Join co-hosts Andy J Ritchie and Donnchadh Tiernan as we watch and discuss 2 films decided by the toss of a coin.
Episodes
Monday Mar 08, 2021
Monday Mar 08, 2021
This week we discuss two films which feature explorers on journeys on the Amazon.
The first is Embrace of the Serpent (2015), a story from the perspective of Karamakate, a native who interacts with two white explorers on their respective treks to find the elusive yakruna plant 30 years apart. The film was Colombia’s first ever Oscar nominee.
The second is The Lost City of Z (2016), starring Charlie Hunnam and Robert Pattinson. The film, directed by James Gray, tells the story of Percy Fawcett, a British soldier who travelled to South America in search of a lost civilisation.
Timestamps
Embrace of the Serpent (00:01:05)
The Lost City of Z (00:29:15)
Links
Instagram -
@callitfriendopodcast
@munnywales
@andyjayritchie
Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links
Monday Mar 01, 2021
Monday Mar 01, 2021
This week we discuss two films from acclaimed French filmmaker Claire Denis.
The first is Beau Travail (1999), a loose adaptation of Herman Melville’s 1891 novella Billy Budd. The film centres on a group of French legionnaires serving in Djibouti.
The second is High Life (2018), starring Robert Pattinson and Juliette Binoche. The film tells the story of a group of convicted death row inmates sent into space for the purposes of black hole experimentation.
Timestamps
What We’ve Been Watching (00:01:08)
Andy – Host, Patrice O’Neal: Killing is Easy, The Uncredited Extras Podcast
Donnchadh – Yesterday, Banshee Season 2, Titanic, Me Myself & Irene
Beau Travail (00:12:30)
High Life (00:37:10)
Links
Instagram -
@callitfriendopodcast
@munnywales
@andyjayritchie
Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links
Monday Feb 22, 2021
Monday Feb 22, 2021
This week we discuss two Historical epics written by legendary English screenwriter Robert Bolt.
The first is The Bounty (1984), the 5th retelling of the famous mutiny on The Bounty committed to film. However, this version, starring Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins, purports to be the most faithful to real-life events.
The second is The Mission (1986), starring Jeremy Irons and Robert De Niro. The film tells the story of Jesuit missionaries in South America who clash with Spanish and Portuguese colonial forces while trying to protect the native inhabitants. The film also features what is perhaps Ennio Morricone’s most celebrated score.
Timestamps
The Bounty (00:13:40)
The Mission (00:44:40)
Links
Instagram -
@callitfriendopodcast
@munnywales
@andyjayritchie
Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links
Monday Feb 15, 2021
Monday Feb 15, 2021
This week we discuss two Neo-Westerns directed by Chinese American filmmaker Chloé Zhao.
The first is The Rider (2017), a semi-fictionalised account of former bronc rider Brady Jandreau. With a cast of real people playing themselves, Zhao captures an honest depiction of life in rural South Dakota, and of a man dealing with the effects of a life-altering accident.
The second is Nomadland (2020), starring Frances McDormand as Fern, a widow who chooses to take up a life on the road living out of a van. The film has received much critical acclaim, garnering 4 Golden Globe nominations, and is a clear Oscar contender.
Timestamps
The Rider (00:07:10)
Nomadland (00:33:30)
John Spillane’s review of Birth (01:12:55)
Links
Instagram -
@callitfriendopodcast
@munnywales
@andyjayritchie
@thejohnspillane
Lane Scott video –
Rolling Stone article –
Trey Parker & Matt Stone on Sean Penn –
Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links
Monday Feb 08, 2021
Monday Feb 08, 2021
This week we discuss two films released on VOD in 2021.
The first is Locked Down (2021), a film written, filmed and released during the COVID-19 pandemic. It stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Anne Hathaway as a couple who plan a heist at Harrods during lockdown.
The second is Synchronic (2019), Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson’s low budget time travel film about one man’s quest to find and rescue his friend’s daughter. The film stars Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan.
Timestamps
Locked Down (00:04:30)
Synchronic (00:33:50)
Links
Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links
Instagram -
@callitfriendopodcast
@munnywales
@andyjayritchie
Monday Feb 01, 2021
Monday Feb 01, 2021
This week we discuss two films starring Nicole Kidman in two extremely different roles.
The first is Birth (2004), Jonathan Glazer’s second feature and follow-up to Sexy Beast. In the film, a widow meets a ten-year-old boy who claims to be the reincarnation of her dead husband, leading to more than a few uncomfortable moments.
The second is Destroyer (2018), directed by Karyn Kusama and starring Nicole Kidman as you’ve never seen her before. Kidman earned a Golden Globe nomination for her performance as Detective Erin Bell.
Timestamps
Birth (00:09:30)
Destroyer (00:43:10)
Links
Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links
Safdie Brothers / Paul Thomas Anderson A24 Podcast
Vickers Tactical YouTube – Larry at the movies
Monday Jan 25, 2021
Monday Jan 25, 2021
This week we discuss two films, both excellent character studies, from award-winning French director Jacques Audiard.
The first is Dheepan (2015), the story of a makeshift family of 3 Tamil refugees relocated to a tough housing estate in France. The film, inspired by Sam Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs, won the Palme d’Or at Cannes.
The second is Rust and Bone (2012), based on the short story collection of the same name by Canadian Author Craig Davidson. The film meshes 2 of the short stories together, with a down on his luck boxer befriending an Orca trainer who experiences a life-changing injury.
Timestamps
Dheepan (00:09:35)
Rust and Bone (00:57:00)
Links
Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links
Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWmJEqKvkts
Trentemoller – State Trooper Remix
Monday Jan 18, 2021
Monday Jan 18, 2021
This week we discuss two films from acclaimed Australian director Peter Weir released in the 1980s.
The first is The Year of Living Dangerously (1982), which gives a semi-fictionalised insight into some of the events leading up to the attempted communist coup in Indonesia in 1965.
The second is The Mosquito Coast (1986), based on the novel by travel writer Paul Theroux, which follows Harrison Ford as a troubled genius inventor who leads his family into peril in the jungles of Central America.
Timestamps
The Year of Living Dangerously (00:11:20)
The Mosquito Coast (00:50:45)
Links
Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links
Whores of Leith
Monday Jan 11, 2021
Monday Jan 11, 2021
This week we discuss the filmography of genre director S. Craig Zahler and delve into all 3 of his films in chronological order.
The first is Bone Tomahawk (2015), a gritty, ultraviolent western where a group of cowboys and lawmen face off against a bloody-thirsty tribe of cave-dwelling mutants.
The second is Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017), an even grittier and more ultraviolent tale of a man who fights his way through 2 prisons worth of guards and thugs.
The third is Dragged Across Concrete (2018), a buddy cop heist film with the slow pacing of a novel. Grittiness and ultraviolence also feature.
Timestamps
Bone Tomahawk (00:11:05)
Brawl in Cell Block 99 (00:54:30)
Dragged Across Concrete (01:02:15)
Links
Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links
Scroobius Pip / S. Craig Zahler Podcast
The Making of Bone Tomahawk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEDPbOeupEE
Scott Tobias Article – The Director Who Doesn’t Care What You Think of His Movies
Monday Jan 04, 2021
Monday Jan 04, 2021
This week we discuss two Mike Leigh period films which examine vastly different areas of British culture.
The first is Topsy Turvy (1999), which depicts Gilbert and Sullivan’s tumultuous creative process in bringing their acclaimed operetta, The Mikado, to the stage.
The second is Vera Drake (2004), a hard-hitting look into the life of a working-class housewife in 1950s London who performs backstreet abortions.
Timestamps
Topsy Turvy (00:07:25)
Vera Drake (00:42:35)
Links
Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links
A Deadly Trade – Jennifer Worth
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2005/jan/06/health.healthandwellbeing
Arab Strap – Pro Your Life
A Sense of History (Mike Leigh, 1992)