The Cine-Files

The 1979 film Being There, directed by Hal Ashby and starring Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvin Douglas and Jack Warden is an odd, quirky, funny and surprising film about a, not very bright, gardener who ends up friend to the richest man in the world and advisor to the President of the United States. Is it a religious parable, a condemnation of the rich, a statement about the human race'...

https://amzn.to/3sZIs8A To say that Paul Thomas Anderson's 2002 film Punch-Drunk Love inspires an incredible range of reaction is an understatement. some people find this film uncomfortable, stressful or simply incomprehensible. Others see it as brilliant, powerful and endlessly fascinating. Steve and John see it as an incredible opportunity to discuss not only the filmmaking but the meaning b...

Cine-Files Patron John Goetz made this pick and we are so happy he did because 13 Assassins is an incredible Samurai film with a great cast, beautiful images and one of the most ridiculous battle scenes ever put on film.  If you haven't seen this incredible film you can buy or stream it right here. https://amzn.to/3uYRmoq Don’t forget to support The Cine-Files at https://www.patreon.com/TheCin...

In their second Cine-Files Live, Steve and John dig into the classic 80's action movie predator. it's fantastic ensemble cast, great score and smart direction from John McTiernan in his first film, Predator is an absolutely fantastic ride. However, what makes this conversation really great are the comments, questions and contributions of our Cine-Files audience.  You can listen to the conv...

Not one but two of our Cine-Files Patrons chose, the 1993 Merchant/Ivory drama The Remains of the Day for John and Steve to review and we are thrilled that they did. With incredible performances from Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, James Fox, Christopher Reeve and Hugh Great, Remains of the Day is as powerful as it is restrained. It certainly deserved its eight Oscar nominations and in a year with...

Not one but two of our Cine-Files Patrons chose, the 1993 Merchant/Ivory drama The Remains of the Day for John and Steve to review and we are thrilled that they did. With incredible performances from Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, James Fox, Christopher Reeve and Hugh Great, Remains of the Day is as powerful as it is restrained. It certainly deserved its eight Oscar nominations and in a year with...

In Honor of George Segal, we are re-releasing a very early episode of The Cine-Files. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf is one of the most brilliant, challenging and shattering plays of all time. (It also happens to be very funny for those with a particualarly dark sense of humor. It stars, Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Sandy Denis and of course George Segal. With 13 Oscar Nominations and and...

Star Trek Expert, Scott Mantz returns to The Cine-Files to conclude their exploration of Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country in honor of the incredible actor, Christopher Plummer, who chews up the scenery as the Klingon, General Change. This is an amazingly, satisfying conclusion to the adventures of the original cast and John, Steve and Scott have a fantastic time discussing it.  So if you have...

This week the crew of The Can-Files returns to the 23rd Century to explore the final voyage of Star Trek’s original cast with an exploration of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. This is a fantastic movie and we wouldn’t think of digging into it without our resident Star Trek expert, Scott Mantz. And as a bonus, Steve and Scott have a very special announcement they just can’t wait to share wi...

Welcome to the very first episode of Cine-Files Live. From this point forward John and Steve will be doing a live conversation on YouTube. Today's episode was their exploration of Godfather Coda/3. This was a fantastic conversation made so much better by the contributions and even appearances of The Cine-Files Community.  This is an audio only version but you can also watch the actual video ri...

Believe it or not John and Steve have actually made it to the final moments of one of the greatest movies in the history of Cinema and yet, even after hours and hours of exploration, they still find new ideas, perspectives and revelations in these incredible films. If you haven't seen this incredible film you can buy or stream it right here. https://amzn.to/3nt29mH Don’t forget to support The...

The thing about great movies is that they create opportunities for reflection, not just on the world of the film but on our own lives. The Godfather Part 2 is a prime example of this and the conflicts, struggles, betrayals and defeats that Steve and John explore in this episode certainly create plenty of opportunities for reflection.  If you haven't seen this incredible film you can buy or str...

Honestly, John and Steve have no idea how many episodes of The Cine-Files it will take to explore Francis Ford Coppola's, The Godfather Part 2, but one thing they do know is that two is definitely not enough. The fact is they could take about this movie forever and, honestly, sometimes it feels that way, but that's what being a Cine-File is all about.  If you haven't seen this incredib...

The journey through the world of the Corleone Family is unlike anything The Cine-Files have ever embarked on before and they have approached it with the reference and attention to detail worthy of these incredible films. The fact is, the perspectives of John and Steve continue to evolve, episode by episode as they discover new and deeper nuances of these remarkable films.  If you haven't seen...

WARNING: If you hate when The Cine-Files gets political, then, this podcast isn't for you. A few days ago we lost the great Hal Holbrook, an actor who has been a mainstay of Theater, TV and Film for more than seven decades. He is most known for two things, the decades he devoted to his iconic portrayal of Mark Twain and a the portrayal of a man who only appears in the dark shadows of an empty...

Cloris Leachman was a working actor for seven decades. She starred on Broadway and the golden age of television in the late forties and fifties. She won an academy award for one of the seminal movies of new cinema, Peter Bogdanavich's The Last Picture Show. She turned in unbelievably funny performances in three of Mel Brooks' greatest films and she created one of the most beloved and indel...

The Cine-Files are proud to bring you the conclusion of their epic discussion of Francis Ford Coppola's masterpiece, The Godfather. This is one of the greatest films ever mad and John and Steve took these episodes as a serious responsibility and yet, the amazing thing about cinematic masterpieces is that there is always more to discuss.     If you haven't seen this incredible film you can...

There has, perhaps been no more anticipated episodes of The Cine-Files than Francis Ford Coppola's , The Godfather and, consequently, no movie that John and Steve stressed about more than this masterpiece. In part 2, we see the change of Michael Corleone from a man determined to separate from his family to a killer a fugitive and eventually, a Don.  If you haven't seen this incredible film...

The Godfather is, without question, one of the most eagerly anticipated movies in the history of The Cine-Files and that's not surprising. After all, it ranks as the number two film on the latest AFI 100, surpassed only by Citizen Kane. To say that Steve and John approached this masterpiece with trepidation is an understatement but, the fact is, the conversation they had was so much fun that i...

The Cine-Files is starting off their Month(s) of Coppola with an exploration of the man himself. Francis Ford Coppola is not only one of the most important directors of all time he is also, in many ways the elder statesman of an entire generation of filmmakers. His life, triumphs battles and failures are almost as dramatic as the films he directed.  If you wand to experience Coppola's work you...

Mississippi Burning is not easy. The topic is difficult, The action is painful and the action is painful and the controversy around the film is as revlant today as it was over thirty years ago. Steve and John, along with special guest David McKenna, don't shy away from this difficult topic and instead dig in to issues as complicated as they are important.  And if you haven't seen this incr...

This week, The Cine-Files welcome screenwriter David McKenna (Blow, S.W.A.T. & American History X) to discuss one of his favorite films, the brilliant, controversial and difficult, Mississippi Burning, directed by Alan Parker and Starring Gene Hackman and Willem Defoe. It's also time for their annual listener survey, so if you want to help select which movie from 2011, John and Steve break...

Christmas wouldn't be complete without a visit from our very own Clark Griswald, Michael Ross. John and Steve barely made it out of this one alive.  If you haven't seen this incredible film you can buy or stream it right here. https://amzn.to/37OEDvJ Don’t forget to support The Cine-Files at https://www.patreon.com/TheCineFiles and purchase any film we feature at https://www.cine-files.net...

John's favorite Christmas movie (like Steve's) is It's a Wonderful Life, but if you asked him what his second favorite is, the answer might very well be the 1988, reimagining of A Christmas Carol, starring Bill Murray, Scrooged.  If you haven't seen this incredible film you can buy or stream it right here. https://amzn.to/34G0cwI Don’t forget to support The Cine-Files at https://ww...

Steve & John are feeling a bit nostalgic this year and decided to take a sentimental journey to a true classic. Miracle on 34th St. is a perfect Christmas movie, it's battle between spirit and cynicism realized perfectly in the performances of Maureen O'Hara and young Natalie Wood.  If you haven't seen this incredible film you can buy or stream it right here. https://amzn.to/37NKeS...