In 2008 Mike Leigh made a movie about a genuinely nice lady coming into contact with a lonely right wing maniac. Sooner or later it became the model for how society was structured. Let's talk about it! Topics include: Sally Hawkings, clubbing, British repression, Mike Leigh in particular, and other stuff. 

Matt recc. Corbin recc's a music artist. Next week's episode is about The Tragedy of Man. I have no idea how I'm going to watch this thing though. 

Matt and Corbin are joined by the famous music writer NATALIE WEINER (Don't Rock the Inbox, other famous publications) to discuss NASHVILLE, Robert Altman's sprawling sociological survey of the city of Nashville, home of the Country Music Industry, and also America. Is it a convincing portrait of either? We discuss. 

Natalie wrote about the movie's use of country music as metaphor here. Natalie's rec. Matt's. Corbin's. Next week's episode is about HAPPY-GO-LUCKY. Watch it here. 

This is, somehow, the third movie we've done about pesants and the second movie we've done about agricultural barons trying to remove a community from the land where they live so it can be overwhelmed by animal agriculture. This one has some weird Brechtian qualities and beautiful photography. But is it any good? We get into it. Check out the movie on Mubi. 

 Corbin recommends a game, Matthew a book. Next week, a SPECIAL EPISODE about NASHVILLE with a VERY SPECIAL GUEST! Watch it here!

Matt and Corbin, recording from the Portland Convention Center, talk about "Celine and Julie go Boating," a movie about two friends who are looking to have a good time and also maybe save a girl from a cycling ghost house deep in the heart of Paris, France. Topics: friendship, theater, improv, The French New Wave, and other stuff. 

I liked this essay that discusses the movie. Corbin recc. Matt recc. Next week's episode is about Harvest (2024), which is available on MUBI if you're into that sort of thing. 

Corbin and Matt wrap up Digital Frontiers with MELANCHOLIA, a movie about depression, the end of the world, and like fifty other things. It's been a second since we recorded so I cannot properly remeber what we talked about, but I suspect we touch on the movie as a uniquely digital object that represents the apex of a young form, Dunst's absolutely annhilating performence, "The End of the World" vs. the actual end of the world, and other stuff. 

Next episode: "Celine and Julie Go Boating." Watch here. 

Hi! THis week, Matt and Corbin talk about "Captain America, The First Avenger," a movie about Captain America, an American Superhero. Topics: The MCU as a sort of end-product of the first two decades of digital cinema, the function of the superhero as a multi-meaning storytelling device, the production design in this movie (Good!) and the cinematography in this movie (Less good!), adapting Jack Kirby's fly by night ethic to a large, settled metanarrative, how the movie's depiction of the Red Skull conforms to Nazi neurosis, and, of course, the question of if Captain America is Good or Bad. 

Matt's Recommendation. Corbin's. Next Week's episode will be the FINAL EPISODE of our Digital Frontiers series and it will be about MELANCHOLIA. Watch it here!

Whoops, a little late! Sorry everyone Matt is busy and I am something aside from busy but diverting enough that I forgot to post the episode. This one is about "Leviathan," a documentary from the Sensory Ethnography Lab at Harvard about commerical fishermen, the ocean, and things all sloppin' on the camera. Watch it here! 

Topics include: GoPros, sloppy noises, thinking about how a camera is doing something, guys with horny mermaid tattoos, Solaris, pornography, moshing, and post-continuity reemerging in the tiny cameras we would all be packing around sooner rather than later. 

Matt's recommendation. Corbin's recommendation is MAYBE in theaters near you but if not you can rent it. 

Next week: CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER. Disney+ if you're sick with it. Expect it around Monday, Matt is gonna be in California. 

Old Cinema! New Cinema! Here they are, together! Ellis and Corbs talk about "Hugo," Martin Scorsese's honestly conspicously excellent family movie about a an orphan, a great filmmaker, and the open wounds of World War One. Topics: how exactly is Scorsese so good at making a special effects extravaganza, the 3D moment, fated to fail, color, and Scorsese's ability to bring a wide range of techniques to the table. 

Read a fascinting article about Rave Culture in Britain here. Corbin  Rec. Matt rec. Next episode is about Leviathan. Watch here. 

Welcome. In this episode Matt and Corbin talk about Abbas Kiarostami's 2010 brainscrew "Certified Copy," a movie about two strangers hanging out in the Italian countryside. Topics include: Binoche's performence, an anchor in a storm, Kiarostami as a natural candiate for digital cinema owing to his particular unfussiness, and Walter Benjamin. So much Walter Benjamin.

Matt's recc. Corbin's recc is available on your music streaming application of choice. Our next episode is about "Hugo." Watch it here. 

(sorry for the double post. this is a repost of a bad upload. LISTEN TO THIS ONE)

Hi there! Matt made a guest appearance on a great new podcast about cinema, history, and the left and we are sharing it, with you, RIGHT HERE! The podcast is called 'Cold War Cinema,' and you can find it here and here. 

Join Ellis and hosts Jason Christian, Tony Ballas, and Paul T. Klein as they discuss:

• The Phoenician Scheme’s connections to the Congress for Cultural Freedom, a CIA-backed cultural operation from 1950 that weaponized writers, artists, and other thinkers for intelligence operations.

• How Anderson’s film reveals the Cold War origins of the contemporary world in its critiques of capitalism and the neoliberal project. 

• The ways that The Phoenician Scheme breaks Anderson’s hermetically sealed aesthetics and alludes to its formal limitations.

To stay up to date on Cold War Cinema, follow along at coldwarcinema.com, or find them online on Bluesky @coldwarcinema.com or on X at @Cold_War_Cinema. 

For more from your hosts:

• Follow Jason on Bluesky at @JasonChristian.bsky.social, on X at @JasonAChristian, or on Letterboxed at @exilemagic. 

• Follow Anthony on Bluesky at @tonyjballas.bsky.social, on X at @tonyjballas.

Follow Paul on Bluesky at @ptklein.com, or on Letterboxed at @ptklein. Paul also writes about movies at www.howotreadmovies.com

alright that's all. we'll be back on friday with Certified Copy, which i need to watch RIGHT NOW