The Actor and The Engineer Podcast

This week we go back to Arrakis with our special guest Justin Arner (multi-award winning creative producer).  We talk about Villeneuve using shot selection for optimal storytelling, Hans Zimmer's overwhelming score and question some of the casting choices.

It's time for the golden statues! We go through who we think will win and who we would want to win in the biggest Oscar categories, and Josh has a golden addition to his shelf.

We dive into Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest, an unconventional holocaust/family movie. The concept, the filmmaking techniques and the haunting sounds of the score and sound design come together with the grounded performances to form a film that is engaging and confrontational.

Cord Jefferson's biting and funny satire/familiy drama is the subject of this week's podcast.  We get to see Jeffrey Wright, Sterling K. Brown,  Tracy Ellis Ross, and a host of other actors put in great performances with a that know's what it is doing.  Once you are in the theater, Jefferson nudges you with humor, anger, outrage and real touching moments.

This week we reflect on the Oscar nominations and celebrate some of the choices while scratching our heads about others.  Then we tiptoe into a light critique on Bradley Cooper's new film Maestro (also Oscar nominated!)

Yorgos Lanthimos plus Emma Stone equals another movie you can't look away from. With committed performances from Willem Dafoe and Mark Ruffalo added, this film is both funny and thought-provoking.

We talk about Todd Haynes' new meta movie featuring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore that is loosely based on a true story, how it points out society's voyeuristic tendencies and why audiences will always be interested in stories like this.

Emerald Fennell has returned with a film starring Barry Keoghan and Jacob Elordi about the British upper crust and the gaze of the outsider.  Was it successful?  Was it shocking? We get into it in our new episode.

It's a new Fincher film! We talk about Fassbinder, the sound design, the drop-in performances (including Tilda Swinton), ham hands and Fincher's tenuous relationship with the Oscars.

This week we talk about how Justine Triet's new film is able to turn a courtoom drama into an engaging and tight film with a great performance by Sandra Hüller. We have some Oscar predictions and get into the use of language in the film and "truth" in the courtoom.

It's a rare treat to talk about a new movie from one of the living masters of the craft, Martin Scorsese. We break down what we liked about the performances, including the quiet confidence of Lily Gladstone. We also talk about the score, production design and undulating pacing of the film.

Paul saw a play with Karen Allen and Reed Birney!  And we talk about Josh watching Kubrick on the big screen, double features and Starman.

Paul talks about his recent experience performing in a Steve Martin play and we talk about Celine Song's quiet, but confident debut film starring Greta Lee.

Paul is in a new play!!! We get into that and also train our sights on one of the biggest movies of the summer.  We talk about Christopher Nolan's sprawling cast, sharp editing and keen visual effects (No CG!)

Now it's time to listen to two guys talk about the Barbie movie...  Wait!!!  Don't go!! We really have some good thoughts about the winking and honest script, the properly plastic and practical set design and the tightly integrated soundtrack!

(Movie Trailer Voice) - Ethan Hunt is back and he's better than ever. Hang on for over two hours of thrills, spills and chills! And whatever you do, don't...look...down... (End Movie Trailer Voice) In this episode we watch 61 year old movie nerd jump off a cliff and we love every minute of it!!!  Haley Atwell is a great addition to the cast and the macguffin is good enough to not get in the way of...

Grab your hat and your whip. We are talking all things Indiana Jones, including the new Dial of Destiny!

This week Paul talks about meeting Karen Allen (!!!) and Josh watches a bunch of movies (The Godfather,  All About Eve, Tarantino Rewatch). Our next episodes will focus on Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Asteroid City.

We return to a theme that we haven't done in a while.  Would you believe that neither one of us had seen The Searchers or Shane? Well, this week we correct that injustice. We talk about The Duke and his playing against type, watching these movies in 2023 and how Shane got all of those Oscar nominations.

Showtime, A-holes!  The Guardians are back for one last adventure in this configuration, and they have to deal with Adam Warlock and a guy who is channeling Katherine Helmond's facelift from Brazil.

We wade into the mind of Ari Aster (maybe too far?) and his take on mommy issues and anxiety.

We finally have gotten around to our favorite films of 2022! We each count down our favorites and sprinkle some honorable mentions in there. Paul also talks about finishing up his run of performances in Richmond!

We go through the big categories for the big night and pick who we would vote for and who we each think will win.

We catch up with Scott Lang and his family mostly in the quantum realm and get to see Jonathan Majors once again as Kang. Then we sprinkle on a bit of our perceptions of Cocaine Bear. Watch us on YouTube Here

This episode we focus on Sarah Polley's new film focusing on the the importance of being heard.  We get into why this needed to be a film instead of a play, how the cinematography and shot selection contributed to the narrative and which scene should have gotten Jessie Buckley an Oscar nod.