The Film That Blew My Mind

As an 18-year-old on the verge of breakout success, Ethan Hawke encountered Reds for the first time. The epic love story and historical drama brings us writer/activist Jack Reed and journalist Louise Bryant in the midst of World War I, the Russian Revolution, and the birth of the socialist party in the U.S. Directed by, co-written by, and starring Warren Beatty, Reds is famous for extraordinary performances from Beatty, Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Maureen Stapleton, and Edward Hermann. The film earned Beatty Oscars for Best Original Screenplay and Best Director. Ethan, Tabitha, and Cooper get into film craft, authenticity, feminism, collaboration, creativity, and Ethan's outgoing message on his answering machine circa 1990. Plus, what makes Reds one of Ethan's all time favorites. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Veteran independent filmmaker Ira Sachs is known for a body of work marked by beauty, nuance, and intimate portrayals of people and their emotional lives. He is driven, he says, by a deep curiosity about freedom and its limits - both in his characters and in filmmaking itself. This is part of the reason why Taxi Zum Klo (Taxi to the Toilet), a radical portrait of personal and sexual freedom, blew his mind. The semi-autobiographical story of writer/director/star Frank Ripploh takes us into his separate lives - devoted school teacher by day and enthusiastic cruiser of Berlin’s gay scene by night. Explicit and bold, it was hailed by the Village Voice as “the first masterpiece about the mainstream of male gay life,” when it premiered in the early 1980’s. We learn how Ira discovered the film, despite the fact that it’s nearly impossible to find today, and how it inspires him to push the boundaries of his own work. Plus, Cooper shares his experience seeing Taxi Zum Klo when it played the New York Film Festival in 1981, and Tabitha dives into questions about the value of art as a provocation.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cabaret icon, RuPaul’s Drag Race Superstar, acclaimed actress and vocalist, the “internationally tolerated” Jinkx Monsoon joins Cooper and Tabitha to explore the many layers of Joseph Mankiewicz’s 1950 backstage theater drama All About Eve. Starring Bette Davis in the role that came to define her career, and Ann Baxter, the multiple Oscars-winning film is iconic for its witty dialogue and its scathing take on the ruthless nature of show business.Jinkx shares how Davis’s performance inspires her own work, what the movie has to say about the experience of female performers in a youth-obsessed industry, and the love story playing out off screen between Davis and co-star Gary Merrill. We learn all about Jinkx's Portland, Oregon childhood, the innate roots of her fabulosity, and what keeps her spinning the golden threads of performing on stages around the world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Twenty years ago, one of the most indelible movie characters of recent decades was born when Napoleon Dynamite premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. From Vote for Pedro T-shirts to the pet llama Tina (aka: “Fat Lard”) and a seriously iconic dance number, Napoleon Dynamite has earned a top slot in the pop culture canon of the 21st century. This week, Cooper and Tabitha speak with Jared Hess who, together with his co-writer and wife Jerusha Hess, is the force behind Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre (co-written with Mike White), Masterminds, and more. Jared shares his deep love for Hal Needham’s Rad (1988), a classic ‘80’s teen flick about competitive BMX racing and a bike battle between local kids and the professional riders who come to town. We learn a bit about director Hal Needham, the highest paid stunt double of his time who directed action-packed classics like Smokey and the Bandit (1977) and The Cannonball Run (1981). Plus, how Rad’s soundtrack featuring The Sparks, opening sequence cinematography by Robert Schwartzman, and a curious activity dubbed “ass-sliding” make this a feel-good sports movie for kids of any generation.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Willem Dafoe joins Tabitha and Cooper to share Onibaba, the 1964 film by the prolific and pioneering Japanese filmmaker Kaneto Shindô. Literally translated as “Demon Hag”, Onibaba is a tale of a mother and daughter-in-law’s murderous quest for survival in the midst of Japan’s medieval civil war. When a man returning from war enters the picture and latent primal urges emerge, all hell breaks loose. The striking black-and-white imagery and percussive soundtrack make for a wildly kinetic ride that is both terrifying and delightful .As Willem shares what he loves about this classic of the Japanese New Wave, we also learn a bit about Kaneto Shindo’s extraordinary life, art, and career. Plus, what it is about making film and theater that keeps him inspired, the importance of being in the moment, and the visceral power of cinematic storytelling. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Director and legendary cinematographer Kirsten Johnson is known for nonfiction work that is inventive, artful, expressive, and maximal. The same can be said of the film that blew her mind -- Bob Fosse’s All That Jazz. The semi-autobiographical film brings us Joe Gideon (Roy Scheider), a peripatetic creative force working simultaneously to mount a major Broadway production and complete post-production on a feature film, all while maintaining a lifestyle fueled by cigarettes, pills, one-night stands, and Visine, and still finding time for his adoring 12-year old daughter, Michelle.We learn why the iconic film first transfixed Kirsten, and how she continues to be inspired by Fosse’s ingenious use of dance, documentary, theater, music, and more. Cooper shares his personal ties to the film, calling on his days in New York’s theater scene of the 1970s. And Tabitha (a.k.a. Wife of Kirsten) does her level best to maintain her professional distance as the conversation unfolds. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Celebrated for bringing depth and nuance to roles ranging from a drug-addicted art dealer (High Art, Lisa Cholodenko, 1998), to a dying mother meeting her daughter for the first time (Monica, Andrea Pallaoro, 2023), Patricia Clarkson is no stranger to complex emotional terrain. Perhaps that is why she feels somewhat comfortable in the volatile world of A Woman Under the Influence, John Cassavettes’ 1974 masterpiece. The film centers around Mabel Longhetti, brilliantly rendered by Gena Rowlands, as a deeply loving, profoundly unstable housewife and mother of three.We explore the extraordinary power and nuance of Rowland’s performance, the layered collaboration of Cassavettes, Rowlands, and Falk, and learn the extent to which the film was indeed a family affair. For this iconic film, we could not ask for a better guide than the woman Cooper once dubbed the “Unofficial Queen of Sundance”, Patricia Clarkson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From his first viewing at the Angelika as a freshman at NYU, Joan Micklin Silver’s 1988 rom-com Crossing Delancey blew Michael Showalter’s mind. In this episode Michael shares how and why the movie made a lasting mark and how it continues to influence his work today. Adapted by Susan Sandler from her play of the same title, this is the story of Izzy Grossman (Amy Irving), a nice Jewish girl with roots in Manhattan’s Lower East Side but now living uptown with literary-adjacent aspirations. Sam Posner (Peter Reigart) is a purveyor of pickles, with a shop down the street from Izzy’s grandmother’s apartment. We learn how the film’s spot-on portrayal of 1980s city living with characters who exist in coffee shops and bars and bookstores, and apartments, resonated with the life 18-year-old Michael imagined for himself. As he unpacks what makes this a rom-com classic, co-hosts Cooper and Tabitha spark a debate around the off-screen future for Sam and Izzy, and where they might be today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From her feature film directorial debut Flamin’ Hot, to her career-launching turn as Gabrielle Solis on Desperate Housewives, Eva Longoria has a thing for characters - and people - who get things done. Case in point, Sam “Ace” Rothstein (Robert De Niro), the central character in Martin Scorsese’s Casino (1995) who brings hard-won street smarts and ruthless clarity to his job as casino boss. He is less clear-eyed when it comes to his hustler-addict wife (Sharon Stone) and unhinged mafioso best friend (Joe Pesci), both of whom sow chaos with every move. Eva takes us inside the film that brings us the violent, stylish, and desperate world of 1970’s Vegas. We learn how Scorsese’s filmmaking in Casino inspired many of the techniques she used in Flamin’ Hot, how she cut her directing chops, and the parallels she sees between her own Texican heritage and the Italian American experiences at the center of so many of Scorsese’s films. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Time traveling hitman, love-struck greeting card writer, notorious whistleblower, and an alien passing as a human boy are just a few of the characters Joseph Gordon-Levitt has brought to life. His extraordinary range as an actor is matched by his taste in films, as evidenced by his choice of Disney’s Encanto as the film that blew his mind. From the way it subverts storytelling traditions to its layered and lyrical songs, Joe shares all the reasons why Encanto is a favorite with his young family and what it has to say about honesty as the greatest superpower of all.Plus, zip-lining as an antidote to grief, Kurt Vonnegut’s dystopian “Harrison Bergeron”, and the role that Sundance has played in Joe’s own life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When trailblazing Native media maker Sterlin Harjo first experienced Robert Altman’s The Long Goodbye one solitary day during the pandemic, he says it felt as if he was floating through the film. Floaty and dark, Altman’s 1973 film adaptation of the 1953 book by Raymond Chandler delivers a wry, wise-cracking Elliot Gould as detective Philip Marlowe and takes place in a Los Angeles reshaped by the cultural upheaval of the 1960s. Cueing off The Long Goodbye, Sterlin makes a case for treating background as foreground and for storytelling that emphasizes an ensemble over a single hero.From his family’s famous spaghetti to the funeral parlor his auntie called home, we learn all about the people and the place that made Sterlin the filmmaker he is today. Plus, how Oklahoma Noir may well be the genre we didn’t know we were missing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Comedienne, chanteuse, star, co-writer, and executive producer of HBO’s Somebody Somewhere, and our favorite Manhattan, Kansas native, Bridget Everett shares the beloved classic, The Sound of Music. From watching the story of the von Trapps as the youngest of six kids, to how she sees it through the lens of her life and work today, Bridget dives deep into the timeless resonance of the movie and its music. We learn of her admiration for the naturalistic musicality of the film, and why Dame Julie Andrews is one of her favorite voices of all time.Plus, her love of Barry Manilow, why co-host John Cooper marched down Santa Monica Boulevard in heels, and what Reverend Mother and Ad-Rock have in common. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The cinematic force that is Ryan Coogler brings us deep into Jacques Audiard’s masterful, layered Un Prophéte. When Malik, an Algerian man, arrives to serve his sentence in a French prison, he must rely upon his capacity for observation and learning to navigate the complex dynamics of race, ethnicity, language, and power that define life behind these particular bars. Ryan touches on why this film is often compared to The Godfather, and describes Malik, played by the fiercely intense Tahar Rahmin as, “the greatest learner ever put to screen.” We hear about Ryan’s formative years as a film student at U.S.C., his first visit to the Cannes Film Festival, and how Alejandro Iñárritu’s Amores Perros and Fernando Merielles and Katia Lund’s City of God have also inspired him along the way. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A guest who needs no introduction, Jon Hamm, dives into the 1988 Italian film, Cinema Paradiso, directed by Guiseppe Tornatore. The film begins when Salvatore di Vita, a superstar filmmaker in Rome, recalls his childhood in a small Sicilian village during the aftermath of World War II. With his father lost at war, young Salvatore forms a deep friendship with Alberto, the projectionist at the local cinema, and falls in love with film. As a teenager growing up in St. Louis, Jon’s moviegoing was primarily driven by his burning desire to escape the house. Nevertheless, Cinema Paradiso captured his imagination and has continued to resonate with him throughout his life. We also learn how Silence of the Lambs left a bloody impression, and the Cub Scout lesson that fuels his stratospheric career.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Everyone’s favorite “Superstar”, Molly Shannon, shares why and how Victor Fleming’s 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz has blown her mind. From her first viewing at age four, to her star turn as Dorothy in Cleveland’s Heights Youth Theater production, The Wizard of Oz is a metaphorical reflection of many of Molly’s life experiences. We hear from her about the iconic performances by Judy Garland as Dorothy and Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West, an only-in-Hollywood moment at an L.A. grocery store, and art as a conduit to healing.The Wizard of Oz aired on network television every December from 1959-1991, becoming a holiday tradition for generations of Americans. Millions of us know this film by heart, but Molly’s story is unique in her deeply personal connections to the movie’s themes of home and belonging, friendship, self-determination, and what we hope to find over the rainbow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.