

Listen to the full episode for a spoiler-filled discussion about the interesting-ness of Ari Aster's therapy session that we paid money to see in the CINEMA.

Do hit 'Follow' on Spotify if you haven't already to help the podcast reach more people!

You can follow on our Instagram page: https://instagram.com/queenisdead.filmpodcast

You can follow us on Instagram at:

Sanjeet: https://www.instagram.com/pixel_baba/

Dhruv: https://www.instagram.com/terminalcinema/

Follow us on Letterboxd at:

Dhruv - https://letterboxd.com/aterminalcinema/

Sanjeet - https://letterboxd.com/Sanjeet_Singh/ 

On the eve of Paul Schrader's latest film's release, Dhruv invites fellow cinema studies student and writer -- Gordon Glasgow Goodman -- to discuss thier obsession with writer-director Paul Schrader. Explicitly focusing on "First Reformed," the two talk about the unifying themes of his work that seems to begin at a point of hardboiled noir -- God's Lonely Man -- before transcending into another variant of it that's less to do with action and more to do with externalizing tormenting questions with no easy answers about faith vs. flesh and the (im)possibility of redemption.

Listen to the full episode to hear us talk in-depth about his religious attempts at balancing "hope and despair" in all his films, his slight variations on the "Lonely Man" character at the center of each of his films, and how all this keeps bringing him (and us via him) back to Robert Bresson's "Pickpocket" (1959).

Spoilers for "First Reformed," "The Card Counter," & "Pickpocket."

TIME CODES

Introduction to Gordon, His Writing, and His Love-Affair with Cinema: 00:00 - 22:04

The Cinema and Writings of Paul Schrader: 22:05 - 30:39

"First Reformed" and its Brethren: 30:40 - 01:16:30

FOLLOW GORDON'S WRITING HERE:

"Calendance": https://calendance.substack.com/

"Trajectories": https://gordonglasgow.substack.com/

Do hit 'Follow' on Spotify if you haven't already to help the podcast reach more people!

Follow our Instagram page: https://instagram.com/queenisdead.filmpodcast

You can follow me on Instagram at:

Dhruv: https://www.instagram.com/terminalcinema/

Follow me on Letterboxd at:

Dhruv - https://letterboxd.com/aterminalcinema/

In this episode, Ahendrila, Dhruv, Amartya & Sanjeet champion the new Amazon Prime show 'Jubilee", directed by Vikramaditya Motwane. Delving deep into Atul Sabharwal’s divisive teleplay, the four discuss key character motivations, and structural elements that not only fit the era’s style in which the show is set, but also, metaphorically, recreate India and Pakistan’s painful Partition.

Lots of praises are singled out for the show’s exquisite camerawork, production design, music, and most of the performances (sorry Nandish Sandhu!)

Listen to the full episode for a spoiler-filled discussion about the series's ambitious canvas, favorite moments, and the many exciting details about early Hindi/Indian cinema!

Do hit 'Follow' on Spotify if you haven't already to help the podcast reach more people!

You can follow on Twitter Ahendrila: https://twitter.com/ahendrila_g

Follow our Instagram page: https://instagram.com/queenisdead.filmpodcast

You can follow us on Instagram at:

Sanjeet: https://www.instagram.com/pixel_baba/

Dhruv: https://www.instagram.com/terminalcinema/

Amartya: https://www.instagram.com/amartya25/

Follow us on Letterboxd at:

Ahendrila - https://letterboxd.com/ahendrila/

Dhruv - https://letterboxd.com/aterminalcinema/

Sanjeet - https://letterboxd.com/Sanjeet_Singh/

Amartya - https://letterboxd.com/amartya/

In this episode, Aryan and Amartya guide you through the entirety of the Wick-verse, mainly focusing on the latest installment, which they deem thier favorite.

Plenty of detours are taken along the way, only to explore the varied inspirations for the precisely choreographed balletic genius of "John Wick: Chapter 4." From the Japanese "Zatoichi" series to Buster Keaton's silent comedies to the top-down shooter game "The Hong Kong Massacre," the two A's bring all their action film/tv/videogame knowledge to justify their giddy love for what they hope is the final installment in a thrilling series.

Do listen to the full episode for a spoiler-filled discussion of the John Wick franchise!

Follow our Instagram page:

Amartya: https://www.instagram.com/amartya25/

Do hit 'Follow' on Spotify if you haven't already to help the podcast reach more people!

Follow us on Letterboxd at:

Aryan: https://letterboxd.com/aryantalksfilms/

Amartya: https://letterboxd.com/amartya/

In this very special episode, Amartya & Dhruv welcome back Varun (@cinephilestock) to discuss the rotten pulsating heart of Classic Film Noir.

We begin by discussing the origins of noir in German Expressionism, then move on to extensively investigate its emigration to Hollywood and, finally, observe its mutability in the East. This informs the choice of the three films we have chosen for the discussion -- Fritz Lang's proto-noir "M," Billy Wilder's bridge between war and post-war Hollywood Noir "Double Indemnity," and Akira Kurosawa's definitive post-war noir, "Stray Dog."

Listen to the full episode for our deep dive into each film and the historical context that defined them as film noir texts! Lots of productive detours too!

TIME CODES

Introduction to Film Noir: [00:00 - 31:28]

"M" (1931) : [31:29 - 01:02:49]

"Double Indemnity" (1944) : [01:02:50 - 01:39:27]

"Stray Dog" (1949) : [01:39:28 - 02:01:08]

Future Discussion Topics: [02:01:09 - 02:07:32]

NOTE: The episode is in no way a complete summation of the countless films and directors whose works continue to influence film noir today. It's a (hopefully) informative celebration of a style we love!

Do hit 'Follow' on Spotify if you haven't already to help the podcast reach more people!

The QID gang gets together in this annual episode to comprehend this year's Academy Awards nominations. There's exasperation, annoyance, disappointment, and (some) acceptance about the merits and demerits of the most prestigious Awards Show for Movies.

The QID gang gets together in this annual episode to comprehend this year's Academy Awards nominations. There's exasperation, annoyance, disappointment, and (some) acceptance about the merits and demerits of the most prestigious Awards Show for Movies.

In this latest episode, Dhruv and Aryan welcome fellow Spielberg fan and blogger Varun Bhakay (@cinephilestock) to discuss the comfortingly complicated magic of "The Fabelmans" - the Master's semi-autobiographical recollection of his filmmaking roots.

In this annual year-end episode, Dhruv and Sanjeet welcome two returning guests -- Devi (@film.trance) and Maheedhar (@maheedumb) -- to discuss each of thier top 5 favorite Indian films (best is only for the title, it's always subjective!) from the past year. These include films from all Woods - Bolly, Tolly, Kolly, Molly!

In this episode, Aryan, Amartya, and Sanjeet discuss Shah Rukh Khan's long-awaited comeback in Siddharth Anand's "Pathaan" - the "template setter" for the YRF Spyverse. We extensively discuss the subtext/context that informs the text and how director Anand manages to (sometimes not entirely successfully) meld these with action sensibilities most reminiscent of John Woo's "Mission Impossible 2."