Have you ever thought of your script, book, or film as a persuasive argument? It is. Drama quite literally arises from two (or several) characters with very different, very persuasive points of view clashing with each other. That's called rhetoric. And if our characters' rhetorical skill can only ever be as strong as the person who wrote that character...well, maybe we all of us writers need to work on our rhetoric, don't we? The better our rhetorical skills become, the more persuasive our characters become, the more compelling our stories become. We discuss that dynamic.

Also, Josh recommends Top Chef on Peacock, and Ira recommends the Shrek series of movies, also on Peacock.

I want to make a confession...

Hitchcock has a nose for a character in a bind, and that's on full display with this one, where a priest takes confession from a murderer, then becomes the main suspect in that very same murder. Will he break his oath as a priest and tell the authorities the truth? Or will he hang for another man's crime? We watch and find out!

You've probably heard this before: there is no ONE WAY to be a writer. Or a filmmaker. Or an actor, or a painter, or a dancer, or a sculptor...the possibilities, personalities, and pathways are endless. Why is that? And if its true, how can I find my own way? We discuss and answer!

Also, Josh recommends The Terror Season 1 (again!), and Ira recommends Scavenger's Reign which is currently on Netflix.

The spice must flow.

David Lynch bites off his first big-budget studio film, and boy howdy is it a BITE. He's tackling one of the biggest, densest Sci-Fi tentpoles out there: Frank Herbert's Dune. Quite the departure from his smaller, arthouse-y fare. So, how does he do? We watch and discuss!

Thinking about going indie? This is the podcast for you. What are the pros and the cons to eschewing the "system?" There are some GENUINE advantages to being your own studio, publisher or distribution network. There are also some disadvantages. How much you enjoy going indie very much depends on how you navigate those pros and cons, and how much you know yourself and what you like. We discuss our own experiences and lessons learned being independent AND traditional creatives.

Also, Josh recommends the WWE (recorded back before the announcement that Vince McMahon was returning, btw), and Ira recommends 1979's classic Phantasm and the 2008 Get Smart with Steve Carrel and Anne Hathaway.

I am not an animal!!!

The David Lynch Deep Dive continues with his second feature film, an historical biopic centered around John Merrick, a young man in 19th Century England with striking birth and genetic defects that made him treated as a freakshow, whether in the circus or in a hospital. It's a surprisingly conventional, normal, straightforward film. Very much not what we associate with David Lynch. So . . . how effective IS it? We discuss.

It's probably the first thing people ask of an artist: where do your ideas come from? What kinds of things strike the inspiration chord and makes you want to create? And when inspiration does come, how do you foster it into an actual piece of art? We discuss our own personal answers to this common question this week on the Cutting Room Floor!

Also, Josh recommends Entergalactic on Netflix, and Ira recommends Everything Everywhere All At Once which is currently available to rent.

In heaven everything is fine.

This week, we're watching David Lynch's first film. It took him the better part of a decade to make. It's surrealist and avante garde in the way only Lynch can pull off, and it's probably his most personal, most intimate film. He kinda lets his nightmares and fears literally play out for us to see, feverish and confusing. We try to untangle it all. What works? What doesn't? We discuss!

Happy New Year!

Lots of fun stuff to come on the podcast this year, and for Josh and Ira personally. We talk about what the year-to-come has in store. What's on the horizon for you?

2022. The first full post-pandemic year. It was also a major year for us here on the podcast in many ways: adjusting to society's "new normal," successes and failures in filmmaking and publishing, and our first forays beyond the AFI's Top 100 list in terms of the project this podcast is trying to tackle. So, how did we do? What will we think of when we look back on the year that was 2022? In this week's episode, we discuss.

You'll shoot your eye out!

Of all the Christmas movies out there that play on "americana," this one might take the cake. Even the font on the movie poster evokes Norman Rockwell. It's set during the late 30s/early 40s, and centers around Ralphy, who--like ALL kids at that age--desperately wants the perfect Christmas gift. Does he get it? We watch and find out.

Creating anything takes work. Butt in chair. Words on page. Paint on canvas. It's work, and usually in an unrecognized, anonymous silence for years at a time. So, how do we stay motivated to keep working? Especially when it's hard? We talk about the tips, tricks and tools that we use ourselves.

Also, Josh (again) recommends Entergalactic which is currently on Netflix, and Ira recommends 1899 which is also on Netflix.

That does not look like a towel.

The 80s were a wild WILD time. Especially 80s movies. Bill Murray stars in a frenetic, crazy, bonkers adaptation of Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol. He's a miser, asshole of a TV executive who's given one last chance to turn his life around by the ghosts of Christmas. So...how does it hold up? We find out!

I loved Andre Latour, and you murdered him...

It's the last rodeo for Alfred Hitchcock and David O. Selznick, the last time the two work together. And this time, it's written by the producer himself. We have ourselves a murder, a mysterious, beautiful woman accused, and a dashing young lawyer who's convinced she didn't do it. So, how does it all shake out? Do Hitch and Selznick find one last bit of magic? We watch and find out!

Next on Film School, we're doing a deep dive on David Lynch and watching his full feature filmography. BUT FIRST...because we've fallen behind on our recordings, we're going to use the next couple weeks to "bank" some episodes to get ourselves back on track releasing each week. Here's the plan:

Our Christmas films will debut as planned on December 12th and December 19th.

THEN David Lynch's Deep Dive will launch after the new year with Eraserhead.

So...we'll see you in a couple weeks for the first of our Christmas movies, and then after the holidays, we'll kick off the Deep Dive on David Lynch. See you then :)

The second album. The follow-up book. The sequel film. After all the lessons we've learned from the first project, after all that growth, effort and excitement . . . WHY IS THE SECOND PROJECT SO HARD??? And followup question: what can we do about it? Josh and Ira have both been through the famed "sophomore slump." They discuss what they've learned.

Also, Josh recommends The Mist which is currently on Netflix, and Ira recommends The Omen which is playing on Prime.

You cannot run from this -- it will follow you.

Happy Halloween everybody! We conclude Spooky Season 2022 with a bang. We're watching the film that made Blumhouse and (in addition to Blair Witch) inspired an entire generation of found-footage horror films: Paranormal Activity. The movie is almost fifteen years old now. How does it hold up???

Are you responsible for finding your own audience? And how much of your storytelling is a collaboration between you and your audience? This week, we dive into the realm of who we’re writing for and how it impacts our art.

Also, Josh recommends Summit of the Gods which is on Netflix, and Ira recommends the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes films, several of which are on Amazon Prime right now.

Why won't he die?

Jamie Lee Curtis is back in danger! Michael Meyers just can't seem to be stopped, even when she's supposedly safe in the hospital. It's one of the only sequels we can think of that literally starts AT THE END of the first movie and picks up from there. John Carpenter, man . . . he's on another level. We watch and discuss!

We call it "finishing energy." It's the effort it takes to push something all the way to the end. Usually, it's far more than we ever imagined. So, how do we muster "finishing energy?" When resistance is at its peak because we're *so* *close* to finishing, how do we suck it up and move forward? Josh and Ira discuss what's worked for them!

Also, Josh recommends The Professional and Collateral, and Ira recommends 1984 and Valkyrie.

If we stay here, we'll die.

Six women enter an unmapped cave . . . and shit goes down. This week for Spooky Season, we're diving into Neil Marshall's The Descent, which might have the coolest freaking movie poster ever made. So, how does it hold up? Does it bring the noise? We scream and discuss!

How important are ideas? Super important, right? Of course! BUT . . . are they the most important thing when it comes to telling a great story? What about execution? If an idea is just an idea until it's fully realized, how can we properly foster it and build it into something wonderful? Josh and Ira discuss their own experiences.

Also, Josh (does not) recommend Alone on Hulu, and Ira (kind of) recommends Treasure Planet on Disney+

Was that the boogeyman?

As a matter of fact, it is! For our first-ever "Spooky Season," we're watching a horror touchstone, and a seminal moment in "slasher" film history: John Carpenter's Halloween. Does it still deliver the scares and the screams? We watch and find out.

How do you take care of your BODY? We talk so much on this podcast about taking care of the mind, but our brains live inside a body. It's also so, SO important to take care of our physical selves, something we often forget. Josh and Ira talk about their own successes and failures with physical self-care.

Also, Josh recommends Top Chef (again) which is on Hulu, and Ira recommends Alone which is also on Hulu.

What's the best way to work: burst energy, get it out as hard and fast as you possibly can go go go don't stop...or slow and steady, this is a marathon not a sprint, and you can't just drop everything when life never stops, so drip drip it away, one brick at a time until you're finally done? Spoiler: it's not an either/or. It's BOTH. We talk about how we've applied both concepts to our own creativity.

Also, Josh recommends The Terror Season 1 (again), and Ira recommends Welcome to Wrexham (again), which is on Hulu, AND Chernobyl, which is on HBO/Max.

No man can be friends with a woman that he finds attractive.

This week, wrapping up our "You Gotta See This!" excursion, we're watching Nora Ephron and Rob Reiner's When Harry Met Sally, also known as the movie that taught us to fall in love with our best friend. Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan shine. So does the script. It's practically a perfect movie. Enjoy.

How do you create a great character? We're revisiting the topic this week from a previous episode with a new twist on how to answer the question: when was a time that you went above and beyond to create a character, and it paid off big time? Both Josh and Ira share instances from their experience.

Also, Ira recommends Seinfeld which is not quite the show you remember in its earliest episodes, and Josh recommends the film Nocturnal Animals with Jake Gyllenhaal, both of which are currently on Netflix.

Sounds like you chaps have had an interesting night.

This week, it's micro-budget indie to the EXTREME. These chaps from jolly old England made Cosmos on a minuscule six hundred dollars. SIX. HUNDRED. A guys go out into the countryside for a night of looking at the stars . . . and find something else, instead. We discuss!

How much time or importance should we invest in planning/learning/theory, and how much time should we invest in hands-on execution? Planning can be an endless endeavor which leads to never finishing anything; but then again, you can dive into creating something without enough preparation and burn out. So . . . BOTH would seem to be absolutely necessary. So, where does the rubber meet the road? What is the proper intersection of planning and execution? We discuss!

Also, Josh recommends Scorsese's The Irishman, which is on Netflix, and Ira recommends the Swedish/Noomi Rapace original version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, which is on Amazon Prime.

There aren't many sci-fi films that can approach 2001: A Space Odyssey. Tarkovsky's Solaris does . . . and it might even surpass it, at least for the two of us. This week, we're talking about the famed Russian director's expressionistic, emotional, hypnotizing dive into science fiction. His mechanism: an alien planet that seems to understand the people in our lives that we've lost and miss the most . . . and gives them to us. We discuss!

What is the difference between a professional and an amateur?

We can all agree that the two aren't the same thing, so what differentiates them? And if we are an amateur and want to be a professional, *HOW* do we do that? Josh and Ira discuss what the difference is for them, and how they've worked on 'going pro' in their own lives.

Also...Josh recommends the 2012 Teeange Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series which currently has Season 1 available on Netflix, and Ira recommends The Anarchists on HBO.

Are you stealing?

This week, we watch the Berlin-made, one-shot sensation Victoria. And yes, the did actually shoot the entire two-plus hour film in one take. It's a love story, a poem to a drunken night out, AND a heist/thriller. We discuss how well it weaves in all those things together. Enjoy!

Can you tell a story about a lesson that you, personally as the storyteller, haven't learned yet? Or, put another way: what are the dangers of NOT writing what you know? Can the process of storytelling teach you that lesson, or provide you with that insight? And what happens if it doesn't? How does that affect your audience? We discuss!

Also, Josh recommends the book Letter to a Stranger edited by Colleen Kinder, and Ira (+ Liz) recommends Andy Weir's novel Project Hail Mary. Yes! We actually recommend two BOOKS this week instead of films or TV shows. Look how cultured we are :)

I am your MOTHER!

Man...this movie brings the noise. Toni Colette stars in the debut feature from newly minted scare-master Ari Aster. It's a film about family trauma, grief, and how those two forces can rob us of our own agency. Also: it's really freaking scary. We watch, discuss, and break it down!

You're just not feeling it. You want it. You know you can do it. It might even be close . . . but you just can't finish. You can't work on it, or when you do, you hate what you've done. WHAT IS THIS? WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN??? Josh and Ira have gone through it just like you. In fact, they still do! All the time! They share their thoughts, tips and hacks to get your butt back in your chair, churning out work that you love.

Also, Josh recommends The Infinite Man on Tubi.

Say it again, it keeps me awake. ...I love you...

Ingrid Bergman and Hitchcock go back to back! This time its Cary Grant she teams up with, in a tale of international espionage, manipulation, uranium, and...love. All things Hitch has covered before, but not quite like this. Grant and Bergman heat up the silver screen. We watch and discuss!

The water before you is somehow special...

Shane Carouth exploded onto the indie scene with the time-traveling Primer, and then kinda disappeared for a while. He roared back with our movie this week, the mind-bending Upstream Color, which, like his first film, was made on an absolutely tiny, shoe-string budget. Perhaps not the instant classic that Primer is, it nonetheless has a lot to offer. We discuss!

In the world of hiring out work, everyone wants to spend less money, get the best quality of work, and get it in the least amount of time possible. Of course. But, here's the thing: of time, money, and quality...you can only ever get two at the same time. And here's the other thing: it's not just the world of hired work, it's kind of everything. We discuss!

Also: Josh recommends Ethan Hawk's documentary film Seymour, An Introduction about the amazing pianist Seymour Bernstein (currently on Tubi), and Ira recommends the HBO Max documentary series 100 Foot Wave about Garrett Macnamara's hunt to surf the largest waves in the world.

Somebody in this camp ain't what he appears to be.

The Thing was almost universally REVILED when it first came out in 1982, but time told the true story: people just weren't ready for it, it was so far ahead. John Carpenter had no interest in remaking the classic Howard Hawkes version, so he went back to the source material and found some real inspiration. The result is legit one of the most terrifying, bonkers, thrill ride of a horror film that's ever been made to. This. Day. Josh watches for the first time!

What is your relationship with failure? Do you embrace it, or avoid it at all cost? Because failure is a necessary and important part of success, a healthy relationship with it probably lies somewhere in between those two extremes. Josh and Ira discuss what works for them, and what doesn't.

Also, Josh recommends John Carpenter's Vampires, and Ira recommends the Apple TV+ documentary series Home, which just released its second season.

Hurrah me yoller girls, doodle let me go!

Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson star in Robert Eggers second feature as two men stationed on an island in the middle of the ocean and tasked with maintaining a lighthouse. Madness ensues, literally and/or metaphorically depending on how much stock you take in our main character's point of view. This one certainly brings the noise, kids. We discuss!

Are you a pantser or a plotter? Do you just sit down and write the story as it comes to you? Or do you outline and plan and plot out your story in detail before you actually write it? OR...something in between? This week, we talk about the spectrum of plotting and pantsing, what works for us, and the benefits and drawbacks to each end of that spectrum.

Also: Josh recommends the 90s De Niro/Robin Williams film Awakenings, and Ira recommends the docu-series The Web of Make Believe on Netflix.

Tetsuoooo!!!!

This week, we take a peek at Katsuhiro Otomo's masterpiece, and one of the definitive anime films full-stop, Akira. It's over thirty years old now, which is crazy because we're still making this movie. An all-time influential movie, it's up there with Bladerunner in terms of how many movies owe a debt to the way they depict the near-future. So, after all these years, how does it hold up?

What *is* "ego," anyway? How does it get in our way, and how do we need it? This episode, we dive into walking the fine line between self-esteem/confidence, and delusion/insecurity.

Also: Josh recommends A Monster Calls on Netflix, and Ira (really, really highly) recommends 3:10 to Yuma from 2007, which is currently playing on Hulu.

My wife deserves vengeance...

This week, we watch the film that put Christopher Nolan on the map. Guy Pierce stars as Leonard, a man who can no longer make memories. His last memory is of his wife being raped and murdered, and he's obsessed with finding the man responsible and bringing him to justice. But, if he can't remember anything...how? Top-notch premise. Great acting. An Academy Award-nominated script...this is a fun one.

When writing/creating, how do you know what to throw into the trash bin, and how do you know what to keep and tweak until it's working right? It's the central question of editing and revising, and there is no easy, simple answer. But, there *IS* an answer. Josh and Ira share their thoughts on the matter.

Also, Josh recommends Hulu's docu-series The Deep End, and Ira recommends the 1973 horror classic The Wicker Man.

Finally...Josh's debut feature film is available to rent or purchase RIGHT NOW ON AMAZON PRIME! Run, don't walk, and leave a nice review if you liked it.

https://www.amazon.com/Monroe-Josh-McClenney/dp/B09RVX6187/

On this podcast, we've talked before about BAD habits and how to break them. But what about GOOD habits? What about that stuff that we know we SHOULD be doing, but it's hard to get going? Josh and Ira talk about how it works for them.

Also, Josh recommends The Terror Season 1 (again), and Ira recommends Welcome to Wrexham, which is on Hulu.

The monsters of the id!

Easily one of the most influential sci-fi films ever made, Forbidden Planet was the standard set for space opera for an entire generation including Gene Roddenberry, the guy behind Star Trek. Leslie Nielsen is there before his spoofy comedy days. It was a sensation in terms of its special effects. It introduced the beloved character Robby the Robot. We watch and discuss!

How important is it to have community as a creative person? How do you choose the people to surround yourself with? Josh and Ira talk about how they've chosen their own communities, and what to look for.

Also, Josh recommends Shrek, and Ira discusses his recent watches of Kingdom of Heaven and The VVitch.

Vampires in Iran!

Easily one of the 'coolest' films we've ever watched on this podcast, A Girl Walks Home is pure gothic punk rock from foot to fangs. Made in SoCal, it's set in Iran, a place where the subject matter would get you arrested. Hard to imagine when the core of this tale is so sweet, and so wholesome. We discuss!