Today Renan and Bill lose their neorealist chains and grapple with the 1963 Federico Fellini film 8½, hailed by armchair film scholars as one of the greatest films of all time. More than 50 years on, how does it hold up? Undoubtedly and deservedly a classic, 8½ today looks different than it did in the 1960s, or even the 1990s. In this episode: 8½'s attitudes toward women; Pauline Kael's critical review; Guido's heirs including Don Draper; Fellini's virtuosic filmmaking; whither the imperial film director; and other films about filmmaking. Also, Bill offers some hot Sundance tips, and we highlight a listener's electronic music project providing an alternate score to Eraserhead.

Episode links:

• 8½ on IMDb
• 8½ on Wikipedia
• Pauline Kael original 8½ review
• Stanley Kaufman original 8½ review
• Roger Ebert 8½ review from 2000
• Michael Newton 8½ essay from 2015
• Criterion dream sequence roundup
• Tullio Kezich essay on Fellini and 8½
• Bilge Ebiri on 8½'s influence at 50
• Brian Morton on reading old books in NY Times
• Henry alternate Eraserhead soundtrack on Bandcamp

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