If L. A. Confidential (1997) were two degrees campier, it would seem like Dick Tracy–but Curtis Hanson made sure to capture the spirit of James Ellroy’s novel while making its labyrinth plot understandable to viewers. Join us for a conversation about how the film examines the need for heroes yet seems to only offer them in a way to which the movies have made us accustomed. Sunlight may be the best disinfectant, but how much sunlight do we really want illuminating the institutions that hold society together? Do we want to live in Chinatown or on the set of Badge of Honor? If you haven’t read James Ellroy’s novel, you can find it here, as well as Steven Powell’s new biography of James Ellroy, Love Me Fierce in Danger. You can also listen to Dan’s interview with Steven Powell here on the New Books Network, as well as a conversation between Dan and Steven about L. A. Confidential on the page and screen. Follow us on X and Letterboxd–and let us know what you’d like us to watch! Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Also check out Dan’s new Substack site, Pages and Frames, for more film-related material. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965), and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966) are collectively known as “The Man with No Name” trilogy and are often thought of as one long movie about the hero’s adventures, much like we think of the original three installments of Indiana Jones. Quentin Tarantino has called the third film the most well-directed film ever made, but Mike contends that For a Few Dollars More is superior to the other two. Join us for a conversation about this most dreamlike of Westerns that operates like a buddy-cop movie and reminds us the question posed by classicists, “Could Achilles beat Odysseus in a fight?” In other words, who would be more afraid of angering: Clint Eastwood or Lee Van Cleef? If you’re interested in learning more about Leone’s work, you might want to read Alireza Vahdani’s The Hero and the Grave: The Theme of Death in the Films of John Ford, Akira Kurosawa and Sergio Leone. Follow us on X and Letterboxd–and let us know what you’d like us to watch! Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Also check out Dan’s new Substack site, Pages and Frames, for more film-related material. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A dramatized thought experiment like best episodes of Star Trek, Forbidden Planet (1956) is a wonderful reminder of how people in the past envisioned the future. Part prophecy—looking forward—and part analysis of the timeless human condition, the film wraps heavy ideas about the cost of knowledge and the ways we interact with our own creations into melodrama. Yes, it’s a reimagining of The Tempest, but it’s also Faust, Frankenstein, and “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” from Fantasia. Join us for a conversation about the limits of technology and the ways in which anything we create bears our own failings. If you’re interested in further reading, Dr. Morbius has many literary antecedents, from Prospero in The Tempest, to Dr. Faustus, Dr. Frankenstein, and Dr. Jekyll. Follow us on X and Letterboxd–and let us know what you’d like us to watch! Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Also check out the new Substack site, Pages and Frames, for more film-related material. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this Halloween, join Mike and Dan for a conversation about Tod Browning's 1931 Dracula, the often-imitated adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel and the template for dozens of films. How the film can be viewed as a portrayal of addiction similar to The Man with the Golden Arm, how Van Helsing and Dracula stand as enemies, and how Dracula-inspired films mark the history of movies all come into play--as well as what Samuel Johnson said about ghosts and what Ernest Hemingway said about what happens to tough guys at night. So gather the wolfsbane, find a rosary, and give it a listen! Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We expect lust, greed, and all kinds of deadly sins in our movies--but how do we react to a portrait of goodness? To what degree does a moment of sin undo the millions of others in a person's life? And why aren't people talking about this movie more than they are--which is basically not at all? Join Mike and Dan for a conversation about Bernie (2011), Richard Linklater's second film with Jack Black and one that defines description, genre, or expectations.  In Cold Blood, Anatomy of a Murder, and The Brothers Karamazov all enter the scene. So cue up The Music Man, arrange that basket of soaps, set your bird clock, and give it a listen!   Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike and Dan tackle their third Werner Herzog movie of the season--and their second Nosferatu.  Join them as they talk about what makes Herzog's 1979 remake of what he called the greatest German film of all time and what Mike and Dan praise as the best of all the Dracula films. Mike calls Herzog "the Mozart of stilted time," Dan compares this film to part of Gulliver's Travels, and the two of them keep coming up with examples of where Herzog upsets the viewer's expectations in wonderful ways. So set your table among the rats and give it a listen!   Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is Rebecca (1940) more Selznick than Hitchcock? How does it work like a rehearsal for Vertigo?  And how is the house a perfect metaphor for Laurence Olivier's Maxim DeWinter? Join Mike and Dan as they talk about Hitchcock's first American film and one that--while lush and "Hollywood"--has his fingerprints all over it.  Vertigo, Shadow of a Doubt, and North By Northwest come into the conversation--but so do Rosemary's Baby and Raiders of the Lost Ark.  So open that secret door, touch the underwear made by the nuns in the Convent of the Sisters of St. Claire, and give it a listen!  Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yes, we know the full title is Aguirre, the Wrath of God, but we want to keep consistent with our episode titles for this season. Join Mike and Dan as they talk about Werner Herzog's 1972 portrait of the conquistador as a young man.  Conan the Barbarian, Goodfellas, Richard III, Deliverance, Southern Comfort, and There Will Be Blood all come into play.  Herzog dramatizes what Mike likens to a startup and what Dan compares the film to what Melville called "the truest book ever written." (You'll have to listen to learn that book's title.) So kick the Emperor out of his latrine and give it a listen!   Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's it like to be revered as a legend but feel you're unworthy of the acclaim? Mike and Dan discuss James Mangold's Logan (2017), a movie they enjoy for its ideas as much as it's fights--even more so. How the film looks at aging, anger, self-loathing, and a man's trying to be someone he's not all come into play, as well as the many ways that the film complements last week's film, Shane. This episode also has Dan's vote for Mike's best phrase so far in the 150+ episodes they've recorded. Does Logan's death fit the world fo the film--or is it a 9 on the Borimir Scale? Zodiac, No Country for Old Men also come into play. So pull out your claws, take the shot of adrenaline, and give it a listen!   Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everybody knows and loves George Stevens's Shane (1953) so much that its fights and characters have become something almost liturgical. Join Mike and Dan as they talk about how what we think of as a star vehicle for Alan Ladd is actually a terrific ensemble movie and how even the film's color scheme has affected our imaginations of the West.  Pale Rider, The Departed, The Bishop's Wife, Unforgiven, the swinging doors that Dan's dad installed in their basement, and the poem "To Lucasta, On Going to the Wars" all enter the conversation. The guys also explain why there will never be a Shane 2: The Return.  So uproot that stump, grab your soda pop and give it a listen!    Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the hundredth anniversary of F. W. Murnau's NOSFERATU (1922), Mike and Dan talk about the film's staying power and the thrill of watching dozens of cinematic conventions being invented before your eyes. The characters are like people watching horror movies, trying to remain logical while feeling uneasy or disturbed.  Alien, Jaws, Rear Window, Niagra, The Witch and even COVID-19 all enter the conversation. So levitate out of that coffin and give it a listen!  You can see a good print of NOSFERATU here Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A film that's both a joy and struggle to watch, Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo (1982) dramatizes the trials and triumph of a man bringing what he knows is aesthetic bliss and artistic excellence to the heart of darkness. But is he insane for thinking so? How much does he resemble Kurtz, Ahab, or Quixote? And how does watching Fitzcarraldo's attempt to bring the opera to the jungle remind us of trying to get your friends to read the books you like and see the films you admire? Don't turn everything into an opera--just give it a listen!   Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Season 8 begins with a fanatic favorite and listener request: Rocky (1976). Mike praises the film's "unexpected subtlety" and Dan talks about how the first installment dwarfs all of its sequels--and why Rocky needs to lose in order to win.  Marty, Raging Bull, and Creed all come into the conversation. So gulp those eggs, lace those Chuck Taylors, and give it a listen!   Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Kafkaesque” is the word usually used to describe After Hours, Martin Scorsese’s 1985 comedy—a fair point, since there’s a scene in the film that dramatizes Kafka’s “Before the Law.” But the writer whose imagination this film really taps is Lewis Carroll: as in Alice in Wonderland, a naïve but likable young person chases a white rabbit to a different part of town, is threatened by an angry woman who wants to chop off his head, and learns, “We’re all mad here.” Join us for an appreciation of this terrific film we’ve used to test other people’s sense of humor. If you haven’t read Lewis Carroll in a while, you can get a copy of all the Alice books here. Follow us on X and Letterboxd–and let us know what you’d like us to watch! Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Also check out the new Substack site, Pages and Frames, for more film-related material. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Season 8 will begin on Monday, August 29, 2022.  In the meantime, check out this unbelievable promo with one of the world's most-recognizable actors!   Terrific bumper music:  Bluebird by E's Jammy Jams Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Music provided by FreeMusic109 https://youtube.com/FreeMusic109 Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on Twitter and Letterboxd @15MinFilm.  Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com.  Twitter: https://twitter.com/15minfilm Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/15MinFilm/ Website: https://fifteenminutefilm.podbean.com/   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you were making a film about the afterlife, would the next world be in monochrome or technicolor? In their season 7 finale, Mike and Dan answer this question as they talk about Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's A Matter of Life and Death (1946), which Mike contends has "all the things that make a movie great" and which Dan describes as a "beautiful hallucination-like all the best films."  The Wizard of Oz, The Matrix, The Shining, and an idea from Robert Frost's "Birches" all find their way into the conversation. So recite the works of Sir Walter Raleigh, freeze that table-tennis game, and give it a listen!   Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike and Dan talk about one of the most faithful adaptations of any novel: the Coen brothers' No Country for Old Men (2007). Join them for a conversation about how the film poses questions about maintaining one's dignity and morality in a world one no longer recognizes, the way in which the film allows the viewer to think along with the characters, and whether or not the ending is as much of a downer as it seems upon first viewing. So get those tent poles, flip that coin, and give it a listen!   Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How much unease can a film pack into 68 minutes? A great amount, as Mike and Dan discuss in this week's episode on Detour (1945), Edgar G. Ulmer's noir masterpiece and certainly one of the best examples of the genre. The guys talk about the ways in which the film dramatizes the whims of whatever malevolent force controls the universe and Ann Savage's unpredictable, electrifying performance. I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, Seinfeld, The Third Man, Raging Bull, Out of the Past, The Shining, Double Indemnity King Lear, and Goodfellas all enter the conversation about a man without any plot armor longing to escape into another movie. So stick out that thumb and see who picks you up--just be sure to listen to this episode in the car.   Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"You notice a lot of things if you look." So says Maggie Cheung in Kar-Wei Wong's fascinating In the Mood for Love (2000). Mike and Dan notice many things about this terrific film, such as how it presents adultery in a way that surprises audiences used to seeing it as a plot device or a reward for a character's misery--as in The Bridges of Madison County. How the film suggests adultery as a terrible fact and a fact that two star-crossed lovers respect, despite their anguish, is what makes it so compelling. The Apartment, Body Heat, Double Indemnity, The Scarlet Letter, Walden, and even Moby-Dick all enter the conversation in this extended episode. So grab that Thermos, fill it with noodles, and give it a listen! Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Does man, that marvel of the universe, that glorious paradox who sent me to the stars, still make war against his brother? Keep his neighbor's children starving?" Charlton Heston finds out when he lands on Planet of the Apes, the 1968 classic that sparked sequels, a TV show, toys, Halloween costumes, and CGI reboots, but still stands above all of them. Mike and Dan talk about their favorite moments, watching it as a kid vs. seeing it now, and the way in which the famous surprise isn't as shocking as what Dr. Zaius has in mind when he puts Taylor--and, by extension, all humans--on trial. So press play, get your stinking paws of that phone, and give it a listen! It's a madhouse--a madhouse!   Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this short episode, Mike and Dan talk about their favorite places to see movies.  Dan raves about the Princeton Garden Theatre in Princeton, NJ; Mike praises the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, TX.  Both offer terrific experiences for watching first-run and classic films and both are heavenly places for film fanatics.  So get to Princeton or Austin or anywhere there's an Alamo Drafthouse and see what the fuss is about! Terrific bumper music:  Bluebird by E's Jammy Jams Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Music provided by FreeMusic109 https://youtube.com/FreeMusic109 Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on Twitter and Letterboxd @15MinFilm.  Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com.  Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Twitter: https://twitter.com/15minfilm Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/15MinFilm/ Website: https://fifteenminutefilm.podbean.com/   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ride into the danger zone with Mike and Dan as they discuss the first--and perhaps only--blockbuster popcorn movie of the season: Top Gun: Maverick. Dan defends his enjoyment of Tom Cruise's movies, Mike talks about a question the film asks that it can't answer, and both examine the ways in which Maverick has the feel of an 80s movie and the classic structure of the "Make a plan / execute the plan" movie. Jennifer Connelly's lighting, Jon Hamm's difficulty in containing Tom Cruise, and the Creed movies all come into play. So buzz the tower and give it a listen!   Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly (2006) is a better film than Blade Runner, the adaptation often seen as the gold standard of Philip K. Dick adaptations. Join Dan and Mike for a conversation about the experience of watching this terrific and trippy interrogation of the surveillance state, the noise that permeates our lives, and the ways in which our identities are scanned and sold.  Other topics include rotoscoping, John LeCarre, Primer, The Departed, and whether or not Woody Harrelson knew he was in a movie at the time of filming. So put down that Substance D, reconnect those hemispheres, and give it a listen!   Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No one was as jazzed up to see The Northman as Mike and Dan.  Both are great admirers of Robert Eggers's The Witch and The Lighthouse, each of which has been discussed in previous episodes.  But the disaster of The Northman is more than a disappointment; it's indicative of a trend in contemporary films in which the audience is held almost in contempt.  This episode doesn't follow the usual three-act structure--it's all a rant about why The Northman fails and what its failure reminds us about how films are made.  Spoilers abound, for what they are worth.   Terrific bumper music:  Bluebird by E's Jammy Jams Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Music provided by FreeMusic109 https://youtube.com/FreeMusic109 Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on Twitter and Letterboxd @15MinFilm.  Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com.  Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Twitter: https://twitter.com/15minfilm Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/15MinFilm/ Website: https://fifteenminutefilm.podbean.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is the proper—or most effective—response to a barrage of horror and pain? The closest that screenwriter Paul Schrader ever came to a comedy (albeit a very dark one), Bringing Out the Dead (1999) is low on special effects depicting medical emergencies but high on drama. Join us for a conversation about one of Scorsese’s sleepers, a movie about a man who wants to find something like religious faith in a world with no spiritual oasis. It also dramatizes the incredible cost paid a moment of peace. The film is based on Joe Connolly’s 1988 novel, which was a minor sensation when published. Follow us on X and Letterboxd–and let us know what you’d like us to watch! Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Also check out the new Substack site, Pages and Frames, for more film-related material. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"What kind of man are you?" So asks one of the people who interact with Jef Costello, existential assassin in Jean Pierre-Melville's Le Samurai (1967). Mike and Dan try to answer this question by comparing Jef to Richard Stark's serial thief Parker (and subject of John Boorman's Point Blank) and a few other figures. Melville's masterpiece uses what Dan calls a "symphony of silence" to generate real tension until the final moments, in which Jef finds himself as another performer in the nightclub where the plot began. So feed that bird, snap that hat brim, and give it a listen! Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Pray for the best but prepare for the worst” is what Hugh Jackman’s character advises his son in Prisoners, Dennis Denis Villeneuve’s 2013 thriller. And “the worst” is what we get: this is another intense movie, like Dear Zachary or Zodiac, that you can’t indiscriminately recommend to anybody around the water cooler. Mike and Dan talk about the many terrific performances here–among them Jake Gyllenhaal’s best–as well as how the film’s strengths and weaknesses are both matters of artistic restraint. So join them for a conversation about the second-best movie in which Paul Dano is beaten senseless by the protagonist!  Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The general atmosphere gets very Macbethish as Mike and Dan talk round out their Season of Mankiewicz with All About Eve (1950), Joseph L. Mankiewicz's masterpiece. The guys talk about how the film offers theatricality as a way of life and means of getting what one wants and how it both plays into and mocks our desire to hobnob with famous folks. The greatness of George Sanders, Chris Farley's interview of Paul McCartney, and Jimi Hendrix's "Room Full of Mirrors" all enter the conversation. So--of course--fasten your seatbelts and give it a listen!   Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When's the last time you saw a film with an all-star cast, big-name director, notable screenwriter, period sets, shootouts, explosions, snappy dialogue--and poignant moments? Mike and Dan talk about how Brian DePalma's The Untouchables (1987) combines all of these elements into a satisfying experience. Dan compares it to Shakespearean history plays and the guys then bring in Lincoln, Seven Samurai, A Man for All Seasons before asking what happened to Kevin Costner, a great straight man who's convincing and non-threatening. So pour yourself a drink, now that it's legal again, and give this a listen!   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dale Launer has written screenplays for films that everyone has seen: Ruthless People (1985), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) and, notably, My Cousin Vinny (1992). Join Mike and Dan as they talk to Dale about screenwriting, his inspiration for Vinny Gambini (hint: it's a rock star who died in 2013), and how the torrid tale of the making and unmaking of Blind Date (1987) reflects the perils of screenwriting, producers, and too many chefs. He also shares his list of favorite screenplays. So drop that Craftsman model 1019 Laboratory Edition Signature Series torque wrench--the kind used by Caltech high energy physicists and NASA engineers--and give it a listen!   Thanks again to Dale Launer for the interview! You can check out his website here Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After coming off of Foreign Correspondent, here's a mini-episode on another oft-overlooked yet perfect Hitchcock film: The Lady Vanishes (1938).  Mike talks about his recent rewatching of this early thriller, what Dan calls "Hitchcock's Agatha Christie," and how it has the magic formula for satisfying an audience.  So stir your Mexican tea and give it a listen!   Terrific bumper music:  Bluebird by E's Jammy Jams Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Music provided by FreeMusic109 https://youtube.com/FreeMusic109 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike and Dan share their similar reactions to Hitchcock's 1940 espionage thriller: Why aren't more people talking about this movie?  A Hitchcock film that sometimes feels as if it were directed by Howard Hawks, Foreign Correspondent is a terrific film that Mike and Dan urge their listeners to see. Adjusting for scale, it's Hitchcock's most expensive film, his Mission Impossible, but also one that has delicate moments to complicate the terrific special effects set-piece in the third act. During their conversation, the guys mention The 39 Steps, North by Northwest, The Lady Vanishes, but also The Turn of the Screw, Rosemary's Baby, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and The Little Foxes.  So climb out of that high hotel window and walk the ledge into our room. We promise it'll be fun.   Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Inspired by his reading Competing with Idiots: Herman and Joe Mankiewicz, A Dual Portrait and his earlier interview with its author, Nick Davis, Dan has been binging on Joe Mankiewicz films.  In this short episode, Mike names the films and Dan talks about what makes them worth seeing.  No other podcast delivers so much in so short a time!   Terrific bumper music:  Bluebird by E's Jammy Jams Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Music provided by FreeMusic109 https://youtube.com/FreeMusic109 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is there a better way to celebrate episode 150 than to talk about Citizen Kane? There is: to do so with Nick Davis, grandson of its screenwriter, Herman Mankiewicz, and author of the spectacular Competing with Idiots: Herman and Joe Mankiewicz, A Dual Portrait.  Mike and Dan held off on covering Citizen Kane, waiting for the right moment to tackle it--and that moment has arrived. Mike, Dan, and Nick talk about how Kane's reputation as The Greatest Film of All Time obscures the fact that it is a joy to watch from start to finish and created at just the right time in Hollywood history. As always, the guys talk about their favorite moments; listen to this episode to see if yours are the same as theirs. (Hint: none of them chose "Rosebud.") Thanks again to Nick Davis for joining us! You can get Competing with Idiots: Herman and Joe Mankiewicz, A Dual Portrait wherever books are sold.  Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike and Dan interview Nick Davis about Competing with Idiots, his terrific dual portrait of his grandfather, Herman Mankiewicz, and his great-uncle, Joseph L. Mankiewicz. He talks to Mike and Dan about the impetus for the book, the Mankiewicz family dynamic, and how his understanding of these fascinating figures grew and became more complex over time. No film fanatic can miss this one!   You can get a copy of Competing with Idiots anywhere books are sold.  Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An Academy darling that has faded into the background, Broadcast News (1987) still holds up as Network’s little brother. They don’t make ’em like this anymore: light comedy about adults with adult problems. Join Mike and Dan for a conversation about how the film offers something more novel than a love triangle: a talent triangle. They also talk about how the film dramatizes the challenge of people who have friends for too long and therefore can’t becoming romantically involved. When was the last time you saw that in a movie? Brian McNair’s Journalists in Film explores how journalists have been portrayed in film, and what these images tell us about the role of the journalist in liberal democratic societies. Follow us on X and Letterboxd–and let us know what you’d like us to watch! Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Also check out the new Substack site, Pages and Frames, for more film-related material. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In an era of shameless, unnecessary, and unsolicited remakes, Some Like It Hot remains untouched, despite a premise that seems like low-hanging fruit for any producer seeking to explore gender-related issues. Mike and Dan talk about why Billy Wilder's 1959 comedy remains unremade and the brilliance of its three leads: Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, and Marilyn Monroe. Sigmund Freud and Wile E. Coyote sneak into the conversation. So hop in that dress, watch out for the gangster popping out of the cake, and give it a listen! We can make Manhattans! Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike and Dan react to recent stories about Jared Leto transforming himself physically for his role in House of Gucci.  When will this praise of prosthetics-for-prosthetics' sake end?  When will the gimmick be praised less than the performance?   (Note: Dan refers to the actor who played John Merrick in David Lynch's The Elephant Man as William Hurt.  The actor was, of course, John Hurt.  Dan knew it as soon as it came out of his mouth but he was on a roll.)  Jump out of that makeup chair and give it a listen! Terrific bumper music:  Bluebird by E's Jammy Jams Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Music provided by FreeMusic109 https://youtube.com/FreeMusic109 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"A sword can beat another sword, but it cannot beat a thousand arrows." So says Mike in this episode on Throne of Blood (1957), Akira Kurosawa's version of Macbeth. What does Kurosawa get right--more so than many other traditional adaptations? What single plot change from the original makes Throne of Blood even more "Macbethish" (to quote Joe Mackewicz) than the original? And how does Kurosawa manipulate physical spaces to suggest the moral claustrophobia of his hero? And what in this film calls to mind the murderous couple in Double Indemnity?  In so many ways, Japan is more Scottish than Scotland. So dodge those arrows and give it a listen!   Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Each new version of a famous play--especially one as well-known as Macbeth--calls to mind the ones that came before it. So how does Joel Coen's The Tragedy of Macbeth (2022) rate in light of other versions, including those in the viewers' imaginations? Dan and Mike talk about Denzel Washington's spectacular yet restrained performance and how Joel Coen's vision of the play is full of surprising choices. They also apply Hamlet's famous advice to the players to the film to better appreciate the many great performances. Lay on, Macduff, and give it a listen! Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"In the end, we've lost this battle, too." So say Kambei at the end of Seven Samurai (1954), Akira Kurosawa's often-imitated masterpiece. Mike and Dan talk about what, exactly, is lost and won, how the samurai beat the bandits but lose to peace, and how the viewer's perspective is constantly shifting in a film that's 207 minutes long but feels like 15. Every possible emotion and experience a person can have watching a film is in this one, so join Mike and Dan as they talk about as many as they can.   Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is childhood really like? Is it like how it's portrayed in The Wizard of Oz and E.T.--or is it something altogether different, like the world in Bob Dylan's "Ballad of a Thin Man," where something's happening but you don't know what it is? Mike and Dan talk about Alice, the 1988 film by Jan Švankmajer that gets the feel of Lewis Carroll's books--and childhood--exactly right. "A film for children--perhaps" is how the title character describes it and the "perhaps" is what makes the film so compelling. Samuel Beckett, Zork, Tim Burton, and Mr. Bean all come into the conversation--so eat that tart, chase that white rabbit, and give it a listen!   Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You may know and love The Red Shoes, but how much do you know about Moira Shearer, who agreed to play Vickie Page only after a year of pursuit by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger? Dan talks to Steve Exeter, writer and director of Oran na h-Eala (2022), a film that dramatizes the struggles Shearer faced in leaving the ballet for a more flashy medium. Shannon Davidson, who plays Shearer, joins the conversation and talks about the temptations and refusal of fame. To what degree did the film do for Shearer what the red shoes did for Vickie? How do artists stay true to their visions when they are pressured to take a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?  Join us for a conversation about this new, terrific film that Dan calls "a movie for people who love movies" and one that explores the very issues that Powell and Pressburger do in theirs.   Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Relentlessly joyful" is one of Mike and Dan's many attempts to articulate the feel and experience of watching The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's epic time-sweeping story about a good man caught in a changing world. In this longer-than-usual episode, the conversation touches upon what's removed from the film, the importance of what remains, and how this indisputable masterpiece provokes not a single eye-roll as it inspires us to be morally courageous. When's the last time a film did that for you? Remember, the war starts at midnight, so start listening as soon as you can!  Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every family has an Uncle Charlie--perhaps not a sociopathic serial killer who preys on widows, but close. Mike and Dan talk about Joseph Cotten's terrific performance in Hitchcock's 1943 Shadow of a Doubt and how his performance--along with the overacting of the rest of the cast--raises the issue of the ways in which family life is one sustained performance. They discuss the charm of the film lying in its not being Hitchcock's best, regardless of his calling it his favorite--a Saturday Afternoon Hitchcock as opposed to a Friday Nighter. No Country for Old Men, Psycho, Fargo, Blue Velvet, and Hemingway's story "The Killers" all come up in conversation. So knock over that glass, cut up the newspaper and hum the Merry Widow Waltz as you give it a listen!   No widows were harmed during the making of this podcast.   Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What are some of the most shocking moments you've seen in a film? Few are as shocking as those in Black Narcissus, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's 1947 example of absolute control as an artistic method and theme. After being dumbstruck by The Red Shoes, the guys had to come back for more. Listen to Mike and Dan talk about how, like The Red Shoes, the film offers alternatives without endorsing either one. Is the meaning of life found in worldliness--or abstinence? The Shining, The Turn of the Screw, The Wicker Man, and Hereditary all come into the conversation. So put on your red dress and lipstick and give it a listen!   Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you’ve seen Hearts of Darkness, you can better appreciate what Coppola endured while making Apocalypse Now; if you’ve seen River of Dreams, you can watch in wonder as Herzog talks about the shooting Fitzcaraldo and really moving that boat through the jungle. American Movie (1999) aims to do the same thing for Mark Borchardt’s low-budget independent horror film Coven. How you respond to American Movie depends on how you respond to Borchardt: is he simply a pretentious jerk who thinks he’s the next George A. Romero? Or is he what Thomas Gray would call “some mute inglorious Milton,” whose work deserves a wider audience? In this episode, the guys mention the work of English poet Thomas Gray, whose famous “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” is applied to Mark Borchardt. Follow us on X and Letterboxd–and let us know what you’d like us to watch! Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Also check out the new Substack site, Pages and Frames, for more film-related material. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amazon recently announced it would offer a new series based on The Lord of the Rings and other works by J.R.R. Tolkien: The Rings of Power.  Dan mentions it to Mike, who winds up and offers a Master Class on what's wrong with the world.   Please follow or subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and on Twitter @15MinFilm and Letterboxd @15MinFilm.  You can also contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com, and support the show with a buck or two at Venmo @FifteenMinuteFiIm.  All proceeds go right back to the show! Opening clip courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter.  Terrific bumper music by Jackson Frederick Smith. URL: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jackson_F_Smith/Jackson_Frederick_Smith/Cantina_Rag Comments: http://freemusicarchive.org/ Curator: The Beehive Recording Company Copyright: Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States: http://  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's the most shocking Pixar film? Mike argues that it's Wall-E and Dan doesn't disagree. After talking about how the film, like its title character, doesn't really fit in anywhere, the guys talk about what makes Wall-E so compelling and get into a debate about whether or not the film could--or should--sustain the silence of its first half.  Rear Window, 2001, and even Logan's Run all come into the discussion. So turn off Hello, Dolly! and turn on our episode on this strange and perfect film.   Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everyone--even you, dear listener--can name a film that they've read about, heard about, and meant to see--but never got around to seeing. Such is the case with The Red Shoes, Powell and Pressburger's 1948 film about the triumphs and demands of following one's passion. What a movie! Mike and Dan talk about their first reactions and then get into a discussion of how the film depicts the process of artistic creation without falling into the common trap of never showing us the product. The film suggests different ways to approach one's talent, such as sacrificing everything to it or using one's experiences to fuel it. Scorsese, De Niro, Sinatra, Whiplash, and even Phil Jackson come up in the conversation. So tap that baton and begin from the top!   Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and review the show on Apple podcasts and contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com. Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices