Searching For Atticus

Steven Spielberg finally gets around to telling his own coming-of-age story, with a bit of fictionalized help from screenwriter Tony Kushner. 
"The Fabelmans" follows young Sammy (Gabriel LaBelle), a budding filmmaker, through his childhood and adolescence. His mother Mitzi (Michelle Williams) indulges his passion, while his engineer father Burt (Paul Dano) wonders when he will move beyond his "hobby." 
The film is nominated for 7 Oscars, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Score and Best Production Design. 
Rich & Kofi talk not only about the film's portrayal of childhood aspirations, marital love and familial disintegration, but also about Spielberg's actual growing up as portrayed in the HBO documentary "Spielberg." 
Clips in this podcast are ©Universal Pictures.

#spielberg #thefabelmans #fabelmansmovie

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Kofi, Blake & Rich continue their look at this year's Academy Award nominees, plunging into the multiverse with a look at the Daniels' breakout hit, starring Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu and Jamie Lee Curtis.
In the film, Yeoh's character Evelyn is a laundromat owner who learns of the existence of multiple versions of herself and her family, which becomes the centre of a battle to save the world from destruction.
Much of our conversation revolves around the role of kindness in manhood, the difficulty we all face in reconciling the bad decisions we've made, and  the challenges parents face in recognizing their children for who they really are. 
Clips in this episode are ©A24

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We're kicking off our look at nominees for the 2023 Academy Awards with a replay of our conversation about "Top Gun: Maverick."

The movie sees Tom Cruise reprise his role as the hot-shot fighter pilot - this time recruited to train a group of Top Gun graduates for an impossible strike mission on yet another nebulous but nefarious nation. 

Under the deft direction of Joseph Kosinski, we see a well-worn Maverick coming to terms with many of the things that he has missed in life - respect and advancement in his career; family and deep, abiding love. Miles Teller stars as Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw, the son and spitting image of Mav's late partner Goose; Glen Powell plays Rooster's nemesis, call sign: Hangman; and Jennifer Connelly shines as Mav's last, best chance at true love, Penny Benjamin.

#topgun #topgunmaverick #tomcruise #milesteller #usnavy #rcaf #figtherjets #growingup #raisingyoungmen #fatherhood #oscars #oscars2023
 

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Throughout most of Jack Nicholson's career, he has played men who are menacing, intolerant, angry - or all of the above. Even so, he has held a place in the hearts of movie fans for more than 50 years. What makes Jack so cool?

#fatherhood #motherhood #parenting #dadlife #parenthood #family #dad #love #father #fathersday #dadsofinstagram #kids #fatherandson #daddy #fathers #dads #familytime #parents #children #parentlife #friendship #marriage #fatherdaughter #fatherson #fatheranddaughter #parentingtips

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It might not be Hallowe'en, but it is the dead of winter - and Blake tells us that Jack Torrance tops almost every list of Bad Movie Dads. So we dive in on Stanley Kubrick's horror classic The Shining.
Based on the novel by Stephen King, The Shining is the disturbing tale of a writer (Jack Nicholson) who takes a job as the winter caretaker at a remote mountaintop hotel, and proceeds terrorize his wife (Shelley Duvall) and son (Danny Lloyd). Is Jack driven by madness, haunted or just suffering the worst case of writer's block in history?
Blake, Kofi & Rich can't decide, but we do dive into the effects of isolation, the appeal of this movie and the uncomfortable scenes in this film that are somehow relatable - even to the most upstanding of husbands and fathers.

Clips in this episode are ©Warner Bros. Pictures

#fatherhood #motherhood #parenting #dadlife #parenthood #family #dad #love #father #fathersday #dadsofinstagram #kids #fatherandson #daddy #fathers #dads #familytime #parents #children #parentlife #friendship #marriage #fatherdaughter #fatherson #fatheranddaughter #parentingtips

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What happens when your best friend tells you he just doesn't like you any more? 
That's premise taken on by writer-director Martin McDonough, as he reunites with his "In Bruges" co-stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson. 
Gleeson plays Colm, a musician who decides he has no more room in his life for friendship with the "dull" Padraic played by Farrell.
For Blake & Rich, the film prompts a variety of topics of conversation: 
Why do friendships die?
Is there a kind way to end them?
How do we react when a friendship ends - and what does that say about who we are?
And finally, what do we want to be remembered for: the relationships we have or the things we create?

Clips in this podcast are ©Searchlight Pictures
 "Big Time" by Peter Gabriel is ©Real World Music Ltd.

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Kofi, Blake & Rich celebrate the holidays with a look at Tim Allen's feature film debut - and long-running franchise - The Santa Clause, written by Leo Benvenuti & Steve Rudnick, and directed by John Pasquin.
Allen stars as Scott Calvin, a divorced, single-dad toy executive who finds himself donning Santa's suit and then becomes the jolly fat man himself - all because he didn't read the fine print.
The movie follows Calvin through some hilarious physical changes, but what interests us is the change he makes from selfish, cynical dad to the very personification of the Christmas spirit.  Along the way, we talk about the belief that Calvin's son Charlie (played beautifully by Eric Lloyd) holds in both his father and in Ol' St. Nick himself. 

Clips in this podcast are ©The Walt Disney Company

#podcast #thesantaclause #thesantaclauses #timallen #fatherhood #parenthood #raisingyoungmen #christmasmovie #christmasmovies 

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Rich & Kofi pay tribute to the World Cup with a look at at the story of a team of POWs who take part in a game against the German national soccer team in occupied Paris at the height of World War II.  The POWs are led by Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine and Pelé, while Max von Sydow plays a German officer with a surprising streak of sportsmanship.
Victory is not director John Huston's best effort (he did it for the paycheque), but it does raise some interest questions about honour, sportsmanship and the importance of the "big game" versus the larger of issue of well, escaping to a free life. 

#fatherhood #motherhood #parenting #dadlife #parenthood #family #dad #love #father #fathersday #dadsofinstagram #kids #fatherandson #daddy #fathers #dads #familytime #parents #children #parentlife #friendship #marriage #fatherdaughter #fatherson #fatheranddaughter #parentingtips

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This might be our most important, most helpful podcast yet. Blake, Kofi & Rich are joined by Eric Windeler, co-founder of the Canadian youth mental health initiative Jack.org, to discuss our first musical, Dear Evan Hansen.
The movie follows an anxious, isolated high-school student (Ben Platt) through an increasingly complex web of deception when a letter he writes to himself is misinterpreted as the suicide note of a fellow schoolmate (Colton Ryan). 
Directed by Stephen Chbosky, with a screenplay by Steven Levenson and songs by Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, Dear Evan Hansen is a film that ought to provoke crucial conversations between parents and kids about their struggles. After all, one in seven Canadian youth reports having suicidal thoughts. It's the leading cause of death for young people in Canada. 
Eric shares his experience as the father of a son lost to suicide, as well as some well-researched advice and resources dedicated to empowering youth and parents to address concerns about mental health.

If you are having thoughts of suicide, call:
Talk Suicide Canada 1.833.456.4566
Kids Help Phone 1-800-668-6868 

Resources from Jack.org:
Be There resource: www.BeThere.org
Be There Certificate online course: www.BeThereCertificate.org
Book a Jack Talk: www.jack.org/Talks
Start a Jack Chapter: www.jack.org/Chapters
Attend a Jack Summit: www.jack.org/Summits

Clips in this podcast are ©Universal Pictures

#fatherhood #motherhood #parenting #dadlife #parenthood #family #dad #love #father #fathersday #dadsofinstagram #kids #fatherandson #daddy #fathers #dads #familytime #parents #children #parentlife #friendship #marriage #fatherdaughter #fatherson #fatheranddaughter #parentingtips

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Blake, Kofi & Rich don their poppies with a look at Sam Mendes's one-shot masterpiece about two soldiers (George MacKay and Dean Charles Chapman) tasked with delivering a message to the far end of the front - in the hopes of halting a disastrous British offensive.
We talk about the innovative filmmaking and share some fascinating background on Roger Deakins's photography and Lee Smith's editing. We discuss the importance of character - not only in the film but in our own actions. And we consider how it's possible to go from living your daily life as a student, parent or professional one day, then pivot to fighting a war the next.

Watch the extended featurette on the making of 1917.

Sam Mendes on 1917 - from NPR.org

List of veterans support groups in Canada. 

Clips in this podcast are ©Universal Pictures

#fatherhood #motherhood #parenting #dadlife #parenthood #family #dad #love #father #fathersday #dadsofinstagram #kids #fatherandson #daddy #fathers #dads #familytime #parents #children #parentlife #friendship #marriage #fatherdaughter #fatherson #fatheranddaughter #parentingtips

#searchingforatticus #buzzsprout