Remembering James Agee (The Night of The Hunter)

Click here to listen to the episode

"It is my business to conduct one end of a conversation, as an amateur critic among amateur critics. And I will be of use and of interest only in so far as my amateur judgment is sound, stimulating, or illuminating."

May 16th, 1955—60 years ago before this recording—James Agee died of a heart attack in the back of a New York taxi at the all too young age of 45. In his wake, he left a mountain of unprecedented writing, including the foundations for the first wave of serious film criticism in America. In this special episode, Scott Nye and Kristen Sales join Peter to discuss Agee's work and life. From his Southern roots in literature, including his poetic depiction of the depression, to his adoration of the silent comedies and vitriolic defense of one of Charles Chaplin's most contentious films. The conversation spreads from criticism to narrative prose to photography and finally to Agee's work within the moving image, especially his contribution to one of the all time great films, The Night of the Hunter.

0:00-4:19 Opening

4:40-22:30  "Comedy's Greatest Era" and Let Us Now Praise Famous Men
23:05-33:39 On Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend
34:20-51:37 Monsieur Verdoux and "Knoxville: Summer 1915"
52:36-1:00:20 In The Street

1:00:56-1:03:15 Mubi Sponsorship - Mother and We Can't Go Home Again

1:04:22 -1:22:38 The Night of the Hunter 

1:22:42-1:24:49 Close / Outtake

Read Scott Nye at Criterion Cast and Battleship Pretension
Read Kristen Sales at Sales on Film.
Follow Scott on Twitter and Kristen on Twitter

Episode #37 - Carrie Rickey (Clueless)

Click here to listen to the episode

"I love engaging the audience, and the Internet gives you the ability to do that."

From Los Angeles to New York, Carrie Rickey spent many of her years during the heyday of the Golden Age of Film Criticism, writing about some of the truly great movies as they were released, before moving cities for the Philadelphia Inquirer. No longer working the daily beat, Carrie found time in her busy schedule to sit down with Peter for a chat about her training under Manny Farber, that infamous Heaven's Gate screening, and her various pieces and pursuits in examining women and women's cinema. Finally, the two get like totally on board with Amy Heckerling's Clueless, which like is for sure Frank Tashlin except given this sweet makeover.

0:00-1:12 Opening 

1:47-10:19 Establishing Shots - East Asia Films At Tribeca / Donations

11:02-56:25 Deep Focus - Carrie Rickey

57:58-1:13:03 Double Exposure - Clueless (Amy Heckerling)

1:14:06-1:15:56 Close / Outtake

Read Carrie Rickey at her website.
Follow Carrie on Twitter.

Episode #33 - Kent Jones (Spawn of the North)

Click here to listen to the episode

"There's a general problem with film culture of actually confronting a movie head-on."

Kent Jones is truly one of the most essential voices for Peter. His writings are reflective, intelligent, and complex in a way few writers come close to, and his other work—A Letter To Elia, the World Cinema Project, and the New York Film Festival—are key to Peter's continuing exposure to cinema. So Kent sits down with Peter to discuss his first exposure to cinema, his mentorship under Manny Farber and Martin Scorsese, his complicated process of writing, working on making films and using images, and the auteurs that continue to inspire him. The two then end with a conversation on the rarely seen Spawn of the North, a Henry Hathaway film with Henry Fonda that finds something very physical  in its Alaskan set border town.

0:00-1:20 Opening 

2:47-8:47 Establishing Shots - John Ford's Young Mr. Lincoln / Donations

9:32-1:16:20 Deep Focus - Kent Jones

1:17:28-1:36:48 Double Exposure - Spawn of the North (Henry Hathaway)

1:36:52-1:38:31 Close

Kent Jones's books include Physical Evidence: Selected Film Writings, L'Argent, and Olivier Assayas. His films include Val Lewton: The Man in Shadows and A Letter To Elia. You can often read him in Film Comment.