A Century in Cinema – Details, episodes & analysis

Join our Patreon for bonus episodes, and thank you to our Patreon subscribers for supporting the show! This week we talk about Avatar The Way of Water.

We say goodbye to our wonderful listeners and revisit some of our past opinions and favorite episodes. We also thank all of our guests and talk about what we got out of this project.

With violent right-wing movements around the world in the 2010s, there's never been a better time to visit Terrence Malick's A Hidden Life.  In proper Malick fashion, we jump from point to point, ranging from the director's career, his unique filming style, the Disney-Fox merger, and the end of our podcast. Join us for our last official film discussion of A Century in Cinema.

• For our final Patreon exclusive: If we were to do a 2020 episode...
• Where to watch A Hidden Life
• Christopher Plummer recounts working with Malick
• The cast of A Hidden Life talk about the filming process
• Top Letterboxd review of A Hidden Life

Abbas Kiarostami's Certified Copy inspires a variety of discussions about hyperreality, film festival bubbles, and why Iran banned a film directed by one of their greatest filmmakers.

• Join our Patreon for a discussion on the infamous 2010 Oscars
• Where to watch Certified Copy
• Mark Kermode's review of Certified Copy
• Where to watch Young Adult (2011)

Victor Sjöström’s Swedish film The Phantom Carriage inspires discussions about early visual effects, the prohibition movement, and the horror of working a job for over 36,000 years.

• Where to watch The Phantom Carriage (also in public domain)
• Where to watch Nanook of the North (also in public domain)

After a World War, a flu pandemic,  and a series of race riots in the United States... Oscar Micheaux’s independently produced Within Our Gates premiered in 1920. Known for being the oldest surviving film from an African-American director, it is also seen as a response to the racial climate in America at the time, as well as D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation (1915). We discuss all these topics, as well as early silent cinema.

• Where to watch Within Our Gates (also in public domain)
• The Chicago Defender 1920 Review of Within Our Gates
• Where to watch The Phantom Carriage (also in public domain)

As the events of the Great Recession play out, we turn to Greece where the country's debt crisis is (or isn't) showcased in the dark allegory of Yorgos Lanthimos' Dogtooth.

• Join our Patreon to hear what other movie we were going to talk about for 2009
• Where to watch Dogtooth
• The Greek Prime Minister's thoughts on Dogtooth
• Where to watch Certified Copy (2010)

Twilight and the mania surrounding the franchise at the time offers us an opportunity to talk about fandoms, romance, (Cronenberg,) modern gothic-horror, and how volatile criticism is thrown at media made for women versus media made for men.

• Join our Patreon to learn how to throw the perfect party
• Where to watch Twilight
• Mark Kermode's review of Twilight
• Where to watch Dogtooth (2009)

In the wake of 9/11, anti-Muslim bigotry swept across the western world. Artists like Marjane Satrapi push against the hatred with her graphic novel turned animated film, Persepolis, showing audiences what it was really like to live through the Iranian revolution and war with Iraq. Local playwriter Élise Hanson joins us to talk about how films can help us empathize with other cultures and gain a deeper understanding of the people around the world.

• Join our Patreon, where we talk about Jordan Peele's Nope
• Where to watch Persepolis
• Roger Ebert's review
• Where to watch Twilight (2008)

We talk about the Spanish film Volver  and the life of its esteemed director Pedro Almodóvar.

• Where to watch Volver
• Roger Ebert's review
• Clip from Ebert & Roeper (with Mario Van Peebeles)
• Almodóvar Leading Ladies on Drag Race España
• Where to watch Persepolis (2007)

A History of Violence inspires discussions of the American psyche in a post-9/11 world and survival of the fittest within the human species. We talk about how this film fits into the careers of David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen.

• On our Patreon: Andrew's least favorite films of 2005
• Where to watch A History of Violence
• Roger Ebert's review
• Cinephilia and Beyond Interview
• Where to watch Volver (2006)