The Filmlings

Alex and Jonathan reflect on 8 1/2 years of recording the Filmlings Podcast.

If you're new here, this is an invitation and guide to explore the back-catalog, even though we are not currently recording new episodes.

If you've been around, thanks for listening and supporting the show over the years! Keep an eye on the blog, we may pop up again in other ways here and there.

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• (01:04) – Preface
• (12:48) – History
• (56:55) – Trivia
• (1:25:26) – Movie nostalgia
• (1:54:12) – What's next for us

For more information, visit the blog:

https://thefilmlings.com/

The Discord is still open:

https://discord.gg/gj26MCWE6M

As we bring our discussion of the history of comedy to the modern day, Alex and Jonathan look at three comedy films from the past two decades: Mean Girls (2004), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), and The Fall Guy (2024). We discuss the facets of wit as a mode of humor, the way wit has been incorporated into action-comedy through Marvel films and other pop franchises, and what goes into modern meta witty romantic comedy.

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• (09:59) – Mean Girls
• (25:19) – Guardians of the Galaxy
• (43:33) – Marvel rant ends
• (58:58) – The Fall Guy
• (1:23:56) – Overall
• (1:31:41) – Coming Attractions

For more information, visit the blog:

https://thefilmlings.com/2025/06/06/the-wits-end/

Join us on Discord for ongoing film discussion:

https://discord.gg/MAF6jh59cF

Moving from the absurd to the irreverent, today Alex and Jonathan look at three films which encompass a subset of comedy in which the characters are under the influence in some form or fashion: Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989), The Big Lebowski (1998), and The Hangover (2009). We discuss the glorification and justification of the stoner, the primary motivations and conflicts which typically arise, and how the characteristics of the stoner are seen in films and characters beyond literal stoners.

Skip to:

• (08:53) – Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
• (23:39) – The Big Lebowski
• (42:40) – The Hangover
• (52:51) – Overall
• (1:02:13) – Coming Attractions

Coming Attractions:

• Mean Girls (2004)
• Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
• The Fall Guy (2024)

For more information, visit the blog:https://thefilmlings.com/2025/04/25/the-stoners

Join us on Discord for ongoing film discussion:https://discord.gg/MAF6jh59cF

After the collapse of the Production Code, filmmakers now had the ability to put anything and everything in their movies, so they did. Today Alex and Jonathan discuss three films which take comedy beyond rational proportions and talk about The Producers (1967), Airplane! (1980), and The Mask (1994). We discuss the history of absurdist comedy, how blockbusters and parody influenced pop culture, and the introduction of CGI into comedy.

Skip to:

• (10:04) – The Producers
• (29:03) – Airplane!
• (43:22) – The Mask
• (1:04:27) – Overall
• (1:10:18) – Coming Attractions

Coming Attractions:

• Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)
• The Big Lebowski (1998)
• The Hangover (2009)

For more information, visit the blog:

https://thefilmlings.com/2025/03/28/the-absurdists/

Join us on Discord for ongoing film discussion:

https://discord.gg/MAF6jh59cF

With the arrival of sound in Hollywood, a new subgenre of comedy arose, so today Alex and Jonathan discuss the history of the "screwball comedies" while looking at Trouble in Paradise (1932), His Girl Friday (1940), and Some Like it Hot (1959). We talk about how screwballs differed from standard romantic comedies, the emphasis on dialogue that came with the adoption of sound, and the role the Production Code played in shaping how romance was communicated in ways that it couldn't be shown.

Skip to:

• (11:47) – Trouble in Paradise
• (31:19) – His Girl Friday
• (43:31) – Some Like it Hot
• (1:00:22) – Overall
• (1:12:08) – Coming Attractions

Coming Attractions:

• The Producers (1967)
• Airplane! (1980)
• The Mask (1994)

For more information, visit the blog:

https://thefilmlings.com/2024/02/28/the-screwballs/

Join us on Discord for ongoing film discussion:

https://discord.gg/MAF6jh59cF

To kick off a new series on the history of American comedy films, Alex and Jonathan travel back to the early days of cinema and look at the physical comedy of the early film clowns in Safety Last! (1923), City Lights (1931), and Duck Soup (1933). We discuss the transition from live performances in theater and vaudeville to the movies, how Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin helped to incorporate character development into comedy films, and how the Marx brothers blended physical and verbal comedy which set the stage for the new era of sound comedy.

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Coming Attractions:

For more information, visit the blog:

Join us on Discord for ongoing film discussion:

To wrap up the tragedy series, Alex and Jonathan look at three films characterized by the ways in which the characters' difference of perspectives causes the primary conflict in part or whole: A Woman Under the Influence (1974), The Elephant Man (1980), and The Farewell (2019). We discuss whether or not the term "tragedy" is still a useful distinction, the role compassion plays in understanding, and why we need a healthy balance of real-life experience and "imitation" through storytelling.

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Coming Attractions:

Stay tuned for a new series on American comedy films coming up in 2025!

For more information, visit the blog:

Join us on Discord for ongoing film discussion:

As we move into stories of interpersonal tragedies, today Alex and Jonathan discuss three films which deal with themes of betrayal as it applies to family relationships, as in Tokyo Twilight (1957), romantic relationships, as in In the Mood for Love (2000), and friends/allies, as in RRR (2022). We discuss Aristotle's concept of discovery, the tendency for betrayals become cyclical, and whether or not Bollywood is a continuation of the tradition of classical Greek tragedy.

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Coming Attractions:

For more information, visit the blog:

Join us on Discord for ongoing film discussion:

In one of the saddest episodes of the show (besides Episode 105), Alex and Jonathan look at films in which the protagonists struggle to navigate circumstances outside of their control with three tragedy classics: Ikiru (1952), Grave of the Fireflies (1988), and Titanic (1997). We discuss Aristotle's conception of the reversal of fortune – known as peripety, how storytellers expose (or impose) meaning in tragedy, and why it's important to watch sad movies in the first place.

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Coming Attractions:

For more information, visit the blog:

Join us on Discord for ongoing film discussion:

From power to societal marginalization to prejudicial greed, in this episode Alex and Jonathan talk about three films in which the subject characters are faced with various forms of injustice: The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), Umberto D. (1952), and Killers of the Flower Moon (2023). We discuss the ways tragedy films evoke feelings of pity and fear in the Aristotelian view, the similarities between injustice and the absence of compassion, and when and how history becomes poetry.

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Coming Attractions:

For more information, visit the blog:

Join us on Discord for ongoing film discussion: