Fifteen Minute Film Fanatics

Is there a better way to celebrate episode 150 than to talk about Citizen Kane? There is: to do so with Nick Davis, grandson of its screenwriter, Herman Mankiewicz, and author of the spectacular Competing with Idiots: Herman and Joe Mankiewicz, A Dual Portrait.  Mike and Dan held off on covering Citizen Kane, waiting for the right moment to tackle it--and that moment has arrived. Mike, Dan, and Ni...

Mike and Dan interview Nick Davis about Competing with Idiots, his terrific dual portrait of his grandfather, Herman Mankiewicz, and his great-uncle, Joseph L. Mankiewicz. He talks to Mike and Dan about the impetus for the book, the Mankiewicz family dynamic, and how his understanding of these fascinating figures grew and became more complex over time. No film fanatic can miss this one!   You can...

In an era of shameless, unnecessary, and unsolicited remakes, Some Like It Hot remains untouched, despite a premise that seems like low-hanging fruit for any producer seeking to explore gender-related issues. Mike and Dan talk about why Billy Wilder's 1959 comedy remains unremade and the brilliance of its three leads: Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, and Marilyn Monroe. Sigmund Freud and Wile E. Coyote s...

Mike and Dan react to recent stories about Jared Leto transforming himself physically for his role in House of Gucci.  When will this praise of prosthetics-for-prosthetics' sake end?  When will the gimmick be praised less than the performance?   (Note: Dan refers to the actor who played John Merrick in David Lynch's The Elephant Man as William Hurt.  The actor was, of course, John Hurt.  Dan knew...

"A sword can beat another sword, but it cannot beat a thousand arrows." So says Mike in this episode on Throne of Blood (1957), Akira Kurosawa's version of Macbeth. What does Kurosawa get right--more so than many other traditional adaptations? What single plot change from the original makes Throne of Blood even more "Macbethish" (to quote Joe Mackewicz) than the original? And how does Kurosawa man...

Each new version of a famous play--especially one as well-known as Macbeth--calls to mind the ones that came before it. So how does Joel Coen's The Tragedy of Macbeth (2022) rate in light of other versions, including those in the viewers' imaginations? Dan and Mike talk about Denzel Washington's spectacular yet restrained performance and how Joel Coen's vision of the play is full of surprising cho...

"In the end, we've lost this battle, too." So say Kambei at the end of Seven Samurai (1954), Akira Kurosawa's often-imitated masterpiece. Mike and Dan talk about what, exactly, is lost and won, how the samurai beat the bandits but lose to peace, and how the viewer's perspective is constantly shifting in a film that's 207 minutes long but feels like 15. Every possible emotion and experience a perso...

What is childhood really like? Is it like how it's portrayed in The Wizard of Oz and E.T.--or is it something altogether different, like the world in Bob Dylan's "Ballad of a Thin Man," where something's happening but you don't know what it is? Mike and Dan talk about Alice, the 1988 film by Jan Švankmajer that gets the feel of Lewis Carroll's books--and childhood--exactly right. "A film for child...

You may know and love The Red Shoes, but how much do you know about Moira Shearer, who agreed to play Vickie Page only after a year of pursuit by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger? Dan talks to Steve Exeter, writer and director of Oran na h-Eala (2022), a film that dramatizes the struggles Shearer faced in leaving the ballet for a more flashy medium. Shannon Davidson, who plays Shearer, joins...

"Relentlessly joyful" is one of Mike and Dan's many attempts to articulate the feel and experience of watching The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's epic time-sweeping story about a good man caught in a changing world. In this longer-than-usual episode, the conversation touches upon what's removed from the film, the importance of what remains, and how...

Every family has an Uncle Charlie--perhaps not a sociopathic serial killer who preys on widows, but close. Mike and Dan talk about Joseph Cotten's terrific performance in Hitchcock's 1943 Shadow of a Doubt and how his performance--along with the overacting of the rest of the cast--raises the issue of the ways in which family life is one sustained performance. They discuss the charm of the film lyi...

What are some of the most shocking moments you've seen in a film? Few are as shocking as those in Black Narcissus, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's 1947 example of absolute control as an artistic method and theme. After being dumbstruck by The Red Shoes, the guys had to come back for more. Listen to Mike and Dan talk about how, like The Red Shoes, the film offers alternatives without endors...

Amazon recently announced it would offer a new series based on The Lord of the Rings and other works by J.R.R. Tolkien: The Rings of Power.  Dan mentions it to Mike, who winds up and offers a Master Class on what's wrong with the world.   Please follow or subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and on Twitter @15MinFilm and Letterboxd @15MinFilm.  You can also contact us at FifteenMin...

What's the most shocking Pixar film? Mike argues that it's Wall-E and Dan doesn't disagree. After talking about how the film, like its title character, doesn't really fit in anywhere, the guys talk about what makes Wall-E so compelling and get into a debate about whether or not the film could--or should--sustain the silence of its first half.  Rear Window, 2001, and even Logan's Run all come into...

Everyone--even you, dear listener--can name a film that they've read about, heard about, and meant to see--but never got around to seeing. Such is the case with The Red Shoes, Powell and Pressburger's 1948 film about the triumphs and demands of following one's passion. What a movie! Mike and Dan talk about their first reactions and then get into a discussion of how the film depicts the process of...

"What's the point of doing anything worthwhile if there's nobody watching?" So asks Suzanne Stone, the seductive embodiment of television in To Die For, Gus Van Sant's 1995 satire of celebrity culture and those who would do anything to reach the paradise of being on TV--or have a million followers on Instagram. In the Season 7 premiere, Mike and Dan talk about how well Nicole Kidman plays dumb--so...

For the season 6 finale, Mike and Dan talk about Die Hard, the 1988 action movie that set the template for all action movies afterwards to follow. They don't debate whether or not it's a Christmas movie--it is--but instead talk about the film as a time machine, why Hans Gruber is such a great villain, and why John McClane has to bleed. Welcome to the party, pal!   Please subscribe to the show wher...

Not even his passing last year could keep Sean Connery away from the Fifteen-Minute Film Fanatics studios.  Listen to this unbelievable interview in which the immortal actor talks about the James Bond franchise, his Christmas traditions, and the making of The Man Who Would Be King.  A Fifteen-Minute Film Fanatics exclusive!   Music clips: Wake & District Pipes and Drums from Raleigh, NC play Dr. A...

When Dan learned of Martin Scorsese's planed biopic starring Jonah Hill as Jerry Garcia, he had a near-meltdown, which Mike captured on audio for your listening pleasure.  Please follow or subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and on Twitter @15MinFilm.  You can also contact us at FifteenMinuteFilm@gmail.com, and support the show with a buck or two at Venmo @FifteenMinuteFiIm.  All...

Everyone has seen A Christmas Carol, The Bishop's Wife, and It's a Wonderful Life--but Mike wanted to talk about a lesser-known Christmas film that he thinks deserves more viewers: Roy Del Ruth's It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947). Join Mike and Dan as they talk about what makes the film so weird, compelling, and satisfying--and how the film asks its viewers to think about the ways that you can on...

Every December, Mike and Dan argue about the most beloved of Christmas films: Frank Capra's 1946 masterpiece, It's a Wonderful Life.  Like all good people, Dan finds the movie charming, affirming, and a welcome reminder of life's many blessings.  Mike, however, walks home from his counting house, muttering about the "leeches" (his word) who inhabit Bedford Falls.  Humbug!  So walk into Nick's, ord...

In 1988 Columbia Pictures released The Beast, a film directed by Kevin Reynolds based on a play by William Mastrosimone. It ran for a week. Dan and Mike had never heard of it until one of their listeners emailed them and told them they had to check it out. He called it "one of the best films you've never seen," and he was right. So check out The Beast (free with Amazon Prime) and then join Mike an...

This week, the guys take a listener request and talk about the 2010 documentary Senna, director Asif Kapadia's look at three-time Formula One champion Ayrton Senna. You could fill libraries with what Mike and Dan don't know about Formula One--so they were the perfect people to go into this cold. The film and its subject won them over in minutes and they talk in this episode about the challenge of...

Stephen Sondheim died last week at the age of 91.  In this short episode, Dan talks about stumbling upon D. A. Pennebaker's short documentary on the making of the original cast album of Company.  This look into the recording process illuminates the challenges of recording without a live audience and of realizing every note of Sondheim's music at 5:00 AM after twelve or so hours of recording.  Ever...

Many films examine the nature of evil, but David Fincher's 2007 Zodiac portrays evil as unknowable, without a motive or even a face. Mike and Dan discuss Fincher's understanding of just what happens when people sit in the dark to watch a film about murder and how he teases his viewers--who know from the start that the case is unsolved--with the promise of filmic resolution.  Zodiac might not be a...