Film School

Can you ever go home again? Spielberg, Ford and Lucas were game to try 20 years after making the last Indiana Jones film, which also wraps up our brief vacation from the AFI Top 100. The band was back together, but could the music ever be the same? That became the question at the heart of this film for Josh and Ira, and the analysis over how they fared, what worked at what didn't, was fascinating...

Should I create as much content as I possibly can? Or should I take my time to make each project as good as I'm able? It's the age-old question of quality or quantity, and it's age-old because there is no easy answer to it. We all want to be as good at our art as we possibly can be, and it can be confusing how to get there...and how that confusion and anxiety can in and of itself be unhelpful. Ya...

I TOLD you, don't call me Junior!!! After the mixed reviews of the last Indy film, Spielberg and Lucas reached back to pull from Raiders...and the results are incredible. Adding Connery as Jones Sr really puts this one over the top and it's arguably just as good as the first one. Once again, we have to stop the Nazis, and this time they're after another biblical macguffin: the Holy Grail. Doesn't...

Who doesn't love gear?! Equipment. Software. Electronics. Notebooks. Pens. All the tools of the trade and the creature comforts we all use to film or write or photograph or brainstorm...it's just so fun! This week, ya boys talk about what gear they use to write, film and edit. From cameras to writing software to headphones to where we write out our ideas and dreams, it's all here. Enjoy!

Hey lady, you call him DOCTOR JONES! If Temple of Doom does *one* thing (and it actually does much more), it gives us Short Round. If you saw this movie as a kid, who didn't want to be Indy's best friend and helper? Temple is definitely problematic. It doesn't hold a candle to Raiders...but how much did we just miss Indiana, and how fun are some of the set pieces? Mine car chase? Yes please! So, h...

Just don't panic cry, Josh. That's what our dear McClenney tells himself over and over whenever he receives feedback...and it's no different for Ira. Feedback is hard. It's haaaarrrrddddd. Our creative work is so personal to us, we work on it so hard, and for someone to tell us that it's not perfectly perfect feels...well, PERSONAL. But listening to and applying feedback is THE THING that separate...

Indy, why does the floor move? OMG. This movie needs literally no introduction. It's the classic supernatural adventure story that gifted us all with Indiana Jones, arguably Harrison Ford's best character (Han, stop looking at us). He's an archaeologist Bond set in the mid-30s, an era of time where mysticism abounded and the ancient world was still being discovered, un-buried, and looted for its p...

How do you write a pageturner or a movie that you can't turn off? Cliffhangers. Pure and simple. Cliffhangers keep the people coming back for more. So, how do we apply that idea to our stories? We use the wonderful article from Ruth Harris this week to talk about this underrated and misunderstood tool, and it's kind of blowing our minds. But, you'll have to listen to learn the secrets... :) Please...

I swear if you existed I'd divorce you! Elizabeth Taylor and real-life, several-times-divorced husband Richard Burton are positively on fire in playwright Edward Albee's explosive family drama. Nothing is off-limits for these two, including chewing up and spitting out a hapless young couple. Secrets! Lies! Adultery! Alcohol! So, soooo much alcohol! It's all in one terrible, crazed night on this ep...

Imposter syndrome is the self-limiting belief, in whatever form it may take, that we are just not good enough. It's insidious how it can show up in our everyday and creative lives. This week, the boys dive into how Imposter Syndrome manifests in their personal lives, and what they do to combat it.

It's a hell of a thing, killing a man. Clint Eastwood stars as the aging, reformed, tea-totaling killer Bill Munny who's forced into doing one last job. Morgan Freeman rides along side him, with Gene Hackman in a fantastic turn as the savage town sheriff. It's a film that aspires to examine the soul of a killer. Does it succeed? And just how torched will the sheriff's town be when Eastwood gets hi...

Ira Glass has a very famous sound snippet about a fundamental aspect of becoming really good at something that no one ever tells you when you're starting out: that your taste, for a long time, is going to far exceed your ability. That gap can be crushing, because we know that our work isn't good. This week, we talk about that gap, what it feels like, and how we can CLOSE it. Watch the original vid...

It's one nutty hospital! Dustin Hoffman tucks and dons the wig for an iconic performance as Dorothy Michaels/Michael Dorsey, a down on his luck, unemployable actor. The only problem: he falls in love with his co-star, who has no idea who he/she really is. What's funnier than a man in drag, right? This week, we examine the performances of a truly stellar cast (Jessica Lange! Bill Murray! Gina Davis...

Self esteem comes from within. We're always hardest on ourselves. We all know this...but outside validation is absolutely crucial to even the hardiest of souls. We all need loving, supportive, positive people in our lives. All of us. This week, Josh and Ira talk about how validation helps them, and who provides that support. Who validates you? Who doesn't? And what effect do those people have on y...

Clear as a unmuddied lake, Fred. This week, ya boys tackle the disturbing, dystopian classic from Stanley Kubrick. Center stage is Malcolm McDowell as Alex DeLarge, a teenager who's main pastime is rape and murder. Have no fear: society has a new fix for people like him. It's psychology to the rescue...or is it? Fair warning: this movie is a tough, graphic, intense watch. BUT...does it have someth...

Ira's recently had a breakthrough with his writing process, and meditation is smack dab in the middle of it. Josh wants to know how. This week, we talk about when to meditate, how it's different than just zoning out or taking a nap, and how it can impact creativity in powerful, positive ways.

"Tell me I'm a good man." Spielberg's war epic stars Tom Hanks as the leader of a company of WWII soldiers tasked with tracking down a man they've never met so they can send him home. It features some truly spectacular battle footage that arguably hasn't been equaled to this day. It also features some performances that are impossible to forget. It's nearly 3 hours long, so buckle up, and let's try...

Ira digs into the numbers behind the ratings we've given the first quarter of AFI's Top 100 films and what they might mean about us, both the boys give updates on what they've been working on for the past month or so, and they consider the question of whether or not they're putting too much content behind the pay wall of Patreon for these early days of building the podcast. It's a packed full epis...

Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins star in arguably the most popular movie of all time. ALL TIME. It's been #1 on IMDb for the past twenty years! It has an all-star cast, an eminently quotable script, wonderful music, and perhaps above all...a happy ending. So, let's all get busy living or get busy dying, and see if we can figure out just why this movie is so stupendously popular!

Josh asks Ira if watching the AFI's Top 100 movies has improved his storytelling yet, and Ira asks him the same question right back. In a nutshell: yes. For both of them. But how?

Robert Redford and Paul Newman star in the film that arguably made them icons as the shoot-from-the-hip, tight-lipped Sundance and the worrying, scheming, talkative Butch. The chemistry is undeniable. The script sizzles. The vistas are breathtaking. The capers are a hoot. And our two leads embody a bygone era where men were free to be free. And criminals. Definitely criminals. So, let's take the p...

Ira recently realized he didn't have a writing routine, a habit of working on his WIPs every day. So, how can he start one? And how can he KEEP one? Both of the boys talk habit forming and share their daily routines in general and discuss how both of those things can be leveraged to create a writing routine. This week on the cutting room floor!

Hello Clarice. Anthony Hopkins turns in the performance of a lifetime as the cannibal serial killer Hannibal Lecter, as does Jodi Foster as FBI agent-in-training Clarice Starling in the film that has defined the Thiller genre for a generation, and perhaps more. So, what makes this MORE than just a crime story? And why does it still rise above other serial-killer thrillers that have come after it?...

We all have bills to pay. But how do we work full time week in and week out and still get our creative work done as well? What KIND of job allows us to do both and not get burned out? Josh and Ira have been in this situation for most of their adult lives, and we dive into some of what we've learned over these past 15 years or so. This week, on the Cutting Room Floor.

They call me MISTER TIBBS. Sidney Poitier is an absolute badass and he pairs beautifully as the black master detective stuck with Rod Steiger as the racist local cop to solve a murder. This film takes twists and turns that neither of us were expecting. Plus, Josh shares his near-miss playing "County Ball" on a recent film shoot. High drama! This week, on Film School.