The Actor and The Engineer Podcast

With October 21st, 2015 recently behind us, we talk about the first star of Back to the Future that never made it on screen, Eric Stoltz.  We also talk about other movies that had major roles recast either right before or during filming.  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 to get into the Halloween spirit by taking in writer-director Guillermo Del Toro's newest film, Crimson Peak.  Does it live up to his previous creepy films?  Or does it leave us wanting more?  How does he use the three main actors in the film (Mia Wasikowsa, Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain) and how cool is Jim Beaver's beard?  Check out the podcast to find out.  Subscribe on i...

This week we talk about an independent movie that ratchets up the tension quickly and keeps it there.  The second feature by writer-director Jeremy Saulnier focuses on a man who is bent on revenge, but may not know exactly the way to go about it.  We also talk about the last few episodes of Project Greenlight and how Jason Mann is progressing with making his first feature, Leisure Class.  Subscrib...

This week we talk about what could be considered the first big movie of awards season.  Ridley Scott is back to sci-fi, and this time it has nothing to do with Aliens.  We talk about Matt Damon's performance in this movie that has Cast Away qualities.  We also discuss the casting choices for the supporting characters and what we think the reasoning may have been behind some of them.  Subscribe on...

This week we talk about male and female actors who choose roles (or are chosen for roles) that are a bit out of their comfort zone.  We bring up a few of our favorite filmmakers and wonder how they saw the dramatic potential in comedic actors and, to a lesser extent, picking dramatic actors for more comedic roles.  Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es/i6gB67Y   Check out our Facebook page:   www...

This week we talk about the new movie starring Johnny Depp as the blue-eyed, ruthless South Boston Mob leader Whitey Bulger.  Will this Scott Cooper-directed movie add to the long legacy of brilliant gangster movies?  Listen up and find out!  Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es/i6gB67Y   Check out our Facebook page:   www.facebook.com/actorandengineer  and follow us on twitter  @actorengineer ....

We spend the beginning of the episode talking about the return of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's Project Greenlight to HBO and the small furor that the first episode's "Damonspaining" created.  Then we talk about Skeleton Twins, a movie that came out last year starring Kristin Wiig and Bill Hader.  We talk about the particular sense of humor that this movie has, our views on the main performances an...

This week we talk about an independent horror movie from 2014 that has been fairly devisive among critics and horror fans.  We discuss how the movie uses horror tropes to its advantage and where we may have some issues with the plot and the execution of the ending.   Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es/i6gB67Y   Check out our Facebook page:   www.facebook.com/actorandengineer  and follow us on...

This week we talk about two movies that may be considered opposites, but we attempt to connect them with some creative license.  City of God is a Brazilian film from 2002 that was nominated for multiple Oscars that we both just recently watched for the first time.  Welcome to Me is a recently released  Will Ferrell-produced Kristen Wiig movie that makes the viewer ask why they are laughing at this...

This week we talk about the documentary centering on one of the most influential movie critics of our time, Roger Ebert.  We talk about how his criticism has affected our movie watching and his fight with jaw cancer.  Paul starts off the episode quickly talking about his experience with the much maligned movie Fantastic Four.   Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es/i6gB67Y   Check out our Faceboo...

This week we talk about the movies that we are excited to see that are coming out in the next few months.  We talk about the blockbusters (Star Wars, Spectre, etc.), some smaller "independent" movies and even a few documentaries.  We talk about our favorite directors that have movies coming out: Tarantino, Innaritu and many more!   Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es/i6gB67Y   Check out our Fac...

This week we talk about the new Kurt Sutter-penned, Antoine Fuqua-directed fighter movie.  We talk about our favorite performances and what this movie adds to the already lengthy list of boxing movies.   Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es/i6gB67Y   Check out our Facebook page:   www.facebook.com/actorandengineer  and follow us on twitter  @actorengineer .

In this episode we talk about the newest addition to the Mission Impossible anthology series of movies.  Once again a different director tries his hand at directing (and writing) an adventure for Ethan Hunt and his buddies.  What worked?  What didn't? How awesome is Tom Cruise?  We talk about that and also how much of the technology that we see in this movie we believe will become a reality.   Sub...

In this episode we talk about actors and actresses that have the difficult task of playing a role that has already been portrayed in film or on stage.  Of course, we talk about Batman and other superhero movie series and the Bond series of films.   Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es/i6gB67Y   Check out our Facebook page:   www.facebook.com/actorandengineer  and follow us on twitter  @actorengi...

We talk about the newest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, although in many ways it feels like a standalone movie that just happens to be in the Marvel Universe.  We talk about young Michael Douglas, Paul Rudd as a superhero, Evangeline Lilly just wanting to kick butt and why Michael Peña is a national treasure.   Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es/i6gB67Y   Check out our Facebook...

We start of this week talking about the DC Comics and Star Wars footage that came out of Comic Con.  Our love affair with Margot Robbie continues and we get a first glimpse of Jared Leto's Joker and Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne.  We then talk about two documentaries that are available on Netflix.  Fed Up is about the alarming rise in obesity and what may be causing it.  An Honest Liar is about a magi...

This week we talk about two movies that are available to rent.  Lost River is the directorial debut of Ryan Gosling who also wrote the film.  We talk about the possible inspirations for a movie like this and how it is bolstered by Christina Hendricks' performance especially.  We also talk about the Will Smith movie Focus and how much we both love Margot Robbie.  We also spend some time talking abo...

We talk about the new Pixar movie and about how it once again has found a way to affect adults and children in a different way.  We also compare it to other Pixar movies and try to figure out where it would fit in each of our favorites (even though we were both still in the honeymoon phase of watching the movie since we both had just seen it).   Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es/i6gB67Y   Che...

This week we talk about what some people might call "Character Actors" and how excited we get when we see them on screen.  These are actors who may not have many starring roles, but they add their special sauce to whatever role they inhabit.  Richard Jenkins, Stephen Root and Regina King are just a few of the many actors that we talk about.  Check it out!   Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es/i...

For our one year anniversary episode, we tackle four movies from different eras with more similarities than we initially thought.  Our "Old" movie is the Italian film from 1948, The Bicycle Thief.  Our "New" movie is the blockbuster Jurassic World.  Our "Boring" movie is the Todd Solondz film Happiness and our "Blue" movie is the documentary Dear Zachary.  This is definitely a challenging slate of...

When we both realized that neither one of us had seen any of James Dean's three film performances, we decided we needed to fix that.  In this episode we discuss James Dean's performances and what we liked and disliked about Rebel Without and Cause, East of Eden and Giant along with the state of movies during the mid-50's.   Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es/i6gB67Y   Check out our Facebook pa...

What can happen in a day?  We talk about movies set in a 24-hour period or less.  How does this constrain the filmmakers?  How does it help?  What are our favorites?  Take a listen!   Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es/i6gB67Y   Check out our Facebook page:   www.facebook.com/actorandengineer  and follow us on twitter  @actorengineer .

For our 50th episode, we talk about films from the 1950s.  This decade saw the development of auteurs like writer/directors Billy Wilder and Akira Kurosawa, the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock and a young director named Stanley Kubrick.  The 50s also saw a shift in the art of performance with actors like Marlon Brando and James Dean.  We also go on a short tangent about Rodney Ascher's left-o...

We talk about a creepy Australian horror film that has been getting great reviews.  The movie has a couple great performances that we discuss, along with an off-the-wall theory about a particular character in the movie.   Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es/i6gB67Y   Check out our Facebook page:   www.facebook.com/actorandengineer  and follow us on twitter  @actorengineer .

We talk about two movies that are avialable to rent right now.  We get into the superb actors and some issues that we had with each of the movies.  This also marks one of the first times where we completely disagree about the merits of a movie.  Which one is it?  Listen to find out.   Subscribe on iTunes:   https://itun.es/i6gB67Y   Check out our Facebook page:   www.facebook.com/actorandengineer...