Sister Cinema

Every so often a movie comes out that can only fit into one category: weird! For film lovers, this category is home to some of the worst, but also some of the best films. This week we look at two very, extremely, incredibly weird movies. First is The Lobster; Yorgos Lanthimos' darkly comedic take on what we'll call a dystopian love story. Then we break down the beautifully uncomfortable Swiss Army Man starring Daniel Radcliffe and one of our favorites, Paul Dano. Enjoy!

We're back! Thank you for your patience while one of us went through a very exciting, though time consuming, endeavor. Now back to movies! This week we're discussing two Chinese film stars that crossed over into American cinema and blessed us with martial arts stunt work. We discuss Bruce Lee's last and biggest American film, Enter The Dragon, and the historic addition he made to films (Kung Fu anyone?). Then we discuss The Foreigner, a more recent film in the long line of successful Jackie Chan American movies. Chan's quick rise to fame in American had as much to do with his martial arts skills as it did his passion for making people laugh. Enjoy!

We've got another round of music biopics for this episode, with a focus on hip hop legends. First we have Notorious, laying out the tumultuous rise and tragic fall of one of the greatest rappers of all time, Biggie Smalls. Then we follow N.W.A. in Straight Outta Compton and their unapologetic approach to rap that changed the genre forever. Enjoy!

You can't really talk about black cinema in the 21st century without talking about Tyler Perry. In this episode we discuss two movies from his extensive filmography, Diary of a Mad Black Woman and A Fall From Grace. We also dig into Perry as a creator, artist, and brilliant businessman. Enjoy!

Goodbye snowpocalypse, hello power and water! Now, back to our regularly scheduled program, this week covering Black Documentaries. There are lots to choose from in this category, but we want to give some variety so we chose two very different docs. First we have 13th, Ava DuVernay's deep-dive into the reinvention of black imprisonment from slavery to modern mass incarceration through the 13th amendment. Then we have Black Art, the exploration of significant black artists, their work, and their disproportionately low representation in museums, galleries, and other spaces. Enjoy! 

While we try to make this podcast diverse year-round, we always shine some extra light on black cinema in February and 2021 is no different. For our first episode of Black History Month, we're looking at the films that lead to the first black winners of Best Lead Actor and Best Lead Actress. First we have Sidney Poitier's winning performance in the passion project Lilies of the Field in 1963. It's an incredible, much deserved achievement that serves as a landmark moment in film history. Then we have the 2001 indie film Monster's Ball that gave us a slew of great performances, but none as powerful as Halle Berry's portrayal of Leticia. Berry won for this performance and herself made history as the first black actress to do so. Enjoy!

We're bringing back a fun theme for this episode: actors that found their way behind the camera as directors. First we have Olivia Wilde's hit teen comedy Booksmart featuring an amazing cast and screenplay. Then we have the brand new One Night in Miami, Regina King's directorial debut featuring some incredible biographical portrayals of civil rights heroes. Enjoy!

Sometimes, as the saying goes, nice guys finish last. While the bad guy winning isn't a common ending, it sure is a thrilling one in cinema. Our first film this week is another stellar (career best you might argue) Jake Gyllenhaal performance as a sociopathic stringer in Nightcrawler. Then we have possibly the most un-Coen-like Coen Brothers movie No Country for Old Men, starring Javier Bardem as the cold-blooded hitman Anton. Very scary bad guys y'all. Enjoy!

If Cats taught us anything, it's that it's not easy to take a Broadway superstar play and bring it to the big screen. But lucky for us it can be done, and be done well. First in this episode we cover 2007s Hairspray, starring too many big names to list. This movie-turned-Broadway-musical-turned-movie again takes advantage of all the special tricks the movie screen offers that the stage doesn't. Then we have Chicago, a personal favorite for both of us. This Oscar-winning powerhouse brought us the unstoppable duo of Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones and we are forever grateful. Enjoy!

Sibling collaborations are a beautiful thing in cinema. There are many famed brother and sister actors, and in this episode we focus on a few of our favorite. First we have the indie cult classic Donnie Darko featuring Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal as siblings. Then we have the witty satire High Fidelity starring John and Joan Cusack. 5-star stars. Would recommend! Enjoy.