Monday Morning Critic Podcast

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(Episode 196) "The Old Guard" Actor: Joey Ansah. Jul 25, 2020

Show notes

His big Hollywood break came in the form of him being cast in the upcoming Bourne Ultimatum (2007) by award-winning director, Paul Greengrass, in which he plays 'Desh', a Blackbriar super assassin working for the CIA who goes up against Jason Bourne (Matt Damon). The Bourne Ultimatum (2007).

You can currently find him in the Netflix smash hit, "The Old Guard"

Meet the very awesome, Joey Ansah.

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(Episode 195) "Winter's Bone" Actor: Lauren Sweetser. Jul 17, 2020

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Lauren Sweetser is an actor whose filmography includes the four time nominated "Winter's Bone" and Season 3 of "True Detective"

Meet the very cool: Lauren Sweetser.

(Episode 194) "Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile" Director: Joe Berlinger. Jul 11, 2020

Show notes

Meet one of the best documentarians on the planet!

Joe Berlinger!

Emmy-winning and Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Joe Berlinger has been a leading voice in nonfiction film and television for over two decades. A pioneer in the genre of true crime documentaries, Berlinger draws attention to social justice issues in the US and abroad with such landmark documentaries as Brother’s Keeper, Paradise Lost, and Crude. Highlighting the issue of oil pollution in the Amazon rainforest, Crudewon 22 human rights, environmental, and film festival awards and triggered a high profile First Amendment battle with oil-giant Chevron, while Brother’s Keeper and Paradise Lost influenced a generation of documentary filmmakers and are routinely studied in numerous film and law schools across the country. The New York Times included Brother’s Keeper in its guide to the 1000 best movies ever made, a list that represents all genres of film. Berlinger has received multiple awards from the Directors Guild of America, the National Board of Review and the Independent Spirit Awards. Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger, is a feature-length documentary produced by CNN Films and theatrically released by Magnolia in 2014. Berlinger’s film captures notorious crime boss Whitey Bulger’s sensational trial, using it as a springboard to explore allegations of corruption within the highest levels of law enforcement. The film was one of six Berlinger features to have premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.In addition to social justice filmmaking, Berlinger has explored cultural icons in such documentaries as Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, a film that redefined the rockumentary genre, and Under African Skies, about the 25th Anniversary of Paul Simon’s Graceland album. The film was nominated for three primetime Emmy awards after its 2012 Sundance Film Festival premiere, including Outstanding Nonfiction Special. In the summer of 2016, Netflix released Berlinger's Tony Robbins: I am Not Your Guru, a riveting vérité film that goes behind the scenes of renowned life and business strategist Tony Robbins and his mega once-a-year “Date With Destiny” seminar. Also for Netflix, Berlinger directed and produced Hank: 5 Years From the Brink, a dissection of the actions taken by then Secretary of Treasury Hank Paulson to stave off a global meltdown during the financial collapse of 2008.In 2017, Berlinger completed Intent to Destroy, which pulls back the curtain on the violent history of the Armenian Genocide and legacy of Turkish suppression and denial over the past century. The film won numerous film festival awards after its Tribeca Film Festival world premiere and was broadcast on Starz. In 2018 Berlinger executive produced Paris to Pittsburgh for Bloomberg Philanthropies and National Geographic. The film highlights the impassioned efforts of individuals across the United States who are battling climate change despite the Trump administration’s decision to exit the Paris Climate Agreement. The film debuted in December of 2018 and aired globally in 172 countries.In addition to his feature documentary work, Berlinger, a two-time Emmy and Peabody award winner (with five additional Emmy nominations), has created hundreds of hours of television as both a producer and director, including the Emmy-winning History Channel series 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America and the Emmy-nominated Gray Matter. He directed and produced six seasons of the critically acclaimed Sundance Channel series Iconoclasts and directed/executive-produced the first two seasons of the Emmy-nominated Master Class, a series for the Oprah Winfrey Network. His numerous HBO productions include Addiction, Judgment Day andVirtual Corpse, and he has created series for VH1 and Court TV. Berlinger’s dramatic television directorial credits include NBC's acclaimed hit drama Homicide: Life on the Street, as well as the short-lived UPN/Dick Wolf series D.C.Berlinge

(Episode 193) "American Horror Story" Actor: Mat Fraser. Jul 03, 2020

Show notes

While playing disabled characters has been, for the past 27 years at least, a great way for actors to win an Oscar, Americans haven’t actually seen many impaired people on their screens. So when American Horror Story: Freak Show, introduced Mat Fraser as Paul the Illustrated Seal Boy in 2014, it was a challenge for some and a revelation for others. An actor with phocomelia a congenital condition triggered in tens of thousands of children after their mothers used the drug thalidomide for morning sickness, Fraser has short arms and no thumbs. His casting, among others in American Horror Story, triggered a wave think of pieces about the depiction, casting, and exploitation-versus-agency of disability in the media. But although Fraser is a new figure to many Americans, this wasn’t his first rodeo. Long a presence in British media before coming to the States, Fraser has used his art and public profile to push and shape conversations about disability depictions, rights, and equality for years.

Meet the awesome Mat Fraser!

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MMC Movie Loft: Hot Tub Time Machine. Jul 01, 2020

Show notes

A look at the hidden classic from 2010, "Hot Tub Time Machine"

(Episode 192) "Be Water" ESPN 30 for 30 Director: Bao Nguyen. Jun 23, 2020

Show notes

Bao Nguyen is an award-winning Vietnamese American filmmaker whose past work has been seen in the New York Times, HBO, NBC, Vice, ARTE, and PBS. He has directed, produced, and shot a number of short films, which have played internationally in numerous festivals and museums including MoMA and the Smithsonian. His graduate thesis film, "Julian", won a CINE Golden Eagle Award, the Best Student Documentary Short at the Palm Springs ShortsFest, Special Jury Prize at DOCNYC, and was nominated for an IDA Award. He was the producer and cinematographer of "Nuoc 2030", a feature narrative set in near future Vietnam which opened the Panorama section of the 2014 Berlin International Film Festival and was a recipient of the Tribeca Film Institute Sloan Filmmaker Award. His feature doc directorial debut, "Live From New York" opened the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival and was broadcast nationally in prime time on NBC, preceding the 41st season premiere of Saturday Night Live. He is a 2011 PBS/WGBH Producers Workshop Fellow, an alumnus of the 2012 and 2014 Berlinale Talent Campus, and a Firelight Media Fellow. He earned his BA at NYU and his MFA at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

Bao's current documentary "Be Water" an ESPN 30 for 30 is currently one of the most successful in recent memory.

Meet: Bao Nguyen.

MMC Movie Loft: Avengers: Endgame. Jun 20, 2020

Show notes

The first Monday Morning Critic Movie Loft!

Avengers: Endgame

(Episode 191) "Defending Jacob" Actor: William Xifaras. Jun 14, 2020

Show notes

William Xifaras's path to acting is very much unlike anyone I have ever interviewed. I found him kind, open, honest and extremely talented on screen. His filmography includes Ted 2, The Equalizer, Castle Rock, The Heat and most recently and notably "Defending Jacob" in which he plays (and is absolutely fantastic as) "Father O'Leary"

Meet: William Xifaras.

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(Episode 190) "The Rookie" Jim Morris. Jun 08, 2020

Show notes

Jim Morris always dreamed of being a major league baseball player. When he got drafted in the first round in 1984, that dream felt close to becoming a reality. Unfortunately, a series of injuries forced him into early retirement. Instead, Morris got married, started a family, and got his college degree. Shortly after, he became a high school science teacher and baseball coach in West Texas.

One day, while giving a speech to his high school team about pursuing their dreams, a player challenged Jim to go after his own. So they made a bet, if the team won the District Championship, he would try out for the majors.

The team did their job. Now it was time for him to do his.

The 35-year-old Morris wasn’t very sure of himself at the try-out. When he saw the scout shaking the radar gun, he was worried his fastball didn’t even register. But soon he learned the truth. He was bringing it. Hard. 98 miles-per-hour to be exact.

Three months later, Jim Morris was toeing the rubber for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, finally living his major league dream.

Disney quickly turned Jim’s incredible story into a feature film, The Rookie, starring Dennis Quaid. And the rest is history.

Today, Jim Morris is a renowned motivational speaker, sharing his journey with audiences across the globe.

Meet: Jim Morris.

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(Episode 189) "Arrival" Actor: Mark O'Brien. Jun 02, 2020

Show notes

Mark O'Brien is an actor whose filmography includes "Ready or Not", "Marriage Story", "Bad Times at The El Royale" and "Arrival."

Mark's newest film, "Hammer" is available June 5th.

Meet: Mark O'Brien.

Welcome to Monday Morning Critic Podcast!

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