'The Dark Crystal' is a monument to craft, a movie made entirely with puppets, primative robots, strings, fog machines, lighting rigs, and spit. A true monument to analog filmmaking. But is it any good? We discuss. Matt rec. Corbin rec. Corbin apoligizes for rambling about rap lists like a weirdo at the end of this episode. Check out the show on Letterboxd if you're into that thing. Matt is also on there. We also got a Bluesky going! Our next episode is about Nouvelle Vague, watch it here.
Earlier this year Ari Aster released a movie About Now that some people liked and some people didn't like. Corbin and Matt and friend of the program John Wilmes DID like it and we get into it! Feelings! Politics! Money! The whole gang is here, folks! Corbin recommends a book. Ellis recommends this article. Wilmes recommends a Jazz musician. Check out the show on Letterboxd if you're into that thing. Matt is also on there. We also got a Bluesky going! Out next episode is about THE DARK CRYSTAL, which you can watch on Tubi and probably somewhere else but cmon man give it up for tubi! They got all the Looney Tunes over there!
Werner Herzog deals in ecstatic truths. But are they truthful enough to deal with the brutal legacy of slavery and colonialism? We discuss COBRA VERDE, Herzog's last collaboration with Klaus Kinski, a movie about the slave trade and the little freaks who kept it running. Topics include: producing a shot with thousands of extras, Herzog and history, and, weirdly, Michael Haneke. Watch the movie here or on Criterion, who are doing a big Herzog retrospective right now. Here is an article about the movie that was interesting that I dont necessarily 100% agree with. Matt's rec. Corbin's rec is in a weird release vortex right now but you'll be able to see it soon. Ryder recommends a food. Our next episode is about EDDINGTON. You can watch it on HBOMax if you're so inclined. Have a wonderful week!
Since we started this show we've known that, someday, we would sit down to talk about Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, a movie about Metallica, and the world, going to therapy for the first time. Topics include: popular music, thrash, the 80's, drinking, how exactly you make a heavy metal record, the way computers absolutely annihilated the music business in a way that predicted the future annihilations we are currently living through, the advent of a new perspective on therapy and the emergence of therapy-speak, even among the world's biggest violence-celebrating band. excerpted music in this episode in order: "Maple Leaf Rag" by Scott Joplin (published 1899) "Crazy Blues" by Perry Bradford, performed by Mamie Smith and Her Jazz Hounds (1920) "Stardust" by Hoagy Carmichael, performed by Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra (1931) "Tomorrow Never Knows" by The Beatles (1966) "God Only Knows" by The Beach Boys (1966) (YouTube video) "So What" by Miles Davis (1959) "Whole Lotta Love" by Led Zeppelin (1969) "Detroit Rock City" by KISS (1976) "Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing" by Discharge (1982) "Black Sabbath" by Black Sabbath (1970) "Machine Gun (Live)" by Jimi Hendrix (1969) "Breaking the Law" by Judas Priest (1980) "Bonded by Blood" by Exodus (1985) "Phantom Lord" by Metallica (1983) "Master of Puppets" by Metallica (1986) Our NEXT episode will be about Cobra Verde! Watch it here.
Happy Halloween! To celebrate spooky season, Corbin and Matt are joined by NATHAN LEE, a film academic and critic whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Film Comment, The Village Voice, and NPR, among others, to discuss THE SHROUDS, David Cronenberg's movie about the SPOOKIEST topics of all... Grieving and Technology and Anxiety and Conspiracy. SpoooOOOoooOOOoooOOOky! Read Nathan's fabulous essay on The Shrouds here. Corbin's rec is in theaters right now. Matt's rec. Nathan's rec. Our next episode is about METALLICA: SOME KIND OF MONSTER, and it should come out earlier next week to make up for the gap last week (Sorry, busy). But NEXT WEEK IN THE NORMAL SLOT we are watching "Cobra Verde" which you can watch here.
Matt's working on this week's episode still, so we excerpted the beginning, where we talk about OBAA. I saw it again after this and loved it more
Hey! We are joined here by ANDY MORSE, the host of REKINDLING OUR BONDS, a podcast about the motion pictures regarding the life and career of JAMES BOND (available on: iTunes! Youtube! Spotify!) to talk about TOKYO DRIFTER, a kind of James Bondy-French New Wavvy Yakuza movie with wild vibes. Topics include: the particular qualities of a work made under pressure, wondering if Seijun Suzuki knew about Godard or not, and a bunch of other stuff. Sorry for ther lateness: Corbin had a bunch of reporting this weekend and was seperated from his laptop, touching grass. Corbin rec. Matt rec. Andy Rec. Our next episode is about COBRA VERDE, watch it here.
Twenty years in the making, Marcell Jankovics' animated adaptation of Imre Madách's sort-of play is a terribly ambitious intellectual undertaking about the role of man's inherent nature in the onspooling of history. But is it any good? We discuss. A useful article about Madach. Read the play here if you're inclined. The movie is available on iTunes. Matt's recc. Corbin's recc is not important but check out Perfect Blue, which we touch on a little here. Next episode is about 'Tokyo Drifter,' available on Criterion.
In 2008 Mike Leigh made a movie about a genuinely nice lady coming into contact with a lonely right wing maniac. Sooner or later it became the model for how society was structured. Let's talk about it! Topics include: Sally Hawkings, clubbing, British repression, Mike Leigh in particular, and other stuff. Matt recc. Corbin recc's a music artist. Next week's episode is about The Tragedy of Man. I have no idea how I'm going to watch this thing though.
Matt and Corbin are joined by the famous music writer NATALIE WEINER (Don't Rock the Inbox, other famous publications) to discuss NASHVILLE, Robert Altman's sprawling sociological survey of the city of Nashville, home of the Country Music Industry, and also America. Is it a convincing portrait of either? We discuss. Natalie wrote about the movie's use of country music as metaphor here. Natalie's rec. Matt's. Corbin's. Next week's episode is about HAPPY-GO-LUCKY. Watch it here.
This is, somehow, the third movie we've done about pesants and the second movie we've done about agricultural barons trying to remove a community from the land where they live so it can be overwhelmed by animal agriculture. This one has some weird Brechtian qualities and beautiful photography. But is it any good? We get into it. Check out the movie on Mubi. Corbin recommends a game, Matthew a book. Next week, a SPECIAL EPISODE about NASHVILLE with a VERY SPECIAL GUEST! Watch it here!
Matt and Corbin, recording from the Portland Convention Center, talk about "Celine and Julie go Boating," a movie about two friends who are looking to have a good time and also maybe save a girl from a cycling ghost house deep in the heart of Paris, France. Topics: friendship, theater, improv, The French New Wave, and other stuff. I liked this essay that discusses the movie. Corbin recc. Matt recc. Next week's episode is about Harvest (2024), which is available on MUBI if you're into that sort of thing.
Corbin and Matt wrap up Digital Frontiers with MELANCHOLIA, a movie about depression, the end of the world, and like fifty other things. It's been a second since we recorded so I cannot properly remeber what we talked about, but I suspect we touch on the movie as a uniquely digital object that represents the apex of a young form, Dunst's absolutely annhilating performence, "The End of the World" vs. the actual end of the world, and other stuff. Next episode: "Celine and Julie Go Boating." Watch here.
Hi! THis week, Matt and Corbin talk about "Captain America, The First Avenger," a movie about Captain America, an American Superhero. Topics: The MCU as a sort of end-product of the first two decades of digital cinema, the function of the superhero as a multi-meaning storytelling device, the production design in this movie (Good!) and the cinematography in this movie (Less good!), adapting Jack Kirby's fly by night ethic to a large, settled metanarrative, how the movie's depiction of the Red Skull conforms to Nazi neurosis, and, of course, the question of if Captain America is Good or Bad. Matt's Recommendation. Corbin's. Next Week's episode will be the FINAL EPISODE of our Digital Frontiers series and it will be about MELANCHOLIA. Watch it here!
Whoops, a little late! Sorry everyone Matt is busy and I am something aside from busy but diverting enough that I forgot to post the episode. This one is about "Leviathan," a documentary from the Sensory Ethnography Lab at Harvard about commerical fishermen, the ocean, and things all sloppin' on the camera. Watch it here! Topics include: GoPros, sloppy noises, thinking about how a camera is doing something, guys with horny mermaid tattoos, Solaris, pornography, moshing, and post-continuity reemerging in the tiny cameras we would all be packing around sooner rather than later. Matt's recommendation. Corbin's recommendation is MAYBE in theaters near you but if not you can rent it. Next week: CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER. Disney+ if you're sick with it. Expect it around Monday, Matt is gonna be in California.
Old Cinema! New Cinema! Here they are, together! Ellis and Corbs talk about "Hugo," Martin Scorsese's honestly conspicously excellent family movie about a an orphan, a great filmmaker, and the open wounds of World War One. Topics: how exactly is Scorsese so good at making a special effects extravaganza, the 3D moment, fated to fail, color, and Scorsese's ability to bring a wide range of techniques to the table. Read a fascinting article about Rave Culture in Britain here. Corbin Rec. Matt rec. Next episode is about Leviathan. Watch here.
Welcome. In this episode Matt and Corbin talk about Abbas Kiarostami's 2010 brainscrew "Certified Copy," a movie about two strangers hanging out in the Italian countryside. Topics include: Binoche's performence, an anchor in a storm, Kiarostami as a natural candiate for digital cinema owing to his particular unfussiness, and Walter Benjamin. So much Walter Benjamin. Matt's recc. Corbin's recc is available on your music streaming application of choice. Our next episode is about "Hugo." Watch it here.
(sorry for the double post. this is a repost of a bad upload. LISTEN TO THIS ONE) Hi there! Matt made a guest appearance on a great new podcast about cinema, history, and the left and we are sharing it, with you, RIGHT HERE! The podcast is called 'Cold War Cinema,' and you can find it here and here. Join Ellis and hosts Jason Christian, Tony Ballas, and Paul T. Klein as they discuss: The Phoenician Scheme's connections to the Congress for Cultural Freedom, a CIA-backed cultural operation from 1950 that weaponized writers, artists, and other thinkers for intelligence operations. How Anderson's film reveals the Cold War origins of the contemporary world in its critiques of capitalism and the neoliberal project. The ways that The Phoenician Scheme breaks Anderson's hermetically sealed aesthetics and alludes to its formal limitations. To stay up to date on Cold War Cinema, follow along at coldwarcinema.com, or find them online on Bluesky @coldwarcinema.com or on X at @Cold_War_Cinema. For more from your hosts: Follow Jason on Bluesky at @JasonChristian.bsky.social, on X at @JasonAChristian, or on Letterboxed at @exilemagic. Follow Anthony on Bluesky at @tonyjballas.bsky.social, on X at @tonyjballas. Follow Paul on Bluesky at @ptklein.com, or on Letterboxed at @ptklein. Paul also writes about movies at www.howotreadmovies.com alright that's all. we'll be back on friday with Certified Copy, which i need to watch RIGHT NOW
Corbin and Matt talk about THE SOCIAL NETWORK, David Fincher's (and also Aaron Sorkin's) parable about the fouding of Facebook and the terrible dream of what felt like was coming next. Topics include: capital and moral hazard, the Winkelvosses and Eduardo, the movie's make believe version of Zuckerberg, Fincher setting the palette for the future by accident, and a bunch of other stuff. I dont know if you can see, but this episode is very long. Corbin rec. Ellis rec. Next episode is about "Certified Copy." Have a good day!
Documentarian CHRISTOPHER JASON BELL (MeansTV, 'Miss Me Yet,' the upcoming 'Failed State') joins us to talk about 'A Married Couple,' Alan King's 1969 documentary about a disintegrating Canadian marriage. Topics include: reality TV, the weird sexism in the movie's reception, documentary performance, the parade of hideous outfits this guy wears, and the terrible language of irrational arguements stuck deep in a nightmare mire. I will not be indexing our recs this week, there are simply too many of them. Next week's episode will return to the DIGITAL MINES as we talk about "The Social Network," David Fincher's symphony for the end of human communication. Check it out!!!