Jason and the Movienauts

If there's one project David Lynch is best known for, one project that's emerged into legendary status, it has to be Twin Peaks . So Paul, Shawn and Jason take on the daunting task of looking at the show in a mere 90 minute timeslot. And yeah, despite their best efforts and despite a whole lot of great insights, it's 90 fun minutes of scratching the surface. But it's a fun listen a...

This week Blaize and Jason continue their look at the films of the singular Paul Schader with a look at two films by him which are adapted from novels. And what opposites they are. Touch , adapted from an Elmore Leonard novel, feels listless and unfocused. But Affliction , adapted from the Russell Banks novel, continues Schrader's focused on the Lonely Man archetype, getting deep inside the he...

As Eric and Jason are learning, Masahiro Shinoda is a director who delivered many sui generis works. And though his second movie, the rebel-without-a-clue Youth in Fury is pretty straightforward (though complex, for reasons we get into), Shinoda's third movie, Killers on Parade is an odd surrealistic semi-masterpiece, semi-WTF exploration of... what in particular, we're just not sure.

Chris and Jason felt it was time to pay tribute to one of the true film masters, Fritz Lang, with a look at two of the most well-filmed and transcendent films ever made, M and Metropolis . The guys struggle at times to find the words for these films, particularly the amazing sound design of M . If you haven't seen either or both of these, they are so worth a watch before listening to our pod!

Paul, Shawn and Jason get together again to talk about the films of David Lynch, this time chatting about perhaps the craziest pair of back-to-back releases ever to hit cinemas. Dune is a giant WTF film, and although it can be enjoyed as spectacle and a grant attempt at something great, it's a big swing and a miss. Blue Velvet , OTOH, is a perfect film - a point all three guys agree about - an...

Blaize and Jason are back on their Schader watchlist with movies 9 and 10 Schrader directed. And you couldn't ask for a more diverse pair of films. Light Sleeper is a potent, powerful instance of the Schrader lonely man lead, while Witch Hunt is a charming little goof of a film. But both are actually pretty great, and well worth celebrating.

You might think there's not a ton of similarities between one of Robert Altman's earliest, most anarchic films ( Brewster McCloud ) and his final, magesterial film ( A Prairie Home Companion ), but Jason and Eric find a surprising amount to compare and contrast in these two fascinating films.

John Cassavettes' films are unlike the films of any other movie maker. They're raw, feel real, explore deep and complex human emotions in the way no other films do. Eric and Jason are both fans of the man's films, so they felt like it was about time for them to review a couple for this podcast. So for this week' show they reviewed Opening Night and Love Streams . Both are amazing f...

Jason's been talking with Gideon and Janice Marcus about 2001: A Space Odyssey quite a bit recently as they were part of the team covering the film for the amazing site Galactic Journey , where we cover media from 55 years ago. We figured we might as well capture some thoughts about the movie together, including some fairly controversial ideas about whether viewers have everything they need on the...

Eric and Jason love their Shinoda films, so they jump back into the filmography of the great, little-appreicated Japanese master with a look at A Flame at the Pier and The Ballad of Orin . At first glance these two films - one a noir about Japanese labor unions and the other about a traveling blind performer - have little in common. But in fact, they're both of a common type and provide a grea...

Eric is back with Jason to talk about the films of Japanese master Masahiro Shinoda, this time talking about Double Suicide , The Scandalous Adventures of Buraikan and Sharaku . All three are good films, but one of them is a classic, one of the finest films of its era as well as a cracking good film noir. Join the guys as they debate, twist and turn these movies to get a clear view into greatness...

Paul and Shawn are back to start a new series with Jason. This time, fresh off of Jason attending a Lynchfest, the trio begin looking at the films of the one and only David Lynch. Join then for a 90 minute chat in which they see the DNA of many of Lynch's subsequent films in Eraserhead , and debate whether the success of Elephant Man lies in it not being Lynchian. It's always a good conver...

Blaize and Jason weren't sure what to expect when they got to Patty Hearst and The Comfort of Strangers in their Schrader watchlist. So both of them were excited and suprirsed to find that these two movies were terrific films, filled with emotional and intellectual complexity that was unexpected. And beyond the fact that both star Natasha Richardson, there are many parallels to be drawn betwee...

Chris is back to hang out with Jason, this time talking the films of Wong Kar Wai. And while Jason is a big WKW fan, he's shocked to learn Chris just didn't love the films the guys selected. Come join Jason and Chris as they answer the shared question... is WKW a great filmmaker or is he annoying to watch?

Since Asteroid City is out and drawing positive reviews, Jason and Keith thought this was a good time to take a look at two other Wes Anderson films. Join the guys for a look at The Darjeeling Limited and The Grand Budapest Hotel - and hear their hot take of why Darjeeling is not-so-secretly great!

Jason has been wanting for Michelle and Bryant to join him on the Movienauts show for awhile. Finally his wish is fulfilled and the three of them come togetehr to discuss the fascinating films of Jacques Demy, with a special focus on Michelle's favorite film, T he Umbrellas of Cherbourg. The three film fans discuss the bittersweet but beautiful nature of this and Demy's other films, and wh...

Blaize joins Jason again for part three of their look at the films directed by the singular Paul Schrader. This time they look at the film generally considered Schrader's most ambitious film, Mishima , and one of his most forgotten films, Light of Day . Blaize and Jason discuss whether Schrader's ambitions outpace his abilities in Mishima , as well as discussing the fascinating way Schrade...

Dom and Eric join Jason again for the next episode of Kurosawa-cast, this time looking at two films he made based on Russian literature, The Lower Depths and The Idiot . Both films came out during Kurosawa's greatest period, but both don't quite match his absolute greatest achievements. Join the guys as they break down what makes these films great and the things which unfortunately hold th...

Eric joins Jason to continue their look at the films of Masahiro Shinoda, this time with a different approach. We look at Shinoda's version of the classic Japanese novel Silence and compare his version with the Martin Scorcese version. This provides one of the richest, most thoughtful conversations we've ever done on Movienauts - one of those chats where we seem to get to deeper and more t...

Blaise is back to talk to Jason about Paul Schrader. This time they dig into Schrader's final two mainstream Hollywood studio films, American Gigolo and Cat People . Both films caused minor sensations when they were released in the early 80s, but do they shock and delight today or do they feel dated? Well, is it fair to say both things are true? Blaise and Jasone explore the odd, contradictory...

Chris joins Jason again this week to discuss two of the greatest and most mystifying science fiction films of all time: 2001: A Space Odyssey and Solaris . These two films are definitively in conversation with each other, with Solaris director Andrei Tarkovsky stating he made choices in style and character which influenced the direction he took with his film. Chris and Jason dig deep into the simi...

Wrapping up the series about David Cronenberg, Paul, Shawn and Jason rank all 19 of Crnenberg's features - and have several (friendly) arguments along the way. What is the most Cronenberg of all the Cronenberg films? Find out this week!

Eric and Jason are back looking at the cinematic work of Masahiro Shinoda with a look at three of his most mysterious and beautiful films, Under the Blossoming Cherry Trees, Himiko and Demon Pond . These complex dives into Japanese history provide the guys with fertile ground to discuss the role of nature in the Japanese tradition, female independence, and the terror of mass murder along with much...

Blaize joins Jason to kick off a new series for Movienauts, this time looking at the films directed by the great Paul Schrader. Schrader is one of the most interesting directors ever to get behind a camera, and Blue Collar is one of the finest debut films of all time. It's a gritty, smart look at the lives of three auto workers at the end of the 1970s and has some piercingly great moments the...

Paul and Shawn are back with Jason to wrap up the main part of our look at all the feature films directed by David Cronenberg. Yes, we've finally reached the film that more or less prompted us to take on this effort, 2022's Crimes of the Future along with 2014's Maps to the Stars . This time we have a bit of diagreement about the films. Shawn really disliked Maps , while Jason thought...