The Family Pictures Podcast

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith trace the collapse of a patriarch’s paradise, where the dream of self-sufficiency turns into a theology of madness.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith explore Running on Empty as a portrait of the revolutionary 1960s ideals colliding with 1980s family life — a story about parents on the run from the past and a son who just wants a future.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith explore Hanna as a story of overprotection and isolation—a father so intent on keeping his daughter safe that he leaves her unprepared for everything that isn’t lethal.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith unpack Tamara Jenkins’s semi-autobiographical tale of a family chasing stability in the fringes of 90210.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith dig into Ang Lee’s The Ice Storm (1997), where suburban Connecticut families freeze under the pressures of shifting social mores, crumbling marriages, and one fatal ice storm.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith discuss Todd Solondz’s 1996 indie darling Welcome to the Dollhouse. Dawn Wiener faces the brutality of junior high, the cruelty of family favoritism, and the faint promise of escape through music, fantasy, and misfit connection.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith frame a new lens on Kids (1995): how the real “kids” built a family in the absence of parents, and how that story was twisted by outsiders.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith discuss Nai Nai’s proverbs to AIM slang, as Dìdi reveals how families and friends communicate expectations and escape them.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith talk Weapons as it confronts America’s cycle of denial — from Sandy Hook to generational rot — asking if the real horror is how much we want a scapegoat.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith dive into the house that bleeds, locks its doors, and bankrupts the Lutzes—turning the American Dream into an American Nightmare.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith discuss snowsuits, pajamas, and psychoplasmics—Cronenberg’s rage babies embody the horror of childhood shaped by parental wounds.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith discover when the American Dream breaks down, even the family dog learns to kill.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith dive into Jaws, the 1975 blockbuster that emptied beaches and flooded minds with nightmares. At the center is Chief Brody — not just hunting a shark, but navigating fatherhood, fear, and outsider status in a tight-knit town that doesn’t trust him.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith cover Hooper's nightmare of when the nuclear family collapses and the cannibal family takes its place. 

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith revist how John Hughes turned detention into confessional, capturing how teens both resent and crave their parents’ attention.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith look at the generational blind spots in Fast Times, where both parents and producers underestimated what teens could handle — and audiences noticed.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith unpack how Sixteen Candles balances teenage independence with the lingering need for parental affirmation.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smithrevisit The Wild Life, a film about kids chasing parties and independence, but always punching the clock to afford it.

It’s still you using me — and a father trying to steer a son’s life. JIm Groom and Michael Branson Smith dive into Some Kind of Wonderful's confrontations about control, expectation, and self-worth.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith unpack Cameron Crowe’s Say Anything…, examining the complicated ties between Diane, her father, and Lloyd — and what happens when loyalty, love, and trust collide.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith unpack Eric Rohmer’s sly and sun-drenched Pauline at the Beach, a film where love is a game, truth is optional, and every adult is chasing the freedom they only claim to understand.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith dive into Taken (2008), the ultimate dad fantasy: what if you had a very particular set of skills and would burn a country down to save your daughter.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith dig into the 1991 Sally Field vehicle Not Without My Daughter — a film that’s half thriller, half imperialist fever dream, and 100% propaganda.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith untangle the world of Texas cheerleading ambition, suburban pecking orders, and one mom’s deadly plan to climb the social ladder.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith unspool John Waters’ trash masterpiece, where delinquent desires, crumbling families, and gaudy kitsch rule.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith ride shotgun with Addie and Moze, tracing how necessity forges family in Paper Moon.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith trace the emotional hauntings of Vengeance is Mine the almost forgotten 1984 film directed by Michael Roemer.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith explore the Stohler family, their friends, and the Cutters that the sons of Bloomington, Indiana, will never become.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith spend four seasons in Fellini's Rimini, drifting from character to character in this sprawling piazza della famiglia.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith discuss the film that launched the French New Wave—François Truffaut's semi-autobiographical tale of a boy navigating parental neglect in post-war France.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith talk family murder in the suburbs and the cost of fetishizing the perfect 50s family.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith discuss the influence of surrogate fathers with competing philosophies of discipline vs. domination in The Karate Kid.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith explore the under-appreciated 1984 portrayal of a single mom and her two sons as their household adapts to the arrival of the mother’s boyfriend.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith talk you fargin bastiges about the 1984 gangster satire–a family picture?–Johnny Dangerously.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith visit the 1970s Pennsylvania gothic crime family of Bruce Whitewood Sr. as he draws his son into the business in the 1986 film At Close Range.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith step into 1940s Northern Indiana to join the Parker family in this timeless 1983 holiday classic, which becomes the blueprint for the modern Christmas movie.

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith discuss sibling rivalry at the end of the world in downtown LA, with Night of the Comet.

The family pictures podcast spends some time with a family living the suburban life in the outskirts of Detroit during the 80s recession.

This week The Family Pictures Podcast spends some time on the northside of Tulsa Oklahoma with the extended Curtis Family

Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith discuss the Griswold's misadventures across America in this premiere episode of the Family Pictures Podcast.