FIFTEEN MINUTE FILM FANATICS

Collateral was made in 2004, ten years after Speed—and while both films have the same story of a good guy trying to stop a killer in real time, Collateral feels decades away from the innocence of Speed. Much of that has to do with the villain, who espouses a set of assumptions about the world that we se all around us on LinkedIn, YouTube, and Shark Tank. On a lighter note, the movie also ends the debate of how Superman could disguise himself with a simple pair of glasses. It's a movie made for the hosts: Michael Mann for Mike and Tom Cruise for Dan. Jump in the taxi and give it a listen! If you love Michael Mann, you love Heat. Mann's new novel, Heat 2, can be found here. Follow us on X and Letterboxd–and let us know what you'd like us to watch! Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Also check out Dan's new Substack site, Pages and Frames, for more film-related material. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to begin our descent into Los Angeles.” So begins The Graduate (1967), which everyone loves but which many of us loved for one reason when we were younger and one when we became a little more seasoned. “Plastics” is a great joke when you're 20; how does it sound decades later? The movie hasn't changed, but we have. It's still terrific: Mike and Dan talk about the intelligence of the actors and the ways in which targets of the film's satire (such as the cult of enthusiasm parents create around their kids) is even more pronounced today than when the film was made. They also talk about what many viewers seem to omit from their memories of the film's famous ending. Pictures at a Revolution, Mark Harris's 2009 book, tells the story of the five Best Picture nominees in 1968, The Graduate among them. It's a terrific read. Follow us on X and Letterboxd–and let us know what you'd like us to watch! Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Also check out the new Substack site, Pages and Frames, for more film-related material. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A great movie that is very difficult movie to recommend because of its subject matter, Paul Schrader's Auto Focus (2002), the story of TV-star Bob Crane, is another of Schrader's portraits of a man whose self-destruction we watch with admiration for the writing and unease at what we're seeing. It's a combination of The Lost Weekend, Reefer Madness, and Sunset Blvd. with Willem Defoe at his creepiest. But it's much more than perfect recreations of Hogan's Heroes or Greg Kinnear's incredible performance: it's a movie about the power of movies and images and of how nothing seems real until it is filmed—an idea we see all the time as people hold up their phones to record their vacations, kids' sporting events, or office birthday parties. It's a shocking film, but Schrader seems to have been as shocked to make it as we are to see it. Auto Focus is based on Robert Graysmith's The Murder of Bob Crane. If you are interested in the details of Crane's murder—which remains a cold case—you may want to read John Hook's Who Killed Bob Crane? The Final Close-Up. A more traditional biography of Crane that seeks to tell more than what Schrader does in Auto Focus was published in 2015. Follow us on X and Letterboxd–and let us know what you'd like us to watch! Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Also check out the new Substack site, Pages and Frames, for more film-related material. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anthony Hopkins has defined the popular conception of Hannibal Lector and, by extension, the erudite serial killer. But before The Silence of the Lambs there was Manhunter (1986), Michael Mann's thriller featuring the first appearance of Dr. Lecter (or Dr. Lecktor, as his name is spelled in the film). Mike loves it for its shots of men brooding over bodies of water as they make decisions and finds it “the most Michael Manliest” of the director's output; Dan thinks the setup is great but that the film becomes unruly and less tidy than the genre demands. There's a lot of bickering in this one, although both agree that Brian Cox is terrific. Manhunter is an adaptation of Red Dragon, Thomas Harris's 1981 bestseller. Follow us on X and Letterboxd–and let us know what you'd like us to watch! Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Also check out the new Substack site, Pages and Frames, for more film-related material. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A dramatized thought experiment like best episodes of Star Trek, Forbidden Planet (1956) is a wonderful reminder of how people in the past envisioned the future. Part prophecy—looking forward—and part analysis of the timeless human condition, the film wraps heavy ideas about the cost of knowledge and the ways we interact with our own creations into melodrama. Yes, it's a reimagining of The Tempest, but it's also Faust, Frankenstein, and “The Sorcerer's Apprentice” from Fantasia. Join us for a conversation about the limits of technology and the ways in which anything we create bears our own failings. If you're interested in further reading, Dr. Morbius has many literary antecedents, from Prospero in The Tempest, to Dr. Faustus, Dr. Frankenstein, and Dr. Jekyll. Follow us on X and Letterboxd–and let us know what you'd like us to watch! Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Also check out the new Substack site, Pages and Frames, for more film-related material. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Kafkaesque” is the word usually used to describe After Hours, Martin Scorsese's 1985 comedy—a fair point, since there's a scene in the film that dramatizes Kafka's “Before the Law.” But the writer whose imagination this film really taps is Lewis Carroll: as in Alice in Wonderland, a naïve but likable young person chases a white rabbit to a different part of town, is threatened by an angry woman who wants to chop off his head, and learns, “We're all mad here.” Join us for an appreciation of this terrific film we've used to test other people's sense of humor. If you haven't read Lewis Carroll in a while, you can get a copy of all the Alice books here. Follow us on X and Letterboxd–and let us know what you'd like us to watch! Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Also check out the new Substack site, Pages and Frames, for more film-related material. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is the proper—or most effective—response to a barrage of horror and pain? The closest that screenwriter Paul Schrader ever came to a comedy (albeit a very dark one), Bringing Out the Dead (1999) is low on special effects depicting medical emergencies but high on drama. Join us for a conversation about one of Scorsese's sleepers, a movie about a man who wants to find something like religious faith in a world with no spiritual oasis. It also dramatizes the incredible cost paid a moment of peace. The film is based on Joe Connolly's 1988 novel, which was a minor sensation when published. Follow us on X and Letterboxd–and let us know what you'd like us to watch! Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Also check out the new Substack site, Pages and Frames, for more film-related material. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An Academy darling that has faded into the background, Broadcast News (1987) still holds up as Network's little brother. They don't make 'em like this anymore: light comedy about adults with adult problems. Join Mike and Dan for a conversation about how the film offers something more novel than a love triangle: a talent triangle. They also talk about how the film dramatizes the challenge of people who have friends for too long and therefore can't becoming romantically involved. When was the last time you saw that in a movie? Brian McNair's Journalists in Film explores how journalists have been portrayed in film, and what these images tell us about the role of the journalist in liberal democratic societies. Follow us on X and Letterboxd–and let us know what you'd like us to watch! Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Also check out the new Substack site, Pages and Frames, for more film-related material. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you've seen Hearts of Darkness, you can better appreciate what Coppola endured while making Apocalypse Now; if you've seen River of Dreams, you can watch in wonder as Herzog talks about the shooting Fitzcaraldo and really moving that boat through the jungle. American Movie (1999) aims to do the same thing for Mark Borchardt's low-budget independent horror film Coven. How you respond to American Movie depends on how you respond to Borchardt: is he simply a pretentious jerk who thinks he's the next George A. Romero? Or is he what Thomas Gray would call “some mute inglorious Milton,” whose work deserves a wider audience? In this episode, the guys mention the work of English poet Thomas Gray, whose famous “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” is applied to Mark Borchardt. Follow us on X and Letterboxd–and let us know what you'd like us to watch! Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Also check out the new Substack site, Pages and Frames, for more film-related material. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Goodnight Mommy (2014) is a perfect “office movie”: one difficult to recommend to others and better when watched alone. It's strong stuff. Young boys can be violent and ingenious, which is why the film feels like a cross between What to Expect When You're Expecting and Lord of the Flies. Join Mike and Dan for a conversation about how the film literalizes some of the metaphors we use to describe the parent / child relationship and whether or not its ending cheapens the horrors we've watched before approaching it. Is it better for a viewer to be held at a low boil without wholly understanding the stakes or to let the viewer in on a secret that explains everything? The film dramatizes several ideas proposed by Sigmund Freud: here's a robust, one-volume anthology of his most important works. Follow us on X and Letterboxd–and let us know what you'd like us to watch! Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When looking for love, we don't attract what we want--we attract what we are. That's one of the many ideas dramatized in Modern Romance (1991), our third Albert Brooks film and another fanatic favorite. The story of a film editor who can't fix the rough cut of his own life, Modern Romance uses “the Albert Brooks character” to look at how we all put on different performances to fool other people and ourselves. We also talk about the difference between “the Albert Brooks character” and “the Larry David character” and why the films of Albert Brooks push the envelope in a way that Curb only gestures at doing. So buy those sneakers from Super Dave and listen to this as you take that first lap—although, as the film shows us, you can't outrun social rejection. If you're a fan of Albert Brooks, check out this terrific collection of interviews. You can also hear Dan interview the collection's editor on the New Books Network. Follow us on X or Letterboxd–and let us know what you'd like us to watch! Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a recent interview, Paul Schrader said he was lucky with Taxi Driver because he “caught the zeitgeist.” He may have done so again with First Reformed (2017), a film that reflects the age of extremism in which we now live. Join us for a long conversation about a person who might be called the “green Travis Bickle” and who trades in one religion for another, only to find that he can't give his new set of beliefs as much as he thought he could. Reverend Toller (Ethan Hawke) is an admirer of Thomas Merton; his renown The Seven Story Mountain (1948) tells the story of his entering Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky. Follow us on X or Letterboxd–and let us know what you'd like us to watch! Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hobson's Choice (1954) is the perfect example of a very specific genre: the capitalist romance. Filled with a Dickensian love of humanity and featuring one of Charles Laughton's best performances, it's a perfect film about a deeply complicated topic: what makes the world go round and how individual family units come together, function, and roll on. Dan compares it to The Honeymooners; Mike compares it to 2001. Give it a listen on your way to Moonraker's! If you love the film, you'll want to read the original play by Harold Brighouse, subtitled “A Lancashire Comedy in Four Acts.” Follow us on X or Letterboxd–and let us know what you'd like us to watch! Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is there anything so refreshing for a film fanatic as a film about grownups? The mid-budget We Own the Night (2007) is a tonic in a world of films costing five times the money but offering only one fifth the talent. Join Mike and Dan for an appreciation of a film without seven reversals at its ending or a series of explosions, but one about adults who find themselves in terrible situations from which they struggle to escape. It has major players in its cast but still feels like a deeply un-Hollywood movie; it's the cinematic equivalent of a dull ache, and we mean that as a compliment. Prince of the City, Angels with Dirty Faces, and even the parable of the prodigal son make their way into the discussion. If 7-Up is the un-cola, this film is the un-Departed. If you're interested in the issue raised by the film concerning the war on drugs, you may want to read David Farber's 2021 history of the cause and the costs. Follow us on X or Letterboxd–and let us know what you'd like us to watch! Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“I envy normal women—they're free,” laments Irina Dubrovna Reed, in Jacques Tourner's 1942 film, one as noir as Out of the Past which he would direct five years later. Join Mike and Dan for a conversation about a film that explores the same subject as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and has received, justly or not, “The Criterion Treatment.” They also talk about why Paul Schrader's 1982 remake works on paper but not on the screen. So grab your sketchbook, steal that key, and give it a listen! You can pick up a copy of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde here. Follow us on X or Letterboxd–and let us know what you'd like us to watch! Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everyone loves gut-busting belly-laughs in a film. But sometimes, big laughs slow things down. There's something to be said for films that amuse us for their duration. Join us for a conversation about a film that makes us smile from its first moment to its last: The Ladykillers, Alexander Mackendrick's 1955 dark comedy starring Alec Guinness as the creepiest criminal and a young Peter Sellars as one of his gang. Dan praises the film's economy and compares it to John Cheever's “Reunion”; Mike explains how it reminds him of Gilbert & Sullivan. And while they dissect the film and how it manipulates the viewer, they still cannot answer the question, “Are those really Alec Guinness's teeth?” If you'd like to read “Reunion,” the terrific story by John Cheever to which they compare The Ladykillers, you'll find it in this collection—which, incidentally, is a book everyone should have. Follow us on X or Letterboxd–and let us know what you'd like us to watch! Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1965, Bob Dylan teased the squares by stating, “Something is happening but you don't know what it is.” The same could be said for childhood and Pan's Labyrinth (2006) is a film that takes childhood seriously—as opposed to the way it is usually portrayed in big-budget, effects-laden films. Join us for a conversation about a film sometimes compared to the work of C. S. Lewis but one we find is more like that work of Miguel de Cervantes and Hayao Miyazaki. If you're interested in learning more about the director of Pan's Labyrinth, The Shape of Water, and other (literally) fantastic thrillers, check out Guillermo del Toro: The Iconic Filmmaker and His Work. Follow us on X or Letterboxd–and let us know what you'd like us to watch! Incredible bumper music by John Deley. The opening interview clip of Guillermo del Toro can be found here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Saboteur, released in 1942, feels like it was conceived, written, filmed, and edited in the three days between Pearl Harbor and Germany's declaring war on the United States. The villains are vaguely “totalitarian” and their goals seem to be mere anarchy rather than the political ends of any specific nation, but they spark the derring-do of a hero who wants to preserve the same things as Superman did: truth, justice, and the American way. Everyone knows that, like another film would twenty-four years later, Saboteur uses the Statue of Liberty in its climax; what many forget is how many terrific moments lead up to that famous fall. Join us for an appreciation of a Hitchcock film that, like Foreign Correspondent, deserves a wider audience, despite Dan's not thinking it can earn a Howard Hawks Seal of Approval. There is no shortage of books about Hitchcock: the most recent is Edward White's The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock. Follow us on X or Letterboxd–and let us know what you'd like us to watch! Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If we could undergo a procedure that would erase the painful memories from our lives, would we do it? That seems to be the question of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) until we realize that we're asking the wrong question. The real question this film asks is why wouldn't such a procedure ever work? Join us for a conversation about Michel Gondry's mind-bending film that is a completely different experience when you're 20 versus when you're 40. Go ahead and give it a listen–then visit Lacuna so you can listen again for the first time. If the passage from Alexander Pope's Eloisa to Abelard reminded you of Pope's talent, you may be interested in this quality collection of his verse. You may also want to check out this collection of essays about the film. Follow us on X or Letterboxd–and let us know what you'd like us to watch! Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are supposed to get smarter as we get older. Do we? If the meaning of your life had to be found in nine representative days, which days would you choose? Are they the same days that your critics would select? Would you live your life differently if you had to watch yourself years later a big screen? Would you think you were as cool as you do now if you had to see yourself as a cold observer does? Defending Your Life, Albert Brooks's version of A Matter of Life and Death, asks all of these questions and answers about half of them—pretty good for someone only using 3% of his brain. Join us for a conversation about this terrific film that, to its credit, feels like Lost in America II: The Death of David Howard. Face your fears and give it a listen! We all love Albert Brooks's movies—but have you read his novel? In 2012, Brooks released 2030, his own version of 1984. Follow us on X or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Magic is misdirection, and Richard Attenborough and William Goldman do a terrific job of misdirecting the audience in this 1978 thriller. Like The King of Comedy and Limelight, the film looks at the desperation of people who want to be recognized; unlike those films, there's nothing funny about the hero's struggle. Join us for a conversation about a film so unsettling that even the TV spot (featured at the start of the episode) caused people to run from their living rooms. So put down the dummy and give it a listen! William Goldman's Adventures in the Screen Trade (1989) and Which Lie Did I Tell? (2001) both offer the renowned screenwriter's advice about writing films and understanding how they work—or don't. Follow us on X or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Baby Face is the 1933 film that created the archetypal Barbara Stanwyck character and famously laid everything bare before the production code tried to clean up Hollywood. It's direct and “against interpretation”—but that's what makes it so compelling. Join Tim and Dan for a conversation about how the film speaks to our current moment regarding agency, exploitation, and climbing the corporate ladder. It's also a lot like Richard III. This may have been the first of Barbara Stanwyck's big roles, but it was Alfred E. Green's fifty-fourth feature, which leads to a digression about people who claim that any director did something first. So grab that suitcase of jewels, hop in the back of the ambulance, and give it a listen! In 2015, Victoria Wilson published A Life of Barbara Stanwyck: Steel True 1907-1940. We're still waiting for the next volume, but at 1,056 pages, this one will keep you busy. Also check out Catherine Russell's 2023 collection, The Cinema of Barbara Stanwyck: Twenty-Six Essays on a Working Star and Dan's interview with the author on the New Books Network. Follow us on X or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's easy for some people to laugh at Conan the Barbarian, John Milius's 1982 film about Robert E. Howard's most famous creation: it seems like the cinematic equivalent of middle-schoolers playing Dungeons and Dragons. But this is an honest (as in “unpretentious”) film with ideas: the pagan existentialism of Thulsa Doom, the theology of Subatai, and the difference between soldiers and warriors are all offered for the viewer's consideration. It's also oddly countercultural and conservative in its point of view. Join Dan and Tim for an appreciation of a wildly entertaining film that launched the career of Arnold Schwarzenegger and features one of the greatest movie soundtracks. We know the poetry of Khitai and the philosophy of Sung—so give it a listen! Interested in reading the source material? Check out Robert E. Howard's The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, the first collection of Conan stories Howard wrote in the 1930s for Weird Tales magazine. You may also want to check out Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story to hear Arnold talk of how much he and James Earl Jones enjoyed working with each other. Follow us on X or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A genuine crowd-pleaser that couldn't please enough crowds in 1988, Tucker: The Man and His Dream has finally found an audience. Tim defends 80s Coppola and calls out critics who dismissed his post-Godfather II output; Dan talks about the film's enthusiasm for its subject and how that enthusiasm helps the viewer feel like those who find themselves in any great leader's orbit. Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Wordsworth, and Emerson all find their way into the conversation. Larry David may want us to curb our enthusiasm, but even he couldn't keep Tucker down. So hold that tiger and give it a listen! Steve Lehto's Preston Tucker and His Battle to Build the Car of Tomorrow tells the story upon which Coppola's film is based—and has a Foreword by Jay Leno, who owns one of the 46 or 47 Tucker Torpedoes in existence. You can find more information and photos at the official Tucker Automobile Club of America. Follow us on X or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music by Joe Jackson, from his soundtrack to the film. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We all know the rules of the Looney Tunes universe: rabbits can outrun bullets, shots to the face don't kill, and the laws of gravity don't always apply. But that universe is still very much like our own, in which we all strive to be like Bugs Bunny, but are really like Daffy Duck. If there's an aesthetic of frustration, Chuck Jones is its Shakespeare. Join us for a conversation about Rabbit Fire, Rabbit Seasoning, and Duck! Rabbit, Duck!—the three cartoons that comprise what's called “The Hunting Trilogy.” We promise it's not one of those awful attempts by intellectuals to rhapsodize about popular art, although we do bring in Henry James at one point. Regardless of whether it's rabbit season or duck season, give it a listen! If you'd like to learn more about the super-genius who created these films and dozens of others, check out Chuck Jones: Conversations, an installment in the series of interview collections by the University Press of Mississippi. Follow us on X or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Being lighthearted and amusing can be a painful business. That's one of the themes of Limelight, Charlie Chaplin's 1952 portrait of the artist as an older man. It's like a combination of The Red Shoes and Death of a Salesman, with elements of The Entertainer and The King of Comedy. Join Mike and Dan for a conversation about the ways in which art and love prove to be antidotes to poisonous despair. If you like Charlie Chaplin, visit the New Books Network and listen to Dan's interview of Scott Eyman talking about his terrific book, Charlie Chaplin vs. America. You may also want to check out Charlie Chaplin Interviews, an installment in the series of interview collections by the University Press of Mississippi. Follow us on X or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We all know the rules of courtroom dramas. We welcome the confusion we feel during the case and the sense of release upon hearing the jury's decision: this is true in Witness for the Prosecution, Anatomy of a Murder, and, of course, The Verdict. But what if the feeling of disorientation that we enjoy in the middle of these films was heightened and then examined by the director as a subject on its own? Join Mike and Dan for a conversation about Anatomy of a Fall, Justine Triet's terrific film that offers multiple readings but no guidance on how to make those readings valid. It's exactly like The Turn of the Screw by Henry James—and exactly the opposite of Basic Instinct. So turn down those steel drums already and listen to this instead! Robert Traver's 1958 novel Anatomy of a Murder is the archetype to which many courtroom dramas, including this one, respond. Listeners may also want to visit the film's official site to see how their judgment compares to that of other viewers. Follow us on X or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music this week is by Bacao Rhythm and Steel Band. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Werner Herzog is a filmmaker with an intuitive sense for showing the right thing at the right time, whether he is offering the story of a maniacal conquistador, Count Dracula, or himself eating his own shoe. Klaus Kinski was, according to many, more monster than man and an actor who resembled the megalomaniacs he portrayed. Together, Herzog and Kinski made five films. Kinski died in 1991; in 1999, Herzog released the documentary My Best Fiend about their relationship. The film combines the ravings of Kinski with the introspection of Herzog and explores the degree to which we are entertained by other people's volatility, how we fall in love with actors because of small gestures, and our misguided desire to believe that people who create beautiful art are beautiful themselves. In his 2023 memoir, Every Man for Himself and God Against All, Werner Herzog tells his story in his inimitable voice. Herzog by Ebert is a terrific collection of essays about Herzog's films by the Pulitzer Prize-winning critic. The collection Klaus Kinski: Beast of Cinema contains essays about Kinski's films and interviews with filmmakers and actors who worked with him. Follow us on X or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music is by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a past episode in which they discussed the films of Tom Cruise, Mike told Dan, “You're the smartest person I know who ever made it all the way through Eyes Wide Shut.” After reading a forthcoming biography of Stanley Kubrick, Dan returned to the film and urged it on Mike, who rewatched it, but who still finds it a total failure. Dan thinks it's a sobering and startling portrayal of a man exiled from his own Eden—a fool's Paradise—while Mike finds every element and deviation from established structures to be both ponderous and insincere. Is the film a misunderstood look at the nightmare of not knowing one's spouse? Or is it simply an indulgent mess? Mike and Dan agree on the quality of 99% of the films they discuss, but like true film fanatics, bicker about the other 1%. Come along for the conversation about what makes a film successful--the password is “Fidelio!” Those on Dan's side will want to read Eyes Wide Shut: Stanley Kubrick and the Making of his Final Film. Those on Mike's will want to urge Syd Field's famous Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting on their opponents. Follow us on X or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music is by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can a film do everything wrong yet still find its defenders, who not only acknowledge each of the film's faults but find these faults endearing? Such is the case with Mike and The Omen, the 1976 Richard Donner blockbuster that—like Satan himself—has spawned sequels, remakes, and imitations. Dan tries to point out all the things that are bad about The Omen, but Mike spins each one into a perverse mark of greatness and claims that the film somehow rises above them in its high seriousness. Whether you think The Omen a terrifying morality tale or simply The Devil and Atticus Finch, give it a listen. We'll tell you where to find the birthmark. Interested in a great novel about a kid as awful as Damien Thorn? Check out William March's The Bad Seed. Follow us on X or Letterboxd. Opening music by Jerry Goldsmith from the film's official soundtrack; closing music by Sing King. Our usual incredible bumper music is by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you seen that other Capra film in which the protagonist in a moment of crisis, attempts suicide on Christmas Eve? Join Mike and Dan for a conversation about Meet John Doe (1941), a film Frank Capra made five years before It's a Wonderful Life and which shares that film's celebration of the common man—the John Doe—living and working and dying across the country. We know we'd all be better off—and the country would be in better shape—if we acted like the people in the John Doe Clubs, so why don't we? How many of your neighbors do you know on a first-name basis? When's the last time you reached out to someone you don't know very well but you know needs a hand? Capra's film may seem like a collection of platitudes, but it's a cross between A Christmas Carol and Lord of the Flies and is absolutely prophetic of a film that would follow it thirty-five years later about another media-created sensation who's mad as hell and not going to take it any more! The University of Mississippi Press has published many volumes of interviews of notable directors; you can find the edition on Frank Capra here. And—did you know that Capra wrote a novel in 1966, not published until 2018? Neither did we. You can find Cry Wilderness here. Follow us on X or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There's nothing like being conned at the movies. Join Mike and Dan as they talk about George Roy Hill's beautifully-constructed toy, The Sting. Dan explains how the long con in the film is like a theatrical production and how con games and films are similar forms of art. Mike revs up with a rant about why Pauline Kael is overrated, continues with one about how Robert Shaw is underrated, and finally claims that anyone who doesn't like The Sting needs to sit in a room for thirty minutes and reevaluate their life choices. So turn on that player piano and give it a listen! Paul Newman's posthumously-released memoir, The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man, is a terrific glimpse into the actor's thoughts and recollections on life as one of the last bona fide movie stars. Follow us on X or Letterboxd. The bumper music for this episode is by Lord Vinheteiro: you can see the whole incredible video of his performing “The Entertainer” on an authentic-era piano here and visit his YouTube channel here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If we had seen Donnie Darko in high school, we would been drawn to the Easter eggs throughout the film and made videos in which we pointed them out with big red arrows. But there's more to this tale of time travel than a dorm-room discussion of free will vs. determinism: we now appreciate the ways in which Richard Kelly dramatizes teenage dread and the fear of one's insignificance. Being a teenager often involves thinking that one's personal dramas are like the end of the world—but what if they were? Join Mike and Dan for a conversation about a film that feels as if Philip K. Dick adapted The Catcher in the Rye for the screen. It's one of the best films about high school in America and one of three that features a large rabbit. “Signs and Symbols,” the terrific story by Vladimir Nabokov that comes up in the episode, can be found in this collection. Follow us on X or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How should one deal with evil? What are people capable of doing when they are given unconstrained liberty? Why does democracy work when people run things physically away from the very people it wants to assist? These are a few of the questions that arise as one watches John Ford's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). Progress and civilization are wonderful—but the train that signals them also carries a lot of moral pollution. Join Mike and Dan for a dive into this perfect Western and hear what happens when they apply the famous line, “Print the legend,” to John Ford's, John Wayne's, and Jimmy Stewart's military careers. Pick up that steak and give it a listen! Robert Matzen's Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the Fight for Europe tells the story of Stewart's learning to fly, joining the Army, and leading dangerous missions in the Second World War. Follow us on X or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if you could receive the adulation and respect of strangers but not from your own family-or even yourself? In Wild Strawberries (1957), Ingmar Bergman dramatizes a journey into a man's memories, insecurities, and fears in a way that may borrow the technique of Death of a Salesman but not its final scenes or the fate of its hero. For all we hear about the bleakness of Bergman's vision, the film is ultimately affirming. The world screams, “Physician, heal thyself”—and he does! Join us for an extended conversation that also includes how the film resembles A Christmas Carol and Casablanca. The opening clip is Bergman talking on The Dick Cavett Show in 1971 about the final closeup of Wild Strawberries. Admirers of Bergman's films will want to read his autobiography, My Life in Pictures. Follow us on X or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Samuel Johnson once asked, “What enemy would invade Scotland, where there is nothing to be got?” He must never have seen I Know Where I'm Going (1945). In their fifth examination of a Powell and Pressburger film, Mike and Dan talk about what makes this cinematic Scotland a more authentic place than England and how the film's heroine gains maturity and depth once she abandons her itinerary. Dan brings up an American film he considers a sibling to this one; Mike praises the film's economy; both wish they could go to the cèilidh. You can't marry the British Chemical Company, but you can dance the Scottish, so give it a listen! Samuel Johnson's and James Boswell's accounts of their travels in Scotland are a terrific read and tie in wonderfully with the film. You may also enjoy Neil Oliver's History of Scotland, based on his BBC series. Follow us on X or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are used to entering cinematic fantasy worlds in which we learn the rules of how the world works and then watch our hero navigate through it: think of Star Wars, Dune, The Matrix, and The Wizard of Oz, and Lord of the Rings. But Spirited Away (2001) works differently than these, with a logic that seems just out of reach and which we, like the hero, try to discern. Join Mike and Dan for an appreciation of a film about childhood that works like the real thing; the film feels as if it were created by children, and they mean that as the highest compliment. Along the way, the guys talk about left brain / right brain film structure and how Spirited Away resembles John Coltrane's A Love Supreme. So hop on the train with No-Face, and give it a listen! Interested in a short critical study of the film? Check out Andrew Osmond's volume in the BFI Film Classics series. Follow us on X or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Minority Report (2002) is Exhibit A of how screenwriters love the premises of Philip K. Dick's source materials and then adapt his core thought experiments into genres that get people in theatres. Mike and Dan discuss the ways in which Minority Report examines a thorny idea laden with ethical complexities while also offering Spielberg at his popcorn-selling best. We get serious questions about the ways in which solutions to enduring problems are bound by trade-offs and human fallibility—but we also get jetpacks. It's part A Clockwork Orange and part Mission: Impossible. So put your eyes back in that baggie—it's an audio podcast, after all—and give it a listen! If you're interested in the short story and the ways it differs from the film (besides the protagonist being a very un-Tom-Cruise balding and overweight guy), check out The Minority Report and Other Classic Stories. You may also be interested in the book mentioned in Part 1 of the episode: Thomas Sowell's A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles. Follow us on X or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1962, Donald E. Westlake used the pseudonym Richard Stark and published The Hunter, the story of Parker, a betrayed thief who seeks vengeance with more determination than we see from the T-1000 in Terminator 2. Four years later, Lee Marvin starred in John Boorman's Point Blank, an adaptation of The Hunter. The film renamed Parker to Walker, but also reimagined the revenge plot as one of a man unable to recover from trauma. Join Mike and Dan for an extra-long, extra-cool conversation with special guest Eric G. Wilson, author of the new BFI Classics study of Point Blank. So put on your best clackety shoes, pace the halls, and give it a listen! If you're a fan of crime fiction, you'll enjoy the first of Richard Stark's Parker novels, The Hunter, upon which Point Blank is based. Be sure to check out Eric Wilson's terrific book about Point Blank in the BFI Film Classics series and his interview about it on New Books in Film. Follow us on X or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1965, Bob Dylan sang, “She's got everything she needs; she's an artist; she don't look back.” About twenty years later, Gabriel Axel brilliantly dramatized this idea in Babette's Feast (1987). A film as perfect as a film can be, Babette's Feast treats the viewer to the pleasures of autotelic endeavors: things we do for their own sake because we enjoy them. Like last week's film, Big Night, this one welcomes us to a big table in which a chef feeds others as a work of art. Mike and Dan also talk about the characters' assumption that austerity is the key to Heaven and how the film treats this idea without mocking the characters or setting them up for a nasty surprise, as in The Witch. So pour another glass of Amontillado, sit back, and press play! The film is a faithful adaptation of Isak Dinesen's 1955 story, found in the collection Anecdotes of Destiny and Ehrengard. Follow us on X or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sometimes, the idea for a film would work on paper—such is the case with Big Night (1996), a film that packs in as much real life a full novel. “Love” as a secret ingredient to a great recipe may be a cliché, but how else to explain the joy people get from cooking large meals for people they care about, gathered around a big table? Mike and Dan discuss how the two restaurants in the film offer two versions of success, why “foodies” can be irritating, and the beauty of actors who act without speaking. The restaurant may fail, but the film does not. So as you wait for that timpani to settle, give it a listen! Stanley Tucci's Taste: My Life Through Food is his memoir about the intersection of Italian food and families. Follow us on X or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There may be some dated or downright silly elements of Cutter's Way, Ivan Passer's 1981 mystery—but what's great about it outweighs any of its clumsiness and stays in the viewer's memory. Not enough people know about John Heard's performance as the unhinged, unlikable, yet undeniably compelling Alex Cutter; this film without any scenes of military conflict is one of the best about Vietnam. Join Mike and Dan for a conversation about the ways in which the title character resembles Captain Ahab physically, emotionally, and psychologically; how the film uses and then abandons Hollywood conventions; and the ways in which a convoluted murder plot doesn't detract from complicated issues of heroism, friendship, and justice. So jump on that white horse and give it a listen! One of our favorite memoirs of Vietnam is Things I'll Never Forget: Memories of a Marine in Vietnam. Thom Jones's short story collection The Pugilist at Rest contains incredible fiction about the war (and would, we imagine, be admired by Alex Cutter). Follow us on X or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“What makes something funny” is difficult to articulate, but Mike and Dan try with one of their favorite comedies, Albert Brooks' Lost in America. His 1985 film about married professionals who yearn to hit the road (like they saw in Easy Rider) works because there's nothing to rescue the viewer from the awkwardness and downward spiral of every scene. The characters' conflicts and anxieties are hilarious—just not to them. Many of us have yearned to start life anew in a world elsewhere or live like Thoreau at Walden Pond; Lost in America cures us of that in ninety minutes. So bet the whole nest egg on 22—and after you lose it all, give us a listen as you cross the country in your RV! Albert Brooks' satiric novel, 2030, imagines an America in which cancer has been cured, global warming is an acknowledged reality, and people have robot companions. All seems perfect until the events of a single day change everything. This collection of interviews with Brooks examines his feature films and the challenges of making them. And if you feel like dropping out like David and Linda but can't buy an RV, you can always read Walden instead. Follow us on X or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you have seen Sluizer's original 1988 thriller—not his 1993 American remake with Jeff Bridges and Kiefer Sutherland--you'll know exactly why we are doing it as a companion piece to Rope. You'll also nod along with us when we praise the film's cold precision: it's not surprising that Sluzier states in the opening clip that Stanley Kubrick admired the film and saw it ten times. Why we often tell people to watch films but to not read anything first about them, the thrill of assembling pieces of information as we watch a film, the terrible weight of truth, and the meaning of love all come into play as Mike and Dan talk about what belongs on everyone's top-ten list of disturbing and exhilarating films. We seem due for a comedy. The Vanishing is based Golden Egg, a novel by Tim Krabbé, who co-authored the screenplay with Sluizer. Follow us on Twitter or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rope (1948) may not be top-shelf Hitchcock, but that doesn't mean it isn't interesting and worth repeated viewings. After arguing back at those who find Jimmy Stewart miscast, Mike and Dan talk about how the film stands as another example of Hitchcock using violence to dramatize the sex lives of his characters. Mike lists the ways in which the director resembles the killer, specifically Brandon: a Nabokovian figure through which Hitchcock shows the audience what it's like to have an artistic temperament. Another Russian, Dostoevsky, comes into the conversation when Dan talks about Philip's complaint that his former teacher is “plating Crime and Punishment.” It's the kind of unscripted, enthusiastic conversation you have with your friends in the car on the way home from the movies—so put down the pâté and give it a listen! So many books have been written about Hitchcock, but the book-length interview by Francois Truffaut still stands as one of the best. It never gets old. Follow us on Twitter or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1973, William Friedkin terrorized the world with The Exorcist and then decided to make a film even more grim: a remake of George Clouzot's The Wages of Fear. This was an audacious move, since the 1953 original was already well-loved and regarded as one of the most suspenseful films of all time. But Friedkin followed his muse and created Sorcerer (1977), which belongs in the pantheon of Great Underappreciated Films. Like The Exorcist, it's a frightening peek into Hell; unlike that film, however, evil is pervasive rather than localized. No exorcist can cleanse Porvenir of evil; Max Von Sydow isn't showing up any time soon. You can try to outrun the Sorcerer, but it's like driving a truck and trying to drive away from its contents. Rarely has a completely nihilistic and sobering film experience been so exhilarating. William Friedkin's memoir, The Friedkin Connection, is an engaging read and includes a chapter on the making of Sorcerer. Follow us on Twitter or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jake and Elwood sing “Everybody Needs Someone to Love” and everybody loves The Blues Brothers: “You … me … them … everybody!” Join Mike and Dan for a conversation about John Landis's 1980 film that has become movie comfort-food for people raised on the original SNL and others who have come to the film without any knowledge of John Belushi or Dan Ackroyd's careers. So many comedy sketches fall flat when stretched into the length of a film, but Landis and Ackroyd avoided this when writing The Blues Brothers. How did they do it? What makes this film so rewatchable and affirming, like Singin' in the Rain? What did Landis get right about the way to make a musical with people who were bigger celebrities than the leads of the movie? Get your four fried chickens, your dry white toast, and a Coke–and then give it a listen! Interested in a book-length examination of The Blues Brothers? Check out Daniel de Visé's The Blues Brothers: An Epic Friendship, the Rise of Improv, and the Making of an American Film Classic. Follow us on X or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Clouzot's 1953 thriller may be the ultimate bait and switch, moving from a character study of four desperate men in limbo into one of the most suspenseful films ever made. The Wages of Fear shows us the triumph of human ingenuity much like Robinson Crusoe or Castaway, but it's also a grim statement about how we all carry our deaths within us: the thing from which we try to flee every morning when we wake up is closer than we can imagine. Everything hangs by a thread, and Clouzot exposes that thread by reducing human experience to its lowest terms. That he does so in a film in which trucks move slowly and carefully–usually forbidden on the big screen–adds to the audaciousness of his vision. Join Mike and Dan for an appreciation of a film that reminds them of Seven Samurai, The Dirty Dozen, Saving Private Ryan, The French Connection, Smokey and the Bandit, Reservoir Dogs, and The Road Warrior. This movie may have a Mario and a Luigi, but there's no Rainbow Road. If you are interested in Henri-George Clouzot's life and career, check out Christopher Lloyd's book in Manchester University Press's series on French film directors. The Very Short Introductions series by Oxford University Press includes one on French Cinema; the British Film Institute's The French Cinema Book is an anthology of essays. You can also find our previous episode on Clouzot's Diabolique here. Follow us on X or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Halfway through Casablanca, we learn why Rick Blaine is so cynical, angry, and embittered; we also feel glad at the end when he takes off his armor and begins that beautiful friendship. But how would we respond if we never learned why Rick acted as he does? The answer is that he'd be Dixon Steele, whom Bogart portrays so well in Nicholas Ray's 1950 thriller In a Lonely Place. Join Mike and Dan for a conversation about a Bogart film they think deserves a wider audience and how it predicts what Martin Scorsese would do twenty-six years later with Taxi Driver. William J. Mann's Bogie & Bacall: The Surprising True Story of Hollywood's Greatest Love Affair, is a thoroughly interesting dual biography about the movies' most enduring power couple. Dan recently interviewed William J. Mann for the New Books Network: listen to it here. Follow us on Twitter or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How much will a viewer tolerate? What if you took away all the quick and easy ways in which movies dole out information? What if you made the hero less-than-wholly-admirable and the villain less-than-wholly-terrible? Would audiences still come along for the ride in that brown Le Mans with Popeye Doyle as he tries to catch the sniper who missed him? William Friedkin bet that they would--and won. Join us for a conversation about The French Connection, the classic 1971 police procedural. Topics include the chase, of course, but also the ways in which Popeye Doyle is not Dirty Harry, how the film's perfect structure allows the viewers to go through a process along with the detectives, and how Popeye resembles a great literary figure from a novel that also ends in a thrilling chase. William Friedkin's memoir, The Friedkin Connection, is an engaging read and includes much about the making of The French Connection. Robin Moore's original book that inspired the film—which Friedkin claimed to never have finished reading—can be found here. Follow us on Twitter or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Drifting” seems like a great word to describe many of Robert Altman's films, especially California Split, his 1974 buddy film with Elliott Gould and George Segal as gamblers whose friendship is strengthened by their losses. But Mike argues that the film has a deep structure—and one based on a Disney film that we've all seen a hundred times. Elliott Gould's special brand of cool, how gambling relies upon a combination of conviction and control, and the ways in which the film is as interested in poker players as the game itself all come into the conversation. Go ahead—draw on that inside straight and give it a listen! In this episode Dan reads a short passage from Frederick and Steven Barthelme's memoir Double Down: Reflections on Gambling and Loss, a terrific glimpse into what motivates otherwise rational people to bet thousands of dollars on the turn of a card. Frederick Barthelme's Bob the Gambler and Paul Auster's The Music of Chance are two of the hosts' favorite gambling-related novels. Follow us on Twitter or Letterboxd. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices