Shot/Reverse Shot

In the fourth SRS Artist Profile, Matt and Ed look at the work of Ang Lee, a filmmaker who has worked in multiple genres, on multiple continents and in multiple languages over the course of his career, creating a body of work which is incredibly diverse yet distinctly his own. They discuss the reasons why his early films, which dealt with cross-generational conflict and Taiwanese identity in the West, made him the perfect choice to direct a Jane Austen adaptation, his ill-advised venture into broad comedy, and his endlessly fascinating take on The Incredible Hulk, which looks even more radical in such a superhero-addled age. They also find time to discuss one of nature's greatest sights: a wild Nick Nolte.

A new blockbuster has arrived so the world sent up the SRS signal and Matt and Ed answered the call.(If you're wondering, the signal is a silhouette of Jeff Bridges drinking a cup of tea.) The release of Marvel's second Avengers movie leads to a discussion of the film's merits as a film and as a piece of the studio's multi-film cinematic universe; Joss Whedon's ability to jungle comedy, characters and action; and whether or not the need to set up five years' worth of storytelling hurt Age of Ultron's ability to tell its own story. 

This episode also captures Matt and Ed's live reactions to the first picture of the cast of Suicide Squad, which just so happened to be released as they were recording. Needless to say, they react about as well as they did to the first image of The Joker.

Inspired by the very entertaining documentary Jodorowsky's Dune, about one of the most fascinating and influential films never made, this week's episode revolves around films that only exist in the minds of their creators, or in some magical pocket dimension where all possibilities happen at once. In exploring the topic, Matt and Ed talk about films that were made at some point but had a potentially more interesting version somewhere in their development, films that never made it past the script phase but wound up being scavenged for parts in other films that did, and the reasons why some films never come together, either because they're too expensive or too insane. If you want to hear about how Jurassic World could have been a lot nuttier (and probably more interesting) or why every film should be written by Nick Cave, then this is the episode for you.

After a punishing week that saw the release of a trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, a teaser for the trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, a trailer for Fantastic Four: This Time We'll Get It Right, We Promise and, of course, the Internet-breaking trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Matt and Ed decided to sit down and talk about the state of movie marketing today. In addition to freaking out a little bit over seeing Han and Chewie on screen again, they discuss the ever decreasing amounts of footage being released as trailers, the ways in which marketing drives the feeding frenzy of click bait criticism (and vice versa) and the ways in which the team behind The Force Awakens both play into and defy these trends. 

They also find time to talk about Marvel's Daredevil and the baffling low-budget British musical Walking on Sunshine, because not everything takes place in a galaxy far, far away. Some of it takes place in the cheaper-to-film parts of Italy.

Spoiler Warning: From 21:30-22:00, there is a brief discussion of the trailer for Terminator Genisys which reveals an apparently significant plot point which is itself revealed in the trailer, so fair warning if you are trying to avoid that trailer.

For their latest artist profile, Matt and Ed decided to discuss the work of Susan Sarandon. As well as talking about her breakthrough as Janet in The Rocky Horror Picture Show and career highlights from the '80s and '90s, they talk about what the different roles she has played say about sexism in Hollywood and how her choices both play into and challenge it, whether or not her work in an Adam Sandler vehicle can be classified as a transgression against the Orthodoxy, and Ed describes the near breakdown he had while watching the ensemble monstrosity that is The Big Wedding.

They also find time to offer a radical solution to the woes befalling the Twin Peaks revival and get really angry about Hollywood's diversity problems.

Following the news that John Williams will not be composing the score for Steven Spielberg's forthcoming Cold War thriller Bridge of Spies, Matt and Ed decided to talk about long-running and significant creative partnerships in film. As well as director/composer combinations like Spielberg/Williams, Hitchcock/Hermann and Kitano/Hisaishi, they discuss what working with the same editor from film to film gives a director, how working with the same actors can allow filmmakers to plumb new depths, and the ways in which these kind of relationships can fall apart, and what effect that can have on future projects. It all ends with a proposal for a new "Michael Sheen plays a famous British person" film that is inspired/ridiculous.

Partly inspired by news of a new, 300-fied version of Romeo & Juliet, but largely because they're both fans, this week finds Matt and Ed talking about cinematic adaptations of the works of William Shakespeare. In addition to discussing good adaptations and bad adaptation, traditional adaptations and adventurous adaptations, they discuss their own personal relationships with Shakespeare's work, including a brief digression on theclassic '90s Disney series Gargoyles, the reinterment of Richard III, and Ed's René Goscinny-inspired childhood.

In a break from the usual format, this episode of Shot/Reverse Shot isn't based around any particular theme. With no central topic to discuss this week, Matt and Ed instead discuss some of the big stories of the week including the death of Terry Pratchett, the rapidly expanding Ghostbusters universe, HBO's The Jinx, and some film about wars among the stars. They also try to figure out a way of proving once and for all just how tall Vince Vaughn is.

Inspired by the spectacular lack of success of Andy and Lana Wachowski's Jupiter Ascending, this week's episode is given over to films that failed and failed big at the box office. After discussing the aforementioned space opera and the Wachowskis' other flops, Matt and Ed talk about some of the biggest money losers ever, how hard it is to determine how much money a film actually lost, and what factors can make a film fail.

We're saying goodbye to the residents of Pawnee, Indiana this week as Parks and Recreation ascends to sitcom heaven. Matt and Ed talk about what made the show so special, how jumping forward three years helped make the final season so strong, and offer up their favourite episodes, jokes and characters from one of the deepest benches in sitcom history. 

They also pay tribute to Harris Wittels, a writer for the show and prodigiously talented comedian who passed away suddenly just prior to the finale, and whose work both on and off the show they enjoyed a great deal.

Goodbye, Parks and Rec, you beautiful, rule-breaking moth.