For this episode, Neil and Dario dive back into the work of master Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa having last talked about his cinema in the earliest days of the podcast when they screened Yojimbo for an audience in Falmouth.
The occasion for this revisit is a new, extensive retrospective of his work hosted at the BFI Southbank (and some regional partner cinemas) and on their BFI Player platform. The season is curated by filmmaker Asif Kapadia and writer Ian Hayden Smith, who Dario talked to as the two-month long season got underway.
Their discussion covers the curation approach, the influence of Kurosawa on them and the wider film community more broadly, and why he remains a key figure of focus in global film history.
Elsewhere, Neil and Dario look at some of Kurosawa's post-War films set in contemporary Japan, with a deeper focus on I Live In Fear (1955) and High and Low (1963). 
With thanks to Sarah Bemand at the BFI for the invitation to cover this season, setting up the interview with Asif and Ian and providing access to the BFI Player to view titles.
For more on the ongoing season visit the BFI website here. 
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You can listen to The Cinematologists for free, wherever you listen to podcasts: click here to follow.
We also produce an extensive monthly newsletter and bonus/extended content that is available on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/cinematologists. You can become a member for only £2.
We really appreciate any reviews you might write (please send us what you have written and we'll mention it) and sharing on Social Media is the lifeblood of the podcast so please do that if you enjoy the show.
_____
Music Credits:
‘Theme from The Cinematologists’
Written and produced by Gwenno Saunders. Mixed by Rhys Edwards. Drums, bass & guitar by Rhys Edwards. All synths by Gwenno Saunders. Published by Downtown Music Publishing

Akira Kurosawa at the BFI (w/ Asif Kapadia and Ian Hayden Smith)

For our first episode of 2023, Dario speaks to a great friend of the podcast Mark Jenkin about his new Cornish "folk horror", Enys Men. Starring Mary Woodvine as a volunteer isolated on a Cornish island seemingly with the task of observing and recording the local wildlife. This sets the stage for a disquieting, time-bending, psycho-ecological fable, forged through Jenkin's singular audio-visual sensibility. 
In a wide-ranging conversation, Mark goes deep into the artistic process underpinning the film, thinks through questions the work throws up about loneliness, isolation, time and memory. The notion of genre is another topic of discussion, with the renaissance in cinematic folk horror. But Dario forward his thesis that Enys Men is a "last woman on Earth" sci-fi.      
It's also great have Neil returning to the show after his hiatus. He reviews another potential entry to the international folk horror canon Yanuari (January). From Bulgarian director Andrey Paounov and co-written by former Cinematologists guest Alex Barrett.
Shownotes
ENYS MEN is in cinemas now. 
The Cinematic DNA of ENYS MEN season [curated by director Mark Jenkin] runs at BFI Southbank until 31 January with selected films and Jenkin’s shorts collection available on BFI Player now.
ENYS MEN will be released on Blu-ray/DVD and BFI Player on 1 May. The ENYS MEN Original Score by Mark Jenkin is out now digitally via Invada Records and released on vinyl on 24 February.
Documentary mention by Mark and Neil on Folk Horror is Woodlands Dark, Days Bewitched
You can listen to The Cinematologists for free, wherever you listen to podcasts: click here to follow.
We also produce an extensive monthly newsletter and bonus/extended content that is available on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/cinematologists. You can become a member for only £2.
We really appreciate any reviews you might write (please send us what you have written and we'll mention it) and sharing on Social Media is the lifeblood of the podcast so please do that if you enjoy the show.
_____
Music Credits:
‘Theme from The Cinematologists’
Written and produced by Gwenno Saunders. Mixed by Rhys Edwards. Drums, bass & guitar by Rhys Edwards. All synths by Gwenno Saunders. Published by Downtown Music Publishing

Enys Men (w/ Dir. Mark Jenkin)

We come to the end of another cinematic year, and for our look back over 2022 Dario is joined by The Independent's film critic  Clarisse Loughrey. As usual, the episode is contextualised with a meander through some of the big themes and news stories of the year in film. This is followed  by a countdown of both Dario and Clarisse's top five films of the year. 
Both Dario and Neil want to thank our audience for their continued support throughout the year, we hope you have enjoyed the season and continue to be a listener into 2023. Dario will be publishing the January newsletter at the end of the week which will double up as something of a New Year reflection. 
All the best to you all for 2023 - Dario and Neil.
Shownotes
Clarisse Loughrey on Twitter. 
Clarisse's full films of the year list, published in The Independent.
You can listen to The Cinematologists for free, wherever you listen to podcasts: click here to follow.
We also produce an extensive monthly newsletter and bonus/extended content that is available on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/cinematologists. You can become a member for only £2.
We really appreciate any reviews you might write (please send us what you have written and we'll mention it) and sharing on Social Media is the lifeblood of the podcast so please do that if you enjoy the show.
_____
Music Credits:
‘Theme from The Cinematologists’
Written and produced by Gwenno Saunders. Mixed by Rhys Edwards. Drums, bass & guitar by Rhys Edwards. All synths by Gwenno Saunders. Published by Downtown Music Publishing
 

2022 Review (w/critic Clarisse Loughrey)

So this is the penultimate episode of 2022. We were at the Garden Cinema on Tuesday 20th to watch The Coen Brothers Blood Simple. My co-host for the evening was the Producer and now regular contributor to the James Dean. James was absolutely superb, both an astute appreciator of the Coen Brothers as artists, but fascinatingly relaying some nuggets of personal experience from having actually met and watched the Coen's at work. Listening to James and watching the film, which was an absolutely incredible DCP restoration by Criterion with 5.1 sound, I just was reminded about the pure joy of watching a film.
It’s almost heresy to say, but the film seems to offer itself up for the pure joy of watching, without and underlying sense of message. It’s cine-literate, but unpretentiously so, and it’s refreshingly Apolitical. Of course, the argument arises that there is no such thing a culture product that is Apolitical. Everything is defined by an underlying ideology. As a well-trained cultural studies scholar, the notion of being always already within ideology is something that has been drilled into me. Indeed, one could suggest that the Coens, whether they would explicitly acknowledge or speak to the wider allusions of their work, have been knowing chroniclers of the Absurdist contradictions at the heart of the American dream.
Yet, this is never imposed didactically. On the contrary there is arguably a respect for audiences literacy of, and practice in, to borrow from Stuart Hall, decoding and negotiating the signifiers of film. That might sound overwrought, in the way I’ve put it. What I mean is, they revel in the possibilities of cinema as form. Unlike many other filmmakers for who use references as pastiche or as an exercise in nerding out. The Coens invite you to the self-contained pleasure of the film they are presenting you with, without the necessity of connecting a reference external to the text. Even with the noir invocations, exploitation riffs, tours of pulp violence, one never feels excluding from enjoying the fundamental filmic pleasures.
Watching and listening, to this pristinely recreated digital artifact, in such a perfect auditorium, and with the knowledge of a shared audience intent, my will to analyse interpret gradually just succumbed to a purity of pleasure. Looking back, if there has been a theme to this season of the podcast, it has been a kind of tension. Between how we define and categorise films; the push to define the status of cinema in a fractured and uncertain media landscape. And the ephemeral, fleeting joy of those minute of empathy and immersion. Where the mechanistic shaping of light and sound creates a canvas of illusion which offers the chance to connect the external universe with your internal dreamscape.
With just the end of year review to come, I want to thank all the contributors to this season. Guest hosts James Dean, Caroline Catz, Mary Wild, Sarah Cleaver, David Lowbridge-Ellis, Catherine Wheatley, Savi

Blood Simple (w/ Producer James Dean)

In this episode, Dario talks MA student in Film Curation Chris Cassingham about his graduation film series: Beyond Interpretation. Screening at the ICA in London in January, the series that explores the connections between paranoia, conspiracy, anxiety, and the precarious realities of artistic creation at the margins of the American film industry. At a time when it is increasingly difficult to make and distribute films that defy simple categorisation, resist commercial expectations of narrative and form, and whose concerns are often out of step with capitalist ideals of profit, it is important to seize every available opportunity to present them to new audiences.
Dario discusses with Chris his course at NFTS and the film curation itself as discipline, reflecting on the challenging times for exhibitors and the film industry as a whole in getting audiences to come to theatres. Dario contextualises this in his opening remarks, thinking about cinema-going as a recurring theme of the podcast, even before the pandemic. The impact of streaming has obviously had a major influence on film audiences, along with shifting criteria in what types of films mainstream audiences deem worthy to see at the cinema.
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You can listen to The Cinematologists for free, wherever you listen to podcasts: click here to follow.
We also produce an extensive monthly newsletter and bonus/extended content that is available on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/cinematologists. You can become a member for only £2.
We really appreciate any reviews you might write (please send us what you have written and we'll mention it) and sharing on Social Media is the lifeblood of the podcast so please do that if you enjoy the show.
_____
Music Credits:
‘Theme from The Cinematologists’
Written and produced by Gwenno Saunders. Mixed by Rhys Edwards. Drums, bass & guitar by Rhys Edwards. All synths by Gwenno Saunders. Published by Downtown Music Publishing

Film Curation (Beyond Interpretation w/Chris Cassingham)

In part 2 of our Sight and Sound special, Dario talks to the managing editor of Sight and Sound Magazine Isabel Stevens about the collation and publication of this list. With over 1600 hundred critics contributing their top tens (up from 800 in 2012), the move towards greater diversity is clear. Dario drills down into that with Isabel, along with unpacking some of the other key trends that have emerged. Isabel also takes us through her selections. 
Also on the show, we welcome back Savina Petkova for her take on being invited to contribute, the issues with lists in general, and compiling a set of 10 films that complement each other. She also addresses the inherent performativity of creating a "best-of" for public scrutiny; how one cannot help but consider the cultural reaction, even in the abstract. And of course we and take wonderful meander through her choices. It’s a great list that is based on a single theme: Love. 
You can listen to The Cinematologists for free, wherever you listen to podcasts: click here to follow.
We hope you have enjoyed this double episode, it is complemented by a bonus podcast that is available on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/cinematologists. You can become a member for only £2. #SupportIndieMedia
We really appreciate any reviews you might write (please send us what you have written and we'll mention it) and sharing on Social Media is the lifeblood of the podcast so please do that if you enjoy the show.
_____
Music Credits:
‘Theme from The Cinematologists’
Written and produced by Gwenno Saunders. Mixed by Rhys Edwards. Drums, bass & guitar by Rhys Edwards. All synths by Gwenno Saunders. Published by Downtown Music Publishing
 

Sight and Sound’s Greatest Films of All Time 2022 (Part 2)

So, after much hype, critique and discussion, the Sight and Sound Greatest films of all-time poll has been published and we have an extensive 2-part episode of The Cinematologists to cover it. Neil and Dario were both invited to contribute a top ten list to the poll, which was an unexpected honour in itself. Not only that, Sight and Sound kindly gave us access to the results early so we could record and release the episode to coincide with the publication of the list. Furthermore, Dario got to speak to Isabel Stevens, Managing Editor of Sight and Sound before the list came out (which comes in part 2).
AND, for part 1 of this double feature, Neil is back. Yes, he interrupts his hiatus to lend his astute critical savvy to the results of the poll and to speak about both his own and Dario’s choices. In the past, we have critiqued the problems of list culture and its potential negative effects on film appreciation and criticism. But in a move, particularly on Dario’s part, to ameliorate any hypocrisy of rejecting lists while gleefully contributing to “the big one”, we also discuss the positive value of list making as an access point in a chaotic cultural milieu. Of course, we also talk about the expansion of the critics invited to participate in a move towards a greater diversity and the implications this has for the film canon.
And, of course, we talk about some of the major headlines from this year's poll. First and foremost the new number 1 slot taken by Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles. We discuss the dynamics around this change, how it relates to other shifts (such as the higher recognition of other female filmmakers such as Claire Denis and Agnès Varda) and how they might be received: is it both a long overdue boost for female filmmaking and feminist criticism of under-representation in processes of institutionalisation & canonisation. Or does this reflect a narrow kind of diversity, the promotion of a high-modernist cinema which is open to cries of elitism and inaccessibility? We get into these issues in typical Cinematologists depth along with analysing the other big moves and trends. Finally, we reveal our own lists and deconstruct the contrasting "methodologies" for choosing them. Please enjoy.
Shownotes
Link to the Sight and Sound List Online
Quentin Tarantino’s video archives podcast
Silver Screen Video Podcast - with David Thompson
Film Comment podcast on movie list culture and documentary.
Against Lists by Elena Gorfinkel
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You can listen to The Cinematologists for free, wherever you listen to podcasts: click here to follow.
We also produce an extensive monthly newsletter and bonus/extended content that is available on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/cinematologists. You can become a member for only £2.
We really appreciate any reviews you might write (please send us what you have written and we'll mention it) and sharing on Social Media is the lifeblood of t

Sight and Sound’s Greatest Films of All Time 2022 (Part 1)

Olivier Assayas has always been a filmmaker and critic who is interested in the essential question: what is cinema? His reflections are often espoused though the characters in his films, with the repeated deployment of the "film within a film" device, and now, in the recreation of his 1996 low budget cult classic Irma Vep, into a 8-episode HBO miniseries. This week Dario was joined by Reader in Film Studies Dr Catherine Wheatley to discuss the original film. But with Catherine writing a positive, joyful, review of the TV "sequel" in Sight and Sound, aspects of comparison were always going to suffuse the conversation. We talk about Assayas as a postmodern, chameleonic filmmaker, and his place in the history of French cinema as both an insider and outsider.


Then of course there is the ethereal vision that is Maggie Cheung. Paradoxically, in the film she plays the mystical, femme fatale role, made famous by Musidora in Louis Feuillade's fabled 1915 Les Vampires. Assayas clearly anchors the film on her mesmerising beauty, perhaps bordering on exoticisation. But she is also normalised in the role. Playing a meta-fictional version of herself, a star on the verge of international breakthrough but somewhat lost in the chaos of a Parisian film shoot that is falling apart. Comparisons with Alicia Vikander, cast in the recent TV sequel are also a centre-point to the conversation.

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You can listen to The Cinematologists for free, wherever you listen to podcasts: click here to follow.
We also produce an extensive monthly newsletter and bonus/extended content that is available on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/cinematologists. You can become a member for only £2.
We really appreciate any reviews you might write (please send us what you have written and we'll mention it) and sharing on Social Media is the lifeblood of the podcast so please do that if you enjoy the show.
_____
Music Credits:
‘Theme from The Cinematologists’
Written and produced by Gwenno Saunders. Mixed by Rhys Edwards. Drums, bass & guitar by Rhys Edwards. All synths by Gwenno Saunders. Published by Downtown Music Publishing
 

Irma Vep (w/ Dr Catherine Wheatley)

In the week leading up to Halloween, The Cinematologists Podcast returns live to The Garden Cinema for a screening and recording of Prano Baily-Bond’s debut feature Censor. A pointed and knowing homage to the 80s era of the video nasties, the story draws on the theme of moral panic, with the excellent Niamh Elgar as an officious BBFC censor whose work starts to encroach a little too much into her own trauma. With perturbing visceral panache, the ritualistic nature of cinematic spectatorship and psychological effects of film living in the liminal space between reality and myth, underpin Censor’s disquieting effects. It’s a film that divided critics and audiences and provided plenty to chew on for host Dario Llinares who will be joined by Sarah Cleaver (Projections Podcast & The Zodiac Film Club) for post screening discussion.
*Apologies for the poor quality of the live recorded sound on this episode. There was a technical fault and there was no much we could do in post-production to rectify the problem. Recommend that you use headphones for this one.
You can listen to The Cinematologists for free, wherever you listen to podcasts: click here to follow.
We also produce an extensive monthly newsletter and bonus/extended content that is available on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/cinematologists. You can become a member for only £2.
We really appreciate any reviews you might write (please send us what you have written and we'll mention it) and sharing on Social Media is the lifeblood of the podcast so please do that if you enjoy the show.
_____
Music Credits:
‘Theme from The Cinematologists’
Written and produced by Gwenno Saunders. Mixed by Rhys Edwards. Drums, bass & guitar by Rhys Edwards. All synths by Gwenno Saunders. Published by Downtown Music Publishing

Censor (w/ Sarah Cleaver)

The centre piece of our second episode is guest host Savina Petkova's interview with Ruben Östlund about his latest film Triangle of Sadness. This follow-up to the The Square, which also won the top prize at Cannes, is another acerbic satirical intervention into the hypocrisies of liberal capitalism. "Triangle" is perhaps more laugh out loud funny than his previous work, but draws on similar socio-political observations that are all too familiar but presenting them through a thought experiment which reverses hierarchies of power around wealth, value, class and social roles. 
Also, Dario talks to the LFF director Tricia Tuttle who is ending her 5 year tenure-ship this year. They discuss her legacy particular around accessibility, weathering Covid, and the expansion of programming to encompass many different forms of cinematic experience. Also the political role of festivals comes up and Tricia gives her thoughts on the collapse of the Edinburgh film festival and the many challenges that UK cinema-going faces.
Dario also talks to a student from Ravensbourne University, Tom Wright, who came to the festival as part of the BFI academy programme. He waxes lyrical about Mark Jenkins' Enys Men, which of course we will be hoping to cover in-depth in an upcoming episode. 
And Dario and Savina round up by talking about a few of the other festival highlights including Mia Hansen Love's One Fine Morning and Charlotte Wells' directorial debut Aftersun.
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You can listen to The Cinematologists for free, wherever you listen to podcasts: click here to follow.
We also produce an extensive monthly newsletter and bonus/extended content that is available on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/cinematologists. You can become a member for only £2.
We really appreciate any reviews you might write (please send us what you have written and we'll mention it) and sharing on Social Media is the lifeblood of the podcast so please do that if you enjoy the show.
_____
Music Credits:
‘Theme from The Cinematologists’
Written and produced by Gwenno Saunders. Mixed by Rhys Edwards. Drums, bass & guitar by Rhys Edwards. All synths by Gwenno Saunders. Published by Downtown Music Publishing

London Film Festival - Part 2

Above: Christine Molloy in The Future Tense (2022)
This is the first of two episodes we will bring you from the London Film Festival. Dario is joined for both by Savina Petkova as co-host. Savina is published in Film Comment and MUBINotebook and many other places. She is on the editorial board of @photogenie_be, Is a programmer for the upcoming Cambridge Film Festival and and is soon to complete her PhD at Kings College London.
As is our style on The Cinematologists, our festival coverage in not a comprehensive overview of the festival or a breakdown of competition films or sections. We bring you more of a snapshot of our experiences, viewings and conversations.
So, Savina and Dario begin by discussing the place of London on the European festival calendar and four recommendations of films we've seen in person and on the digital platform. These are Blue Jean (Georgia Oakley), Unrest (Cyril Schäublin), All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (Laura Poitras) and The Eternal Daughter (Joanna Hogg).
The centrepiece of this first episode is Dario's interview with Christine Molloy and Joe Lawler, who bring a new Essay Film The Future Tense. Very difference from their last psychological revenge horror Rose Plays Julie, in The Future Tense, they turn the lens back on themselves and specifically the sense of being Irish while living in England during the political and social tumult of the last decade.
Finally, Dario talks to blogger Andrew Pope of Whitlock and Pope website about Alejandro González Iñárritu's latest film Bardo, False Chronicles of a Handful of Truths.
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You can listen to The Cinematologists for free, wherever you listen to podcasts: click here to follow.
We also produce an extensive monthly newsletter and bonus/extended content that is available on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/cinematologists. You can become a member for only £2.
We really appreciate any reviews you might write (please send us what you have written and we'll mention it) and sharing on Social Media is the lifeblood of the podcast so please do that if you enjoy the show.
_____
Music Credits:
‘Theme from The Cinematologists’
Written and produced by Gwenno Saunders. Mixed by Rhys Edwards. Drums, bass & guitar by Rhys Edwards. All synths by Gwenno Saunders. Published by Downtown Music Publishing







 


 










 

London Film Festival - Part 1

In our second episode of the new season we tackle a behemoth of film culture: James Bond. Bond is not a subject we've covered before, or even talked about that much on the podcast. Except perhaps in the context of thinking about franchise cinema.
This is something of an omission, as the James Bond world is a historically seminal part of film culture, which can be explored in many different ways. The industrial significance of the films was amplified when No Time To Die, Daniel Craig's final outing as Bond, was pushed back several times because of the COVID pandemic. Furthermore, Bond, more than any other genre, series or iconic character, influenced my childhood relationship to cinema. My Grandfather was a big Connery fan, and back in the days of three TV channels, a Christmas screening of a Bond film was must see TV.  As I’ve gotten older, I become more ambivalent about the character and the world, both from filmic and thematic standpoints. Watching the Craig era, this seems like a character out of time; a notion which the producers and writers leaned into. Where does Bond go next? Conjecture and speculation about the next casting are rife and this decision will, obviously, dictate the scope and direction of the next "reinvention". However, Bond still holds nostalgic pleasures for me – and offers up interesting prompts for conversation and debate.
I’ve been thinking ways of engaging with Bond on the podcast and today's guest undoubtedly provided a fascinating entry point, one that provoked questions about the essence of the character and world created around him. I spoke to David Lowbridge-Ellis, the creator and editor of LicencetoQueer.com – the fan project that engages with Bond, essentially from a queer perspective. We talk about David's formative fandom, the character and world as the object of queer fascination, the expansion of an welcoming online community, reading texts oppositionally, possibilities of Bond's queer coding, gay assassins, Jim Fanning, and the potential next phase of Bond lore. (DL)
Shownotes
Licence to Queer - Instagram
Licence to Queer - Twitter
James Bond at 60 - BFI website.
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You can listen to The Cinematologists for free, wherever you listen to podcasts: click here to follow.
We also produce an extensive monthly newsletter and bonus/extended content that is available on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/cinematologists. You can become a member for only £2.
We really appreciate any reviews you might write (please send us what you have written and we'll mention it) and sharing on Social Media is the lifeblood of the podcast so please do that if you enjoy the show.
_____
Music Credits:
‘Theme from The Cinematologists’
Written and produced by Gwenno Saunders. Mixed by Rhys Edwards. Drums, bass & guitar by Rhys Edwards. All synths by Gwenno Saunders. Published by Downtown Music Publishing
Supercut audio edited from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9f_LyhxNWTk
 
 

Licence to Queer (w/ David Lowbridge-Ellis)

Eight prophets of the everyday struggle for love, justice, political autonomy, dignity, and in the end survival, in Alain Tanner's incredibly powerful, moving, emotionally and intellectually complex film: Jonah who will be 25 in the Year 2000. In our return episode for season sixteen of the podcast, we are delighted to be joined by the director, producer and actor Caroline Catz who selected this film as one of her all time favourites and joined us in Manchester's Home cinema for this very rare screening. Alain Tanner had passed away only three days before the screening which gave a bittersweet context to proceedings, but perhaps even amplified the prescience that the film possesses. Caroline also notes that the film is co-written by John Berger, an influence to so many artists and critics. "Jonah's" themes are incredibly wide-ranging: the oppression of the working-class, education and it's methods and aims, state oppression, the concept of family, hierarchy of the sexes, and, fundamentally, why a socialist utopia is so hard to create in practice. 
As you will hear the Q&A resonated with emotion. Several of the audience members had a personal connection to the film which they discuss in beautifully elegiac ways. And indeed the conversation returned back to the radical nature of hope. Dario was also joined by the producer James Dean who came to the screening and recorded his thoughts on the film and the Q&A. 
Shownotes:
Caroline Catz on Twitter
James Dean on Twitter
Manchester Home Cinema
A version of the film is available on YouTube (no English Subs however)
Alain Tanner Obituary
Future Perfect: The Class Struggle Of "Jonah who will be 25 in the Year 2000" by Ray Pride
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You can listen to The Cinematologists for free, wherever you listen to podcasts: click here to follow.
We also produce an extensive monthly newsletter and bonus/extended content that is available on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/cinematologists. You can become a member for only £2.
We really appreciate any reviews you might write (please send us what you have written and we'll mention it) and sharing on Social Media is the lifeblood of the podcast so please do that if you enjoy the show.
_____
Music Credits:
‘Theme from The Cinematologists’
Written and produced by Gwenno Saunders. Mixed by Rhys Edwards. Drums, bass & guitar by Rhys Edwards. All synths by Gwenno Saunders. Published by Downtown Music Publishing

Jonah who will be 25 in the Year 2000 (w/ Caroline Catz and James Dean)

It's our season finale and we were delighted to get back into a cinema for a live screening and podcast recording, our first one since Covid. The venue was the spectacular Garden cinema in Covent Garden, a beautiful art-deco retro venue where we hope to be holding regular screenings in the autumn.
As part of their celebrating Film Noir season, we screened and discussed the 1962 psychological noir Cape Fear directed J. Lee Thompson. The film features what is considered one of the most powerfully chilling performances in cinema history: Robert Mitchum as Max Cady. Also starring Gregory Peck, Polly Bergen Lori Martin, Martin Balsam and Telly Savalas, and featuring a Bernard Herrmann score, it's a film that tested social attitudes and the censors with its subject matter.
Dario presented the screening with guest Mary Wild (@psycstar on Twitter), the co-host of the Projections Podcast (@ProjectionsPod). As an expert in psychoanalytic film theory it was fantastic to have Mary's critical insight on a film and genre that really does lend itself to psychological reading. 
Dario and Neil continue the conversation and also reflect on the 15th season of the podcast. Something we can hardly believe. We thank you for your continued support of the show and look forward to season 16 beginning in September 2022.
Show Notes
The Garden Cinema, Covent Garden.
The new season of Mary's Projections Podcast which she co-hosts with Sarah Cleaver.
The Making of Cape Fear.
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You can listen to The Cinematologists for free, wherever you listen to podcasts: click here to follow.
We also produce an extensive monthly newsletter and bonus/extended content that is available on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/cinematologists. You can become a member for only £2.
We really appreciate any reviews you might write (please send us what you have written and we'll mention it) and sharing on Social Media is the lifeblood of the podcast so please do that if you enjoy the show.
_____
Music Credits:
‘Theme from The Cinematologists’
Written and produced by Gwenno Saunders. Mixed by Rhys Edwards. Drums, bass & guitar by Rhys Edwards. All synths by Gwenno Saunders. Published by Downtown Music Publishing
 

Cape Fear (live @TheGardenCinema)

In episode 144, Neil and Dario discuss a few recent films viewed with a critical eye with regards to how they fit into film culture and more broadly how they reflect (or don't) current political attitudes. 
Dario wrote in detail about the star persona of Tom Cruise in the most recent Patreon newsletter, and both Neil and Dario reflect on the experiential pleasures and reductive nostalgia of Tom Gun: Maverick along with the obvious ideological criticism around its propagandistic militarism.
Sports movies are a recurring focus of the podcast and the recent Netflix production Hustle starring Adam Sandler and half the roster of the NBA is under discussion. 
Lastly, we focus on Lingui, The Sacred Bonds by Chadian filmmaker Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, a lyrical, gripping story of a mother trying to arrange an abortion for her daughter in the face of patriarchal theocracy.   
This is our penultimate episode. For our end-of-season finale, we are recording a live podcast at The Garden Cinema in Covent Garden, London, on the 5th of July, 6pm. Tickets are available from The Garden Cinema Website. We are really looking forward to catching up with an audience IRL.
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You can listen to The Cinematologists for free, wherever you listen to podcasts: click here to follow.
We also produce an extensive monthly newsletter and bonus/extended content that is available on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/cinematologists. You can become a member for only £2.
We really appreciate any reviews you might write (please send us what you have written and we'll mention it) and sharing on Social Media is the lifeblood of the podcast so please do that if you enjoy the show.
_____
Music Credits:
‘Theme from The Cinematologists’
Written and produced by Gwenno Saunders. Mixed by Rhys Edwards. Drums, bass & guitar by Rhys Edwards. All synths by Gwenno Saunders. Published by Downtown Music Publishing

Top Gun: Maverick; Hustle; Lingui, The Sacred Bonds (and more)

In this episode, Neil records an audio diary from the 2022 International Festival de Cannes. He reflects on being part of the team presenting Mark Jenkin’s Enys Men to the world, the weirdness of Cannes, and some of the films he saw while there. Titles discussed are Patricio Guzmán’s My Imaginary Country, Mia Hansen' Løve’s One Fine Morning, the 1972 anthology film about the Munich Olympics Visions of Eight and De Humani Corporis Fabrica by Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel (who directed the experimental fishing documentary Leviathan). Guests include critic and podcaster John Bleasdale, academic and producer Kingsley Marshall and some of the team behind Enys Men, director Mark Jenkin and actor Mary Woodvine.
Elsewhere Neil and Dario discuss Patricio Guzmán, the film festival bubble and some recent positive comments from listeners, as well as Neil’s reflection on the final film he saw in Cannes, Annie Ernaux and David Ernaux-Briot’s The Super 8 Years. 
Although, Neil forgot to tell his Louis Garrel story, so that will have to wait until the next episode.
Also, some of the diary entries are a bit peaky due to mediterranean winds, so please bear with some of the audio segments of the diary.
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You can listen to The Cinematologists for free, wherever you listen to podcasts: click here to follow.
We also produce an extensive monthly newsletter and bonus/extended content that is available on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/cinematologists. You can become a member for only £2.
We really appreciate any reviews you might write (please send us what you have written and we'll mention it) and sharing on Social Media is the lifeblood of the podcast so please do that if you enjoy the show.
_____
Music Credits:
‘Theme from The Cinematologists’
Written and produced by Gwenno Saunders. Mixed by Rhys Edwards. Drums, bass & guitar by Rhys Edwards. All synths by Gwenno Saunders. Published by Downtown Music Publishing

Cannes 2022

The latest episode is another first for the podcast as this episode marks the first time we have gone back to talk about a filmmaker we’ve already dedicated an episode to. The reason for this landmark is Hannah Strong’s new book on Sofia Coppola for Abrams Books, Sofia Coppola: Forever Young. The book is the first in the Abrams series to see a female filmmaker given such lavish treatment.
Neil talks to Hannah about her approach to writing the book, Hannah’s personal and cinephilic connection to Coppola’s work and the trajectory her career has taken, and how she’s wrestled with and managed emerging from such an auspicious family shadow to her position as one America’s leading filmmakers in her own right.
Elsewhere, Neil and Dario talk about Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Vampyr, recently released on Blu-ray in a beautiful edition by Eureka Video/Masters of Cinema, and Sofia Coppola’s position in American film culture and the demands and expectations this position comes with.
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You can listen to The Cinematologists for free, wherever you listen to podcasts: click here to follow.
We also produce an extensive monthly newsletter and bonus/extended content that is available on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/cinematologists. You can become a member for only £2.
We really appreciate any reviews you might write (please send us what you have written and we'll mention it) and sharing on Social Media is the lifeblood of the podcast so please do that if you enjoy the show.
_____
Music Credits:
‘Theme from The Cinematologists’
Written and produced by Gwenno Saunders. Mixed by Rhys Edwards. Drums, bass & guitar by Rhys Edwards. All synths by Gwenno Saunders. Published by Downtown Music Publishing

Hannah Strong on Sofia Coppola

With Neil visiting London for the first time in a while, we took the opportunity to record an impromptu conversation with both of us in the same room. Thankfully the vibe and repartee still seem to have remained intact. We didn't have a specific theme in mind for the show so we ended up talking about recent viewings and let the conversation take us where it will. The two major films we discussed were Robert Eggers' The Northman and Guillermo del Toro's Nightmare Alley - we had mixed feeling about both. More on the art-house side was Zero Fucks Given (Julie Lecoustre & Emmanuel Marre) and thanks to an avid lister Mark Hancock's suggestion, we get into our favourite Body Horror films. Particularly examples with a comedic element to them. We hope you enjoy the more relaxed conversational tone of this one.

You can listen to The Cinematologists for free, wherever you listen to podcasts: click here to follow.
We also produce an extensive monthly newsletter and bonus/extended content that is available on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/cinematologists. You can become a member for only £2.
We really appreciate any reviews you might write (please send us what you have written and we'll mention it) and sharing on Social Media is the lifeblood of the podcast so please do that if you enjoy the show.
_____
Music Credits:
‘Theme from The Cinematologists’
Written and produced by Gwenno Saunders. Mixed by Rhys Edwards. Drums, bass & guitar by Rhys Edwards. All synths by Gwenno Saunders. Published by Downtown Music Publishing

 
 

Nightmare Alley, The Northman and more

In this episode, Dario talks to director Philip Barantini about his tense, absorbing and thoroughly authentic slice of restaurant life: Boiling Point. Stephen Graham is superb as Andy, a chef on the edge breakdown with pressures coming from all angles and trying to keep his diverse team of staff working for him on a busy Christmas service. Adding to the anxiety, the restaurant is unexpectedly visited by a celebrity chef and Andy's former mentor Alastair (Jason Fleming), who brings with him notorious food critic Sara (Lourdes Faberes). 
Dario and Philip bond over their shared experiences of restaurant culture and this underpins conversation about the authenticity of the film, the use of the one-take set-up, the improvisational aspects of the script, Stephen Graham's role as a driving force on-set and on-screen, and the restaurant as a fascinating site for examinations of British social life.
Neil and Dario also round up some recent watches including Neil's Covid induced revisit of Predator and Predator 2 & Paul Schrader's The Card Counter, while Dario discusses Tony Scott's Unstoppable and Crimson Tide, and Sergio Corbucci's Il Grande Silenzio.
You can listen to The Cinematologists for free, wherever you listen to podcasts: click here to follow.
Shownotes
Boiling Poing is available to stream on Netflix
Philip Barantini and his production company Three Little Birds are both on Twitter
Mary Wild's discussion with Dario on The Card Counter is available on her Patreon page.
Silver Screen Video Podcast and their series on Tony Scott

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We also produce an extensive monthly newsletter and bonus/extended content that is available on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/cinematologists. You can become a member for only £2.
We also really appreciate any reviews you might write (please send us what you have written and we'll mention it) and sharing on Social Media is the lifeblood of the podcast so please do that if you enjoy the show.
_____
Music Credits:
‘Theme from The Cinematologists’
Written and produced by Gwenno Saunders. Mixed by Rhys Edwards. Drums, bass & guitar by Rhys Edwards. All synths by Gwenno Saunders. Published by Downtown Music Publishing

Boiling Point (w/dir. Philip Barantini)

In this episode, Neil sits with emergent American filmmaker Tyler Taormina about his new, deeply strange and affecting feature Happer’s Comet, which premiered at Berlinale earlier this year. The conversation covers Tyler’s family, his approach to filmmaking, the nagging themes he can’t shake and the filmmakers his work is in dialogue with.
Additionally, Dario and Neil spend time really thinking about the theme of alienation in Tyler’s film and work, and what it says so beautifully about this moment in our time.
Thanks to Tyler for his time and Adam Kersh for introducing us to his client.
To kick things off Neil and Dario catch up on recent watches including The Batman and the folk horror documentary Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched. 
———
You can listen to The Cinematologists for free, wherever you listen to podcasts: click here to follow.
We also produce an extensive monthly newsletter and bonus/extended content that is available on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/cinematologists. You can become a member for only £2.
We also really appreciate any reviews you might write (please send us what you have written and we'll mention it) and sharing on Social Media is the lifeblood of the podcast so please do that if you enjoy the show.
_____
Music Credits:
‘Theme from The Cinematologists’
Written and produced by Gwenno Saunders. Mixed by Rhys Edwards. Drums, bass & guitar by Rhys Edwards. All synths by Gwenno Saunders. Published by Downtown Music Publishing

The Cinematologists Podcast

The Cinematologists Podcast

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