Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 66 of the Director Watch Podcast, the boys are joined by hosts of the Screen Drafts podcast Clay Keller and Ryan Marker to discuss the next film in their Terrence Malick series, Song to Song (2017).

The final film in Malick’s modern, personal trilogy finds the director searching for love, loss, inspiration and faith in the music scene set in Austin, Texas. Filmed over multiple years, and at various music venues and festivals, Malick was able to explain the dirtiness that surrounds being in an artistic industry and how much of your soul you have to give up in order to find success. At the same time, he displays a location of this country that is evolving from it’s “weird” roots and becoming more conventional, losing the very thing that makes the fabric of a town like Austin so unique. In one of the liveliest DW episodes the boys have ever had, Ryan, Jay, Clay, and Ryan break down the thoughts on the film, the use of real life musician’s as actors throughout the film, Malick’s relationship with casting movie stars, their love for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, first reactions to seeing a Malick film, which one of the guys on the show is actually in the film, who got cut from the film, how it is showcases Austin, and what is the best Malick movie to show someone if they have never seen one of his films.

You can listen to the Director Watch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.

This podcast runs 2h11m. The guys will be back next week to conclude their series on the films of Terrence Malick with a review of his next film, A Hidden Life. You can rent it via iTunes and Amazon Prime rental in preparation for the next episode of Director Watch. Till then, let’s get into it.

Music: MUSICALIFE, from Pond5 (intro) and “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).