The Sleepless Cinematic Podcast

Emilio, Madeline, and Julian are joined by drummer Rob Mitzner to begin a new episode cycle on films featuring winners of the Best Supporting Actor or Actress Oscars, with a "View-nanimous" entry on director Damien Chazelle's 2014 breakthrough film, "Whiplash." Starring Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons, the latter of whom won the requisite Oscar, the film memorably portrays s...

Emilio, Julian, and Madeline wrap up their “Holiday Suggestion/Gift Box” mini-cycle with Satoshi Kon’s penultimate work, “Tokyo Godfathers” (2003). Rather than gold, frankincense, and myrrh, our three hosts come bearing different personal histories with the art form of anime. They discuss the benefits and challenges of this storytelling medium, and dive into the burning questions: were the actions...

For Round 2 of our "Holiday Gift/Suggestion Box" mini-cycle, Emilio selects 'Home Alone', the 1990 Christmas holiday classic directed by Chris Columbus and starring Macaulay Culkin, Catherine O'Hara, Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern.  It's a first watch for Julian, a rewatch for Madeline, and a welcome return visit from our pal Jamie Homs, a musician extraordinaire and soci...

For a bonus episode this week, Madeline, Emilio and Julian call on some buddies to help them process and deepen their initial appreciation of the highly anticipated, record breaking movie of the moment, 'Wicked'!  After sharing their first reactions to the film, the group welcomes pals and Oz experts EmKay and Tara from Down the Yellow Brick Pod to get their thoughts, assessments of what...

Julian, Madeline, and Emilio kick off their "Holiday Suggestion Box" episode cycle by discussing "Carol" (2015), the great Christmastime-set queer romance directed by Todd Haynes, holding up his title as the most-covered director on the podcast. A re-watch for Madeline and Julian and a first-time viewing for Emilio, the group discuss such topics as the film's status as an...

To end their "Politics" cycle, Madeline, Julian and Emilio put a different spin on their Close Up episode format by looking at three different actors' portrayal of one real-life political figure, former President Richard M. Nixon.  The group welcomes in another Richard - Madeline's dad! - a retired history teacher and Watergate buff, to give these films and performances some im...

Madeline, Julian, and Emilio welcome NYC-based comedian, writer, and actress Sydney Duncan to continue their "Politics" episode cycle with a "Two-Shot" discussion on 1969's "Medium Cool" (dir. Haskell Wexler) and 1975's "Shampoo" (dir. Hal Ashby). Though differing on surface level, the two films bear striking similarities in their portrayals of apa...

For their Politics-related "Suggestion Box", Madeline, Emilio, and Julian invite social media professional and film lover Maggie Hill to a conversation about Elia Kazan's 'A Face In The Crowd', a film from 1957 whose observations about television, mass persuasion, and political ambition seem more relevant today than ever.  Emilio starts the discussion with how the filmmake...

Madeline, Julian, and Emilio mark this year's Halloween season with a bonus conversation on George A. Romero's genre-defining 1968 Horror film "Night of the Living Dead." A first-time viewing for each of them, the group trace the details of the film that have made far-reaching ripples in the Horror genre and Zombie subgenre ever since, aided by Madeline's comprehensive wal...

Emilio, Madeline, and Julian continue their "Politics" episode cycle with a "Mise-Unseen" entry on Barry Levinson's 1997 film "Wag the Dog," and are joined to do so by special guest Idris Goodwin - a playwright, educator, fellow cinephile, and significant role model from Emilio's Chicago upbringing. The group get into the movie by discussing its place in the...

To usher in a new cycle on "Politics", Julian, Emilio and Madeline soft pedal their way into the theme by way of discussing Jared Hess's 2004 debut feature film 'Napoleon Dynamite', a high school movie featuring socially maladjusted yet charming teenagers, tater tots, rural Idaho, airborne food, fraudulent internet purchases, non-fraudulent internet dating, and yes, an ele...

To close out the "Musicians on Film" cycle, Julian, Madeline and Emilio dig into the work of ace songwriter Adam Schlesinger, focusing on catchy pop songs he penned for three films - 'That Thing You Do!' (1996), 'Josie and the Pussycats' (2001), and 'Music and Lyrics' (2007).  Emilio and Julian break out guitars to point out some of the little details from e...

Madeline, Julian, and Emilio continue their "Musicians on Film" episode cycle with a "Two-Shot" entry on a pair of unforgettable cinematic portrayals of Bob Dylan, namely D. A. Pennebaker's trailblazing 1967 documentary "Dont Look Back" (apostrophe not included),  and Todd Haynes' kaleidoscopic 2007 film "I'm Not There." As two of many films o...

For the Suggestion Box entry to the "Musicians on Film" cycle, Julian, Madeline and Emilio emerge from seed pods and go one louder for a conversation about 'This is Spinal Tap', Rob Reiner's hilarious and influential mockumentary from 1984 chronicling the US tour of England's loudest band.  The trio dig into the film's origins, the improvised acting, the ways in...

Julian, Madeline, and Emilio are joined by writer, performer, cultural connoisseur, and Julian's longtime friend Michaela Brady, for a bonus episode on Emerald Fennell's recent shock-laden estate film "Saltburn." Aided by Michaela's regional expertise as an alum of Oxford University (and current resident in said city), the group dive into the workings of this anti-hero-cen...

This week, Emilio, Julian, and Madeline continue their cycle about “Musicians on Film” with an oft-overlooked Spike Lee Joint, “Mo’ Better Blues” (1990). While this film may be quite a shift from “Do the Right Thing” only a year before, our hosts discuss commonalities (and possible shared universes?) between the two films and the director’s filmography at large. They discuss the film’s exploration...

For this bonus episode, Emilio, Madeline, and Julian power up a communicator and call on the presence of Mike Duquette, an out-of-this-world pop culture writer based in Astoria, NY, to discuss Steven Spielberg's evergreen classic 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'.  Mike brings his encyclopedic knowledge of all things 'E.T.' for a panoramic look at the film and its legacy.  The...

Kicking off a new episode cycle about "Musicians on Film", Julian, Emilio and Madeline hop on a three-wheeled motorcycle and revisit a movie they've previously seen and admired: Robert Altman's 1975 epic 'Nashville', a five-day, criss-crossing journey through the country music capital.  The trio do their best to make sense of the many disparate things that take place...

For this bonus episode, Julian, Madeline and Emilio reflect on the high school based films that were discussed over the last few months.  Are there any shared characteristics between them?  What about a high school setting makes for interesting, relatable stories?  Lastly, the trio assigns superlatives to several of the memorable characters from the nine films they watched.  Cutest Couple?  Life o...

Emilio, Madeline, and Julian finish off their cycle on High School Movies with a "Close-Up" on the great director Amy Heckerling, and a selection of her school-based films. The trio kick it off with 1982's "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," Heckerling's directorial debut and an unforgettable ensemble comedy/drama with a Cameron Crowe-penned script and career-defining per...

For the latest "High School" cycle episode,  Julian, Madeline and Emilio revisit two beloved "one crazy night" teen/buddy comedies, Greg Mottola's 'Superbad' and Olivia Wilde's 'Booksmart'.   The trio gets into what really works, and some of what doesn't work as well, in these two iconic films.  While there are striking (and well documented) s...

This week, Emilio, Julian, and Madeline break out the croquet mallets and slushies for a discussion of 'Heathers', the 1989 high school dark comedy starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater.  This is as formative a movie as there can be for Emilio, who can't help but speak with admiration for this cult classic.  They dig into the film's satirical approach to the subject matter...

Madeline, Julian, and Emilio are joined by guest Jamie Homs as they continue their High School Movies cycle with a "Suggestion Box" episode on the original high school musical, Randal Kleiser’s “Grease”. While Madeline and Jamie have lost count of the number of times they’ve visited Rydell High, Julian is coming in with fresh eyes as a first-time viewer! Does the magic of this bright and...

Julian, Madeline, and Emilio are joined by Lily Desmond of the band Sloppy Jane to venture into the midnight realm with a discussion on the new film "I Saw the TV Glow." The group dive into its portrayals of such themes as media obsession, personal identity crisis, and co-dependency, along with its abundance of music, aided by Lily's perspective on Sloppy Jane's presence in the...

This week, The Sleepless Cinematic Podcast joins forces with Down the Yellow Brick Pod hosts Emily Kay Shrader and Tara Tagliaferro, two of the world's leading experts on all things Oz, to discuss one of the more bizarro films ever to be influenced by 1939's classic 'The Wizard of Oz' - the third and final installment of John Waters' trash trilogy, 1977's 'Desper...