Alternate Sides

We close out Season Four with Joshua Oppenheimer’s surreal and disturbing documentary The Act of Killing . Plus: the difficulties of dealing with mice, and a potential new car for Sam. LINKS: Trailer for  The Act of Killing Trailer for  Digger Christopher Hitchens's moral challenge Support the show

This episode we explore Kenneth Lonergan’s underseen coming-of-age drama Margaret , starring Anna Paquin, J. Smith-Cameron, and Mark Ruffalo. Plus: a heat wave, the power of art, and the lingering specter of 9/11. LINKS: Trailer for  Margaret “Spring and Fall” by Gerard Manley Hopkins The music of Richard Strauss in  Wild at Heart Support the show

This week we tune up our ukuleles to sing the praises of Derek Cianfrance’s romantic drama Blue Valentine , starring Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling. Plus: the magic of theater, the return of the World Cup, and James takes his car to the shop. LINKS: Trailer for  Blue Valentine Rosamund Pike speaks out about texting during performances Michael Haneke on Spielberg Support the show

This week we we travel back to 1914 for Michael Haneke’s austere period drama The White Ribbon . Plus: the devaluing ubiquity of music, the less pleasant aspects of parenthood, and James's return to urban living. LINKS: Trailer for  The White Ribbon “Forbidden Friendship” from  How to Train Your Dragon “The Parable of the Old Man and the Young” by Wilfred Owen “The Tale of the Three Brothers”...

This week we’re stepping into the ring to confront Darren Aronofsky's washed-up-tough-guy drama The Wrestler , starring Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei. Plus: Primordial Soup, the end of The Bad Plus, and James’s retirement from film-scoring. LINKS: Trailer for  The Wrestler ​ The Bad Plus (original lineup) plays "Prehensile Dream" [it is worth your patience; let it develop] ​ The &q...

This week we saddle up for Andrew Dominik’s 2007 revisionist western The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford , starring Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck. Plus: an Oscar-winning case of temp love, the evolution of John Wayne’s characters, and James’s new cold-plunge pod. LINKS: Trailer for  The Assassination of Jesse James... Max Richter's "On the Nature of Daylight" Ma...

This week we investigate the spies, bureaucrats, artists and lovers of Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s Cold War thriller The Lives of Others , starring Ulrich Mühe, Sebastian Koch, and Martina Gedeck. Plus: government protests, Star-Wars-themed cruises, and the question of whether people can ever really change. LINKS: Trailer for  The Lives of Others The  Star Wars  "Galactic Starcruiser&q...

This week we push our stroller through the post-industrial Belgian streets of the Dardenne Brothers’ moral thriller The Child , starring Jérémie Renier and Déborah François. Plus: Sam takes on a new role at work, considers hiring a new mechanic, and we mourn the passing of three legends. LINKS: Trailer for  The Child Trailer for  Mr Scorsese Wikipedia entry for production designer Stuart Craig Sup...

This week we wend our way through Richard Linklater’s decades-spanning Before trilogy, starring Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke. Plus: Sam gets a taste of empty-nesterdom, and James walks into a glass door. LINKS: Trailers for the three  Before  movies Ethan Hawke's first novel, T he Hottest State “Dawn”, from the Pride and Prejudice score, by Dario Marianelli Support the show

This episode we hammer our way through Park Chan-wook’s action-thriller Oldboy , starring Choi Min-sik. Plus: the time Sam met Bruce Willis, and the event that almost ended our friendship. LINKS: Trailer for  Oldboy “Prologue” from Alexander Desplat's score for  Birth   The Return of Bruno Eternal Sunshine....  waltz, by Jon Brion Support the show

We close out season three with Steven Spielberg’s dystopian thriller Minority Report , starring Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton and Max von Sydow. Plus: the seeming immortality of Tom Cruise, Sam’s first feature, and yet another award nomination – but this time, it’s not for Sam. LINKS: Trailer for  Minority Report Will Ferrell takes one in the jugular in  OId School Tom Cruise as Les G...

This week we take a slow, spiraling ride down Mulholland Dr , David Lynch’s puzzle-box fever dream starring Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, and Justin Theroux. Plus: Transcendental Meditation, Adolescence , and the time James was up against Angelo Badalamenti for a film-scoring job. LINKS: Trailer for  Mulhallond Dr Bob climbs over the sofa in  Twin Peaks Jeff Goldblum forgot his mantra Support the sh...

This week we slash our way through Mary Harron’s satirical horror-thriller American Psycho , starring Christian Bale, Chloe Sevigny, and Willem Dafoe. Plus: The Picard Maneuver! And Sam gets stalked by his auto mechanic. LINKS: Trailer for  American Psycho The Picard Manoeuver Tom Cruise as inspiration for Patrick Bateman Support the show

This week we explore Abbas Kiarostami’s meditative drama The Wind Will Carry Us , starring Behzad Dorani. Plus: Iranian hospitality, Marjie’s Broadway debut, and the movie that led to Sam and James meeting each other. LINKS: Trailer for  The Wind Will Carry Us Trailer for  Joe Gould's Secret Nick Cave on cold-water swimming Support the show

A double-bill! Vincent Gallo’s Buffalo ‘66 , starring Gallo and Christina Ricci; and Thomas Vinterberg’s Festen , or The Celebration , starring Ulrich Thomsen, Paprika Steen and Thomas Bo Larsen. One of them became an instant classic for James. Plus: Dogme 95 and the “vow of chastity.” LINKS: Trailer for  Buffalo '66 Trailer (a terrible and misleading one) for  The Celebration The Dogme 95 mo...

This week we get into Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1997 kaleidoscopic end-of-an-era drama Boogie Nights , starring Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, and Burt Reynolds.  Plus: James’s psilocybin adventure! LINKS: Trailer for  Boogie Nights Ben Affleck on teaching miners to be astronauts The final scene of  Big Night Support the show

This week we explore John Sayles’s 1996 bordertown drama Lone Star , starring Chris Cooper, Matthew McConaughey, and Kris Kristofferson.  Plus: Sam goes to the Emmys! LINKS: Trailer for  Lone Star A Scene from  Taste of Cherry Doogh Support the show

This week we explore Todd Haynes’s prescient 1995 environmental-illness drama Safe , starring Julianne Moore.  Plus: Emmy nominations, James’s upcoming psilocybin journey, and how bad Sam is at running. LINKS: Trailer for  Safe Kripalu Sam's Emmy nominations Support the show

This week we dig up Danny Boyle’s suitcase-full-of-cash thriller Shallow Grave , starring Ewan McGregor, Kerry Fox, and Christopher Eccleston. Plus: Ripley , the frustrations of tourism, and the European Cup. LINKS: Trailer for  Shallow Grave Trailer for  Ripley Trailer for  Cry Funny Happy Deadline.com announcement of Sam’s football project Support the show

We kick off Season Three of the podcast with Brian De Palma’s crime drama Carlito’s Way , starring Al Pacino, Penelope Ann Miller, and Sean Penn. Plus: offensive accents, an update on Sam’s car, and the time we almost paid someone $10,000 to read a script. LINKS: Trailer for  Carlito's Way The Globe and Shakespeare’s “anti-literalism” Trailer for  Bonnie , a documentary about casting director...

We close out Season Two of the podcast with Martin Brest’s drama Scent of a Woman , starring Al Pacino and Chris O’Donnell. Plus: Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers , and an encounter with a rude traffic warden. LINKS: Trailer for Scent of a Woman Trailer for The Holdovers Trailer for  People I Know Support the show

This week week we’re taking a bite out of Jonathan Demme’s classic serial-killer thriller The Silence of the Lambs , starring Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins. Plus: James comes out of film-scoring retirement. LINKS: Trailer for The Silence of the Lambs "Lotion" by Greenskeepers Austin Pendleton as a lawyer in  My Cousin Vinny Support the show

This week we discuss the journey of author Janet Frame in Jane Campion’s biographical drama An Angel at My Table , starring Alexia Keogh, Karen Fergusson, and Kerry Fox. Plus: Season Two of The Jinx , and the time Stanley Tucci took James to a Yankees game. LINKS: Trailer for An Angel at My Table Trailer for season two of The Jinx Dr McCoy treats a patient in  Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home Support...

This week we explore Spike Lee’s comedy-drama Do the Right Thing , starring Spike Lee, Danny Aiello, John Turturro and Rosie Perez. Plus: James eats a $35 salad, Don Mischer’s “Go balloons”, and 1990 as the year of sequels. LINKS: Trailer for Do the Right Thing Trailer for Thea Sharrock's Wicked Little Letters Don Mischer at the 2004 Democratic National Convention An incredible use of film sc...

This week we discuss Stephen Frears’s film-adapted-from-a-play-adapted-from-a-novel Dangerous Liaisons , starring Glenn Close, John Malkovich, and Michelle Pfeiffer. Plus: James finally visits the Vanguard! LINKS: Trailer for Dangerous Liaisons Malkovich and Sinise in True West John Candy in  Uncle Buck : "unbreakable" Support the show