Fifteen Minute Film Fanatics

How much must a person sacrifice to reach a new level of skill? How much of one's emotional life must be repressed for the sake of one's art? Mike and Dan talk about how Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) poses these questions. Dan talks about the beauty of the scenery, actors, screenplay, and, of course, the fights; Mike compares the film's subtle delivery of information to the openi...

"Baby, I don't care," says a super-cool Robert Mitchum in this week's film: Jacques Tourneur's 1947 noir classic, Out of the Past.  Mike brings up Double Indemnity as a universe unlike the one in which Out of the Past takes place, Dan describes the dialogue as something like singing, and both talk about the deaf kid who opens and closes the film. So light another Chesterfield, pour some bourbon, a...

After rescuing Mike from the future, Dan finds fifteen minutes to ask him about Tenet, Christopher Nolan's 2020 espionage time-travel thriller. They tackle the common complaint that the movie is too complex, bringing in Chinatown and 2001 as foils, talk about how directing a film is like traveling through time, and the "ladder of audacity" that Nolan keeps climbing. So put on that oxygen mask, fis...

Before this one-shot mini-episode, check out Ruben Ostlund's 2010 short film Incident by a Bank, available online.  Then listen as Mike and Dan talk about bank robberies in films vs. ones in real life and the issue of "realistic" cinema.  It's a terrific short that's well worth checking out before the show. Please follow or subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and on Twitter @15Min...

After reading Maura Spiegel's terrific new biography, Sidney Lumet: A Life, Dan invited her on the show to talk about her work. She, Mike, and Dan discuss Lumet's growing up in a world of theater and television, what his triumphs have in common, and some ideas about why too many viewers might take his talent for granted. Come spend a few minutes with us talking to a great biographer about the grea...

For the last few months, Dan has been trying to get Mike to watch two Cary Grant movies: Indiscreet (1958) and The Grass Is Greener (1960).  Dan couldn't wait any longer to share his enthusiasm, so he talks to Mike about these two films, both directed by Stanley Donen, as examples of lesser-known but still-worth-seeing Cary Grant performances.  And really--are there any Cary Grant performances not...

Dan and Mike are mad as hell that more people aren't talking about Network, Sidney Lumet's 1976 masterpiece. In their discussion of a film so perfect and prophetic, the guys discuss how we all live in the world that Network creates on our screens and that Howard Beale describes and decries. As Mike says, if you get the jokes of Network, you're acknowledging that all is lost. Dan tries a new method...

Mike and Dan talk for five minutes about Charlie Chaplin's The Kid (1921).  What makes a film truly "family friendly?"  And how can economic principles about scarcity apply to the writing of a screenplay?  Give a listen and find out!  Follow us on Twitter @15MinFilm, email us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com, and support the show with a buck or two at Venmo @FifteenMinuteFiIm.   Incredible bumper mu...

What's it like to be young and in love? Is love simply a literary convention? Mike and Dan discuss one of the most moving films they've tackled so far, Jacques Demy's The Umbrellas of Cherbourg--and certainly the only film so far that's wholly sung in French. Dan explains how the musical / opera form suits the story of young lovers pulled out of Eden, Mike notes a subtlety in the subtitles, and th...

In this five-minute One Shot, Dan talks to Mike about Police Story (1985) and the ecstasy of Jackie Chan's fight scenes and stunts.  What makes Jackie Chan different from other action heroes?  Enjoy a five-minute listen!  Follow us on Twitter @15MinFilm, email us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com, and support the show with a buck or two at Venmo @FifteenMinuteFiIm.   Incredible bumper music:  Ready f...

All of our Doomsday scrolling in quarantine has naturally led the guys to the greatest (and funniest) of all Doomsday films, Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). The guys talk about the film's unmatchable performances (including whether or not Sterling Hayden is the Greatest Actor of All Time or a Guy Who Had No Idea a Film Was Being Made),...

A new feature of the show, One Shots are quick, five-minute discussions of films that Mike or Dan have seen or recently rewatched but that, for whatever reason, won't get the full fifteen-minute treatment.  On this first One Shot, Mike talks about seeing Rob Reiner's A Few Good Men (1992) for the first time in years.  What holds up?  What doesn't?  Have a listen--it's only five minutes.   Please f...

Mike and Dan are joined by Glenn Kenny, who talks about his new book, Made Men: The Story of Goodfellas.  After explaining the genesis of the book, Glenn jumps into the 15 Minute Film Fanatics formation, discussing his overall impressions of the film, one of his favorite moments, and what he thinks of the ending. Along the way, they also discuss the film's initial test audiences, how the film port...

Mike and Dan take off to Venice to discuss Nicholas Roeg's 1973 thriller Don't Look Now.  They talk about how the film reflects many people's conflicted approach to the supernatural and how watching a movie is like having second sight: the movie lets the viewer act like a psychic for a few moments at a time. They praise the film as one that's every bit as good as its surprise ending and, along the...

How does a nebbish become a mensch? Mike and Dan talk about Billy Wilder's 1960 masterpiece The Apartment.  Mike explains why he finds it one of the most charming films ever made, as well as a perfect example of "slickness" in the best screenplays.  Dan talks about the film's suspense as on par with that of Wilder's Double Indemnity and how the film defines easy categorizing. What a movie! So grab...

Since the guys just did an episode on Sorry We Missed You, they thought they'd stay across the pond a bit longer and catch up with the hosts of Strangers in Space to get schooled in the basics of Dr. Who.  So get away from the Daleks, jump in the TARDIS, and join Mike and Dan as they learn about the show from three experts--all in about 15 minutes! Please follow or subscribe to the show wherever y...

How do you navigate a world in which nothing seems secure? Mike and Dan discuss Ken Loach's Sorry We Missed You (2020), his portrait of a family dealing with the stresses of the gig economy. For a film that seems under-directed, this descent into a middle-class Dante's Inferno works so well because of Loach's skill and the actors' performances. The guys talk about how the film is about fear more t...

Mike and Dan kick off season 4 with The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957). Mike talks about how we respond to different kinds of characters and how our response to the title character's predicament is dependent on his size; Dan talks about how the film points out how childhood has disappeared from contemporary life. The guys also mention Clash of the Titans, My Left Foot, and what makes what would b...

Everybody knows some George Bailey, Kevin, and John McClane help to make the season bright--but Mike and Dan urge everyone to take a look at Mitchell Leissen's 1940 comedy Remember the Night, written by Preston Sturges and starring Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck. So watch the film (it's free on Peacock and TCM), pour some eggnog, and listen to this short bonus episode. Merry Christmas! Please...

Not having seen it in decades, Mike and Dan revisit Philip Kaufman's 1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers, his terrific remake of the 1956 classic. They praise the film's soundscape with many examples, from the famous screech to the sound of Donald Sutherland's scissors. Dan mentions the terrific use of garbage trucks and Mike talk about the uncanny valley as applied to the pod-people. Of course, t...

Remember the commercials for The Ring where we saw audiences' reactions to the jump scares? Does the film hold up almost 20 years later? Mike and Dan talk about Gore Verbinski’s 2002 hit and discuss improbability in films vs. novels, television as a “vast wasteland,” the Momo Challenge (remember that?) and Ringu, the 1998 film upon which The Ring is based. So adjust that tracking and give us a lis...

In a season dedicated to horror movies, William Freidkin's The Exorcist (1973) seems a natural--practically a requirement. So why aren't the guys--who admire this film--doing an episode on it? Check out this bonus 5-minute episode. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/15minutefilmfanatics/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/15minutefilmfanatics/support Learn more about your a...

"They don't make 'em like this anymore" is Mike's take on Robert Wise's The Haunting (1963). He and Dan talk about whether this is the case and how this terrific film hovers between Poltergeist and The Turn of the Screw. Mike makes a claim to which Dan responds, "One hundred percent! One hundred percent! One hundred percent!" and the two talk about how a modern film would have treated the spiral s...

What makes a rewatchable thriller? Mike and Dan discuss H. G. Clouzot's Diabolique (1955) as a great example of world-building that makes a fun murder plot even better. Mike talks about how Clouzot's emphasizing "unbearable normalcy" adds to the mystery; Dan compares the film to Rope, Notorious, and the novels of Elmore Leonard. Mike uses his favorite word ("diachronically") and Dan reads a quotat...

Mike and Dan respond to a listener who urges them to watch and discuss Seconds (1966), John Frankenheimer's thriller about a man who attempts to remake his identity. They talk about what constitutes a person and how we build our identities in ways that defy simple lists of characteristics. Dan brings up Hamlet and Citizen Kane; Mike brings up Hereditary. Finally, the two are joined in a bonus segm...