Fly By Films

On this episode, Blamison talk about Nepo-baby Osgood Perkins' third feature film, Gretel & Hansel . Of course, we talk about its occult geometries, the consumptive critique of society and just how damn good this movie ultimately is. This movie is primed to be Perkins' most accessible film and yet the marketing is botched by Orion. Go figure. Also talked about: nepotism, Perkins' obsession wit...

Blamison pick up where they left off with Osgood Perkins' next released film Blackcoat's Daughter and this time they invite special guest Ryan Ellington of Grindhouse Theology and the Hardcore Baptist Convention ™ onto the show. We break down how this early A24 offering is everything A24 wants to be and can never be again. We talk about how every choice Perkins makes in this film ripples into the...

Blamison start off their Halloween series with a bit of a rocky start as Blake's mic seems to have been glitchy. First it sounds like Jamison is talking to himself, but eventually Blake's voice comes into the mix. This may be the case with the first three episodes...unfortunately. That being said we start our exploration with Osgood Perkins' first(?) film I Am the Pretty Thing that Lives in the Ho...

Blamison actually talk about the Alien films. They cover Alien³ (Assembly Cut), Alien: Resurrection , Prometheus and Alien: Covenant . Also talked about: just how bad Aliens is and they rank the franchise sans Alien: Romulus . Clip from Sen. Ted Stevens describing the internet.

Blamison stretch the bounds of space and time and intellect in their discussion of the Alien franchise by exploring Alien³ (Assembly Cut) through to Alien: Covenant by way of CCM music, specifically the incestuous musical relationship between Decent Christian Talk, Audio Adrenaline and Newsboys. Stick around for this mind-expanding dive into the outer fringes of the Xenomorph mythos. Also talked a...

Blamison deride the destestable follow-up to Alien with Aliens (get it? cuz there is more than one!) by the tech-obsessed (oblivious?) director James Cameron. We talk about the horrible characterizations, the special effects seams that are everywhere in this movie and how is the villains and locations were changed this film would be no different than an 80s actioner. And it doesn't stop there....

Blamison start a new series covering the main entries into the ALIEN franchise starting with the greatest of all 1979's Alien . We talk about how great the acting is, how seamless the effects are (and how they hold up over time) and some of our reasons for considering this movie a masterpiece. Also, talked about: why this August is gonna be a great music month and various other tangents as we...

Blamison dig into the film/propaganda piece known as Sergei Eisenstein' Oktyabr (1927). While it's no Bronenosets Potyomkin (1925), we dig into how the film uses editing and montage to create cinema that is certainly decades ahead of its time. This is a jolly episode filled with political and economic opinions that will probably lose us more listeners, but we aren't in it for the money...

Blamison talk about the 2001 Oscar-bait film In The Bedroom by Todd Fields and the 2017 Mount Eerie album A Crow Looked at Me and discuss the theme of grief. This is a bit more of a downer episode than normal so gird your loins for some feelings (or lack there of--we're looking at you Blake). Other topics discussed: Tom Cruise's cousin, what we have been watching lately, and confirm that F...

Blamison talk about the utter confusion that is Joel Schumacher's 1995 hit film and soundtrack, Batman Forever . Is it good? Is it perhaps the only gay superhero movie? What was Tommy Lee Jones thinking when starring in this film? Why in the world was this soundtrack a multi-platinum success? All of these questions are addressed adequately and answered inadequately as only Fly By Films can do....

Blamison talk about the 2018 film You Were Never Really Here directed by Lynne Ramsay and starring Joaquin Phoenix as well as the soundtrack by Jonny Greenwood. We dig into why Phoenix is a great actor and whether or not the ending of this movie is actually good. Other topics discussed: the Emerald Triangle, Missing 411, and Delillo's Underworld. Clip from I Think You Should Leave Season 1, Ep...

Blamison begin a new ongoing series for season 3 by talking about the 2010 film The Book of Eli and pairing it with the 2001 underground hip hop classic The Cold Vein by Cannibal Ox. We dig into the film's peculiar place in recent cinematic history, its religious text (because there is little subtext), and what a couple of rappers from Harlem have to do with Denzel Washington. Other things dis...

Blake and Jamison dive into the manic pixie dreamland of Cameron Crowe's 2005 film Elizabethtown and talk about everything from daddy death issues to why reductive film criticism is annoying to what makes a great compilation soundtrack. Check it out! Things get a little emotional. Other things talked about: Jamison sets up a podcast-length game for Blake, the Brick app , and Jamison goes deep...

Jamison and Blake talk about the 1995 Jim Jarmusch film Dead Man , its score by Neil Young and how Roger Ebert was such a good rhetorician that even his dumbass takes are superbly written (and hilarious!). Our friend Greg Shafer joins us for this terrific conversation. Other things talked about: Catholicism, whether the invention of the automobile was good or not, and identity. Clip from the last...

Jamison and Blake. IN THE SAME ROOM AT THE SAME TIME. WE EVEN SAW THE SAME MOVIE AT THE SAME THEATER. That's right! We watched Ethan Coen's first single outing post-Coen Bros. divorce: Driveaway Dolls . We discuss what Joel and Ethan's choice in filmmaking says about their past films and their future as individual filmmakers. Other items discussed: getting in on that parenting bullshit...

Blake and Jamison talk about William Friedkin's 1977 work of old school sweaty-ass machismo Sorcerer . We dig into its seeming prelude to the gamification of everything down to the synth-y score by Tangerine Dream. It's a surprising take on the film that is sure to send some to permadeath by the end of the episode. Other things talked about: Jamison's plan to save all animals via vegan...

Blake and Jamison kick off a new season by trying out a new gimmick of picking films based on their soundtracks and being intentional to bring the film music into the typical conversations they have. On the first episode, we take on the 1961 Akira Kurosawa classic Yojimbo . Blake brings the film and its intentionally discordant music into conversation with Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian and...

Jamison and Blake are back in a fashionably late manner to ring in the NEW YEAR with our second annual podcast film ranking episode. We ranked our individual lists of the films we watched for season two of the podcast with points and conglomerated them into our starter list. From there Blake treats Jamison to a quiz about the filmmaking during the year of his birth--1987--and based on whether he g...

Jamison and Blake bitch about work without getting too specific as to not lose their jobs, then they talk about parenting sick kids and those who won't sleep and Blake's skype goes in and out on this recording so enjoy that. We then turn our attention to 2013's indie science fiction film Coherence where a group of friends come face to face with themselves from other dimensions and have...

Jamison and Blake figured the only way to finish up their review of the McDonagh Brothers' filmographies was to go dark, real dark . We talk about 2021's The Forgiven and 2022's Banshees of Inisherin and about the general lack of listeners we have had for these episodes. Also talked about: parenting, Blake's dedication to this podcast and the Catholicity of these films. Clip: Steph...

Well, it's Halloween finally. And we here at Fly By Films are wrapping up another year of horror-related field recordings. On this final episode, we dig into our final pre-2000 found footage film The Last Broadcast . It probably wasn't the best choice for our final film in the series, but, alas, beggars can't be choosers after all. We break apart what it does well and what it sucks at....

Jamison and Blake bring in the penultimate October episode by talking about their shitty producer and more parent talk before they dig into the stellar 1992 Ghostwatch and how it may say something about the corruption of technology and media via Stone Tape theory. We probably go deeper than was actually needed. Also, Blake clicks his mouse a lot. So enjoy that. Clip from Lost Highway.

Blake and Jamison dive right in to the typical inane bullshit without even taking time to introduce the podcast. We talk donuts, parenting, and using donuts as a means to bribe our kids. Then we turn our attention to 1992's Man Bites Dog [aka by its film title as C'est arrivé près de chez vous ] a charming coming of age tale about a documentary crew and their ruthless serial killer subject...

Jamison and Blake start their second October episode with a rousing philosophical analysis of the word "spoop" and then we turn our attention to our favorite holidays. Mostly we are avoiding talking about The McPherson Tape because while it nails the found footage aesthetic, it falls flat on its face when it comes to scares and effects. We discuss the shift from footage with context to f...

Blake and Jamison dish on their most recent book club book Michel Faber's The Book of Strange New Things and how it triggered Blake's memory of LOST . Then we talk about what we are drinking in order to prepare to talk about what some people eat...namely other people. That's right, we take on the cult classic Cannibal Holocaust as the first entry in our October series on proto-found fo...