Talking Images

Burkina Faso is one of the most respected cinema nations in Africa, mainly heralded for their films in the 80s, 90s and early 00s. In this episode, we go through the key films of the nation, explore the works of Idrissa Ouedraogo and Gaston Kaboré, and list our favourites. We will also ask why everything suddenly went so quiet, look at the current state of Burkinabe cinema, and explore how Europea...

Is stress actually a good thing, an experience worth seeking out, even paying for? Our answer seems to be: YES!  Join us as we explore the joys of stress and whether what we have lovingly dubbed the "Stresser" has been missing from our lives as a staple genre all these years. After all, the horror genre is huge. Fear sells! Why should stress be any different?

Doubling the Canon is one of the most established internet projects designed to expand the cinematic canon.  In this episode, we are joined by Lee Price, the founder of the DtC project to discuss everything from its origins, how it differs from They Shoot Pictures Don't They, voting strategies and the elephant of the room: if DtC is in trouble now that TSPDT lists 2,000 films.  Oh,...

Can smiles and nods make us cry? For decades Yasujiro Ozu pointed his camera towards Japanese society, exploring its facade and values with a subtly critical eye. Politeness is the rule, appearance is key and traditions must be followed - but is it right, and does it make our protagonists happy? Behind the smiles, nods and politenesses we do time and time again see the heartbreak and sharp critiqu...

Special episode: RIP Michael Snow. In this episode, we'll look back at his key experiments, discuss whether they actually work, explore why he is an important artist, and dive into his 7 biggest films. We'll also make a case for why even those who disliked Wavelength and La region centrale should not bail on his later films, with Sol making one rather extraordinary claim, that 1 of Mr Snow's films...

"Every few months someone will mention a film and I don't know what's going on and I feel like an old person!" - One of our hosts utter this about his awareness of hype, but are we all that immune?

Have you seen any film on the IMDb bottom 100? We have! In this episode, we explore why we go dumpster diving, and of course, the less extreme side of the same coin - why we watch films we know we probably won't like.    You have done it too! Everyone has. There comes times, no matter how rare, that you sit down and tune into a film you just KNOW you won't like. Are you a masochist? Are we? Are we...

In this episode, we explore how Everything Everywhere All at Once was suddenly everything everywhere ... all at once.

Have you seen any of these? (ICMFFF2022 is here!) Timestamps: Caught in the Net: 6.09 (Centerpiece) A White White Day: 16:12 Adoration: 22:07 Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes: 26:42 Just Don't Think Scream: 30:31 Mad God: 34:27 New Order: 39:11 The Crossing: 43:45 The Long Walk: 46:57 Straight Up: 53:59 Highlights from the rest of the Festival: 1:03:35

In this episode Matthieu, Sol, Tom and Chris reveal their number 1 film favourite film of 2021 (and of course, it is 4 very different films).

Lean back as we take you through each of our personal top 10 lists from 2021, and this time with a rather shocking twist: There are absolutely no overlaps within our top 5s! Once again we also went way overboard on length just because of how much we love these films (and again, the total lack of overlaps), so stay tuned for part 2.

Why does Sol hate the owners of IMDb? Does it hurt Letterboxd that many of the best features are behind a paywall? Oh, and to get back to the topic at hand: which of these two services is better? Letterboxd and IMDb are like night and day. One is young, elegant and social, the other probably the most complete database of cinema that exists: so which of them wins? Which could we not live without, a...

In this episode, we sit down with Stephanie Pham, star, producer and co-owner of Art School Dropouts to talk about their style of low to zero budget filmmaking, as well as their secret upcoming VR feature.

The Straight Story is a film so straightforward that the fact that David Lynch is the man behind it feels almost surreal. In this episode, we dive into how and why the film engages and touches us as much as it does, ponder what made Lynch choose to pick this collaboration with Walt Disney Pictures to begin with, and marvel at just how wonderfully weird it is that this film, based on a real story,...

Hollywood loves to flex accents, some decent, some terrible. In this episode, we see if we are able to buy the illusion or if film after film has been destroyed by bad accents.  We will also take a look at the far more extreme examples of films set in "foregnia", but with all the characters speaking in English with a twink of local accent to sell it all home. Does this work ... at all?! Oh, and Ri...

Do you agree with Sol that found footage is the worst thing to have ever happened to cinema? Join us to see if we can find hidden ground (did Sol like any found footage film?!) and explore the insane wave of Found Footage films starting with The Blair Witch Project. We'll explore everything from its very inception in the 1960s (yes, that's right!), why it took nearly 40 years to become a force to...

How do Chinese blockbusters stand up against Hollywood blockbusters? In this episode, the gang dive into 4 of the biggest recent Chinese mega hits - each in a different instantly recognizable blockbuster genre - and give our verdicts. So, what films are we looking at? (Timestamps) The action sci-fi disaster film: The Wandering Earth - 13.03 The franchise starting buddy comedy: Detective Chinatown...

Welcome to the episode where Chris realizes he's the only Leos Carax fan in the podcast and even he found Annette thoroughly middling. Join us as we explore just how it let us down and debate the merits of artificiality, THAT puppet and much, much more. And remember, if you disagree with us you can go to ICMForum.com and tell us just how wrong we are.

In this episode, we take a close look at the early films of Andrey Tarkovsky, from his early student efforts to his first passion project. We will briefly touch on The Killers (1956) and There Will Be No Leave Today (1959) before we go into depth on his first three solo efforts, The Steamroller and the Violin (1961), Ivan's Childhood (1962) and Andrey Rublev (1966). Yes, we will dissect their endi...

Are sequels almost exclusively soulless cash-ins we should not be excited about, or do many truly deliver? In this episode, we look at the sequels that, at least according to us, did the unthinkable in becoming even better than the first film! How do you feel about our choices?

It has been 10 years since Vertigo unseated Citizen Kane as the Greatest Films of All Time in Sight & Sounds once-in-a-decade poll of filmmakers, critics and academics. With the 2022 edition coming up, and the real possibility that Vertigo could be unseated, we ask the pressing question: Does Vertigo actually deserve to be number 1? Note: Since recording this episode it has been revealed that...

In our very first cross-over episode we are joined by (Dr.) David Hartley from the Autism Through Cinema podcast to discuss Hal Ashby's classic "Being There", starring Peter Sellers in a role generally read as being on the autism spectrum. We'll explore why it makes some of us a little uncomfortable, whether the film mocks Peter Sellers' character or the, mostly, wealthy individuals he interacts w...

Get ready for our possibly most controversial episode to date as we try to answer the hot topic issues of the art vs. artist debate. We will explore just how much we can separate between the art and artist, and how knowledge from their life and possible misdeeds affect how we see their work. You will get exclusive insights into our psyche and hear just who puts us off or make us feel uneasy. You w...

Join in as Clem, Matthieu, Sol and Chris reveal their second and number one favourite films of 2017.

Are your favourites mentioned? What are the most glaring omissions? Will we convince you to watch some 2017 films you still haven't seen? Join in as Clem, Matthieu, Tom, Sol and Chris break down their favourite films of 2017.