Special Episode - Remembering Roger Ebert

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On Thursday, April 4th, 2013, the film critic Roger Ebert passed away at the age of 70. It was hard to deny the influence of someone who was easily the most recognizable film critic of all time, so Peter felt compelled to dedicate an entire episode to his legacy and work. For this special episode of the podcast, Keith Uhlich, Matt Prigge, Kenji Fujishima, and Godfrey Cheshire all join Petter for a discussion of his life, work, and legacy of its legend. The topics run far and wide, from his honest writing style, to the critics he plucked and championed, to his reflections of life and death, and even his own admittance of occasional failure with certain films and filmmakers. The five dig into the times they encountered Ebert (some in person and some online), and attempt to honor someone who will be with them forever. 

Read Roger Ebert's writing on his website.

Follow Roger Ebert on Twitter.

Special Episode - New Directors/New Films 2013 (Daniel Walber)

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Where do great directors come from? Since 1969, the New Directors/New Films festival has searched around the globe for the directors and cinemas that will soon rank among the canon. And certainly it has a strong history for accomplishing that with names like Pedro Almodovar, Steven Spielberg, Wong Kar-Wai, Spike Lee, and Chantal Akerman. So in a world of digital releasing and festival saturation, what can ND/NF offer? Joined by the very smart Daniel Walber, Peter takes a look at this year's impressive slate, focusing on a trio of unique films as well as some of the other highlights. Does Shane Caruth's Upstream Color transcend its complex science fiction narrative? Does Viola's brief running time and light hand build something more textured? And why exactly is Leones the "future of cinema?" All this and more in this special episode.

0:00-3:30 Opening
4:15-15:02 Upstream Color (Shane Caruth) 
15:53-31:54 Leones (Jazmin Lopez) 

31:55-33:04 Trivia Round

33:34-41:12 Other Highlights 

42:12-53:17 Viola (Matias Piñeiro)

53:19-55:19 Close / Outtakes

Read Daniel's work on Film.Com, Film School Rejects, and Movies.Com.

Follow Daniel on Twitter.

Episode #15 - Ignatiy Vishnevetsky (The Moderns)

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"If you see something or notice something in an image, you kind of have to go after it. To me, that's the essence of criticism. It's not really for the squeamish or the prudish. If something looks like something, you have to say it, and you have to think it, and you have to think it through."

In 2011, a young cinephile named Ignatiy Vishnevetsky became the poster boy for new cinephilia during the return of Roger Ebert's At the Movies. But there's much more to Mubi's esoteric and erudite critic than his days on public television. Recorded over two snowy Chicago days in January, Peter sits down with Ignaty to discuss how his Russian heritage influenced the way he watches movies, his interactions with the video store, and his very twisted process to writing criticism. They also discuss his obsession with images in 21st century filmmaking and cinephilia, the rise of vulgar auteurism, and the moral guidance than drives his writing. Finally, Ignatiy introduces Peter to the intoxicating world of Alan Rudolph through his impressionist work The Moderns, a film that might long for an image of the past, but asks us to question the context in which we view them.

0:00-4:59 Opening / Establishing Shots - The Essential Narrative

5:00-7:52 Trivia Round / Donations

8:38-1:31:02 Deep Focus - Ignatiy Vishnevetsky

1:31:50-1:59:52 Double Exposure - The Moderns (Alan Rudolph)

1:59:54-2:01:47 Close / Outtakes

Read Ignatiy's work on Mubi, Cine-File, the Chicago Reader, and his blog Sounds, Images. View episodes of Roger Ebert's At the Movies.

Follow Ignatiy 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 #13 - C. Mason Wells (The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums)

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"I think it's the duty of people to find whatever excuse they can find to show obscure movies. You need to have a reason to dig up these things, but they have to be seen."

It is a little odd how similar Peter and his guest C. Mason Wells are in certain ways. Both are New York cinephiles from the Midwest who are also passionate fans of Andrew Sarris Both went to Columbia University (and both participated in one of its oldest traditions), and now both are 35mm repertory junkies. However, Chris diverges in that often he's the one programming the great content, while Peter simply writes about it. Chris takes Peter through his journey of becoming a cinephile, including his work making films like LOL and The Color Wheel, and eventually how he found himself programming. The two give a look at his latest series, "Andrew Sarris: Expressive Esoterica," dedicated to the late critic, before diving into Chris's favorite film of all time, Kenji Mizoguchi's powerful 1939 drama, The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums.

0:00-1:18 Opening

2:08-4:57 Establishing Shots - Child Acting

5:58-57:35 Deep Focus - C. Mason Wells

58:38-1:18:55 Double Exposure - The Story of the Last Chrysnathemums (Kenji Mizoguchi)

1:18:58-1:23:44 Trivia Round, Close, and Outtake

"Andrew Sarris: Expressive Esoterica" begins February 22nd at Anthology Film Archives. Learn more about the series here.

Follow Chris on Twitter.

Episode #12 - Kevin B. Lee (Slacker)

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"For me, it's been parachuting into a film, looking at everything that's been said about it, and trying to synthesize understanding of it from that...But I really want to establish a personal voice and a personal stake in the films that I'm talking about."

When Peter sat down to do a video essay on his own a few years back, he primarly studied and examined the work of Kevin B. Lee. Luckily, Peter has gotten to know Kevin, and was thankful to sit him down for a podcast while in Chicago last month. Kevin explains his long winded path into filmmaking and finally film criticism. The two discuss the art and process of making video essays, the importance and frustrations with film canons, and his work in highlighting the work of independent Chinese filmmakers. Finally, they open up a can of worms with Richard Linklater's Slacker, a film Kevin describes as similar to today's Facebook and Twitter feeds.

0:00-1:20 Opening

1:20-4:22 Establishing Shots - Side Effects

5:20-1:14:10 Deep Focus - Kevin B. Lee

1:15:33-1:45:12 Double Exposure - Slacker (Richard Linklater)

1:45:13-1:48:57 Trivia Round, Close, and Outtake

Read and watch Kevin B. Lee's work on Press Play, Fandor, Shooting Down Pictures, Sight & Sound, and Moving Image Source.

Follow Kevin on Twitter.

Episode #11 - Keith Phipps (Petulia)

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"I've always had the Ebert attitude: movies are movies, and they're for everyone."

One of the New Year's Resolutions for The Cinephiliacs this year is to explore the world of cinephiles outside of New York, so Peter decided to make a trip to Chicago to interview the windy city's best and brightest. First up: Keith Phipps, the former head of the pop culture monster The A.V. Club. Keith describes his movement from graduate school to VHS junkie at a local video store in Madison. The two then discuss the world of the AV Club, as well as Keith's own interest in road trip movies and James Bond. Finally, they close out the show with a discussion of a Richard Lester film that doesn't star The Beatles—Petulia, which might actually be the truer landmark of the 1960s.

0:00-1:23 Opening

1:23-6:07 Establishing Shots - Jackie Brown

6:24-44:10 Deep Focus - Keith Phipps

45:21-1:09:20 Double Exposure - Petulia (Richard Lester)

1:09:20-1:13:01 Trivia Round, Close, and Outtake

Read Keith Phipps's work on The AV Club, Slate Magazine, Time Out Chicago, and his Tumblr.

Follow Keith on Twitter.