In this episode award-winning filmmakers Sean Mannion and Nicole Solomon discuss Chuck Russell's A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors and Maggie Kang & Chris Applehans KPop Demon Hunters.
The show starts with an overview of the films and the hosts' personal opinions of the films before diving into the broader discussion of what they reflect about each other and our culture.
Kpop Demon Hunters on SNL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW9QJIT_T-A
New York Times Kpop Demon Hunters Review: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/19/movies/kpop-demon-hunters-review.html
The Wrap Kpop Demon Hunters Review: https://www.thewrap.com/kpop-demon-hunters-review-netflix/
Subscribe to our channel and make sure you set the reminders up, so you'll know when the next episode is coming.
Want access to bonus episodes, exclusive content, our films, behind the scenes goodies and more?
Join our Patreon! http://www.patreon.com/4milecircus
Learn more about our work in general at http://www.4milecircus.com
Subscribe to the audio only version of the show on your favorite podcast platform.
Episode Segments
0:00 - Introduction to the Show
1:20 - Introduction to the Films
8:54 - Our Response to the Films
19:18 - A Word from Our Sponsor
27:12 - Reflections of the Films
42:10 - Critics and Letterboxd Users Response to the Films
1:39:33 - Wrap Up
Music
"Twisted" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
In this episode award-winning filmmakers Sean Mannion and Nicole Solomon discuss James Gunn's 2025 Superman film and Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather.
The show starts with an overview of the films and the hosts' personal opinions of the films before diving into the broader discussion of what they reflect about each other and our culture.
Episode Links:
Pauline Kael Review of The Godfather: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1972/03/18/the-godfather-movie-review-pauline-kael
Dvid Sims Review of Superman: https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2025/07/superman-movie-2025-review/683462/
James Gun and David Corenswet Debating the Speech about being Human: https://youtube.com/shorts/auz1txQ5WVc?si=1tPeOz6Py9QnNAgQ
Subscribe to our channel and make sure you set the reminders up, so you'll know when the next episode is coming.
Want access to bonus episodes, exclusive content, our films, behind the scenes goodies and more? Join our Patreon! http://www.patreon.com/4milecircus
Learn more about our work in general at http://www.4milecircus.com
Subscribe to the audio only version of the show here on YouTube or search for The Celluloid Mirror on your favorite podcast platform.
Correction: Sean misremembered Justice League International artist's name Kevin Maguire as Kevin Nolan (probably because of Kevin Nealon?). He meant Kevin Maguire.
Episode Segments
0:00 - Start
0:52 - Introduction to the Show
5:18 - Introduction to the Films
6:40 - Our Response to the Films
12:28 - A Word from Our Sponsor
19:00 - Reflections of the Films
41:10 - Discussion on Fredric Wertham's Impact on Superhero Comics
1:02:10 - Critics and Letterboxd Users Response to the Films
1:28:15 - Discussion of Watchmen and the Shared Era James Gunn is Drawing From
1:39:57 - Wrap Up
Music
"Twisted" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
In this episode award-winning filmmakers Sean Mannion and Nicole Solomon discuss David Fincher's Fight Club and Charles Martin Smith's Air Bud.
The show starts with an overview of the films and the hosts' personal opinions of the films before diving into the broader discussion of what they reflect about each other and our culture.
Links for the episode:
Air Bud Box Office: https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0118570/
Fight Club Box Office: https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0137523/?ref_=bo_se_r_1
Buddy on America's Funniest Home Videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jahmNtexBm8
Buddy on Letterman's Stupid Pet Tricks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85gnR_1Og1Y
Air Bud Oral History: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/1714380/2020/04/01/air-bud-movie-oral-history/
Roger Ebert on Air Bud: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/air-bud-1997
David Denby on Fight Club: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1999/10/18/boys-will-be-boys-3
Gregory Weinkauf on Fight Club: https://www.dallasobserver.com/film/revenge-of-the-nerds-6397100
Jean Grae on Fight Club: https://someoneelsesmovie.com/episodes/jean-grae-on-fight-club
Subscribe to our channel and make sure you set the reminders up, so you'll know when the next episode is coming.
Want access to bonus episodes, exclusive content, our films, behind the scenes goodies and more? Join our Patreon! http://www.patreon.com/4milecircus
Learn more about our work in general at http://www.4milecircus.com
Subscribe to the audio only version of the show here on YouTube or search for The Celluloid Mirror on your favorite podcast platform.
Episode Segments
0:00 - Starting Soon
1:02 - Introduction to the Show
2:30 - Introduction to the Films
9:39 - Our Response to the Films
23:35 - A Word from Our Sponsor
27:00 - Reflections of the Films
1:20:31 - Wrap Up
Next Time (9/9/25 at 6PM EST): Superman (2025) and The Godfather https://www.youtube.com/live/PIC5sEaTtU4
Music
"Twisted" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
Welcome to The Celluloid Mirror! On the show we take two disparate films and discuss what they say about each other, the audience, and the culture at large.
In this episode award-winning filmmakers Sean Mannion and Nicole Solomon discuss David Kellogg's Cool as Ice, Robert Wise's West Side Story, and Steven Spielberg's West Side Story with very special guest Shawn Setaro.
The show starts with an overview of the films and the hosts' personal opinions of the films before diving into the broader discussion of what they reflect about each other and our culture.
Links for this episode:
The (Mostly) True Story of Vanilla Ice, Hip-Hop, and the American Dream - Jeff Weiss, The Ringer
https://www.theringer.com/2020/10/06/music/vanilla-ice-to-the-extreme-ice-ice-baby-history-30th-anniversary
West Side Story Review - Alan Ng, Film Threat https://filmthreat.com/reviews/west-side-story-2021/2/
Vanilla Ice Visits Arsenio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C39MIzv-HjY
Jim Carrey as Vanilla Ice on In Living Color: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdtKBe7sM48
"Like Everybody Else" and other songs cut from West Side Story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8nIck-Ydx4
You can watch us record live on our YouTube Channel! Subscribe and allow reminders so you'll be updated when we have a new episode. https://www.youtube.com/@4milecircusprod
You can subscribe to the audio only show on your Podcast platform of choice (or the aforementioned YouTube Channel)
Want access to bonus episodes, exclusive content, our films, behind the scenes goodies and more? Join our Patreon! http://www.patreon.com/4milecircus
Learn more about our work in general at http://www.4milecircus.com
Music
"Twisted" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
In this episode award-winning filmmakers Sean Mannion and Nicole Solomon discuss Jon M. Chu's 2024 Oscar-Winning film (Production Design and Costume Design) Wicked and Jessica Bendinger's 2006 film Stick It.
In this episode we touch on how both of these films reflect on methods of organizing and how Haley is more effective at organizing her fellow gymnasts against the unfair rules than Elphaba is at rallying her fellow students to stand up for the animals of Oz. This subject is probably not timely at all.
We also have some fun sharing Letterboxd 1/2 star and 5 star reviews of both films. That's something Scoresy certainly would not dare. Scorsese probably would though ...
This episode is brought to you by Siobhan's She-Vans ... apparently ...
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and make sure you set the reminders up, so you'll know when the next episode is livestreamed.
Or if you prefer audio only then subscribe where you're listening right now!
Want access to bonus episodes, exclusive content, our films, behind the scenes goodies and more? Join our Patreon! http://www.patreon.com/4milecircus
Learn more about our work in general at http://www.4milecircus.com
Music"Twisted" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
The Celluloid Mirror is BACK with a slight format upgrade and a whole lot of movie discussion for you. Today Sean and Nicole are talking about Coralie Fargeat's Oscar-nominated body horror Hollywood / start-up satire The Substance, as well as Lars von Trier's long and unpleasant possible masterpiece Dogville. Both films are critiques of the United States specifically, by European directors who chose to shoot in their home countries (and took verrrrry different approaches to making their sets and locations look like America). But that's just a jumping off point to discussing what the two films reflect about gender, and the suffering of white women in particular under white supremacist capitalist patriarchy, and more. It’s Nicole Kidman vs Demi Moore! MAGA vs Hollywood! French LA vs chalk on a stage!
The Making of The Substance Featurette (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H64HNvXrqU)
Coralie Fargeat's short film The Telegram (https://vimeo.com/45183427)
The Substance reviews on Letterboxd (https://letterboxd.com/film/the-substance/reviews/by/entry-rating/)
Dogville reviews on Letterboxd (https://letterboxd.com/film/dogville/reviews/by/entry-rating/)
Nicole's Letterboxd list of non-US directors making films about + set in the US that are shot elsewhere (https://letterboxd.com/nicolewitte/list/non-us-directors-making-films-outside-the/)
List of all TCM double features (https://letterboxd.com/nicolewitte/list/the-celluloid-mirror-double-features)
Our previous discussion of Lars Von Trier (https://www.patreon.com/posts/im-good-right-2-65216400)
Bonus TCM and much more at https://www.patreon.com/4milecircus
Music "Twisted" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Here is a special bonus episode of The Celluloid Mirror that’s just a little bit shorter than Zack Snyder’s Justice League: Justice is Gray and a tad longer than Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List – the two films we are discussing! This ep was recorded live in front of a (livestream) audience in July 2023. Our patrons voted for this, so blame them.
It is a strange time to release this discussion, which was recorded over 4 months ago. We are reaching the end of the temporary truce between Israel and Hamas, a brief respite from the violence that has already killed over 15,000 Palestinians and about 1,200 Israelis, as of today, 11/28/23. Join us in calling for a lasting ceasefire – no bombing, no ground war, the release of all hostages, and involvement of the international community to negotiate for lasting peace. Take action here: https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/take-action/#act-now
Send us a voicemail: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thecelluloidmirror/message
Tip jar: https://ko-fi.com/thecelluloidmirror
Patreon: patreon.com/4milecircus
Website: 4milecircus.com/podcasts
Support This Will Never Get Made: https://seedandspark.com/fund/this-will-never-get-made
Links:
Visual Aids!: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/3/folders/1v47tpWXhcp_qb0pie_sbVeXBL4PL2xf_
Sean on Superman: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ii8CDDGAy2rXAK_ZVswkdfNMAHkItxPIIvpAe1gmo98/edit?usp=sharing
Episode Transcript: http://www.4milecircus.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/TCM_2023_Schindlers_LEague_Transcript.pdf
NYT in Schindler: https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/15/movies/review-film-schindler-s-list-imagining-the-holocaust-to-remember-it.html
NYT on Justice: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/15/movies/justice-league-snyder-cut-review.html
Ebert on Schindler: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/schindlers-list-1993
Ebert(dot com) on Justice: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/zack-snyders-justice-league-movie-review-2021
“Shooting Jews” - Adventures with Dead Jews Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/shooting-jews/id1582119175?i=1000535489734
Claude Lanzmann on Schindler: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A2=FILM-PHILOSOPHY;d351a26.1508
Schindler’s List is not Shoah: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1343973
Schindler VillageVoice Roundtable: https://writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/Schindlers-List-symposium_Village-Voice_03-29-94.pdf
Jewish Uprisings in Ghettos and Camps: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/jewish-uprisings-in-ghettos-and-camps-1941-44
Haneke on Schindler: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_osgrcpes4
Schindler’s List: Separating Truth and Fiction: https://reformjudaism.org/schindlers-list-separating-truth-fiction
Inside the Real Story behind SL: https://time.com/5470613/schindlers-list-true-story/#
Zack Snyder’s Fascist Dalliances: https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/07/22/releasethesnydervolk-zack-snyders-fascist-dalliances
Interview with Snyder: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/may/20/zack-snyder-i-dont-have-a-rightwing-political-agenda-people-see-what-they-want-to-see
Sean and Nicole wrap up season 2 with a little mini finale debrief episode. We discuss audience reaction to our episode about Back to the Future and Masking Threshold with special guest Johannes Grenzfurthner. You can see Masking Threshold when it plays at select Alamo Drafthouse theaters starting September 30th, or digitally on October 7th.
Johannes Grenszfurthner’s new horror comedy Razennest will premiere this month at Fantastic Fest! You can even watch it at home!
We also discuss why Sean doesn’t like Pretty in Pink, Nicole’s thwarted dreams of ghostwriting Babysitters Club spinoffs, and our own new animated horror short Reveal.
Links
Masking Threshold via Alamo on Demand
Ridley Scott on whitewashing Exodus
Get more Celluloid Mirror on Patreon
4MC on twitter, instagram, website
Season Finale! Johannes Grenzfurthner joins Sean and Nicole to discuss his horror film Masking Threshold, 1985 scifi comedy classic Back to the Future, and the perils of isolated inquiry.
“How is that a movie?” -Eric Hillis
How does Masking Threshold’s Protagonist fit in with Christopher Lloyd’s Doc and Michael J. Fox’s Marty? Are all their struggles caused by their dads? What do these films say about US America’s decline? All that plus the trouble with squids. Masking Threshold is distributed by Drafthouse Films and will be available to stream in October. Johannes's new feature Razzennest will premiere at Fantastic Fest this September 2022! Transcript
Links
Masking Threshold on Letterboxd
Eric Hillis on Masking Threshold
Janet Maslin on Back to the Future
Wes House on HP Lovecraft’s White Supremacy
Boston makes bus free
MTA spends more on New Cops than Fare Evasion
Buzz Aldrin punches a conspiracy theorist
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Get a little taste of our Season 2 finale on which we discuss sci-fi comedy classic Back to the Future and recent tinnitus cosmic horror Masking Threshold with Masking Threshold writer/director Johannes Grenzfurthner!
Masking threshold at Drafthouse Films
Nicole’s Letterboxd List of Hot Lines films
Nicole’s Letterboxd List of films about phone sex workers
Get early access to new episodes of The Celluloid Mirror PLUS bonus episodes, uncut video of our recording sessions featuring conversations that didn’t make it to the final show, games, invitations to events, Discord access and so much more by subscribing to our Patreon
We’re also on twitter, instagram and have a website
All music in the episode is by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4552-twisted
REPOST of The Celluloid Mirror Premiere: The Audience Must suffer (Funny Games and Transformers: The Movie)
Sean and Nicole are on summer break and humbly present you with a rerun of the episode that started it all!
The Celluloid Mirror is a film discussion podcast in which we look at two very different films to see what they reflect about one another and the audience watching. For our first film pairing we discuss Transformers: The Movie (1986), Michael Haneke's Funny Games (2007), and how these two films confront their audiences and subvert genre expectations.
Links:
David Edelstein on Funny Games
How Less Alienation Creates More Exploitation? Audience Labour on Social Network Sites
Game over? The (re)play of horror in Michael Haneke's Funny Games U.S.
Get early access to new episodes of The Celluloid Mirror PLUS bonus episodes, uncut video of our recording sessions featuring conversations that didn’t make it to the final show, games, invitations to events, Discord access and so much more by subscribing to our Patreon
We’re also on twitter, instagram and have a website
All music in the episode is by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4552-twisted
This Mini doesn't quite give you a taste of what's to come ... yet. We're taking a short break to prepare our final episode of season 2 where we will be discussing Back to the Future and Masking Threshold with the filmmaker behind Masking Threshold, Johannes Grenzfurthner. It's a really great episode we're looking forward to sharing with you on September 7th!
In the meantime enjoy hearing us talk about some of your own comments in this mini episode and then next week come back for a rerun of our very first episode on Funny Games and Transformers: The Movie!
Jack Kirby Designs for Julius Caesar
Get early access to new episodes of The Celluloid Mirror PLUS bonus episodes, uncut video of our recording sessions featuring conversations that didn’t make it to the final show, games, invitations to events, Discord access and so much more by subscribing to our Patreon
We’re also on twitter, instagram and have a website
All music in the episode is by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4552-twisted
Sean and Nicole discuss the role of Norse-God-turned-comic-book-hero (and sometimes Aryan poster boy) Thor in Ken Russell’s 1975 Franz Liszt “biopic” Lisztomania and Taika Waititi’s 2017 postcolonial MCU blockbuster Thor: Ragnarok.
How can art influence or re-write history? How does fascism look different on the horizon versus in retrospect? How does antisemitism so durably animate authoritarianism? Is Chris Hemswoth a better blond than Roger Daltry? Can Cate Blanchett do any wrong? Can there be too many penises in a movie? Find out!
Links
Madeline Werner - Reckoning with Ragnarok: Critique and Reinterpretation in Marvel’s Thor Franchise
Angie Han on Asgard's bloody history refuses to stay buried in 'Thor: Ragnarok' (Mashable)
Darren Mooney on Thor: Ragnarok Is a Totally Radical Postcolonial Superhero Movie (The Escapist)
B.L. Panther on “Thor: Ragnarok” was a joyous punch in the face of colonialism (The Spool)
‘Thor: Ragnarok’ through a Black and Indigenous post-colonial lens (Balck Youth Project)
Kyle Anderson on SCHLOCK & AWE: THERE ARE ALMOST NO WORDS FOR LISZTOMANIA (Nerdist)
SIDDHANT ADLAKHAon“Thor: Ragnarok”: Marvel From a Postcolonial Perspective (The Village Voice)
Steven Farber on Russelmania (Film Comment)
Dan Berger on The fools of National Socialism (Abolition Journal)
Melissa Gira Grant on Pamela Paul’s Great Replacement Theory
Get early access to new episodes of The Celluloid Mirror PLUS bonus episodes, uncut video of our recording sessions featuring conversations that didn’t make it to the final show, games, invitations to events, Discord access and so much more by subscribing to our Patreon
We’re also on twitter, instagram and have a website
All music in the episode is by Kevin MacLeod
Preview of our next episode about...Taika Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok and Ken Russell's Lisztomania! What does a Marvel movie about space vikings have to do with a surrealistic biopic of composer Franz Liszt? Find out next week!
Get early access to new episodes of The Celluloid Mirror PLUS bonus episodes, uncut video of our recording sessions featuring conversations that didn’t make it to the final show, games, invitations to events, Discord access and so much more by subscribing to our Patreon
We’re also on twitter, instagram and have a website
All music in the episode is by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4552-twisted
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Well, originally we had a different plan for our 8th episode of season 2, but that's been bumped to episode 9 for reasons you'll hear on this one. Because of reasons, we could not prepare as much as we wanted to for our originally planned episode, and thus we cooked up something a little different for you this time around.
Please enjoy this special episode in which Sean’s top 5 films of 2022 so far are pitted against Nicole’s choices in an epic battle for current cinematic supremacy! Starring Mia Goth, N.T. Rama Rao Jr., Bowen Yang, Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Joel Kim Booster, Zoe Kravitz, Michelle Yeoh, and many more!
Links:
TCM ep on Surviving the Game and Parasite with Lemar McLean, Tarik Davis and Don Hooper of BFAP
W. Kamau Bell’s We Need to Talk About Cosby (documentary)
Andrew Ahn’s Fire Island (film)
Domee Shi’s Turning Red (film)
Matt Reeve’s The Batman (film)
David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future (film)
The Daniels’ Everything Everywhere All At Once
Get early access to new episodes of The Celluloid Mirror PLUS bonus episodes, uncut video of our recording sessions featuring conversations that didn’t make it to the final show, games, invitations to events, Discord access and so much more by subscribing to our Patreon
We’re also on twitter, instagram and have a website
Sean on twitter, Letterboxd and IG
Nicole on twitter, Letterboxd and IG
All music in the episode is by Kevin MacLeod
Sean and Nicole share what they'll be talking about on the next full episode -- their top 5 films of 2022 so far! Unusual episode, for reasons we discuss on here. We also share some comments on our last episode with special guest Alanah Rafferty about Saint Maud and Xanadu. People have opinions on skating helmets and Freddy Krueger.
Get early access to new episodes of The Celluloid Mirror PLUS bonus episodes, uncut video of our recording sessions featuring conversations that didn’t make it to the final show, games, invitations to events, Discord access and so much more by subscribing to our Patreon
We’re also on twitter, instagram and have a website
Sean on twitter, Letterboxd and IG
Nicole on twitter, Letterboxd and IG
All music in the episode is by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4552-twisted
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
What’s the price for getting too close to God…or at least believing you have? Actor/filmmaker/podcaster Alanah Rafferty joins Sean and Nicole to discuss Rose Glass’s Saint Maud and Robert Greenwald’s Xanadu, two takes on what happens when one spirals into religious obsession.
“Folding sexual arousal and religious ecstasy into a single, gasping sensation…”
-Jeanette Catsoulis
Who are the protagonists of these films and do they survive them? How are Greek and Christian mythology engaged? Where is the line between inspiration and hallucination? Dance along with Gene Kelly and Olivia Newton John, avoid Morfydd Clark’s medical assistance, listen to Michael Beck whine, and possibly touch the divine!
Jeanette Catsoulis in NYT on Saint Maud
Shelia O’Malley on Ebert.com on Saint Maud
People Magazine: 20 Things You Didn’t Know About Xanadu
Our ep abt It’s a Wonderful Life and The Exorcist
Get early access to new episodes of The Celluloid Mirror PLUS bonus episodes, uncut video of our recording sessions featuring conversations that didn’t make it to the final show, games, invitations to events, Discord access and so much more by subscribing to our Patreon
We’re also on twitter, instagram and have a website
All music in the episode is by Kevin MacLeod
Sean checks in with a quick update, some listener feedback, and a few fun clips from our conversation with Alanah Rafferty about Rose Glass' Saint Maud and Robert Greenwald's Xanadu. What do these films have in common? What do they say about the audience and our culture? Find out in next week's episode.
You can see more about Alanah at Alanah-Rafferty.com and the film, Fraud, she produced that played Tribeca this year on the Tribeca website.
Get episodes of The Celluloid Mirror early PLUS bonus episodes, uncut video of our recording sessions featuring conversations that didn’t make it to the final show, games, invitations to events, Discord access and so, so much more Celluloid Mirror by subscribing to our Patreon
We’re also on twitter, instagram and have a website
All music in the episode is by Kevin MacLeod
Elliott Gould plays an “apathist” photographer and Adam Driver a confrontational comedian who take center stage - with varying degrees of enthusiasm -- as we discus Alan Arkin’s early ‘70s satire Little Murders and Leos Carax’s 2021 musical extravaganza Annette.
“ so much of a piece, so consistent on its own terms, that while you're watching it, it doesn't even feel like satire: just real life, a little farther down the road.”
-Roger Ebert
What does a bleak adaption of a late 60s stage satire about the prevalence of violence in modern US American life have to do with a stylized, surrealistic Sparks-penned musical about two performers in love and their puppet baby? Is heterosexual romantic love doomed to fail? What pivotal events in act two cement the fates of these characters, and the thematic connections between these films? Who is hotter, Elliott Gould or Adam Driver? Join us for urgent answers to these burning questions, and oh so much more!
Transcript Here
Links
Roger Greenspun reviewed Little Murders in the New York Times
AO Scott reviewed Annette in the New York Times
Shelia O’Malley reviewed Annette for Ebert.com
Ebert himself reviewed Little Murders
Justine Smith - Annette brings toxic masculinity to the musical rom-com (Cult MTL)
Richard Brody - Leos Carax is Limited by Adam Driver’s Star Power (The New Yorker)
Beatrice Loayza - Leos Carax on Annette and the Cinema of Doubt (The New York Times)
Jonathan Romney - Annette Cannes Review (Screen Daily)
Ben Sachs - The still-relevant satire Little Murders is the best movie in town this week(Chicago Reader)
Rob Hunter - Little Murders is a Bleakly Cynical Gem with Big Laughs (Film School Rejects)
Little Murders Review (Film Authority)
Marriage Story is on Netflix (watch from 1hr 57 min to 2hrs 4 min to see the two scenes featuring Sondheim songs we discuss)
We’re also on twitter, instagram, Patreon, and have a website
All music in the episode is by Kevin MacLeod
Nicole tells you all about what's coming next week from The Celluloid Mirror -- puppet babies and experimental theater via Leos Carax's Annette (2021) starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard, and Alan Arkin's Little Murders (1971) starring Elliott Gould and Marcia Rodd!
We've got a few clips from that upcoming episode as well as listener feedback on our Josie and The Pussycats/Speed Racer Discussion. Is it fair to call the Speed Racer ninjas "evil"? How about comparing Josie to Luke Skywalker? Let's get into it!
Plus, hear about the NYC premiere of Audre's Revenge and Monika Estrella Negra's Bitten, A Tragedy at The Art of Brooklyn Film Fest and upcoming 6/26 screening at Queer Arts Festival in Vancouver.
Leave us a voice message to share your thoughts about the show
Get TCM episodes before the drop publically plus bonus episodes, uncut video of our recording sessions featuring stuff that didn’t make it to the final show, games, invitations to events, Discord access and so much more by subscribing to our Patreon
We’re also on twitter, instagram and have a website
All music in the episode is by Kevin MacLeod
