Call It, Friendo

This week, we discuss two films featuring one actor playing two identical characters. The first is The Double (2013), an adaptation of the Fyodor Dostoyevsky novella of the same name. The film, directed by comedian Richard Ayoade, stars Jesse Eisenberg as colleagues Simon James and James Simon. The second is Double Impact (1991), starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as identical twins Chad and Alex. The...

This week, we discuss two crime films from the 1970s. The first is Mikey and Nicky (1976), written and directed by Elaine May. It stars John Cassavetes as a desperate small-time mobster and Peter Falk as his longtime, childhood friend. The second is The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973), starring Robert Mitchum and Peter Boyle and directed by Peter Yates. The screenplay was adapted from the 1970 novel...

This week, we discuss two films starring actor Russell Crowe. The first is The Water Diviner (2014), a fictional story set during and after the ANZAC Gallipoli campaign in WW1. The film marked Crowe’s first outing as a director. The second is Les Misérables (2012), an adaptation of the world-famous musical. Alongside Crowe, the film version stars Hugh Jackman, Eddie Redmayne and Anne Hathaway, who...

This week, we discuss two films about the media. The first is Broadcast News (1987), a romantic comedy starring Holly Hunter, Albert Brooks and William Hurt. The film, written and directed by James L. Brooks, was nominated for seven Academy Awards. The second is Network (1976), written by Paddy Chayefsky and directed by Sidney Lumet. The film, a scathing satire of the American media landscape, was...

This week, we discuss two horror/thrillers made in Australia. The first is Roadgames (1981), starring Stacy Keach and Jamie Lee Curtis. The film, directed by Hitchcock protégé Richard Franklin, is a reimagining of Rear Window from the cab of a truck. The second is Triangle (2009), directed by British genre director Christopher Smith. It tells the story of a group of people stranded on a mysterious...

This week, we discuss two classic cult horror films. The first is Psycho 2 (1983), a psychological slasher directed by Richard Franklin. It is the first sequel to Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film Psycho and the second film in the Psycho franchise. The second is The People Under the Stairs (1991), a horror comedy written and directed by Wes Craven. The film has been described as “Home Alone for adults”...

This week, we discuss two neo-noir films about the world of organised crime. The first is The Outfit (1973), starring Robert Duvall as a version of Donald E. Westlake’s “Parker” character, first played by Lee Marvin in Point Blank (1967). The second is Killing Them Softly (2012), a film written and directed by Andrew Dominik and starring Brad Pitt. It is based on George V. Higgins' 1974 novel Coga...

This week, we discuss two films featuring cross-cultural relationships involving Arab immigrants. The first is The Visitor (2007), starring Richard Jenkins as a lonely middle-aged man who befriends a younger Palestinian-Syrian djembe drum player. Jenkins received a Best Actor nomination at the 81st Academy Awards. The second is Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974), a drama from New German Cinema directo...

This week, we discuss two films directed by Robert Altman in the 1970s. The first is California Split (1974), starring Elliott Gould and George Segal as a pair of sleazy gamblers who head to Reno to try to win big. The second is Nashville (1975), a huge ensemble piece focused on the American country music capital. The film is often considered to be Altman’s best work and received 5 Academy Award n...

This week, we discuss two classic Hollywood films from the 1960s starring Jack Lemmon. The first is The Odd Couple (1968), a comedy film directed by Gene Saks, produced by Howard W. Koch and written by Neil Simon, based on his 1965 play. It stars Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau as two divorced men – neurotic neat-freak Felix Ungar and fun-loving slob Oscar Madison – who decide to live together. The...

This week, we discuss two classic Japanese films from the 1950s. The first is Tokyo Story (1953), a drama directed by Yasujirō Ozu, about an aging couple who travel to Tokyo to visit their adult children. Tokyo Story is widely regarded as Ozu's masterpiece and one of the greatest films in the history of cinema. It was voted the 3rd greatest film of all time in the 2012 edition of a poll of film di...

In this week’s episode, we discuss the 4 big films of the summer: Barbie, Oppenheimer, Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1 and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two films based on novels by English novelist Robert Harris. The first is An Officer and a Spy (2019), a historical drama film directed by Roman Polanski about the Dreyfus affair, with a screenplay by Polanski and Robert Harris based on Harris's 2013 novel of the same name. It received twelve nominations for the 45th César Awards, the most nominations of any eligible film, an...

This week, we discuss two films connected to American author Dennis Lehane. The first is Live by Night (2016), an American crime drama set in the 1920s. The film, an adaptation of Lehane’s novel, stars Ben Affleck, who also served as screenwriter and director on the project. It was a huge flop upon release, netting a meagre $22.7 million from a $90 million budget. The second is Mona Lisa (1986), a...

In this week’s episode, we talk about what we’ve been watching before heading into a discussion of the 32nd film in the MCU, James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023).   What We’ve Been Watching   Donnchadh –  Deliverance, Evil Dead Rise, Beef Andy – Calibre, Hustle, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania   Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @and...

This week, we discuss two classic films from American auteur directors. The first is Blow Out (1981), a neo-noir mystery thriller film written and directed by Brian De Palma and starring John Travolta. Quentin Tarantino praises De Palma as the "greatest director of his generation" and cites Blow Out as one of his three favourite films that he would take to a desert island. The second is The Killin...

In this week’s episode, we talk about what we’ve been watching and discuss some listener feedback.   What We’ve Been Watching   Donnchadh – Dirty Harry, Smile, The Guilty, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Moneyball, Last Kingdom season five Andy – The Day Shall Come, Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves, Air, The Beasts (As Bestas) Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayri...

This week, we discuss two classic films from Austrian-American director Otto Preminger. The first is Anatomy of a Murder (1959), a ground-breaking courtroom drama starring James Stewart and George C. Scott. The film was nominated for 6 Academy Awards. The second is Laura (1944), a film noir focusing on a police officer who falls in love with a woman whose murder he is investigating. The film recei...

In this week’s episode, we talk about what we’ve been watching before moving into a discussion of the latest Bobby Farrelly comedy, Champions (2023).   What We’ve Been Watching (00:00:42)   Donnchadh – John Wick 2 & 3, Demonoid, The One Armed Executioner, Superbad, The Menu, The Favourite, Bullit Andy – Reacher Season one, Mike Vecchione – The Attractives, Prometheus Agent 9 Fanedit   Champions (0...

This week, we discuss two films which deal with daddy issues. The first is The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Derek Cianfrance’s follow-up to the much acclaimed Blue Valentine (2010). It stars Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper, alongside a stacked supporting cast, as two men whose families’ fates become intertwined following a deadly encounter. The second is The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005), th...

In this week’s episode, we recap the Oscars and talk about what we’ve been watching, including our responses to season one of The Last of Us, before finally moving into a discussion of the latest Jonah Hill Netflix comedy, You People (2023).   What We’ve Been Watching (00:00:57) Oscars recap Donnchadh – The Last of Us season one, 300, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Army of Shadows, The...

This week, we discuss two films from German director Wim Wenders. The first is Alice in the Cities (1974), which tells the story of a journalist charged with accompanying a young girl from New York across Europe in search of her family. The second is The American Friend (1977), starring Dennis Hopper and Bruno Ganz. The film is an adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith novel Ripley’s Game.   Timesta...

In this week’s episode, we caught up on 3 recent streaming/VOD releases: Knock at the Cabin (2023), Women Talking (2022) & The Whale (2022).    What We’ve Been Watching (00:00:47) Donnchadh – Slow Horses season two, Karen Pirie, Fargo, Yellow Submarine Andy – Slow Horses season two Knock at the Cabin (00:19:40) Women Talking (00:33:22) The Whale (00:47:45)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast...

This week, we discuss two devastating films about young women in extremely bleak situations. The first is Rosetta (1999), starring Émilie Dequenne as the eponymous protagonist, a young girl living with her alcoholic mother in a trailer park in Belgium. The film, directed by the Dardenne brothers, won the Palme d’Or at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. The second is Lilya 4-Ever (2002), directed by Sw...

In this week’s episode, we discuss the most recent film from Italian director Luca Guadagnino, Bones and All. The director won the Silver Lion at the 2022 Venice Film Festival. The film stars Taylor Russell and Timothée Chalamet as two young lovers on a road trip across the USA, exploring both their blossoming relationship and their compulsion to eat other humans.    Listener question (00:03:40)  ...