Shot/Reverse Shot: Episode 42 - Breaking Bad

We at Shot/Reverse Shot are huge fans of AMC's Breaking Bad, a stunning series about the slow, inexorable decay and corruption of one man's body and soul, set against the breathtaking backdrop of New Mexico and awash with liberal use of the word "bitch" for comedic effect. Having recorded an episode about the first half of its fifth season last year - one that has proven to be one of our most popular ever - we felt it was only proper to record a second episode about the final eight hours of Walter White's story.

Along the way, we offer our thoughts on the generally well-received finale, our own personal highlights of the show as a whole - as well as those of some of our listeners - and discuss whether or not there are any shows currently airing which might pick up Breaking Bad's mantle of the Best Show on Television.

Needless to say, there are a fair few spoilers in this episode, so please don't listen to it unless you are all caught up.

As always, you can stream the podcast using the link below, or preferably (from our point of view) you can subscribe using iTunes. If you choose the later, please rate it and leave a review because it helps us to get more listeners, and also gives us something to obsess over. Speaking of which, you can also Like us on Facebook, assuming that you do.

Shot/Reverse Shot: Episode 41 - Autumn/Winter 2013 Preview

With a fairly moribund summer fading into the rearview mirror, now is the perfect time to look ahead to the films coming out over the next three months. Taking a scattershot approach to the Autumn schedule, by which I mean talking about the films we're actually a little bit interested in, Joe Gastineau and I take in potential blockbusters, Oscar hopefuls and ribald comedies, while pondering whether or not Orson Scott Card is engaged in a Producers-style scam involving the Ender's Game adaptation, and accidentally pitch the scariest film ever made.

As always, you can stream the podcast using the link below, or preferably (from our point of view) you can subscribe using iTunes. If you choose the later, please rate it and leave a review because it helps us to get more listeners, and also gives us something to obsess over. Speaking of which, you can also Like us on Facebook, assuming that you do.

Shot/Reverse Shot: Episode 37 - The Night of the Hunter

On Shot/Reverse Shot, we're always looking for ways to experiment with our format; we try new concepts for episodes, new subject areas, and in general try to think of everything we can to keep things interesting for the audience and, just as importantly, for ourselves. Our theory is that if we're having fun, then other people will as well. (Theory has not been peer-reviewed.)

In that spirit, we're doing something a little different this week by using a single film as our jumping off point for thematic discussion, rather than using a theme to allow us to talk about other films. Our inaugural film in that strand is Charles Laughton's The Night of the Hunter, a film that I love but which Joe had not seen prior to this week. After discussing the film in some detail (so SPOILERS ahoy), we use the themes and ideas contain therein to talk about the films that influenced it, the films its influenced, others films that explore similar themes, and round out the whole thing with some Further Viewing.

We're hoping to do more of these in addition to the more conceptually-driven episodes, so please let us know if you like this approach.



As always, you can stream the podcast using the link above, or preferably (from our point of view) you can subscribe using iTunes.   If you choose the latter, please rate it and leave a review because it   helps us to get more listeners, and also gives us something else to  obsess  over. Speaking of which, you can also Like us on Facebook, assuming that you do.

Shot/Reverse Shot: Episode 36 - Adolescence

 
Way back in the mists of mid-April, Joe Gastineau and I began an ambitious project that would see us try to cover the different Ages of Man as seen through cinema. We began with Childhood then, driven mad by our overwhelming hubris, set about recording an episode on the next stage of life, Adolescence. Alas, like Icarus we flew to close to sun and/or were undone by faulty technology, and that recording was rendered unlistenable for technical reasons (as opposed to the usual reasons why the show is unlistenable).

Now, like a billionaire deciding that building a second Titanic is in no way a terrible idea, we have returned to the ongoing series with this sleeker, more energetic and, most importantly, mostly understandable take on the teen years. We tackle the origin of the teenager, rebellion, sex and loss of innocence before wrapping up with a new section we call Further Viewing, in which we recommend other films you might like to check out if you want to watch films about teenagers.



As always, you can stream the podcast using the link above, or preferably (from our point of view) you can subscribe using iTunes.   If you choose the latter, please rate it and leave a review because it   helps us to get more listeners, and also gives us something else to  obsess  over. Speaking of which, you can also Like us on Facebook, assuming that you do.  

Shot/Reverse Shot: Episode 34 - Doc/Fest 20

As the large number of Doc/Fest-related posts on this site might have suggested, I have been in attendance at the internationally renowned film festival, which is dedicated to truth, justice and the American way. Wait, that might be Superman. Yeah, I've looked it up and that one is Superman. Doc/Fest is the one dedicated to truth, new media, and having a good old knees-up in Sheffield. It was a pretty fantastic week, especially since it allowed me to not only engage in some serious film-watching, but also to attend some of the great events and masterclasses that were put on over the course of the five days, and hang out with some dear, dear friends who I have missed since moving to the States.

One such friend was Joe Gastineau, and we took advantage of being in the same country for once to record a special episode of Shot/Reverse Shot around Doc/Fest 20. We recorded our thoughts on the films and events throughout the week, then tried to put them into something resembling a broader context, This American Life-style. As such, we had to lose a lot of material - including my attempts to begin every section with a pun on Doc (e.g. "We're in the heart of docness") and the one moment when we were accosted by a very large, very drunk man who insisted that he knew Martin Parsons of Fohnhouse, who we were interviewing at the time. However, the remaining material is pretty good, too. If I sound a bit sleepy, it's because I had been up until 4 A.M. and had only had five hours of sleep prior to recording the wrap-around segments of the episode.



As always, you can stream the podcast using the link above, or preferably (from our point of view) you can subscribe using iTunes.   If you choose the latter, please rate it and leave a review because it   helps us to get more listeners, and also gives us something else to  obsess  over. Speaking of which, you can also Like us on Facebook, assuming that you do.  

Shot/Reverse Shot: Episode 33 - Top Ten DocFest 2013

In the second of approximately seven thousand* things I'll be doing this week around Sheffield Doc/Fest, Joe Gastineau and I run down all the aspects of the festival that we are most looking forward to sampling. In contrast to my own personal preview, this is less about specific films that we excited about - although there are several that we are pretty keen on - than about the experience of the festival overall, so we talk about the films, the events, the general ambiance of the place and, of course, the many opportunities to attend free-wheeling, stereotype-confirming parties.



As always, you can stream the podcast using the link above, or preferably (from our point of view) you can subscribe using iTunes.   If you choose the latter, please rate it and leave a review because it   helps us to get more listeners, and also gives us something else to  obsess  over. Speaking of which, you can also Like us on Facebook, assuming that you do.  

*Possible over-estimation. Or under-estimation. 

Shot/Reverse Shot: Episode 27 - Family

On this week's episode, Joe and I take inspiration from Derby's iD Fest, a film festival which each year chooses a theme and curates its schedule based on whatever that overarching theme is. This year's festival is held from the 9th to the 12th of May at the Derby QUAD, and the theme is Family.

After discussing some of the great films being shown at iD Fest, we start to discuss films about dysfunctional families (of which there are many), films about more-or-less functional families (of which there are few) and detail how Andy Samberg screaming in a wood has its basis in Greek literature and Freud. We wrap the episode up with a list of our favourite on-screen families, which nicely encapsulates the trends we discuss in the episode; cannibalism, incest and murder.

As always, you can stream the podcast using the link below, or preferably (from our point of view) you can subscribe using iTunes. If you choose the later, please rate it and leave a review because it helps us to get more listeners, and also gives us something to obsess over. Speaking of which, you can also Like us on Facebook, assuming that you do.

Shot/Reverse Shot: Episode 26 - Childhood

In the first part of a new, perhaps overly-ambitious, project, Joe Gastineau and myself have decided to devote the next four episodes of Shot/Reverse Shot - barring any unforeseen delays or events - to the different Ages of Man, and how each of them is depicted in film and television. It's basically our version of Sufjan Steven's 50 States project, except shorter and slightly more likely to be completed. Only slightly, though.

Unsurprisingly, we start with one that walks on four legs in the morning: Childhood. In addition to discussing what we think makes for a great film about being a child, we get personal and talk about the films that meant a lot to us when we were young, including a long discussion of my Roald Dahl-induced fear of being orphaned, I skirt around the fact that I think The Goonies is awful, and I ever so slightly mix up two almost identically titled films by the Dardennes Brothers. In short, we pretty much run the gamut in this one.

As always, you can stream the podcast using the link below, or preferably (from our point of view) you can subscribe using iTunes. If you choose the later, please rate it and leave a review because it helps us to get more listeners, and also gives us something to obsess over. Speaking of which, you can also Like us on Facebook, assuming that you do.

Shot/Reverse Shot: Episode 24 - Kickstarter

In a shocking display of topicality on our part, Joe and I decided to record an episode about the phenomenally successful Veronica Mars Kickstarter campaign, which has brought a long-dormant TV show back to life but has also sparked a lot of debate about whether or not this is a viable funding method for future big(gish) budget films, or whether the mixture of crowdsourced money and a major studio in some way corrupts the nature of Kickstarter and similar platforms. We try to tackle as many different aspects of the situation as we can in a relatively swift hour of natter, and offer our thoughts on what other shows might feasibly be revived in this way. I also try to make the case for why Joe should watch Terriers and befuddle him with details of the Beverly Hills Cop TV series.

As always, you can stream the podcast using the link below, or preferably (from our point of view) you can subscribe using iTunes. If you choose the later, please rate it and leave a review.

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Shot/Reverse Shot: Episode 23 - Film/Digital

As teased at the end of the previous episode, this installment of Shot/Reverse Shot finds myself and Joe Gastineau using the recent documentary Side By Side as a jumping off point to discuss digital cinema, as well as the contentious relationship between proponents of the new form and those who stick staunchly to celluloid. It's a touch more academic and thoughtful than most episodes of the show, something which I can only apologise for, but in the spirit of Side by Side, we keep things light and accessible, touching upon not merely digital from an aesthetic point of view, but also in terms of what the format can allow people to do artistically even if it has its clear limits. We round things off with a Top 10 consisting of our favourite digitally-shot films and, for fear of giving the game away, there is not a Na'vi in sight.

As always, you can stream the podcast using the link below, or preferably (from our point of view) you can subscribe using iTunes. If you choose the later, please rate it and leave a review.

Shot/Reverse Shot: Episode 21 - 2013 TV Preview

Following on from the last episode, in which Joe Gastineau and I looked at the year ahead in cinema, this episode finds us looking at what 2013 has to offer on the small screen. Along the way, we look at old favourites like Mad Men and Breaking Bad, contemplate the end of 30 Rock and what House of Cards might mean for the future of television, and air mild anticipation for the likes of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Under The Dome.

CORRECTIONS: In the episode I say that Lilyhammer was produced by Hulu when it was actually produced by Netflix, and the Richard Linklater travel series is called Up to Speed, not Catching Up. My bad.

As always, you can stream the podcast using the link below, or preferably (from our point of view) you can subscribe using iTunes. If you choose the later, please rate it and leave a review.

Shot/Reverse Shot: Episode 20 - 2013

Having opened our presents, eaten to we felt sick and seen in the New Year in style (or, in my case, wrapped up in a blanket, shivering from a nasty cold), Shot/Reverse Shot returns to business as usual: rambling discussion and vaguely film related nonsense.

In this episode, we take a long, hard (primarily long) look at the year ahead in film, from the epic grandeur of Guillermo Del Toro's filthy-sounding robot 'em up Pacific Rim to the latest mind-melting oddity from Shane Carruth, very much the low-budget thinking man's Terrence Malick. Along the way, I voice tentative hopes for Michael Bay's Pain & Gain, much to Joe's disdain, a bizarre new feature and our customary Top Ten, which culminates in a surprising choice for our most anticipated film of the year. By Odin's Raven, it looks to be a good one.

As always, you can stream the podcast using the link below, or preferably (from our point of view) you can subscribe using iTunes. If you choose the later, please rate it and leave a review.

Shot/Reverse Shot, Episode 1: 2011

In November, I recorded the pilot of a new podcast with Adam Batty (of Hope Lies) and Joe Gastineau (of The Wooden Kimono). It was pretty sketchy on the technical front, owing to the less than stellar circumstances under which we recorded it, but the central idea of taking a theme and hashing it out through a roundtable discussion was sound, and we just needed to work out the kinks.

The Martini Shot: Debuts

Over the last couple of months, Adam Batty (of Hope Lies), Joe Gastineau (of The Wooden Kimono and No Ripcord) and myself (of this parish) have been talking about starting one of those podmacular casts that we heard so many people talk about whilst sipping mint juleps at our club, in which we would discuss pressing matters of the day in a most erudite and cromulent manner. After many weeks of false starts, dead-ends and daring escapes, we finally sat down in a room together and recorded something about films in a slightly mumbly and sweary manner.

That's a roundabout way of saying that the first episode of our new podcast, tentatively* called The Martini Shot, can now be listened to on, or downloaded from Podbean here. The premise, vague as it is, is that every week we will come up with a theme which we will then discuss with reference to films relating to that topic. Since this is the first episode and our minds work in super obvious ways, we settled on "Debuts", which worked out pretty well, I think. Apart from Adam's endorsement of The Adventures of Pluto Nash, which I cannot in good conscience support.

We're hoping to get it on iTunes in the next day or so, at which point I'll update this post with the relevant information.

We're still finding our way with this and, although we were all pretty happy with Debuts as a first try, we're determined to improve it and make it the best podcast that we can, so any and all feedback is appreciated and welcome.

*Tentative because there is already another podcast with that title so we may be forced to change ours. Now, we could blame Joe for this because it was his idea and he didn't do a cursory Google search, so we will. It's your fault, Joe!