Category Archives: Podcast Reviews

FilmWonk Podcast – Episode #151 – “Booksmart” (dir. Olivia Wilde), SIFF Roundup: “Putin’s Witnesses”, “…Barbarians”

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In this week’s podcast, Glenn and Daniel (with special guest Erika Spoden) conclude this year’s 45th Seattle International Film Festival with a dark dramedy-cum-Socratic dialogue about the relationship and responsiveness of art when it comes to preserving the dark side of history. But enough about Putin’s Witnesses! We’re also seeing a provocative Closing Night selection, and checking out Olivia Wilde‘s directorial debut, Booksmart, the younger sister and older soul to Superbad. (01:11:05)

May contain NSFW language.

FilmWonk rating (Putin’s Witnesses): 7/10 (Erika, Daniel), 7.5/10 (Glenn
FilmWonk rating (Booksmart): 7/10 (Erika, Glenn), 8/10 (Daniel)
FilmWonk rating (I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians): 8 out of 10

Show notes:

  • [02:24] Review: Putin’s Witnesses (dir. Vitaly Mansky)
  • [27:41] Review: Booksmart (dir. Olivia Wilde)
  • [41:05] Review: I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians (dir. Radu Jude)
  • Music for this episode is the tracks “Give Up the Funk” by Parliament and “You Oughta Know” by Alanis Morissette, from the Booksmart soundtrack.
  • We referenced a Perry Bible Fellowship comic, “Now Showing“.

Listen above, or download: Putin’s Witnesses, Booksmart, I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians (right-click, save as, or click/tap to play on a non-flash browser)

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FilmWonk Podcast – Episode #150 – SIFF Roundup: “Alice”, “Pigeon Kings”, “Fight Fam”, “As the Earth Turns”

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Poster for "Alice" (2019 film)

***CW: This episode contains discussion of sexual violence.***

In this week’s podcast, Glenn and Daniel head to the 45th Seattle International Film Festival to check out a documentary about pigeon rolling, a family biopic of MMA fighters, a sci-fi drama that was literally 80 years in the making, yet still felt ahead of its time, and a smart and insightful Franco-Australian drama about Alice, a woman who decides to become a sex worker after her husband squanders all of their money…on sex workers (01:17:17)

May contain NSFW language.

Still from "Pigeon Kings"

FilmWonk rating (Pigeon Kings): 7 out of 10
FilmWonk rating (Fight Fam): 3 out of 10
FilmWonk rating (As the Earth Turns): 7.5/10 (Glenn), 5/10 (Daniel)
FilmWonk rating (Alice): 8.5 out of 10

Show notes:

  • As of this writing, every screening of every one of these films is still to come at the 45th Seattle International Film Festival. For tickets, showtimes, and locations, click the title of each film below.
  • [00:01:30] Review: Pigeon Kings (dir. Milena Pastreich)
  • [00:18:36] Review: Fight Fam (dir. Ruben Rodriguez Perez)
  • [00:29:35] Review: As the Earth Turns (dir. Richard Lyford)
  • [00:45:30] Review: Alice (dir. Josephine Mackerras)
  • [01:08:07] Spoilers: Alice
  • CORRECTION: We were correct that being a sex worker is not a criminal offense in France, but it is subject to multiple restrictions.

Listen above, or download: Pigeon Kings, Fight Fam, As the Earth Turns, Alice (right-click, save as, or click/tap to play on a non-flash browser)

FilmWonk Podcast – Episode #149 – “Pokémon: Detective Pikachu” (dir. Rob Letterman)

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On this week’s podcast, Glenn and Daniel catch them all (29:12).

May contain NSFW language.

FilmWonk rating: 7 out of 10

Show notes:

  • Music for this episode is the tracks, “Carry On” by Kygo and Rita Ora and “Happy Together” by The Turtles, from the film’s soundtrack and teaser trailer respectively.
  • Stay tuned afterward.

Listen above, or download: Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (right-click, save as, or click/tap to play on a non-flash browser)

FilmWonk Podcast – Episode #148 – “Avengers: Endgame” (dir. Anthony Russo and Joe Russo)

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On this week’s podcast, Glenn and Daniel face the epic conclusion of the current run of Avengers – and finally agree on a Marvel film (01:14:07).

May contain NSFW language.

FilmWonk rating: 8 out of 10

Show notes:

  • [00:32] Review: Avengers: Endgame
  • [13:52] Spoilers: Avengers: Endgame
  • Music for this episode is…about heroes.
  • CORRECTION: We incorrectly identified Thor’s mother (Rene Russo)’s character name as Freyja – this is incorrect. She is actually Frigga (originally Frigg). Although Wikipedia tells us there is some scholarly debate about whether they stem from the same Germanic goddess, there’s really no excuse for us getting this wrong, since Glenn has seen every episode of The Almighty Johnsons more than once.

Listen above, or download: Avengers: Endgame (right-click, save as, or click/tap to play on a non-flash browser)

FilmWonk Podcast – Episode #147 – “The Hummingbird Project” (dir. Kim Nguyen), “Triple Frontier” (dir. J.C. Chandor)

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On this week’s podcast, Glenn and Daniel return from a familial hiatus to check out The Hummingbird Project, a film about laying a more reliable fiber optic line for faster data transmission to game the stock market, so the irony wasn’t lost on us when Daniel had connectivity issues and was only able to watch the first 20 minutes. But you know Jesse Eisenberg will be involved, even if you’re a bit more prepared in advance for his tragic, greedy, tech-infused salesman to also be a diabolical dick. And then we check out an ensemble military heist film from the team behind The Hurt Locker along with director J.C. Chandor, Triple Frontier, an action film with some surprising moral and character depth that feels a bit too big for Netflix (01:00:50).

May contain NSFW language.

FilmWonk rating (The Hummingbird Project): 7 out of 10 (Glenn)
FilmWonk rating (Triple Frontier): 7.5/10 (Glenn), 6/10 (Daniel)

Show notes:

  • [00:34] Review: The Hummingbird Project
  • [06:26] Spoilers: The Hummingbird Project
  • [28:38] Review: Triple Frontier
  • [41:46] Spoilers: Triple Frontier
  • Music for this episode is the tracks “Masters of War” by Bob Dylan, from the soundtrack for Bumblebee, and “For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Metallica, from the soundtrack to Triple Frontier.
  • To see the location of the Tres Fronteras on a map, check out this pinpoint of Isla Chineria, just on the Peruvian side of the border.
  • The scene we remembered from The Hurt Locker actually featured Jeremy Renner wandering all over the grocery store, first on the frozen aisle, and ending on the cereal aisle, which seems to be the source of the callback in Triple Frontier.

Listen above, or download: The Hummingbird Project, Triple Frontier (right-click, save as, or click/tap to play on a non-flash browser)

FilmWonk Podcast – Episode #146 – “Bumblebee” (dir. Travis Knight), “Suspiria” (dir. Luca Guadagnino)

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Poster for "Bumblebee"

On this week’s podcast, Glenn and Daniel fulfill a prior threat to fan-favorite intellectual heavyweight Erika Spoden: to make her review a Transformers film. And with all props to Scene Unseen before us, it’s one that Daniel didn’t even bother to watch. Then we drill into Luca Guadagnino‘s operatic horror remake, Suspiria, a film that we started off uneven and disturbed by, only to talk ourselves into watching it again during the ride home (01:04:36).

May contain NSFW language.

Still from "Suspiria"

FilmWonk rating (Bumblebee): 7.5/10 (Erika), 6.5/10 (Glenn)
FilmWonk rating (Suspiria): 7/10 (Glenn/Daniel), 8.5/10 (Erika)

Show notes:

  • [02:59] Review: Bumblebee
  • [24:39] Review: Suspiria
  • [44:54] Spoilers: Suspiria
  • Music for this episode is the tracks “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears, from the soundtrack for Bumblebee, and “Suspirium” by Thom Yorke‘s excellent score and soundtrack to Suspiria.
  • Correction: Per Wikipedia, the Three Mothers are: Mater Tenebaraum (Mother of Darkness – not death), Mater Lachrymarum (Mother of Tears), and Mater Suspiriorum (Mother of Sighs).

Listen above, or download: Bumblebee, Suspiria (right-click, save as, or click/tap to play on a non-flash browser)

FilmWonk Podcast – Episode #145 – “The Favourite” (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos), “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch” (dir. David Slade)

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In the first podcast of the new year, Glenn and Daniel check out their favo(u)rite film of 2018, as well as a tech-infused experimental film from Black Mirror (01:26:20).

May contain NSFW language.

FilmWonk rating (Black Mirror: Bandersnatch): 6 out of 10
FilmWonk rating (The Favourite): 10/10 (Glenn), 9/10 (Daniel)

Show notes:

Listen above, or download: Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, The Favourite (right-click, save as, or click/tap to play on a non-flash browser)