Because there's about to be a new edition of the Sight & Sound poll for the Greatest Films of All-Time, we decided to tell you what our top ten lists are. Probably not a lot of surprises. But there could be spoilers!  (Also, Bob's uncertain if he numbered Mark's movies correctly since he did go out of order and didn't mention the rank consistently each time.) 00:10 We've got jokes in the intro 02:04 How Bob ranks movies (spoiler: he's a big dork) 03:59 Baseball-Reference.com! 04:53 How...

Bob finally breaks down Mark's resolve and gets him to watch a handful of Ozu films. Will their podcast partnership survive? No, seriously though, Bob is a big enthusiast of Ozu's films and Mark does watch them for the first time. Is he similarly enthralled? Repulsed? Indifferent? You'll have to listen to find out. Though all the movies in question are more than 50 years old, if you're worried about spoilers, THEY ABOUND! 00:10 Salutations and Bob still can't remember which episode number it...

This week we're back in our bag and talking about whether or not the Best Picture winner from the 2015 Oscars deserved the win.  Even though these are not quite 10 years old, we still spoil them with abandon! Enjoy! 00:10 Bob's worst intro ever 02:01 Why 2014? 03:50 How many of the 8 nominees did we see? 06:21 Birdman! 09:33 Navel-gazing perspective 12:30 We're actors! We're the opposite of people. 15:05 Fame at the highest levels 19:47 Chicago! 20:09 Birdman verdicts 22:13 Hail, Caesar!...

It was topical and au courant when we recorded it, but not now! Yes, we took a look at the first two episodes of The Rings of Power. We're a bit divided on our opinions, but our conclusions aren't that far apart. We spoil things, I guess? But there isn't much that happens and it's only the first two episodes and we're now five episodes in, so... Show notes! 00:00 Television instead of films 02:10 Filling in for the lost Hobbit episode 04:25 The history of Middle-Earth leading up to the...

We tentatively approach television for the first time in the last episode where Mark is still in Europe. It's another shorter one, but you have to expect that once in a while. They can't all be 90 minutes. 0:45 Mark again graciously records in the middle of the night from Europe 1:20 Trekkie or Trekker? Bob and Mark don't care. 3:30 Sub-genres of Trek and Mark's ranking of them 6:06 Bob's ranking of the Trek sub-genres 7:41 The primary movie at issue 8:10 Bob defends 9:20 The best defense is...

Guess who's back? No, not Shady, it's Mark. He's back in the US now, but he was still in Europe though back on the podcast for this episode. We discuss the brilliant work of Nicolas Cage in the movie Pig. It's a bit shorter than our usual episode, but maybe you'll prefer that. Like we've done in the past with single movie episodes (well, at least once) this has about 12 minutes of relatively spoiler-free discussion before we get down to brass tacks. SPOILERS BEGIN at 12:40! You have been...

Chris (@4thClassOfficer on the Twitter Dot Com) returns as guest host on this, the second half of the discussion about the best films of 1954. You don't want to miss his insights (from personal naval experience) on The Caine Mutiny. We also talk about Sabrina, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, The Country Girl and other things as well.  SPOILERS ABOUND! But of course. (Notes still pending since I was already late publishing.) Note: Oscar® and Academy Awards® are the trademarks and service...

This episode features a couple firsts. Not only is it part one of a two part episode (the conversation lasted about 2 hours, so we'll split it up), but this features our first guest on the podcast. Chris joins Bob (you might know him as @4thClassOfficer on the Twitter Dot Com) to discuss the best films of 1954. Perhaps a bit of disagreement? Certainly an in-depth conversation, given the duration. Bob was fighting a cold, which makes his voice deteriorate over the course of the podcast, and...

It's another episode we recorded well ahead of time (you'll notice easily enough when Bob gets the episode number wrong and fails to know that we'll use this format with The Northman and The Batman), but this was one that was particularly fun. The spoilers on this are heavy throughout, and we really suggest strongly that you watch the movie first. It's a good one, and it's worth seeing unspoilt. Music: Intro and Outro music excerpted without alteration other than length and volume from...

This podcast was recorded a couple months ago in preparation for Mark being out of the country. As we mention in the beginning, we just ended up having a meandering conversation about film generally because we were off our usual schedule. If you're not a fan, well, all the jokes can't be good. You have to expect that once in a while. 00:10 Intro (in which Mark calls Bob obscene and it is revealed that the topic was chosen at the last minute) 2:56 Introspective interlude about the nature of...

We enjoyed talking about a current film so much a couple weeks ago that we did it again. Better movie though, this time around. Once again, if you're going to see this, we do spoil the whole dang thing!  But if you've been listening for a while, you expect that. Also like our last episode, we do delay spoiling it in a serious way for a few minutes, so if you want to hear our synopsis and initial thoughts, you can listen and get warned before the spoilers get serious. Enjoy! Introduction...

Back at it again, but this time with a new and clever twist! Instead of looking at older films, we both saw The Batman and decided to talk about it. Mark was considerably more exercised than Bob, perhaps a less frequent occurrence, but not unknown to science. We do spoil the movie, but you can at least listen to the first 12 minutes or so and get a taste before stopping to see the movie yourself, should your inclinations so tend. Since it's a week for new things, we're also trying out some...

This episode we make an effort, half-hearted though it may be, at being au courant. In honor of the recent Academy Awards we take a look back at the Oscars from 30 years ago and re-evaluate the winners and losers. If it's not a ridiculous notion for movies this old, we spoil each and every one! The Silence of the LambsJFKThe Prince of TidesBugsyBeauty and the Beast A few other films come up in the course of conversation as well. Cape Fear (and the original from 1962)The AviatorNight of...

This episode we decided to tackle some of our favorite films in languages other than English. It's not, strictly speaking, a top 5 list since we make an effort at variety as much as anything and Bob leaves Ozu off his list entirely. (He's still holding out for an entire episode dedicated to Ozu!) Because it's countdown episode, no listings for the films. In this, as ever was and ever will be, we spoil the movies to various degrees and in various ways. If we list a title you're meaning to see,...

In a twist on what we've done before, this episode is a free-wheeling discussion of the career and films of Paul Giamatti. Which is not to say that we claim to be experts, but the idea of discussing one actor's career just sounded like fun. It's lighter on spoilers than our usual fare, but though the chances of Bob and Mark spoiling a movie might be low, they are never zero! Normally this would be the place that we list off the movies under discussion... But not this episode. You'll just...

We're staying in the current century for another episode and talking about the 2005 Best Picture. It's been nearly 20 years, so there are spoilers a-plenty! We go ahead and even spoil a film that wasn't a nominee. On the whole we consider the nominees to have been a weaker group than usual and would have preferred other movies. We criticize all the nominees (Bob goes ahead makes critical comments about the one he didn't see), but we mostly try to be fair.  Million Dollar BabyFinding...

This episode we're back in fine form (an hour and a quarter) talking about the Best Picture nominees for the 2003 Oscars. This is the year Chicago walked away with most of the accolades and left Scorcese and Gangs of New York thinking about what might have been. Be warned! We spoil many movies, perhaps not only the Oscar nominees! It will surprise no one who's listened to even a single episode that we're not big fans of the year's winner, but we diverge significantly in which film we'd pick...

No links to movies this week (you know how to use the internet, it's not like you really need us to hold your hand here), because we're counting down our favorite(?) rom-coms in honor of Valentine's Day. We hope you'll be able to find a good selection to watch with that special someone tomorrow even though the episode is up a day late. (Who are we kidding? You're all a bunch of animals who don't watch physical media any longer! You can stream any of these you like any time you like.) But!...

Bob's over the Covids, Mark's moved in to his new place and we're back on that cinema grind. Moving only 2 years ahead from last week's episode, we take on 10 films from the 2011 Oscars with the expansion of the pool in the Best Picture category. (Okay, if we're being honest, it's really more like 6 or something since we didn't watch them all, and we gave short-shrift to a couple that only one of us watched. We're still liable to spoil them for you, however, so listener beware!) Nominees: The...

This episode we tackle the Best Picture nominees (and a few more besides) from the 2009 Oscars. (Or is it 2008?) We spoil all kinds of movies, so listen with a wary ear if you're eagerly looking forward to any of the below! Bob is very pleased that he recognized Danny Boyle to be the director of both Slumdog Millionaire and Trainspotting and has added this note to brag about it. Slumdog MillionaireMilkThe Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonFrost/NixonThe ReaderThe VisitorThe WrestlerThe Dark...

If it's not one thing, it's another. Bob got his audio issues sorted, but discovered while getting this episode ready that he lost his audio for the third and final Hobbit episode. After talking it over, we've decided that we really don't want to spend the time to do it again (for a few reasons). If you've been enjoying it, we do apologize, but at some level you get what you pay for.  :) This episode consists of our top 5 Christmas movies for each of us, but as befits a holiday/celebratory...

Back at it again with the second of three episodes on The Hobbit cinematic universe. Once again we are here to spoil this movie for you in multiple senses of the word. You will both be told what happens and why it is terrible. Prepare yourself! Also, Bob had some real trouble (with a capital T!) with his audio and while it's...okay? You might not find it up to our usual standard. We'll remedy that next time around.   If you're new in these here parts, allow us to suggest you check out our...

At the behest of a listener, we bring you the first of three installments on the three... Three? (Is that right? That can't be right. Huh.) On the three Hobbit films. We are unsparing both of our criticism and spoilers. If you fear either, beware. Check out our episodes on The Lord of the Rings. Probably ought to do that first, because they do come before The Hobbit. Well, cinematically, anyway. The Fellowship of the RingThe Two TowersThe Return of the KingThe Hobbit: An Unexpected...

This week, as promised, we're talking about great directors who never received an Oscar honoring them for their work in that role. Mark takes on Kubrick and Bob tackles Hitchcock and we recap a few of their movies and discuss which movies gave them their best shot and where maybe they should have actually won. Fewer spoilers, perhaps, but beware! because we're cinematic honey-badgers! We don't care! Stanley Kubrick Alfred Hitchcock Not a lot of links in the notes this week. So it...

In honor of the Great Pumpkin, this episode is all about scary movies. Well,  kinda. Unnerving movies maybe. Okay, Bob's a wimp when it comes to the horror genre and Mark's better, but neither is an aficionado. But we bite the bullet and talk about the movies we like the most that are closest to this genre even if not strictly within it. We avoid spoilers for the last two films, but by and large if you're frightened of learning the twist ahead of time, you might want to steer clear. All...