You Never Forget Your First

A CHRISTMAS SPECIAL FOR YOU ALL 🎄🎅 Even though 2020 has swung one final time in an attempt to take away all tradition, we swing back to instil some normality by asking the age old question “Is Die Hard a Christmas film?” Directed by John McTiernan and released in the hot summer of 1988, (despite having a Christmas themed plot) Die Hard is at the center of the yearly festive film debate. To add a spin on this well known question, two of the four members of this very podcast only just watched Die Hard for the first time. Yeah…that almost warrants a whole episode in itself. We have loved making episodes this year and hope you have enjoyed them too. Thanks to everyone who has listened, stay safe there is plenty more to come and until then…YIPPEE KI YAY MOFOS!

NEW EP 🥜 on Peanut Butter Falcon (2019), a genuine, heartfelt debut by Tyler Nilson & Michael Schwartz, starring the sensation that is Zack Gottsagen. The film follows Zack as he runs away from his care home to achieve his dream of becoming a wrestler. With great performances by Shia Labeouf and Dakota Johnson, and nuanced direction by the duo, they knock this film out of the park.  We challenge you to hate this film (spoiler: you’ll love it) 🎬

We headed back to 1999 and dived inside Spike Jonze’s head, who dived inside Charlie Kaufman’s head, who dived inside John Malkovich’s head, to bring you our episode on Spikes Jonze’s directorial debut, Being John Malkovich. A peculiar but highly entertaining film that can be read in so many ways, with John Malkovich putting his very name above the door. Thank god it did well.

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INTERVIEW ALERT 🚨 Beneath the glitzy summer blockbusters where Superheroes showdown and streaming networks serving up 10 episodes to beam into your eyeballs in one night, is a whole world of low budget, do-it-yourself, balls to the wall filmmaking. These are films shot on next to nothing, made with a sheer passion for telling stories with a camera, and we’re happy to say we have a shining example of this in Spyder Dobrofsky’s Spiral (2019)

Dunked in the DNA of Darren Aronofsky’s PI (1998) and Christopher Nolan’s Following (1998), Spiral follows Ben, who is tricked into smoking laced weed by his new neighbour and must survive a drug trip with life or death consequences. The film is a true achievement of low-budget filmmaking, and a very good watch that we highly recommend. 

We were lucky enough to chat to Spyder about the film, his process and how to operate in the industry we call Hollywood as a writer. Of course it wouldn’t be a YNFYF ep if we didn’t geek out on Nolan, Tarkovsky and all things filmmaking. This episodes a special one, and if you’re in need of a creative boost with writing, filmmaking or just want to feel more inspired, this is the episode for you.

We’ll be linking Spiral in our bio to watch for free on YouTube, so give it a watch and then listen to the ep. And give @spyderdobro a follow! Enjoy. 

@ynfyfpod

www.youneverforgetyourfirst.com

Before Catfish: The TV show which Nev presents, unveiling Catfishes all over the states, he was in fact Catfished himself, documented by directors Ariel Schulman (his brother) and Henry Joost in Catfish: The Movie (2010). In the film, Nev is in contact with a family over Facebook, who him and his friends soon realise might not be who they say they are. Despite this unsettling premise, perhaps the most scary part of re-watching this decade old documentary is how much people used to use Facebook to seemingly update the world on the most evidently boring parts of their life. In a strange way, Catfish actually exposes how much Facebook has changed, from status updates asking you what you had for breakfast, to TELL US YOUR POLITICAL LEANINGS. NOW.

Ultimately Catfish is a positive piece of film, that shows us we’re all a lot better when we’re honest. Like when Louis admits on this very episode he may well have been Catfished himself when he was 12 years old (admit it, who wasn’t on MSN messenger). This is also our first documentary, and we spend an inordinate amount of time discussing the difference between a film and doc, when we probably should have just been reviewing the film. Anyway, you’ve seen what we really look like, right? Guys…..guys?

Happy listening. 

@ynfyfpod

www.youneverforgetyourfirst.com

Come on a journey with us back to July, when we were experiencing a heatwave so strong Benas may have actually passed out during recording, the background noise courtesy of a passing train that had seemingly little explanation, and a cat (Nessie) that just wanted to express its cinematic opinion, and you’ve got our episode on David Fincher’s Alien 3 (1992). Thats right, this our first real life episode in months, so we felt compelled through the sweat to tackle a beast of a director with a very interesting directorial debut.

On first glance Alien 3 stands out in Fincher’s filmography, and you’d be forgiven for thinking everyone else besides Fincher directed it. Under the surface of those pesky acid spraying Aliens are some of the trademarks of the now iconic director that can be found in his later films. At just 29 when production started, as well as the supposed troubled production itself, we go deep on Fincher and maybe, just maybe, we talk about Fight Club.

Are things always as they appear? You might take one glance at Only You (2018) on Netflix and assume this is a cheesy romance film where the guy gets the girl at last minute in the airport. In fact, Benas did and we had to strap him to a chair and run some Clockwork Orange moves on his eyes so he would watch it. But we’re getting away from the point here. Harry Wootliff’s Only You is a raw, delicately crafted debut that might have slipped you by (despite winning two BIFAs). 

A curveball suggestion by Louis that sent the pod crew getting all emotional, in whats been our closest episode to an actual therapy session on relationships, the film follows Jake and Elena as their relationship blossoms, before tackling one of the most challenging obstacles anyone has to encounter. Harry Wootliff has not only written characters that reflect actual people you might know in real life, but has explored the subject of intimacy in a way that feels fresh and important. You might even hear Benas come round to a film about relationships. Imagine that. 

With no Sparrow this episode Dom, Louis and Benas pick up the slack, but rest assured, the Me and Earl-loving-currently-Malick-Obsessed-Film-Lover will be back next episode throwing out the usual gems.

Happy listening, enjoy. 

What if we told you that Chris Evans isn’t the real Captain America? And that whenever you see Cap throwing himself into some insane situation, you’re actually seeing our friend Sam Hargrave don the helmet and shield, as he is in fact Caps stuntman (yes even superheroes need stunt men). Now he’s stopped throwing himself into the ring, and is instead throwing another Chris (Hemsworth) in instead, with his first film, Extraction. (2020).

The most recent film we’ve done on the pod to date, we thought we’d make our first foray into the world of action cinema with this stunt-orientated action thriller by stuntman turned directer, Sam Hargrave. He’s also in the film as the guy with the huge beard, you really can’t miss him. The Avengers connections don’t stop there, as this film is written by the Russo Brothers, who’ve directed the past few Avengers films (including the biggest film of all time…no biggie).

Also featured is a chat about why there should be a Stunt oscars, Sparrow giving the fans what they want with his latest updates, as well as Benas assuring us that Micheal Jordan smoking cigars after matches was totally normal and didn’t affect his play at all. 

Miraculously no one was harmed in the making of this episode and all stunts were performed by 4 unprofessional people.

Happy listening, enjoy. 

What creates a cult classic film? Some say its being ripped apart to shreds by critics on release. Others say it’s a notoriously bad theatrical run never recouping the budget. Bruce Robinson says it’s out of work actors and an appetite for lots of alcohol. And possibly lighter fluid. 

Enter Withnail and I (1987) which follows two substance abusing unemployed actors in 1969. Almost unbelievable this is a first directorial effort, it’s also the first appearance of Richard E Grant and Paul McGann in a feature film. Based on director Bruce Robinsons own experiences in the 60’s with his late friend Vivian Mackerell (whom Withnail is based on), the film is often remembered for its ability to be so quotable. After all, few films have so deftly described a hangover as feeling “like a pig shat on my head”. 

Thought bubbling beneath the surface is both an intricately rendered portrait of Britain at the end of the 60’s, and the giving up of your dreams due to no fault of anything but yourself. Either that, or it’s two drunk men being preposterous on camera. We’ll let you decide, after all, we want the finest podcasts available to humanity, we want them here and we want them now! So here you go. Link in bio.

In a few short years, J D Dillard has gone from being a receptionist at Bad Robot (J. J. Abrams production company) to having 2 features under his belt, and is (possibly) on his way to developing a Star Wars project. 

You may not know who J D Dillard is. Thats OK, because theres a whole podcast here on the man himself. A true indie filmmaker in the eyes of YNFYF, his first film, Sleight (2016), follows street magician Bo as he is left to care for his younger sister. A genre blend thats part superhero, part sci fi and a whole lot of low-budget indie, Sleight is inspired by Dillards own experiences growing up learning magic.

For the first time in 2 episodes, the original 4 are back together to do what they do best - tackle low budget indie flicks. And yes, for long time fans, that means Blumhouse is no doubt getting a shout out.