The Magic Lantern

The Andromeda Strain (1971) is one of the building blocks of my scifi cinema education. I was born as science fiction films really began to lean into realism and more serious subject matter. The fears of the atomic age were beginning to wane and anxieties about artificial intelligence and what…

The post Episode 043 – The Andromeda Strain appeared first on The Magic Lantern.

Susan Seidelman’s Desperately Seeking Susan (1985) blew my nine year-old mind, coincidentally arriving at the time when Madonna was just beginning to blow my mind. I had never seen anything like the film or Madonna, the New York they presented, or the characters they created. I was immediately smitten. They…

The post Episode 042 – Desperately Seeking Susan appeared first on The Magic Lantern.

Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing (1989) is an all time great. It bursts with life and joy while simultaneously chronicling one of the things that is worst about life in America: our racial discord. It’s a hard movie to watch in places, and those are the places we most…

The post Episode 041 – Do the Right Thing appeared first on The Magic Lantern.

If someone tells you not to love them, take them at their word. Who knows what may be lurking in their tower? So if we learned anything from I Walked with a Zombie (1943), producer Val Lewton and director Jacques Tourneur’s spare yet lush and dreamy film, it’s that not…

The post Episode 040 – I Walked with a Zombie appeared first on The Magic Lantern.

We talk a lot about the arthouse here at The Magic Lantern, but we have an unabashed love of the grindhouse as well, and this film is a stone classic in that regard. Master of the Flying Guillotine (1976) is one of those all time great, you have to see…

The post Episode 039 – Master of the Flying Guillotine appeared first on The Magic Lantern.

I first saw Frank Capra’s Meet John Doe (1941) at least fifteen years ago and had not revisited it, though it left me with very strong impressions. It was those impressions that made it a clear choice for the new year and our new political landscape. As for the film…

The post Episode 038 – Meet John Doe appeared first on The Magic Lantern.

It’s that time of year again! We bring you our year-in-review, but with a twist, in Ants In Your Pants of 2016. Our lists were culled from the tremendous number of quality films we saw this year, and we focused on those we saw for the first time which made…

The post Episode 037 – Ants In Your Pants of 2016 appeared first on The Magic Lantern.

If ever there was an object lesson in not confusing the art with the artist, Daryl Duke’s Payday (1973) is just that lesson. Rip Torn stars as second-rate country singer Maury Dann and we spend 36 hours with him in which he leaves nothing but scorched earth in his wake.…

The post Episode 036 – Payday appeared first on The Magic Lantern.

We have a special episode for you guys this time! We are joined by our special guest Lars Nilsen, lead programmer at the Austin Film Society, to discuss his selection for the show, Smile Jenny, You’re Dead (1974). Directed by Jerry Thorpe, the choice is a bit of a departure…

The post Episode 035 – Smile Jenny, You’re Dead appeared first on The Magic Lantern.

“A little movie called Once gave me enough inspiration to last the rest of the year” – Steven Spielberg (USA Today) Me too, Steven! Once (Carney, 2007) came along just when I needed it most (to paraphrase Zelda Fitzgerald). Sometimes it is the quietest, most modest and unassuming work that…

The post Episode 034 – Once appeared first on The Magic Lantern.