Episode #41 - Adam Nayman (All Is Forgiven)

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"I try and keep my notes of doubt and discord when trying to build my response."

In a continent dominated by American cinema, it can be easy to forget how essential Toronto is for cinephilia: home of the famed film festival, base of the idiosyncratic magazine Cinema Scope, and the city where critic Adam Nayman has been writing and teaching. Nayman's latest writing opus is It Doesn't Suck, a fantastic book tracing the evolution of Paul Verhoeven's Showgirls from bomb to camp to cult to classic. Peter sits down with Adam to discuss the book, as well as his work for publications like Scope and Reverse Shot, his view of Canadian cinema, and much more. Finally, the two examine the first film from Mia Hansen-Love, All Is Forgiven, and how a film with seemingly little ambition can contain a great depth of feeling. 

0:00-1:17 Opening 

2:13-7:40 Establishing Shots - Blind Detective / Donations and Reviews

8:25-59:00 Deep Focus - Adam Nayman
59:44-1:09:09 It Doesn't Suck

1:21:24-1:41:35 Double Exposure - All Is Forgiven (Mia Hansen-Love)

1:41:42-1:43:32 Close / Outtake

Read Adam Nayman at Cinema-Scope, The Globe and The Mail, and Reverse Shot.
Buy It Doesn't Suck.
Follow Adam on Twitter.

Episode #40 - Michael Koresky (The Seventh Victim)

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"We decided there should a publication for a younger generation of film writers."

It would probably take days to count the number of film publications that launched in the early years of the current millennium, but Reverse Shot, which Michael Koresky co-founded, has been a cornerstone of intelligent and dynamic film writing for over a decade now. Peter sits down with Michael to chart out the publication's origins, the voice the site created, Michael's own work with the Criterion Collection, and his upcoming book on British director Terrence Davies. Finally, the two examine the nothing-else-like-it horror film, The Seventh Victim, a Val Lewton produced existential drama that manages to bring chills down both their spines with one little phrase: "death is good."

0:00-1:36 Opening 

2:24-8:40 Establishing Shots - BAMCinemafest (Ellie Lumme and Something, Anything)

9:25-54:02 Deep Focus - Michael Koresky

56:48-1:11:49 Double Exposure - The Seventh Victim (Mark Robson)

1:11:53-1:13:32 Close

Read Michael Koresky at Reverse Shot and at The Criterion Collection. Pre-Order his book on Terence Davies.

Episode #39 - Phillip Lopate (Charulata)

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"What I've learned from all my writing, is I can take my character and make him be a guide that can go out and fetch the world...and he wanders into my film writing."

Phillip Lopate has been writing for over five decades on a number of subjects - New York, family, marriage, art - but his initial love was the movies. Having seen the New Wave arrive in New York first hand (as well as watch the tide recede), Phillip recounts the stories behind many of his most celebrated essays in this conversation with Peter. He maps out his cinephilia over the years, including finding spirituality through contemplative films, considering the possibility of an essay-film, and thinking through the paradox of making a films about marriage. Finally, the two look at a fascinating work by Indian director Satyajit Ray, Charulata, examining how Ray finds a fascinating tension between East and West in a parable of a tragic housewife, as well as some of the most gorgeously poetic sequences put to screen.

0:00-1:38 Opening 

2:31-9:32 Establishing Shots - Lau Kar-Leung / Donations

10:17-1:03:18 Deep Focus - Phillip Lopate

1:05:53-1:21:26 Double Exposure - Charulata (Satyajit Ray)

1:21:30-1:23:09 Close

Purchase a number of Phillip Lopate's books on Amazon, including Totally, Tenderly, Tragically, American Movie Critics: From Silents Until Now, and The Art of the Personal Essay.