Episode #93 - Girish Shambu (Gold)

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"I think there's a place for the skills that we learn as cinephiles in the world at large."

If the cinephilia of lining up on small streets of Paris and New York for obscure rare prints of art films and the auteurs of Hollywood to appreciate the wind in the trees has died with Susan Sontag, what has replaced it? This is one of many questions asked by blogger Girish Shambu in his book The New Cinephilia. In this final report from SCMS, Girish discusses his childhood in India and how he became interested in not just film but the kind of critical discourses it creates, and how he sees himself functioning within that world. The two talk about the opportunities and challenges that cinephilia faces in our current moment, both in terms of the expanding definition of media and its relation to politics. Finally, they turn their eyes toward the ever nebulous group of coy German filmmakers known as the Berlin School, and in particular, Thomas Arslan's Klondike-trekking western Gold with Phoenix star Nina Hoss.

0:00-3:03 Opening 

3:57-12:15 Establishing  Shots — A Tale of Twin Peaks
13:07-52:22 Deep Focus — Girish Shambu

53:14-56:13 Sponsorship Section
57:17-1:16:58 Double Exposure — Gold (Thomas Arslan)
1:17:03-1:18:42 Close

Episode #49 - Kim Morgan (Something Wild)

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"We're all human beings and these are artists—should they be doing the appropriate things all the time? That's not going to make great art."

Kim Morgan talks straight. There's a directness in what she describes—about the way actors move, about what directors do with the camera, about sex, about gender, about everything. So in her interview with Peter, the blogger, critic, and programmer talks about her first love of movies through Raoul Walsh's High Sierra, her take on the strange sunny world that is Los Angeles, and her programming for the Telluride Film Festival alongside filmmaker Guy Maddin. The conversation also covers many of Kim's great movie loves: Irreversible, the tough worlds of Von Trier and Polanski, the delightful one of Pre-Codes, and especially Marilyn Monroe. Finally, the two sit down with Jack Garfien's Something Wild, a radical independent film starring Carroll Baker and Ralph Meeker that tackles the subject of rape trauma through a mix of hard hitting realism and psychological surrealism.

0:00-1:48 Opening

2:50-7:49 Establishing Shots - Lav Diaz's From What Is Before

8:33-55:14 Deep Focus - Kim Morgan
56:01-57:35 Mubi Sponsorship - Camille Claudel, 1915

59:33-1:15:41 Double Exposure - Something Wild (Jack Garfien)

1:15:44-1:17:23 Close 

Read Kim Morgan's blog, Sunset Gun.
Something Wild is streaming for Amazon Prime members and on DVD via Warner Archive.

Episode #21 - Victor Morton (Rosetta)

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"Does the film offer a space or entry point to someone who is not sympathetic to its agenda? That's something I think all films should do."

Since film discussion has been on the Internet, so has Victor Morton. The very opinionted and didactic film blogger joins Peter for a journey through his cinephile life. Victor tells the tales of growing up in both Scotland and Texas, before finally finding a voice on the famous UseNet groups of the early Internet. The two then discuss his approach to cinema as a conservative, the influence and analysis of viewing films through a Catholic prism, and the continuing wonders of Romanian cinema. Finally, the two dive deep into Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's Rosetta, a film which might not have any specific Christian themes on its surface, but the two find to be deeply, deeply spiritual.

0:00-1:00 Opening 

2:22-6:57 Establishing Shots - Allan Dwan / Trivia Round

7:42-1:29:03 Deep Focus - Victor Morton

1:29:54-1:59:27 Double Exposure - Rosetta (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne)

1:59:28-2:02:51 Close / Outtake - Victor on A Clockwork Orange

Read Victor on Rightwing Film Geek.

Follow Victor on Twitter.

 

Episode #20 - Andreas Stoehr (The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T)

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"There are thousands of older movies we could be talking about right now!"

Being a cinephile outside of places like New York or Chicago is a very different experience than what Peter is used to, so he treks to Northfield, Minnesota for this conversation with blogger Andreas Stoehr. Andreas discusses growing up on classic horror movies and how one manages a cinephile life when the town you live in doesn't even have a multiplex. The two also discuss the major challenges in the blogging universe, the fascinating creatures of horror movies, and the state of LBGTQ cinema. Finally, Andreas invites Peter to examine The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, which is the only film ever written by Dr. Seuss and somehow manages to subvert  every social anxiety of 1950s American life. Plus, in honor of Father's Day, Peter has a quick chat with his dad about his cinephile life.

0:00-0:57 Opening 

2:22-9:55 Establishing Shots -A Father's Day Interview with Theodore Labuza
10:08-11:10 Trivia Round

11:55-1:07:52 Deep Focus - Andreas Stoehr

1:09:10-1:37:50 Double Exposure - The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T (Roy Rowland)

1:37:51-1:39:53 Close / Outtake

Listen to The Cinephiliacs on Stitcher Radio

Read Andreas's work on Pussy Goes Grr, 366 Weird Movies, The Film Experience, Press Play, and Movie Mezzanine.

Follow Andreas on Twitter.

 

Episode #14 - Dan Sallitt (Christine)

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"I'm starting to realize my whole film aesthetic, everything I value about film has been intertwined around this feeling that film should be taking me somewhere and I need to evaluate not only how it's doing it, but where it's taking me."

Dan Sallitt is someone Peter considers a cinephile par excellence. A thoughtful auteurist, an idiosyncratic and insightful writer, a dedicated repertory cinema viewer, and a truly accomplished filmmaker, Dan exemplifies everything you'd want in both the classical and new forms of cinephilia. So on the eve of the theatrical run of his latest film, The Unspeakable Act, Peter sits down with Dan to trace his cinephile life. Dan discusses his first encounter with Howard Hawks, his stint at the LA Reader, and his various connections to Bazinian theory in film. The two then have an extended conversation on Dan's three films and how he uses cinema to explore some truly unique subjects. Finally, they dive into Alan Clarke's Christine, a film as brutal as any work of social realism, yet abstracted to a point of pure beauty.

0:00-3:58 Opening / Trivia Round

4:59-55:43 Deep Focus - Dan Sallitt

58:00-1:32:02 Deep Focus Part 2 - The Film of Dan Sallitt

1:32:58-1:52:32 Double Exposure - Christine (Alan Clarke)

1:52:34-1:54:15 Close

"The Films of Dan Sallitt" begins February 28th at Anthology Film Archives. Learn more about the series here. Watch All the Ships At Sea and Honeymoon on Amazon Instant.
Follow the Facebook Page for The Unspeakable Act.

Read Dan's work on Mubi, Senses of Cinema, Slate, and Thanks for the Use of the Hall. A collection of Dan's older works can be found at his website.

Follow Dan on Twitter.

Episode #6 - Farran Smith Nehme (Three Strangers)

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"[Writing about undiscovered classics] is in a sense more rewarding because you can give a little light and a little love to something that hasn't been duly appreciated."

After three weeks of new movies, The Cinephiliacs returns by going to old school filmmaking as Peter sits down with Farran Smith Nehme, aka the Self-Styled Siren, blogger extraordinaire when it comes to classic Hollywood movies. The two discuss how she first fell in love with the movies of Hollywood's golden age, approaching classic cinema beyond the expected titles and myths, and living the dream by appearing on Turner Classic Movies. They close out the show by examining Three Strangers, a film noir by Jean Negulesco and co-written by John Huston that might not be the best film ever made, but damn if it doesn't have some out of this world sequences and killer performances by Sydney Greenstreet, Geraldine Fitzgerald, and Peter Lorre as a romantic lead, of all things!

0:00-1:13 Opening
1:14-4:58 Establishing Shots - Kant and Criticism
5:12-45:15 Deep Focus - Farran Smith Nehme
46:30-1:05:38 Double Exposure - Three Strangers (Jean Negulesco)
1:05:39-1:07:32 Close / Outtake

Read Farran Smith Nehme at the Self-Styled Siren, the New York Post, the Criterion Collection, and Joan's Digest.
Follow Farran on Twitter.