Vampyr (1932; Dir.: Carl Theodor Dreyer) Canon Fodder Episode 26 Although it was booed upon its 1932 premiere and played to hostile crowds during its initial release, time has been kind to Carl Dreyer’s Vampyr. Will Daniel and Corky be just as kind, or do they have a sickle to grind with this pseudo-silent horror classic? VAMPYR (1932) FACTS & FIGURES Sight & Sound  2022 Critics Poll Ranking: #146 (tied) Berlin premiere: May 6, 1932 IMDB synopsis: “A drifter obsessed with the...

Sullivan’s Travels (1941; Dir.: Preston Sturges) Canon Fodder Episode 25 Film critic Daniel Barnes and comedy legend Corky McDonnell review comedy legend Preston Sturges’ legendary comedy about a comedy legend who just wants to impress film critics. Sullivan’s Travels exists as a meta-resolution of its own central conundrum, a nearly perfect synergy of madcap comedy, non-didactic social commentary and even a little sex in the form of Veronica Lake. But did Daniel and Corky go along for the...

Mouchette (1967; Dir.: Robert Bresson) Canon Fodder Episode 24 Daniel and Corky continue their cinematic world tour with a sojourn to the French countryside, which is apparently not as idyllic as those Expedia ads would have you believe. It’s our third round with French master Robert Bresson, with nonprofessional actor Nadine Nortier giving an unforgettable performance in the title role. But will Mouchette inspire Canon fire, or was it all a touch too Mouch? MOUCHETTE FACTS &...

The Headless Woman (2008; Dir.: Lucrecia Martel) Canon Fodder Episode 23 Daniel and Corky continue their world tour with a stop in Argentina to sample the Salta-flavored cinema of Lucrecia Martel. But will your hosts lose their heads with praise for The Headless Woman, or are they truly out of their heads? THE HEADLESS WOMAN FACTS & FIGURES Sight & Sound  2022 Critics Poll Ranking: #196 (tied) Cannes Film Festival premiere: May 21, 2008 IMDB synopsis: “After hitting something...

In a Lonely Place (1950; Dir.: Nicholas Ray) Canon Fodder Episode 22 This week, Daniel and Corky are In a Lonely Place, a fine enough place to visit but you wouldn’t want to have an existential crisis there. The jaded and cynical flipside to the lovingly ecstatic portrait of Hollywood mythmaking offered by Singin’ in the Rain, Nicholas Ray’s is a bleak yet sensual film noir that refuses to indulge in any cliched genre trappings. But will your hosts join the coalition of the Lonely in...

Singin’ in the Rain (1952; Dir.: Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly) Canon Fodder Episode 21 Daniel “The Royal Rascal” Barnes and Corky “The Dancing Cavalier” McDonnell gotta review  the iconic Singin’ in the Rain. But will this rainbow program put your hosts in a buttercup mood, or will they succumb to the dolors of winter? SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN FACTS & FIGURES Sight & Sound  2022 Critics Poll Ranking: #10 World premiere: March 27, 1952 IMDB synopsis: “A silent film star falls for a...

In the Mood for Love (2000; Dir.: Wong Kar-wai) Canon Fodder Episode 20 Your hosts are in the mood for a sumptuously beautiful yet melancholy and mysterious masterpiece. Hong Kong legend Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love would seem to fit the bill, but will your hosts love it enough to make the canon roar? IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE FACTS & FIGURES Sight & Sound  2022 Critics Poll Ranking: #5 Cannes Film Festival premiere: May 20, 2000 IMDB synopsis: “Two neighbors form a strong...

Wanda (1970; Dir.: Barbara Loden) Canon Fodder Episode 19 On this episode, your hosts Wanda, Wanda who, who-oo-ooh, who, who wrote the book of love. Probably not Barbara Loden, who struck the mother Loden of bleakly pathetic romances with her groundbreaking and brilliant 1970 film Wanda. But will Corky and Daniel succumb to their Wanda-lust, or is their something wrong with their Wanda-vision? WANDA FACTS & FIGURES Sight & Sound  2022 Critics Poll Ranking: #48 (tied) Venice Film...

News from Home (1976; Dir.: Chantal Akerman) Canon Fodder Episode 18 Homesick Belgo-philes Daniel and Corky anxiously await News from Home. But does Akerman’s film have the mussels to keep your hosts from waffling? NEWS FROM HOME FACTS & FIGURES Sight & Sound  2022 Critics Poll Ranking: #52 French theatrical premiere: June 8, 1977 IMDB synopsis: “Impersonal and beautiful images of Akerman’s life in New York are combined with letters from her loving but manipulative mother, read...

The Wild Bunch (1969; Dir.: Sam Peckinpah) Canon Fodder Episode 17 Aging cinephile Daniel and Corky face off against Sam Peckinpah’s violently apocalyptic western classic. But did the film drive your hosts wild, or did it get their panties in a bunch? THE WILD BUNCH FACTS & FIGURES Sight & Sound  2022 Critics Poll Ranking: #136 (tied) U.S. premiere: June 18, 1969 IMDB synopsis: “An aging group of outlaws look for one last big score as the “traditional” American West is...

Taste of Cherry (1997; Dir.: Abbas Kiarostami) Canon Fodder Episode 16 On this week’s episode, Daniel and Corky drive through the streets of Sacramento looking for someone to help them unlock the secrets of Abbas Kiarostami’s Palme d’Or winner. But will your hosts cherish their Taste of Cherry or decide that it’s the pits? TASTES OF CHERRY FACTS & FIGURES Sight & Sound  2022 Critics Poll Ranking: #243 (tied) World premiere: May 16, 1997 (Cannes Film Festival) IMDB synopsis: “An...

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943; Dir.: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger) Canon Fodder Episode 15 On this week’s episode, old battle axes Daniel and Corky trade war stories with The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. But does this decades-spanning intimate epic from The Archers hit its target or miss the mark? THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP FACTS & FIGURES Sight & Sound  2022 Critics Poll Ranking: #196 (tied) UK theatrical debut: June 10, 1943 IMDB synopsis:...

The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928; Dir.: Carl Theodor Dreyer) Canon Fodder Episode 14 Daniel and Corky revisit Danish dandy Carl Dreyer with this review of his 1928 silent masterpiece. But do your hosts have a passion for Joan of Arc, or are they passin’ on Joan of Arc? THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC FACTS & FIGURES Sight & Sound  2022 Critics List Ranking: #21 (tied) Danish theatrical debut: April 21, 1928 IMDB synopsis:“In 1431, Jeanne d’Arc is placed on trial on charges of heresy....

Do the Right Thing (1989; Dir.: Spike Lee) Canon Fodder Episode 13 On a temperate day on separate streets in various sections of Sacramento, Corky and Daniel’s agreement about the brilliance of Do the Right Thing smolders and builds until it explodes into canon fire. DO THE RIGHT THING FACTS & FIGURES Sight & Sound  2022 Critics List Ranking: #24 U.S. theatrical debut: June 30, 1989 IMDB synopsis: “On the hottest day of the year on a street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of...

Los Olvidados (1950; Dir.: Luis Buñuel) Canon Fodder Episode 12 Your hardly young but certainly damned hosts Daniel and Corky review Luis Buñuel’s surrealistic neo-Realist classic. LOS OLVIDADOS FACTS & FIGURES Sight & Sound  2022 Critics List Ranking: #157 (tied) Mexican theatrical debut: Nov. 9, 1950 IMDB synopsis: “A group of juvenile delinquents live a violent and crime-filled life in the festering slums of Mexico City, as the morals of young Pedro are gradually corrupted...

Pickpocket (1959; Dir.: Robert Bresson) Canon Fodder Episode 11 We wish we knew how to quit you, Robert Bresson! Daniel and Corky get their Bresson on with a review of the French master’s 1959 masterpiece Pickpocket. Will the film steal your host’s hearts, or will it leave them feeling ripped off? PICKPOCKET FACTS & FIGURES Sight & Sound  2022 Critics List Ranking: #136 (tied) French theatrical debut: Dec. 16, 1959 IMDB synopsis: “Michel passes the time by picking pockets,...

Ordet (1955; Dir.: Carl Theodor Dreyer) Canon Fodder Episode 10 We’ve got Danes on our brains this week on the Canon Fodder podcast! Daniel and Corky review Danish master Carl Dreyer’s acclaimed Ordet, a story of spiritual schisms both internal and external. But can anyone repair the schism between Daniel and Corky after this episode? ORDET FACTS & FIGURES Sight & Sound  2022 Critics List Ranking: #48 (tied) Danish theatrical debut: Jan. 10, 1955 IMDB synopsis: “Follows the...

PlayTime (1967; Dir.: Jacques Tati) Canon Fodder Episode 9 After a string of thematically heavy films, the Random Number Generator Gods decided Daniel and Corky were due for a little playtime. French auteur Jacques Tati’s landmark comedy epic PlayTime, that is! But will your hosts swing PlayTime into the Canon Fodder canon, or will it slide into oblivion? PLAYTIME FACTS & FIGURES Sight & Sound  2022 Critics List Ranking: #23 French Theatrical debut: Dec. 16, 1967 IMDB synopsis:...

A Man Escaped (1956; Dir.: Robert Bresson) Canon Fodder Episode 8 Daniel and Corky continue their world tour through the masterpieces of cinema by reviewing French auteur Robert Bresson’s gripping prison drama. Will your hosts man up and Canon-ize the film, or will its appeal escape them? A MAN ESCAPED FACTS & FIGURES Sight & Sound  2022 Critics List Ranking: #95 (tied) Theatrical debut: Nov. 11, 1956 IMDB synopsis: “A captured French Resistance fighter during WWII engineers a...

Dare Daniel Presents: Canon Fodder – Episode 7 Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974; Dir.: Rainer Werner Fassbinder) Mismatched duo Daniel and Corky buck all society’s rules by putting schnitzel on their strudel  to review German wunderkind Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Ali: Fear Eats the Soul.  But will your hosts Canon-ize this 1974 classic, or will they throw sauerkraut in its bauernbrot? ALI: FEAR EATS THE SOUL FACTS & FIGURES Sight & Sound  2022 Critics List Ranking: #52 (tied) West...

Dare Daniel Presents: Canon Fodder – Episode 6 By the Bluest of Seas (1936; Dir.: Boris Barnet) Shipwrecked cinephiles Daniel and Corky are whisked away to a collectivist paradise by Boris Barnet’s ebullient musical comedy. But will your hosts deem this enchantingly effervescent slice of vile Communist propaganda Canon-worthy, or will they blast it out of the water? BY THE BLUEST OF SEAS  FACTS & FIGURES Sight & Sound  2022 Critics List Ranking: #211 (tied) IMDB synopsis: “Two...

Dare Daniel Presents: Canon Fodder – Episode 5 Battleship Potemkin (1925; Dir.: Sergei Eisenstein) Daniel and Corky talk montages, meat, maggots, mutinies and more in their review of the iconic Soviet silent masterpiece Battleship Potemkin. BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN  FACTS & FIGURES Theatrical debut: Dec. 21, 1925 Sight & Sound  2022 Critics List Ranking: #54 (tied) IMDB synopsis: “In the midst of the Russian Revolution of 1905, the crew of the battleship Potemkin mutiny against the...

Dare Daniel Presents: Canon Fodder – Episode 4 Bicycle Thieves (1948; Dir.: Vittorio De Sica) Daniel and Corky walk the streets of Sacramento in a futile search for a film more achingly beautiful than the Italian Neo-Realist masterpiece Bicycle Thieves. BICYCLE THIEVES  FACTS & FIGURES Theatrical debut: Nov. 24, 1948 Sight & Sound  2022 Critics List Ranking: #41 (tied) IMDB synopsis: “In post-war Italy, a working-class man’s bicycle is stolen, endangering his efforts to find...

Dare Daniel Presents: Canon Fodder – Episode 3 The Exterminating Angel (1962; Dir.: Luis Buñuel) Daniel and Corky enjoy their descent into madness and despair courtesy of Luis Buñuel’s surrealist satire The Exterminating Angel. THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL (1962) FACTS & FIGURES Cannes Film Festival debut: May 16, 1962 Sight & Sound  2022 Critics List Ranking: #169 [tied] IMDB synopsis: “The guests at an upper-class dinner party find themselves unable to leave.” CLIPS AND...