The Brattle Film Podcast

For Halloween, we talk a bit about our upcoming Virtual Gothic Horror series and then invite listeners, members, film writers, fellow podcasters and cinema programers to share stories of their first encounters with iconic horror movies.

This week we look at some recent films that take on enhanced significance when watched during a semi-quarantine. Also we explore just a few of the joys found in contemporary low-budget sci-fi pictures, and we discuss the issue of gatekeeping in genre movie production and reviewing.

In this special episodes, Ned, Ivy, and Alissa bring up their report from the 2020 Virtual Toronto International Film Festival.

We look back on "the summer of no movies" by talking about all the classic films we finally got around to seeing since we haven't had any theatrical releases to go to. With endless streaming options available, and our definition of what constitutes a "classic film" ranging from Citizen Kane to Speed, we each screened some great and fun features.

We check in with six off the films currently running in our virtual cinema, including 4 documentaries, a new arthouse flick from Belgium, and a restored Hungarian work of psychedelic animation.

This week we resume our discussion of movies that were "key" to forming our personally, our psychological outlook, our career trajectory, our approach to life, or our love of cinema. For us these films range from John Hughes's Pretty In Pink to Jean Cocteau's Orpheus. What films formed your foundation?        

This week we discuss the movies that, regardless of whether or not they are favorite films, were "key" to forming our personally, our psychological outlook, our career trajectory, our approach to life, or our love of cinema. And we encourage our listeners to share their "foundational films" with us.

As an addendum to our Boston on Screen series we're joined by Adam Roffman for a look behind the scenes of many of the films featured in our three previous episodes. Adam, an on-set dresser, documentarian, and former programer of the Independent Film Festival of Boston, shares his stories of working on The Town, Little Women, American Hustle, Patriots Day, The Heat, and countless other Boston prod...

For our third and final episode looking at the way Boston is depicted in movies we look at the wave of independent pictures that began shooting in the city during the 1990s as well as some of the more outlandish genre pictures that have used (or destroyed) the city. 

For this second part of our Boston on Film series, we go beyond the crime movie to focus on how the institutions of Boston – educational, social, scientific, medical, legal, and the press – are depicted on screen. Because the focus of these pictures is not on the underground criminal element, they are more likely to feel like time-capsules giving us a glimpse into a Greater Boston that many of us...

Inspired by our partnering with the Massachusetts Historical Society for a program focusing on the dichotomy of Boston's image in Hollywood films, we begin a three part series with a selection of pictures that could be called "The Boston Crime Wave," or, as Boston Globe film critic Ty Burr calls this subgenera, "Boston Triple Decker Films," or, as Boston crime novelist Chuck Hogan refers to them,...

We catch up with our longest running virtual series; movies for kids, about kids, for families, and about families.

We're joined by Shawn Cotter, director of Wicked Queer, The Boston LGBT Film Festival to talk movies to watch while closing Pride Month - including the three Pioneers of Queer Cinema re-released by Kino Lorber that are featured in the Brattle's Virtual Cinema. 

In a special interview episode we talk with Lisa Simmons of the Roxbury International Film Festival, which had to postpone its 21st season due to COVID-19.

We discuss films from our ongoing series that attempt to trick your streaming platforms (and your minds) into helping you discover a more eclectic mix of movies.

In recognition of the truth that BLACK LIVES MATTER, The Brattle has elected to press pause on new programs and announcements this week to allow more space for the amplification of voices directly affected by police brutality and institutional racism in our country. We stand in solidarity with those protesting during this important moment in the fight for justice and equality.

We discuss five films playing in our virtual cinema: The Ghost of Peter Sellers, Lucky Grandma, Vitalina Varela, Fourteen, and Thousand Pieces of Gold. Plus, we get a surprise visit from the editor of one of those films for an unplanned Q&A. 

For our annual Reunion Week, we take a look at some films from the classes of 1945, 1970, and 1995.

We're joined by our friends at Alex and Kristen from Strictly Brohibited for a series of sci-fi films that have a significant creative contribution from women – either behind the camera or the page of the script.

We explore some of the films recently run in our Virtual Cinema as well as the #BreakYourAlgorithm series, and we read and play some more of our listener's earliest cinema-going memories.

We spar over what exactly constitutes a screwball comedy and share out thoughts on some of our favorite examples of the genre as well as a few other films it inspired.

The City Council teams up with The Brattle Theatre starting Friday to host a citywide "Dinner & a Movie Night," with the Brattle picking the programming (one family-friendly film, and one more mature) to stream at home with takeout from a favorite local restaurant. https://www.brattlefilm.org/virtual-programs/cambridge-movie-night-friday-may-1/

As we enter week six of COVID-19 lockdown we dive deep into the documentary Other Music, which tracks the last days of an indispensable institution and explore what made it special; and we talk about our favorite movies from all our virtual series so far: Music Matters, Break Your Algorithm, Ya Know For The Kids, and the Pop-Art-Sci-Fi of the Wachowskis.

We travel the globe via movies that present international cities from insider and outsider perspectives; also we learn about the Brattle long legacy of bringing iconic foreign language films to American audiences.  

We go around the USA via movies that make the cities in which they take place into a character; also we hear from listeners about cinematic kindertrauma memories.