The Secret Movie Club team (Connor Lloyd Crews, Edwin Gomez, Craig Hammill; Daniel Ott is still out on a shoot) discuss Spanish master filmmaker Pedro Almodovar, his transgressive daring, often LGBTQ focus, with a specific look at his transitional work 1987's LAW OF DESIRE. Two of the team-members have seen it. One tries to fake his way through. All discuss Almodovar's incredible talent with color, framing, and injecting Hitchcockian tension into almost any genre including melodrama. Edwin and Craig extol Almodovar's darker work, particularly THE SKIN I LIVE IN. 

The Secret Movie Club team (Connor Lloyd Crews, Edwin Gomez, Craig Hammill; Daniel is off shooting) discusses genres its not super hot on. Connor and Edwin explain why romcoms and Hugh Grant aren't their jam. Craig expresses his ambivalence about the slasher genre. Edwin airs his grievances about kid's movie CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG. Connor makes the key point that despite this, many movies beloved by the entire team are in genres they don't gravitate to because greatness always transcends. 

The Secret Movie Club Team (Connor Lloyd Crews, Edwin Gomez, Daniel Ott, Craig Hammill) talks about the short film as an art form. Everything from avante garde filmmaker Stan Brakhage to 80's/90's music videos to omnibus movies where famous directors get together to make a collection of 30 minute shorts around a theme gets discussed. And even Orson Welles' French TV hour-long The Immortal Story get name-checked. Plus Edwin no longer needs compliments, Daniel has developed an edge, and Craig has a John Ford dream.  

The SMC Team (Connor Lloyd Crews, Edwin Gomez, Daniel Ott, Craig Hammill) works to evolve and be dynamic by changing up our monthly podcast to a "Highlights" podcast. You can always go to our website to see our entire calendar (https://www.secretmovieclub.com/calendar?view=calendar&month=02-2022). Here we just shout out a few special events we want to put on your radar. And why. Plus Edwin bites his tongue and we all make fun of him. 

The Secret Movie Club Team (Connor Lloyd Crews, Edwin Gomez, Daniel Ott, Craig Hammill) discuss when comedians begin to make dramas and art films, a transition that often happens mid-career. Well known examples of Robin Williams, Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler get discussed as well as international art house sensation Beat Takashi. The Team then flips the script and discusses when action and drama stars start making comedies like The Rock in PAIN & GAIN. Edwin yet again attacks Craig for perceived programming slights. Connor remotes in from Texas after some dental work. 

The SMC Team (Connor Lloyd Crews, Edwin Gomez, Daniel Ott, Craig Hammill) finally-FINALLY!-gets to do the celebration episode of Stanley Kubrick, our 2020 director of the year. COVID halted the year but once SMC was able to show movies indoors again in May 2021, we picked up and finished the series. DR. STRANGELOVE, FULL METAL JACKET, PATHS OF GLORY, and LOLITA all get special looks. Connor makes the important distinction that Kubrick was definitely Great (as an artist) but may not have always been good (to people he directed or worked with). Daniel notes Kubrick's strange and unique approach to characters. Craig recounts the excitement of discovering Kubrick and Lolita as a teenager becoming aware of the vast ocean of cinema. 

The Secret Movie Club Team (Connor Lloyd Crews, Edwin Gomez, Daniel Ott, Craig Hammill) re-assembles after various and sundry adventures over winter break 2021-2022 to discuss what they saw. Spider Man No Way Home, the use of multiverses, Spielberg's West Side Story, Edwin's love for Daniel Day Lewis, Amir "Questlove" Johnson's Summer of Soul, Frank Zappa's blistering guitar solos all get discussed. 

Like Godzilla vs King Kong, Edwin Caesar Gomez and Craig Herbert Hammill of Secret Movie Club go head to head on Ingmar Bergman's 1966 PERSONA.  Edwin doesn't get it and thinks a lot of Bergman doesn't work. Craig thinks PERSONA is one of the greatest movies ever made and Bergman one of the greatest moviemakers who ever lived. Thus. . .Craig has to DEFEND THIS MOVIE. Who wins? Is the point even winning? At the very least we hope you'll take a listen and watch PERSONA to make up your own mind.  Here we go...

Today, we release the "pilot" conversations for what would become our Secret Movie Club podcast. Filmmmakers Matt Olsen, Brian Hatfield, and Steve Grest joined Secret Movie Club Founder.Programmer Craig Hammill in 2018 to discuss Hitchcock movies like SHADOW OF A DOUBT, REAR WINDOW, PSYCHO as well as 80's sci-fi like STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN and James Cameron's original TERMINATOR. Along the way, beer gets drunk, stories get told, Sam Peckinpah's weird cuckolding fetish somehow gets touched on, and laughter abounds. 

Twas the night before Christmas and the SMC Podcast Team had returned from whence they came/yet Craig found he needed to record a podcast all the same...While team members Connor, Edwin, and Daniel take a much needed break/vacation (they will return at the start of Jan 2022!), Founder.programmer Craig Hammill does a solo stream of consciousness mini-podcast previewing January 2022 at Secret Movie Club and rat-a-tat-tatting a number of favorite holiday themed movies or movies with incredible holiday sequences. Everyone from Powell & Pressburger to Sturges to Lubitsch to Sean Baker gets name checked. Plus Craig notes how his two favorite holiday movies both star Jimmy Stewart. And more! Happy holidays to everyone wherever you are. Whoever you are.