Episode 78: Help!, A Pistol for Ringo and the Best of 1965

It's time for the annual end of the year George Sanders Show, completing their year-long look at the best films of 1965. Sean and Mike discuss The Beatles in Richard Lester's Help!, along with Duccio Tessari's spaghetti Western A Pistol for Ringo. They also name the best performances, screenplays, directors and films of 1965.

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Episode 77: The Force Awakens

Unable to contain their excitement for the latest Star Wars film, Mike and Sean get together for a special bonus episode to discuss The Force Awakens. What was supposed to be a quick little episode stretched to over an hour (and could have gone for a lot longer) because it's Star Wars and they really could talk about it for hours and hours.

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Episode 76: Alexander, Nightmare Alley and 2015 Discoveries

For their third annual Discoveries episode, Mike and Sean take a look back at some of the best older movies they watched for the first time in 2015. From Sean's list of first-time views, Mike chose to discuss Oliver Stone's 2004 historical epic Alexander, in its Ultimate Cut version. From Mike's list, Sean chose the Tyrone Power carny noir Nightmare Alley, directed by Edmund Goulding in 1947.

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Episode 75: Star Wars and Turkish Star Wars (The Man Who Saves the World)

In anticipation of the upcoming The Force Awakens, Sean and Mike take a look back at the first film either of them ever saw, George Lucas's 1977 Star Wars. And in celebration of Thanksgiving, they also talk about Çetin İnanç's 1982 epic The Man Who Saves the World, also known as Turkish Star Wars. They also talk about the singular, wildly successful and somewhat disappointing career of George Lucas and make their picks for the essential Blockbuster Saga.

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Some Corrections:

At one point Sean identifies the composer of the Planet of the Apes score as John Barry, of course it is Jerry Goldsmith.

Mike states that this is Episode 76 of The George Sanders Show. In fact it is Episode 75.

Episode 74: Major Dundee and The Heroes of Telemark

This week, on the annual Veteran's Day War Movie episode, Mike and Sean watch a pair of 1965 films from a pair of great directors, both of which just happen to star Richard Harris. First is Sam Peckinpah's Civil War-era Major Dundee, with Charlton Heston, then Anthony Mann's The Heroes of Telemark with Kirk Douglas leading a band of Norwegians against the Nazis. They also talk about Peckinpah's career in general and pick their Essential Resistance Films.

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Episode 73: Planet of the Vampires and Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell

For the annual Halloween episode, Mike and Sean take a look at a couple low budget films from the mid 1960s, Maria Bava's AIP co-production Planet of the Vampires and Hajime Sato's Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell. Both films feature inventive special effects, zombification, questionable acting and a whole lot of dread. They also talk about the career of the late Maureen O'Hara, lament the demise of Grantland, pick their Essential Cinematic Vampires and see what's playing around the multiplexes.

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Episode 72: Je tu il elle, Le bonheur and VIFF Wrapup

This week Mike and Sean take a look at an early work by the late director Chantal Akerman, her feature debut Je tu il elle, along with a 1965 film by director Agnès Varda, Le bonheur. They also put a cap on their discussions of the 2015 Vancouver International Film festival, with some thoughts on Jia Zhangke's Mountains May Depart, Corneliu Porumboiu's The Treasure, Sylvia Chang's Murmur of the Hearts, Arnaud Desplechin's My Golden Days and, yet again, Hou Hsiao-hsien's The Assassin.

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Episode 71: VIFF Report #2

Mike and Sean are still at the Vancouver International Film Festival, and are joined for this second dispatch by fellow Seattle Screen Scene critic Melissa Tamminga. They discuss new films from Hong Sangsoo (Right Now, Wrong Then), Hou Hsiao-hsien (The Assassin), Miguel Gomes (Arabian Nights), Lee Kwangkuk (A Matter of Interpretation), Jafar Panahi (Taxi) and more.

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Episode 70: VIFF Report #1

Mike and Sean check-in with a first look at some of the films they've been seeing at this year's Vancouver International Film Festival. Discussed in this episode are new films from star auteurs Guy Maddin, Thom Andersen, and Miguel Gomes, as well as up-and-coming directors such as Lee Kwangkuk, Luo Li, Kim Gwangtae and Philip Yung.

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Seattle Screen Scene's VIFF Coverage

Episode 69: Office and Police, Adjective

In what is quickly becoming an annual tradition, Mike and Sean ventured out their local AMC theatre to record an episode on-location at the Seattle premiere of the new Johnnie To film. This year it's Office, a musical drama set in a financial firm in the midst of the 2008 collapse starring Chow Yun-fat, Tang Wei, Eason Chan and Sylvia Chang (who also adapted the screenplay from her own play, Design for Living). Chang as well has a film she's directed playing at this year's Vancouver International Film Festival, as does Romanian director Corneliu Porumboiu, whose 2009 film Police, Adjective they also discuss this week. In addition they talk about the work of Johnnie To in general and pick some under-the-radar films they're looking forward to seeing during at next week's trip to VIFF.

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Last Year's On-Location Episode on Don't Go Breaking My Heart 2
Episode 1 on Drug War
They Shot Pictures #13: Johnnie To

Episode 68: Top Ten Films of All-Time

On this very special episode, Sean and Mike make their fourth annual Top Ten Films of All-Time selections. Films noirs, Great Actresses, Silent Comedies, Hong Kong movies, terrible pronunciation of French words and much much more!

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Some Links:

Sean's 2012 Top Ten
Mike's 2012 Top Ten
The 2013 Top Ten Episode
The 2014 Top Ten Episode
A List of George Sanders Show Top Ten Films

Episode 67: Man of Aran and Neo Tokyo

This week, for a long and unimportant series of reasons, Mike and Sean take a look at Robert Flaherty's 1934 film Man of Aran and the 1987 anime anthology Neo Tokyo, directed by Rintaro, Yoshiaki Kawajiri and Katsuhiro Ōtomo. They also talk about realism in documentaries and danger in children's cartoons, make their picks for Essential Pseudo-Documentary and discuss a Mystery Person of the Week.

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Some Links:

Jonathan Rosenbaum on La Commune (Paris 1871)
The George Sanders Show Top 100 Films of All-Time Project

Episode 66: The Look of Silence and The Sound of Music

This week Mike and Sean talk about The Look of Silence, the latest film from director Joshua Oppenheimer, a companion piece to his acclaimed 2012 documentary on Indonesian genocide The Act of Killing. And they continue their quest through the films of 1965 with that year's Oscar winner for Best Picture, The Sound of Music. They take a look at the career of that film's director, Robert Wise, and make their picks for the Essential 1960s Musical Blockbuster.

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Episode 65: The Green Ray and X: The Man with X-Ray Eyes

Sean and Mike celebrate the Seattle release of the restored version of Satyajit Ray's Apu Trilogy in the most natural way possible: with Eric Rohmer's 1986 film The Green Ray and Roger Corman's 1963 X: The Man with X-Ray Eyes. They also talk about Corman in general, pick their Essential Non-Noir B-Movies and check-in on What Mike's Watching (hint: there's a Ray involved).

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Episode 64: Summer Interlude and Songs from the Second Floor

With Roy Andersson's latest set to open in Seattle in a few days, Sean and Mike decided to spend a cinematic summer in Sweden with Ingmar Bergman's 1951 film Summer Interlude and Andersson's own 2000 film Songs from the Second Floor. They also pick their Essential Swedish Movies, celebrate the greatest Swede of all, Ingrid Bergman, and lament the losses this week of Omar Sharif and The Dissolve.

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Episode 63: Blackhat and A Better Tomorrow

On the occasion of its single showing in Seattle this week, Mike and Sean talk about John Woo's A Better Tomorrow, with Chow Yun-fat, Ti Lung and Leslie Cheung. They also discuss Michael Mann's Blackhat, with Chris Hemsworth and Tang Wei, out now on video and one of the best films of the year so far. And they argue about Pixar's latest, Inside Out, celebrate Mel Brooks's birthday and make their picks for the Essential American Movie.

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Some Links:

Richard Brody on Inside Out
Sean on A Better Tomorrow
Sean's American Movies List

Episode 62: 2015 Seattle International Film Festival Recap

Mike and Sean take a look back at their month with the 2015 Seattle International Film Festival. Their discoveries, surprises, disappointments, the best, the worst and the most SIFF moments of this year in the world's longest film festival.

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Some Links:

Sean's Ranked SIFF List
Mike's Ranked SIFF List
Our SIFF Coverage at Seattle Screen Scene

Episode 61: SIFF Special - Interview with Atticus Ross

About midway through the marathon that is the Seattle International Film Festival, Sean and Mike take a moment to sit down and talk a bit about what's happened so far and what else there is to see. But mostly, this is the interview Mike did with Love & Mercy composer Atticus Ross.

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Episode 60: Linda Linda Linda and The Affairs of Dobie Gillis

In conjunction with the release this weekend of the movie event of the year, Pitch Perfect 2, Mike and Sean talk about a couple of other films about young people making music. Bae Doona stars in Linda Linda Linda, Nobuhiro Yamashita's 2005 film about a high school punk band and Don Weis's 1953 college musical comedy The Affairs of Dobie Gillis stars Debbie Reynolds, Bobby Van and Bob Fosse himself. They also discuss the career of Anna Kendrick, the greatest actress of her generation, the new Avengers movie and pick their essential College Movies.

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Some links:

Anna Kendrick in Buzzfeed
Episode 41: Rock 'N' Roll High School and Pitch Perfect

Episode 59: Clouds of Sils Maria and Centre Stage

This week Mike and Sean take a look at the latest blockbuster from Olivier Assayas, Clouds of Sils Maria, starring Juliette Binoche and Kristen Stewart. As well they look back at another film about acting, 1991's Centre Stage, directed by Stanley Kwan and starring Maggie Cheung. They'll also talk about the careers of Juliette Binoche and Maggie Cheung in general, the upcoming Seattle International Film Festival and the Rolling Stones.

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Episode 58: Jauja and Three Crowns of the Sailor

This week Mike and Sean head down South American Way for Jauja, an unusual new Western starring Viggo Mortensen directed by Argentine auteur Lisandro Alonso, and Three Crowns of the Sailor, Chilean surrealist Raoul Ruiz's 1983 film about ghosts, storytelling and storytelling ghosts. They'll also talk about Harrison Ford, for some reason, and pick their essential Weird Westerns.

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Episode 57: Days of Thunder and Red Line 7000

This week Mike and Sean gear up for a discussion of NASCAR classics Days of Thunder and Red Line 7000. The former is Tony Scott's 1990 blockbuster starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, the latter one of the last films directed by Howard Hawks. They'll also discuss the Fast and the Furious franchise, the career of Tom Cruise and pick their Essential Car Movies. And they'll also talk a lot about Beck, for some reason.

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Episode 56: Where Danger Lives and Farewell, My Lovely

As Mike is embroiled in a month-long marathon of films noir, he drags Sean along this week to discuss a pair of Robert Mitchum's lesser-known efforts, 1950's Where Danger Lives, with Faith Domergue and Claude Rains and direction by John Farrow, and 1975's Raymond Chandler-adaptation Farewell, My Lovely, with Charlotte Rampling, John Ireland and Harry Dean Stanton. They also pick their Essential Noirs and talk about the long, great acting career of Robert Mitchum and appreciate his all-too-brief singing career.

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Some Links:

The Hou Hsiao-hsien Retrospective in Seattle

Episode 55: Doctor Zhivago and Darling

This Oscar weekend, Mike and Sean count down their favorite films of 2014 and make their picks for the various Acting, Writing and Directing Awards. They also take a look back at two of the Best Picture nominees of 1965, both of which star Julie Christie: David Lean's epic romance Doctor Zhivago, with Omar Sharif, Alec Guiness and the always-menacing Rod Steiger and John Schlesinger's Swingin' 60s-set Darling, with Dirk Bogarde and Laurence Harvey.

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Some Links:

Sean's 2014 Endy Awards

Episode 54: Alphaville and A Separation

This week, as the annual film festival is on-going in Berlin, Mike and Sean take a look at a pair of past winners of the prestigious Golden Bear award, Jean-Luc Godard's 1965 neo-noir Alphaville and Asghar Farhadi's highly acclaimed domestic/courtroom drama A Separation, from 2011. They also discuss Godard's career in general, pick their Essential Golden Bear Winners and complain about everything in the news, from Birth of a Nation to the Dissolve, the new Varsity Theatre and martial arts movies at the Cinerama.

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Some Links:

Godfrey Cheshire on Birth of a Nation
The Dissolve's Top 50 of the Decade So Far
Kevin B. Lee's Top 50 of the Decade So Far
Sean's Top 50 East Asian Films of the Decade So Far
The Cinerama's Fists and Fury Series

Episode 53: Selma and Malcolm X

This week Sean and Mike discuss a pair of historical dramas: Ava DuVernay's leading 2014 Oscar contender Selma along with Spike Lee's 1992 biopic Malcolm X. They also discuss the career of Spike Lee, choose their Essential Biopics, make shameful admissions of ignorance regarding Oprah and Denzel Washington and unveil a new project about Seattle-area film.

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A Link:

Seattle Screen Scene

Episode 52: The Shopworn Angel and The Cheyenne Social Club

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This week, on the occasion of a double feature of The Philadelphia Story and The Shop Around the Corner at the Grand Illusion Cinema in Seattle, Mike and Sean devote the show to their love of James Stewart, the greatest movie actor of all-time. They'll talk about his 1938 film The Shopworn Angel, with Margaret Sullavan, and his 1970 film The Cheyenne Social Club, with Henry Fonda. In addition, they'll lament the latest Seattle movie theatre closures and discuss their picks for the Top Ten Films of the Decade So Far.

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Some Links:

Kevin B. Lee's Top Films of the Decade Poll
Sean's James Stewart List