The Letterboxd Show

Latest Episodes:

Four Favorites: Jonah Feingold on rom coms, Robin Williams and sweater weather Sep 08, 2021

Show notes

Writer, director, hopeful romantic and Letterboxd member Jonah Feingold chats about how Jurassic Park influenced his rom-com feature debut Dating & New York, and his four Letterboxd favorites: Hook; When Harry Met Sally…; The Lion King; and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Also: Meg Ryan’s glorious back-lit hair, filming New York with a Pro-Mist filter, cold-emailing Hans Zimmer for a job, being filmmaking besties with Aneesh Chaganty, and the emotional rollercoaster of being on Letterboxd with a new movie out (“I celebrate all the reviews of my film. Some of the five star ones made me cry, some of the three star ones made me cry…”).

Dating & New York stars Jaboukie Young-White and Francesca Reale and is in select US theaters and everywhere films are rented from September 10, 2021, via IFC Films.
Links:

Credits:
This episode was recorded in New York, Pennsylvania and Auckland, and edited by Slim. Facts by Jack. Booker: Linda Moulton. Theme music: ‘Vampiros Dancoteque’ by film and television composing trio Moniker. Transcript by Sophie Shin.

Four Favorites: Justin LaLiberty on Breathless, Dolph Lundgren and Snoop Dogg horror Aug 25, 2021

Show notes

On this episode, film archivist and adult-movie enthusiast Justin LaLiberty (of Vinegar Syndrome) unleashes the Dogg for his four Letterboxd faves: Showdown in Little Tokyo; Bones; Breathless (the Richard Gere remake); and SexWorld. We also discuss the wildly underrated action star Dolph Lundren, the wildly underrated director Ernest R. Dickerson, why it’s stupid that remakes get a bad rap, the experience of seeing Cronenberg’s Crash far too young, working in video stores and movie theaters, Justin’s recent curatorial work on Letterboxd’s adult titles, and—again!—why Babe: Pig in the City is a five-star film.
Related links:

The Letterboxd List of Films mentioned in this episode
Justin’s How I Letterboxd
Letterboxd lists of Anti-Capitalist horror, Male Frontal Nudity in Cinema, Man Ass, Los Angeles Plays Itself
Josephkidney’s review of Breathless
Rob’s review of SexWorld

Billie Piper Special: Rare Beasts and rom coms Aug 23, 2021

Show notes

Actor, writer and director Billie Piper talks to Gemma Gracewood about the filmic influences behind her ‘anti-rom-com’ directorial debut, Rare Beasts, a black comedy about dysfunction, misogyny, grief and tap-dancing also starring Leo Bill, Kerry Fox, Toby Woolf, David Thewlis and Lily James. Plus: the movies that got Piper’s family through multiple lockdowns, the chaotic splendour of Paul Thomas Anderson, her love of Busby Berkeley and Pina Bausch, plus Cassavetes, Curtis, Dunham, Beyoncé, and the only celebrity she has ever been starstruck by. Rare Beasts is now in select US theaters and on demand, as of August 20, 2021.
Related links:

Letterboxd list of films mentioned
The films of Mike Leigh, Todd Solondz, Ken Loach, Pina Bausch, Paul Thomas Anderson, John Cassavetes, Busby Berkeley, Judd Apatow and Richard Curtis
Pixar films
Reviews of Rare Beasts from Letterboxd members Timothy Evans, h and Leonie
Split-diopter shots

Credits:
This episode was recorded in London, Pennsylvania and Auckland, and edited by Slim. Facts by Jack. Booker: Linda Moulton. Theme music: ‘Vampiros Dancoteque’ by film and television composing trio Moniker. Transcript by Sophie Shin.

Four Favorites: Marya E. Gates on Little Women, Jane Campion and denim butts Aug 18, 2021

Show notes

Classic film enthusiast, writer, California native, and prog rock fan Marya E. Gates discusses her four favorites: Little Women (the Winona Ryder one); Bright Star; Under the Tuscan Sun; and Crossing Delancey. Also: the joys of a nice ass in a pair of tight denim (“I firmly believe that almost anybody’s butt looks good in a nicely fitted pair of jeans”), 4K butts, Pickle Man appreciation, Jane Campion’s mastery of chaste eroticism and the hotness of Gabriel Byrne.
Related links:

The Letterboxd list of films mentioned in this episode
Marya’s Letterboxd story on denim in cinema
Letterboxd lists of Ladies Getting Head, Walking idly through European cities, Cottagecore, Noirvember Written by Women, man ass and Women have superior taste
Gemma’s story on the Letterboxd rankings of Little Women

Credits:
This episode was recorded in Los Angeles, Pennsylvania and Auckland, and edited by Slim. Facts by Jack. Booker: Linda Moulton. Theme music: ‘Vampiros Dancoteque’ by Moniker. Transcript by Sophie Shin.

Four Favorites: Grace Spelman on West Side Story, Bob Fosse, Whiplash Aug 11, 2021

Show notes

Comedian, musician and The Ringer Music Show podcast host Grace Spelman discusses her four Letterboxd faves (West Side Story; All That Jazz; In the LoopandWhiplash) with hosts Slim and Gemma. Also:party bangers, scary music teachers, bad movie dates, unapologetic laptop movie-watching, Alan Partridge, and Steven Spielberg’s upcoming West Side Story remake. Plus: why is All That Jazz so hard to find? And, who would win in a dance battle between theater kids and A24 nerds?

Related Links:

The Letterboxd list of films mentioned in this episode
Grace’s People dancing to Steely Dan Twitter account
White people jazz list
Secretly A24 list
Good movie dads list
Boys crying list
Homoerotic? list
Pissbaby list
Real Groovy Records

Four Favorites: Jim Cummings on Children of Men, Tom Hanks and indie cinema Aug 04, 2021

Show notes

“I should have never agreed to this podcast,” says indie filmmaking champion Jim Cummings as he sobs his way through his four Letterboxd faves (Inside Out; Krisha; Children of Men; and The ’Burbs) with hosts Slim and Gemma. Also: arm wrestling, humiliating characters, being an actor-director, DILFs, a Halloween Kills scoop, Tom Hanks’ comedy chops, exploding plates, and Jim’s next feature film, The Beta Test, which is coming out this fall via IFC Films.

Related links:
The Letterboxd list of films mentioned in this episode
Ugly Cry! list
Demi’s review of Thunder Road
Subverting the studio logo list
List of films that anticipated the notion of being too online

Four Favorites: Isabel Sandoval on sensual cinema, Punch-Drunk Love and blue balls Jul 28, 2021

Show notes

This episode, quadruple-threat filmmaker Isabel Sandoval talks to Slim and Gemma about cinematic edging, sensual slapstick, nuns on screen, modern Filipino cinema, Verhoeven’s camp supremacy, audience blue balls, and, of course, her four Letterboxd favorites: Hiroshima Mon Amour, Jeanne Dielman, In the Mood for Love and Punch-Drunk Love. Slim, meanwhile, googles “French New Wave” while Gemma pours yet another coffee. Isabel wrote, directed, edited and starred in Lingua Franca, and more recently the sensual short Shangri-La.

Related links:

The Letterboxd list of films mentioned in this episode
Isabel’s Sensual Cinema essay
French New Wave
Criterion on Letterboxd
Criterion’s list of Questioning Love
Lists featuring Hiroshima Mon Amour: 90 minutes or less / Directors visit Japan / Conversations on Film / Memory and Yearning / Socialism and leftism / Atomic weapons / Horny
Ave’s review of Lingua Franca
Adam Kempenaar’s review of Jeanne Dielman
Lists featuring In the Mood for Love: Fills the void / Soft & slow / Loneliness in neon cities
Isabel’s Top 10 Criterion picks / Closet picks
Isabel’s review of A New Leaf
Letterboxd’s Halfway 2021

Credits:

This episode was recorded in Pennsylvania and Auckland, and edited by Slim. Our theme music is ‘Vampiros Dancoteque’, by film and television composing trio Moniker. Transcript by Sophie Shin.

Four Favorites: Brian Formo on Cannes, Eyes Wide Shut, Almodóvar and more Jul 21, 2021

Show notes

This episode, we get high and turn the Yo-Yo Ma up to eleven with Letterboxd’s Cannes correspondent Brian Formo, whose four favorites (Eyes Wide Shut; Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World; Darkman; The Skin I Live In) all feature surgeons of some sort. Plus: Cannes applause explained, bad movie dates, Russell Crowe’s luscious locks, how much we love Sally Jane Black, and Pig—the spiritual sequel to Babe: Pig in the City.
Related links:
The Letterboxd list of films mentioned in this episode
Letterboxd’s Festiville HQ
Brian’s review of Eyes Wide Shut
Festival de Cannes 2021 lineup and winners
The Criterion Collection on Letterboxd
Russell Crowe (as Russ Le Roq) 1982 single ‘I Just Wanna be Like Marlon Brando’
Lists featuring The Skin I Live In: Evan’s horror movies by gay directors list; High art genre movies; Sally Jane Black’s Transgender list; Sarah’s dysphorroria list
Ella Kemp’s content consideration essay
Sally Jane Black’s surgery fundraiser

Credits:
This episode was recorded in Cannes, Philadelphia and Auckland, and edited by Slim. Our theme music is ‘Vampiros Dancoteque’, by film and television composing trio Moniker. Transcript by Sophie Shin.

Four Favorites: Josh Ruben on Jaws, Darkman, Werewolves Within and Patrick Wilson’s ass Jul 14, 2021

Show notes

This episode, we hit the sweet spot with actor, writer, director and Letterboxd member Josh Ruben, whose new comedy-horror Werewolves Within is out now on video on demand. Josh takes hosts Slim and Gemma through his four favorites: Darkman, Jaws, Little Children and Planes, Trains and Automobiles. We praise Steve Martin’s dramatic roles, Spielberg’s “little mumblecore fish movie”, the secret to directing horror-comedy and why Ghost gets a “five all round” from Josh.
Related links:
The Letterboxd list of films mentioned in this episode
Chopper Fireball’s exploding helicopter megalist
The highest-rated, most obsessively rewatched club 2020 list
List of sunlit horror films
Rebecca Henderson’s Instagram
Janicza Bravo’s filmography
Mike Nichols’ filmography
Movies where the sex scene is necessary
‘Help i got too horny’ list
Slim’s man ass list
Trans Lifeline

Credits:
This episode was recorded in Philadelphia, Auckland and Josh Ruben’s house, and edited by Slim. Theme music: ‘Vampiros Danceoteque’ by Moniker. Transcript by Sophie Shin.

Four Favorites: Demi Adejuyigbe on I, Tonya, Lady Bird and the true meaning of love Jul 06, 2021

Show notes

This episode, we do a f—kin’ triple with Demi Adejuyigbe; screenwriter, comedian and, quote, “not a critic”. Demi runs hosts Slim and Gemma through his four Letterboxd favorites: I, Tonya (“every scene is like candy to me”), Ocean’s Eleven (the Soderbergh one), Hot Rod (“the last truly great American goofball comedy”), and Lady Bird (“it literally changed my life”). Plus: the joy of Mary Poppins, the fear of rating movies in public, and the pleasure of watching F9, in costume, with 34 of your closest friends.
Related links:
The Letterboxd list of films mentioned in this episode
Malcolm Campbell, comedy editing legend
The Fast and the Furious collection
The Jackass collection
“The Refined Nothing of Hot Rod” via Bright Wall/Dark Room
Malin Åkerman on her figure-skating past
Petfurniture’s tweet on the currency of love
70mm Podcast
Credits: This episode was recorded in Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Auckland and edited by Slim. Theme music: ‘Vampiros Danceoteque’ by Moniker. Transcript by Sophie Shin.

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