Exploring the intersections of cinema
With the arrival of sound in Hollywood, a new subgenre of comedy arose, so today Alex and Jonathan discuss the history of the "screwball comedies" while looking at Trouble in Paradise (1932), His Girl Friday (1940), and Some Like it Hot (1959). We talk about how screwballs differed from standard romantic comedies, the emphasis on… Continue reading Ep 169. COMEDY CINEMA 2: The Screwballs
The downfall. The tragic flaw. Today Alex and Jonathan kick off a new series about tragic cinema with three stories where the protagonist is ultimately responsible for their own misery: The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), Brief Encounter (1945), and Tár (2022). We discuss Aristotle's six elements of tragedy, why tragedy doesn't necessarily have to have a… Continue reading Ep 163. TRAGEDIES of Self
When discussing the history of the Western genre, there is no escaping the name or work of John Ford, so today Alex and Jonathan dive in to three of Ford's landmark films: My Darling Clementine (1946), The Searchers (1956), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). We talk about the ways Western films elevate actual… Continue reading Ep 149. WESTERNS 101: John Ford’s Golden Era
Kicking off season 6 of the podcast, Alex and Jonathan take a look at the films and careers of two oft-paired star performers: Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. We look at their films The Gay Divorcee (1934), Shall We Dance (1937), and The Barkleys of Broadway (1949), and discuss the history of each performer, the… Continue reading Episode 137. Rogers-Astaire
To wrap up Season 5 of the podcast Alex and Jonathan talk about another one of the hard-working directors of Hollywood's Golden Age, William Wyler. We're looking at four of his post-war films, The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Roman Holiday (1953), Ben-Hur (1959), and The Collector (1965) and discussing how Wyler's war experience… Continue reading Episode 136. Wyler, Not Wilder
Today Alex and Jonathan ask "How did Billy do it?" as we dive into the work and career of Golden Age director Billy Wilder through his films Sunset Boulevard (1950), Stalag 17 (1953), Sabrina (1954), and The Apartment (1960). We discuss the way Wilder turns a mirror back on Hollywood, the influence Ernst Lubitsch and… Continue reading Episode 135. Wilder, Not Wyler
The Filmlings 