Director's Club

After a few changes in format and roster, Director's Club has finally settled on a new format. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Aaron Sorkin is joining the network!  His first contribution is to Director's Club for all of you to hear today, and I could not be more excited about the changes he's made. Not only is Mr. Sorkin a part of the team, but he even asked former co-host Patrick Ripoll and a couple o...

Another classic director that we've been meaning to feature on the show for quite some time is finally covered. I also decided it's been way too long since we got a different perspective, other than one of the male variety.  Kate Blair , holds a Master's in Cinema, writes reviews for Tiny Mix Tapes, has a blog titled Selective Viewing and turns out to be one of the more insightful guests I've had...

For a career as incredible and expansive as Sidney Lumet's, I needed the help of two guests.  Managing Editor Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com , as well as returning guest fresh from the Kubrick episode, Al Kwiatkowski , join me live to dissect the classics starting with 12 ANGRY MEN and modestly jumping around his filmography to focus on the more well-known gems from his career.  Some of the out...

I decided to put together a quick 90-minute episode here just as a bonus treat, in which you can hear some snippets of other audio endeavors from the past, but after about a half hour, you'll get to hear both myself and guest Nat Almirall review the latest horror sensation THE WITCH .  It's chock-full of spoilers so best see the movie first before hearing our take on what it all means.  An officia...

One of my dearest friends Collin Souter returns to the show to talk about one of his favorite filmmakers, George Miller.  He's a director that Collin has been singing the praises of since the very beginning, and since his latest and some might say his greatest film has received every accolade in the book, we figured it's a perfect time to discuss his entire filmography.  I have a lot of personal t...

For Episode 101, I figured it was time to finally tackle another big-name director that's been highly requested and anticipated.  The legendary and very influential Stanley Kubrick is discussed in epic proportions with a wonderful new addition to the Director's Club guest list.  Al Kwiatkowski joins me as we attempt to dissect nearly all of Kubrick's work, realizing that he had to skip over a coup...

Pop Culture Club is back again, here on the newly launched Now Playing Network!  I know I said this before, but this will be the last episode that is available through both the Director's Club feed, and the regular Pop Culture Club feed.  This time I mean it so please subscribe via ITunes to Pop Culture Club separately.  So I once opened for a musician that instantly became a favorite of mine. Her...

Part Three. It is accomplished!  No time tracks for this one since it's all one conversation that goes all over the place, but it is mainly a retrospective interview about myself, Patrick and the history of Director's Club.  This interview may be expanded upon separately when Bill begins hosting his own show later this year! Episode 100. Best Of 2015. We went so long, it had to be divided into thr...

Part Two of Three.   So this is it. Episode 100. Best Of 2015. We went so long, it had to be divided into three, yes, three parts.  Part One is a general conversation about 2015, including our awards, honorable mentions and more!  Part Two is our Top Ten Films Of 2015.  Part Three is a retrospective interview / conversation about the past five years.  The first eight minutes is me rambling about h...

This is it. Episode 100. Best Of 2015. We went so long, it had to be divided into three, yes, three parts.  Part One is a general conversation about 2015, including our awards, honorable mentions and more!  Part Two is our Top Ten Films Of 2015.  Part Three is an intimate retrospective interview / conversation about the past five years.  The first eight minutes is me rambling about how much I love...

No bah hum-buggin around Director's Club this time of year.  I managed to enlist two of my favorite people to listen to -- of course, former co-host and podcast emeritus Patrick Ripoll is back not only for Episode 99, but for Episode 100 in January!  Also recruited this time is the great Sergio Mims of WHPK, who always comes on this time of year to talk about a classic director.  This time, we're...

It's been awhile since I've podcasted but there's a slew of episodes coming your way for the next month or so.  First up, I welcome to the show, live in-studio, music enthusiast and vinyl expert Jim Hanke , who will soon become a part of The Now Playing Network family next month!   I asked him to stop on by so we could talk music for 2 hours, including his podcast plans, our Nick Digilio connectio...

The great Bill Ackerman is back once again for another wonderful conversation on one of my favorite directors, Krzysztof Kieślowski .  He had to endure a very difficult upbringing in his native country, but he eventually went to a renowned and highly acclaimed film school where he honed his craft alongside greats like Polanski.  We try to cover nearly everything but there was no way we could discu...

Happy Halloween!  Well here it is!  The final chapter.  Patrick and Gabe have spent over seven hours talking about horror films and the conclusion to this epic saga has arrived.  So many titles, so much to say. If you've listened to Parts 1 & 2, then you know what's ahead.  The titles discussed here are the cream of the crop, the top picks that got 3 votes or more.  Thank you to all for the submis...

Welcome back the the Horror Movie Show. After spending three hours and fifteen goddamned minutes talking about  the 221 films that got one vote , Patrick and Gabe return to take on some real juicy titles, the films that received two votes. From 1921's Phantom Carriage to 2015's The Nightmare, P&G take a leisurely stroll through the corridors of horror, both oft-seen and obscure. Listen to Part One...

Ladies, Gentlemen, and those who do not believe in a gender binary: this is the one you've been waiting for. Last year we asked listeners to submit lists of their top 10 horror films, with the catch being that they weren't allowed to include 20 established classics. The result was the incredibly popular Horror Movie Show 2014 . This year we asked for the same thing, but this time around not only w...

My final horror-centric director episode of the month features a familiar voice indeed.  Gabe Powers returns in anticipation of his upcoming appearence with Patrick for the Halloween Horror Show due out in the next week or so.  (Most likely a two-parter).  I recruited Gabe to talk about a very creative and fascinating figure in horror, one Mr. Stuart Gordon.  We dissect everything from RE-ANIMATOR...

  FROM THE DARKEST UNDERWORLD RETURNS TWO FIENDS, PATRICK RIPOLL AND SPECIAL GUEST ROBERT REINEKE , TO DISCUSS THE LEGACY AND FUTURE OF ONE OF HORROR'S FINEST TRADITIONS: THE ANTHOLOGY HORROR FILM. THE FILMS DISCUSSED INCLUDE WAXWORKS, DEAD OF NIGHT, KWAIDAN, BLACK SABBATH, ASYLUM, TALES FROM THE CRYPT, TALES OF TERROR, CREEPSHOW, THE TWILIGHT ZONE & TRICK 'R TREAT. ALSO DISCUSSED: HORROR ANTHOLOG...

So this is a big deal for me. I discovered Memoryhouse after discovering composer Max Richter three years ago. I was living in Chicago and bought a record called The Slideshow Effect, and was immediately smitten with their sound. I played it for my roommate and told her that, "This is more than my jam, this is everything I love about music."  You can imagine my excitement when I was able to get a...

Daniel Baldwin was on last year for an episode on the late, great Wes Craven. This time he returns to talk about another "master of horror" by the name of Tobe Hooper. To his credit, he's made one masterpiece worth praising a little bit more, but we mainly focus on the rest of his filmography.  We touch on everything from EGGSHELLS to TOOLBOX MURDERS, but the bulk of the discussion is on the middl...

I sneakily convinced Patrick to appear on a bonus episode by intrusively calling him up in the middle of the night -- in which we do a brief "what we watched" segment and more.  First and foremost, a couple of announcements are in order at the top including Patrick's Horror Show Spectacular for next month which we want YOU to contribute to.  Here is the link for more info: http://bit.ly/dchorror1...

Expressing love for music is often very difficult to put into words.  And some of the most powerful songs that have changed my life may not even have lyrics. Rachel Grimes is responsible for many of these songs, being a "key" player in one of my all-time favorite bands, The Rachel's .  They also recorded my favorite instrumental of all time, featured on one of my top ten favorite records, Music Fo...

Bill Ackerman returns to talk about the underrated Paul Schrader who most folks cite as the screenwriter of such films as TAXI DRIVER & RAGING BULL.  Maybe one day down the road, we'll do a writer's club episode on him, but for now, we're focusing on several of his overlooked films as a director starting with the brilliant BLUE COLLAR and ending with the debacle DYING OF THE LIGHT.  Throughout the...

Happy Labor Day weekend!  Here's a special surprise. To close out a productive day off, I put together a hodgepodge of treats for you including an interview with the head of the Department of Parks and Recreation (you'll have to listen to know why).  I also expound on my love for the 365 Day Project from way back in the day as well as present some weird audio nuggets uncovered!  To top it all off,...

Canadian podcaster Corey Pierce joins me to deconstruct the art of comedy by not only focusing on the films of director David Wain, but by going down a list of our favorite lowbrow comedies.  We digress a bit here and there, but overall, I just wanted to do an entire episode devoted to the comedy genre and "state" my case for why WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER is my favorite comedy.  Other hot topics inc...