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Best Podcasts
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March 5: And then Alice came upon one of the strangest creatures she had ever before seen. Sitting high atop a mountain of marzipan and wearing a flowing robe of postage stamps and chiffon sat a large, bulbous beast with two heads. The two heads, one a tad more handsome than the other, each wore outlandish chapeaus that read "Kritik Hat," and the duo seemed to be arguing feverishly with each other over the merits of director Tim Burton’s latest film "Alice in Wonderland." Alice sat in wonderment as the two heads seemed to employ an annoyingly impenetrable snobbish jargon [...]
Feb 26: What do Michele Williams, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Kingsley, Max Von Sydow, Patricia Clarkson and Jackie Earle Haley have in common? If you answered that none of those illustrious stars have ever stepped foot in Matty’s living room, you are correct. But they all also have Academy Award nominations to their credit and currently find themselves in the middle of fellow Oscar award winner (for "Kundun," right??) Martin Scorcese’s latest thriller, "Shutter Island." The Filmspotting duo finds itself split on the overall effectiveness of the Dennis Lehane adaptation, with "I-haven’t-met-a-great-director-whose-work-I-couldn’t-apologize-for" Adam finding enough to chew on long after [...]
Feb 19: "Arthouse Adam" is back in his element this week as the Filmspotting duo discusses the new film "Fish Tank." No – not because Michael Fassbender spends the better part of the movie sans shirt (though that is a plus). Rather, Adam is afforded the opportunity to revisit a film he first saw after a long day at the Toronto International Film Festival and really sink his teeth into the gritty, atmospheric world created by director Andrea Arnold and the unflinching performance from newcomer Katie Jarvis as Mia, a troubled Essex youth, trying to negotiate the limited opportunities afforded [...]
Feb 12: Every February 14th, These United States of ‘Merica celebrate the pagan holiday of Saint Valentine’s Day, which commemorates Martin Luther’s victory over the Visigoths at Valley Forge (or something like that). Obviously impaled by an arrant Cupid’s arrow, Filmspotting caught Valentine fever this week and called a programming audible. Instead of reviewing their patented “gritty independent film of the week that no one will ever see,” the lads decided to catch up with a pair of classic romances that virtually everyone except your intrepid reviewers have already seen: 1970’s famous weeper "Love Story" and 1939’s "Love Affair," starring [...]
Feb 5: "No, you listen to US!" This week Filmspotting celebrates the return of Mel Gibson to the screen in the new thriller "Edge of Darkness" by delivering every segment of the show as though they were on the phone with the kidnappers who had just nabbed their only son, which should help save their discussion of the movie itself because "run-of-the-mill studio revenge flick" sounds much better when shouted with visceral intensity. Oddly enough in the next segment, Michael Hoffman, writer/director of the new Leo Tolstoy film "The Last Station" seemed unfazed during his interview/interrogation with Adam when Kempy [...]
Jan. 29: Adam spent last weekend in Park City, Utah, dodging avalanches by ducking into theaters at the Sundance Film Festival, and a despondent Matty hasn't left his house since Sunday when Brett Favre reverted to his gunslinger form and inexplicably threw across the field for an interception even though he had at least five yards of running room ahead of him and his kicker is a great dome kicker who can hit from 53 yards. Needless to say, the boys haven't been able to get to the cinema recently, so in lieu of a review of a new movie, [...]
Jan. 22: File under the 'When the cat's away' department. This week Adam is out-of-town kicking off his mandatory two year world-wide Filmspotting mission... or attending Robert Redford's annual Parker Posey film festival in Wyoming. Something like that. Either way, Matty is left behind to throw the show together himself. So, for an opening, instead of a single review, DJ Matty B mixed together reviews of two new movies -- "The White Ribbon" and "The Book of Eli" -- and looped in some killer Rihanna and Herzog vocals to craft an up-tempo house dance track... which is followed by ten [...]
Jan. 15: All of us here at Filmspotting send our thoughts and prayers out to the country of Haiti and everyone affected by Tuesday's terrible tragedy. We encourage everyone in Filmspotting Nation to give what they can to aid in the relief effort there. In fact, if you were planning on rushing to the multiplex to see Peter Jackson's new film "The Lovely Bones," welllll... why not listen to Adam and Matty's discussion of the film on this week's episode and you just might, perhaps, be moved to use that ten dollars you would have spent on a ticket for [...]
Jan. 8: 1. Listen to a 15-minute discussion of "A Single Man," a gorgeous set-piece film starring Colin Firth as a grieving 1960s college professor -- playing only in select cities that I will probably never see.2. Digest the Top 5 Lead Performances of 2009, as determined by Adam, Matty and Steve Prokopy, the devilishly-handsome film critic from Ain't It Cool News (also known by his net d'plume Capone). If your New Year's resolutions for 2010 read as above, then you're in luck. You can clean them out in one fell swoop by listening to this week's episode of Filmspotting [...]
January 1: Adam and Matty ring in the new year by finally getting to their discussion of James Cameron's sci-fi epic "Avatar". Plus, the lads find out whether Daniel Day-Lewis can really "be Italian" in Rob Marshall's musical "Nine." Filmspotting will be back in its usual format next week. There's no scheduled review, but Ain't It Cool News' Steve Prokopy aka Capone will drop by to share the Top 5 Lead Performances of [...]
December 31: In the latest Filmspotting After Hours, Adam and Matty share a little Christmas cheer with their Listener's Choice discussion of Jon Favreau's "Elf," starring Will Ferrell. Plus, the Bronzed Fronds -- the Best of the Cannes Golden Palm Marathon Awards. Congratulations to all of our donation winners! Please claim your prize by emailing feedback@filmspotting.net. Winners were selected from donations announced on shows #283-285 up through Dec. 30.NOTES- To clarify, Adam's most depressing "Dancer in the Dark" scene -- slight SPOILER alert -- isn't the actual money-stealing, but scene where Bill learns of the money and spies on Selma.- [...]
December 25: Adam and Matty bid you Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays by taking the week off... but thankfully, /Film managing editor and /Filmcast host David Chen is here to revisit some of his favorite Filmspotting segments, including discussions of "There Will Be Blood," "The Happening" and "Soylent Green," plus the Top 5 Coen Bros. [...]
Dec. 18: Filmspotting discusses "Up in the Air" and "Invictus," and reveals its Top 10 Films of 2009 with the help of Michael Phillips from the Chicago Tribune and "At the Movies," and the AV Club's Scott Tobias.Thanks also to special guest voicemailers: Steve Prokopy from Ain't It Cool News, Matt Singer from IFC News and writer/director Rian Johnson.Also on the show: Music by Iron and Wine and Massacre Theatre -- presented by Pixar Talk. This week's winner will get the Pixar DVD of their choice.Filmspotting #285:13-10:45 - Review: "Up in the Air"10:46-20:27 - Review: "Invictus"Music: Iron and Wine, "Love [...]
Dec. 11: This week's teaser for Filmspotting is brought to you by the same team responsible for the trailer for "Brothers," the latest film from director Jim Sheridan, starring real-life brothers Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal. Basically the show opens with both Adam and Matty tearing this utter piece of melodramatic tripe to shreds; they proceed to feed the surviving vestiges of the film to their gorgeous Bernese Mountain Dog, Captain Fantastic. At one point during the show, Adam locks himself in the studio unwilling to budge until "Brothers" star Natalie Portman admits to having a relationship with Matty and [...]
Dec. 4: This week on Filmspotting, Adam and Matty try to avoid roving bands of cannibals as they travel down director John Hillcoat’s well-worn, post-apocalyptic "The Road," starring Viggo Mortensen as the father of the millennia -- a man determined to keep his young son off an unwashed Garret Dillahunt’s barbecue at any and all costs. Then, the Filmspotting Cannes Palme d’Or Marathon trips the light fantastic with Bjork in Lars Von Trier’s "Dancer in the Dark," an uplifting musical about a young woman with a degenerative eye condition that will soon leave her blind and caught up in a [...]
November 28: In Part 2 of the latest Filmspotting After Hours, Adam and Matty make their way through another batch of glorious Listener Feedback, including responses to their Top 5 Nostalgia Movies, Bad Day Movies and Bad Screen Parents. Plus, long-lost Filmspotting co-host Sam Van Hallgren checks in via phone to help the guys perform a listener-scripted scene from "Dudewood" ... and the latest batch of Filmspotting winners! Thanks to everyone who donated to the show. Winners were selected from episodes #276-282. Warning: This episode contains some profanity starting around the 40 minute mark.Programming Note: The Filmspotting 'Best of' edition [...]
November 25: In Part I of the latest Filmspotting After Hours, Adam and Matty discuss Billy Wilder's 1951 "Ace in the Hole," starring Kirk Douglas as a ruthless newspaperman out to get his story no matter the moral or ethical costs. Plus, The Ronins... Filmspotting's Best of the Kurosawa Marathon Awards. The Marathon lineup consisted of: "Rashomon," "Ikiru," "Throne of Blood," The Hidden Fortress," "Yojimbo" and "High and [...]
Nov. 20: It’s a potpourri of crazy this week on Filmspotting. First, Matty heads down to the French Quarter to grab some beignets at Café Du Monde and split a muffuletta with the venerable Werner Herzog and Nic Cage as he takes in the bizarre genius that is "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans." And while Matty is busy maxing out the Filmspotting credit card buying rounds of hurricanes for Florida State co-eds at Pat O’Brien’s, Adam sits down with his man-crush Ben Foster and writer/director Oren Moverman to discuss their new project, "The Messenger," a film chronicling the [...]
Nov. 13: Usually Filmspotting trots out an elaborate, creative, highly over-written show description. This week, however, in keeping with the spirit of the film they’re discussing, "The Men Who Stare at Goats," the boys are decidedly phoning it in. Which is a shame, because their other discussion of the second film in the ongoing Cannes Golden Palm Marathon, "Farewell My Concubine," a beautiful epic sent against the backdrop of Chinese opera, certainly requires a stab at some decent verbiage. And the fact that the creators of the highly addictive website, Flickchart.com stop by to help the lads list their Top [...]
Nov. 6: O Captain! My Captain! This week, Adam and Matty make music from the heart and navigate the blackboard jungle as they stand and deliver their latest edition of Filmspotting featuring a discussion of the Sundance sensation, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' By Sapphire," starring Paula Patton as a Harlem high school teacher trying to save Gabourey 'Gabby' Sidibe’s teenaged Precious from an abusive mother -- played to the hilt by comedienne Mo'Nique. The lads also ask all dangerous minds to lean on them and trust their takes on 1985’s "When Father Was Away on Business," the first [...]
Oct. 30: Yes, we are obviously trying to seduce you. This week, Adam and Matty decide to forgo their spot at Oxford next semester and instead fall head over heels for the much older Peter Sarsgaard's fast car, cool jazz and French cigarettes. The lads sneak out during fifth period to gossip with the girls about their love for the new Lone Scherfig film, "An Education," starring the aforementioned dreamy Mr. Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina, Olivia Williams and the lovely Carey Mulligan in a jaw-dropping performance.And after a lost weekend of dissecting Camus beside the Seine, Adam and Matty head out [...]
Oct. 23: Little Sammy and the Mystery of Filmspotting IslandBy Ayn BallgameSammy was a little boy who loved making mischief (many would argue his acting out stemmed from Sammy’s lack of a relationship with his estranged father).One day, young Sammy was making so much mischief around the house that his mother sent him to his room without supper (while she went to the phone to schedule another appointment with her therapists, Dr. Friedman and Dr. Jim Beam).Alone in his room (with only his X-box, his Wii, his action figures, his Legos, his board games, his DVDs, his iPod, and his [...]
FS #278 with discussions of "Where the Wild Things Are" and "High and Low," plus our Top 5 Nostalgia Movies, will not be available until late afternoon/early evening. Thanks for your [...] 
Oct. 16: This week Filmspotting celebrates Matty's 100th episode by playing catch-up and sitting down with two films currently creating a lot of buzz at the box office. First up, our heroes hole up in the abandoned Dixie Square Mall in Harvey, Illinois to fend off an invasion of the undead. If they follow the rules they gleaned from watching the new horror/comedy "Zombieland," odds are the intrepid duo might just hold out for a solid six hours. Much more harrowing than any zombie infestation (and requiring the same amount of shotguns kept at hand) is the current state of [...]
Oct. 9: Dean WermerAdam, Matty, thank you so much for coming in today. As you both are well aware, the tenure committee is in its final stages of making its decision on whether or not to grant the both of you tenure here at Grinyon Online University. Unfortunately we’ve read your submitted examples of publication.MattyWell, they were really first drafts...Dean WermerOh, you mean to tell me, Mr. Robinson, that your essay entitled “What The Movies Is” in which you wrote the word “stakes” over and over for 25 pages is not the final copy?MattyWell, I haven’t settled on a font [...] |
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