Off Screen Death

"The film has always been a favorite of those who enjoy visual and dramatic flamboyance." From probably our best known critic, Roget Ebert, and we agree! TOUCH OF EVIL is proof that even movies on all of these pretentious lists can actually be fun. We take a look at what amounts to a B movie, but with a great director at the helm. We also touch on the objectionable brownface of Charlton Heston (of...

"Watching it, you have to wonder exactly what kind of movie anyone though they were making." Alissa Wilkinson of Vox plainly states what we agree with, that this movie is a complete mess and a mishmash of poor choices. Join Mike, Dave, and returning guest Web of TRILOGY IN THEORY (finally here for a movie with pasty white people) as we try to work through the convoluted story.  We fear that we won...

"Throughout REMEMBER MY NAME the actors work hard to fulfill the surface requirements of scenes that have no dramatic foundation, and the results are often skittish and baffling." Unlike Janet Maslin of the New York Times one host can't get enough Anthony Perkins so we return to him as a leading man in this episode. This produces troubling results as the other host thinks he's a "nice guy" in this...

"This is maybe one of the worst movies I've ever seen. It's just terrible, awkward, stiff, and never funny." Filmweek’s Christy Lemire says in one sentence what we do in about 40 minutes. If you think details are important, listen to our show.  It’s better than reading, anyway. Those details? Well... Billy Crystal is not funny. HERE TODAY is bad at manipulation. A discussion of whether or not a st...

"The first American movie since TOUCH OF EVIL to stand in the same creative rank as the great European films" “As Norman Bates, Vince Vaughn makes us better appreciate how much Anthony Perkins brought to the original project.” Same title, same shots (mostly), slightly different results from the critic’s circle. In our Mother’s Day episode (get it? Sorry.), Mike and Dave take a close look at the cl...

"There are forehead-smacking lapses of common sense and the conspiracy at the movie's core is just plain dumb." This is one of many “splats” from the dumbass critics who didn’t like WITHOUT REMORSE as much as you very smart hosts of Off Screen Death. Let’s go over this, shall we? Michael B. Jordan rules... again. Muscles are good, actually. It's a little predictable but who cares? Shut up. We like...

"I now find Cruise tolerable only when he's in a movie that undercuts or ridicules his narcissism-- as EYES WIDE SHUT did and as this movie does even more noticeably." Jonathan Rosenbaum is not nice to Tom Cruise... but he's not wrong here. FOR THAT... you must listen to one host (Dave) as he clearly makes poor dating decision one after the other and did not learn a SINGLE THING from Cameron Crowe...

"For all the empathy it expects of its viewers... the film is troublingly removed from human reality." When in doubt... go to The New York Times when you need a solid Rotten Tomatoes splat to back up your argument. And what points does this episode contain? Netflix is the modern straight to video and we wish they would stop. But... Anna Kendrick. Is a Diet Coke version of APOLLO 13 and THE MARTIAN...

The two biggest award winners for All About movies! Yes, we have a special treat for your Oscar season listening. We present a double episode, this time covering ALL ABOUT EVE and ALL ABOUT STEVE.  Despite the similar names, they are not in the least bit similar themselves. Following are two quotes from reviews, see if you can work out which is the classic. “It has substance in virtually every dra...

"That Costner's antihero should be so fundamentally dislikable is entirely acceptable... but that he should also be deadly dull is far less tolerable." Sounds like Anton Bitel of Little White Lies should focus more on important matters, like Kevin Costner's hairline, and less on the man's ability to banter. On this episode we keep our eye on the ball (a movie star's dome) and celebrate Earth Day w...

"Except to add that we've seen THE FRONT PAGE under its own name and others so often before we've grown a little tired of it, we don't mind conceding HIS GIRL FRIDAY is a bold-faced reprint of what was once- and still remains- the maddest newspaper comedy of our times." Frank Nugent of the New York Times gives one of the most backhanded compliments imaginable to a certified classic in HIS GIRL FRI...

"Both lovers are duplicitous creeps -- in a perverse way they're made for each other." Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader sounds fun at parties... but he's not wrong about Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey in HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS. He's just wrong about how enjoyable it is to see Ms. Hudson take a wrecking ball to a man that one host calls "too pretty" and the other thinks is too pi...

"I just finished the worst picture in the world." Star Claudette Colbert upon finishing filming. Geez, Claudette, what were you looking at? Both hosts, and our guest Erica had a great time with this one. Sure Mike still hasn’t opened his Criterion copy, but at least he stimulated the IHON economy by purchasing it on digital as well! We cover a lot of ground here; including Matthew McConaughey movi...

"ROAD TRIP is nothing more than a series of sight gags and put-down. It's often funny, but it never has anything smart to say." So says stick-in-the-mud Bob Longino of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution. However, AS ALWAYS, the hosts of OFF SCREEN DEATH have the last word on cinema. And cinema is exactly what this Todd Phillips masterpiece is. A sex tape gone missing! A hero's journey to retrieve sa...

"This is and always will be a perfect dark comedy." William Thomas of Empire would definitely love our choice of movie...but maybe not our opinion of it. We discuss the idea of cult films and how it has changed just in the last few years. But WITHNAIL AND I took place many years before that, and it is possible that it is a product of its time. A 1987 film, set in the late 70’s, and we attempted to...

"Clubfooted but earnest, Pandya's movie never forgets about its second-gen issues, but never quite plumbs them, either." "Clubfooted" is always a good way to start off describing a selection on OFF SCREEN DEATH. Which is why for most of the runtime of this episode we let our guest WEB BIST of TRILOGY IN THEORY explain this personal pick of his in AMERICAN DESI. So personal that it may prove very h...

"Jordan's wonderful film does what Hitchcock's PSYCHO, a very different film, also did: It involves us deeply in its story, and then reveals the the story is really about something else altogether. We may have been fooled, but so was the hero, and as the plot reveals itself we find ourselves identifying more and more with him.: Roger Ebert goes to bat for a classic that both of our host can actual...

"Imagine David Mamet rewriting his political satire WAG THE DOG as a joke-free kidnap drama. Or don't imagine, just pony up for the glum spectacle of SPARTAN" Peter Travers of ROLLING STONE does not share our sense of humor or our large audience but that's okay because we've got something most people don't: SPARTAN on DVD. Or at least one host does. And that's good enough for him as we go back to...

"The greatest Hollywood film that few people have seen." We’re not sure if this was true when written in 2013 by Glenn Frankel, but given its spot high on many lists, it’s probably not true now. We take a look at a beloved western, THE SEARCHERS and find out if it holds up. Also we learn to just stay home and spit on a log. Thankfully our guest did not stay put, Zita Short of The 300 Passions Podc...

"It's refreshing to find a classic romance without meet-cutes and pathetic attempts to be clever, with two adults who know what is happening to them." Michael Mirasol of RogerEbert.com throws the hammer down at basically the entire modern romance genre in his review of our movie, BRIEF ENCOUNTER. It will be interesting to hear our thoughts, because unlike Mean Michael here, we happen to like meet-...

"UNFAITHFUL, yet another soon-to-be-forgotten Richard Gere vehicle..." Well, not on OFF SCREAN DEATH you bastards at CNN.com in what some would describe as a film review of a 2002 new release but we would call a horrific attack on the world's greatest silver fox. For indeed regifting is worse than having an affair. Also we should note that this is a Diane Lane vehicle as she was nominated for her...

“Once again, Allen has mistaken unfunny for serious.” Rita Kempley of The Washington Post was not a fan of our film selection for this episode... and we have a feeling that we may lose what little listenership we have for this new movie podcast by praising Woody Allen's ability to write great roles for women, discussing the troubling aspects of Mia Farrow as a muse and ANOTHER WOMAN. But mostly it...

"The best non-masterpiece of American cinema." The above quote on THE APARTMENT comes from critic Mark Cousins and NOT the fine gentlemen of OFF SCREEN DEATH. No, we were too busy making fun of Jack Lemmon for trying on that silly hat. But we did learn how to strain spaghetti. Initially divisive (The Saturday Review called it "a dirty fairy tale") it did go on to win the Academy Award for Best Pic...

A Trailer for Death Off Screen As if 2020 wasn't bad enough here's a podcast from Michael Denniston and David Giannini contemplating how they are spending their time on earth and here's the worst part: It's recording yet another film podcast. But along the way they watch a bunch of movies although their starting points may be different. One man is a snob that nobody loves as he punishes himself fo...