For a while Neill Blomkamp seemed to inhabit a unique space in modern filmmaking - big original science fiction films. Then Chappie happened. Listen as we dive into the three films of Blomkamp starting with District 9, the critical darling that garnered a Best Picture nomination, and ending with Chappie, basically a reimagining of Short Circuit.

Show Notes/Sources:

https://www.denofgeek.com/uk/movies/chappie/49924/looking-back-at-chappie-with-director-neill-blomkamp

https://thedissolve.com/features/the-conversation/79-elysium-is-just-a-bigger-broader-dumber-district-9/

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/aug/17/elysium-neill-bloomkamp-interview

Oftentimes strange, consistently unpredictable, increasingly political and entirely fun. Are we describing John Carpenter's second half or this podcast episode? Listen to find out. Paul Kowalski returns for the trip through Carpenter's later films.

Show Notes/Sources:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/oct/10/john-carpenter-interview-anthology-film-scores

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/escape-from-la-1996

https://thedissolve.com/features/movie-of-the-week/931-john-carpenters-other-sillier-escape/

http://thedissolve.com/features/movie-of-the-week/928-forum-escape-from-new-york/

https://filmschoolrejects.com/34-things-we-learned-from-john-carpenters-prince-of-darkness-commentary-d8e56ad0ad31/

https://www.theringer.com/movies/2018/10/4/17933020/they-live-john-carpenter-america-donald-trump

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/ghosts-of-mars-2001

John Carpenter's films have been remade, imitated, and satirized. In this episode, we go to the source material and dive into the first five films that Carpenter wrote and directed, included cult classic Assault on Precinct 13. Also, it's Halloween! What better time to check out the works of a horror master? Paul Kowalski joins to help us appreciate ghost pirates.

Show Notes/Sources:

https://thedissolve.com/reviews/363-assault-on-precinct-13-body-bags/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSlq2yAkyTE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUkOCg_KYXM

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/podcast/horror-writer-john-carpenter/

https://www.theringer.com/halloween-unmasked

http://songexploder.net/halloween

https://cinephiliabeyond.org/john-carpenters-fog-one-best-ghost-stories-clever-warning-us/

https://www.fudsonfilm.com/john-carpenter/

https://film.avclub.com/john-carpenter-s-grimy-propulsive-assault-on-precinct-1798178754

https://movieweb.com/someones-watching-me-movie-review-bluray/

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-fog-1980

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Carpenter

https://theofficialjohncarpenter.com/biography/

When you have a fan that recommends a filmmaker that "carries on the legacy" of Jane Campion, it's worth taking note. Andrea Arnold's films may not be easy to watch, but there is power in her work. In this episode, we immerse ourselves in the Arnold's films.

Show Notes/Sources:

https://www.npr.org/2016/09/29/495924904/filmmaker-andrea-arnold-on-american-honey-and-preserving-mystery-in-film

https://www.indiewire.com/2019/07/big-little-lies-season-2-andrea-arnold-lost-creative-control-jean-marc-vallee-1202156884/

https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/sc-mov-1127-wuthering-heights-20121129-column.html

https://web.archive.org/web/20110510114119/http://blogs.suntimes.com/foreignc/2011/02/afis-class-of-92.html

https://www.vox.com/2016/10/4/13057498/andrea-arnold-american-honey-fishtank-wuthering-heights

https://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/luke-evans-andrea-arnold-empire-podcast/

https://www.indiewire.com/2016/09/filmmaker-toolkit-podcast-episode-6-andrea-arnold-america-honey-shia-labeouf-1201727501/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07x6j4x

Ryan Coogler went from student-athlete and film fan to box office king in a little over a dozen years. He's done three successful and critically acclaimed movies in his short career, from the potent and personal Fruitvale Station to the comic book grandeur of Black Panther. Listen as we gush and occasionally rant (mostly Chris) about the films Ryan Coogler.

As always let us know what we got wrong on Facebook, on Twitter, or our email us at [email protected].

Show Notes/Sources:

https://thirstaidkitpodcast.tumblr.com/post/173993600710/thirst-aid-kit-s2e08-ryan-coogler-bay-area

https://news.wttw.com/2018/03/27/people-vs-democracy-and-battle-our-political-future

https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/earwolf/denzel-washington-is-the-greatest/e/49121750

https://maltinonmovies.libsyn.com/ryan-coogler

Jane Campion's films will stick with you. You'll be forced to use your brain and consider varying and at times rather peculiar perspectives. Listen as we try to work our way through Campion's complex films, from the critically renowned The Piano to Meg Ryan in an erotic thriller.

As always let us know what we got wrong on Facebook, on Twitter, or our email us at [email protected].

Show Notes/Sources:

https://www.npr.org/2009/09/18/112856601/jane-campions-ode-to-keats-romantic-love

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jul/08/jane-campion-bleak-ending-the-piano

https://film.avclub.com/1993-is-the-first-and-last-time-the-palme-went-to-a-wom-1798266132

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jul/22/jane-campion-clever-people-film-tv-top-of-the-lake

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jan/16/sweetie-rewatched-jane-campions-beautifully-strange-film-debut

https://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/the-piano-plays-on-the-inner-voice

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/in-the-cut-2003

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-piano-1993

https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5tb3ZpbmdpbWFnZXNvdXJjZS51cy9kaWFsb2d1ZXMvaXR1bmVz&episode=aHR0cDovL21vdmluZ2ltYWdlc291cmNlLnVzL3NpdGVfYXVkaW9zL2RpYWxvZ3Vlcy82Lzg4NTc2X21lZGlhX2ZpbGVzX21lZGlhXzYyNl9vcmlnaW5hbC5tcDM&hl=en&ep=6&at=1565550484980

Damien Chazelle is younger than Jon and Chris. Jon and Chris would rather not dwell on that fact. In his short career, Chazelle has become an A-list Hollywood director with an Academy Award under his belt. In this episode, we consider Chazelle's filmmaking and his worldview.

Show Notes/Sources:

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/whiplash-getting-jazz-right-movies

https://www.shrinktank.com/la-la-land-500-days-summer-separated-birth/

http://thisguyedits.libsyn.com/whiplash-2014

https://www.gq.com/story/mad-influence-episode-2-damien-chazelle

http://archive.filmspotting.net/reviews/show-archive/42-2014-shows/1231-511-whiplash-top-5-mentor-proteges.html

http://archive.filmspotting.net/reviews/show-archive/45-2016-shows/1567-614-la-la-land-top-5-musical-numbers-golden-brick-finalists.html

https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/httpssoundcloudcomthedirectorscut/the-directors-cut/e/episode-54-la-la-land-with-damien-chazelle-and-jon-favreau-48679734

https://www.indiewire.com/2017/02/la-la-land-damien-chazelle-tom-cross-editing-filmmaker-toolkit-podcast-episode-21-1201785368/

Armando Iannucci is probably best known in the US for the political satire Veep. Across the pond, he also has a number of successful TV credits; however, this TV showrunner has also made two of the best reviewed comedies in the last ten years with In the Loop and The Death of Stalin. We didn't get to him in our comedy episode, so we are remedying that now. In this episode, we are joined by Mark Staron, to review the film works of Armando Iannucci.

As always let us know what we got wrong on Facebook, Twitter, or email us at [email protected].

Show Notes/Sources:

https://film.avclub.com/in-the-loop-1798206635

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/418380.Essence_of_Decision

https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=111062899

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b098mtzx

https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/the-new-yorker-radio-hour/the-death-of-stalin-and-tracy-k-smith-in-the-woods

https://www.maximumfun.org/bullseye/bullseye-jesse-thorn-forest-whitaker-and-armando-iannucci

https://film.avclub.com/the-50-best-comedies-since-2000-1798250301

Debra Granik deserves to be included on any list of the best filmmakers of the 21st century. That should give you an idea of what we thought of Granik's four films, which include the Oscar nominated Winter's Bone and last year's Leave No Trace.

Show Notes/Sources:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/director-debra-granik-explains-why-been-eight-long-years-between-winters-bone-leave-no-trace-1123551

https://variety.com/2019/film/news/debra-granik-oscar-insider-leave-no-trace-1203101924/

https://tisch.nyu.edu/grad-film/alumni/debra-granik-

https://thedissolve.com/features/interview/1087-winters-bone-director-debra-granik-says-the-new-st/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/debra-granik-and-jennifer-lawrence-winters-bone/id417057875?i=1000092364504

http://www.shedoespodcast.com/listen/debra-granik

https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/turner-podcast-network/filmstruck/e/55203585

https://www.metacritic.com/feature/film-critic-top-ten-lists

https://www.metacritic.com/feature/film-critics-list-the-top-10-movies-of-2018

https://www.tiff.net/the-review/tiff-long-take-ep-73-debra-granik-leave-no-trace-breakout

https://player.fm/series/indiewires-filmmaker-toolkit/leave-no-trace-director-debra-granik

https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/national-public-radio/bullseye-with-jesse-thorn/e/58880875

https://www.indiewire.com/2019/02/debra-granik-marielle-heller-oscars-2019-1202044494/

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/03/movies/review-stray-dog-documents-a-complex-veteran.html

https://www.indiewire.com/2018/12/jane-campion-debra-granik-oscar-nom-best-director-leave-no-trace-1202029649/

When we did our Alfonso Cuarón episode, he was coming off of Gravity, a movie that won 6 Oscars, including Best Director. Not much has changed, except Roma only won 3 Oscars, including Best Director. Listen as we fit Roma into Cuarón's body of work.

As always let us know what we got wrong on Facebook, Twitter, or email us at [email protected].