Director's Club

Brad and Al of the Director's Club finish things off as hosts with The Final Chapter of the Bergman 101, where we look at all of the efforts of Ingmar Bergman that made it to a movie screen. Even considering his earlier landmark films, Bergman's scope is wider here than ever: touching on theater, television, the opera, and even Hollywood (in "The Touch"), from period piece noirs abroad to document...

In this episode, the Director's Club hunts for the Riff Raff whose Hidden Agenda was to get the Angel's Share while the Wind Shakes the Barley as we look at the films of British director Ken Loach. Joined by "Fresh Perspective" host and founder of Cinema Femme Magazine, Rebecca Martin, we examine how he emerged from the tradition of the British "kitchen sink" drama, and then applied his emphatic t...

It's that time! Jim and Patrick return to Director's Club for the year-end spectacular. Alongside current co-host Brad Strauss, we three run down a long list of awards, discuss our 25 favorite films of the year, and read several listener-submitted lists all while reflecting on the movie year that was. Part One is all about handing out our awards and running down numbers 25-11 on our list. Part Two...

It's that time! For the 9th time, Jim and Patrick return to Director's Club for the year-end spectacular. Alongside co-host Brad Strauss, we three run down a long list of awards, discuss our 25 favorite films of the year, and read several listener-submitted lists all while reflecting on the movie year that was. Part One is all about handing out our awards and running down numbers 25-11 on our list...

It's time for a new take on a director previously covered by the Director's Club.  We won't keep you in suspense - It's Brian De Palma Redux!  Former DC host, Jim Laczkowski reprises his role in the spirited debate on the career of one of our more controversial subjects.  We'll cover such horror staples as "Carrie" and "Dressed to Kill" as well as contrast him to another director who may have infl...

It's been a while, but the Director's Club was spending some time putting together the Part Two of our Bergman 101 Project looking at all the films of the master director. This point of his career features some of the more legendary films of all time, and with the help of Film Discussion Group co-organizer Peter Richards, we not only look through a glass darkly at classics like "The Seventh Seal",...

In this episode the Director's Club casts their attention to the wonderful worlds drawn by legendary animation Studio Ghibli - but not the director you expect! Because while director Isao Takahata was not as prolific as Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki, he put together a remarkable run of films in his own right, ones which pushed anime into whole new stylistic realms while touching on Japanese his...

The Director's Club wanted to do something special on what would have been legendary director Ingmar Bergman's 101st year, so we're putting together a three-part series we're calling Bergman 101, where we look at every full feature he made that had a theatrical release!  In Part I, we see how he made his start with melodramas but soon branched out to an astounding variety of films (like a film noi...

Cross-posted from Voices + Visions: Another special bonus episode from the former host of this here show. So you might remember him as Arnie from Christine and that's where I first became aware of the terrific talent of one Keith Gordon . He's been on Voices + Visions / Director's Club a few times now, thus beginning a yearly tradition where we check in, talk about what he's been up to, but also t...

What happens when old-school Director’s Club meets the new? Join Brad, Al, alongside former hosts Jim + Patrick as they dive head first into the world of Tarantino, focusing on his latest creation, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood . A film that no one else seems to talking about so we figured we should. Does everyone agree it’s one of his best? Only way to find out. Put down the needle on your vinyl,...

The Director's Club returns to the films of Robert Altman, looking at the ups and downs of his career after he nearly became exiled to Sweethaven due to the "Popeye" debacle. We explore how he worked his way back with innovative takes on theatrical material like "Secret Honor" and "Fool For Love", returned back to critical and popular attention with "The Player" and "Short Cuts", created memorable...

After some unfortunate and inadvertent delays, the Director's Club is backto the podcasting trade with an episode on the amazing Iranian director Asghar Farhadi! With the help of the Chicago Film Discussion Group's Peter Richards, we have a deep exploration into his films, which at their best explore the conflicts between people in a way that combines Hitchcockian intensity, an astounding attentio...

  Cross-posted with Voices + Visions Just like last year, my dear friend and fellow podcaster Patrick Ripoll returns for a very special episode of this show. Around the month of May, I ask Patrick to return to a microphone to talk a variety of topics. We play catch up on our lives, talk about our latest projects, and review two movies that we've assigned to one another. The two movies for this yea...

Cross-posted from Voices & Visions A few years back, I had the pleasure of talking with Alex Ross Perry for my then-titled Pop Culture Club podcast. We spoke about QUEEN OF EARTH and the greatness of Elisabeth Moss. For his 6th feature film, he recruits one of our very best actresses working today once again for HER SMELL . It’s the story of a rock star addict played by Elisabeth Moss, who is on t...

The Director's Club returns to the shores of Disneyland to take a look at the creative efforts of Walt Disney as he expands his interests to live action films and even nature documentaries, as his techniques in animation were also changing due to artistic and financial needs. We talk about the many remarkable facets of his later films and how he was able to maintain creativity while building the e...

The year 2018 provided a rare gift for film fans - a new film from Orson Welles!  A team of filmmakers and Netflix funders came together to take one of the his unfinished works and complete it for viewing on movie screens and streams.  The Director's Club was lucky enough to get a theatrical look, and in this episode we talk about the effectiveness of the result, the themes that emerge from the mo...

  https://tinyurl.com/1989retro PART TWO : Cross-posted with Voices & Visions as well. You can follow the list from 1989 that we cover linked above. Ladies and gentlemen, let's go back thirty years to when three film critics were first falling in love with movies. The mid-80s informed a lot of our taste, and much like previous years' retrospectives, it's always a blast to go back and see what hold...

https://tinyurl.com/1989retro PART ONE (OF TWO):  Cross-posted with Voices & Visions as well. You can follow the list from 1989 that we cover linked above. Ladies and gentlemen, let's go back thirty years to when three film critics were first falling in love with movies. The mid-80s informed a lot of our taste, and much like previous years' retrospectives, it's always a blast to go back and see wh...

This episode of the Director Club is somewhat unique in that our subject is NOT a director. However, when the subject is Walt Disney, one of the 20th century's most acclaimed visionaries, we will see how his dreams launched a studio and revolutionized animation. In part one, we?ll explore Disney's Golden Age, from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (the first animated feature), "Pinocchio", and "Fa...

The Director's Club welcomes 2019 (and the recent release of "Widows") with a look at British director Steve McQueen. With the help of Chicago Film Discussion Group co-organizer Belinda Silber, we'll look into how McQueen's art background, ability to hold on an image, and interest in meaning through physical suffering has put a fascinating spin on several of his films (and how it helped create a m...

The Director's Club was so taken by the theatrical airing of the latest Alfonso Cuarón movie, "Roma", that we had to rush out a discussion about it while it's still in theaters! With the help of the Chicago Film Discussion Group member Ken Silber, we take a look at how the movie screen (and movie audio!) enhances the qualities of his latest film, how it relates to Cuarón's life and his other movie...

It's the most wonderful time of the year. Our annual favorite films of 2018 tradition continues for the 8th year in a row, this time including former hosts Jim and Patrick, joined by current host Brad Strauss as we reveal our Top 25 favorites as well as picking our favorites for actor, score, reading listener e-mails and more! 00:00 - 03:52 - Introduction / Brad's Favorite Song of 2018 03:53 - 01:...

It's the most wonderful time of the year. Our annual favorite films of 2018 tradition continues for the 8th year in a row, this time including former hosts Jim and Patrick, joined by current host Brad Strauss as we reveal our Top 25 favorites as well as picking our favorites for actor, score, reading listener e-mails and more! 00:00 - 58:00 - #7, #6 Favorites 58:01 - 01:00:52 - Jim Sings Bill's Li...

In this episode, the Director's Club goes the verite route as we look at the films of legendary documentarian Frederick Wiseman. Joined by Chicago Film Discussion Group co-organizer Peter Richards, we go over the vastswath of a remarkably consistent body of work that delves into extensive looks at towns, schools, strip clubs, boxing gyms, and social organizations of all kinds, and explore how thei...

Five years in the making, only completed via Christmas miracle, Director's Club host emeritus Patrick Ripoll returns to fulfill an old debt. Tyler Foster joins him to discuss the work of Seijun Suzuki, from his inauspicious beginnings cranking out Nikkatsu programmers to his glory days of cranking out really strange Nikkatsu programmers. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with...