As we celebrate 3 years of the show, we decided to take a look at one of our favorite eras of American film - the 1970's. We're specifically looking at the Vietnam Anti-War Movement as captured by a fictional film and a documentary; Milestones (1975) and F.T.A. (1972).  On this episode we discuss Robert Kramer's experimental opus, Milestones, and are joined by special guest Jim Miller. Jim was an organizer during this period and provides key insights into just what was going on in that space...

Luis Buñuel was a master at creating lasting images that stay in the viewers brain long after the film is over. He had a career that spanned multiple decades and working in multiple countries, yet he consistantly took aim at political and social elites.  In his 1962 masterpiece, The Exterminating Angel, the acclaimed filmmaker crafts an allegorical comedy that confronts the socio-political realities of Franco's Spain. Infused with a surrealistic touch and a substantial dose of satire, the...

On this episode, we're looking at two cinematic exampoles of the Palestinian expereince. One documentary and one fictionalized portrayal. The documentary, Gaza Ghetto: Portrait of a Palestinian Family (1985), captures exactly what the title implies. We get the lived experiences from grandmother down to grandchildren as they recount their experiences ranging from the 1948 exile to the 1967 war to the 1971 “pacification campaign”.  The fiction film is the very poorly titled, The Dupes...

The fallout 2008 financial crisis has been portrayed on film in a number of ways; from documentary's like Iniside Job (2010) and Capitalism: A Love Story (2009) to ficiton films "inspired" by the events like The Big Short (2015) and Margin Call (2011).  Andrew Dominik's Killing Them Softly (2012) takes a different approach. It starts with George V. Higgins' 1974 crime novel, itself the third in a series, that centers on a lower level crime syndicate in Boston. Then Dominik places that story...

This Halloween season we take a look at a recent film we hope gets to cult status soon, Green Room (2015). Anton Yelchin and his bandmates are forced to battle against Patrick Stewart and his group of Neo-Nazis.  We get into the pros and cons of non-political punk bands, why the Pacific Northwest is such a haven for white ethnonationalists and when it's okay to swap out character arcs for a pure survival narrative.  Follow us at: Patreon / Twitter / Instagram / Letterboxd / Facebook 

One of the topics that first inspired us to start this podcast, Resource Frontiers. Back in 2016, when Hell or High Water was released, Isaac and I were still working at our beloved art house theatre and our discussion of the film kept coming back to its multi-layered resource frontier setting. Settler colonial zones and the effects on indigenous populations were regular topics of conversations and, of course, Wages of Fear (1953) kept coming up too. Since it took us so long to finally cover...

On this Double Feature episode, we take a look at films about strikes. As the WGA and SAG continue to strike, we thought it would be a good time to examine how Hollywood has protrayed strikes throughout the years. We discuss; Norma Rae (1979), The Pajama Game (1957), Sorry to Bother You (2018), Harlan County, USA (1976), The Organizer (1963) and Chi-Raq (2015) and then put together a double feature (actually two) recommendation.  Follow us...

While Isaac is immersed in his Arabic language summer camp, we're rebraodcasting our very first episode.  In 2027, after 18 years of global human infertility and depression, the world is on the brink of collapse and humanity faces extinction. The United Kingdom, one of the few nations with a functioning government (Stiff upper lip chap!), is deluged by asylum seekers fleeing radiation and plague. In response, the UK has become a police state as the British Army rounds up and executes...

This July 4th, celebrate with a true Leftist film that will have you on the edge of you seat with suspense, a pulsing score and politics that will have you debating the need for a diversity of tactics when fighitng the evils of capitalism. We're discussing the film Daniel Goldhaber's How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2022). Follow us at: Patreon / Twitter / Instagram / Letterboxd / Facebook 

This year we celebrated May Day (a little late) by watching a Latvian worker-revenge-horror-film. Aik Karapetian's The Man in the Orage Jacket (2014). Follow us at: Patreon / Twitter / Instagram / Letterboxd / Facebook 

Isaac finally make Aaron sit down and enjoy some DTV action, focusing on the John Hyams' last two entries in the Universal Soldier franchise. Regeneration (2010) and Day of Reckoning (2012). Follow us at: Patreon / Twitter / Instagram / Letterboxd / Facebook 

On this Double Feature episode, we take a look at two of the greats from the best era for cinematic action - 1980's Hong Kong. On this episode we discuss the art of action and (oftentimes) convoluted politics of In the Line of Duty 4 (1989) & Righting Wrongs (1986).  Follow us at: Patreon / Twitter / Instagram / Letterboxd / Facebook 

We conclude our 2023 series on independent African American auteurs that made landmark films with Claudine (1974).  Follow us at: Patreon / Twitter / Instagram / Letterboxd / Facebook  Sources: White Balance: How Hollywood Shaped Colorblind Ideology and Undermined Civil Rights by Justin Gomer Daniel Amir Jackson article on Claudine  

We continue our 2023 series on independent African American auteurs that made landmark films with Jamaa Fanaka's Welcome Home Brother Charles (1975).  Follow us at: Patreon / Twitter / Instagram / Letterboxd / Facebook 

We kick off our 2023 series on independent African American auteurs that made landmark films with podcast favorite Ivan Dixon's The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973).  Follow us at: Patreon / Twitter / Instagram / Letterboxd / Facebook 

With the voluntary passing of Jean-Luc Godard in 2022, we decided that it's long overdue to take a look at one of his classics. Alphaville (1965) is a dystopian science-fiction film shot in black & white on the streets of Paris and is infused with Godard's politics of the moment. But, can Aaron convince Isaac that he actually liked this one?  Follow us at: Patreon / Twitter / Instagram / Letterboxd / Facebook 

It's masterpiece time here at Politics of Cinema. We're finally discussing Masaki Kobayashi's Harakiri (1962). Follow us at: Patreon / Twitter / Instagram / Letterboxd / Facebook 

Noirvember concludes with one more Yakuza Noir film from Japan. On this episode we're dicussing Takashi Nomura's A Colt is My Passport (1967). Follow us at: Patreon / Twitter / Instagram / Letterboxd / Facebook 

This Noirvember, we are taking a look at some Yakuza Noir films from Japan. On this episode we're gushing over Seijun Suzuki's Tokyo Drifter (1966). Follow us at: Patreon / Twitter / Instagram / Letterboxd / Facebook 

On this Double Feature episode, we highlight some of the horror films we've been watching this Halloween season as well as our planned double (maybe triple) features for Halloween night. Follow us at: Patreon / Twitter / Instagram / Letterboxd / Facebook 

The idea of Humans Hunting Humans has been a story told through film since The Most Dangerous Game back in 1932. There is something about this kind of story that lends itself to a variety of social and political metaphors.  Here we take a look at two films from two countries that have virtaually the same plot synopsis, but couldn't be farther apart in execution and their politics. Punishment Park (1971) from the United States and Turkey Shoot (1982) from Australia.  Follow us...

LSD has been portayed on film in a number of different ways. From the trippy visuals and gonzo narration in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) to the "how-to trip" guidance of The Trip (1967) to the POV death trip of Enter the Void (2009). Here we take a look at how two LSD fueled horror films explore the cultural detritus of the 1960's ripples all the way to Ronald Reagan's America in the early 1980's. It ain't pretty, but it makes for some wild films. Here's a link to the Lockheed...

On this episode, we wrap up our summer series looking at American Urban Landscapes on film with a Double Feature episode.  We each bring a few titles that exemplify this theme and then put together a Double Feature (or two...or three) for the listeners.   Follow us at: Patreon / Twitter / Instagram / Letterboxd / Facebook 

On this episode, we continue our summer series taking a look at American Urban Landscapes on film. For this episode we watch Summertime (2020).  Follow us at: Patreon / Twitter / Instagram / Letterboxd / Facebook