With his new documentary The Last Republican making its US theatrical premiere at the Film Forum in New York this Friday, writer-director Steve Pink takes a break to dive into the tangled loyalties and murky morals of Luc Besson’s 1990 breakout La Femme Nikita. Your genial host Norm Wilner cannot wait to put 2024 behind him … so Happy New Year, everyone!

Have yourself some Hedwig for the holidays, as The People’s Joker writer-director-star Vera Drew drops in to discuss John Cameron Mitchell’s 2001 glam-rock indie Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and the nuclear impact it had on her own artistic journey. Your genial host Norm Wilner is just delighted to be a part of this one.

With the holidays upon us – and the second season of The Recruit hitting Netflix in the new year – we’re reaching back to 2015 for A Very Kristian Bruun Christmas, in which the Orphan Black and Murdoch Mysteries star hangs out with your genial host Norm Wilner, eating too much fruitcake and talking about the seasonal cinema they both love. Nog up and enjoy, unless “nog up” has a different meaning nowadays.

With his first feature Drive Back Home in theaters across Canada, writer-director Michael Clowater wanted to talk about another modestly scaled, emotionally alive debut: Tom McCarthy’s delicate 2003 character study The Station Agent. Your genial host Norm Wilner is really glad he did.

It’s a mother-daughter episode as actor Sheila McCarthy and producer-director Mackenzie Donaldson – who collaborated on the post-collapse thriller All the Lost Ones, now onscreen in Toronto at the Carlton Cinema – bring The Wizard of Oz to the podcast, just in time to draft on the opening of Wicked. Your genial host Norm Wilner is always up for a chat about how weird Frank L. Baum’s books are.

Writer, director and actor Ben Petrie, whose first feature The Heirloom has its Toronto premiere at the TIFF Lightbox this Thursday, November 28th, before moving to the Carlton and the Revue on Friday the 29th, is here to celebrate City Lights, Charlie Chaplin’s masterful blend of comedy and heart. Your genial host Norm Wilner is amazed this is the first time someone’s brought a Chaplin film to the podcast.

With Vivieno Caldinelli’s horror comedy Scared Shitless making its Toronto premiere this Saturday, November 23rd at the Blood in the Snow film festival, scene-stealer Mark McKinney is here to ride or die with George Miller’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, which rolls back the clock to show us how the wasteland’s greatest warrior learned her craft … and what it cost her. Your genial host Norm Wilner would have given an arm to have this conversation.

With her new film Lucky Star making its Toronto premiere at the Reel Asian film festival this Saturday, writer-director Gillian McKercher is here to celebrate Pietro Marcello’s muscular adaptation of Martin Eden, which galvanized the festival circuit five years ago but was lost in the first wave of COVID. Your genial host Norm Wilner didn’t expect this episode to be as timely as it is, but there you go.

Since Lauren Collins is starring in the new Crave series My Dead Mom – and since the US election is all anyone can think about right now – here’s her 2015 episode on Gillian Robespierre’s breakout comedy Obvious Child, the one where Jenny Slate plays an aspiring Brooklyn standup trying to build a set while dealing with an unplanned pregnancy. Your genial host Norm Wilner really hopes America holds itself together this week.

With his sci-fi drama The Becomers landing on Blu-ray today, writer-director Zach Clark closes out his October horror viewing with Jack Hill’s unquantifiable family study Spider Baby. Your genial host Norm Wilner wonders whether it truly is The Maddest Story Ever Told.