Watch With Jen™

Following up on our great Brian De Palma episode with Megan Abbott & Alison Gaylin that was released last week, we have our second of three installments this month featuring two tremendous guests. Centered on one of our greatest film stars in the form of Robert Mitchum, you'll hear two different conversations with two brilliant women, recorded over the course of the summer to clock in at a combined total of two hours. If anyone deserves that much time & attention, it's Robert Mitchum!

First up, we have blogger & historian Raquel Stecher, who joins me to cover some of the actor's most famous performances in the films OUT OF THE PAST, BLOOD ON THE MOON, RIVER OF NO RETURN, THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, & THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE. After that, actress-turned-producer Amy Robinson returns to share her thoughts on the man whose six-decade-spanning career she did a deep dive into during the pandemic. In addition to a general appreciation of what Robert Mitchum brought to film history, she chose to tackle one of his most unexpected & fascinating collaborations with his good friend Deborah Kerr, with whom he starred in the films HEAVEN KNOWS MR. ALLISON, THE SUNDOWNERS, THE GRASS IS GREENER, & REUNION AT FAIRBOROUGH.

A wide-ranging conversation that touches on several other memorable films, stars, & directors, you'll want to be sure to listen to this one with a notebook & pen in order to write down all of the titles we work into these two terrific chats.

Originally Posted on Patreon (9/13/23) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/89228681

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Theme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive

This week, I am honored to welcome a dynamic duo of acclaimed bestselling crime writers to the podcast & two women who've both won the Edgar and numerous other awards. Additionally, good friends who've also collaborated on the graphic novel NORMANDY GOLD, it's the wonderful partnership of Megan Abbott & Alison Gaylin. Author of such must-reads as DARE ME, THE TURNOUT, & GIVE ME YOUR HAND, Megan Abbott's latest novel BEWARE THE WOMAN is a modern gothic nightmare that you won't be able to put down. Alison Gaylin is the author of such gripping works as IF I DIE TONIGHT, NEVER LOOK BACK, & THE COLLECTIVE, & her latest title is a brand new Sunny Randall novel, ROBERT B. PARKER'S BAD INFLUENCE.

Joining me to discuss the career of Brian De Palma, one of our most singular yet controversial filmmakers, in this breathlessly paced, contemplative & infectiously fun conversation, the two writers share their thoughts on the director's works, legacy, critics, popular sources of debate, & the films SISTERS, BLOW OUT, & BODY DOUBLE. As a fun bonus for listeners, similar to the way that I wove voice-over into an earlier fourth-season episode with Megan Abbott devoted to Paul Schrader, once again, I've recruited the vocal talents of a friend (today, in the form of past guest Peter Avellino) to read excerpts from past De Palma interviews I discovered & enjoyed during my research.

Originally Posted on Patreon (9/7/23) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/88932927

Logo: KateGabrielle.com

Theme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive

I have a pretty busy week lined up so you're getting this new episode early! Returning to the podcast today, we have a fan favorite in the form of Mr. Jordan Harper. One of my dearest friends, this podcast's very first guest, and my Pandemic Movie Club, and Game Night crew buddy, Jordan is the Edgar award-winning author of She Rides Shotgun, Love & Other Wounds, The Last King of California, & Everybody Knows.

Additionally, a screenwriter and producer of such shows as The Mentalist, Gotham, and Hightown, Jordan crafted one of the most beautiful pilots for L.A. Confidential, which CBS stupidly did not pick up, but was so acclaimed he screened and did a virtual panel on the show at the ATX TV Festival. A Missouri native - and yes, that will come up in today's conversation - Jordan currently lives in L.A. along with his talented screenwriter girlfriend Megan Mostyn-Brown, and adorable dog Ellroy.

When Jordan & I planned this episode, we had no idea that we'd wind up recording on Day 100 of the WGA strike, which also happened to be National Book Lovers Day, or that it'd fall on a day when I could really use the distraction of laughing about movies with a good friend.

A very funny, fast-paced, yet intensive blast from the past that celebrates & interrogates our childhood nostalgia, in this 85-minute conversation, we dig through what he's dubbed "a great stack of videos" from 1989. Kicking things off by sharing our thoughts on that bygone video store era (which has been revived in his Eagle Rock neighborhood, thanks to Vidiots), we open with a hilarious foray into two trashtastic films we enjoy throwing on as needed - Road House & Black Rain. Following up our discussion on those with something lighter in the form of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, we conclude the episode with Jordan's thrilling insights into Gleaming the Cube, including a major appreciation of the filmography of actor Max Perlich & the ways in which the brilliant screenwriter Michael Tolkin uses a teen skateboard picture to dig into political issues of the time. Filled with laughter, this one is sure to be a new hit with listeners, & I know it'll brighten your day.

Originally Posted on Patreon (8/13/23) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/87634121

Theme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive

Logo: KateGabrielle.com

This week, I'm so pleased to welcome back to the podcast a talented, supportive, and funny friend. Currently based in Newark, Delaware, Mitchell Beaupre is not only the Senior Editor at one of my favorite services (via Letterboxd), but they're also the co-host of the Weekend Watchlist and Four Favorites podcasts, which you can find in the stream for The Letterboxd Show. Additionally, a prolific freelance film journalist and stellar interviewer for prestigious outlets such as "The Film Stage," "Paste Magazine," "The Playlist," and "Little White Lies," you can keep up with all of their impressive work on Twitter @ItIsMitchell.

Over the past few years, I've enjoyed following Mitchell's film journeys on social media, including their discovery of a trio of outstanding Meryl Streep romance movies that I love, including FALLING IN LOVE, DEFENDING YOUR LIFE, and most recently, THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, which became one of their new favorites. Messaging them instantly to join me in discussing the topic of Meryl Streep in Love, we chose these three films which showcase a lighter, more accessible, and less "actorly" side of the Oscar-winning legend, yet one that might boast her best performance committed to film.

And as we delve deeply into what Streep and her great co-stars and craftsmen are doing in these movies and the ways they touch us, we wind up doing a lot of storytelling along the way, culminating in a long, personal, and philosophical conversation about friendship, love, and some of our own experiences that I know listeners will appreciate.

Originally Posted on Patreon (7/27/23) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/86758622

Theme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive

Logo: KateGabrielle.com

A film critic for publications such as LA Weekly, New York Magazine, Vulture, The New York Times, and formerly, The Village Voice, the brilliant Bilge Ebiri is one of my favorite journalists working today. Although we've discussed some of his favorite directors like Terrence Malick & Neil Jordan tangentially in the past, I was thrilled to bring him back to the podcast this time to focus on the filmmaker who helmed his favorite movie of all time Barry Lyndon.

An engaging and insightful journey into Ebiri's own life & career exploring the work of Stanley Kubrick, which is one of his particular areas of expertise, over the course of two jam-packed hours of conversation, we explore the films Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, & The Shining. Unable to stop asking him questions about the rest of Kubrick's filmography, the result is a highly entertaining, story-filled exchange that's sure to be a new favorite among cinephiles.

Moreover, following the podcast's three most recent installments covering French Crime Movies, the oeuvre of actor-producers Amy Robinson & Griffin Dunne, & the Ranown Westerns of Budd Boetticher, this episode is the perfect way to close out what has unofficially become Watch With Jen's Criterion Collection-centric July.

Originally Posted on Patreon (7/22/23) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/86458886

Theme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive

Logo: KateGabrielle.com

The director behind the hilarious LEGO BATMAN MOVIE, the popular series ROBOT CHICKEN, as well as the films THE TOMORROW WAR starring Chris Pratt for Prime, & the brand new RENFIELD with Nicholas Hoult & Nicolas Cage, this week, I was so pleased to welcome filmmaker Chris McKay to the podcast.

A huge film buff who fell in love with the films of Alfred Hitchcock early, thanks to his cinephile mom, Chris McKay is such an enormous fan of B-movie director Budd Boetticher that his Twitter handle is even @BuddBoetticher in his honor. And with The Criterion Collection releasing a captivating new Ranown Westerns box set featuring jaw-dropping 4K restorations of a handful of the best films that Boetticher made with his most important collaborator & star Randolph Scott, it was the perfect time to team up with McKay to discuss a quartet of his favorites.

Zeroing in on the outstanding SEVEN MEN FROM NOW (which is not included in the Criterion box), THE TALL T, COMANCHE STATION, & RIDE LONESOME, in this spirited, fast-moving episode, we set out for the wide open spaces of Boetticher's westerns with Scott. Along the way, we pay particular attention to not only the great supporting players who stole scenes from the leading man as antagonists but also the screenplays from Burt Kennedy for films that all seem to be in conversation with one another. Whether you're new to Boetticher's filmography, Westerns in general, or are a devotee of the genre, you're sure to find this installment a delight.

Originally Posted on Patreon (7/17/23) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/86244952

Theme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music

Logo: KateGabrielle.com

In Season 3 of the podcast, my good friend Kate Hagen - a talented writer & Senior Vice President at The Black List - joined me to kick off a fascinating new series of conversations with the people behind the movies we love. We launched it with what is still one of my all-time favorite episodes: a long, career-spanning discussion with the great filmmaker Allison Anders & then a few months later, we reunited to chat with Allison's daughter, the hard-working & acclaimed music supervisor Tiffany Anders. And recently, Kate returned to help me welcome two extraordinary guests, actors & producers Griffin Dunne & Amy Robison, who, along with their company Double Play Productions, were behind some of the best movies when we were growing up, including director Joan Micklin Silver's CHILLY SCENES OF WINTER, director John Sayles' BABY IT'S YOU, Martin Scorsese's AFTER HOURS (which also starred Dunne), Sidney Lumet's RUNNING ON EMPTY, & more. An actor I think most people in my generation first remember as the teacher upon whom Anna Chlumsky's character had an impossible crush in MY GIRL, Griffin Dunne has had an impressive career on both sides of the camera, acting in films as diverse as AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON & QUIZ SHOW, & directing films such as PRACTICAL MAGIC & the wonderful Joan Didion documentary THE CENTER WILL NOT HOLD. Amy Robinson made a stunning debut as an actress in director Martin Scorsese's MEAN STREETS, in which she played Teresa. And in addition to the films she's produced with Dunne, Robinson has also produced director Joan Chen's AUTUMN IN NEW YORK, the Hughes brothers' FROM HELL, Michael Cuesta's 12 & HOLDING, Nora Ephron's JULIE & JULIA among others. In this feature-length episode, the warm & thoughtful duo behind Double Play Productions take us on a tour of their memories making some of the most acclaimed films from the late '70s through the early '90s & beyond. Timed to release this week as AFTER HOURS debuts on disc from The Criterion Collection (a few months after CHILLY SCENES OF WINTER did as well), film buffs, & especially those interested in the business of making movies are sure to enjoy this endearing conversation. Note: SAG strike rules prevent actors from discussing or promoting any projects they made under past contracts. This conversation was recorded prior to the strike in May of 2023. Originally Posted on Patreon (7/14/23) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/86100088 Theme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive Logo: KateGabrielle.com