Celebrating Cinema – Détails, épisodes et analyse

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the acclaimed stop-motion epic Coraline, Laura Gommans had the distinct pleasure of speaking with Henry Selick about his illustrious career and lifelong love for cinema. From scary tales at Aunt Lib's house to being terrified by the cyclops in The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Henry reveals the origins of his eerie yet tender storytelling style. His obsession with stop-motion animation has not only pushed the boundaries of filmmaking but also reimagined what children's narratives can be. Henry passionately explains why it's crucial for children to experience a touch of fear in films, believing it helps them navigate and understand the complexities of the world.

Show Notes & Films Mentioned

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From screwball comedies to the golden age of 90s and early 00s romcoms, our love for romance remains strong. In this episode, entertainment journalist Laura Gommans joins us to discuss our favorite romantic comedies and what makes them so special. What appears to be a straightforward genre leads us to question whether the familiar clichés define a romcom or if there's more to it. As our values of love and romance have evolved, it seems the essence of romcoms has stagnated. Could the decline of mid-budget movies be a factor? Despite shifts in the industry, the audience's appetite for love stories will never fade. So, what does the future hold for romantic comedies?

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Show Notes & Films Mentioned

Amidst the abundance of parodies, memes, and impersonations, there exists an undeniable uniqueness to the American actor Nicolas Cage. It’s easy to dismiss him as an over-the-top actor, yet beneath the surface lies a talent that positions him among the greatest actors of our time. With an unconventional, almost avant-garde approach to acting that defies the conventions of naturalism prevalent in most mainstream cinema, Cage's body of work invites a deeper exploration.

On this episode of Celebrating Cinema we open the Cage and analyze the eclectic performances, the larger than life persona, and how in recent years Cage has become more and more aware of his oddball status.

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⁠Show Notes & Films Mentioned

If you don’t know already, Molly Manning Walker’s feature debut How To Have Sex (2023) has taken the world by storm. This coming-of-age drama follows Tara (a mesmerizing performance by Mia Mckenna-Bruce) and her two best friends on a rites-of-passage holiday in Malia that slowly derails.

Speaking with host Elliot, Molly shares how our stereotypical view of Gen-Z is limiting discussions on consent and why cinema can help reframe these conversations, especially when we watch films communally.

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After a steamy winter featuring Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn, the internet was sent into a frenzy over - a fairly mediocre - erotic murder drama, that had copious amounts of sex. Naturally, Laura Gommans, friend of the podcast, was left questioning what happened to all the sex scenes in cinema today.

The 90s marked an era of iconic scenes of intimacy in films like Wild Things, Cruel Intentions, Eyes Wide Shut, Indecent Proposal, Risky Business, Basic Instinct, it was a horny time. In contrast, studios like A24 are currently showcasing some truly jarring sex scenes. How did we get here? And why are blockbuster movies like Avatar deleting their sex scenes?

Intrigued by these cinematic shifts, seasoned entertainment editor Laura joins the discussion to unpack the significance of sex in film while getting to the bottom of just exactly why desire on screen has become so contentious.

CONFESSION: We had not seen All of Us Strangers OR Poor Things before recording, otherwise this would've featured in our discussion. We never need an excuse to talk about Paul Mescal.

TRIGGER WARNING: Please note this episode contains references to explicit sexual content including sexual assault and violence that may be triggering for some.

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⁠Show Notes & Films Mentioned

"Obviously Doctor, you've never been a 13-year-old girl." (Cecilia, Virgin Suicides)

Affectionately known as cinema's favorite 'Nepo Baby', Sofia Coppola has come a long way from her initial appearance in her father's iconic trilogy, The Godfather. Now standing as a unique auteur truly shaping the narrative of the 'girl era.'

With pitch-perfect precision, Coppola translates the fabric of girlhood, revealing the heartaches and struggles of her characters as they journey into adulthood. These dreamy personas are stuck in a patriarchal society, always yearning for something more, a taste of authenticity and freedom beyond their current lives.

Joined by Sacha Gertsik, film producer and Coppola-fanatic shares both tales from her interview with Coppola at the Venice Film Festival last year, and her rich archive of Coppola-soaked memories, discussing how this American director continues to elevate the essence of girl-fabrication.

Book tickets to Lost in Coppola @ LAB111

Show Notes & Films Mentioned

“I would like to make a film to tell children "it's good to be alive".”
― Hayao Miyazaki

It's hard to find someone who doesn't love Hayao Miyazaki's films. Regardless of age, there is something profound to be gained from watching any of this Japanese animator's masterpieces. In this celebration of Miyazaki and the wonders he has created, we delve deep into the nostalgic yet fictional universe of Studio Ghibli. For many of us, our earliest film memories are of the Totoro, Kiki the Witch, Princess Mononoke, or Spirited Away. But how have his films shaped our worldview? We explore Miyazaki's process and discuss why his animations remain just as relevant today.

Book tickets to Studio Ghibli @ LAB111

Show Notes & Films Mentioned

“Hope is political. If you have hope then you have confidence you can change things”

After 60 years of filmmaking, British filmmaker and icon Ken Loach offers what may well be his most urgent message yet, calling for solidarity and the power that hope can instil in his latest film The Old Oak (2023).

Speaking with our host Elliot, Ken reveals how he never runs out of stories to tell when it comes to championing the everyday people. He says, these are the very stories and people that can pave the way for change.

At 87 years old, we hear the films of the 1960s Ken still returns to and how he still carries the spirit of filmmaking during these revolutionary times with him today.

If there was ever a time to be reminded of hope and solidarity it is now. 

Movies have always been a way to understand the world around us, and so, confronted with the brutal horrors of both Hamas’s attacks on October 7th and Israel’s disproportionate slaughtering of thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians, we question if cinema can try to make sense of such atrocities.

For this episode of Celebrating Cinema, we focus on Gillo Pontecorvo’s seminal classic The Battle of Algiers, a brutally candid exposé of the French colonial mindset, which recounts a similar bloody struggle for the liberation of the Algerian people in the 1950s. Ultimately, this film both humanises and complicates the reality of violence between the oppressor and the oppressed.

As we discuss public oppression, organised resistance, how violence begets violence, as well as the media’s power in ‘selling’ a colonial occupation and the consequences for the civilian people caught in the middle of all this. But most importantly we focus on how a film like The Battle Of Algiers can offer hope for freedom in these tragic times.

Show Notes & Films Mentioned

For this edition of Future Frames, you can hear from our rising filmmakers who we’ll be screening at Volk’s Hotel Sunday Shorts on 10th Dec. You can buy tickets here.

Bram Ruiter is a filmmaker of a different kind. He has a unique ability to extract the poetry of the mundane, experimenting as much as he can within the realms of the moving-image. Not tied to traditional narrative structures, Bram’s obsessed with the inner-mechanics of filmmaking, taking film elements apart and seeing how they work - often breaking the ‘rules’ to do so.

But strangely it’s the mechanics of big blockbusters he finds beauty in, citing Steven Spielberg and Tony Scott as heavy inspirations. But how does this influence a non-narrative filmmaker who’s much more experimental with their films? Bram shares how he’s led by the practical process of filmmaking in creating his films.

From the use of digital, analogue, phones & video games to the scratching and experiments with film emulsions - Bram takes us down a rabbit-hole of a whole other realm of filmmaking.

You can watch his tender film Here & Elsewhere at Volks Sunday Shorts or visit his website to discover more.