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Filmspotting

After Hours #16: Directors of the Decade / Romero vs. Boyle

by Jon Cole in Movies690 days ago

Filmspotting reports in this week with an After Hours episode, which tackles a lot of backlogged listener feedback, suggested top five lists, and listener love.  Opening things up is a listener who asks Adam and Matty which actors had underrated or unappreciated performances.  Next up is the inevitable criticism of the top five directors lists from a past week’s episode. The biggest point of contention in Matty’s top 20 films of the past decade seems to be his choice of 28 Days Later.  His mistakes didn’t end there, as he...

Filmspotting

Filmspotting #306: Toy Story 3 / John C. Reilly / Top 5 Escape Movies

by Jon Cole in Movies697 days ago

Filmspotting dives into one of their most anticipated summer titles this week, Toy Story 3.  Matty is fairly well known for begrudging Avatar for its 3D usage, but he concedes that Pixar’s implementation didn’t particularly detract.  He goes on to talk about some of the more mature themes that popped up in this third entry in the series, asking Adam whether or not he’d be comfortable taking his kids to see it.  While Adam and Matty agree that this film might not live up to the first two Toy Story films, they definitely enjoyed the more...

Filmspotting

Filmspotting #305: Splice / Get Him to the Greek / Some Like It Hot / Top 5 Best Laid Plan Movies

by Jon Cole in Movies703 days ago

The rare Filmspotting double feature is back in action this week, starting off with a review of Vincenzo Natali’s latest thriller, Splice. Matty prefaces their conversation with the old-style definition of a “B movie”, namely an opening act to the major feature that tackles little-tread genres. With that context, Adam and Matty’s collective review is fairly complementary, centering on the somewhat corny introductory scene, campy dialogue, and silly gore. Ultimately, they agree that the film is fun and the plot is sufficiently...

Filmspotting

Filmspotting #304: Dennis Hopper Tribute / The Lost Weekend

by Jon Cole in Movies712 days ago

On this week’s episode of Filmspotting, Adam and Matty dedicate much of the time to the late Dennis Hopper, starting things off with a flashback to mid-2009 and their impressions of Easy Rider (in which Hopper directed and acted in).  The film was clearly a favorite in their New Hollywood marathon a year ago, earning Matty’s best cinematography award amongst the pack of nine films. After hitting upon the typical Massacre Theater and poll question segments, Filmspotting returns to the Billy Wilder marathon with their latest pick, The...

Filmspotting

Filmspotting #303: Please Give / Top 5 Films of 1997

by Jon Cole in Movies721 days ago

This week’s show is a bit on the short side, starting off with a review of Nicole Holofcener’s Please Give.  After simple agreement for weeks and weeks, Adam and Matty finally fall on opposite sides of the fence for this film.  Adam can’t really see the journey that each of the characters follow, as they really don’t learn too much more about themselves along the way.  On the other hand, Matty argues that Holofcener produces one of the most powerful cast of female characters to hit the big screen.  Either way, they both...

Filmspotting

Filmspotting #302: Robin Hood / Top 5 Directors of the Decade

by Jon Cole in Movies728 days ago

Filmspotting joins Russell Crowe for some target practice in Sherwood Forest with this week’s review of Ridley Scott’s latest, Robin Hood.  Unfortunately, Adam and Matty agree that it seems to follow suit with last week’s film, Iron Man 2, in the muck of summer mediocrity.  Though they did certainly enjoy the performances of many of the upcoming, young actors playing peripheral characters, they simply couldn’t get into the political rough and tumble that Scott tried to focus on.  Cate Blanchett also impressed the guys...

Filmspotting

Filmspotting #301: Iron Man 2 / Sunset Blvd. / Top 5 Summer Movie Preview

by Jon Cole in Movies732 days ago

Filmspotting is back to regularly scheduled programming this week, visiting the mainstream side of the tracks with their review of Iron Man 2.  They start off with the things the like about the film, namely the performance of Garry Shandling and the way that Jon Faveau handles the camera in action scenes.  Beyond that, they have little else good to say.  The film felt too jokey about scenes where the situation should have been far more dire, exacerbated by the overindulgence of Robert Downey Jr.  The sheer number of characters didn’t...

Filmspotting

Filmspotting #299: Mother / Chloe / Lubitsch Awards / Top 5 Actors of the Decade

by Jon Cole in Movies767 days ago

At the top of the show, Adam and Matty review Bong Joon-ho’s latest film, Mother.  Matty begins his commentary by complementing the nature of foreign (and in this case, Korean) film to take familiar genre and turn them on their heads.  As such, Mother takes on the crime drama genre by observing lead actress Hye-ja Kim and her character’s role to defend her special needs son from his accidental, murderous crime.  With fascinating, mold-breaking characters, great performances, and an unpredictable plot, Filmspotting clearly recommends...

Filmspotting

Filmspotting #298: Greenberg / Hot Tub Time Machine / Top 5 Films of 1986

by Jon Cole in Movies775 days ago

Filmspotting starts things off this week with a little monologue by Mr. Matty Robinson, asking Adam whether or not Noah Baumbach, writer and director of heady films like Kicking and Screaming and The Squid and the Whale, can really appeal to both of them with his latest film, Greenberg.  Adam shoots back with a recent article in Slate magazine, telling the story of the “omega male” and Baumbach’s desire to tell the story of such a man through Ben Stiller’s character.  Matty agrees, praising the characterization and acting...

Filmspotting

Filmspotting #297: The Runaways / To Be or Not To Be / Top 5 Actresses of the Decade

by Jon Cole in Movies784 days ago

Filmspotting rocks out this week with a review of The Runaways, the tale of the rapid rise and fall of the 70′s all-girl rock band of the same name.  As always, the discussion starts off with a lofty question, namely asking whether or not the performances of Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett and Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie are going to be remembered ten years from now.  Matty answers with a fairly disappointing answer, giving a little bit of credit to Fanning but ultimately declaring that their poor performances brought no spirit to the film....

Filmspotting

Filmspotting #296: Green Zone / Top 5 Colorful Movie Titles

by Jon Cole in Movies789 days ago

Filmspotting phones in with a short episode this week, opening up with a review of Paul Greengrass’s latest film, Green Zone.  Matty kicks things off with the easy comparison between Matt Damon’s previous role as Jason Bourne his character in this film, Chief Miller.  Adam takes the ball and runs, saying that the film was boiled down the beginning of the Iraq War to a vastly basic level, essentially tossing all nuance out the window.  Matty does praise some of the suspenseful scenes, but agrees with Adam in that so much of the film...

Filmspotting

Filmspotting #295: The Ghost Writer / The Shop Around the Corner / Top 5 Films of 1998

by Jon Cole in Movies797 days ago

With Alice in Wonderland out of the way, Adam and Matty used their mainstream downtime to check out Roman Polanski’s latest film, The Ghost Writer.  Starring Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan, the film reminds Matty of the trashy but entertaining thrillers of the eighties.  He goes on to say that the campy aspects of the film could have been ratcheted up in addition to a bit more emphasis on the suspenseful scenes to produce a much better experience.  Adam seems to enjoy the movie a little bit less than Matty, attributing some failure to...

Filmspotting

Filmspotting #294: Alice in Wonderland / Un Prophet Interview / 2010 Oscar Picks

by Jon Cole in Movies803 days ago

Filmspotting dives in the rabbit hole this week with their review of Alice in Wonderland.  Adam starts things off by putting his total lack of Alice experience on the table, never having consumed the film before in either it’s previous written or cinematic outlets.  Unburdened by expectations, he does say that many of the elements of the film feel familiar, but he ultimately enjoyed the film and specifically Johnny Depp’s performance.  Matty gives due favor to the brilliant visuals of Tim Burton’s latest, but puts most of his...

Filmspotting

Filmspotting #293: Shutter Island / Trouble in Paradise / Top 5 Performances That Should’ve Won Oscars

by Jon Cole in Movies808 days ago

This week’s review of Shutter Island is a little mixed, but it seems like Adam and Matty ultimately end up recommending the film and pointing out a handful of really strong components to Scorsese’s latest.  Right off the bat, both of the guys praise almost all of the performances in the film, with Matty declaring Shutter Island as “adult Leonardo DeCaprio’s” best performance so far.  On the other hand, it seems like the mysterious story drags along in some parts and has a fair chance at losing its viewers, however...

Filmspotting

Filmspotting #291: Love Story / Love Affair / Top 5 Date Movies

by Jon Cole in Movies823 days ago

Filmspotting kicks it old school this week with a special Valentine’s Day episode, starting off the show with a dual review of 1970’s Love Story and 1939’s Love Affair.  Both Adam and Matty can agree that both classic films are effective, but they come to blows as to which one they’d recommend more to listeners. The guys take advantage of the light content of the show and inject a little more time into listener feedback than usual, which may have been necessary given the amount of listeners who want to take them to task on their previous...

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    Episode 092 - PTW ahoy!
    Games, tech, and the usual, for the last time. Hello Podcast Thing Weekly.

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