The Magic Lantern

I first encountered David Jones’ adaptation of Harold Pinter’s play about his extramarital affair, Betrayal (1983), when I was thirteen years old. Those were the heady days of the early cable television boom and my afternoon ritual was to walk to Head’s Grocery, get a Dr Pepper and some Hot…

The post Episode 102 – Betrayal appeared first on The Magic Lantern.

Shoplifters (Kore-eda, 2018) was a revelatory filmgoing experience. So much so that as we were walking out of the theatre, I proclaimed that I would cover it in an episode as quickly as possible. I can’t think of another film in recent memory that I knew immediately was my new…

The post Episode 101 – Shoplifters appeared first on The Magic Lantern.

Ok, grab yourself some treats from the concession stand and then we will get on to part two! If you just want to listen to us talk about Paris, Texas, please go back to Episode 100, Part One. If you would like to hear us answer listener questions, press on!…

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Paris, Texas (Wenders, 1984) is our first ever crowdsourced episode choice, and we’re so grateful to you, our listeners, for sticking with us for 100 episodes, and for choosing something so wonderful to discuss and celebrate! Wim Wenders originally envisioned this as more of a cross-country film, but Sam Shepard…

The post Episode 100, Part One – Paris, Texas appeared first on The Magic Lantern.

The Duke of Burgundy (Strickland, 2014) is a prime example of a film that you come to for one reason and love for another. I was drawn in by the lure of the sexploitation throwback and pleasantly surprised to find it was so much more than that. I found a…

The post Episode 099 – The Duke of Burgundy appeared first on The Magic Lantern.

This is a very special episode for us. For the first time, we are discussing a film that is a patron’s choice! Ian Buckley is our first Patreon supporter to pledge at our top tier. As a result, it was his prerogative to program an entire episode of The Magic…

The post Episode 098 – Andrei Rublev appeared first on The Magic Lantern.

I purchased Antonia’s Line (Gorris, 1995) sight unseen from a bin at my local Blockbuster Video soon after it came out. My friends and I sat down to watch it, and were rewarded with a delightful experience. This film is full of joy, even though the joy comes from small…

The post Episode 097 – Antonia’s Line appeared first on The Magic Lantern.

It’s something that I always remind myself of anytime I begin to lament the state of the artistic landscape – there’s always someone out there, hustling, making sacrifices, trying to make that next great film. If I am not aware of it, that’s on me. I am not working hard…

The post Episode 096 – Thunder Road appeared first on The Magic Lantern.

Happy-Go-Lucky (Leigh, 2008) may be a bit of a litmus test. Do you fully embrace the character of Poppy and her sensibilities. Do you gradually warm to her, or does she make you want to run for the hills? Luckily for me, because he knows me, Cole told me in…

The post Episode 095 – Happy-Go-Lucky appeared first on The Magic Lantern.

It’s our fourth annual Ants In Your Pants episode, as we close out 2018! As always, our lists were culled with much difficulty from all the wonderful films we saw this year, and we only talk about those we saw for the first time which made the biggest impressions on…

The post Episode 094 – Ants In Your Pants of 2018 appeared first on The Magic Lantern.