The Searchers

Chris and Kevin take a detour this week into the icy grip of a Buffalo winter with Buffalo '66 . Written, directed by, and starring Vincent Gallo, the film also features standout performances from Christina Ricci, Anjelica Huston, and Ben Gazzara. Gallo’s background as a painter, musician, and songwriter lends the film a unique, outsider sensibility—raw, personal, and unmistakably his. We’ll be ba...

Kevin, Chris, and Ben finish off the "philosophical hitman" series with Wim Wenders' The American Friend (1977).  The Searchers will return to you next time with an episode on a Vincent Gallo film before diving into their next 3 episode arc. Thanks for listening, and we'll catch you in May!  If you like what you heard, please rate us a 5/5 on Apple, Spotify, or Podbean, and review us on Apple. Sub...

The Searchers discuss the 2nd film in their philosophical hitman series, Crying Freeman starring Mark Dacascos. We discuss our thoughts on the film, the origins of the source material, and a few tangents are made. We'll be back soon with the 3rd and final entry, The American Friend. Enjoy!

For the first "Cinema Crusades" episode in two years, Chris and Ben discuss the recent deaths of Val Kilmer and Richard Norton. Of course, more movies are discussed as the pair pick apart their recent watches. As promised, Crying Freeman will be discussed on episode 88. Thanks for listening.  If you like what you heard, please rate us a 5/5 on Apple, Spotify, or Podbean, and review us on Apple. Su...

The Searchers are back with another episode, this one starting off the next arc: "the philosophical hitman." Chris picked Looper starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis, directed by the now-infamous Rian Johnson. Does this movie hold up, or not? Listen and find out! Next up will be a new Cinema Crusade episode followed by a review on Crying Freeman.  If you like what you heard, please rate...

Okay, gang. Last episode on Jackie for a while! We discuss his two "Shanghai" films with costar Owen Wilson.  Next time we are back with an episode on a film from 2012 with Bruce Willis... wink wink. 

Two Jackie films made in Australia must be discussed with the Searchers' resident Aussie, so of course that means it's another episode with Nick Langdon. The discussion focuses on the subject films and their different cuts, Sammo's vs. Jackie's direction, why New Line Cinema is never to be trusted, and much more. This may be our longest episode in over two years; so get your favorite snacks, possi...

The Searchers are back with our second Jackie Chan movie in a row... this time it's Crime Story from 1993 where we see our star try something new with a more serious role and very serious film. Listen to us discuss it along some other films in Chan's repertoire. Next episode will cover two 1990s Jackie Chan films to round out this mini series on Jackie. See you next time! If you like what you hear...

We are starting something new for 2025 where we cover a group of movies revolving around one topic: an actor, a director, theme, a genre, or whatever else. Coincidentally, we picked Jackie Chan as our first topic which brings us back to one of the reasons Kevin and Ben started this thing in 2022: being big fans of JC. Chris "picked" this one since we've been giving him a hard time about it for ove...

The Searchers are all back to cover Clint Eastwood's 1980 film, Bronco Billy . Don't miss this one, folks! Our episode catalogue: https://searchersfilmpodcast.podbean.com/

Kevin and Chris cover Chris Columbus' 1991 film Only the Lonely starring John Candy, Maureen O'hara, Ally Sheedy, and Anthony Quinn.  Next episode will focus on Clint Eastwood, for the wondering listener(s)!  If you like what you heard, please rate us a 5/5 on Apple, Spotify, or Podbean, and review us on Apple. Submit your mailbags to us at thesearcherspodcast@gmail.com. We'll read both on air. Fo...

Chris is joined by Nick Langdon and Max (mushiminion) to discuss John Frankenheimer and his 1973 film Impossible Object . Don't miss this detailed deep dive into Frankenheimer... enjoy! Follow Nick and Max on Letterboxd, HERE and HERE respectively.  If you like what you heard, please rate us a 5/5 on Apple, Spotify, or Podbean, and review us on Apple. Submit your mailbags to us at thesearcherspodc...

Ben is joined by frequent guest Odie Arbuckle to discuss Let Him Rest In Peace from director Yôichi Sai. Odie graciously spent hours reading the book the film is based off of in Japanese to help provide context to this episode. The discussion focuses on the similarities between Japanese and Westerns filmmaking, Okinawa, Japanese regional filmmaking, and the universal themes of the film. For the ep...

Merry Christmas (and eventually Happy New Year's) from The Searchers. The three of us cover Trading Places starring Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy from 1983, directed by the now less-than-favored John Landis. Because of the hectic time of year and recent personal developments, please forgive the "rougher" cut that must be released, otherwise we'd have missed the release before Christmas Day. We can'...

To begin the Christmas season on The Searchers podcast, Kevin and Chris review the French film "Merry Christmas" aka Joyeux Noël from 2005 starring Diane Kruger, Guillaume Canet, and Daniel Brühl. We'll catch you for one more Christmas episode in 2024, and possibly a bonus episode--we'll see! Merry Christmas! If you like what you heard, please rate us a 5/5 on Apple, Spotify, or Podbean, and revie...

This week Kevin and Chris cover movie-directin', wine-makin' Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation starring Gene Hackman. Happy Thanksgiving to our listeners and stay safe on the big travel days! Enjoy and we'll see you in December.  If you like what you heard, please rate us a 5/5 on Apple, Spotify, or Podbean, and review us on Apple. Submit your mailbags to us at thesearcherspodcast@gmail.com....

Happy almost-Thanksgiving to all you lovely listeners out there. This week The Searchers cover John Boorman's Excalibur with guest and friend o' the pod Bryant Tyler. This film features the well-known Arthurian legend with a whole lot of meaningful symbology, which we'll get into and explain on the episode. It's a fun one, and thanks to Bryant for joining the gang to discuss another classic movie...

Searchers hosts Ben and Chris are again joined by regular Aussie guest Nick Langdon to discuss one of his favorite movies Dark City from director Alex Proyas. Several tangents about 90s neo-noir cinema, comic book films, and Australian filmmaking (and more) ensue, but it's a fun informative ride nonetheless. Thanks for joining us again, Nick! Video discussed during show: Similarities between The M...

The Searchers' 2024 Halloween episode is here. Enjoy! (Timestamps included on your platform of choice) Six movies covered: Theatre of Blood (1973), House of Wax (1953), The Frighteners (1996), The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973), Abbot and Costello's Who Done It? (1942), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) If you like what you heard, please rate us a 5/5 on Apple, Spotify, or Podbean, and review us on App...

Back with another one! The boys welcome Canadian and Indie filmmaker Andrew Cymek onto the show to discuss film making, his story, a large discussion on his passion project Night Cries (2015), behind the scenes stories with big names, and Batman in media. Join us on this one to hear from someone who's been working in the industry for decades. Thanks for joining us, Andrew! Find Andrew on Instagram...

The Searchers cover My Neighbors the Yamadas from Studio Ghibli director Isao Takahata. The discussion delves into Japanese culture, Takahata's films, animation styles, Joe Hisaishi & Ghibli music, and more. Please enjoy this fun episode. If you like what you heard, please rate us a 5/5 on Apple, Spotify, or Podbean, and review us on Apple. Submit your mailbags to us at thesearcherspodcast@gma...

What's up, babe? How you doin'? We're back with some extremely positive waves with this one. Our first Clint Eastwood movie; it's about damn time! Is Kelly's Heroes an all timer war picture or is it hippy revisionism? Listen and find out, only on The Searchers! If you like what you heard, please rate us a 5/5 on Apple, Spotify, or Podbean, and review us on Apple. Submit your mailbags to us at thes...

Quick draw turnaround for this one, y'all! Ben is joined by friend of the pod Mitch Capps to discuss a brand new western as of yesterday: LeGrand. Hopefully the goal of being the first podcast to discuss and review the film was achieved. Plenty of western talk to go around, don't be a pecker-head and miss this one! Watch LeGrand free on Youtube, HERE . Find out more about Ben Christensen and his c...

The Searchers are back with another Trading Post episode in which we cover 6 movies in under 2 and a half hours! FORT APACHE, FIREWORKS, THE CABLE GUY, COP LAND, GORGEOUS and THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. There's liquor, wine and beer around the campfire this time, so prepare yourself for a wild ride. Timestamps for each film provided for Apple and Podbean users. If you like what you heard, please rat...

All three of us are back to review DragonHeart starring Dennis Quaid, David Thewlis, Pete Postlethwaite, Dina Meyer, Julie Christie, and Sean Connery as the voice of Draco. Chris picked this for his appreciation of Pete Postlethwaite so there's heavy discussion around his career. Also there is a shout out to a gracious listener from Letterboxd--thanks again and enjoy! If you like what you heard, p...