Episodes
Have you been waiting for the Mann? Well it's been over a decade since we last discussed his work back when Patrick and I mainly covered our love for both Heat & The Insider. Cut to present time, I have recruited two of my favorite returning guests to touch upon nearly every title by Michael Mann focusing on his post-Collateral output since it wasn't covered last time.  Grateful to both Ryan Verrill (The Disc-Connected) and Brian Tallerico (RogerEbert.com) for joining me for a delightful...
Published 11/25/24
Published 11/25/24
The spooky season is here! Why not indulge in the twisted fantasy worlds of one renowned, revered Mexican filmmaker by the name of Guillermo Del Toro! Of course I needed to enlist a super fan of his and I was lucky enough to have returning guest Chloe Waryan back on the show for another truly delightful discussion. Chloe may very well be my go-to guest every October (well at least for next year so we can finally talk about Mike Flanagan). Not to mention, you're in for a surprise when Chloe...
Published 10/28/24
It's been six weeks since a new episode of the show but this will be worth the wait, given not only the director we're covering but the guest is one of the best film critics working today. Letterboxd's very own Mitchell Beaupre returns after their debut a couple years ago for a nail-biting discussion on one of our premiere action-thriller directors working today. Jeremy Saulnier has a terrific new movie out on Netflix called Rebel Ridge which we review at length in addition to the rest of his...
Published 09/30/24
Couldn't be more thrilled to share the latest conversation I had with one of my favorite returning guests, actor/writer/director Keith Gordon who may remember as Arnie from John Carpenter's Christine. He's been on several times in the past to not only talk about his films and his career but particular movies he thinks you should seek out from a particular decade. In the tradition of the Pure Cinema Podcast, this is more of a back-and-forth conversation about ten titles from a list that we...
Published 08/15/24
Get it on, bang a gong, get it on! Patrick Ripoll (of 96 Greers) joins me once again, returning to discuss two horror films that left me a bit perplexed. About six years ago, I asked Patrick to come back on to review David Gordon Green's Halloween along with the Suspiria remake simply because I wanted to hear his thoughts. Upon walking out of both Longlegs and In a Violent Nature, I had that same feeling of needing Patrick to come over for a couple hours so we could hash out my thoughts (and...
Published 07/29/24
For this excursion into something besides movies, in case you didn't know, I once hosted Voices & Visions and I would recruit friend and Austin-based journalist Dan Solomon to go back 20 years to talk about a year in music - an art form that I love every bit much as film. For this summer tradition, my guests and I curate a new list of ten favorite records from a favorite year, playing snippets of certain songs and discussing our feelings about music in general. As of 2021, I decided to...
Published 07/03/24
Once again, the format has changed a little for an experiment. Not quite a magic trick if you will, but Erik and I hope to "incept" you with our collaborative ranking of a director's filmography (not a draft, repeat not a draft). Last time Erik Childress was on to talk Christopher Nolan, it was way back in 2011 - the very first year of this podcast. Now the time has come for a sequel especially since my personal favorite Nolan film came out a few years after that first recording. My love for...
Published 06/19/24
Do you remember when Bill Ackerman and I revealed our 50 favorite movies episode for the 10-year anniversary of this show?  That was Part One in what eventually has become a trilogy! Little did you know, when I briefly had a Patreon, we did a sequel that was exclusive for subscribers.  I no longer have Patreon so not only do you get Part Two (50 More Favorites) but also the newly recorded Part Three (Another 50 Favorites), both available the same day as a birthday bonus treat. All in all,...
Published 05/04/24
Do you remember when Bill Ackerman and I revealed our 50 favorite movies episode for the 10-year anniversary of this show? That was Part One in what eventually has become a trilogy! Little did you know, when I briefly had a Patreon, we did a sequel that was exclusive for subscribers.  I no longer have Patreon so not only do you get Part Two  (50 More Favorites) but also the newly recorded Part Three (Another 50 Favorites), both available the same day as a birthday bonus treat. All in all,...
Published 05/04/24
Two reasons this podcast exist: Film Junk and Patrick Ripoll. So I'm always grateful when Patrick returns since he's the OG co-host of this show. He's always doing killer work with Reg on 96 Greers that I highly recommend. But I vividly recall two moments of the past decade: his love of Clouds of Sils Maria and my love for Personal Shopper.  Made a mental note to put French filmmaker Olivier Assayas on the list of potential directors and the time has come to cover him. He will have a movie...
Published 03/25/24
The epic yearly retrospectives continue as we travel back 30 years to rewatch, reconsider and share favorites along with many memories too! Join me on this 6-hour plus journey alongside Chicago critics Erik Childress and Collin Souter. Many laughs, songs, clips, trailers, excerpts and so much more! Thank you so much for the support and for listening. And of course, thank you so much to Collin & Erik for spending time nerding out about a wide range of titles. For all the retrospective...
Published 03/07/24
When I first saw Hiroshima Mon Amour, this particular director went on the long list of names I wanted to cover. Alain Resnais is an internationally acclaimed film director, associated with both the Left Bank Group and the Nouvelle Vague. His preoccupation with the themes of time, memory and history, and his dazzling exploration of cinematographic technique, made him one of France’s most distinctive and influential filmmakers for over 60 years, inspiring the likes of David Lynch & Michel...
Published 02/01/24
The title of this episode says it all. Over four hours of nerdy movie conversations and recommendations all about the year 2023. Two Director's Club mainstays return. Bill Ackerman (host of Supporting Characters and guest host of this show) along with Patrick Ripoll (co-host of 96 Greers) join me as well all share their favorite films of 2023. No categories this year (like Best Actor, etc.) but plenty of reflection, surprising disagreement and even a wild story about what happened when...
Published 01/08/24
Happy New Year! This is a podcast. The Director’s Club Podcast. Maybe you should get a coffee first before listening. A coffee and a muffin might help. Gosh I’m so tired. But what a way to start the new year. Podcasting with a wonderful person like Sharon. Then editing it. Then writing these show notes. The thing that you’re reading right now. Or maybe you’re not reading this, you’re listening to the podcast. Wouldn’t it be weird if suddenly you were on the podcast? You the listener?...
Published 01/02/24
Just in time for turkey day, in which we have a lot to be thankful for, comes this delightful discussion with plenty of fixins. Fresh from their excellent new podcast, A Tripp Through Comedy, two new guests join me but I've been following them ever since we all met during Triviaspotting. Ross Bratin and Tripp Burton join me to talk all about the filmography of Frank Oz, someone each of us love and grew up with - whether as a Muppet or as a director, his achievements and talent are...
Published 11/21/23
This episode is about the same running time as The Conjuring 2! Why does a horror movie need to be well over two hours? One might inquire to breakthrough horror filmmaker James Wan and that's exactly what I set out to do for this Halloween spooktacular! This is my favorite month of the year for a reason! Well, actually we have another delightful episode due in large part to a very special guest making her Director's Club debut. Joining me is librarian and Instagram sensation Chloe Waryan to...
Published 10/24/23
The new episode arrives a few days later than planned (since it was scheduled to be our September episode) but nevertheless, we have a delightfully animated episode on tap here featuring another two of my favorite podcasters. The talented, prolific Billy Ray Brewton (of The Incinerator Podcast & Movie Mixtapes) joins me alongside his good friend and co-host Ryan Verrill, who also has own podcast that I highly recommend called The Disc-Connected. We learn about their passion projects and...
Published 10/02/23
Wendell B. Harris Jr. is an American independent filmmaker trained in drama at Interlochen and Juilliard. His family founded Prismatic Images, a multi-award-winning film/video/audio production facility in Flint, Michigan, in 1979 and he broke onto the scene by making the breakthrough Sundance smash, Chameleon Street just one year after Steven Soderbergh broke with his debut film.  One of my favorite film critics, Robert Daniels joins me to talk about Chameleon Street and the reason why it...
Published 08/28/23
Delightful guests Jack Draper and Clay Williams of a new favorite show of mine, Exiting Through The 2010s, make their debut to talk about a mutual favorite directors of theirs: Mr. Carl Franklin (ONE FALSE MOVE, DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS). We focus on the five films he made all in a row, most of which are highly acclaimed and one of them should be far more acclaimed than it seems to be. Wondering which one that is? You'll have to listen! Before we launch into the filmography, Clay and Jack talk...
Published 07/10/23
Soon enough Bill Ackerman will be bringing us an official director-centric episode soon and I will be discussing another in early July. For this excursion into something besides movies, in case you didn't know, I once hosted called Voices & Visions and I would recruit friend and Austin-based journalist Dan Solomon to go back 20 years to talk about a year in music - an art form that I love every bit much as film. For this retrospective, my guests and I curate a new list of ten favorite...
Published 06/14/23
Two years ago Bill Ackerman and Patrick Ripoll joined forces to do a deep dive into the filmography of Wong Kar-wai, an Asian filmmaker who found great acclaim with his quirky tales of loneliness and longing set among a world of urban alienation in contemporary Hong Kong. Now they return to do a deep dive into the filmography of Tsai Ming-Liang, an Asian filmmaker who found great acclaim with his quirky tales of loneliness and longing set among the world of urban alienation in contemporary...
Published 06/07/23
Every year I ask my friend Patrick to provide me with something special in the form of a podcast gift. His friendship of course is the real gift but his presence for this episode is also a present. Not only does it celebrate my 45th birthday (May the 4th be with me) but we also decided to celebrate this here podcast! I asked Patrick this time to revisit the first two films we actively disagreed on going all the way back to Episode 2. What happens 12 years later when both him and I decide to...
Published 05/04/23
For this episode I recruited two terrific and talented film writers and commentators especially since two of the movies we talk about happen to be all-time favorites for the both of them. Guest co-host and Supporting Characters host Bill Ackerman returns as well as Chicago film critic Marya Gates for a delightful discussion on the work of Joan Micklin Silver.  She's responsible for a number of excellent films including HESTER STREET, CHILLY SCENES OF WINTER, BETWEEN THE LINES, CROSSING...
Published 04/20/23
Yep, more bonus content to close out the month before Bill comes aboard in April with an epic series on Jean-Luc Godard. For this delicious treat of an episode, up front you get a delightful conversation featuring Matt Strauss from Tao Group Hospitality who oversees a number of New York restaurants and food + beverage venues in and around NYC.  He has a lot to say about his exciting feast planned for this week which was inspired by his love of the film Babette's Feast which Bill and I...
Published 03/28/23