A biweekly roundtable by the former editorial team of The Dissolve examining how classic films inspire and inform modern movies. Episodes take a deep dive into a classic film and its legacy in the first half, then compare and contrast that film with a modern successor in the second. Hosted and produced by Genevieve Koski, Keith Phipps, Tasha Robinson and Scott Tobias. Part of the Filmspotting family of podcasts and the Panoply Network.
Bong-Joon Ho’s new Netflix release OKJA has some commonalities with Chris Noonan’s 1995 family film BABE — beyond just a porcine protagonist — but it’s a decidedly different animal. In this half of the discussion, we talk over the odd beast that is OKJA, then consider the how it and BABE both engage with the question of whether it’s wrong to eat meat, how they use very different settings and time periods to similar effect, and more. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.
Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BABE, OKJA, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.
Your Next Picture Show:
• Keith: Nicholas Ray’s THEY LIVE BY NIGHT
• Scott: Alison Maclean’s THE REHEARSAL
• Genevieve: Edgar Wright’s BABY DRIVER, Michael Showalter’s THE BIG SICK, and James Mangold’s LOGAN NOIR
Outro music: The Mamas and The Papas, “Dedicated To The One I Love”
Inspired by Bong Joon-ho’s new OKJA, we look back at another whimsical fantasy film about a super-pig and its human, albeit one of a decidedly different breed: BABE, Christopher Noonan’s 1995 family hit about a taciturn farmer and his innocent sheep-pig. In this half of the discussion, we consider the film’s well-honed storybook sensibility, the endurance of its then-cutting-edge special effects, and the note-perfect perfect performance at its center. Plus, some of the excellent feedback we received on our recent episodes on THE THING and IT COMES AT NIGHT.
Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BABE, OKJA, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.
We return to matters of isolation and paranoia in the second half of our comparison of John Carpenter’s THE THING with Trey Edward Shults’ new horror-drama IT COMES AT NIGHT. After debating IT COMES AT NIGHT’s difficult ending and almost perverse commitment to ambiguity, we talk over what the two films share — and don’t — in their portrayals of paranoia, the ties that bind, the apocalypse, and, naturally, dogs. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.
Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE THING, IT COMES AT NIGHT, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.
Your Next Picture Show:
• Tasha: John Sayles’ LIMBO and Jack Sholder’s THE HIDDEN
• Keith: Brad Bird’s THE IRON GIANT
• Scott: Alain Guiraudie’s STAYING VERTICAL
Outro music: Brian McOmber, “It Comes At Night”
Trey Edward Shults’ new IT COMES AS NIGHT takes as one of its influences John Carpenter’s 1982 bloody masterpiece THE THING, which is as good a reason as any to revisit one of our favorite genre films. In this half of the discussion, we geek out over the film’s how’d-they-do-that gore effects and distinctive ensemble, and theorize why THE THING didn’t connect with audiences in 1982, and why it holds up so well today. Plus, a small taste of the deluge of feedback we got on our recent episodes on WONDER WOMAN and PATHS OF GLORY.
Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE THING, IT COMES AT NIGHT, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.
We return to the battlefields of WWI to talk over Patty Jenkins’ new WONDER WOMAN, both on its own and as it relates to Stanley Kubrick’s PATHS OF GLORY. After discussing what worked and didn’t work in WONDER WOMAN, we bring in the Kubrick film to discuss how these two stories approach themes of leadership and the military, as well as their views of the Great War specifically and all war in general. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.
Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about PATHS OF GLORY, WONDER WOMAN, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.
Your Next Picture Show:
• Tasha: Karl Freund's THE MUMMY (1932)
• Keith: Amber Tamblyn's PAINT IT BLACK and Bill Morrison's DAWSON CITY: FROZEN TIME
• Scott: kogonada.com and the work of Kogonada
• Genevieve: The One Perfect Shot video-essay database (video.filmschoolrejects.com)
Patty Jenkins’ new WONDER WOMAN takes World War I as its setting, opening up a host of comparisons to a much earlier, much different cinematic vision that looks to the Great War to uncover the best and worst of humanity: Stanley Kubrick’s 1957 anti-war drama PATHS OF GLORY. In this half of the discussion, we focus on PATHS OF GLORY, marveling at its efficiency and technical achievement — and at how both contribute to the film’s delicate but scathing unilateral indictment of the military system. And in lieu of feedback this week, we also discuss some other potential pairings we considered for this episode.
Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about PATHS OF GLORY, WONDER WOMAN, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.
We brave the choppy comedic waters of the new BAYWATCH movie to see how it stacks up against the parodic TV-to-film genius of 1995’s THE BRADY BUNCH MOVIE. Spoiler: Not well. But the comparison allows us to unpack the nuances of each film’s comedic approach, and consider how the films’ respective approaches to self-awareness, casting, and sophomoric humor contribute to their overall success. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.
Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE BRADY BUNCH MOVIE, BAYWATCH, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.
Your Next Picture Show:
* Genevieve: Howard Zieff’s PRIVATE BENJAMIN
* Tasha: “Logan: Superhero Movies Get Old” by YouTube user Nerdwriter1
* Keith: Goran Olsson’s THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE 1967-1975
Inspired by the less-than-inspiring new BAYWATCH movie, we consider the strange alchemy that is the cheesy-TV-show-to-feature-film adaptation, via one of the genre’s standout entries: Betty Thomas’ 1995 spoof THE BRADY BUNCH MOVIE. In this half of the discussion, we debate how essential knowing the source material is to the BRADY BUNCH MOVIE’s comedy, which of the many standout Brady performances reigns supreme, and whether the film’s moments of slapstick add anything to a movie that thrives on a very different strain of humor. Plus, some feedback from recent episodes.
Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE BRADY BUNCH MOVIE, BAYWATCH, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.
In this half of our appreciation of the late, great director Jonathan Demme, we bring what would be his final film, JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE + THE TENNESSEE KIDS, into the mix, to see what connects it to the director’s first foray into the concert-film genre, STOP MAKING SENSE. The two films focus on very different musical acts, but they’re undeniably connected via “the Demme touch,” and function as appropriate bookends to an impressive filmmaking career (which we can’t help but explore a little more broadly in this discussion as well). Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar.
Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about STOP MAKING SENSE, JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE + THE TENNESSEE KIDS, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.
Your Next Picture Show:
* Scott: Kitty Greene’s CASTING JONBENET
* Genevieve: Paul Thomas Anderson’s music video for Haim’s “Right Now”
* Keith: Ben Young’s HOUNDS OF LOVE
We’re still mourning the recent death of Jonathan Demme, a director of incredible range capable of working across many different genres — most notably, for our purposes, the concert film. This week, we hold our lighters aloft for Demme by looking at his first and last concert films, 1984’s STOP MAKING SENSE and 2016’s JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE + THE TENNESSEE KIDS. In this half, we consider the first film’s enduring legacy and influence on the concert-film genre, and how the film functions as a symbiosis of the unique talents of both Demme and Talking Heads frontman David Byrne. Plus, some very strange but undeniably well-executed feedback on our recent episodes on BURDEN OF DREAMS and THE LOST CITY OF Z.
Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about STOP MAKING SENSE, JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE + THE TENNESSEE KIDS, or both by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.
