Sibling Cinema

This week, we return to Billy Wilder, discussing his 18th feature, the little-seen Cold War farce, One, Two, Three . SPOILER ALERT We will be talking about this movie in its entirety. If you haven't seen this underrated gem, we strongly suggest you watch it before listening to our takes. A Mirisch Company production, released by United Artists on December 15, 1961. Directed and produced by Bil...

This week, we discuss Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Color Purple . It's a change of pace for Spielberg and starts a new era of his career. It also prompted one of our lengthiest discussions. SPOILER ALERT We will be talking about this movie in its entirety. If you haven't seen this classic, we strongly suggest you watch it before listenin...

This week, we return to Billy Wilder’s masterpiece, The Apartment . We reviewed it a few years back as part of our Best Picture winners series and come back to it now with our Wilder series. SPOILER ALERT We will be talking about this movie in its entirety. If you haven't seen this classic, we strongly suggest you watch it before listening to our takes. A Mirisch Company production, released b...

This week, we continue our countdown of Walt Disney Animation Studio's animated feature films with the seldom-seen package film, Saludos Amigos. The ranking is based on an aggregate of each film's IMdB, Letterboxd, FlickChart, Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes scores, and this one comes in at #57 out of 65. SPOILER ALERT We will be talking about this movie in its entirety, for what it's w...

This week, we return to our countdown of Walt Disney Animation Studio's animated features. The list is very unscientific, and is just a homemade ranking that aggregates each film's scores from iMDb, Letterboxd, FlickChart, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. We are up to #58, Dinosaur , a film that deployed cutting-edge CGI animation with live-action wilderness backgrounds, but is lacking in s...

This week, we return to the films of Steven Spielberg. We are skipping 1983's Twilight Zone: The Movie, which Spielberg only partially directed, although we do discuss it here. The main subject of this episode though, is Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Spielberg's first sequel and a film that directly inspired the creation of the PG-13 rating. SPOILER ALERT We will be talking about t...

This week, we return to the films of Billy Wilder with one of his most famous films, the 1959 farce Some Like It Hot , a lightning-fast, drag comedy that features an iconic performance by Marilyn Monroe and one of the most famous closing lines in cinema history. SPOILER ALERT We will be talking about this movie in its entirety,. If you haven't seen this classic, we strongly suggest you watch i...

Apologies for the poor audio quality. A microphone was not functioning properly and it was difficult to salvage. This week, we return to the American Film Institutes list of the 100 greatest American films with #95, Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing , a film that depicts racial tensions of a single hot summer day in Brooklyn SPOILER ALERT We will be talking about this movie in its entirety. If yo...

This week, we discuss Billy Wilder’s classic courtroom thriller, Witness for the Prosecution. SPOILER ALERT We will be talking about this movie in its entirety, including some major plot twists. If you haven't seen this classic, we strongly suggest you watch it before listening to our takes. A Edward Small Productions presentation, released by United Artists on December 17, 1957. Directed by B...

This week's subject is the romantic comedy-drama, Love in the Afternoon , in which Billy Wilder reunites with Sabrina's Audrey Hepburn. SPOILER ALERT We will be talking about this movie in its entirety. If you haven't seen this classic, we suggest you watch it before listening to our takes. An Allied Artists production. Released on June 30, 1957. Directed and produced by Billy Wilder ....

This week, we discuss the 1957 biographical drama, The Spirit of St. Louis , which stands as a unique outlier in Billy Wilder’s filmography—the only biopic he ever directed, and his only collaboration with Jimmy Stewart. SPOILER ALERT We will be talking about this movie in its entirety. If you haven't seen this classic, we suggest you watch it before listening to our takes. A Warner Bros. prod...

This week, we turn our attention to Billy Wilder's first collaboration with Marilyn Monroe, The Seven Year Itch. It's most famous for the iconic subway-grate skirt blowing image, although, as we discuss, it's a rather small part of the movie. SPOILER ALERT We will be talking about this movie in its entirety. If you haven't seen this classic, we strongly suggest you watch it before...

This week, we discuss the classic romantic Cinderella/Ugly Duckling story, Sabrina , a film that showcases Billy Wilder’s ability to balance sophisticated, witty dialogue with genuine heart and a smidge of social commentary. SPOILER ALERT We will be talking about this movie in its entirety,. If you haven't seen this classic, we strongly suggest you watch it before listening to our takes. A Par...

This week, we discuss the tense but slyly comedic prisoner-of-war thriller, Stalag 17 , a film that balances suspense with Billy Wilder's signature sharp, cynical wit. SPOILER ALERT We will be talking about this movie in its entirety. If you haven't seen this classic, we strongly suggest you watch it before listening to our takes. A Paramount Pictures production. Released on July 1, 1953....

This week, we discuss Billy Wilder’s darkest and most cynical film, Ace in the Hole , a scathing indictment of tabloid journalism and public spectacle. It flopped on its original release but has seen its reputation improve as time catches up to it. SPOILER ALERT We will be talking about this movie in its entirety. If you haven't seen this film, we strongly suggest you watch it before listening...

We are back this week, with the action-adventure classic, Raiders of the Lost Ark , which brought together Steven Spielberg and George Lucas to introduce audiences to iconic hero Indiana Jones. SPOILER ALERT We will be talking about this movie in its entirety, including the iconic opening temple run and the supernatural climax. If you haven't seen this classic, we strongly suggest you watch it...

This week, we discuss the Coen Brothers' stylish satire of the Golden Age of Hollywood, Hail, Caesar! SPOILER ALERT We will be talking about this movie in its entirety, including the mystery of "The Future" and the ultimate resolution of Baird Whitlock's kidnapping. If you haven't seen this film, we strongly suggest you watch it before listening to our takes. A Universal Pict...

This week we talk about Steven Spielberg’s choatic comedy flop 1941 . When I Google "1941 movie" I get Citizen Kane. This movie is not Citizen Kane. SPOILER ALERT We do talk about this movie in its entirety. If you plan on watching it, for God knows what reason, we suggest you do so before listening to our takes. A Universal Pictures and Columbia Pictures production. Released on December...

This week, we discuss the atmospheric, dystopian sci-fi noir, Blade Runner , the film that ranks number 97 on the AFI list. SPOILER ALERT We will be talking about this movie in its entirety. If you haven't seen this classic, we strongly suggest you watch it before listening to our takes. A Warner Bros. and The Ladd Company production. Released on June 25, 1982. Directed by Ridley Scott . Scree...

This week, we discuss Steven Spielberg's follow-up to Jaws, the science fiction classic, Close Encounters of the Third Kind , a film that traded the alien invasion tropes of the 1950s for a sense of spiritual wonder, mystery and awe. And five famous bars of John WIlliams music. SPOILER ALERT We will be talking about this movie in its entirety, including the iconic five-tone sequence and the tr...

This week, we discuss Billy Wilder's other definitive LA-based film noir, the gothic movie-about-movies classic, Sunset Boulevard , famous for its daring narrative and one of the most iconic "mad scenes" in cinema history. SPOILER ALERT We will be talking about this movie in its entirety, including the famous opening image of the floating narrator and the tragic, delusional finale. I...

This week we have for you a hastily thrown-together podcast on the 98th Annual Academy Awards. Our plans to discuss this week's film fell through, so instead we go through every category in an unusually competitive Oscar race? Will it be Sinners or One Battle After Another ? Listen to find out! Well, actually, I just hedge my bets a lot, but it's going to be OBAA. (Unless it's Sinners...

This week, we discuss the primal thriller, Jaws , a masterclass in tension that turned a malfunctioning mechanical shark into cinema's most terrifying unseen predator. SPOILER ALERT We will be talking about this movie in its entirety, including the iconic third act aboard the Orca and the ultimate fate of the shark. If you haven't seen this classic, we strongly suggest you watch it before...

This week we talk about Steven Spielberg’s theatrical feature debut, the crime / road movie, The Sugarland Express , that has more than a little in common with Dog Day Afternoon . SPOILER ALERT We do talk about this movie in its entirety, so if you plan on watching it, we suggest you watch it before listening to our takes. A Universal Picture. Released on April 5, 1974. Directed by Steven Spielber...

This week we talk about Billy Wilder's cynical post-war romantic comedy, A Foreign Affair , filmed amidst the actual ruins of bombed-out Berlin. SPOILER ALERT We do talk about this movie in its entirety, so if you plan on watching it, we suggest you watch it before listening to our takes. A Paramount Picture. Released on June 30, 1948. Produced by Charles Brackett . Directed by Billy Wilder ....