LENS ME YOUR EARS

This marks the final episode of Lens Me Your Ears, as co-hosts Carsten Knox and Stephen Cooke look back over 172 episodes of watching and discussing films from all genres, decades and communities around the globe, as well as talking about their cinematic summers, from Barbenheimer to the Capitolfest classic film event in Rome, N.Y. It's been a wonderful run and we thank all the listeners who s...

On this very special tribute episode, Carsten & Stephen discuss the incredible contributions of beloved actor (and occasional director, musician and part-time Nova Scotian) Alan Arkin, from his earliest days onscreen in The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming, Wait Until Dark and Catch-22, his '70s heyday in Little Murders and Freebie & the Bean and late career hits like Gross...

In the latest episode of Lens Me Your Ears, Carsten & Stephen embark on one last adventure with Indiana Jones as the iconic archeologist so wonderfully portrayed by Harrison Ford undertakes the quest for the Dial of Destiny, an ancient doohickey that legend says can bend the laws of time itself! Then we turn back time to look at films that inspired Indiana Jones, directly or indirectly (the Ti...

On this episode of Lens Me Your Ears, as Stephen and Carsten look at the filmographies of some of their favourite directors and find some significant gaps they've been wanting to fill. Titles covered include: Murder! by Alfred Hitchcock, Who's That Knocking At My Door by Martin Scorsese, Hour of the Wolf by Ingmar Bergman, Un Flic by Jean-Pierre Melville, Spy Game by Tony Scott, Inside Man...

On this episode, Stephen and Carsten take a look at the films of U.K.-born international film icon Charlotte Rampling, who's grown from Swinging London sensation to a Grand Dame of Cinema who always brings something deeply personal and psychologically stirring to the screen, whether it's a haunting portrait of a Holocaust survivor in Liliani Cavani'sThe Night Porter or a portrayal of a...

Stephen and Carsten take a look at the latest offerings from UK gangster film expert Guy Ritchie, who has two recent caper titles to his credit: Operation Fortune - Ruse de Guerre and the armoured truck heist movie Wrath of Man. Plus, we take a look at some other corners of his filmography, from his big screen collaboration with ex-wife Madonna, Swept Away, to his Disney adaptation of Aladdin, plu...

Carsten & Stephen take a look at some offerings from the Criterion Channel's new programme of Erotic Thrillers, like Paul Schrader's The Comfort of Strangers with Christopher Walken, Helen Mirren, Rupert Everett and Natasha Richardson, Dream Lover with James Spader & Madchen Amick and Criminal Passion starring Joan Severence, plus two versions of a classic Patricia Highsmith story,...

This week, Carsten & Stephen take a look at the highly anticipated Chapter 4 in the ongoing saga of master of mayhem John Wick and his ongoing quest to clear his name with the mysterious High Table, and take out an ocean of goons in the process. Along with the new Keanu Reeves action bonanza, we take a look at a couple of earlier Keanu titles with themes that resonate in the John Wick series -...

On the latest Lens Me Your Ears, we have a look at some intriguing feature titles on that monolith of streaming shows, Netflix: We Have a Ghost, The Wonder, Windfall, Spiderhead, Earthquake Bird and Emily the Criminal. Stephen’s twitter:@NS_scooke Carsten’s twitter: @FlawInTheIris

Carsten and Stephen pick some favourite actors from the leading and supporting categories in advance of the upcoming Academy Awards, which take place on Sunday, March 12. They discuss Colin Farrell (best actor, The Banshees of Inisherin) and his 2009 mermaid tale Ondine, Kerry Condon (best supporting actress, The Banshees of Inisherin) and her turn in Margot Robbie's dustbowl crime drama Dreamland...

This week, Carsten & Stephen take a look at the new hardboiled gumshoe feature Marlowe, directed by Irish filmmaker Neil Jordan and starring grizzled action vet Liam Neeson in the title role of Raymond Chandler's private eye, Phillip Marlowe, solving a new case taken from the recent novel The Black-Eyed Blonde by John Banville (Albert Nobbs). In addition, we examine the case for 1968's Marlowe...

On the latest edition of Lens Me Your Ears, as we look at recent remakes, or "reimaginings" with a cross-cultural context. There's a brand new film Living from the U.K. starring an Oscar-nominated Bill Nighy that just happens to be inspired by the Akira Kurosawa classic Ikiru, about a dying civil servant's desire to leave behind something of value, which also led us to the new German-language reex...

For the latest edition of Lens Me Your Ears, we have a look at master cinematographer Roger Deakins, famous for his work with the Coen Brothers, who we swear we will get to in a future episode. Right now, his latest collaboration with director Sam Mendes, Empire of Light is gracing cinema screens, and this week Carsten & Stephen take a look at his career going back to his feature debut with Ju...

This week Carsten & Stephen scroll through the new Sight & Sound list of the top 100 films of all time, which stirred up the cineaste stew by unseating champions like Vertigo and Citizen Kane with Chantal Akerman's study in domestic intensity, Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles. This show takes a look at the two Akerman titles that appear on the list, including her documen...

Carsten & Stephen back at the careers of two recently departed stars who hail from Ol' Blighty, screen/stage/TV legend Angela Lansbury and the great comedic character actor Robbie Coltrane. For the Murder She Wrote star, we go back to her debut in the classic thriller Gaslight in 1944, and look at films from throughout her career like The Picture of Dorian Gray, Bedknobs & Broomsticks and...

This week, Carsten & Stephen take a look at the films of Carter Burwell, the New York-based film composer best known for his long-running collaboration with the Coen Brothers, but who has worked with many other filmmakers over the years, which is the work this episode will focus on. Don't worry, we'll be doing a Coen Brothers show one of these days, that's pretty much a given. Follow us on twi...

Carsten & Stephen get out their handkerchiefs for a romantic comedy cornucopia inspired by the recent releases Ticket to Paradise and Bros, and a look back at some romcoms well-known (Love Actually, Libeled Lady) and overlooked (Imagine Me and You, But I'm a Cheerleader, The Incredible Jessica James) for the ultimate cinematic meet-cute Follow us on twitter: @Lensmeyourears and like us on Face...

In this episode, Carsten & Stephen discuss Barbarian, plus a sampling of the '80s Horror gems being offered by Criterion Channel, just in time for Halloween. Down Under thrills from the Aussie giallo Next of Kin, Euro-chills from the Dutch classic The Vanishing, high concept spills by the remake of The Blob, and much, much more, plus a tribute to the late Jeff Barnaby, the skilled Mi'kmaq horr...

This week, Carsten & Stephen take a look at the long and rewarding career of the seemingly ageless Tilda Swinton, from her early days as a collaborator with avant grade enfant terrible Derek Jarman to work in major big budget films like her Oscar-winning turn in Michael Clayton with George Clooney, and this year's literary fantasy Three Thousand Years of Longing, directed by George "Mad M...

On this epsiode, Carsten and Stephen discuss their recent experiences at the Toronto International Film Festival and FIN Atlantic International Film Festival, with titles from as far away as India and Korea and local features made just around the corner. Follow us on twitter: @Lensmeyourears and like us on Facebook! Stephen’s twitter:@NS_scooke Carsten’s twitter: @FlawInTheIris

This week, Carsten & Stephen take a look at some sweat-soaked movies set in desolate deserts, starting with the recent John Michael McDonagh (Calvary, The Guard) film The Forgiven with Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain as a jaded aristocratic couple whose lives are thrown into turmoil when a tragic accident on the way to a decadent desert mansion housewarming party becomes a catalyst for chan...

This week, Carsten & Stephen take a look at Jordan Peele's new genre-busting spectacular NOPE, which has a whole lot to say about popular entertainment, showbiz exploitation and racism, and the hidden history of Hollywood that needs to be acknowledged, all within the framework of an alien attack movie. Through NOPE we open a window into the summer of 1972, and some of the films that were playi...

Wow, the big 150! For LMYE 150, Carsten & Stephen delve into the world of intrigue behind the battlefields of the Second World War, starting with the new feature Operation Mincemeat, about a real operation meant to fool the Germans about British invasion plans, and the heavily fictionalized thriller Enigma, about the capture and decryption of the mysterious Enigma coding machine at Bletchley P...

On the latest episode of Lens Me Your Ears, as Carsten & Stephen take a look at the new Baz Luhrmann biopic of Elvis, from the King of Rock & Roll's early (and heavily mythologized) roots in the rural south to his early fame as a symbol of teen rebellion, a decade of Hollywood hackery and triumphant return to the concert stage before an untimely death at the age of 42. There's a lot of Elv...

This week, Carsten and Stephen greet the start of the summer with a platter of projects that look at the lazy, hazy, crazy days of the sunniest season through a variety of lenses, from the animated antics of The Bob's Burgers Movie and the Disney+ gay romcom Fire Island to Frank Perry's fable of suburbia and middle age decline, The Swimmer, Mike Leigh's family dramedy Life Is Sweet, and the pithy...