Jason and the Movienauts

Michelle is back and we're starting to move into the prime period of Douglas Sirk's filmmaking. Sirk was famous for his melodramas that played with identity, a place in a fixed society, and the balance of responsibilities and dreams. His films <i>Taza, Son of Cochise</i>, <i>Magnificent Obsession</i> and <i>All I Desire</i> each explore those ideas in df...

Paul and Shawn are back to talk John Carpenter movies. This time we're looking at two films that were more commercial for the master horror director: Christine and Starman . Shawn's husband has a tattoo of the car from Christine , so you can guess what Shawn's opinion of the film was. I was surprised by Paul's reacttion to Starman , which triggered a fun little debate among the guy...

Eric is back, and this time the guys are not discussing Japanese films! Instead, they decided to explore a pair of films directed by Alan Rudolph, a filmmaker mentored by Robert Altman and who directed some fascinatinhly odd films over his long career. Eric and Jason decided to take a look at two Rudolph films which explore interesting historical figures: Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle and The...

Michelle is back, after she and Jason finished their epic watch of Billy Wilder films -- make sure to go back and listen to their rating list of Wilder movies if you haven't heard it yet! So it was time to start a look at a new director for this pod, and who better than Michelle's all time favorite director, Douglas Sirk? Jason has enjoyed some of Sirk's melodramas, but never took the...

Carlos and Jason saw Backrooms together. After the film they got together for an in-depth conversation about that film, about the seeming transition of the film industry in America, and what that might mean for the future. Warning: this is an optimistic episode!

Carlos is back, and he's kind of burning up ready to share his comments about Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood , the Tarantino classic that has some deep and frustrating flaws according to Carlos. What are the flaws? Give the pod a listen, think about them, and then let us know what you think. Also, major warning about SPOILERS for this episode.

Paul and Shaun are back to continue our look at the films of John Carpenter. Now it's time to discuss his film that has the biggest dichotomy between opinions when it first came out and opinions now: The Thing . Do the guys agreee with any of the complaints from 1982 or do they think this movie is a dead-on classic (spoilers for the episode but the film is a masterpiece)? And what makes it so perf...

Michelle and Jason recently looked at nearly every film directed and/or cowritten by the great Billy Wilder. So it's time for the inevitable rankings episode. What Wilder film is number 31 and worst? Which of his masterpieces are best? And which are the mid-tier must-watches? Come listen and offer us your ratings in comments!

Eric is back once again, and once again he and Jason discuss classic Japanese cinema. But this time the pair discuss the work of one of the most iconic directors from that nation, one they hadn't discussed before: Yasujirō Ozu. Eric and Jason dig into 1937's What Did the Lady Forget? and its 1952 semi-remake The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice. In doing so, they explore Ozu's techniques,...

Michelle is back for the conclusion of her and Jason's look at Billy Wilder's vast filmography, with a look at one of his absolute finest films, The Apartment. Jason overcomes his dislike of Jack Lemmon to appreciate a wonderfully subtle performance, while Michelle rhapsodizes over the brilliance and empathy of Wilder's storyline. And both Michelle and Jason analyze the film, looking i...

Eric is back and he and Jason are continuing their deep dive into classic Japanese cinema with a look at two pitch-dark films directed by Yasuzō Masumura : Black Test Car and Giants and Toys . These dark satires of Japanese corporate life are fascinating, intense, often funny and often horrific satires of Japanese corporate life. Eric and Jason make the case that these are under-seen true classics...

Paul and Shawn are back, so it has to be time for another discussion of the films of John Carpenter. This time, the pair take on a real Carpenter classic along with the only sequel Carpenter ever directed: Escape from New York and Escape from L.A. As he loves to do, perverse Paul defends L.A. as, well, not terrible - especially in the new 4k remaster. Shawn kinda disagrees, which makes for some re...

Michelle is back for another episode discussing the filmic career of the great Bily Wilder. This time the pair discuss perhaps Wilder's final great film, the complicated and butchered (but still fascinating The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. They also take up one of Wilder's intriguing final movies, the very strange and oddly sweet Avanti! Avanti! (exclamation mark and all) is a film tha...

Paul Moyer joins Jason Sacks for the first of a series of discussions of 1970s dystopian cinema. This time: George Lucas's THX-1138 and Douglas Trumbull's Silent Running . Join Jason and Paul for a thoughftul and (we think) fascinating discussion of alienation, ecological collapse, the trauma of the 1960s, and the impact of loneliness in these two fascinating films. It's an hour of so of great lis...

Eric Hoffman joins Jason to talk about one of Alfred Hitchcock's classic films, the 1934 version of The Man Who Knew Too Much . You may be familiar with the 1950s version of this film starring Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day, but the earlier movie is actually better than th remake, with more complex characters, more clever scenes and a more satisfying climax. Eric and Jason explore what makes the earl...

Shawn and Paul are back to continue our look at the amazing films of John Carpenter. This time, the trio take a look at the two TV movies Carpenter directed in 1978-79, Someone's Watching Me! and Elvis! . Both movies are early work by a director learning on the job, and both are surprisingly pretty great on their own terms. Whether you know these films or not, we think you'll enjoy this li...

In honor of Jason's upcoming trip to Japan, Eric is back to talk about two classic Japanese crime dramas - one of which is frequently listed as one of the greatest films ever to come out of that country. A Fugitive from the Past is a deeply immersive and deeply impressive cop drama from director Tomu Uchida, while Vengeance is Mine is a deeply upsetting journey inside the mind and life of a se...

Michelle is back to continue our look at the films of Billy Wilder. This time we look at the the three films he made which start Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon: The Fortune Cookie , The Front Page and Buddy Buddy . Are these three late career Wilder films lost classics or signs the old man didn't have his old fastball? Hmm, well, let's just say these are not the best films in Wilder's...

Eric is back again, and as usual, he and Jason are talking about Japanese films. In fact, they're continuing their series on the work of Shohei Imamura with two fascinating, odd, contrasting films: The Eel and The Pornographers. The former is an intriguing tale of redemption, guilt and the obscure love of a fish. The latter is, well, about the obscure love of a fish, as well as bizarre families, a...

Paul and Shawn are back! And now it's time to dig into the real beginnings of John Carpenter's rise to filmic greatness. Yes, it's time to talk about Halloween and The Fog. Both are great, but what did people think of Halloween at the time it came out, and does the film still stand up today? And is The Fog a brilliant ghost story or a slightly dull muddle? Hmm, could that be a preview...

Paul and Shawn are back, and this time the guys are taking on a new project. It's time to dig into the movies of the great John Carpenter. We're not going to go completely chronological through his filmography (this later movies are famously bad) but we wanted to get his two earliest movies out of the way. Dark Star and Assault on Precinct 13 are early works, but both have a lot to make th...

Michelle is back for our continuing discussion of Billy Wilder films. At this point we've watched and discussed 18 Wilder films which span the gamut of his career. There always comes a moment when doing a director durvey when we hit a few more minor obscure films in their filmography and that time is now for the great Wilder. So this time we discuss a few notable films you might be less famili...

Eric is back so it's time for him and Jason to dig into obscure masterpieces. Today the guys take on two brilliantly intense fils by British master Peter Watkins : Edvard Munch and The War Game . Eric fills Jason in on Watkins's long and well documented history of making avant-garde films, then the guys dig deep into two of the most highly serious but emotionally satisfying movies of their...

I saw 93 movies released in 2026 so I feel like that's enough to give you a top 10, along with some honorable mentions and a few bottom feeders. Let me know what you think of the list!

Jacques Tati directed some of the most wonderfully humorous and charming comedies of all time. Eric Hoffman joins Jason to discuss Tati's short filmography and delight in Tati's meticulous attention to detail, his clashes between urbanism and tradition, and his deep influences on other filmmaking greats. This was Jason's first time watching a Tati film and he was blown away by the experience. It's...