Best Jake Serwin Podcasts (2025)

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Soderbergh Ep. 10: Traffic (2000) with Benjamin Y. Fong 1:54:19

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6d ago1:54:19

1:54:19

The second half of Soderbergh's unbelievable year 2000 was TRAFFIC, his sprawling adaptation of the 1989 Channel 4 miniseries about the many sides of the drug trade. At the time, it was hailed as a highly nuanced and humane look at narcotics. But how does it look from 2025? Joining us to discuss is professor and author of our much-cited Quick Fixes…

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PATREON PREVIEW: Walking Tall (1973) 9:59

14d ago9:59

9:59

This is a preview of a premium episode from our Patreon feed, Paid Costly For Me! Head over to Patreon.com/PodCastyForMe to hear more for just $5 a month. In the aftermath of DIRTY HARRY, there were plenty of films looking to get in on the semi-legal vigilante craze. One of the most successful of these was Phil Karlson's WALKING TALL, starring the …

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Soderbergh Ep. 9: Erin Brockovich (2000) with Carlee from Hit Factory 2:43:13

20d ago2:43:13

2:43:13

Soderbergh finally hit a box-office home run in 2000 with ERIN BROCKOVICH, a Julia Roberts-starring biopic about a paralegal with a big personality and a nose for corporate environmental malfeasance, and the one-two punch of BROCKOVICH and TRAFFIC in a single year cemented him as a truly major filmmaker. This is one of the big ones, so we brought i…

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PATREON PREVIEW: Duck, You Sucker! (1971) 7:22

28d ago7:22

7:22

This is a preview of a premium episode from our Patreon feed, Paid Costly For Me! Head over to Patreon.com/PodCastyForMe to hear more for just $5 a month. We return to our very slow trip through the films of Sergio Leone with 1971's DUCK, YOU SUCKER!, also known as A FISTFUL OF DYNAMITE, also known as GIÙ LA TESTA, a story of the Mexican Revolution…

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Soderbergh Ep. 8: The Limey (1999) with Elena Lazic 1:54:35

1M ago1:54:35

1:54:35

In 1999, Steven Soderbergh pushed his formal experimentation even further, rendering a straightforward revenge tale into a modernist masterpiece. In the process, the Terence Stamp/Peter Fonda joint THE LIMEY examines memory, the legacy of the 60s, and inaugurates Sodie's obsession with Cockney rhyming slang. Film writer and podcaster and UK residen…

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PATREON PREVIEW: Jackie Brown (1997) with Jane Altoids 8:11

1M ago8:11

8:11

This is a preview of a premium episode from our Patreon feed, Paid Costly For Me! Head over to Patreon.com/PodCastyForMe to hear more for just $5 a month. GET SHORTY and OUT OF SIGHT weren't the only high-profile Elmore Leonard adaptations of the 1990s. Quentin Tarantino's long-awaited follow up to PULP FICTION was a race- and setting-swapped adapt…

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Soderbergh Ep. 7: Out of Sight (1998) with Bilge Ebiri 2:05:09

2M ago2:05:09

2:05:09

It's the OUT OF SIGHT episode, and our guest is Bilge Ebiri. Do we need to sell you on this? OK, fine: in 1998 Steven Soderbergh took a job for hire directing an Elmore Leonard adaptation and ended up finding the style that would define much of his career, minting George Clooney as a movie star, capturing Jennifer Lopez's best-ever performance, wor…

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PATREON PREVIEW: Get Shorty (1995) with Forrest Tiffany 7:03

2M ago7:03

7:03

This is a preview of a premium episode from our Patreon feed, Paid Costly For Me! Head over to Patreon.com/PodCastyForMe to hear more for just $5 a month. We're talking more Gene Hackman and getting into the 1990s Elmore Leonard boom with Barry Sonnenfeld's GET SHORTY, and our friend Forrest Tiffany is here to help! Join us as we plot the line from…

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Soderbergh Ep. 6: Schizopolis (1996) with Jordan Fish and Ray Tintori 1:53:53

2M ago1:53:53

1:53:53

What the hell is going on with Steven Soderbergh's 1996 super-low-budget labor of love comedy SCHIZOPOLIS? Our returning guests, the filmmakers and all-around handsome devils Jordan Fish and Ray Tintori of the To The White Sea Podcast, help us get to the bottom of it. Is this quietly a devastating analysis of a failed marriage starring the director…

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PATREON PREVIEW: The Shawshank Redemption (1994) 10:16

2M ago10:16

10:16

This is a preview of a premium episode from our Patreon feed, Paid Costly For Me! Head over to Patreon.com/PodCastyForMe to hear more for just $5 a month. One of "the world's favorite movies," starring two guys who won back-to-back Best Supporting Actor Oscars under Clint Eastwood's direction, and Jake's never seen it? You know we had to talk about…

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Soderbergh Ep. 5: The Underneath (1995) 1:51:41

3M ago1:51:41

1:51:41

In 1989, Steven Soderbergh was on top of the world. By 1995, he was underneath...THE UNDERNEATH, that is! We're talking Sodie's very loose remake of the 1949 Robert Siodmak film noir CRISS-CROSS (and the 1934 novel on which it was based), noir in the 1990s, armored cars, and Soderbergh's evolving film language as he becomes the director we all know…

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PATREON PREVIEW: Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That (2005) 8:22

3M ago8:22

8:22

This is a preview of a premium episode from our Patreon feed, Paid Costly For Me! Head over to Patreon.com/PodCastyForMe to hear more for just $5 a month. Today we're talking about the 2005 documentary BUDD BOETTICHER: A MAN CAN DO THAT, which features both Clint Eastwood and Paul Schrader (among others) talking about the elemental western films of…

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Soderbergh Ep. 4: King of the Hill (1993) with Jason Miller 1:55:19

3M ago1:55:19

1:55:19

What to do next after KAFKA doesn't quite hit...how about adapting a boyhood memoir by the guy who helped Paul Newman bottle his salad dressing? We continue Soderbergh's less-remembered beginnings with 1993's KING OF THE HILL, a subtly brutal Depression-era bildungsroman in which a boy gets so hungry he eats pictures of food - and joining us is fil…

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PATREON PREVIEW: Night Moves (1975) 13:35

3M ago13:35

13:35

This is a preview of a premium episode from our Patreon feed, Paid Costly For Me! Head over to Patreon.com/PodCastyForMe to hear more for just $5 a month. We pay tribute to the late Gene Hackman with one of his - or anyone's - greatest films, Arthur Penn's 1975 neo-noir NIGHT MOVES. Shot by longtime Eastwood DP Bruce Surtees and starring Clint co-s…

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Soderbergh Ep. 3: Kafka (1991) with Christopher Jason Bell 1:59:11

3M ago1:59:11

1:59:11

How do you follow an industry-shaking debut like SEX, LIES, AND VIDEOTAPE? If you're Steven Soderbergh, the answer is obvious: a weird, downer sort-of-biopic of Franz Kafka shot in black and white. We're joined by filmmaker Christopher Jason Bell (MISS ME YET, THE WINDS THAT SCATTER) to talk 1991's KAFKA, Soderbergh's influence, and Chris's outstan…

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PATREON PREVIEW: A Star Is Born (2018) with Nicole Veneto 8:23

4M ago8:23

8:23

***This is a preview of a premium episode from our Patreon feed, Paid Costly For Me! Head over to Patreon.com/PodCastyForMe to hear more for just $5 a month.*** Around 2011, Clint Eastwood tried to remake A STAR IS BORN with Beyoncé and any of a number of men including Bradley Cooper and maybe Tom Cruise. It didn't pan out, but the project eventual…

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Soderbergh Ep. 2: sex, lies, and videotape (1989) 2:09:13

4M ago2:09:13

2:09:13

Steven Soderbergh's first feature, sex, lies, and videotape put him on the map hard. It won the Palme d'Or, made the Sundance Film Festival into an industry unto itself, and helped turn Miramax into a major player - to say nothing of its actual content. Join us as we dig into the film that made Soderbergh an overnight sensation and try to act norma…

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Soderbergh Ep. 1: The First Episoderbergh 1:01:29

4M ago1:01:29

1:01:29

And Sode it berghins! We're kicking off our career retrospective of director Steven Soderbergh with an overview of his early life, career so far, and major thematic concerns. We'll also meet a new voice joining us on our journey... Follow Pod Casty For Me: https://www.podcastyforme.com/ https://twitter.com/podcastyforme https://www.instagram.com/po…

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Schrader Ep. 38: Oh, Canada (2024) with Will Sloan 1:50:53

6M ago1:50:53

1:50:53

Pull up a chair, folks - it's time for our episode on Paul Schrader's "first post-mortem film," the Russell Banks adaptation OH, CANADA, fresh from the cinema. Joining us to unpack it is Final Boss of the podcast and real-life Canadian person Will Sloan! We talk about what we expect of the personal morality of political artists, Canada's relationsh…

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Juror #2 (2024) 1:56:48

6M ago1:56:48

1:56:48

It's finally here: our episode on Clint Eastwood's latest film, JUROR #2. Further Reading: "An Abolitionist Summoned to Jury Duty for a Murder Trial" by Luna Nicole "Nullification: Jurors’ Secret Weapon Against Harsh Sentencing" by Molly Knefel Jonathan Abrams interview with Indiewire Jonathan Abrams interview with GQ "Why Policing and Prisons Can'…

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PATREON PREVIEW: The Beguiled (1971) 10:12

7M ago10:12

10:12

***This is a preview of a premium episode from our Patreon feed, Paid Costly For Me! Head over to Patreon.com/PodCastyForMe to hear more for just $5 a month.*** We finish all the major pre-PLAY MISTY Clint films with Don Siegel's 1971 Southern gothic psychosexual chamber piece, THE BEGUILED. Thanks as always to Jetski for our theme music and Jeremy…

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We Interview Paul Schrader 1:02:33

7M ago1:02:33

1:02:33

We did it, folks. We sat down with filmmaker Paul Schrader for a discussion of his new film OH, CANADA (spoiler-free), political readings of his films, never-made projects, and even a few thoughts on Clint Eastwood. Afterward, the Pod Casty boys talk about the experience. Join us in a few weeks for a full episode on OH, CANADA, which opens December…

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Schrader Ep. 37: Epaulogue 1:19:32

7M ago1:19:32

1:19:32

Well, we've reached the end of our Paul Schrader retrospective - for a couple weeks until OH, CANADA comes out - and it's time to discuss our findings. What did we learn about Schrader? About film? About podcasting? About ourselves? Can we remember all the different ways we got sick and hurt since March? Where are we going next, and when? Thank you…

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BONUS: Technical Chat with New Orleans Gardener Bob Martin 53:52

7M ago53:52

53:52

As a little bonus, we talked some more MASTER GARDENER with Jake's old friend and professional New Orleans gardener Bob Martin! Lots of technical gardening chat, native NOLA plants, gardening movies, and some commiseration between friends of Jake that he very quickly shuts down. Enjoy! Check out Bob's band, Bobbi: https://bobbiloves2play.bandcamp.c…

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Schrader Ep. 36: Master Gardener (2022) with Matthew Germenis 2:18:14

7M ago2:18:14

2:18:14

It's the end of our Schrader project - for a few weeks, at least - as we tackle the final film of his "Man In A Room" trilogy, 2022's MASTER GARDENER. Joining us is New Orleans-based writer Matthew Germenis! We're talking horticulture as both a restorative and reactionary practice, the film's ultimately tangential relationship to far-right movement…

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Schrader Ep. 35: There Are No Saints (2022) 1:57:14

8M ago1:57:14

1:57:14

It's the one you've all been waiting for - our episode on Alfonso Pineda Ulloa's 2014 film THERE ARE NO SAINTS, adapted from an unmade Schrader script, which sat on a shelf for 8 years before getting dumped on VOD after his FIRST REFORMED/CARD COUNTER comeback. What's that? You don't know what this movie is and you don't really want to hear us talk…

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Schrader Ep. 34: The Card Counter (2021) with Roxana Hadadi 2:00:21

8M ago2:00:21

2:00:21

Ante up, listeners - we're dealing out another big one this week. Paul Schrader's 2021 follow-up to FIRST REFORMED, the (ostensible) poker drama THE CARD COUNTER, was another "Man in a Room" film, this time exploring the moral weight of past actions. Joining us to talk about Abu Ghraib, Iraq War films, and how much a filmmaker's stated politics rea…

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Schrader Ep. 33: Unproduced Schrader 2:13:21

8M ago2:13:21

2:13:21

We're taking a detour this week to talk about some Paul Schrader projects that never made it to the screen - the Montreal-set gangster film QUÉBECOIS!, the Elio Petri remake INVESTIGATION, psychedelic murder mystery THE DOORS OF PERCEPTION, film festival-set stage plays Berlinale and The Cleopatra Club, biopics EIGHT SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF HANK WI…

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Schrader Ep. 32: First Reformed (2017) with Hit Factory 2:28:00

8M ago2:28:00

2:28:00

This is a big one, folks. Paul Schrader's 2017 FIRST REFORMED, a climate-doom riff on WINTER LIGHT and DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST, kicked off a new phase of his career that's still unfolding as we speak. Phases unfold, right? Anyway, to help us unpack both this tremendous work of transcendental cinema and our own crushing despair, we're joined once …

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Schrader Ep. 31: Dog Eat Dog (2016) with Getting Dafoe You 1:58:14

9M ago1:58:14

1:58:14

Arf arf, listeners - this week we're talking Paul Schrader's 2016 goofaround crime thriller DOG EAT DOG with Darryl Edge and Petros Patsilivas from the Getting Dafoe You podcast! This film was a form of creative redemption for Schrader and Nicolas Cage after the fiasco of DYING OF THE LIGHT, but is it of any interest to an audience? We report, you …

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Schrader Ep. 30: Dying of the Light (2014) / Dark (2017) 2:21:27

9M ago2:21:27

2:21:27

It's two movies for the price of one today! (Podcast remains free.) In 2014, Paul Schrader directed Nicolas Cage and Anton Yelchin in a thriller about a CIA agent with frontotemporal dementia trying to hunt down an old enemy before his mind goes. The money guys took the film away from him, edited it into a totally anonymous Redbox movie themselves,…

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Schrader Ep 29: The Canyons (2013) with Charles Lyons-Burt 1:59:23

9M ago1:59:23

1:59:23

In 2013, Paul Schrader directed deeply troubled recent child actress Lindsay Lohan and porn star/human Quagmire James Deen from a script by literary dolt Bret Easton Ellis in a crowdfunded, low-budget curio about the vapid cruelty of modern Los Angeles. THE CANYONS was widely disregarded on release, but has steadily grown in esteem by some particul…

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Schrader Ep. 28: Adam Resurrected (2008) 2:07:19

9M ago2:07:19

2:07:19

Sorry for the late update, everybody - we got trapped in one of those two-person horse costumes for like 48 hours, really really scary. But we're back to talk pretty seriously about Paul Schrader's 2008 literary adaptation ADAM RESURRECTED, the story of a German Jewish clown who becomes a concentration camp commander's human dog and then finds hims…

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Schrader Ep. 27: The Walker (2007) 1:52:16

10M ago1:52:16

1:52:16

Paul Schrader concludes his first set of Man In A Room films with 2007's THE WALKER, a bookend to AMERICAN GIGOLO that finds the lonely man working as a literal escort for society women in D.C. But will Carter Page III find meaning outside of managing a few political wives' secrets? Should Woody Harrelson be doing that voice? Is Jake so unceasingly…

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Schrader Ep. 26: Dominion: Prequel To The Exorcist (2005) with Chadd Harbold 2:11:27

10M ago2:11:27

2:11:27

The power of 'cast compels you, listener - to enjoy this week's episode! Paul Schrader was hired to replace John Frankenheimer as director of a prequel to THE EXORCIST, and things only got stranger from there. Our pal, and producer of the new film CRUMB CATCHER, Chadd Harbold returns to the show to help us discuss Schrader's DOMINION: PREQUEL TO TH…

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Schrader Ep. 25: Auto Focus (2002) with Nick Wiger 2:25:01

10M ago2:25:01

2:25:01

Schmile, listener! This week we're pointing our viewfinders at Paul Schrader's sleazy 2002 Bob Crane biopic AUTO FOCUS with writer and co-host of the Doughboys and Get Played podcasts, Nick Wiger! Join us for a discussion of fame, destructive sexual obsession, smoldering male violence, Willem Dafoe - you know, all the usual Schrader stuff. Plus: we…

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Schrader Ep. 24: Bringing Out The Dead (1999) with Soraya Sebghati 2:08:21

10M ago2:08:21

2:08:21

Somebody call 911 - it's a new episode podcast! Only kidding, there's no emergency. Except you might have some friggin palpitations when you hear our great conversation on Paul Schrader and Martin Scorsese's final collaboration (to date), BRINGING OUT THE DEAD, with film writer and literal rock star Soraya Sebghati! We're talking Cage, we're talkin…

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Schrader Ep. 23: Forever Mine (1999) 2:01:34

10M ago2:01:34

2:01:34

1999 is one of the great movie years - perhaps because Paul Schrader's FOREVER MINE only technically premiered that year, and didn't see release until 2002 (on Starz, to boot). But is this long-gestating tale of torrid passion the Sirkian romance Schrader claims, or more of a nasty noir pastiche? Is it neither of those things, and instead a very co…

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Schrader Ep. 22: Affliction (1997) with Glenn Heath, Jr. 1:58:52

11M ago1:58:52

1:58:52

"AFFLIC" - the Aflac duck if he was talking about this movie! For real, though, a lot of the characters in this film could have used some insurance based on many of the events that take place in Paul Schrader's 1997 Russell Banks adaptation AFFLICTION. Returning to the show to help us discuss this snowbound story of alcoholism and abuse is writer a…

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Schrader Ep. 21: Touch (1997) with Jane Altoids 2:10:13

11M ago2:10:13

2:10:13

Paul Schrader. Elmore Leonard. Tom Arnold. Dave Grohl. It's like the freaking Traveling Wilburys had a baby! Four babies, I guess. Anyway what I'm saying is Schrader's 1997 faith healer comedy TOUCH involved a weird bunch of people. Luckily we have the great Jane Altoids joining us to sort it all out! We're talking stigmata, daytime TV, self-parody…

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Schrader Ep. 20: City Hall (1996) 2:05:27

11M ago2:05:27

2:05:27

Now I've heard of a Major Motion Picture...but a Mayor Motion Picture??? Now I'm being carted off to a hospital for having typed that!! Nah, just kidding. We're talking about one of those today: Harold Becker's 1996 not-John-Grisham city politics thriller CITY HALL, on which Paul Schrader was one of four credited writers! Your favorite Pauld Casty …

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Schrader Ep. 19: Witch Hunt (1994) with Jack Sinclair 1:58:04

11M ago1:58:04

1:58:04

"Boy, I sure wish there was a sequel to the 1991 HBO Original Movie CAST A DEADLY SPELL, only more of a reboot than a sequel, and with Dennis Hopper taking over the role of detective H. Phillip Lovecraft from Fred Ward, and I hope it's mostly a fumbled metaphor for McCarthyism," you're probably saying to yourself all the time. Well, you will not be…

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Schrader Ep. 18: Light Sleeper (1992) with Jake Tropila 2:03:14

12M ago2:03:14

2:03:14

Wake up, listeners! Should be easy if you're anything like the protagonist of Paul Schrader's 1992 film LIGHT SLEEPER, which we're talking all about today with writer/editor/poster extraordinaire Jake Tropila! Join us for a great conversation about Schrader's "mid-life movie," addictive behavior, actually humanizing the drug trade, 90s New Age stuf…

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Schrader Ep. 17: The Comfort of Strangers (1990) with Jordan Fish and Ray Tintori 2:18:36

12M ago2:18:36

2:18:36

No, you haven't fallen asleep in a Venice alleyway - it's really the podcast! Today we're wandering La Serenissima and monologuing about our fathers as we discuss Paul Schrader's dreamy 1990 literary adaptation THE COMFORT OF STRANGERS with filmmakers and To The White Sea cohosts Jordan Fish and Ray Tintori! And yes, we do figure out which of us is…

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Emergency Minisode: The Estate Sale 26:52

12M ago26:52

26:52

Surprise, listeners! Jake went to a Clint-related estate sale recently and we had to tell you all about it ASAP. Ian's hearing all of this for the first time on mic, too. We'll post all the photos over on our Patreon feed, unlocked for everybody. Enjoy! https://www.podcastyforme.com/ Follow Pod Casty For Me: https://twitter.com/podcastyforme https:…

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Schrader Ep. 16: The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) with Robert Rubsam 2:53:33

12M ago2:53:33

2:53:33

"I want him to stop. I can't take the pain. The voices and the pain." No, those aren't the words of our listeners - they're the words of Jesus Christ as written by Paul Schrader! Understand your confusion, though. Today we're genuflecting before Martin Scorsese's highly controversial 1988 film THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST, adapted by Schrader from…

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Schrader Ep. 15: Patty Hearst (1988) 2:12:59

1y ago2:12:59

2:12:59

Death to the fascist insect that preys upon the life of the podcast! Just playing, nobody preys upon us. But we're back in Symbionese Liberation Army territory this week to talk Paul Schrader's 1988 biopic PATTY HEARST! Join us for a spirited conversation about Natasha Richardson, Ving Rhames, the movie's angle on leftism, ideological and physical …

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UNLOCKED: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) 1:59:34

1y ago1:59:34

1:59:34

This is an unlocked bonus episode from our Patreon feed, Paid Costly For Me. Here's some hidden gold for ya: the damned Pod Casty For Me Patreon feed! No, for real. Let's be for real now. Today we're finishing up the Man With No Name trilogy with the final and best film of the lot, Sergio Leone's 1966 Civil War Western epic THE GOOD, THE BAD AND TH…

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Schrader Ep. 14: Light of Day (1987) with Altmania 2:20:44

1y ago2:20:44

2:20:44

1..2..3..4! Pretty rock and roll way to start an episode description, I thought. This week we're absolutely shredding (guitar term) through a discussion of Paul Schrader's understandably underseen 1987 struggling rock band sibling melodrama film, LIGHT OF DAY, and joining us are our great pals Ryan and Este from the Altmania podcast! We talk mom st…

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Schrader Ep. 13: The Mosquito Coast (1986) 2:04:52

1y ago2:04:52

2:04:52

Hop on the launch, folks, we're heading to THE MOSQUITO COAST! Peter Weir's 1986 film scripted by Paul Schrader, that is. Join us for a conversation about the unfinished capitalist critique of prepper guys, the problems with Going Back To Nature, and how we are much smarter and better than Allie Fox generally because we have done more reading. Well…