A live recording from Hoyts cinema on the eve of the US Election, with special guest Dr David Smith from the US Studies Centre, discussing Alex Garland's Civil War (2024) and all things US Election. Featuring our three hosts- Bruce Isaacs, Craig Anderson & Herschel Isaacs, in a special live recording to complete the US Election Series. *This podcast does not represent the views of the US Studies Centre or The University of Sydney.

We’re looking at the way party aligned actors manipulate the narrative surrounding presidents and presidential candidates. One of these films is a star-studded hollywood comedy, and the other a fly-on-the-wall documentary. Yes, we’re looking at the D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus’ The War Room and Barry Levinson’s Wag The Dog.

This episode is all about conspiracies, or is it? Two films made twenty years apart, that bookend the grand period of US counterculture paranoia. One film is from the early sixties and introduced cinema audiences to the concept of brainwashing, and the other is a suspense-riddled thriller with an unlikely investigator. We’re discussing John Frankehimer’s The Manchurian Candidate and Brian De Palma’s Blow Out.

Two Oscar nominated comedies that tell us a lot about the US election. One is a prince and the pauper tale, the other a microcosm of election meddling. Join us as we discuss Ivan Reitman’s Dave and Alexander Payne’s Election.

Two films that deal with dramatic endings to leaderships. One is about the scandal that brought down US president Richard Nixon, the other is about the events that lead to the dismissal of Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. One won four Oscars and the other three Logies. Yes, today we’re looking at Alan Pakula’s All The President's Men and Kennedy/ Miller’s TV Series’ The Dismissal.

Join as we compare one of the greatest films of all time with an anomaly from the 1990's. One is about American idealism (or is it naivety) and the other a thinly veiled portrait of Bill Clinton's election campaign. We're doing Frank Capra's Mr Smith Goes To Washington (1939) and Mike Nichols' Primary Colors (1998). Brought to you in partnership with the United States Study Centre- https://www.ussc.edu.au/  

Starting next week, a six-part series discussing movies that engage with the US Electoral Politics, culminating in a free cinema screening of A24's Civil War on the night before the US election. Presented In Partnership With Film Studies At The Faculty Of Art And Social Sciences & United States Studies Centre - https://www.ussc.edu.au/

Two exciting thrillers that push the line of logic, storytelling and movie tropes. Join us as we unpack the madness of Brian De Palma’s Body Double and David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive.

One film was sanctioned by the mainstream and became a box office smash, the other was considered an abomination for the director and its star.  Both films were met with protests by the gay community for equating homosexuality to serial killing! Yes it’s time to look at William Friedkin’s 1980 film Cruising and Paul Verhoven’s 1992 film Basic Instinct.

Today we are riding into the sunset on a horse… or is it a house lifted by balloons?  Join us as we look at two films about a young adventurer and an elderly frustrated mentor. We’re looking at Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Pete Docter/ Bob Peterson’s co-directed Up. 

Two very exciting portraits of women on the edge, one is an aging film star living in a decaying mansion, the other a well-to-do woman who hates her husband. Join us at we look at the Oscar-nominated mystery films- Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard and David Fincher’s Gone Girl.

Today we’re looking at two stories that discuss a horrific chapter of modern history. . One film is considered high art and the other exploitation. Today we’re looking at Liliana Cavani’s The Night Porter and Jonathan Glazer's The Zone Of Interest.

On this episode we’re looking at the myth of mobsters with two films that explore power through violence. Both films follow Italian- Americans characters, and are directed by Italian-American directors who were leaders of the American New Wave. Today we're comparing The Godfather (1972) Versus Goodfellas (1990).

Trucks with precious cargo heading across barren wastelands and doing everything they can to not explode. Today we’re looking at Clouzot’s Wages of Fear and George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road.

One film launched a lucrative franchise and the other made us scared of the sky. This episode it’s all about suspense with Alfred Hitchcock’’s The Birds and Ridley Scott’s Alien.

Today we’re going behind the scenes of movie-making, with two films that lift the veil on the Hollywood studio system. Both films have a happy ending, even if they shouldn’t have. That’s right, today we’re talking about Robert Altman’s The Player and Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Both films are obsessed with what happened, but one drives us to a conclusion and the other frustrates us forever.  Today we’re looking at Oliver Stone’s JFK and Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall.

Two films with characters who inhabit uncomfortable spaces. One a serious story about a comic book super villain, the other a female Frankenstein, it's Todd Phillip’s Joker versus Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things.

One film is the story of a sick kid in bed hearing a love story, and the other, a love sick kid in bed, erasing a love story. One, a comical swashbuckling romance, and the other a mystery un-love story that became the poster child for the genre known as ‘mind-benders’.

Join us as we wrap up the Oscars for 2024 as well as draft the seven best "Best Picture" winners from the year 2000 onward. Trivia, fun and academia.

With one week out from the Oscars, we talk through our predictions for the top awards and our favorite films of 2023. We've watched them so you don't have to!

Join us as we draft the 10 Worst "Best Picture Winners" from the Oscars from the past 23 years. Then, join us next week for our predictions for 2024, followed by our 'results card' and finally an episode where we draft the 10 Best from the new millennium. Normal episodes will resume shortly after.

We're taking take on two classics of the Holiday season. Both films have become iconic Christmas classics and both films are about a patriarch, on Christmas Eve dealing with family tensions, work tensions and that annoying wooden staircase railing. It's Frank Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life Versus National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

Listen as we further expand on growing up on Dharug land in Western Sydney. A space that has defined us as people and influenced our cultural and political perspectives for the better. Join us as we create a map of memories that are also strongly linked to our love of film!