The Cinematic Odyssey

On the forty-eighth episode of the Cinematic Odyssey, Tristen, Max, and special guest Mackenzie venture into their first of Ingmar Bergman's efforts on the podcast, 1978's Autumn Sonata starring Ingrid Bergman (no relation). Max takes a trip down a musical rabbit hole, Tristen relives the tension building in the first half of the film, and Mackenzie offers questions regarding the definition of a p...

On the forty-seventh episode of the Cinematic Odyssey, Tristen and Max delve into their second of Ruben Östlund's social satires, The Square. This time, in the art world, Tristen discusses why he doesn't like the film as much and Max commends the physical behavior of each actor on screen while bestowing a title on Östlund with a Cinematic Odyssey first. Max also introduces a brand new segment to e...

On the forty-sixth episode of the Cinematic Odyssey, Tristen and Max break into what Tristen has called the best film of the 21st century: There Will Be Blood, from Paul Thomas Anderson. Max launches into his reasoning on why it's believed that Daniel Day-Lewis presents one of the great acting performances ever in this film and Tristen navigates the plot mentioning and explaining every symbol he c...

On the forty-fifth episode of the Cinematic Odyssey, Tristen and Max investigate David Lynch's cult classic first feature film, Eraserhead. They explore the lengthy process of the creation of this film and how it ever got to the big screen in the first place and then each provide their own interpretation on the film's meaning. Max revels in the surreal and metaphorical language and imagery within...

On this special bonus Halloween episode of the Cinematic Odyssey, Tristen and Max delve into what some have called the best horror film of the past few years: Hereditary. They have no shortage of kind words for the performance of Toni Collette and truly dive into every scare and strategy that made Max petrified. Plus, Tristen has a hot take on the lore and legacy of this film. 

On the forty-fourth episode of the Cinematic Odyssey, Tristen, Max, and special guest Judah delve into George Romero's pioneering horror cult classic Night of the Living Dead. Max brings up his feelings about gore and an unfinished script, Judah presents questions and about the nudity and gore present on screen, and Tristen contextualizes the film within the culture and time period of its creation...

On the forty-third episode of the Cinematic Odyssey, Tristen and Max venture into the world of horror film with Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Cure for the one-year anniversary episode of the podcast! They both explore the usage of sound in the film and how ordinary happenings are heightened to great effect. Max also divulges his disgust with many images in the film, finding gore disgusting. They wrap with ho...

On the forty-second episode of the Cinematic Odyssey, Tristen and Max dive into one of the great war films of the twentieth century, Soviet effort The Ascent from Larisa Shepitko. Tristen ventures into his breakdown of all the biblical references in the film during a period of state atheism in the USSR and Max provides insight as to the nationalist value of the film and how it got released with no...

On the forty-first episode of the Cinematic Odyssey, Tristen and Max venture into Long Island's rough part for the Safdie Brothers' fourth feature film, Good Time. Tristen discusses how the film sheds an excellent light on American poverty and the issues with support systems and Max compares the film with the Safdies' next effort, Uncut Gems, and remains a hardliner against the latter. Full of blu...

On the fortieth episode of The Cinematic Odyssey, Tristen, Max, and special guest Mackenzie venture into the gripping masterpiece City of God from Brazilian directors Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund. Max and Mackenzie lather on the praise as one of the best films they have ever seen and Tristen discusses the role of the police in this film as well as in his favorite, France's La Haine. An intric...

On the thirty-ninth episode of the Cinematic Odyssey, Tristen and Max venture back to the world of the Daniels to discuss their feature film debut, Swiss Army Man. Tristen works to compare this film and style to their latest hit, Everything Everywhere All At Once, taking the pieces of philosophy present in both, and Max breaks down how this film works to make us confront the way we live our lives...

On the thirty-eighth episode of The Cinematic Odyssey, Tristen and Max make their first voyage into the grand works of Andrei Tarkovsky and his historical epic sharing a first name. Tristen rationalizes the difficulty of understanding such a massive work and the immediate reactions to the piece while also understanding that Tarkovsky is one of the greats. Max provides religious background and expl...

On the 37th episode of The Cinematic Odyssey, Max and Tristen discuss their opinions on one of cinema's towering achievements, from the late cinematic titan, pioneer, and master, Akira Kurosawa. Ikiru, translated to english as "To Live" follows an old man in the final days of his life where he attempts to right the wrongs of his past and salvage the previous wasted decades of his life mired in mon...

On the thirty-sixth episode of the Cinematic Odyssey, Tristen and Max unpack the documentarian effort of French director Robert Bresson in his acclaimed A Man Escaped. Packed with minute details and patient unease and suspense, both hosts respect the effort to make the film as realistic as possible to the memoir it was based on, as well as true human physicality. Max makes a series of absolutely h...

On the 35th episode of The Cinematic Odyssey, Max and Tristen discuss one of cinema's most respected, storied, and greatest filmmakers, Hayao Miyazaki. We talk in depth of his 1997 masterwork Princess Mononoke where we see Miyazaki unveil the futile violence of human conflict and the abusive relationship that man has with nature. Princess Mononoke finds Miyazaki filled with a burning passion out t...

On the thirty-fourth episode of the Cinematic Odyssey, Tristen and Max venture into Alfonso Cuarón‘s alternate future in one of Tristen‘s top films of all time: Children of Men. They discuss the biblical and religious meanings of the images and themes used, how the cinematography of the film makes it special, and even the shades of morality and how moral a police state can be. No arguments ensue b...

On the thirty-third episode of the Cinematic Odyssey, Tristen and Max discuss where they’ve been the past month and where their travels have taken them. Neither, however, have been to Iran which is where Taste of Cherry is set. Max discusses what he missed from the film and Tristen attempts to instill meaning in the captivating philosophical drama. They discuss the virtues of life and living and a...

On the thirty-second episode of the Cinematic Odyssey, Tristen and Max dive into the six-part documentary series from Jon Bois and Alex Rubenstein on the history of baseball's Seattle Mariners. They both touch on their experience growing up with baseball and how the Seattle Mariners have never lived in the forefront of either of their pasts. Tristen discusses the importance of Seattle's geography...

On the thirty-first episode of the Cinematic Odyssey, Tristen and Max dive into one of the best international films of recent memory with Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Japan's Drive My Car . The two spend a lot of time poring over the deeply layered script and the double and triple meanings behind every word spoken, Max gives a rundown on Uncle Vanya and Russian theatre, and Tristen defends the inaction o...

On the thirtieth episode of the Cinematic Odyssey, Tristen and Max dive into Michael Mann's feature film debut Thief, written and directed (and executive produced) by Mann himself, starring James Caan. Max ventures into the moral ambiguity of the film and how the viewer can make a list of which bad deeds are worse than others, and Tristen discusses the captivating camerawork and seamless shots tha...

On the twenty-ninth episode of the Cinematic Odyssey, Tristen and Max dive into Mikhail Kalatozov's nearly lost work Soy Cuba-- or I Am Cuba. Tristen and Max discuss the historical timeline in Cuba and why the film was made under the Castro regime, how the camera acts just as important as any of the others that we see on screen, and the delicate balance between national pride and nationalism. The...

On the twenty-eighth episode of the Cinematic Odyssey, Tristen and Max venture into the thriller realm with David Fincher and Gillian Flynn's captivating and engrossing Gone Girl . Both remain shocked at the amount of twists and turns, wondering how there possibly can be another layer added to the intensely twisted story. Max gets philosophical and poses questions about manipulation and who is the...

On the twenty-seventh episode of the Cinematic Odyssey, Tristen and Max finally adventure beyond Earth's atmosphere for their first film of the great Stanley Kubrick. Tristen enjoys his rewatch and delivers his rendition of meaning to the cryptic and open-ended film, while Max remains surprised at the rating and amount of classical music all while being stunned by the breathtaking visual effects....

On the 26th episode of The Cinematic Odyssey, Tristen and Max venture into Yorgos Lanthimos's 2015 darkly comic fable, The Lobster, and discuss, of all things, love. Both attempt to surmise meaning from the ambiguous ending and careful character development of Colin Farrell's lead role, and reflect on the archetypes of characters rather than using names. The highlight of the episode includes a Eur...

On the 25th episode of The Cinematic Odyssey Max and Tristen talk about the well beloved film Fallen Angels from Hong Kong second wave filmmaker Wong Kar-wai. Fallen Angels was a film born out of secondary ideas from Kar-wai's previous film Chungking Express. While Fallen Angels shares the same visual identity as the last, this film explores isolation, love, and melancholy in dark, gritty, neon-li...