Runtime

77 minutes

Show Contents

0:00 Introduction

3:30 Know Your Enemy with Guest – Brian J. Roan

22:16 The New Slang: BONES AND ALL

52:22 The Other Side: BRIAN and Ryan talk further reading after Luca Guadagnino’s film

Thoughts from Your Host…

Considering that this is the last episode before Christmas, you’d think we’d choose something more festive…or at least more happy. But aren’t the holidays a time to spend overindulging and eating too much? Maybe this will be a new holiday classic!

Or maybe not.

Jokes aside, I’m happy to be spending time with an old friend for the last full episode of the year. It’s a reminder of the way people reconnect over the holidays – the way they share memories, have a few laughs, swap stories and generally make merry. It can be a tough time of year for some – more and more every passing year it seems – and my heart does go out to them. While I am lucky enough to have the people in my life that make the holidays bright, I know that’s not the case for everyone.

For those I offer I wish of quiet calm. I hope that they are able to get through the next several days and weeks with minimal stress and anxiety, and that the warmth of the season eventually finds them in new ways that make the time of year a little easier.

As for us at The Matineecast, we are capping off a year that came with its ups and downs like so many do, but that showed us love and community when we needed it most. This soap box remains a humble one, so we consider everyone listening to these shows our family.

So as is the family tradition, we wish you all a very Happy Holiday Season, and hope that your days and nights for what’s left of 2022 bring you warmth, light, peace, and love.

Links mentioned in Episode 297…

The Glengarry Glen Ross monologue:

Matineecast 280 where Hillary Butler dropped by to discuss Cyrano

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

Enjoy!

Runtime

103 minutes

Show Contents

0:00 Introduction

2:38 Know Your Enemy with Guest – Corey Atad

21:23 The New Slang: THE FABELMANS

1:16:46 The Other Side: Corey and Ryan talk further reading after Steven Spielberg’s film

Thoughts from Your Host…

So, first of all – quick announcement. Episode 300 of this little dog and pony show is coming up fast. I’m happy to report that plans are afoot for a special episode that I’m very excited about. It’s a little surreal to consider I’ve turned on my microphone 300 times (more than that, but 300 full episodes). I’m a senior citizen in these parts, but one who is still enjoying what he does.

January 23rd, 2023 – mark your calendars.

Meanwhile, I think about the huge role that Twitter has played in the growing of this project, and cannot help but feel saddened at the state of the place. This is actually mildly amusing considering how I was a reluctant and late adopter.

What is happening with that platform is just heartbreaking, which is strange to say since it’s a private company and not a public trust. I wasn’t deeply affected when Blockbuster left, or when I stopped using LiveJournal…but this feels…different.

Perhaps it’s because of the specific story we are seeing unfold. How in all reality there still isn’t anything stopping me from posting songs and photos and links to my work, but how doing so just feels gross.

Meanwhile, as I mentioned off the top of this show, it’s hard to think about where one should go instead. I’ve started an account on Hive for now (@matinee), but that seems a little niche.

I’ve long been a person who can handle bad news – but moments of “not knowing” spike my anxiety. Maybe that’s the biggest downer of all of it. Watching what is becoming of our community is brutal, but we just don’t know how much more brutal it will get…or even where to go instead.

Suggestions are welcome.

Meanwhile, today, I have a wonderful episode for you. We get quite spoiler-ific, but there is so much passion and reflection in the conversation, I hope you will excuse us for giving away the farm. It’s not like what we discuss is a “twist” – Burt Fabelman isn’t actually Keyser Soze – but what’s at the core of this film is something that cannot be soft-shoed around, so we just didn’t even try.

It’s a long one today, gang. Get comfy.

Links mentioned in Episode 296…

Luke Kirby in Sarah Polley’s TAKE THIS WALTZ:

Kevin B. Lee’s video essay illustrating “The Spielberg Face”:

Corey’s review of WEIRD

Corey’s review of HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE

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

Enjoy!

Runtime

79 minutes

Show Contents

0:00 Introduction

3:21 Know Your Enemy with Guest – Rosa Parra

26:16 The New Slang: BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER

1:05:35 The Other Side: Rosa and Ryan talk further reading after Ryan Coogler’s film

Thoughts from Your Host…

Kind people, this will handily go down as one of the most memorable episodes I have ever recorded.

Whenever I get a first time guest on, I really don’t know what to expect. It’s less about what to expect from the guest and more what to expect from myself. I worry about wasting people’s time, and I wonder about not coming across smart enough, hospitable enough, or allowing the proper space that a guest deserves.

When I’m lucky though – something incredible happens; After I invite a guest on to my show, my guest invites me right back. They invite me into their perspective, their understanding, their experience, and when I’m very very lucky, their very being.

On Episode 295, I was very very lucky.

There’s a moment in this show of pure vulnerability – and it was so generous of Rosa to offer it up to us. I didn’t say much in the moment, but it stayed with me the rest of the weekend as I edited – and will continue to stay with me for a long time ahead. It was a reminder that we all do the very best we can in some of life’s hardest moments, and that film can show us that even gods and monsters have mortal flaws.

As if that wasn’t enough, this episode comes with the most delightful interruption…and I still haven’t settled my craving.

I invited Rosa on to this show back in late September. This weekend, she invited me right back, and for that I am deeply grateful.

Links mentioned in Episode 295…

Some of the pieces in the Guillermo del Toro’s “At Home with Monsters” exhibit that came to the Art Gallery of Ontario in 2917:

A post shared by Ryan McNeil (@matinee_ca)

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

Enjoy!

Runtime

83 minutes

Show Contents

0:00 Introduction

3:53 Know Your Enemy with Guest – Bob Turnbull

25:10 The New Slang: THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN

1:04:31 The Other Side: Bob and Ryan talk further reading after Martin McDonagh film

Thoughts from Your Host…

Back on-schedule this week and back with all of the features that a full Matineecast is known to deliver. That means “The Other Side” is back, and it also means the debut of a ninth round of “Know Your Enemy” questions. It’s a good feeling going into November.

More than once my guest for this talk mentions Episode 300, and I admit it’s been on my mind. It’s amazing to think I’ve been doing this for so long – and humbling to know that even just one person keeps coming back. I haven’t wanted to get carried away with plans because of both superstition and also an acute understanding the 300 episodes of Matineecast isn’t the same as 300 episodes of “All Things Considered”.

Still I want to – and will – mark the occasion. Not long ago I watched as an institution that had hit a milestone needed to be talked into celebrating the milestone. I swore that would never be me. These days, anything worth celebrating is just that: worth celebrating.

Time to think about 300. Any ideas?

Links mentioned in Episode 294…

Trailer for Gumball Run:

The final HIGH FIDELITY needle drop:

Matineecast 59 where Joanna Chlebus and I discuss HIGH FIDELITY

The red tape scene from PULSE:

“I don’t like y no more…” scene from THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN:

“justified” by Kacey Musgraves

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

Enjoy!

Runtime

61 minutes

Show Contents

0:00 Introduction with Guest – Jolie Featherstone

3:37 The New Slang: TÁR

Thoughts from Your Host…

Now and then, episodes of this humble podcast prove a little bit testy. Details like timing and co-ordinating guests prove a little challenging when I get a certain film in-mind at a certain moment. Now that I think about it, this is the second episode in a row where the movie and the moment proved a challenge.

You’d think that would push me to shift my stance: To pick films more widely accessible that would make bringing guests in that much easier.

But I can’t help myself; When there’s a topic I want to talk about, I’m like a dog with a bone.

This week’s episode is a great example. There are slasher films out there right now that Jolie and I could have chatted about, and a superhero film that could have made for an easy show. But a whole week later, and there are so many small moments in the film we chose that are sticking with me. There are so many shots, sounds, moments and meanings that have stuck in my skin like a splinter. So much so, that we spent darned near a whole hour on the feature topic!

That’s why I choose the movies I do – because whether you’ve seen them yet or not, I believe they (usually) merit discussion and hope you will want to come back and listen-in when you catch up with the film.

So a little later than usual, but here we are again – a lesser-known title and a lively discussion. Slip on your custom suit and join us in the house, wont you?

Links mentioned in Episode 293…

Jolie’s past appearances on The Matineecast – she’s often joined me for under-the-radar type films!

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

Enjoy!

Runtime

68 minutes

Show Contents

0:00 Introduction

1:59 Know Your Enemy with Guest – Britany A. Murphy

17:57 The New Slang: DON’T WORRY DARLING

39:11 Spoiler Section

53:53 The Other Side: Britany and Ryan talk further reading after Olivia Wilde’s film

Thoughts from Your Host…

Welcome back! How have you been? How’s the family? Seen anything good?

I wager that coming back from a break with an episode like this might seem like a feisty move – after all, what could my guest and I have to say about this film that hasn’t already been said? Well, plenty, as it turns out, because of everything I’ve seen mentioned about this film over the last few weeks, so little of it has been about the film.

I could understand if you looked at the topic of this episode and thought about moving along from pure oversaturation on the topic…but I’d gently request that you come and join us anyway. This show has seldom been interested in the goings-on surrounding a film, and we aren’t about to start now. Certainly not when there are so many interesting things to talk about in regards to what’s happening on the screen.

That’s what we’ve been trying to do for nearly 300 episodes…and we’re not about to stop trying now.

Again – Welcome back. Time for me to get back to work.

Links mentioned in Episode 292…

The LAST NIGHT IN SOHO dance sequence:

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

Enjoy!

Late September is always a surreal time for a Toronto filmgoer.

TIFF is such an absolute rush and flurry, and the way it come hot on the heels of summers end seems to throw one into autumn with wicked force. No sooner does it start, than its over – and with that finish, a return to “real life”.

No matter how many times one experiences a festival, they never get used to the pace.

For your humble host this year, it was a different experience than usual since I wasn’t able to commit until the very last minute. Along with this bringing a small-ish slate of eight selection, it also came peppered with breaks in the action to see a few concerts along the way.

All this to say, it was yet another unique TIFF experience … making this three unique TIFF experiences in a row.

To tie this all off, I’m happy to be sitting down on a somewhat noisy balcony and talking to a dear friend about our weeks. It was a tough year to keep up with people, so the catch-up was doubly appreciated.

Before all of the red carpets on King are rolled up, let’s catch up on the 47th TIFF.

Links Mentioned on The 2022 Postcard:

Some of Hillary’s stellar photos from her TIFF 2022 adventure:

Hillary’s THE WHALE review,

Hillary’s WOMEN TALKING 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. You can subscribe to the Matineecast via iTunes or RSS

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

Enjoy!

Runtime

61 minutes

Show Contents

0:00 Introduction

2:26 Know Your Enemy with Guest – Natalie Davey

18:41 The New Slang: PIG

Thoughts From Your Host

I know full-well that I have become prone to nostalgia when it comes to these words of accompaniment, but I hope you’ll indulge me just once more.

One would be forgiven if one thought that my nostalgia was going to reach deep into the past – after all, my guest on this episode is a woman I first met almost exactly thirty years ago. However, there are enough notes of that in the episode itself – plus even better notes of such grand feelings in her own podcast episode linked below.

My specific nostalgia comes with this season of The Matineecast ending – and thinking about what sorts of life changes were going on as the last season of this show ended. To say that this has been “a year of change” would be putting it mildly. “A year of challenges” would be more apt.

I’m happy to report that every challenge was met. Each one has continued to expand my perspective, teach me important lessons, and ultimately shape me into a better person.

Today’s guest did that – shape me into a better person, I mean. She did it through our intense friendship so many years ago, and she continued to do it whenever I have thought back on the boy I was. I have thought back on how i could have been a better friend (not that I was a bad one), and used it as a way to evolve and grow.

Recently I heard someone say change is inevitable – growth is optional. That’s what I think about when I reflect on so much of what doing this show has brought me: the growing. It’s what I’m most proud of from the last fifteen years, and especially from the last one.

I hope to keep growing, keep learning, keep facing the challenges head-on.

As I head off into break, let me thank you all for coming with me through one incredible year, and invite you back for at least a few more.

Links Mentioned in Episode 291…

The Reframeables Substack

Matineecast 288 where we discussed THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT

Matineecast 282 where we discussed EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE

Reframeables episode 47 where Natalie and Rebecca discuss nostalgia

Natalie’s writing at Chatelaine where she discussed how watching cartoons saved her sanity during the pandemic.

Reframeables episode 38 where Natalie and Rebecca discuss grief.

con·cat·e·na·tion/kənˌkatnˈāSH(ə)n

noun

1. a series of interconnected things or events.”a singular concatenation of events unlikely to recur”

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

Enjoy!

Runtime

80 minutes

Show Contents

0:00 Introduction

2:26 Know Your Enemy with Guest – Keisha Howerth

19:18 The New Slang: NOPE

Thoughts From Your Host…

First things first – Keisha HOWERTH. I botched Keisha’s last name in the intro, and am profoundly embarrassed, but wanted to do right by here here and now. This episode was actually surprisingly hard to plan, so I am deeply thankful that Keisha was able to be so generous with her time…and feel like a right idiot for making such an error.

I’ll have a lot more thoughts to write about next episode where I’ll be preparing for the end of another season, marking another year of hosting this space, and bringing by someone I’m very excited for everyone to meet.

For now, I just hope everyone is doing alright – that you are watching good things and doing good things. I’ve been able to start seeing some of you, and I miss so many more of you…so please enjoy a shorter episode this week, and do me a favour: Do something nice for someone else today.

Links mentioned in Episode 290…

Billy Wilder’s tombstone:

Director Fernando Trueba thanking Billy Wilder as he accepts the 1993 Oscar for Best International Film:

The original radio broadcast of Mercury Players’ “War of The Worlds”:

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

Enjoy!

Runtime

80 minutes

Show Contents

0:00 Introduction

3:22 Know Your Enemy with Guest – Courtney Small

27:21 The New Slang: CHA CHA REAL SMOOTH

1:04:46 The Other Side: Courtney and Ryan talk further reading after Cooper Raiff’s film

Thoughts From Your Host…

Off the top of today’s show, I make mention about plans changing and all of us having to roll with those changes. If you have a calendar, you can probably tell that one of those changes was this episode showing up a week later than usual.

There’s a few reasons why we skipped a week – some frivolous, some important – but when the dust settled, having that extra week turned out to be a wise choice. I was able to throw myself fully into an important event that required a little prep and a lot of presence. The former caught me off-guard; the latter was happily provided.

When i put it all together, it seems emblematic of where we are – a place where plans can change, where deadlines will sometimes move, but where life can feel exponentially rewarding when we can be fully present.

So here we are – a good friend, a so-so movie, a great conversation, and the beginning of three episodes to finish out the season.

Thanks for waiting, and thanks for coming back.

Links mentioned in Episode 289…

Matineecast 260 where Andrew Robinson mentions at the end of “Know Your Enemy” that the artist he would bring back from the dead would be Satoshi Kon

The MATRIX RELOADED Freeway Chase scene:

Hooper X’s monologue from CHASING AMY:

Matineecast 277 where we reviewed THE LOST DAUGHTER, co-starring Dakota Johnson

Matineecast 202 where we reviewed HEARTS BEAT LOUD

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

Enjoy!