Jason and the Movienauts

Yep, Paul and Shawn are back to continue our discussion of the Alien franchise, with a look at the controversial Hulu series Alien: Earth. This show takes the xenomorphs to our planet for some havoc and craziness, but the even more havoc comes from all the other aliens come to Earth, as well as all the different cybernetic people who are fighting for control of our planet.

The guys have a lot to say about the concepts and characters in this most intriguing TV show.

Jason is just back from the very fun Orcas Island Film Festival and he ranks his favorites from the fest. What did he think of No Other Choice, Hedda, Sentimental Value and other films you’re interested in seeing? What was best and worst? Find out in this quick 30 minute rundown!

This is an episode near and dear to Jason's heart, as Eric and he connect again to discuss three movies by Jason's favorite director, Robert Altman.

Eric loves Altman's work too, and the guys love to tackle the complicated movies from the great directors, so this week the guys are talking Altman's great mysterious trio of complex female centered dramas: 3 Women, Images and That Cold Day in the Park.

No matter how much thought you've given these films, we think you'll come to some new revelations about them (at least Jason and Eric did during...

Michelle is back again and she and Jason are once again discussing the brilliant films of the great Billy Wilder. This time they discuss the films which feature Marilyn Monroe. There's no question that Some Like It Hot is one of the greatest comedies of all time, a delirious, delightful, dizzy masterpiece of sheer lunacy. In other words, Jason and Michelle liked it.

They also look at The Seven Year Itch, which is also a fine movie but much more problematic and complicated for a contemporary viewer. Monroe's character is just called The Girl in the film...

Paul and Shawn are back to continue our look at the movies in the Alien and Predator franchise. This week we're stuck looking at two of the most infamous movies of their era, Aliens vs Predator and Aliens vs Predator: Requiem.

Can the guys who found goodness in the Twilight films find things to like in this one? You might be surprised to learn the answer is actually yes!

Tune in and see if you agree.

Eric and Jason have been discussing some complicated and depressing movies, so they felt like it was time to take a mental break and talk about two classics from Woody Allen, Purple Rose of Cairo and Zelig. Coming in the middle of perhaps Allen's richest and finest era, both movies take on ideas of identity, fiction versus reality, and fame in ways completely unique to Allen.

In other words, they make for great conversation!

Michelle is back, which means it's time to talk Billy Wilder again. This time the pair discuss the films Wilder made with the luminous Audrey Hepburn, Sabrina and Love in the Afternoon. As it turns out, these films have more in common than just their lead actress and they're a perfect contrast thematically and emotionally for each other.

As always, Michelle and Jason dig deep and have some wonderful insights.

Eric is back with some more fascinating recommendations among Japanese directors. This week the guys start their look at the films of  Keisuke Kinoshita with a shared look at Twenty Four Eyes and The River Fuefuki. Both are intriguing, deeply heartfelt looks at the ravages of war and time on small Japanese societies. Both are worthy of deep discussion. And both stirred up real passions for both of the guys.

Paul and Shawn are back! And we're continuing our discussion of the Predator series with two of the best movies of the series, Prey and Killer of Killers. Will the guys all agree on a movie for a change? Will they look forward to, or dread, Predator: Badlands? Tune in to this fun show and find out!

Michelle is back to continue our look at the films directed by the great Billy Wilder. This time, we look at the film which won the Academy Award for Best Picture and the film which should have won the award: the slightly less classic "problem drama" The Lost Weekend and the truly classic prototypical film noir Double Indemnity.

Michelle and Jason both did their research on both films, which resulted in a fun and fascinating approach to the conversation, a conversation we hope you really enjoy.

It's finally happened: after watching all 31 films in the long career of the movie master Masahiro Shinoda, Jason and Eric have finally had a chance to get together and compare notes on the man, his filmography and where he stands in the pantheon of great directors. And the answer, after all this work is: yes. Yes, indeed, Masahiro Shinoda is a director unlike any other and a man who deserves to be considered one of the true greats.

Paul and Shawn are back to continue our exploration of the Predator franchise. This time, the not very well loved Predators and The Predator. You might say Richard Rodriguez and Shane Black didn't deliver great Predator movies, but we make the counterarguments here - Shawn especially thinks The Predator is really not too bad... join us and see if Shawn makes his case well...

Jason's been fascinated all over again by a rewatch of the HBO Max series Irma Vep, So Keith proposed to Jason they watch several other great Olivier Assayas films, including Personal Shopper, Summer Hours and Clouds of Sils Maria, each a more stunning work of comic art than the one that came before it. Give a listen to the guys rhapodize about some of the finest films of the millennium.

Shawn and Paul are back to continue our discussion of the best of 1990s action films. This time the guys discuss Predator and Predator 2. One is a true classic, the other is a strange oddball 90s action flick, full of contradictory ideas but which is ultimately kind of fascinating.

Join the guys as they try to untangle all the threads on these wild and often awesome films.

Paul Moyer joins Jason to discuss two paranoid thrillers of the 1970s. The Parallax View and All the President's Men are dark looks at America's secret, terrible underbelly. Both directed by the great Alan J. Pakula in the early '70s, these films are just as spooky and compelling today as the day they were first made. Join Jason and Paul for an intriguing 50-minute, SPOILER FILLED look at these classic movies.

Michele is back again as she and Jason continue their journey into the films of the great Billy Wilder. This time they look at one of his greatest, most popular and most profound films, Sunset Boulevard (1950), and plumb so much of its hidden depth. Along with that, Michele and Jason take a look at a much deeper cut in Wilder's catalog: Fedora (1978), the shaggy-dog, slightly misbegotten approach to similar territory as Sunset.

Fedora is a fascinating film for very different reasons than Sunset Boulevard, and in many ways helps appreciate the unique alchemy that helped make the...

Sometimes the least watched movies reveal the most information about a director. Such is the case with two of the final films by the great Masahiro Shinoda, Spy Sorge and Moonlight Serenade.

Eric and Jason watch both these films and find them to be tremendously watchable and kind of brilliantly made. Listen in and get the argument for you to add these to your exploration of Japanese cinema.

Paul and Shawn are back to talk about cinema's best loved aliens, well, the Alien franchise. Join the guys for two hours of chat about whether Prometheus is deep or pretentious, about whether Covenant is a good film, and especially abouy how amazing Michael Fassbender is onscreen.

Blaize is back one more time to talk Paul Schrader with Jason. This time the guys go deep into their top 11 favorite films Schrader directed. There are some major disagreements here, which of course makes for great listening. Please let us know how you enjoy, and share your lists with us!

Blaize and Jason worked our wat through all the films directed by Paul Schrader. So to sum the effort up, we had to rate his films from worst to best. This week: part one of that rating. There's a few surprises and disagreements in here and we'd love to hear your opinions on these films too!

Shawn and Paul are back again to continue out look at the Aliens series of films, this time to look at Aliens3 and Aliens: Resurrection. Knowing what a fan the guys are of the movies, it's no surprise they have a lot of praise for these two films. But do they stand up to rewatch? And what do we think of the alien baby in Resurrection anyway?

Michelle is back for yet another fantastic discussion of films directed by the great Billy Wilder. This time she and Jason discuss two woefully underrated films in Wilder's auspicious filmography, Five Graves to Cairo and A Foreign Affair. The friends discuss the excellent way Wilder portrays gender, the depiction of history as it happens, why sometimes it's better to cast relative unknowns, and much, much more.

Paul and Shawn are back to start a new series, this time examining the Aliens franchise. And what better films to start with than two of the greatest science fiction films ever, Alien and Aliens. As usual the guys dig deep into the films for a sometimes wild and always freewheeling chat about some brilliant moments on the screen.

Fans often sleep on the late films of Hiroshi Teshigahara, the man who directed Woman in the Dunes and The Face of Another. But, as guest Eric reminds us, Teshigahara's late films are equally as powerful. Rikyu and Basara: The Princess Goh represent a magnificent and unexpected late career peak from the master filmmaker. They are the kinds of masterful films one would expect from a Kurosawa and are startling to watch as delivered by a formalist like Teshigahara.

Jason also especially liked the pseudo-documentary Summer Soldiers, a morally ambiguous story about Americans stationed in Japan during t...

Michele joins Jason again for a new project: a look at the films of the great Billy Wilder. This week the pair discuss several films Wilder co-wrote before he took up the directing reigns: Ball of Fire, Arise My Love, Ninotchka and more -- and find them to all be pretty special films. We think you'll enjoy the insight the pair bring, and have fun thinking through your own watch of these sublime films!

Eric is back and this time he and Jason are talking about the brilliant short films of Hiroshi Teshigahara (or at least the ones which are actually available). Teshigahara⁠ may be best known for his features like The Face of Another and Woman in the Dunes, but his short subjects are beautiful meditations on art and the power of the arts.

As usual, Jason and Eric connect the dots and really bring the director's obsessions and power to life in this chat.

Michelle is back to conclude our conversation about the remarkable films of Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, this time with looks at the brilliant A Matter of Life and Death and Thief of Bagdad.

Then it's time for the really good stuff as each of us rate the P&P films - and agree on our top choice.

As always, we think this is a fun and interesting listen.

Eric is back again. He and Jason got to chatting about David Lynch and his brilliant legacy, and got on the topic of how Lynch's Lost Highway is an examination of the legacy of the OJ trial. They got onto the idea of other films which discuss the Simpson story and talked about Natural Born Killers as well. Turns out the two movies created a fascinating contrast and a good conversation about two fascinating films.

Paul and Shawn are back again, ready to conclude our look at Twin Peaks: the Return. If you've been following our discussions, you know these pods have been in-depth, thoughful and long. This episode might set our record in all three categories: the guys go deep into the conclusion, tie many pieces together and spend lots of time considering the details and implications of what we watched.

We crossed the two-hour milestone with this one, but whether you listen to a few minutes or to the whole episode, we think you'll find a lot of interesting content...

Shawn and Paul are back to talk to Jason about their mutual love for David Lynch and his vastly wonderful body of work. Then the guys sit down for a nearly two-hour discussion of Twin Peaks the Return episodes 13, 14 and 15. They chat aboiut the films with their usual mix of awe and irreverence, mixed with a bunch of insights and even more laughs.

Blaize is back to get close to the end of our conversations aout the films directed by Paul Schrader. This time we're looking at two of his most recent films, Master Gardener and The Card Counter.

These are part of his "lonely man in a room" trilogy with First Reformed, but are they are fulfilling and poweful as that previous film? The guys debate the films' complexity and power, and how influential Luc Bresson's Pickpocket is on Schrader's whole career.

Eric is back for a continuation of the exhaustive look at the films of Masahiro Shinoda. We've gone some 20-plus films deep on Shinoda's filmography, and are still finding hidden gems in his catalog.

This time, Shinoda's "island" films, with Island of the Evil Spirits and Captive's Island, two films with excellent cinematography and a mixed bag on story.... listen in and discover which film we highly recommend and which one you can happily skip.

Carlos is back after a long break. This time rather than talk about the latest MCU movie which makes him sad, Carlos and Jason talk about the Brad Pitt/George Clooney movieWolfs.

Jason is initially skeptical of the film, but Carlos fell hard for the fun ideas behind this film and the clockwork way the plot starts to fall into place. In fact, this is a movie which might persuade Carlos to watch more movies!

Come hear if you feel the same way...

Michelle is back to continue her exploration with Jason of the films of Michael Powell - this time without his longtime partner Emeric Pressburger. What sorts of things does Powell create without his longtime partner?

One of the things he delivers is the deeply upsetting and strange Peeping Tom, a movie much scathed when it was first released but which has re-emerged into public esteem. Jason ercently had a change to see Peeping Tom in a rapt theatre, and has a great chat with Michelle about the uncanny, fascinating nature of the film.

Then they...

Michelle is back again to continue our discussion of the beautiful films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. This time we look at perhaps P&P at their most exquisite, as we discuss how The Red Shoes, The Tales of Hoffmann and Bluebeard's Ghost all appeal to us, who aren't opera or ballet fans but who love a beautiful film.

The big surprise for us was Bluebeard's Ghost, a short film for German TV that's rarely seen today. We tracked down a copy and found the film gorgeous in its minimalism - well, hey, listen to the...

Shawn, Paul and Jason got together before the untimely passing of David Lynch for their latest discussion of his final major project: Twin Peaks the Return. This time the guys talk episodes 10, 11 and 12. I think you can hear our love for the film master in every word we say on the pod, as we celebrate Lynch's unique genius for sound, script, video and collaboration. We will sorely miss him and hope this small tribute will get you to start watching as well.

Jason is a huge Bob Dylan fan and is wrestling with his complicated feelings after watching A Complete Unknown. Keith heard Jason's hand-wringing about the film and suggested that he and Jason discuss this film in conjunction with another Mangold biopic, Walk the Line, and try to find some kind of truth in the way untruths are shown on the screen.

This ended up being a fascinating discussion, deep on theory, passion and practice, a complex look at a complex subject.

Oh, and Keith is an incredibly smart man and an amazing interviewer!

Eric is back this week and the guys are delving deep again into some wildly existentialist Japanese police films. This week: A Man Vanishes and The Man without a Map, two films which as fascinating and complex questions about the nature of reality and fiction, about truth and artifice, and about Japanese society in the 60s.

As always when Jason and Eric talk for Movienauts, the conversation gets deep and interesting. It was a pleasure to record this episode and we think it will be a pleasure to listen to, too.

Michelle is back to hang out again with Jason and discuss the amazing films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. This time they look at a great combination of classic and obscure P&P films, all of which have to do in some way with war and its impact on people: 49th Parallel, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp and The Small Back Room.

The pair get into a discussion of the complex ways P&P think about war, their flawed lead characters, and the basic humanity of these characters.

It's a great listen...

Paul, Shawn and Jason have masde it to perhaps the greatest episode of TV ever created, specifically Twin Peaks the Return episode 8. The guys go deep into the analysis of this episode, and Jason, at least, had his mind blown by a few of the ideas and insights Shawn shared. As if that's not enough, the guys go deep into all these episodes, with some really intriguing textual and metatextual analysis which makes this yet another great episode from the podcast team supreme.

The Schradercast has walked some interesting ground in its previous 9 episodes, but this time Blaize and Jason have hit the most interesting ground so far, with two diametrically opposite films which provide a fascinating contrast for each other. First, Dog Eat Dog a hyperkinetic nihilistic Nic Cage/Willem Dafoe crime thriller. Next, First Reformed, a highly considered and deeply fascinating Ethan Hawke/Amanda Seyfred journey into the complex darkness of one man's soul.

Whatever the mismatched nature is of these films, the resulting discussion ends up being one of the most intense and often moving conversations we've...

Eric is back as he and Jason continue their look at the films of the Japanese master Teshigahara. This time, the lovely and lyrical Ako and the deeply complex The Face of Another. The guys really wrestle with Face and come out of the film with more questions than they went in with, but that kind of suits the film!

Shawn and Paul are back to continue our look into the void - or, at least, into the Black Lodge, as we continue our look at Twin Peaks the Return. This time the guys are looking into episodes 4, 5 and 6 and debating when to get tired of Dougie, how frightening EvilCoop feels, and what is Twin Peaks when most of the show doesn't take place in that small town? Oh, and much, much more...

Shawn and Paul are back for the latest blockbuster look at the films and TV shows of David Lynch. This time the guys start their bite of the biggest apple of Lynch's career as they start their review of Twin Peaks: the Return, covering episodes 1, 2 and 3. The guys discuss subverted expectations, meandering plot, and visual and audio brilliance.

Eric is back and this time he and Jason are starting their looks at the brilliant, mysterious fictional films of Hiroshi Teshigahara. This time they look at his first full-length features, Pitfall and Woman in the Dunes, two of the more fascinating films of any time period but especially the 1960s. Lots of interesting debate and perspectives in this episode!

Starting yet another series on Jason and the Movienauts, this time talking about the beautiful, transcendent films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Michelle joins Jason and the duo talk about their deep appreciation for I Know Where I'm Going, A Canterbury Tale and Black Narcissus - three films which are all about travel in some way, and all of which find uniquely P&P insights into the idea of travel.

It's a great conversation full of smart thoughts and we hope you enjoy!

I got together with a group of friends to discuss The Shining, Stanley Kubrick's 1980 horror classic. The resulting two-hour discussion of the film is fascinating listening, getting into many questions about acting, artifice, camera, the unknowability of evil, and the cosmic sublime. I think this is one of the best film discussions I've been part of, two hours of smart discussion which shed a tremendous amount of insight into this most perplexing of films.

The world of film fandom erupted into a small controversy recently when Criterion announced they'd be releasing a 40th anniversary boxset with 40 movies they selected. That got Jason, Bryant and Michelle talking: What would they include in their 40 movies in their boxset?

So the group decided to get together and debate their selections, and slowly but surely build a collection which we believe is pretty dang interesting.

Hear the results in the longest - but we think most fun - episode of Jason and the Movienauts episode so far!

Blaize is back with Jason to continue their look at the films of Paul Schrader, this time with perhaps Schrader's oddest career killing move.

In 2014 Schrader was contracted to deliver a "geezer teaser" action thriller with Nicolas Cage called Dying of the Light. But the film was taken away from Schrader and edited without his consent. So Schrader created his own take on Dying and posted it to torrent sites as Dark.

Are either of these films any good, or is this another example of the eternal oddball Schrader sabotaging his old career. Can the...

Eric is back to talk Masahiro Shinoda again with Jason, this time chatting about three of the master's movies centered around love: One Way Ticket to Love, Epitaph to My Love and Love, New and Old. These are early Shinodas, which means they're less experimental - but even in these early films, a lot of the genius of Shinoda shines through and makes these films well worth watching. Join us and find out why!

Now Eric and Jason come to an odd point in their look at the films of the great Masahiro Shinoda. Shinoda made one unabashedly commercial film, his look at the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics. So they had to look at that movie, but what to pair it with? They ended up deciding to look at perhaps the most critically acclaimed Olympics documentary ever made, Kon Ichikawa, 1965 Tokyo Olympiad.

The films are almost in dialog with each other. Both take similar concepts and do different things with them, so what emerges from a watch of both is an intriguing...

This week, Paul and Shawn join Jason as the trio discuss a pair of outlier films in the careers of two of their favorite directors: first, Fast Company, directed by David Cronenberg, divided the crew. Fast Company is a fairly by-the-numbers look at drag racing in western Canada in the late 1970s. Paul felt like the film didn't use its talent well enough, while Shawn and Jason fell into the film's vibe.

Then they discuss The Straight Story, David Lynch's most experimental film (according to Mr Lynch). This time Paul disliked its meandering pace and pat insight...

This time in our look at the films of Paul Schrader, Blaize and Jason get obscure and controversial.

First they look at Schrader's decidedly different Adam Interrupted, which stars Jeff Goldblum as a former popular German entertainer who is sent to a Nazi concentration camp - and the trauma that camp visits upon him. It's a very Goldblum type of performance, as the guys discuss.

Then they get to the notorious The Canyons, a kickstarter-funded LA noir starring rehabbing Lindsay Lohan and abusive porn star James Deen. It's an odd film for all those reasons...

This week Carl Smith of Becoming Valiant: A Valiant Comics Podcast joins Jason to talk about one of the more oddball intriguing stories of comics-to-film.

You might never have heard of Valiant Comics, but it's possible that if COVID had never happened, Valiant would be a household name these days. See, their big-screen debut, Bloodshot, hit just as Coronavirus shutdowns hit the world. That means nobody ended up seeing the film and that caused the Valiant Cinematic Universe to die before it was ever born.

Carl and Jason talk Bloodshot along with a fan-produced Valiant...

For the last two weeks on this podcast, we've been discussing David Lynch films. So what better topic to discuss to follow up on the Lynch analysis than to talk about a director whose work reminds many of Lynch? Chris joins Jason again as the guys try to make sense of Beau is Afraid, Hereditary and Midsommar - and they come up with some interesting conclusions. We think you'll enjoy this one on the day after Mother's Day as Chris and Jason dig into dysfuctional families, subjective vs objective storytelling, and the bizarre acting skills of one Joaquin Phoenix. <...

Shawn and Paul join Jason once again to discuss the biggie of all the David Lynch films: Mulholland Drive. Ofte called one of the best - if not the best - film of the century - the guys attempt to examine why the film is so well loved, what the heck it's all about, and just who was lying dead in that bed anyway?

Shawn and Paul are back once again to help Jason make sense of David Lynch's most massive and often overwhelming film: Inland Empire. Just what is it about this film that resists analysis and compels a myriad of YouTube users to create hour long breakdowns of this film? And why is does the film still compel us to stare into the abyss and try to add a rational plot to a fundamentally irrational story? Listen as the guys try to puzzle it all out.

Eric and Jason are back talking about the films of Masahiro Shinoda, this time discussing three films with bizarre emotional triangles of a sort: Our Marriage, Gonza the Spearman and The Petrified Forest.

The guys are surprised how emotionally satisfying Our Marriage is despite its brief 66-minute running length. The film captures a specific moment in Japanese history with a brilliant sort of all-encompassing eye... hopefully a listen to this pod will convince you to check out this vastly under-known film.

Which is not to say that Gonza and Forest are not excellent films. As...

Blaize and Jason are now getting towards the later section of Paul Schrader's complex career. This time they get to a couple of really pretty intriguing films by him.

Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist is one of those films which has a backstory as compelling as what viewers see up on the screen. Blaize gets into all of the amazing backstory here, exploring how Schrader opted to go back to work for the studios, how his Exorcist prequel was taken away from him, and how that prequel was ultimately released.

Even with all that backstory...

Keith and Jason have been wanting to discuss a pair of films for a long time, a pair of films which seem perfectly in dialogue with each other: Jean-Pierre Melville's brilliant Le Samouraï (1967), the story of a lone assassin, and David Fincher's great The Killer (2023), the, umm, story of a lone assassin.

Keith and Jason compare and contrast, considering which protagonist is cooler, the differerence between French and American films, and whether being an assassin for hire is an inherently corrupting job.

Lots to consider in this one!

So Eric and Jason got to talking about Steven Spielberg's movie The Fablemans and they got to pondering... is this the finest movie ever directed by th film master? Okay, probably not, but where does it rank in his films, and what makes it so compelling? Join the guys as they discuss these interesting topics.

Shawn and Paul are back to talk David Lynch films with Jason. This time they have a split decision on Wild at Heart and dig deep into possible meanings in Lost Highway. The Lost Highway discussion goes deep and complex, which means this is a long, wonderful listen we hope you will enjoy.

Eric and Jason are back to continue their looks at the brilliant films of Masahiro Shinoda. This time they look at two films which present intriguing, contrasting views of childhood in wartime and post-War Japan, MacArthur's Children and Takeshi: Childhood Days. The films are a great pair for each other and for any study of Japanese post-War cinema, and we think the discussion of them makes for a great listen!

Blaize and Jason are back to continue their look at the films of the great Paul Schrader. This time in their chronological review, they're looking at the justifiably obscure Forever Mine and the fascinating, odd, kinda brilliant Auto Focus.

Seijun Suzuki was one of the finest directors of the Japanese New Wave. Eric and Jason thought this was a good time to look at perhaps Suzuki's most famous works, Tokyo Drifter and Branded to Kill, and have a great time talking about why these are such special and fantastic films.

Eric is back, and he and Jason are in for a marathon session discussing the film work of one of the most underrated, popular directors of the 1970s - George Roy Hill. Hill is best known for his work on such smashes as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting and Slap Shot, but the guys dig deep into his catalog to find a few more interesting works - can you say Funny Farm?

Frederico Fellini's 8½ seems to have dropped off of many lists of the greatest films of all time. Is that a sign of its lack of quality or of something else? Keith and Jason discuss this amazing film and say - it's the audience and not the film because this is a brilliant, kaleidoscopic, recursive masterpiece in which the truth about people slowly seems to emerge from a structure that leaves the viewer breathless.

Join us for an hour-plus chat about one of the most transcendent films of all time!

If there's one project David Lynch is best known for, one project that's emerged into legendary status, it has to be Twin Peaks. So Paul, Shawn and Jason take on the daunting task of looking at the show in a mere 90 minute timeslot. And yeah, despite their best efforts and despite a whole lot of great insights, it's 90 fun minutes of scratching the surface. But it's a fun listen and the guys have unique takes on the show, and we think it will add to your love of the show.

Please be sure to add your comments!<...

This week Blaize and Jason continue their look at the films of the singular Paul Schader with a look at two films by him which are adapted from novels. And what opposites they are. Touch, adapted from an Elmore Leonard novel, feels listless and unfocused. But Affliction, adapted from the Russell Banks novel, continues Schrader's focused on the Lonely Man archetype, getting deep inside the heads of a family whose toxic masculinity becomes a generational trauma.

As Eric and Jason are learning, Masahiro Shinoda is a director who delivered many sui generis works. And though his second movie, the rebel-without-a-clue Youth in Fury is pretty straightforward (though complex, for reasons we get into), Shinoda's third movie, Killers on Parade is an odd surrealistic semi-masterpiece, semi-WTF exploration of... what in particular, we're just not sure.

Chris and Jason felt it was time to pay tribute to one of the true film masters, Fritz Lang, with a look at two of the most well-filmed and transcendent films ever made, M and Metropolis. The guys struggle at times to find the words for these films, particularly the amazing sound design of M. If you haven't seen either or both of these, they are so worth a watch before listening to our pod!

Paul, Shawn and Jason get together again to talk about the films of David Lynch, this time chatting about perhaps the craziest pair of back-to-back releases ever to hit cinemas. Dune is a giant WTF film, and although it can be enjoyed as spectacle and a grant attempt at something great, it's a big swing and a miss. Blue Velvet, OTOH, is a perfect film - a point all three guys agree about - and so they geek out over what makes Blue Velvet so special.

"I Don't Know If You're A Detective Or A Pervert"

Blaize and Jason are back on their Schader watchlist with movies 9 and 10 Schrader directed. And you couldn't ask for a more diverse pair of films. Light Sleeper is a potent, powerful instance of the Schrader lonely man lead, while Witch Hunt is a charming little goof of a film. But both are actually pretty great, and well worth celebrating.

You might think there's not a ton of similarities between one of Robert Altman's earliest, most anarchic films (Brewster McCloud) and his final, magesterial film (A Prairie Home Companion ), but Jason and Eric find a surprising amount to compare and contrast in these two fascinating films.

John Cassavettes' films are unlike the films of any other movie maker. They're raw, feel real, explore deep and complex human emotions in the way no other films do. Eric and Jason are both fans of the man's films, so they felt like it was about time for them to review a couple for this podcast. So for this week' show they reviewed Opening Night and Love Streams. Both are amazing films, featuring astounding perfomances by Gena Rowlands in films which lacerate, bruise and provide deep insight into humanity.

Join us as we dig deep into the...

Jason's been talking with Gideon and Janice Marcus about 2001: A Space Odyssey quite a bit recently as they were part of the team covering the film for the amazing site Galactic Journey, where we cover media from 55 years ago. We figured we might as well capture some thoughts about the movie together, including some fairly controversial ideas about whether viewers have everything they need on the surface to really make sense of the film, whether HAL goes crazy or in fact is obeying his orders, and what the ultimate goals are for the monolith.

We think this...

Eric and Jason love their Shinoda films, so they jump back into the filmography of the great, little-appreicated Japanese master with a look at A Flame at the Pier and The Ballad of Orin. At first glance these two films - one a noir about Japanese labor unions and the other about a traveling blind performer - have little in common. But in fact, they're both of a common type and provide a great contrast with each other. Please tune in to our latest exploration of the work of this underappreciated filmmaker.

Eric is back with Jason to talk about the films of Japanese master Masahiro Shinoda, this time talking about Double Suicide, The Scandalous Adventures of Buraikan and Sharaku. All three are good films, but one of them is a classic, one of the finest films of its era as well as a cracking good film noir. Join the guys as they debate, twist and turn these movies to get a clear view into greatness and what it means to fall short. Great or near-great, Shinoda is always worth a good talk.

Paul and Shawn are back to start a new series with Jason. This time, fresh off of Jason attending a Lynchfest, the trio begin looking at the films of the one and only David Lynch. Join then for a 90 minute chat in which they see the DNA of many of Lynch's subsequent films in Eraserhead, and debate whether the success of Elephant Man lies in it not being Lynchian.

It's always a good conversation when these three get together, and this is no exception.

Blaize and Jason weren't sure what to expect when they got to Patty Hearst and The Comfort of Strangers in their Schrader watchlist. So both of them were excited and suprirsed to find that these two movies were terrific films, filled with emotional and intellectual complexity that was unexpected. And beyond the fact that both star Natasha Richardson, there are many parallels to be drawn between the films, parallels which make for an interesting and insightful discussion.

Chris is back to hang out with Jason, this time talking the films of Wong Kar Wai. And while Jason is a big WKW fan, he's shocked to learn Chris just didn't love the films the guys selected. Come join Jason and Chris as they answer the shared question... is WKW a great filmmaker or is he annoying to watch?

Since Asteroid City is out and drawing positive reviews, Jason and Keith thought this was a good time to take a look at two other Wes Anderson films. Join the guys for a look at The Darjeeling Limited and The Grand Budapest Hotel - and hear their hot take of why Darjeeling is not-so-secretly great!

Jason has been wanting for Michelle and Bryant to join him on the Movienauts show for awhile. Finally his wish is fulfilled and the three of them come togetehr to discuss the fascinating films of Jacques Demy, with a special focus on Michelle's favorite film, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. The three film fans discuss the bittersweet but beautiful nature of this and Demy's other films, and why they still are so gorgeously compelling after all these years.

It's a great conversation we hope you enjoy.

Blaize joins Jason again for part three of their look at the films directed by the singular Paul Schrader. This time they look at the film generally considered Schrader's most ambitious film, Mishima, and one of his most forgotten films, Light of Day. Blaize and Jason discuss whether Schrader's ambitions outpace his abilities in Mishima, as well as discussing the fascinating way Schrader tells multiple stories all in one compressed narrative. And they agree that Light of Day, a generally forgotten film starring Michael J. Fox and Joan Jett as Ohio rockers with family issues, deserves to be dusted...

Dom and Eric join Jason again for the next episode of Kurosawa-cast, this time looking at two films he made based on Russian literature, The Lower Depths and The Idiot. Both films came out during Kurosawa's greatest period, but both don't quite match his absolute greatest achievements. Join the guys as they break down what makes these films great and the things which unfortunately hold them back. As always when these three get together, this is a great listen for any Kurosawa fan.

Eric joins Jason to continue their look at the films of Masahiro Shinoda, this time with a different approach. We look at Shinoda's version of the classic Japanese novel Silence and compare his version with the Martin Scorcese version. This provides one of the richest, most thoughtful conversations we've ever done on Movienauts - one of those chats where we seem to get to deeper and more thoughtful levels of insight which allow us to appreciate these films even more. We think this is a good listen, even if you haven't watched either version of Silence.

Blaise is back to talk to Jason about Paul Schrader. This time they dig into Schrader's final two mainstream Hollywood studio films, American Gigolo and Cat People. Both films caused minor sensations when they were released in the early 80s, but do they shock and delight today or do they feel dated? Well, is it fair to say both things are true? Blaise and Jasone explore the odd, contradictory elements of these films which both linger in the brain long after they are watched.

Chris joins Jason again this week to discuss two of the greatest and most mystifying science fiction films of all time: 2001: A Space Odyssey and Solaris. These two films are definitively in conversation with each other, with Solaris director Andrei Tarkovsky stating he made choices in style and character which influenced the direction he took with his film. Chris and Jason dig deep into the similarities and differences, batting around questions about character, complexity and humanity in worlds created by unknowable aliens.

We think it's a good listen and hope you'll agree!

Wrapping up the series about David Cronenberg, Paul, Shawn and Jason rank all 19 of Crnenberg's features - and have several (friendly) arguments along the way. What is the most Cronenberg of all the Cronenberg films? Find out this week!

Eric and Jason are back looking at the cinematic work of Masahiro Shinoda with a look at three of his most mysterious and beautiful films, Under the Blossoming Cherry Trees, Himiko and Demon Pond. These complex dives into Japanese history provide the guys with fertile ground to discuss the role of nature in the Japanese tradition, female independence, and the terror of mass murder along with much, much, much more. Really, dear listener, Shinoda's films are absolutely fascinating and we hope we tap into even a small amount of what makes them so terrific.

Blaize joins Jason to kick off a new series for Movienauts, this time looking at the films directed by the great Paul Schrader. Schrader is one of the most interesting directors ever to get behind a camera, and Blue Collar is one of the finest debut films of all time. It's a gritty, smart look at the lives of three auto workers at the end of the 1970s and has some piercingly great moments the guys discuss. Hardcore seems a little more from the heart for Schrader, a semi-autobiographical piece about a conservative, religious man whose daughter is seduced...

Paul and Shawn are back with Jason to wrap up the main part of our look at all the feature films directed by David Cronenberg. Yes, we've finally reached the film that more or less prompted us to take on this effort, 2022's Crimes of the Future along with 2014's Maps to the Stars. This time we have a bit of diagreement about the films. Shawn really disliked Maps, while Jason thought it pretty spectacular on second watch... tune in to hear how that discussion goes and how they deliver a thoughtful pan to Crimes.

And the...

Eric and Jason continue their look at the films of Masahiro Shinoda, this time looking at two films, Samurai Spy and Assassination, which promise on the surface to be standard samurai films. Instead, Shinoda subverts expectations and delivers two films which veer far away from what we expect, and present smart, deeper looks at the nature of the spy art in Japan. Along the way, Shinoda and his team deliver some stunning visuals and captivating characters.

Eric and Dom are back for the latest deep dive into Kurosawa films, this time looking at two films which might not seem like they have a lot in common but which in fact resonate deeply with each other. I Live in Fear, Kurosawa's follow-up to Severn Samurai, is perahaps the most downbeat movie of his career, a real tragedy about a deeply flawed man whose life spirals out of control when he becomes obsessed with the idea of nuclear war. Well, maybe his life spings more out of control, as we explore here. Dreams, one of Kurosawa's final...

In the wake of Robert Downey Jr.'s beautiful film about his dad, Sr., Chris and Jason thought it was time to look at some of Robert Downey Sr.'s movies, especially his two most famous films, Greaser's Palace and Putney Swope. Chris and Jason disagree on both films, which we think makes a great listen. Hope you enjoy, and then give us feedback on what you think!

Paul, Shawn and Jason move to two of David Cronenberg's later works, both of which show the great director's wandering eye for compelling stories and his passion for taking on all the rules of cinema, as they talk Cosmopolis and A Dangerous Method. 

A Dangerous Method is the story of the friendship of Freud and Jung, its ups and downs and how that friendship changed the world in some most interesting ways. As usual, Cronenberg listens to his own muse in this one and doesn't create a traditional biopic.

Cosmopolis is Cronenberg at his most e...

All movie podcasts are obligated to discuss TÁR in 2023, but we aren't obligated to discuss the movie in the same way. Keith joins Jason for a discussion of the themes in TÁR as contrasted with the themes of Richard Rush's 1980 film The Stunt Man. Join the guys as they discuss megalomania, truth, and how much Jason and Keith both like Barbara Hershey. It's an hour of great listening which we think brings unique insights into one of this year's most discussed films.

Masahiro Shinoda is one of the finest directors of Japan's Nouvelle Vague period, but his work is often overlooked when discussing the great filmmakers of the 1960s and '70s. Eric is a big fan of Shinoda, so he persuaded Jason to begin a look into the great man's films, starting with Pale Flower and With Beauty and Sorrow. And what a beginning it is! These two films are powerhouses, smart genre work which has a real energy and strength that makes them stand out. They are indeed overlooked masterpieces. Join the guys for 90 minutes' discussion about these overlooked...

In the never-ending quest to cover movies nobody else discusses (and to drive down our number of downloads), Eric and Jason continue their look at the films of Robert Altman with looks at two of his hardest-to-find films, HealtH and A Wedding. Coming at the end of Altman's magical '70s, and containing his famous massive casts and deep improvisation, the guys discuss whether these films are actual classics or if they fall short of the mark, Hint: both films are worth hunting down.

Please join us for 70 minutes or so of great movie talk about one...

Dom, Eric and Jason continue their look at the films of the brilliant Akira Kurosawa with a look at probably his most studied film, Rashomon, and perhaps his most underrated film, The Hidden Fortress. Though Fortress is often called "merely" an adventure film, the guys discuss its surprising depth and the deep and often dark insights into the human condition which are masked inside its jolly exterior. Rashomon delivers its enigmas and mysteries, and the team discuss the film's dark insight into its era in Japanese history, the elusive question of perspective, and ponder why they didn't connect to...