The Cinephiliacs

Latest Episodes:

TC #21 - Victor Morton (Rosetta) Jul 01, 2013

Show notes

Since film discussion has been on the Internet, so has Victor Morton. The very opinionted and didactic film blogger joins Peter for a journey through his cinephile life. Victor tells tales of growing up in both Scotland and Texas before finally finding a voice on the UseNet film groups of the early Internet. The two then discuss his approach to cinema as a political conservative, his approach to viewing films through a Catholic prism, and the continuing wonders of Romanian cinema. Finally, the two dive deep into Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's Rosetta, which might not have any specific Christian motifs on its surface, but is so clearly a film that is deeply, deeply spiritual.

0:00-1:00 Opening2:22-6:57 Establishing Shots - Allan Dwan / Trivia Round7:42-1:29:03 Deep Focus - Victor Morton1:29:54-1:59:27 Double Exposure - Rosetta (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne)1:59:28-2:02:51 Close / Outtake - Victor on A Clockwork Orange

TC #20 - Andreas Stoehr (The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T) Jun 17, 2013

Show notes

Being a cinephile outside of places like New York or Chicago is a very different experience than what Peter is used to, so he treks to Northfield, Minnesota for this conversation with blogger Andreas Stoehr. Andreas discusses growing up on classic horror movies and how one manages a cinephile life when the town you live in doesn't even have a multiplex. The two also discuss the major challenges in the blogging universe, the fascinating creatures of horror movies, and the state of LBGTQ cinema. Finally, Andreas invites Peter to examine The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, which is the only film ever written by Dr. Seuss and somehow manages to subvert every social anxiety of 1950s American life. Plus, in honor of Father's Day, Peter has a quick chat with his dad about his cinephile life.

0:00-0:57 Opening2:22-9:55 Establishing Shots -A Father's Day Interview with Theodore Labuza10:08-11:10 Trivia Round11:55-1:07:52 Deep Focus - Andreas Stoehr1:09:10-1:37:50 Double Exposure - The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T (Roy Rowland)1:37:51-1:39:53 Close / Outtake

TC #19 - David Schwartz (Beauty #2) Jun 03, 2013

Show notes

Exploring cinema doesn't just end when the final reel spools; it's also about learning the history and future of how moving images play into our daily lives. At the Museum of the Moving Image, David Schwartz programs the films that accompanying and work into the Astoria-based institution dedicated to this mission. In his conversation with Peter, David describes how he originally got hooked into New York's repertory film scene and how it eventually led him to programming. They discuss the importance of exploring new media and the avant-garde, the difficulties and advantages of the digital transition, and working with an ever changing audience. They finish off their conversation with a discussion of Andy Warhol's Beauty #2, an avant-garde work that David argues for the very precise control of the director in this apparently improvised movie.

0:00-0:57 Opening2:03-6:00 Establishing Shots - Harris Savides / Trivia Round6:45-1:00:42 Deep Focus - David Schwartz1:02:07-1:25:18 Double Exposure - Beauty #2 (Andy Warhol)1:25:20-1:27:17 Close / Outtake

TC #18 - Ben Model (Modern Times) May 20, 2013

Show notes

Silent films were never truly silent: vaudeville acts, narrators, and of course, musical accompanists filled the air with sounds. Ben Model continues that tradition by performing musical accompaniments to both canonical and rare silent films throughout the nation, as well as curating and preserving films himself. Ben takes Peter through his strange path to the unique position, including his "Three Godfathers" who influenced him, and then explains the nuts and bolts of how to actually create music for a film with none at all. They discuss his techniques he learned from improvisation, the task of collecting and searching out rare and missing works, and the pains and pleasures of the analog to digital switch. Finally, Ben explains to Peter some of the hidden secrets behind Charlie Chaplin's masterwork Modern Times, including how under-cranking the film is the trick to star's balletic work.

0:00-1:02 Opening2:07 -6:56 Establishing Shots - Delmer Daves / Trivia Round / Donations7:44-1:08:45 Deep Focus - Ben Model1:09:54-1:30:33 Double Exposure - Modern Times (Charlie Chaplin)1:30:35-1:32:34 Close / Outtake

TC #17 - Vadim Rizov (Le Cercle Rouge) May 06, 2013

Show notes

Strongly opinionated but never dogmatically so, the prolific Vadim Rizov ranks among the best of the new generation of cinephiles in Peter's opnion. So the young writer joins him to discuss his unique voice in the critical community. Vadim discusses his early forays into cinema at a young age, and how his frustrations with Austin's film scene led him to New York (only to more frustrations at NYU). The two then get into his fascinating writing style and how it stands against the majority of contemporary film writing, his interest in the evolving contemporary cinema, and why he goes back again and again to the True/False Film Festival. The two then dive into Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Cercle Rouge, a type of closed circuit movie that might be out of style with many cinephiles today, but is full of wondrous pleasures for those that pry its pieces apart.

0:00-1:05 Opening1:55 -5:50 Establishing Shots - Roberto Rossellini's Voyage to Italy / Trivia Round6:34-56:56 Deep Focus - Vadim Rizov57:49-1:20:04 Double Exposure - Le Cercle Rouge (Jean-Pierre Melville)1:20:06-1:22:22 Close / Outtake

TC #16 - Miriam Bale (Johnny Guitar) Apr 22, 2013

Show notes

Miriam Bale is interested in cinema, but she's almost more interested in the conversations that develop out of cinema. So naturally, Peter thought it would be a great idea to bring the programmer and critic to discuss how she found her way to the movies. Miriam discusses her unorthodox discovery to cinema through music, her love of repertory cinema, and the love of unheralded genres as strange as Agatha Christie to cookbooks. The two also talk about her feminist film criticism and the journal Joan's Digest she started, as well the La Di Da Film Festival and the ways to build a new type of "community" film festival. Finally, they dig into Johnny Guitar, Nicholas Ray's intoxicating western starring Joan Crawford, which Miriam sees as a way to truly build surreal space and time.

0:00-1:05 Opening1:45 -6:15 Establishing Shots - Michael Mann's Miami Vice / Trivia Round6:57-1:06:07 Deep Focus - Miriam Bale1:07:00-1:26:27 Double Exposure - Johnny Guitar (Nicholas Ray)1:26:29-1:28:12 Close

Special Episode - Remembering Roger Ebert Apr 08, 2013

Show notes

On Thursday, April 4th, 2013, the film critic Roger Ebert passed away at the age of 70. It was hard to deny the influence of someone who was easily the most recognizable film critic of all time, so Peter felt compelled to dedicate an entire episode to his legacy and work. For this special episode of the podcast, Keith Uhlich, Matt Prigge, Kenji Fujishima, and Godfrey Cheshire all join Petter for a discussion of his life, work, and legacy of its legend. The topics run far and wide, from his honest writing style, to the critics he plucked and championed, to his reflections of life and death, and even his own admittance of occasional failure with certain films and filmmakers. The five dig into the times they encountered Ebert (some in person and some online), and attempt to honor someone who will be with them forever.

TC - New Directors/New Films (Daniel Walber) Mar 20, 2013

Show notes

Where do great directors come from? Since 1969, the New Directors/New Films festival has searched around the globe for the directors and cinemas that will soon rank among the canon. And certainly it has a strong history for accomplishing that with names like Pedro Almodovar, Steven Spielberg, Wong Kar-Wai, Spike Lee, and Chantal Akerman. So in a world of digital releasing and festival saturation, what can ND/NF offer? Joined by the very smart Daniel Walber, Peter takes a look at this year's impressive slate, focusing on a trio of unique films as well as some of the other highlights. Does Shane Caruth's Upstream Color transcend its complex science fiction narrative? Does Viola's brief running time and light hand build something more textured? And why exactly is Leones and its director Jazmin Lopez the "future of cinema?" All this and more in this special episode.

0:00-3:30 Opening4:15-15:02 Upstream Color (Shane Caruth)15:53-31:54 Leones (Jazmin Lopez)31:55-33:04 Trivia Round33:34-41:12 Other Highlights42:12-53:17 Viola (Matias Piñeiro)53:19-55:19 Close / Outtakes

TC #15 - Ignatiy Vishnevetsky (The Moderns) Mar 11, 2013

Show notes

In 2011, a young cinephile named Ignatiy Vishnevetsky became the poster boy for new cinephilia during the return of Roger Ebert's At the Movies. But there's much, much more to Mubi's esoteric and erudite critic than his days on public television. Recorded over two snowy Chicago days in January, Peter sits down with Ignaty to discuss how his Russian heritage influenced the way he watches movies, his interactions with the video store, and his very twisted process to writing criticism. They also discuss his obsession with images in 21st century filmmaking and cinephilia, the rise of vulgar auteurism, and the moral guidance than drives his writing. Finally, Ignatiy introduces Peter to the intoxicating world of Alan Rudolph through his impressionist work The Moderns, a film that might long for an image of the past, but asks us to question the context in which we view them.

0:00-4:59 Opening / Establishing Shots - The Essential Narrative5:00-7:52 Trivia Round / Donations8:38-1:31:02 Deep Focus - Ignatiy Vishnevetsky1:31:50-1:59:52 Double Exposure - The Moderns (Alan Rudolph)1:59:54-2:01:47 Close / Outtakes

TC #14 - Dan Sallitt (Christine) Feb 25, 2013

Show notes

Dan Sallitt is someone Peter considers a cinephile par excellence. A thoughtful auteurist, an idiosyncratic and insightful writer, a dedicated repertory cinema viewer, and a truly accomplished filmmaker, Dan exemplifies everything you'd want in both the classical and new forms of cinephilia. So on the eve of the theatrical run of his latest film, The Unspeakable Act, Peter sits down with Dan to trace his cinephile life. Dan discusses his first encounter with Howard Hawks, his stint at the LA Reader, and his various connections to Bazinian theory in film. The two then have an extended conversation on Dan's three films and how he uses cinema to explore some truly unique subjects. Finally, they dive into Alan Clarke's Christine, a film as brutal as any work of social realism, yet abstracted to a point of pure beauty.

0:00-3:58 Opening / Trivia Round4:59-55:43 Deep Focus - Dan Sallitt58:00-1:32:02 Deep Focus Part 2 - The Film of Dan Sallitt1:32:58-1:52:32 Double Exposure - Christine (Alan Clarke)1:52:34-1:54:15 Close

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