The Actor and The Engineer Podcast

This week (and next week) we dig deep into the similarities and differences between the Swedish and American adaptations of the Stieg Larsson novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  We talk about what we like about each and Paul offers up an interesting new way to watch these films together.  Make sure to listen next week to hear the end of our discussion of this rare situation of two films based...

We talk about another recent Oscar-winning movie (Alicia Vikander as Best Supporting Actress) that Josh finally saw and whether or not it deserved the Oscar (hint: probably).  We also spend some time in the beginning of the podcast talking about bold new trailers from Nate Parker (The Birth of a Nation) and Nicholas Winding Refn (The Neon Demon).  Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es/i6gB67Y   C...

This week we continue to catch up on Oscar nominated movies from 2015.  We talk about co-writer and director Ryan Coogler's entry into the Rocky universe and why it isn't just another sequel.  We also talk about our anticipated movies of 2016.  We go over the newly released trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and talk about big blockbusters coming up along with some smaller can't-miss indepen...

This week we talk about our greatly anticipated double performance by Tom Hardy playing a real life pair of twin gangsters from the east end of London who are hell-bent on controlling their part of the city.  Emily Browning and David Thewlis costar in this script from the Oscar-winning writer of L.A. Confidential.  Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es/i6gB67Y   Check out our Facebook page:   www...

This week we talk about the first movie in the new DC Universe.  We talk about the new (older and battle-worn) Batman and we get the first glimpse of Wonder Woman before her solo movie that is scheduled to come out next year.  Spoilers abound, so go see it, then listen!  Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es/i6gB67Y   Check out our Facebook page:   www.facebook.com/actorandengineer  and follow us...

This week we look at a documentary and a narrative film.  Both nominated for Academy Awards.  They each share a story of women and their relationships to society.  Amy is about troubled British singer Amy Winehouse and Carol is about two women who are drawn together in an unforgiving early 1950's society.  Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es/i6gB67Y   Check out our Facebook page:   www.facebook...

For our 90th episode, we each count down our 10 favorite movies of the nineties.  It's a long one, but definitely necessary to talk about some great films from a pioneering decade in cinema.  Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es/i6gB67Y   Check out our Facebook page:   www.facebook.com/actorandengineer  and follow us on twitter  @actorengineer .

This week we focus on the merc with a mouth.  How is this superhero movie different from all other superhero movies that have come out to date, and why was it needed?  Will this be the highest grossing R-rated movie of all time?  We try to answer these questions while attempting to not devolve into just quoting lines.   Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es/i6gB67Y   Check out our Facebook page:...

This is a quick discussion that we had right after the Academy Awards ceremony concluded.  We hope that you enjoy!  Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es/i6gB67Y   Check out our Facebook page:   www.facebook.com/actorandengineer  and follow us on twitter  @actorengineer .

This is the week that we put it all out on the table.  We choose which movies and people that we would vote for in the Oscar race and, more realistically, we predict which movies and people will probably win.  Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es/i6gB67Y   Check out our Facebook page:   www.facebook.com/actorandengineer  and follow us on twitter  @actorengineer .

This week we sum up all of our new movie watching for 2015 in our two Top 5 lists of 2015.  These movies were the ones that we wanted to single out as our most impactful cinematic experiences of the year.  Enjoy!  Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es/i6gB67Y   Check out our Facebook page:   www.facebook.com/actorandengineer  and follow us on twitter  @actorengineer .

This week we get a new Coen Brothers movie to digest.  Can it live up to the hype of what the trailers have promised?  How does it fit within the canon of other Coen Brothers comedies?  All this and more on this week's episode.  Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es/i6gB67Y   Check out our Facebook page:   www.facebook.com/actorandengineer  and follow us on twitter  @actorengineer .

This week we talk about a movie with difficult subject matter, but executed in a superb manner.  Academy Award nominee Brie Larson gives a great performance in a film that also gets Frank director Lenny Abrahamson his first Oscar nomination.  We spend time on both the lead actress and the director, but we also point out the other great performances in this movie that I'm sure we will both revisit,...

This week we dig into the Oscar controversy relating to the lack of racial diversity in Oscar nominees.  We also use this opportunity to talk about two movies that many people believe missed Oscar nominations:  Straight Outta Compton and Beasts of No Nation.  Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es/i6gB67Y   Check out our Facebook page:   www.facebook.com/actorandengineer  and follow us on twitter ...

This week we dig into the Academy Award nominated film from Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritu and Leonardo DiCaprio.  We briefly comment on some of the other newly announced Oscar nominations, but the bulk of the episode is spent stuck in the early 1800s Canadian wilderness with actors and filmmakers who decided to challenge themselves and take the audience along.  Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es...

This week we go back to post Civil War era Wyoming and are trapped in a room with eighth (or nine) despicable characters.  How does this new film from Quentin Tarantino compare to his other films?  How do the actors handle the Tarantino-esque dialogue?  We talk about all of this and a couple of movies that we have been watching, including Wet Hot American Summer and a documentary about the directo...

Just yesterday, in a galaxy very close to this one...we talk about the newest entry in the Star Wars saga, helmed by JJ Abrams.  We get to see Han, Chewie, Leia and meet new characters (Rey, Finn and Poe), not to mention BB-8!  We are talking about Star Wars...because it's frickin' huge.  Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es/i6gB67Y   Check out our Facebook page:   www.facebook.com/actorandengin...

This week we talk about the newest film from writer/director Tom McCarthy that tackles the cover-up of child molestation in the Catholic church from the point of view of the Boston Globe newspaper.  It is chock full of great actors and there is likely to be some Oscar buzz surrounding this one.  We also talk about some of the shows that we have been watching, including The Leftovers on HBO and why...

This week we hear those sleigh bell ring-aling, ting-ting-ting-a-ting too.  We talk about our favorite Christmas movies and what meets our criteria for a Christmas movie.  Will John McClane make an appearance?  Which one of us doesn't like Christmas Vacation?  Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es/i6gB67Y   Check out our Facebook page:   www.facebook.com/actorandengineer  and follow us on twitter...

This week we watch the classic Newman-Redford western (Paul for the first time).  How does it match up to other westerns of the time and what makes it unique?  Check out our discussion to find out what we thought about it.  Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es/i6gB67Y   Check out our Facebook page:   www.facebook.com/actorandengineer  and follow us on twitter  @actorengineer .

This week we finish up our discussion on Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2.  Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es/i6gB67Y   Check out our Facebook page:   www.facebook.com/actorandengineer  and follow us on twitter  @actorengineer .

This week we try something a little different.  We are breaking up a rather lengthy discussion of the newest Hunger Games movie into two episodes.  We begin this episode talking about the new Batman v Superman trailer and a little more Bond.  But then we get into our thoughts on the final Hunger Games movie.  Check out our part 2 episode that will be coming out next.  Subscribe on iTunes:   https:...

This week we finish up our discussion of the fourth season of Project Greenlight and our impressions of the show and the movie.  We also talk about the film Frank.  Between the cast including Domhnall Gleeson, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Michael Fassbender (playing the titular Frank) and a director, Lenny Abrahamson (whose new movie "Room" is already getting Oscar buzz), this movie has a lot to talk abo...

Bond...James Bond is the subject of our podcast this week.  We talk about the fourth Bond movie for Daniel Craig (and the second for director Sam Mendes).  We explore the info from the Sony email hack which gave insight into how the script changed during development (probably for the better).  We also talk about the Bond women (Lea Seydoux and Monica Belucci) and the villain (Academy Award Winner...

This week we talk about the new collaboration between Aaron Sorkin and Danny Boyle that we had a hard time categorizing.  Is it a biopic?  Is it a slice-of-life movie?  Is it a tryptic?  We also talk about the Sorkin-ized dialogue and Danny Boyle's disguised thumbprint.  Fassbender, Winslet, Stuhlbarg, Daniels, Rogen...  The list goes on.  Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es/i6gB67Y   Check out...