It's the last of the "lost" episodes and the second-to-last of the series of musical episodes. In this half we look at 1979's Quadrophenia, based on the 1973 album of the same name by The Who. It's a period piece set in 1964 and it outlines the days leading up to a wild weekend for both the Mods and the Rockers as they descend upon Brighton Beach. 

This part of the episode also features my 11-month-old grandson, who sat on my lap for most of the time, so you can hear him banging about on stuff and just generally noising about. He got really fussy at about the 20-minute mark, so we had to literally stop recording so I could hand him off to someone else. 

Hey, gang: 

What we've got here is a brief piece on the British Film Institute's 100 Greatest Films Ever (2022 edition). The BFI has compiled this list every ten years since 1942, drawing on the opinions of film critics worldwide, and the list gets published in their magazine Sight and Sound. 

Given that the film chosen for the top of the list was rather an unusual one, Sean wanted to take a few minutes to react to that, and to some of the process involved, and Claude, as usual, worked hard to keep up. 

Next episode in about a week. 

In this second half of the show, we take a look at Labyrinth, starring Jennifer Connelly and David Bowie. It's directed by Jim Henson, so you know the bulk of the remaining cast is wearing a lot of felt. 

COMING ATTRACTIONS: 

It's the last of the Lost Episodes as we present films that are based on concept albums. First, from 1979 it's Quadrophenia, and then we look at Pink Floyd: The Wall from 1982.

It's the second of our three "Lost Episodes," and again I think we've covered all of the topics that we did the first time. The downside is that Sean wasn't feeling well when we did this re-record, and you can hear he's missing a little of his usual zip. 

But don't let that stop you from enjoying our peek at a pair of musicals that have David Bowie in them, and in a singing part, besides. Both of these films are from 1986. 

Our first entry is Absolute Beginners, directed by Julien Temple. It's an ambitious and enoyable film that somehow didn't catch on at the box office, but don't let that stop you from checking it out.

Then, stay tuned for Part 2, when we spend some time in the Labyrinth.  

In this half of the episode we take a look at Inside Llewyn Davis, written and directed by the Coen Brothers. In this case we have a (probably circular) story that takes place shortly before Bob Dylan first gained notoriety in the Greenwich Village area. Llewyn (Oscar Isaac) was once half of a folk duo, but now he's striking out on his own, for reasons which become clear as the film progresses. It's a dark comedy with a lot of interesting coincidences, as Coen Brothers films are wont to be. But check it out; you won't be disappointed. 

COMING ATTRACTIONS: 

Episode 46 is the second of our three "Lost Episodes"; that is, they're episodes that we recorded that somehow disappeared from the hard drive. This one focuses on a pair of musical films, both from 1986, in which David Bowie plays a villainous role: first up is Absolute Beginners, directed by Julien Temple. Then in Part 2 we take you into the Labyrinth, directed by Jim Henson. 

From a musical standpoint, there's always a time you can point to and see--in retrospect--that things were about to change in a big way. In this episode we look at a pair of films that take place right before a couple of upheavals in the music industry. And interestingly enough, they take place only a couple of years apart. 

In this part of the episode, we're looking at Honeydripper, the 2007 film written and directed by John Sayles, and starring Danny Glover as a southern bar owner with a nebulous past who's trying to save his business. He keeps taking advice from a mysterious figure in the town, and finds himself at the cusp of the Next Big Trend, musically. 

Then stick around for part 2, when we take a look at the  period of time immediately before Bob Dylan broke on to the folk scene. 

In Part II of our Lost Episode, we look at another musical set in Dublin. It's 2007's Once, written and directed by John Carney, and starring Glen Hansard (see?) and Markéta Irglová, a couple you'll root for throughout the film and never mind that she's got a husband. 

COMING ATTRACTIONS: 

In our next episode, we look at two musical films that are period pieces. Specifically, they take place shortly before a seismic shift in the music scene. First, from 2007 is the criminally-underrated Honeydripper,  written and directed by John Sayles, and from there we move on to 2014's Inside Llewyn Davis, written and directed by the Coen Brothers. 

The Lost Episode has returned!

OK, we'll level with you. We had to re-record it. At any rate, this time around we're looking at two musical films that are both set in Dublin, Ireland, and coincidentally (or maybe not--you decide when the dust settles) they share a specific actor. 

We start with The Commitments in Part 1, the 1991 film directed by Alan Parker. In this film we see a scruffy group of folks who aspire to become a soul band in the Atlantic/Stax/early Motown tradition. The band itself is quite large in number; large enough that Glen Hansard is billed eighth in the film. But fear not! He finds himself promoted to top billing in Part 2. 

Part Two of our episode takes us to Scotland in 2014 and Stuart Murdoch's film God Help The Girl. 

"Who is Stuart Murdoch?" you ask. It's a fair question. Murdoch is the leader of the band Belle and Sebastian. And it's worth noting that in 2009 he released an album of a music project he worked on which was also titled God Help The Girl, a collection of songs about girls and young women, sung by female singers. Perhaps the most notable of those would be Catherine Ireton, who performs on about two-thirds of the album. But, I digress. 

God Help the Girl (the movie) is the story of three young musicians who help each other to gain a little direction in their lives. The songs follow the traditional musical pattern of giving us what's in the characters' heads, but it's not like a musical where the action stops completely while the song is happening. 

No, you're not missing an episode. We are. 

We still have no idea how it happened, but our recording of Reel 43 is completely and irrevocably lost. It's disappeared altogether. 

But take heart: Sean and I are going to re-record the episode and expedite post-production and uploading so nobody loses count (and when Sean says later on "It's Episode 50!" he won't sound weird for saying so). 

Anyways. This time around we're looking at a pair of movies that were directed by people who are better known for their musicianship than for being movie directors. And here in Part 1 it's a peek at David Byrne's fun and funky (and ironically titled) 1986 film True Stories. It's a warm view of the fictional town of Virgil, Texas, and the days leading up to a town-wide celebration. 

In Part 2, we cross the pond to visit Glasgow and Stuart Murdoch's 2014 film God Help the Girl.