Episode Twenty-Six: I'm No Angel, Dragnet Girl and 1933 in Review

For our last episode of 2013, we celebrate the year in film 1933, with a look at Mae West in I'm No Angel and Yasujiro Ozu's Dragnet Girl. We'll also make our picks for the best performances directors and screenplays of 1933, and name our top five films of the year. We'll also listen to some of the top songs of 1933 and struggle vainly to be coherent when talking about the greatness of Duck Soup.

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Links:

Sean's 1933 Film Awards

Episode Twenty-Five: Meet Me in St. Louis and A Christmas Tale

Christmas time is here, and Mike and Sean deck the halls with Judy Garland and Margaret O'Brien in Vincente Minnelli's Meet Me in St. Louis and then take a sleigh ride to France to celebrate family dysfunction with Mathieu Amalric, Catherine Deneuve, Chiara Mastroianni and Anne Consigny in Arnauld Desplechin's A Christmas Tale. They'll also raise a wassail in salute to the career of Judy Garland and ring some silver bells for their Essential Christmas movies while Mike explains why all he wants for Christmas is Paul Rudd.

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Links:

Rupert Pupkin's Sight & Sound Top Ten

Episode Twenty-Four: Crank and The Victim

Taking a look back at some of the older films they saw for the first time in 2013, Mike and Sean revisit Neveldine/Taylor's 2006 Crank and Sammo Hung's 1980 The Victim (aka Lightning Kung-Fu). They also count down their top five movie discoveries of 2013 and listen to some of their favorite songs of the year. And for some reason they spend five minutes arguing about Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers.

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Some Links:

The Summer of Sammo
Vulgar Auteurism Parts One, Two, Three

Episode Twenty-Three: The Hudsucker Proxy and Lady for a Day

Unable to catch their latest movie, Mike and Sean take a look at the Coen Brothers' 1994 film The Hudsucker Proxy and one of its screwball antecedents, Frank Capra's 1933 Lady for a Day. They also discuss the Coens and screwball comedies in general, the nature of critical fogeyism and the sorry state of the Seattle Mariners. Sure sure.

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Some links:

Jonathan Rosenbaum
Silent Films
The Seattle Mariners

Episode Twenty-Two: Computer Chess and The Chess Players

This week Sean and Mike shut out the rest of the world and get lost in their own infinite loops as they tackle Andrew Bujalski's 2013 film Computer Chess and Satyajit Ray's 1977 The Chess Players. They also run-down their plans for list-making season, make fun of the Independent Spirit Awards and talk about how great Terrence Malick is on the occasion of his 70th birthday.

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Episode Twenty-One: Monsieur Verdoux and Bonfire of the Vanities

Celebrating Thanksgiving with a couple of Turkeys this week, Mike and Sean take a look at two films that flopped on their initial release: Charlie Chaplin's 1947 Monsieur Verdoux and Brian DePalma's Bonfire of the Vanities, from 1990. They also discuss the career of Charlie Chaplin, get the inevitable onslaught of award-talk rolling and make their picks for Essential Cinema Feast.

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Why Charlie Chaplin Is Better Than Buster Keaton
Why Buster Keaton is Better than Charlie Chaplin

Correction: Sean said that James Agee's articles about Monsieur Verdoux were in Time Magazine. Of course the were in The Nation.

Episode Twenty: Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Three Ages

This week, Mike and Sean celebrate the Doctor Who 50th anniversary with a look at a pair of timey-wimey movies, the late 80s classic Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Buster Keaton's 1923 triptych Three Ages. They'll also discuss the best undistributed films of 2013, their essential Time Travel movies and and cover a small fraction of what Mike has to say about The Doctor.

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Some Links:

25 Best Undistributed Films at Film.com
More about Scarecrow Video in the Seattle Times

Episode Nineteen: The Big Parade and The Red and the White

This week, we celebrate Armistice Day with a pair of World War I movies (more or less) with King Vidor's 1925 smash hit The Big Parade and Miklós Jancsó's The Red and The White, from 1967. We'll also make our picks for Essential WWI movies, discuss the great actress/inventor Hedy Lamarr, who would have turned 99 years old this week. Also: more on the state of video stores with news from Blockbuster and TCM, a look at some upcoming Yasujiro Ozu retrospectives and the European Film Award nominations featuring a few George Sanders favorites.

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Some links:

European Film Award Nominations at Fandor
Matt Singer on Why We Need Video Stores
Ozu and His Afterlives at the Film Society of Lincoln Center
The TCM App
Blockbuster Closing in the New York Times
Sean's King Vidor List

Episode Eighteen: Ingeborg Holm and The Holy Mountain

This week, Mike and Sean celebrate a number of milestones: the 100th anniversary of the premiere of Victor Sjöström's seminal realist feature Ingeborg Holm, the 40th anniversary of Alejandro Jodorowsky's surrealist masterpiece The Holy Mountain and the 100th birthday of actor Burt Lancaster. They also pick their essential Social Problem films, take a look at new directions for a pair of former Chicago Reader film critics and listen to a lot of Lou Reed music.


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Episode Seventeen: Cat People and The Black Cat

Celebrating a Feline Halloween, this week we take a look at Paul Schrader's 1982 film Cat People, starring Nastassja Kinski and Malcolm McDowell and Edgar G. Ulmer's 1934 The Black Cat, with Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. We'll also talk about Lugosi in general and pick our Cinemessential Cats. And, of course, we talk about Johnnie To, specifically in unhappy response to the recent Grantland article about the Hong Kong director.



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Episode Sixteen: Belle de jour and Belle toujours

This week, in honor of the 70th birthday of iconic French actress Catherine Deneuve, Mike and Sean take a look at one of her classic films, 1967's Belle de jour, directed by Luis Buñuel, along with Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira's 2006 sequel/homage to that film, Belle toujours. They'll also talk about Deneuve's career as a whole, name their essential movies wherein a housewife becomes a prostitute and discuss the impact of Instant Netflix on canon formation on the eve of Video Store Day.




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Episode Fifteen: Solaris and Solaris

This week, tying in with the high-profile release of Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity, Mike and Sean take a look at one of that film's star's earlier sci-fi films, George Clooney in Solaris, directed by Sean's directorial Kryptonite Steven Soderbergh, along with an earlier adaptation of that same material by Russian auteur Andrei Tarkovsky. They also recap Sean's trip to the Vancouver International Film Festival, discuss George Clooney's career and make their picks for the Essential Film Wherein People See Dead People.

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Episode Three: Charade and The Truth About Charlie, Redux

Sean and Mike tackle the subject of remakes with Jonathan Demme's 2002 film The Truth About Charlie and the film it was based on, 1963's Cary Grant/Audrey Hepburn vehicle Charade. They also discuss their picks for the Essential film remake, the career of Charade director Stanley Donen, what Criterion DVDs should be on your wishlist for the big sale and the intentional nature of Marky Mark Wahlberg's hats.

You can subscribe to the show in iTunes or just listen via one of these internet things:

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Here are some show-related links:

The Cinephiliacs episode with Keith Uhlich where The Truth About Charlie is discussed.

Sean's Stanley Donen list at letterboxd.

Episode Fourteen: Harakiri and Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai

This week, in conjunction with a local series of samurai films, Mike and Sean take a look at Masaki Kobayshi's 1962 classic Harakiri, with Tatsuya Nakadai, as well as 2011's remake of that film, Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai. They also discuss the career of Akira Kurosawa, pick their Essential Samurai Films and look forward to the Vancouver International Film Festival and backward at Ron Howard and Michael Keaton.

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Some Notes:

Sean's on-going coverage of VIFF 2013
The They Shot Pictures Kurosawa Episode

Episode Thirteen: Once Upon a Time in America and The Roaring Twenties

This week Sean and Mike take a look at a couple of classic gangster films, Sergio Leone's 1984 epic Once Upon a Time in America and Raoul Walsh's The Roaring Twenties, from 1939. They also discuss the career of Robert DeNiro, the state of Seattle landmark Scarecrow Video and make their picks for the essential films about the 1920s that were not made in the 1920s.

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Some links:

The Seattle Weekly on Scarecrow Video

A Correction:

James Stewart was in neither Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang nor The Gnome-Mobile.

Episode Twelve: The Black Stallion and The Killing

This week, Mike and Sean talk about a pair of movies revolving around horse racing: Carroll Ballard's atmospheric 1979 family film The Black Stallion and Stanley Kubrick's innovative 1956 noir heist movie The Killing. They also pick their Essential Cinematic Animals and discuss the career of Stanley Kubrick and the retirement of Hayao Miyazaki. They also talk about an essay about nostalgia and Spielberg's Hook by Travis Vogt and bemoan the spread of the "second screen" movie experience.

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Some links:

Travis's essay on Hook

Episode Eleven: Top Ten Films of All-Time

This week, following the Labor Day Weekend list-making tradition, Mike and Sean take a break from their regular double feature format to pick the films that would make up their hypothetical Sight & Sound Top Films of All-Time ballots, each listing ten of their favorite movies, ones they think can be considered among the greatest films ever made.

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Some Links:

The Sight & Sound Poll
Mike's Top Ten from last year
Sean's Index of Top Films of All-Time Lists

Episode Ten: The Grandmaster and A Touch of Zen

This week Mike and Sean discuss a pair of martial arts films, Wong Kar-wai's latest The Grandmaster, starring Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi and King Hu's 1971 masterpiece A Touch of Zen. They also take a look at the career of Wong Kar-wai and make their picks for the Essential Fight Scene of all-time.

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Some Links:

Fandor's Index of recent Wong Kar-wai writings
David Ehrlich's comparison of the two cuts of The Grandmaster

Episode Nine: Ishtar and Sons of the Desert

A cavalcade of comedy classics as Mike and Sean tackle Elaine May's neglected masterpiece Ishtar and Laurel and Hardy's acclaimed 1933 feature Sons of the Desert. The boys also talk all about the Marx Brothers and share their picks for Essential Slapstick movies.

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Some Links:

The Laurel & Hardy Project
Donna Bowman on Newsradio
Two Tars
The Garage

Episode Eight: Gun Crazy and Point Break

This week, Mike and Sean dive into the seedy noir world of Joseph H. Lewis's 1950 film Gun Crazy, take a stroll along the beach with Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze in Kathryn Bigelow's Point Break and talk about their Essential Adrenalizing films. They'll also take a closer look at the career of Keanu and debate the proper usage of the phrase "Vaya con Dios'.

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Some Links:

Sean's Top 100 List
Mike's Top 10 List
The 20/20 Awards
The Heart of the World

This week's theme music is "Surf Beat" by Dick Dale and his Del-Tones.

Episode Seven: Logan's Run and WALL-E

This week, Mike and Sean tackle a pair of sci-fi classics with discussions of Michael Anderson's 1976 film Logan's Run and Andrew Stanton's acclaimed Pixar film WALL-E. They also discuss Stanton and Pixar in general, the Essential Animated Films of the 21st Century and the latest news in Harvey Weinstein's scissors and Dr. Who's casting.

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Some links:

Sean's stuff on Auteurism & Vulgar Auteurism:

On Some Objections to Auteurism 
Army of Milla: Resident Evil and Modern Auteurism: Part One: On Vulgar Auteurism  
Army of Milla: Resident Evil and Modern Auteurism: Part Two: What are the Resident Evil Movies?   
Army of Milla: Resident Evil and Modern Auteurism: Part Three: Resident Evil and Classical Auteurism 

Episode Six: Two Lovers and Two English Girls

This week Sean and Mike explore some romantic geometry with James Gray's 2008 film Two Lovers and François Truffaut's Two English Girls. They also discuss Truffaut's career in general, along with their picks for the Essential Love Triangle movies and the dire state of summer blockbuster cinema.

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Some show-related links:

Marcello Mastroianni dancing in Visconti's Le notti bianche.
The They Shot Pictures episodes on James Gray and Akira Kurosawa.

Episode Five: Sneakers and Whirlpool

This week Mike and Sean journey to the Bay Area, sort of, for a pair of movies that are kind of set in San Francisco, Phil Alden Robinson's all-star 1992 caper/heist film Sneakers and Otto Preminger's 1949 noir melodrama Whirlpool. They also talk about their Essential Hacker Films, the career of Robert Redford and share the definitive list of the 12 Greatest Living Narrative Filmmakers.

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Some show-related links:

Here's Richard Brody's piece on the Greatest Living Narrative Filmmakers
Some letterboxd lists from Sean: Otto Preminger Films, Gene Tierney Films.
And lists of Woody Allen Films from Sean and Mike.
And here's a bunch of Pictures of Gene Tierney.

Episode Four: Duel of Fists and Tears of the Black Tiger

This week Sean and Mike journey to Thailand and discuss Chang Cheh's 1971 Shaw Brothers boxing film Duel of Fists (aka Fist Attack) and Wisit Sasanatieng's award-winning genre mashup Tears of the Black Tiger, from 2000. They also talk about the best movies of the year so far, their Essential Kung Fu Movies and the work of director Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Hear Sean tirelessly rail against the evils of Miramax, Netflix and disrespect for Asian genre cinema in general as Mike vainly tries to make him stick to the subject at hand.

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Episode Three: Charade and The Truth About Charlie

Sean and Mike tackle the subject of remakes with Jonathan Demme's 2002 film The Truth About Charlie and the film it was based on, 1963's Cary Grant/Audrey Hepburn vehicle Charade. They also discuss their picks for the Essential film remake, the career of Charade director Stanley Donen, what Criterion DVDs should be on your wishlist for the big sale and the intentional nature of Marky Mark Wahlberg's hats.

You can subscribe to the show in iTunes or just listen via one of these internet things:

Podcast Powered By Podbean

  Standard Podcasts: Play in Popup | Download iTunes

Here are some show-related links:

The Cinephiliacs episode with Keith Uhlich where The Truth About Charlie is discussed.
Sean's Stanley Donen list at letterboxd.

Note: I had to take this down due to space restrictions on podbean. I hope to get it back up at some point in the near future.

Episode Two: Dead Man and Ride Lonesome

In this week's episode, Sean and Mike talk Westerns with Jim Jarmusch's 1995 Dead Man and Budd Boetticher's 1959 film Ride Lonesome. They also tackle the thorny subject of depictions of Native Americans on film, movies about loneliness and the career of character actor Lee Van Cleef.

You can find the show on iTunes or listen via one of these links:

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Some show-related links:

Here are ranked lists of Jim Jarmusch movies by Sean and Mike.
The apparently controversial review Sean wrote of the film These Amazing Shadows.
Mike's appreciation of John Wayne from back in our Metro Classics days.

Episode One: The Big Heat and Drug War

In this inaugural episode of The George Sanders Show, Sean and Mike discuss Fritz Lang's classic 1953 film noir The Big Heat and Johnnie To's upcoming crime epic Drug War. They also talk about their favorite cinematic highs and lament the demise of Seattle's Egyptian Theatre and the deaths of two great artists.

You can listen or subscribe in iTunes via these links:

Listen Now:

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Some show-related letterboxd links:

Sean's director lists: Johnnie To and Fritz Lang
Short reviews of Drug War: Sean and Mike
Short reviews of The Big Heat: Sean and Mike

Some Johnnie To-related stuff Sean did earlier this year:

They Shot Pictures Episode #13: Johnnie To
Johnnie To's The Big Heat
On Infernal Affairs, The Departed and Johnnie To
The Johnnie To Whimsicality Index