The Matineecast

Runtime

60 minutes

Show Contents

0:00 Introduction with Marya E. Gates

4:44 The New Slang: THE POWER OF THE DOG

Thoughts from Your Host…

It was twelve years ago today that I first sat behind a microphone and said those five familiar words:

“Welcome to wherever you are”

On December 5th, 2009 – Matineecast Episode #1 went out into the world to an audience of about six people. We reviewed two movies, we talked about what was happening in the news, we did a top five list, and there was nary a note of music. It was every bit the hit that it sounds.

Now, a dozen years later I’m probably still talking to an audience of six, but happily the product is a bit better than that first rustic offering. Three hundred swings later or so, I’ve found my form a bit more.

It’s admittedly strange to be a part of something that has gone on so long. So much has changed in the world, so many things have come and gone, so many people that were around me when I started are now off in other corners doing other things. Then there are others (like today’s guest) who have seemingly been here the whole time and show no signs of ever being far away.

Several times over, I’ve waxed about how proud I am of keeping something like this going so long – I won’t be doing that today. What I will be doing is just saying a quick thanks to everyone who keeps me at this silly little dog and pony show. Whether you listen, you come and create, or you simply smile politely while I gush about how much I love it – your support means so much to me and I hope I’ve been equally supportive of your passions in return.

So as we begin the next twelve years – and I couldn’t be doing it with a smarter or more engaging lass – here’s a hope that whatever this thing evolves into keeps bringing more voices to the table, and perspective to the fray.

Thanks for sticking around.

Links mentioned in Episode 274…

Marya’s review of THE POWER OF THE DOG for The Crooked Marquee

Marya’s review of THE WIND, where she gets into the phenomenon of “prairie madness”

Matineecast 214 where we reviewed Karyn Kusama’s DESTROYER

Marya’s Linktree where you can follow all of her writing across various platforms

Marya’s Twitter feed can be found here. Comments and feedback are welcome and thank you very much for listening. 

Enjoy!

Runtime

84 minutes

Show Contents

0:00 Introduction

3:23 Know Your Enemy with Guest – Bob Turnbull

23:37 The New Slang: BELFAST

59:41 The Other Side: Bob and Ryan talk further reading after Kenneth Branagh’s film

Thoughts from Your Host…

It’s a little surreal to post an episode of this podcast knowing there are only two more full episodes to go before the year ends. Didn’t this year just start yesterday??

This was a really fun episode to record, even if I’m still trying to keep some distance between my friends and me.

Note: It is the opinion of this podcaster that the very best podcasting energy comes when all participants are in the same room.

It’s not to say that it was a fun show to record because it involved pulling at threads and wondering why some things in a film didn’t work. I know there are plenty of podcasts out there that enjoy shredding things that don’t work to tatters, but this has never been that sort of show.

No, it was a fun episode to record because I was able to tap into that familiar energy that comes when you sit with an old friend. The friend who not only finishes your sentences, but finishes your clever retorts.

It’s funny – the lack of being able to get out and meet new people has meant that my messages to potential guests are going to many of the old familiar names. The upshot of that is episodes of this feel like homecoming – apt considering this week is Thanksgiving for my American friends.

So it goes that the home cooking continues and family keeps coming back to the table.

As I mention off the top of the show, this isn’t my favourite time of year. With that said, with the help of family – like today’s guest – somehow I manage through.

Links mentioned in Episode 273…

Winchester Chronicles dispatch no. 6, where Corey Atad and I discuss STORIES WE TELL

Bob’s Twitter feed can be found here. Comments and feedback are welcome and thank you very much for listening. 

Enjoy!

Runtime

91 minutes

Show Contents

0:00 Introduction

2:39 Know Your Enemy with Guest – Britany A. Murphy

19:26 The New Slang: ETERNALS

58:27 Spoiler Section

1:12:16 The Other Side: Britany and Ryan talk further reading after Chloé Zhao’s film

Thoughts from Your Host…

Here you have one more published opinion amongst thousands of published opinions about a large-scale blockbuster property.

I’m thankful that my guest who stopped by to talk about it is the sort of person who is interested in the medium…because quite honestly, so many people – so many critics – just aren’t.

The discourse around comic book films is exhauting to witness. I say this as a critic and as a fan. People trundle into the conversation with so much baggage; carts and carts and carts of baggage. Everything from feeling attacked because something you love is being criticized, to feeling a need to tear it down because it somehow threatens “real art”.

Let’s get real for a moment: Both for and against, there are a lot of people out there who make their minds up about a film as soon as they see the logo at the outset. It’s tiring. Truly. Were one of these same stories directed by Denis Villeneuve, or produced by A24, both sides of this argument would sing a very different tune.

I think what makes things even more exhausting is the fact that we just had a whole year where all such films sat in dry-dock. It didn’t change anyone’s outlook, or blunt the edges of this argument. No one is singing the praises of “The Cinema of 2020”, so maybe this is all about more than just big corporations and characters with capes.

Maybe…just maybe.

But admitting that would just be too damned hard, wouldn’t it? For and against, nobody would ever want to admit that they are part of the problem.

If you want to listen to an honest conversation about ETERNALS by two people who enjoy such films but don’t feel they are above reproach, please press play.

If not – well, thanks for reading.

Links mentioned in Episode 272…

Matineecast 251 where Britany and I discuss WONDER WOMAN 1984

Superman issue 247: “Must There Be a Superman?”

Britany’s Twitter feed can be found here. Comments and feedback are welcome and thank you very much for listening. 

Enjoy!

Runtime

76 minutes

Show Contents

0:00 Introduction

4:01 Know Your Enemy with Guest – Corey Pierce

21:55 The New Slang: THE FRENCH DISPATCH

1:02:57 The Other Side: Corey and Ryan talk further reading after Wes Anderson’s film

Thoughts from Your Host…

I sit here and write just twenty-four hours removed from seeing an extraordinary live concert. The show would have been deeply affecting at the best of times for its imagination and intimacy. When you add to that the fact that I hadn’t been to a live rock show for two years less a day, you get a situation that is extraordinary.

What does that have to do with anything? Good question.

The show came from the producers of another extraordinary show that we covered on this podcast around this time last year. The concert wasn’t been captured on film (yet), but there was that same sort of spirit in the air…the same sort of connection…the same sort of hope.

When I wrote about that episode last autumn, I talked about the flickers of hope that were starting to mark the times. I feel as though it’s important to remember that feeling…and compare it to now.

Now we are able to do so very much more than we could just one year ago. Now, we are not preparing for another long, dark winter of isolation. Now, we have built momentum and can use it to carry us forward into an even better place.

Many of us look around and see things that we missed. We are reconnecting with faces and voices that we haven’t been around in far too long. We are embracing new opportunities, and taking comfort in old rituals.

Gently, carefully, responsibly…but now. Not “in the future”, not “when things are better”.

Here; today.

A concert reminded me of that. A podcast from last year underlined it.

It’s so easy to get weighed down by how hard all of this has been that we can miss out on celebrating how much better it is all getting. There is a long way yet to go and so many uncertainties still before us – but when one looks back at where we were, it’s really amazing to see where we now are.

Links mentioned in Episode 271…

James McNally’s always-engaging Shorts Not Pants film festival

Corey’s Blockbuster Plus twitter account.

Wes Anderson goes Marvel –

Avengers: Rise of Galactus

28 July 2023 (USA) pic.twitter.com/ehPBuhVgc1

Corey’s Twitter feed can be found here. Comments and feedback are welcome and thank you very much for listening. 

Enjoy!

Runtime

90 minutes

Show Contents

0:00 Introduction

3:09 Know Your Enemy with Guest – Keisha Howerth

15:25 The New Slang: NO TIME TO DIE

43:05 Spoiler Section

54:23 The Other Side: Keisha and Ryan talk further reading after Cary Joji Fukunaga’s film

Thoughts from Your Host…

It occurs to me this morning that this show is going through a very unique stretch.

Many of the films we will be discussing before the year is done – and almost all of the last eight we’ve discussed including today’s – are films that were supposed to be released in 2020.

Talking about these projects feels surreal. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a blockbuster like today’s film, or a smaller project like ZOLA or THE GREEN KNIGHT. We have arrived at a moment in filmgoing where it seems like we are both in the past and the present all at once. Everything we are seeing is new; it is sparking our imagination for the first time and distracting us from the very real tensions that undercut our pandemic-laden lives.

However, we cannot deny that the “new” is likewise warmed-up leftovers from last year. We are seeing themes from a world that no longer exist, and dipping our spoons into trifles from simpler times.

It feels a little like being a man-out-of-time; one foot on yesterday, one on today. It’s not exactly a bad feeling per se, just a strange one. We look for modern themes and ideas in these works (maybe not the one we’re discussing today), and yet they are themes and ideas written from an entirely different reality.

What say you, dear reader? Are you enjoying your time finally taking these meals out of the freezer and digging-in? or do they taste freezer-burnt and make you crave something fresher?

Links mentioned in Episode 270…

Matineecast 248 where we discussed HAPPIEST SEASON

Matineecast 236 where we discussed KNIVES OUT

Keisha’s Twitter feed can be found here. Comments and feedback are welcome and thank you very much for listening. 

Enjoy!

Runtime

90 minutes

Show Contents

0:00 Introduction

2:47 Know Your Enemy with Guest – Corey Atad

25:17 The New Slang: TITANE

1:08:06 The Other Side: Corey and Ryan talk further reading after Julia Ducourneau’s film

Thoughts from Your Host…

It’s a new season for this humble soapbox of mine, and it even comes to you from an all-new home! The energy in my new space is fantastic, and the room that will now serve as the studio for this podcast couldn’t be better.

I think you already hear it in the episode at hand!

I think that this episode brims with optimism – the sort of optimism that comes with autumn. Maybe it’s the optimism of a new school year or the optimism of a new basketball season. Maybe it’s even the optimism that comes with the wonderful films that year-end usually provides…even if this year it’s a little harder to see them.

We’ll keep you covered here – steer you towards the good stuff when your safety is of the utmost concern and your time is valuable.

That said, if this does turn out to be a low-traffic episode, I’d understand because we talk about a film that not a lot of people have seen yet, and really end up spoiling the holy heck out of it. So if you only drop in to listen to “Know Your Enemy” and then get on your merry way, I get it.

Like we say a few times, we can tell you what the film is about…but we still can’t really tell yu what the film is about. It’s the mark of a great movie – and this morning it’s the sign of a great conversation.

Links mentioned in Episode 269…

Soraya Roberts’ post at Defector on DEAR ZACHARY

Matineecast 201 where Carolyn Hinds and I discussed HEREDITARY (and I recapped the ending to her off-air in the midst of the review)

A reworking of the trailer for Stanely Kubrick’s THE SHINING that makes it seem like a comedy:

Corey’s Twitter feed can be found here. Comments and feedback are welcome and thank you very much for listening. 

Enjoy!

Runtime: 34 minutes

In the late-going of this show, I mention feeling like I was on a different lap than everyone else when it came to TIFF this year – that is a big part of why there was only one of these audio postcards this year and why it arrives so late.

It’s one thing to run into people when you’re going from theatre to theatre, catch up with how their week has been going or what they just saw and suggest that you roll tape when the movie is over. It feels like a whole other thing to connect across social media and do that when you haven’t been face to face in months or even years.

So while I normally like to post two or three of these audio dispatches, this yer I offer you just the one – but with the usual warmth and joy that you have come accustomed to from this series…if perhaps a bit less audible hustle and bustle.

TIFF 21 was a truly rewarding ride – take a listen to what Bob and Hillary have to say and suggest, and start building up your Letterboxd watchlist.

Films mentioned in this postcard – THE POWER OF THE DOG, MEDUSA, PETITE MAMAN, BELFAST, SCARBOROUGH, YOU ARE NOT MY MOTHER, A BANQUET, TITANE, ALONERS, ARE YOU LONESOME TONIGHT?, I’M YOUR MAN, VIOLET, JULIA, and more.

Links Mentioned on The 2021 Postcard:

Hillary’s PETITE MAMAN review

Hillary’s SCARBOROUGH review

All of Hillary’s writing at Live for Films

Info on all films – including access to digital and in-person screenings can be found at TIFF’s website.

Hillary’s Twitter feed can be found here. Bob’s Twitter feed can be found here. You can subscribe to the Matineecast via iTunes or RSS

Comments and feedback are welcome, and thank you very much for listening.

Enjoy!

Runtime

90 minutes

Show Contents

0:00 Introduction

6:45 Know Your Enemy with Guest Jim Laczkowski

28:20 The New Slang: ANNETTE

65:45 The Other Side: Jim and Ryan talk further reading after Leos Carax’s film

Thoughts from Your Host…

Fourteen years ago this week, I decided to scribble down my thoughts and feelings about film. The first few posts were brief and unpolished, but they instilled in me a desire for “more”. I went in search of more expression, more passion, more professionalism – and the mild possibility that there was more to me than just a 9 to 5 office drone.

Fourteen years later, I’m pleased to report that I’ve found “more” – that I am more.

While I don’t write near as often as that younger version of me did, this space, this podcast, and these conversations are an evolution of that first foray. They have taken what I first scribbled out and asked that many friends and colleagues join me to scribble alongside. It amazes me sometimes that I’ve been able to keep it going as long as I have. After all, fourteen years brings with it a lot of life changes – some sad and/or hard, some beautiful and joyous.

This morning I sit perched in the precipice of another change – one that is a little bit of everything. But as I go through these changes and experience all of the fear, stress, and opportunity that comes with, I find myself proud and grateful.

Proud that I have been able to keep coming back here for fourteen years, sharing my thoughts, and continuing these conversations.

Grateful that even one person has stopped by come along for the ride.

It;s time for this show to take its customary early-autumn break, and likewise turn its attention to TIFF. But before I go, and before I finish packing up the place this site and podcast has called “home” for so long, I leave you with lyrics from a song featured in that film that started it all…

Hell you better be you
Do what you can do
Walking on moonbeams
And staring out to sea

Links mentioned in Episode 268…

THEY CAME TOGETHER coffee shop scene

THEY CAME TOGETHER bartender scene

Trailer for STATIC – Jim’s favorite movie that few others have heard of:

The accordion Entracte from Leos Carax’s HOLY MOTORS:

Marya E. Gates’ tweeting about how a whole other realm of films need to be restored:

always a little dubious when certain films get yet another restoration while there are sooo many films that have yet to get a single restoration and are deteriorating. And I don’t just mean classic films. There’s some films I’ve seen from the VHS era that need help.

My Blindspot Series post on Lars Von Trier’s DANCER IN THE DARK

Björk’s swan dress at the 2001 Acadamey Awards ceremony:

Björk’s statement where she details the sexual harassment she experienced on the set of DANCER IN THE DARK – and her further elaboration

Jim’s Twitter feed can be found here. Comments and feedback are welcome, and thank you very much for listening. 

Enjoy!

Runtime
90 minutes

Show Contents

0:00 Introduction

2:41 Know Your Enemy with Guest Kurt Halfyard

20:42 The New Slang: THE GREEN KNIGHT

65:53 The Other Side: Kurt and Ryan talk further reading after David Lowery’s film

Thoughts From Your Host…

Funny – once upon a time, posting a ninety-minute episode would have come with a note about how my guest and I just couldn’t shut up about a movie and decided just to keep chatting until we were blue in the face.

Nowadays it’s par for the course. “Podcast Creep” is real dear friends.

Not only is it “par for the course”, but for today’s guest and me, it actually qualifies as a succinct conversation! I guess we were just so excited to be hanging out again that we wanted to get back to drinking before I had to get back home.

I’m grateful for the invitation and the conversation…especially as a crazy month awaits.

Pull up a chair and enjoy!

Links mentioned in Episode 267…

The dinner scene in BIG NIGHT:

The RATATOUILLE “perspective dolly”:

David Bowie in THE PRESTIGE, uttering Kurt’s line of choice at 39 seconds:

Guillermo del Toro’s thoughts on monsters:

In fairy tales, monsters exist to be a manifestation of something that we need to understand, not only a problem we need to overcome, but also they need to represent, much like angels represent the beautiful, pure, eternal side of the human spirit, monsters need to represent a more tangible, more mortal side of being human: aging, decay, darkness and so forth. And I believe that monsters originally, when we were cavemen and you know, sitting around a fire, we needed to explain the birth of the sun and the death of the moon and the phases of the moon and rain and thunder. And we invented creatures that made sense of the world: a serpent that ate the sun, a creature that ate the moon, a man in the moon living there, things like that. And as we became more and more sophisticated and created sort of a social structure, the real enigmas started not to be outside. The rain and the thunder were logical now. But the real enigmas became social. All those impulses that we were repressing: cannibalism, murder, these things needed an explanation. The sex drive, the need to hunt, the need to kill, these things then became personified in monsters. Werewolves, vampires, ogres, this and that. I feel that monsters are here in our world to help us understand it. They are an essential part of a fable

“The Buried Giant” by Kazuo Ishiguro on Goodreads

Winchester Chronicles dispatch no. 8, where Kurt joined me to discuss THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER.

Matineecast Episode 60, where Matthew Brown and I fawn over PROMETHEUS

Kurt’s Twitter Instagram feed can be found here. Comments and feedback are welcome, and thank you very much for listening. 

Enjoy!

Runtime
88 minutes

Show Contents

0:00 Introduction

3:05 Know Your Enemy with Guest Marya E. Gates

22:15 The New Slang: ZOLA

66:43 The Other Side: Marya and Ryan talk further reading after Janicza Bravo’s film

Thoughts From Your Host…

This episode holds a special place for this humble podcaster.

On the one hand, it’s a return. For the first time in over 500 days (and twenty-three regular episodes), I went to a movie theatre and recorded a conversation about what I saw. That was always the format up until this last stressful and scary year, and finally getting back to it feels amazing!

I never thought I would miss that walk home as much as I missed it; going over conversation points in my head, sorting out thoughts and feelings in the dark of the night with neon signage fading in the background. But lordy did I ever miss it.

I’m trying not to get ahead of myself since we are far from out of the woods of this crisis yet. But just one more time: god, does it feel great to be doing this again!

On the other hand, I decided to bring by a regular guest outside of her usual space. That too feels special because it allows all of us a chance to listen to her thoughts and observations at length. Marya is someone whose opinion I hold in very high regard. I’ve always looked up to her, and have lost count of the amount of great works she’s steered me towards.

Having Marya on for the annual Oscar episode always feel academic because she’s such a huge Oscar nerd. But in the wake of last years discussion on DRIVE, I was reminded of just how much I’m denying my listeners (and denying myself) by not bringing her on for a longer chat.

Sure enough – she doesn’t disappoint.

At one point in the episode, Marya talks about when she and I finally got to meet up in person and grab a bite. What I didn’t say on the show is that when we did, I could sense a shyness or apprehension in Marya when we first met up and got to talking. I couldn’t (and still can’t) blame her – after all, how do you know what someone you’ve only ever known virtually is actually going to be like?

In short order though, Marya opened up and let me in as someone worth knowing. Our conversation got louder, the smiles got brighter, and the warmth just grew. It was wonderful to witness not just because it feels wonderful for someone you think is so cool to think you’re cool too…but because of the measure of trust I was offered.

I never thanked her for that trust, so I am now.

Like I say – a special episode. Thanks for being here to witness it.

Links mentioned in Episode 266…

Zola’s original 148-Tweet recount of the weekend: The original thread has been deleted, but before it came down it was captured as a single image on Imgur

Marya’s YouTube clip on History of Cool about how bodies are beautiful:

Marya’s Twitter feed can be found here. Comments and feedback are welcome, and thank you very much for listening. 

Enjoy!