Middlebrow Madness

Hard swerve! Isabelle takes the reins in this solo minisode where she elaborates on the concept of normative statements and how they apply in our criticism of the 2005 feature film V for Vendetta. NOTE: AT 4:39, Isabelle says “descriptive” when she meant “prescriptive.” – Motherfuckin’ show notes ! 83: The Unchecked Conservative Ideology of US Media’s ‘Fact-Check’ Verticals — Citations Needed Capi...

It’s time to get into the spirit of giving, sports fans! Isabelle gives Derek a gift! The Middlebrow Madness will give you a bonus episode! We give some searing hot takes on some beloved classics! And best of all question mark? , we give you CWs for racism, CSA, and transphobia. It’s another classic episode of the best independent bracket-based film criticism show in the known universe. This week’...

Break time is over, sports fans! We actually talk a lot about music at the top of this one. (Tangents? On a podcast?! My word!) But fear not, we resume our dizzying climb to the top of the bracket in short order. This time around, we talk about the limitations of charm, the value of human experiences, and our relationship with good ol’ QT. We also field some viewer mail for good measure. This week...

Sports fans! We are 25% of the way up the bracket, and so we’re planting a marker and taking stock of how far we’ve come. We talk about out picks, mourn the fallen, pick some superlatives, and we answer some 100% genuine grain-fed grade-A viewer mail. Stray topics include the films of S. Craig Zahler, cinematic crushes, and the fine art of metagaming. – See the bracket [SPOILERS AHEAD] Drop us a l...

We’re back (a dinosaur’s story), and we come bearing the gifts of CWs for sexual assault, rape, and CSA! But also, we’re talking about some great movies, including one of those slippery, queasy Awesome Movies Directed By a Reprehensible Person, and one movie that’s kind of a dud. Also, now we’re 25% of the way done with the first round, hooray! Oh yeah, and just so we don’t get any emails or tweet...

We’re back on the bracket beat, sports fans, and we’re asking the tough questions! Does The Dark Knight Rises have a coherent ideology? What is the “normie” Andrei Tarkovsky movie? What’s the deep ecology read on WALL-E ? Why were the 90s such a fecund period for stories about the falseness of reality? We answer all of these questions, and several others, over the course of the show. This week’s m...

A little late but no less great! That’s right, sports fans, we’re back with another classic episode of the pod, where we reaffirm our positions as heads of the Newman/Redford Booster Club, fawn over a certain pair of directorial brothers, and marvel at a film that smiles in the face of a cruel, uncaring world. Oh, and we should note, one of these movies did not age well. How badly did it age? Well...

Three heavy hitters in this one, and a fourth one that’s… okay? Well, I guess it depends on who you ask. One of these movies is definitely not like the others. Also, this episode isn’t as blue as the last few, but there’s plenty of Boner Content to go around for the faithful. We also talk about a shitty movie that is not in this bracket that should be appended with every CW and -ism you can think...

Sports fans, I’ve got to to come clean: we are a couple of dirty, dirty birdies at the top of this one. Like real filthy. There’s also some mental health talk. But we do talk about movies, specifically about the influence of classical Hollywood film, mental illness in film, “middlebrow” as a qualifier, and navel-gazing as a stylistic conceit. So in other words, another classic episode of the pod!...

Holy cannoli, sports fans, did this one ever get away from us. Get a load of that runtime! 76 god damn minutes! Well, if you’re into weird tangents, you’re in luck: this has one stuff ranging from late-period classic rock to everyone’s least-favourite Canadian lobster man. But crucially, we get to talk about some movies ! The power of emotional filmmaking, feminist critiques, the thrill of watchin...

This episode features three celebrated auteurs from three different countries, and a fourth guy who thought making The Godfather twice as long and ten time more impenetrable was a good idea. And also some digressive NSFW goofiness off the top because Isabelle will make “melt Derek’s brain at the top of the show” a bit come hell or high water. This week’s matchups: A Separation v. The Elephant Man...

That’s right, sports fans, it’s time to **checks index card** blaze ya dead homie?! Wait, hold on, I got my cards mixed up. It’s actually for **checks new index card** a crash course in how to properly pronounce the name of a French-Canadian auteur??? I thought this was a movie podcast! I mean, Isabelle and Derek do talk about Yasujiro Ozu’s direction, Aamir Khan’s axe to grind, and a couple of go...

We’re back after a short hiatus, and let me tell you, this episode has everything . Dramatic readings! Our first wild card movie! Ill-advised usage of internet slang by a man in his thirties! Oh, and thoughtful considerations regarding trauma, faith, and the moving image. CW: some saucy shit in the front, and Nazi shit in the back. This week’s matchups: Raging Bull v. Howl’s Moving Castle Schindle...

Derek and Michelle are back in town and ready to send two more movies to the second round. This time around, our intrepid hosts consider two of the best close-up movies of all time, a no-frills war picture from the 50s, and a movie that, frankly, shouldn’t even be on this list. Also, Michelle keeps her “mention Come and See ” streak alive and Derek makes several embarrassing admissions regarding t...

Who’s ready to get deeply uncomfortable ? What do the Bracket Gods have in store for us this time. Well, uh, cringe-inducing drama, the spectre of the Confederacy, and 21st century terror! Yeah, baby! But the movies are pretty good, and the breakdowns are too. Also Derek forgets the word “harbour,” so that’s pretty funny. One note from the fact-checking desk: the disaster that 9/11 was a stand-in...

This one is weirdly suicide-heavy, so maybe know that going in? Another podcast means another four contenders step up to the plate! Our long march to the finals continues as we take our first trip to India (and it is a doozy ), talk about how cool Bogey is, and take sides in the eternal Keaton/Chaplin debate. – This week’s matchups: 3 Idiots v. Sherlock Jr. Modern Times v. The Maltese Falcon – Dro...

Well, we’re here, sports fans. We have to contend with who is possibly the biggest boil on cinema’s ass to date, and possibly of the whole bracket. But not before we screw up the names of fantasy dudes and silent film pioneers and generally just make a mess of things. But fear not, we gets some pretty good joke in there too! Four new cinematic combatants enter the cage, but only two can come out v...

Onward and upward through the IMDb Top 250 bracket we go! Two reprehensible Hollywood leading men go head to head in the director’s chair, and Michelle continues the great podcasting tradition of Derek’s co-host cursing him out. Which of these movies deserved their Oscars? Which ones didn’t? The answers may shock and confound you! – This week’s matchups: Braveheart v. Into the Wild Cinema Paradiso...

Our intrepid bracketeers have returned to take on the next two matchups in the IMDb Top 250 tournament. Which classic film will hang its head in shame? Which kind of neo-noir is superior? How many times is Derek going to assert that a movie “fucks?” Listen and find out! – This week’s matchups: L.A. Confidential vs. The Wolf of Wall Street Paper Moon v. Seven – See the empty bracket Drop us a line:...

And they’re off! Michelle and Derek cover the first two matchups of the IMDb bracket’s first round. They also talk about movies from their childhood, Letterboxd pranksters, and that sexy sexy so-and-so Paul Newman. – This week’s matchups: A Clockwork Orange v. Cool Hand Luke Back to the Future v. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – See the empty bracket Drop us a line: middlebrowmadness@gmail.com...

It all begins here. Michelle Arf and Derek Godin of Dim the House Lights have decided to take on the Herculean task of plugging the Internet Movie Database’s Top 250 films (plus six wild cards) into a single elimination bracket and finding out which one is the real middlebrow champion. In this inaugural episode, they lay out the rules of the tournament, talk about the eccentricities of the list it...