Episode 35: Under the Skin and Starman

This week, Mike and Sean talk about Jonathan Glazer's eerie new movie Under the Skin and John Carpenter's underrated 1984 film Starman. They also can't help discussing Jim Jarmusch's latest, Only Lovers Left Alive. Also: a look at Scarlett Johansson, the Essential Doppelgänger films and a preview of the upcoming Seattle International Film Festival.

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Episode 34: La última película and Never Give a Sucker an Even Break

In anticipation of its Seattle theatrical release, Sean and Mike take a look at Raya Martin and Mark Peranson's 2013 film La última película and have paired it with another meta-movie, WC Fields's Never Give a Sucker an Even Break, from 1941. They also run down the best animated films of all-time and the upcoming Cannes lineup, talk about Person of the Week Dennis Hopper (including a shocking, unbelievable reveal about Mike) and pick their essential movies about movies.

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Some Links:

Cannes 2014 Lineup
Top 100 Animated Films
Sean's La última película Review
Mike on Disney's Animated Features

Episode 33: The Magnificent Ambersons and Platform

The George Sanders Show takes a trip to nostalgia-land this week, with discussions of Orson Welles's second feature, The Magnificent Ambersons, from 1942 and Jia Zhangke's second feature, Platform, from 2000. They also pick the movies that most evoke their own youths, talk about Orson Welles in general and speculate on the karmic potential of pigeons caught in wood stoves.

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Some Links:

Kevin B. Lee on Jia Zhangke in Sense of Cinema
David Kalat's Movie Morlocks Rant
Matt Zoller Seitz on Entertainment Weekly
Matt Zoller Seitz on Film Criticism
Sam Adams on Watching Depressing Movies

Episode 32: Pride of the Yankees and The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings

Get your peanuts and Cracker Jack ready as The George Sanders Show celebrates Opening Day of baseball season with a look at two classic films about the National Pastime, Sam Wood's Lou Gehrig biopic Pride of the Yankees from 1942, and John Badham's 1976 tale of the Negro Leagues, The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings. They'll also pick their Essential Baseball Movies, celebrate (once again) the work of Akira Kurosawa on the occasion of his 104th birthday, and share their thoughts on the latest from Taiwanese auteur Tsai Ming-liang, Charles Schulz in 3D and Nymphomaniac-watching babies. Play Ball!

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Some Links:

Sean on Journey to the West
They Shot Pictures on Akira Kurosawa Parts One and Two

Note: Journey to the West doesn't appear to be available to stream any longer. Hopefully someone releases it again soon.

Episode 31: The Three Musketeers and Jason & the Argonauts

Celebrating the release of the latest film from director Paul WS Anderson, Mike and Sean take a look at his 2011 version of The Three Musketeers and another swashbuckling classic, Don Chaffey's Jason & the Argonauts (featuring special effects by Ray Harryhausen). They'll also look back at the careers of Alain Resnais and Harold Ramis, discuss the controversy surrounding The Act of Killing, and dive a bit into Kent Jones's recent essay on the state of the Auteur Theory.

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Some links:

Jill Godmillow on The Act of Killing
Lance Weiler on The Act of Killing
Kent Jones on the Auteur Theory
Sean on Paul WS Anderson and Auteurism

Episode 30: Oscar Spectacular, The Great Ziegfeld and Chicago

It's Oscar season and Sean and Mike celebrate by watching a pair of past Best Picture winners, 1936's musical biopic The Great Ziegfeld and Rob Marshall's 2002 musical Chicago. They also rundown their predictions for the major award categories as well as who they think should win and unveil their Top 5 Films of 2013.

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Note that Mike's connection over Skype was a bit rough this week. Our apologies.

Also note that Sean forgot to add the clip of Chicago to the show. But really we're all probably better off without it.

Episode 29: The Train and Emperor of the North

Rather than trekking out to their local multiplex to check out the latest all-star caper from George Clooney and company, Mike and Sean this week talk about another movie about saving art from Nazis, John Frankenheimer's 1964 film The Train, starring Burt Lancaster. They keep on chugging along that line with Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine in Robert Aldrich's hobo adventure Emperor of the North, from 1973. They also pick their Essential Train Movies, discuss the career of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman and debate the relationship between aesthetics and morality, cinematic guilt and pleasure.

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Link:

Adam Sternbergh "All of the Pleasure, None of the Guilt" in The New York Times