Episode #51 - Tina Hassannia (You've Got Mail)

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"Movies are always more than just the sum of their parts...no cinephilia should be limited to that kind of experience."

Up beyond the American border, Toronto based critic Tina Hassianna has formed a necessary voice that manages to combine a formal analysis of great works of American and world cinema with one concerned of how they socially operate. That made her a perfect candidate to write the first English language book examining the work of Iranian director Asgahr Farhadi, which has just been released. For her podcast with Peter, Tina talks about her late entry into the world of film, her interest in oddball works like Gus Van Sant's remake of Psycho, and her many thoughts on the cinema of her home country of Iran and what issues are at stake when Western critics analyze these works. Finally, the two turn back to Nora Ephron's You've Got Mail, which Tina and Peter look at as more than just a 90s romantic comedy, but a formally humorous remake that intelligently analyzes how online personas construct truer selves.

0:00-2:20 Opening

3:34-8:49 Establishing Shots - Clint Eastwood's American Sniper

9:135-57:34 Deep Focus - Tina Hassania
58:29-1:00:43 Mubi Sponsorship - You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet!

1:02:09-1:24:04 Double Exposure - You've Got Mail (Nora Ephron)

1:24:08-1:26:07 Close  / Outtakes

Read Tina Hassania's Asgahr Farhadi: Life and Cinema (or read an excerpt). Read Tina on Slant Magazine and Spectrum Culture. 
Listen to her podcast on Iranian Film, Hello Cinema.

You've Got Mail is currently streaming on iTunes and YouTube.

Episode #50 - Mike D'Angelo (Buffalo '66)

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"I've always been interested in as much in the prose as the actual ideas."

Before film criticism and cinephilia moved from print and theaters to the screen and discussion boards, Mike D'Angelo was already there forming its basis for a serious minded engagement with movies. Mike sits down for this 50th episode of The Cinephiliacs to discuss his original path as a screenwriter and an actor, how he moved from an online phenomenon to a full time film critic, and the way the Internet helped in shaping his uniquely crafted voice. Peter also talks with Mike on his walk out policy, his obsession with puzzlebox movies, and the importance of rhythm in cinema. Finally, they look at one of the strangest American indies of recent memory—Vincent Gallo's Buffalo '66—and how the director-star constantly surprises by both engaging and then breaking with indie conventions.

0:00-2:29 Opening

3:53-8:32 Establishing Shots - Robert Greene's Actress

9:18-1:07:04 Deep Focus - Mike D'Angelo
1:07:54-1:09:36 Mubi Sponsorship - Edvard Munch

1:10:53-1:31:03 Double Exposure - Buffalo '66 (Vincent Gallo)

1:31:08-1:33:28 Close  / Outtakes

Read Mike D'Angelo on his website, The Man Who Viewed Too Much, and on Letterboxd.

Buffalo '66 is available for rental on Amazon and iTunes.