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 #89 - Laya Maheshwari (Sholay)

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"There's a lot of contextual information at film festivals that's really interesting...festivals are so often a tool for someone in power."

What does cinephilia look like when your local theaters are not filled with Hollywood's spectacle driven blockbusters, but films that feature action, romance, and musical numbers all at the same time? And how does that change the way you look at art cinema or festivals in general? Mumbai film critic Laya Maheshwari has thought about his own views for much of his career, and now shares those experiences with Peter. From the international travel to festivals both in Europe and elsewhere (including North Korea), to the continually evolving industry of Bollywood, Laya provides insights that are often missed from the perspective of the West, and grapples with what it means to be both a cinephile and yet often turn to only writing about what occurs locally. The two top it off with a look at one of the all time (no country specification needed) great films: Sholay. How did this masala film become the defining phenomenon as it has? 

0:00-2:36 Opening 

3:46-9:36 Establishing Shots — At Long Last Love

10:22-1:14:40 Deep Focus — Laya Maheshwari
1:15:29-1:17:28 Sponsorship Section
1:18:30-1:42:20 Double Exposure — Sholay (Ramesh Sippy)
1:42:29-1:44:05 Close 

Episode #58 - Fernando F. Croce (Once Upon A Honeymoon)

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"I think of films at these points where older films go into and newer films come out of."

Reading Fernando F. Croce's work, you get the sense that his criticism is more of an ode to the gods that create cinema than descriptions of moral material. They are filled with such romanticism and specificity that each line feels as intensely sculpted as the contours of a Bernini. So Peter was absolutely delighted to travel up to San Jose to talk about film with the Brazilian born critic, including the influence of Manny Farber, seeing art as a great unconscious that spills between films and beyond, and the two pillars that hold up this great art. The two then dive into the truly unique world of Once Upon A Honeymoon, a Leo McCarey romantic comedy following Cary Grant and Ginger Rodgers as they flee the Nazi invasion of Europe, creating a pathos that includes both sexual innuendo as well as sympathy for the plight of a soon to be exterminated people.

0:00-2:28 Opening

3:24-9:52 Establishing Shots - Rossellini's India: Matri Bhumi

10:37-53:20  Deep Focus - Fernando F Croce

54:05-56:40 Mubi Sponsorship - Boarding Gate and A Spell To Ward Off the Darkness

58:10 -1:24:36 Double Exposure - Once Upon A Honeymoon (Leo McCarey)

1:24:41-1:26:19 Close

Read Fernando F Croce at his website CinePassion, as well as on Slant, Mubi, Reverse Shot, and Keyframe Daily. Follow him on Twitter.
Watch Once Upon A Honeymoon on YouTube or Amazon.

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.