Uncut Gems Podcast

In this episode of the show we are officially launching our Shapeshifters and Body Snatchers series by talking about the 1951 classic, The Thing from Another World . Over the course of our chat you will hear us talk about the struggles of early science-fiction with embracing visual storytelling, how the movie carries over some aspects of a screwball comedy perhaps to its own detriment, how it coul...

Here's a short teaser of our brand new Patreon-exclusive episode of Uncut Gems Retrospectives, a monthly series where we pick a handful of movies tied around a specific theme, a filmmaker or an actor and have an honest chat about them. This month we are tying our retrospective to our upcoming Shapeshifters and Body Snatchers series by talking about three movies playing within the template left beh...

In this episode of the show we are observing May the 4th celebrations (albeit a bit late) by talking about the 1980 Roger Corman-produced knock-off of Star Wars , namely Battle Beyond the Stars . Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about the film's various connections to Lucas' movie, how it draws directly from Kurosawa, Sturges and even the Greek mythology, all in addition t...

Here's a short teaser of our brand new Patreon-exclusive episode of Uncut Gems Tie-ins, a monthly series where we take a classic movie and connect it to a film discussed on our main show. This month we are tying into our upcoming string of episodes tentatively titled Shapeshifters and Body Snatchers, as we are talking about the Philip Kaufman-directed 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers...

In this episode of the show we are marking the anniversary of Sir Alfred Hitchcock's passing by talking about one of his arguably lesser known works, namely Lifeboat . Over the course of our deep and meandering conversation you will hear us talk about the film's single-location gimmick, various bits of drama on set, Canada Lee's magnificent performance, the film functioning both as an anti-Nazi pr...

In this episode of the show we are talking about Mandy , a wildly impressionistic revenge thriller directed by Panos Cosmatos. Over the course of our wildly unhinged conversation you will hear us talk about Nicolas Cage's untamed persona, the film functioning as an arthouse horror, the logic of fantasy interweaving with reality, long takes of people walking through forests, forging cool-looking ax...

Here's a short teaser of the third episode of our Patreon-exclusive show Uncut Gems Marathons where each year we will pick one director and, one by one, discuss their entire filmography. For 2022 we have chosen to dive deep into the cinema of David Lynch and in April we are continuing this journey by discussing Blue Velvet . Over the course of our deep and meandering conversation you will hear us...

In this episode of the show we are talking about Cobra , a Stallone-starring violent thriller directed by George P. Cosmatos. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about the cheesy goodness that are Cannon films, use of songs whose lyrics describe what's happening on the screen, The Night Slasher as a villain, Stallone's abundant one-liners, earnest comedy permeating the movie...

Here's a short teaser of our brand new Patreon-exclusive episode of Uncut Gems Retrospectives, a monthly series where we pick a handful of movies tied around a specific theme, a filmmaker or an actor and have an honest chat about them. This month we are talking about three movies arguably inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window , namely Number 37 , Disturbia and Body Double . Over the course of...

In this episode of the show we are discussing Red Dawn and Invasion USA , two mid-1980s action thrillers about Soviets invading America. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about the importance of giving personality to characters in an ensemble, whether Red Dawn is a cult classic or not, pondering whether real-life pyrotechnics are enough to elevate a movie, if Chuck Norris k...

Here's a short teaser of our brand new Patreon-exclusive episode of Uncut Gems Tie-ins, a monthly series where we take a classic movie and connect it to a film discussed on our main show. This month we are celebrating the memory of Sir Alfred Hitchcock by talking about one of his perennial classics, Rear Window . This is in connection to an episode of the main show coming out towards the end of th...

In this episode of the show we close our EPALMARCH series a.k.a. 4 DECADES OF DE PALMA by talking about The Black Dahlia , a neo noir adaptation of a James Ellroy novel that ultimately led to De Palma leaving Hollywood for good. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about the noir elements of the story, its multiple narrative problems, James Ellroy's place in the process of ada...

Here's a short teaser of the third episode of our Patreon-exclusive show Uncut Gems Marathons where each year we will pick one director and, one by one, discuss their entire filmography. For 2022 we have chosen to dive deep into the cinema of David Lynch and in March we are continuing this journey by discussing Dune . Over the course of our awesome chat you will hear us talk about the trials and t...

In this episode of the show we carry on with our DEPALMARCH series a.k.a. 4 DECADES OF DE PALMA by moving up to the 90s to talk about his 1998 outing Snake Eyes . Over the course of our discussion you will hear us talk about De Palma's indulgences, the well-known single-take sequence, Nicolas Cage's energy, subtle Hitchcockian references, Gary Sinise's charisma, the mysteriously missing original e...

In this episode of the show we continue our DEPALMARCH marathon also known as 4 DECADES OF DE PALMA by moving up a decade from the 70s to the 80s in order to talk about arguably one of Brian De Palma's most controversial movies, Dressed to Kill . Over the course of our discussion you will hear us talk about De Palma's directorial prowess and a knack for crafting memorable set pieces elevate the mo...

Here's a short teaser of our brand new Patreon-exclusive episode of Uncut Gems Retrospectives, a monthly series where we pick a handful of movies tied around a specific theme, a filmmaker or an actor and have an honest chat about them. This month we decided to talk about Dario Argento in connection to our Depalmarch marathon. Out of his vast filmography spanning multiple decades we chose three of...

In this episode of the show we embark on our DEPALMARCH marathon also known as 4 DECADES OF DE PALMA where we will pick four films directed by Brian De Palma and give them a fair shake. We begin with a conversation about his 1974 absurdist horror rock opera Phantom of the Paradise . Over the course of our chat you will hear us talk about the multitude of references embedded in this film, both lite...

Here's a short teaser of our brand new Patreon-exclusive episode of Uncut Gems Tie-ins, a monthly series where we take a classic movie and connect it to a film discussed on our main show. This month we decided to talk about Brian De Palma's Blow Out in connection to our upcoming series on his movies, the first one of which is going to be released this coming Friday! Subscribe to our patreon at pat...

In this episode of the show we once again dive head-first into the dumpster of cinema to look for unwanted treasures, as we talk about Showgirls , a highly controversial cult classic, universally derided upon its release that only recently has gained some much needed attention. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about this movie being a misunderstood satire and a commentary...

In this episode of the show we are joined by Carson Timar and Kyle Krieghbaum in what turned out to be one bizarro chat about Tom Hooper's infamous adaptation of Cats . Over the course of our discussion that eventually veers off the rails you will hear us argue about what went wrong with the production of the film, whether it was the right decision to make Cats realistic, if the film should be enj...

Here's a short teaser of the second episode of our Patreon-exclusive show Uncut Gems Marathons where each year we will pick one director and, one by one, discuss their entire filmography. For 2022 we have chosen to dive deep into the cinema of David Lynch and in February we are continuing this journey by discussing The Elephant Man . Over the course of our discussion you will hear us wonder if the...

In this episode of the show we are joined by Alina Faulds and Carson Timar to talk about Mamma Mia and its sequel Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again . Over the course of our heated discussion you will hear us spar over the subjective quality of these movies, their objective place in the pantheon of best musicals ever made, the idea of a jukebox musical as a whole, whether these movies are something more...

Here's a short teaser of our brand new Patreon-exclusive episode of Uncut Gems Retrospectives, a monthly series where we pick a handful of movies tied around a specific theme, a filmmaker or an actor and have an honest chat about them. This month we chose to talk about musicals (partly in conjunction with an upcoming short series of musical-themed episodes coming to the main show) with a small twi...

In this episode of the show we are discussing Sofia Coppola's Somewhere , arguably her most underrated directorial outing. Over the course of our sprawling, deep and layered conversation we comment on the criticism levelled at Coppola every time she makes a movie, her innate talent to show and not tell, and her ability to draw from her own life experiences in an incredibly relatable manner among o...

Here's a short teaser of our brand new Patreon-exclusive episode of Uncut Gems Tie-ins, a monthly series where we take a classic movie and connect it to a film discussed on our main show. This month we chose Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard , a genre-bending mash-up of noir and romance filled with layered meta commentary, as a tie-in to our upcoming episode on Sofia Coppola's Somewhere , which airs...