With her new drama Sweet Angel Baby opening in select Canadian cities this Friday, August 15th, writer-director Melanie Oates is here to talk about the clarifying heartbreak of Derek Cianfrance’s shattering Blue Valentine. Your genial host Norm Wilner thinks Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams both deserved Oscar nominations, for what it’s worth.

With his delightful feature debut Sketch opening across the US and Canada tomorrow, writer-director Seth Worley gets geared up by dissecting the sci-fi surprises of Barry Sonnenfeld’s box-office champion Men in Black. Your genial host Norm Wilner thinks you should see Sketch with a crowd this weekend, by the way.

With her first feature Foreigner having its world premiere at Montreal’s Fantasia festival this week, director Ava Maria Safai is here to talk about Mohammad Rasoulof’s recent allegorical Iran drama The Seed of the Sacred Fig. Your genial host Norm Wilner is really excited to be digging into such a rich text.

Having just premiered their first feature Lucid at Montreal’s Fantasia festival, filmmakers Ramsey Fendall and Deanna Milligan dive into Daughters of Darkness, Harry Kumel’s 1971 cult classic about newlyweds who stumble into the clutches of a very aristocratic lady and her devoted companion. Your genial host Norm Wilner is delighted by the notion that Jeanne Dielman was once Elizabeth Bathory … and may still be.

With his new documentary Parade: Queer Acts of Love and Resistance streaming on NFB.ca and opening in Winnipeg on July 30th, filmmaker Noam Gonick takes a moment to celebrate Uli Edel’s 1989 adaptation of Hubert Selby Jr’s landmark novel Last Exit to Brooklyn. Your genial host Norm Wilner is always happy to help someone drag a great movie back into the world.

With his timely new thriller 40 Acres now playing in theaters across the US and Canada, writer-director RT Thorne takes a moment to throw some love at Blood Simple, the bravura neo-noir that introduced the world to Joel and Ethan Coen – and to Frances McDormand, and Carter Burwell, and Barry Sonnenfeld. Your genial host Norm Wilner is always happy to dig into a classic, and this is certainly that.

It’s Canada Day, so writer-director Nik Sexton – whose new East Coast drama Skeet is heading to the Galway International Film Festival on July 11th – stops in to talk about Incendies, the Oscar-nominated 2010 drama that put Denis Villeneuve on the map. Your genial host Norm Wilner would like you to know he recorded this episode well before Villeneuve landed the Bond gig.

With her splendid first feature Do I Know You from Somewhere? arriving on VOD this Friday, New Brunswick director Arianna Martinez steps up for Gore Verbinski’s Gothic creeper A Cure for Wellness – the one with Dane DeHaan and the eels. Your genial host Norm Wilner is willing to hear her out.

With his darkly comic Self Driver now available on digital and on demand, writer-director Michael Pierro is here to celebrate Francis Ford Coppola’s 1974 masterwork The Conversation – and pay tribute to its incredible star, Gene Hackman. Your genial host Norm Wilner has some thoughts about that too.

Director Rob Michaels – whose charming Canadian culture-clash comedy Please, After You is now available on digital and on demand – is here to share his favorite comedy: Forgetting Sarah Marshall, the 2008 comedy where Jason Segel proved he had the goods to be a romcom leading man. He just had to write it first. Your genial host Norm Wilner also gets to talk about Muppets this week.