The real villainy in this world belongs to the corrupt politicians and systemic discrimination leveled at local and marginalized populations at the mercy of enormous capitalistic systems. Or, you know, the hired hitmen (and women) looking to scratch a sociopathic itch. So let’s buckle in for a nice cathartic tale.

Three documentary filmmakers trail a serial killer in a mockumentary attempting to point out the violence that film can celebrate. However, does this deconstruct the violence or merely propagate more of it on screen?

Come around the world with us as we adventure into the future of 1999. You’ll feel like you’re at the heart of the action as you traverse the wondrous landscapes of Europe, America, Asia, and Australia across the nearly 5 hour runtime of Wim Wenders Until the End of the World. (We wish he’d just release that 20 hour cut already!)

Not all family problems can be sorted out in the span of a single day. But there are often bonds that connect us to those who came before. Join us for Hirokazu Koreeda’s Still Walking.

Escape to the wild free country of…World War III. Or is it? Regardless, you’re in for a heartwarming tale as we take a look at Andrei Tarkovsky’s final film, The Sacrifice.

There are dystopias and there are dystopias. Welcome to Gilead, where all your repressive nightmares are true and marketing executives are the new ruling class. That’s right, we’re off to Margaret Atwoods visage of hell with The Handmaid’s Tale.

Sometimes there are different paths open to us all. Apple and Suzanne know this better than most, keeping a friendship alive despite a difference of location and style of life. Join us for Agnes Varda’s 1977 film: One Sings, the Other Doesn’t.

Welcome to Fury Road. Or rather, just a desert in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where bands of nomads scrounge for food and sex. Or you can contrast that with the real remnants of society far below. Either way, prepare yourself for a grim experience in A Boy and His Dog.

The samurai with no name returns in another caper. Watch as Toshiro Mifune outwits and outfights his opponents in Akira Kurosawa’s Sanjuro.

The original man with no name isn’t Clint Eastwood. That honor goes to Toshiro Mifune, in one of his most iconic samurai roles. So, how can one bodyguard solve the problem of two warring factions in a small town? Probably not how you think. Join us for Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo.

This week we take a look at the first widely distributed film directed by a Black woman. As part of their efforts to highlight Black filmmakers, the Criterion Channel has released Julie Dash’s Daughters of the Dust—among other films—for free to non-subscribers. So there’s no reason not to go watch this impressive tale of family, values, and the non-linearity of experience.

What’s more fun than a road trip with family? Well, a road trip with family to determine if your partner is having an affair. Wacky hijinks ensue in The Daytrippers.

Someday we’ll be through the thick of this and get to our lives. After we have a home. And a family. And after a murder or two. Maria’s living a life deferred in the hopes of an idyllic romance. She becomes too focused on the destination and lets the journey slip by in The Marriage of Maria Braun.

We’re returning to the oeuvre of Aki Kaurismaki this week and the middle segment of his Proletariat Trilogy (having unintentionally skipped the first part) with Ariel.

In this episode, the dead really do speak. Well, the sort of dead. Okay, the temporarily bodily misplaced, if we’re being accurate. Join us for some supernatural hijinks in Here Comes Mr. Jordan.

The Dead Speak! Calamity strikes as four episodes of the Criterion Collection were unceremoniously lost due to poor file management. Authorities are on the hunt for one Dr. Bellini Zed for gross negligence relating to failure to appropriately back up files before updating software. As a result, this week, Ed and Dr. Zurich Bed will team up to discuss Federico Fellini’s movie about movies: 8 1/2

After a long lockdown hiatus, we’re back with an episode recorded back in the rosy days of early February. Except, it isn’t exactly a rosy film. No, we’re headed into the heart of modern disillusionment and life on the fringe with Mike Leigh’s Naked.

Did you ever wish that you could roam among the high society elites? Go to cocktail parties every night? Have deep (and not-so-deep) philosophical conversations? All while you’re still barely an adult? Well, fear not, because you can live vicariously through Metropolitan.

The adventures of a legendary executioner father and his toddler protege continue in the second adventure of Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx.

Greetings listeners, and please forgive us the disruption as we hold between two parts of Lone Wolf and Cub. While we handle some off-cast logistics, please enjoy a revisit to one of our earlier episodes, a classic of the genre, Seven Samurai.

Are you a fan of the Mandalorian? Loving Mando and Baby Yoda? Well, not every samurai movie features a stroller of death and a lovable father/son dynamic, but Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance sure does. Well…maybe lovable isn’t quite the right word.

This week we watch a movie about a poet.

This week we watch Dazed and Confused: The College Years, better known as Kicking and Screaming. Behold as young men of privilege struggle to find a path forward after the wild days of college have come to an end.

Ed discusses his experience and his viewings at the 2019 Virginia Film Festival.