The Film Comment Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Charles Burnett and Oliver Stone Sep 21, 2016

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How do you approach political filmmaking in a meaningful way? And, in this politically charged era, where are the dissenting voices in film? In this episode, two very different filmmakers—Charles Burnett, the director of Killer of Sheep and To Sleep with Anger, and Oliver Stone, the director of Born on the Fourth of July and Snowden—speak about their films and their thoughts on contemporary media and politics.

Live from TIFF '16 Sep 16, 2016

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Hosting over 300 films, many of which are world or North American premieres, the Toronto International Film Festival is a frequently overwhelming experience even for veteran attendees. To help cut through—or at least acknowledge that there will be—hype, this episode features a roundtable of critical voices discussing (and debating) key films from the festival. Participants: Film Comment podcast regulars Nick Pinkerton and Eric Hynes; Toronto-based critic Adam Nayman; Metrograph programmer Aliza Ma; Film Society of Lincoln Center Editorial Director Michael Koresky; and the Editor of Film Comment, Nicolas Rapold.

American Movie Acting Today Sep 07, 2016

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This episode is the first of three to dive into features from our newly redesigned September-October issue, which asks "What Is Cinema Now?" Shonni Enelow, author of Method Acting and Its Discontents: On American Psycho-Drama and assistant professor of English at Fordham University, wrote a feature about an emerging trend in contemporary American acting, characterized by restraint and withholding emotion. Digital Editor Violet Lucca was joined by Enelow and regular contributor Ashley Clark to discuss the article as well as explore changing trends in training and conceptions of what makes an actor (or performance) great.

VHS, RIP Aug 30, 2016

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Last month, the final VCR rolled off the line at the Funai plant in Japan, officially signaling the end of an era. Although there have been numerous sea-changes in media since the end of VHS’s supremacy, there's something special (and, in a way, lost to time) about the formative cinephilic experiences fostered by video store communities. In this episode of the podcast, FILM COMMENT Editor Nicolas Rapold, Digital Editor Violet Lucca, FSLC Editorial Director Michael Koresky (Video Room), and New York Film Festival Director Kent Jones (New Video) discuss their relationships with those once-precious tapes.

Class at the Movies Aug 23, 2016

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Visions of class surround us each day, both overtly and subliminally, in advertisements, literature, and film. Which visual and narrative tools are specific to each medium? To what extent does authorial background matter? And how does criticism of aesthetics or content either elucidate or complicate matters? All of these topics are broached in this episode of the FILM COMMENT podcast, wherein Digital Editor Violet Lucca joins K. Austin Collins, a regular contributor to The Ringer, as well as regular FC critics Nick Pinkerton and Eric Hynes (also the associate curator of the Museum of the Moving Image) to examine cinematic depictions of wealth and poverty.

Ironic Soundtracks Aug 16, 2016

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While so many soundtracks seem to exist solely to underline the tone of a scene, unexpected musical cues can completely recontextualize and undermine its action. The idea of the soundtrack as counterpoint entered the mainstream with directors like Martin Scorsese and Stanley Kubrick, and, at a certain point, became a bad cliché itself. This episode of The Film Comment Podcast, scripted by Sean Doyle, traces the evolution of ironic music in film from its earliest and most infamous uses to today.

Mondo Mondo Jul 26, 2016

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This month, at Anthology Film Archives, FILM COMMENT contributor Nick Pinkerton has programmed a variety of shockumentary-style works ranging from the notorious Mondo Cane (an Academy Award nominee, for Original Song) to Thierry Zéno’s Des Morts. Many of these films aim to shock and titillate, sometimes purporting to document actual deaths, but they become politically and culturally revealing texts. None of this problematic entertainment holds a candle, however, to the real-life horror that has become a fixture of 21st-century visual culture: recordings showing police brutality—grim evidence of actual violence that is used in calls for justice. In a wide-ranging discussion that moves from the cinema of taboo to the complexities of recordings of police violence, FC Digital Editor Violet Lucca spoke with Pinkerton, critic and programmer Ashley Clark, and New Yorker video producer (and former FC intern) Cassie da Costa.

Merchant-Ivory + Howards End Jul 19, 2016

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Though associated with heritage films—lush period films typically set in Britain’s imperial past—producer Ismail Merchant, director James Ivory, and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala collaborated since the early 1960s on a variety of literary adaptations. Masterfully constructed, Merchant-Ivory films came to symbolize a certain type of prestige film—for better and worse. Perhaps the pinnacle of their collaboration was Howards End (92), based on the E. M. Forster novel about class and inheritance set in Edwardian England. In anticipation of the theatrical run of its new 4K restoration, Michael Koresky, Editorial Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, Farran Smith Nehme, FILM COMMENT columnist and regular contributor for the New York Post, and Digital Editor Violet Lucca discussed the artful, complex adaptation and other Merchant-Ivory classics.

The July/August Issue Jul 05, 2016

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Kristen Stewart takes the spotlight in the brand-new July/August issue of FILM COMMENT, in a nuanced and balanced appreciation of the star's performances by Nick Davis. In this edition of The Film Comment Podcast, Digital Editor Violet Lucca and Editor in Chief Nicolas Rapold explore the cover story and other articles with the help of three featured writers. Ashley Clark, film critic and author of Facing Blackness, discusses his essay on silent-era black performers and their overlooked talents. FC contributor and filmmaker Yonca Talu reflects on her interview with Clément Cogitore, whose recent film Neither Heaven Nor Earth burrows into the fractured and fracturing experience of 21st-century warfare. Finally, Museum of the Moving Image associate curator Eric Hynes investigates the links between New Journalism and contemporary documentary, tracing a shared interest in complicating notions of reportage and reality. You can read about all this and more in the July/August issue—but for the inside story (and effortlessly delightful repartee) have a listen to this week's podcast.

David Bordwell and The Rhapsodes Jun 28, 2016

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In his recently published book The Rhapsodes, seminal critic and film historian David Bordwell pays tribute to four groundbreaking film critics who were writing in the 1940s: Otis Ferguson, James Agee, Manny Farber, and Parker Tyler. Through meticulous examinations of their rarely read, multidisciplinary writings and moving biographical accounts, Bordwell paints a vivid portrait of their cultural milieux and makes the case for the uniqueness and importance of their work. Digital Editor Violet Lucca spoke with Bordwell about the genesis of his book and the unparalleled legacy of his “rhapsodes,” in the company of regular FILM COMMENT contributor Nick Pinkerton.

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