Watch With Jen™

This week's guest is a terrific character actor with over thirty years in the industry. A veteran of more than seventy Hollywood movies and hundreds of episodes of television, Donal Logue is the beloved scene-stealer of such films as Sneakers, Blade, and Zodiac, and TV series as Grounded for Life, Sons of Anarchy, Vikings, Gotham, and of course, the great Terriers, which Jed Ayres and I celebrated earlier this year in a full episode. Additionally, the recipient of the Special Jury Prize for Outstanding Acting at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival for the indie favorite The Tao of Steve, Donal also has quite the passion and talent for writing.

In 2021, he co-wrote the brilliant New York Times bestseller Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, & Hollywood, along with his good friend Danny Trejo. Currently hard at work on his next book, Donal has just been added to the third season of the popular Queen Latifah CBS series The Equalizer, which I'm looking forward to checking out. Needless to say, he's a very busy guy! Someone I'm honored to have gotten to know after the Terriers episode, Donal has not only become a very good friend but has also consistently given me the best film recommendations, including several that we discuss in this fascinating episode.

In a thoughtful roughly two-hour conversation, Donal shares his affection for the gritty, social realism centric tales of the so-called "angry young men" that took the world by storm in the UK Kitchen Sink Drama movement of theater and film in the late 1950s and early '60s. Focusing primarily on Look Back in Anger, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, Billy Liar, This Sporting Life, Kes, A Taste of Honey, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, and The Entertainer, this is an episode to listen to with a pen and a pad of paper as masterful films get cited throughout. With sharp insights about acting, filmmaking, and storytelling from his perspective as a film fan first and a professional second, this engaging chat is a treat for cinephiles everywhere. Enjoy!

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

Logo: Kate Gabrielle (KateGabrielle.com)

Originally Posted on Patreon (10/24/22) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/73713693

About a decade ago now, my mom read a WWII-era historical thriller novel called Mr. Churchill's Secretary and became an instant fan of both the main character - Maggie Hope, an intrepid young spy, and codebreaker who rose up to meet the challenges of that time - as well as author Susan Elia MacNeal. In the years that followed, she would eagerly anticipate each new installment and I remember going to track down a few on pub day at Barnes and Noble.

A New York Times bestselling novelist of not only the Maggie Hope series, but also her recently published standalone book Mother Daughter Traitor Spy, in the last decade, MacNeal has won the Barry Award and also been nominated for the Edgar, Macavity, Agatha, Left Coast Crime, Dilys, and ITW Thriller awards.

Joining me to discuss first her new book as well as her writing and research process, Susan and I then dive into the world of spies in the films North By Northwest, Valkyrie, and BlacKkKlansman in a fun and fascinating hour of conversation.

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

Logo: Kate Gabrielle (KateGabrielle.com)

Originally Posted on Patreon (10/19/22) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/73508358

This week, I was so pleased to welcome back a very dear friend to the podcast. A senior film critic who writes the most soulful, insightful, and humanistic pieces at FilmFreakCentral.net, Walter Chaw's bylines have also appeared in LA Weekly, The New York Times, New York Post, The Washington Post, Criterion, New York Magazine, and more. Additionally, the author of a book about the film MIRACLE MILE, Walter's in-depth critical study of Walter Hill is scheduled to be published by Matt Zoller Seitz's MZS Press before the end of the year.

After serving up an extended behind-the-scenes look at his book on Hill and the discoveries that he made writing it along the way, we spend the rest of this fast-paced roughly hour-long episode dissecting and celebrating the SCREAM franchise, which was launched by director Wes Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson in 1996. Releasing it early this week to coincide with the brand new 4K edition of SCREAM 2, it's the perfect listen to get you in the mood for Halloween. (And don't miss last year's episodes on Horror Remakes with Scott Weinberg, Sex, Gender, & Final Girls of Horror with Elizabeth Cantwell, and/or my conversation about the first SCREAM film on the first Adventures in Physical Media episode from Season 2 with Kate Gabrielle.)

Logo: Kate Gabrielle at KateGabrielle.com

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

Originally Posted on Patreon (10/10/22) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/73124925

Returning to the podcast this week, we have a very talented freelance writer and lecturer specializing in women surrealists and visual culture. Sabina Stent's bylines include Magnum Photos and Crime Reads and she also writes a substack newsletter called Love Letters During a Nightmare. Her next online lecture is for the Morbid Anatomy Museum and is titled Cinematic Surrealism in Los Angeles: Maya Deren and David Lynch. (Tickets are available on the museum's website, which you can also find a link to in Sabina's current pinned tweet.)

Joining me to discuss the fantastic range of character actor Robert Downey Jr. (whom she's dubbed Walking Charisma), in this thoughtful celebratory conversation, we analyze what it is that makes him so unique, and champion his work in the films ONLY YOU, KISS KISS BANG BANG, FUR: AN IMAGINARY PORTRAIT OF DIANE ARBUS, ZODIAC, & IRON MAN.

Note: This episode also includes a lengthy introduction covering what you can expect to hear on the podcast for the rest of Season 3 and a few guests we have lined up for S4.

Originally Posted on Patreon (10/4/22) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/72872065

Logo: KateGabrielle.com

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

In this highly-requested feature-length episode, dear friends and past guests Jed Ayres, Rob Belushi, and Blake Howard join me to explore the critically acclaimed, award-winning FX Australia series Mr. Inbetween, which ran for three seasons from 2018-2021. Created and written by the show's charismatic lead Scott Ryan, the series finds the actor starring as muscle, debt-collector, hitman, and Underworld-Jack-of-All-Trades for-Hire Ray Shoesmith, whom Ryan's fans will recall was the same character he portrayed in his 2005 Australian independent feature film The Magician.

Beginning like a traditional episode of Watch With Jen where we serve up a roughly forty-minute analytical overview and appreciation of the growing word-of-mouth cult favorite series, from there we move into an extended conversation the four of us were fortunate enough to recently have with the funny, disarming, and kind Scott Ryan.

Covering everything from how much he hates "raw" sandwiches to his love of writing believable dialogue that isn't solely dependent on moving the plot forward, Ryan discusses the pros and cons of TV vs. film, celebrates his gifted co-stars, along with series director Nash Edgerton, and lets us in on what he's hoping to do next. A spoiler-filled installment that's best appreciated after you've seen Mr. Inbetween, we hope you'll enjoy it, and recommend both Ryan's series and this podcast to others to help spread the word.

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

Logo: KateGabrielle.com

Originally Posted on Patreon (2/27/22) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/72500093

This week, I'm very excited to bring back one of our warmest & most knowledgeable guests who's become synonymous with fall. In fact, this is her third consecutive fall episode and fifth appearance overall!

An accomplished lawyer and a highly readable film critic at her own site MovieMom.com and at RogerEbert.com where she's also an editor, Nell Minow has written over 3,000 movie reviews since the 1990s. Additionally, she's also authored a handful of terrific film books, including 101 Must See Movie Moments and The Movie Mom's Guide to Family Movies.

Playing almost like a companion piece to Nell's last episode in the fall of 2021, which focused on female friendships in film, in this fast-paced, fun, and informative conversation, we take a look at the history of the role of the cinematic best friend as epitomized by Eve Arden in Mildred Pierce and Anatomy of a Murder and Judy Greer in 13 Going on 30 and 27 Dresses.

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

Originally Posted on Patreon (9/22/22) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/72336836

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 - releasing in September in the UK - and Everybody Knows, which will be available everywhere in 2023.

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.

Welcoming Jordan back to celebrate the release of The Last King of California next week in the UK, in this rich, thoughtful, fresh conversation, we explore a trio of films that center on criminal families (of the blood variety), including James Foley's At Close Range, David Michôd's Animal Kingdom, and Debra Granik's Winter's Bone.

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

Logo: KateGabrielle.com

Originally Posted on Patreon (9/14/22) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/71974209

In his last appearance, film writer Sean Burns joined me to take a look at Michael Douglas in lothario mode in one of the pod's most hilarious and popular adults-only episodes. And this week, he's back to dissect five films starring one of the podcast's most beloved and covered character actors in the form of Jack Nicholson's turns in Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, The Shining, Terms of Endearment, and The Crossing Guard. In addition to astute insights and Nicholson storytelling, you'll hear the hilarious Burns bring out my feistier side the deeper we get into the episode. So sit back as we curse like sailors, critique strip club numbers, lovingly poke fun at filmmaking pretensions, and compare the pretty, dull young actors of today to salad dressing. It's another fun conversation indeed!

A film critic for WBUR's Arts & Culture and a contributing writer at North Shore Movies and Crooked Marquee, he was Philadelphia Weekly's lead film critic from 1999-2013 and worked as contributing editor at the Improper Bostonian from 2006-2014. His reviews, interviews, and essays have also appeared in Metro, The Village Voice, Rolling Stone, The Boston Herald, Nashville Scene, Time Out New York, Philadelphia City Paper, and RogerEbert.com.

A graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Burns was a recurring guest on the late David Brudnoy's WBZ 1030 AM radio show, and in 2002, received an award for Excellence in Criticism from the Greater Philadephia Society of Professional Journalists. His writing has been called "jocular but serious, more like a 1940's daily reporter pounding out columns on a manual typewriter than a typical twenty-first-century navel-gazing film critic." Meanwhile, his sisters still tell him that he "swears too much and drive like an old lady."

Logo: KateGabrielle.com

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

Originally Posted on Patreon (9/9/22) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/71745247

This week, we're welcoming back a woman I had so much fun dissecting Roger Moore's Bond era with the last time she appeared on the podcast towards the end of Season 2. Julia Ricci is a Senior Programmer at Heartland Film in Indianapolis, Indiana, which organizes the Heartland International Film Festival and the Academy Award-qualifying Indy Shorts International Film Festival. She has been part of the programming team since 2018, selecting films for the festivals' shorts, features, and retrospective slates, and has programmed 17 short films that went on to become Oscar nominees and winners in the Live Action, Documentary, and Animated Short categories.

Prior to Heartland Film, Julia was a researcher for Turner Classic Movies and The Criterion Collection's former streaming platform FilmStruck, and appeared on TCM as a Guest Fan Programmer. She has a degree in History from Ball State University and is a regional Emmy nominee for the documentary short "Legacies of Perfection: Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg," from 2013.

Returning to celebrate three classic underdog sports stories set in Indiana, in this episode, we look at beloved family favorites Breaking Away, Hoosiers, and Rudy, and also investigate our relationships to these films and sports in general, and discuss what makes the genre so timeless and compelling.

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

Logo: Kate Gabrielle (KateGabrielle.com)

Originally Posted on Patreon (9/2/22) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/71424071

This week, I was so pleased to welcome two friends and the hosts of The Film Stage's excellent podcast The B-Side, which covers movie stars in a fascinating way by focusing not on the films that made or kept them famous but the ones that actors made in between. The delightful show just celebrated its four-year anniversary and I had such a fun time joining hosts Dan Mecca and Conor O'Donnell to discuss a handful of films starring Marisa Tomei last year.

A producer and filmmaker living in Pittsburgh, Dan Mecca started The Film Stage with Jordan Raup in college at Buffalo and Conor O'Donnell is a post-production supervisor based in New York City and also serves as a critic for The Film Stage.

Joining me to celebrate four former crew members turned directors and the diverse films that resulted from their work, in this episode, we tackle Douglas Trumbull's Silent Running, Jack Fisk's Violets are Blue, Ava DuVernay's Selma, and Jesse V. Johnson's Avengement.

Originally Posted on Patreon (8/26/22) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/71068857

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

Logo: Kate Gabrielle (KateGabrielle.com)