Episode #43 - Dave Kehr (The Whistler)

Photo Credit: Ray Pride

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"The real benefit of auteurism was taking the pressure off this endless search for stand alone masterpieces...there was an entire range of cinema not being addressed."

There are those who search out the most majestic works of cinema, and those who would rather search under the cracks for oddities and beyond. Dave Kehr, the former critic of the Chicago Reader and New York Times, and now a programmer at the Museum of Modern Art, certainly fits the latter bill. In his brief conversation with Peter, Dave talks about his origins as a cinephile in Chicago, the challenges of keeping the archive alive in the face of the digital programming switchover, and his recent series at MoMA—Lady in the Dark—dedicated to various crime films made at Columbia Pictures from the 30s to the 50s. Finally, the two investigate one series in particular, The Whistler starring Richard Dix, which features the former silent actor in terrifying and fatalistic situations, only to be reincarnated again and again.

0:00-1:27 Opening 

2:49-8:12 Establishing Shots - Boyhood and Dazed and Confused

8:55-48:47 Deep Focus - Dave Kehr

51:07-1:01:15 Double Exposure - The Whistler Series (William Castle, Lew Landers, and George Sherman)

1:01:18-1:04:04 Close / Outtake

Read Dave Kehr on his website and check out his NYTimes Column. Purchase When Movies Mattered here. You can Follow Dave on Twitter here. 

Purchase a box set of all eight Whistler films or watch some on YouTube, including The Whistler, The Power of the Whistler, and Mysterious Intruder.

Episode #42 - J. Hoberman (Poor Little Rich Girl)

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"I was encouraged to be as opinionated and obscure as I wanted."

While his origins as a cinephile are based largely in his interest in the avant-garde, J. Hoberman has become one of the most influential critics through his examinations of Hollywood blockbusters, world cinema, the outer limits of experimental works, and most importantly, film history. In his appearance on the podcast, Hoberman talks to Peter about his adventures as a kid traversing New York City's film culture, his movement through the the city's underground scene, and eventually to his position at The Village Voice and creating a voice that often examined the relationship between politics and cinema. Finally, the two discuss Poor Little Rich Girl, Andy Warhol's out-of-focus and out of this world portraiture of Edie Sedgwick, which Hoberman describes as a work of "pure cinema."

0:00-1:38 Opening 

2:03-10:18 Establishing Shots - 2 Years of Cinephiliacs / Donations and Reviews
11:02-1:09:29 Deep Focus - J. Hoberman

1:12:19-1:28:52 Double Exposure - Poor Little Rich Girl (Andy Warhol)

1:28:57-1:31:32 Close / Outtake

Read J. Hoberman on his website, the New York Times, Artforum, Tablet, and The New York Review of Books. Purchase Hoberman's dozen books on Amazon. 
Watch Poor Little Rich Girl.