The Recommendation Game

Azor (2021) directed by Andreas Fontana. Argentina, 1980. Private banker Yvan arrives from Geneva to replace a colleague who has mysteriously disappeared in military-ruled Buenos Aires. Moving through a society under surveillance, he finds himself untangling a sinister web of colonialism, high finance, and a nation’s “Dirty War”. This is The Recommendation Game, a bi-weekly podcast where two film...

McFarland USA (2015) directed by Niki Caro Track coach Jim White joins a high school in California and develops a unique bond with the students. When he realises the boys' exceptional running ability, he decides to sharpen their skills. HAPPY NEW YEAR, FUCK YOU 2021!!! This is The Recommendation Game, a bi-weekly podcast where two film lovers take turns to recommend a film the other has not seen,...

Klaus (2019) directed by Sergio Pablos After proving himself to be the worst student at the academy, a postman is sent to a frozen town in the North where he discovers a reclusive toymaker named Klaus. Merry Christmas everyone! This is The Recommendation Game, a bi-weekly podcast where two film lovers take turns to recommend a film the other has not seen, they watch and then skype to discuss it. S...

Dick Johnson is Dead (2020) directed by Kirsten Johnson. As her father nears the end of his life, filmmaker Kirsten Johnson stages his death in inventive and comical ways to help them both face the inevitable. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US. We are officially 5 years young. 5 years and 175 episodes, how the hell did that happen. This is The Recommendation Game, a bi-weekly podcast where two film lovers take...

The Wild Bunch (1969) directed by Sam Peckinpah. A troop of aging outlaws plot a grand heist, before they could retire from the criminal world. They ride into a Texas border town in order to rob a local railroad office. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US. We are officially 5 years young. 5 years and 175 episodes, how the hell did that happen. This is The Recommendation Game, a bi-weekly podcast where two film l...

The Wailing (2016) directed by Na Hong-jin Suspicion leads to hysteria when rural villagers link a series of brutal murders to the arrival of a mysterious stranger (Kunimura Jun). This is The Recommendation Game, a bi-weekly podcast where two film lovers take turns to recommend a film the other has not seen, they watch and then skype to discuss it. Spoilers are a given. We are Ricardo Deakin and O...

Mr Klein (1976) directed by Joseph Losey. Neglected for decades, this chilling existentialist mystery has reemerged as one of director Joseph Losey’s most virtuosic works. In perhaps the finest performance of his career, Alain Delon stars as the wealthy Robert Klein, an amoral art dealer in Nazi-occupied Paris who exploits the persecution of his Jewish countrymen by buying and selling their painti...

Sisters with Transistors (2020) directed by Lisa Rovner. Filmmaker Lisa Rovner follows the story of electronic music's female pioneers, composers who embraced machines and their liberating technologies to transform how we produce and listen to music today. This is The Recommendation Game, a bi-weekly podcast where two film lovers take turns to recommend a film the other has not seen, they watch an...

The Leopard (1963) directed by Luchino Visconti As Garibaldi's troops begin the unification of Italy in the 1860s, an aristocratic Sicilian family grudgingly adapts to the sweeping social changes undermining their way of life. Proud but pragmatic Prince Don Fabrizio Salina (Burt Lancaster) allows his war hero nephew, Tancredi (Alain Delon), to marry Angelica (Claudia Cardinale), the beautiful daug...

Summer of Soul (2021) directed by Questlove Over the course of six weeks during the summer of 1969, thousands of people attend the Harlem Cultural Festival to celebrate Black history, culture, music and fashion. This is The Recommendation Game, a bi-weekly podcast where two film lovers take turns to recommend a film the other has not seen, they watch and then skype to discuss it. Spoilers are a gi...

Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974) directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder Emmi, a sixty-year-old German woman, falls in love with Ali, a Moroccan immigrant, twenty-five years her junior. The couple faces rejection from friends and this puts a strain on their relationship. This is The Recommendation Game, a bi-weekly podcast where two film lovers take turns to recommend a film the other has not seen, the...

Certain Women (2016) directed by Kelly Reichardt An unhappy client constantly troubles Laura, a small-town lawyer; an unhappy Gina feels her husband constantly undermines her; Jamie, who lives alone on a ranch, is attracted to Beth, a lawyer. This is The Recommendation Game, a bi-weekly podcast where two film lovers take turns to recommend a film the other has not seen, they watch and then skype t...

La Grande Illusion (1937) directed by Jean Renoir. A group of French soldiers, including the patrician Captain de Boeldieu (Pierre Fresnay) and the working-class Lieutenant Maréchal (Jean Gabin), grapple with their own class differences after being captured and held in a World War I German prison camp. When the men are transferred to a high-security fortress, they must concoct a plan to escape ben...

Tampopo (1985) directed by Juzo Itami Two Japanese milk-truck drivers (Tsutomu Yamazaki, Ken Watanabe) help a restaurant owner (Nobuko Miyamoto) learn how to cook great noodles. This is The Recommendation Game, a bi-weekly podcast where two film lovers take turns to recommend a film the other has not seen, they watch and then skype to discuss it. Spoilers are a given. We are Ricardo Deakin and Orl...

Floating Weeds (1959) directed by Yasujirō Ozu The head of a Japanese theatre troupe returns to a small coastal town where he left a son who thinks he is his uncle, and tries to make up for the lost time, but his current mistress grows jealous. This is The Recommendation Game, a bi-weekly podcast where two film lovers take turns to recommend a film the other has not seen, they watch and then skype...

The Guardian (2006) directed by Andrew Davis Champion swimmer Jake learns the true meaning of heroism and sacrifice when he meets Ben Randall. After enduring a horrific storm and losing his crew, Ben is sent to train more swimmers at an academy. This is The Recommendation Game, a bi-weekly podcast where two film lovers take turns to recommend a film the other has not seen, they watch and then skyp...

The Philadelphia Story (1940) directed by George Cukor This classic romantic comedy focuses on Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn), a Philadelphia socialite who has split from her husband, C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant), due both to his drinking and to her overly demanding nature. As Tracy prepares to wed the wealthy George Kittredge (John Howard), she crosses paths with both Dexter and prying reporter...

The Assistant (2019) directed by Kitty Green. Jane, a recent college graduate and aspiring film producer, just landed her dream job as a junior assistant to a powerful entertainment mogul. Her day is much like any other assistant -- making coffee, ordering lunch, arranging travel accommodations and taking phone messages. But as Jane follows her daily routine, she grows increasingly aware of the ab...

The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019) directed by Joe Talbot. Jimmie Fails, a young man, dreams of being a permanent resident of San Francisco and seeks his friend Montgomery's help to regain an ancient home built by his grandfather. This is The Recommendation Game, a bi-weekly podcast where two film lovers take turns to recommend a film the other has not seen, they watch and then skype to di...

Minding the Gap (2018) Directed by Bing Liu Three young men bond through skateboarding to escape their volatile family life in their Rust Belt home town. As they face their adult responsibilities, some unexpected revelations threaten their decade-long friendship. This is The Recommendation Game, a bi-weekly podcast where two film lovers take turns to recommend a film the other has not seen, they w...

Stories We Tell (2012) Directed by Sarah Polley Acclaimed actor and filmmaker Sarah Polley delves into the mysteries of her own family and identity—and uncovers a shocking secret—in this riveting, fearlessly personal autobiographical hybrid work. Interweaving interviews with family members and friends with Super 8 home movies, Polley crafts a slippery, multilayered investigation into family lore a...

Between the Lines (1977) directed by Joan Micklin Silver. At the offices of a Boston alternative newspaper, the staff members enjoy a positive and open-minded work environment. Music critic Max (Jeff Goldblum) uses his influence to score dates, while news reporter Harry (John Heard) is dating the lovely Abbie (Lindsay Crouse), the publication's lead photographer. However, it seems as though their...

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) directed by Frank Capra. Cary Grant stars as the one sane member of a charmingly lunatic family in Frank Capra’s classic comedy. When Mortimer Brewster (Grant) brings his new bride to meet his two kindly aunts, he discovers that, among many other acts of charity, the two genteel ladies help lonely old men die happy . . . by feeding them a wonderful meal before poisoning...

Collective (2019) directed by Alexander Nanau. Journalists uncover health care fraud in the wake of a deadly nightclub fire in Bucharest, Romania, in 2015. This is The Recommendation Game, a bi-weekly podcast where two film lovers take turns to recommend a film the other has not seen, they watch and then skype to discuss it. Spoilers are a given. We are Ricardo Deakin and Orla McNelis, two filmy t...

Tokyo Godfathers (2003) directed by Satoshi Kon Middle-aged alcoholic Gin (Darren Pleavin), teenage runaway Miyuki (Candice Moore) and former drag queen Hana (Myrta Dangelo) are a trio of homeless people surviving as a makeshift family on the streets of Tokyo. While rummaging in the trash for food on Christmas Eve, they stumble upon an abandoned newborn baby in a trash bin. With only a handful of...