Podcasts
IFC News Podcast #105: Making Movie News
Monday, December 1, 2008 | 8:50 AM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
The Hollywood Reporter has promised that "no movie flatters the press" like Ron Howard's "Frost/Nixon." Well, to be fair, most movies don't try to flatter the press at all. On this week's IFC News podcast, we look at the different ways journalists have been portrayed on screen, from backbiting magazine staffers to fast-talking, amoral reporters and cynical TV talking heads, with the occasional heroic turn throw in.
Download now (MP3: 33:01 minutes, 30.2 MB)
[Photo: "Frost/Nixon," Universal Pictures, 2008]
IFC News Podcast #104: Giving Thanks
Monday, November 24, 2008 | 9:15 AM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
In honor of the Thanksgiving holiday, this week's IFC News podcast looks at the things this year that have made us feel grateful, from the beleaguered but always passionate critical community to a fantastic DVD release and an actor whose recent work continues to surprise and impress us.
Download now (MP3: 33:38 minutes, 30.8 MB)
[Photo: Josh Brolin in "Milk," Focus Features, 2008]
IFC News Podcast #103: Alison at the Wedding/Matt Getting Married
Monday, November 17, 2008 | 10:14 AM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
Podcaster, IFC News on-air host and general man about town Matt Singer is getting hitched, and in honor of his impending nuptials, this week's podcast takes a look at significant film wedding scenes, two of our favorite wedding movie clichés, and the heated discussions that have sprung from this year's major marital-themed picture, Jonathan Demme's "Rachel Getting Married."
Download now (MP3: 32:26 minutes, 29.7 MB)
[Photo: "Rachel Getting Married," Sony Pictures Classics, 2008]
IFC News Podcast #102: Alison and Matt Bond
Monday, November 10, 2008 | 1:22 PM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
Does this Bond need saving? On this week's IFC News podcast, we look at the reinvention of the James Bond character in franchise reboot "Casino Royale" and the new "Quantum of Solace," including what's worked, what hasn't, the shadow of the Bourne films and whether in updating the franchise and the character the new film has done away with too many of the things that made Bond Bond.
Download now (MP3: 33:52 minutes, 31 MB)
[Photo: "Quantum of Solace," MGM/Columbia, 2008]
IFC News Podcast #101: Actors As Themselves, Sort Of
Monday, November 3, 2008 | 9:45 AM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
In "JCVD," faded action icon Jean-Claude Van Damme plays a sadder-sack version of himself who returns to Brussels after losing his daughter in a bitter custody battle, hoping to regroup but unlucky enough to get caught in a botched bank robbery. It takes a special brand of self-awareness and sense of humor to play yourself in a film (we're not just talking novelty cameos) -- on this week's IFC News podcast, we look at other examples, from self-mythologizing hip-hop artists to self-depreciating art house stars.
Download now (MP3: 33:22 minutes, 30.6 MB)
[Photo: "JCVD," Peace Arch, 2008]
IFC News Podcast #100: The "Killer _____" Movie
Monday, October 27, 2008 | 9:16 AM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
For this Halloween week IFC News podcast, we look at the various professions and day jobs movie killers have before and during their turn to murder -- everything from doctor to carnival clown -- before celebrating our 100th episode, Jackie Chan-style, with violent outtakes* from podcasts past.
Download now (MP3: 31:05 minutes, 28.5 MB)
[Photo: "Dr. Giggles," Universal Pictures, 1992]
IFC News Podcast #99: Requiem for a Video Store
Monday, October 20, 2008 | 9:59 AM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
Kim's Video, the venerable New York City store famous for its massive, esoteric and not always legal collection of movies as well as its judgmental staff, is shutting down its rental business. This week on the IFC News podcast, we look at the legend of Kim's, the decline of video stores in general, and, with it, the passing of the fabled video store clerk turned self-taught director.
Download now (MP3: 33:54 minutes, 31.1 MB)
[Photo: Kim's Video on St. Marks]
IFC News Podcast #98: Comebacks We'd Like to See
Monday, October 13, 2008 | 10:51 AM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
Continuing our chain of thought from last week's podcast, this week we dredge up a list of actors we like who've been having off streaks and suggest the type of role we think would get them back on track.
Download now (MP3: 35:18 minutes, 32.4 MB)
[Photo: Jeff Bridges or Val Kilmer? Kilmer! "Felon," Stage 6 Films, 2008]
IFC News Podcast #97: Notable Big Screen Comebacks
Monday, October 6, 2008 | 9:21 AM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
Who would have guessed that Mickey Rourke would be hailed the comeback of the year, with his role in Darren Aronofsky's "The Wrestler" getting critical acclaim from all comers? It's been a tough road for the actor/former boxer, and he brings every bit of wear and tear to the film, which is all the better for it. In honor of Rourke, on this week's IFC News podcast we look at other actors who've faded from the spotlight only to make great comebacks, and a few who never managed to make their return work.
And don't forget to check out our footage of Aronofsky, Rourke and co-star Marisa Tomei at the New York Film Festival.
Download now (MP3: 35:53 minutes, 32.9 MB)
[Photo: "The Wrestler," Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2008]
IFC News Podcast #96: Soundtracks That Overshadow Their Movies
Monday, September 29, 2008 | 8:24 AM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
"Nick and Norah"'s playlist may be infinite, but for a movie, making soundtrack choices can be like putting together the world's most high-pressure mixtape. And the most amazing soundtrack won't guarantee the greatness of your film -- on this week's IFC News podcast, we come up with a list of titles we think are overshadowed by their own music. Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson.
Download now (MP3: 33:43 minutes, 30.9 MB)
[Photo: "The Graduate," Embassy Pictures Corporation, 1967]
IFC News Podcast #95: From Fantastic Fest
Tuesday, September 23, 2008 | 11:07 AM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
For eight blissful days in September, Austin, TX, is home to Fantastic Fest, a celebration of sci-fi, horror, fantasy and other genre films that's also a rollicking good time. This week on the IFC News Podcast, we reports (late!) and exhausted from the festival to discuss the World Air Sex Championships, "JCVD," Tiffany stalkers and karaoke.
Download now (MP3: 30:16 minutes, 27.7 MB)
[Photo: "JCVD," Peace Arch, 2008]
IFC News Podcast #94: Non-Kids Movies For Kids
Monday, September 15, 2008 | 7:44 AM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
Emergency babysitting situation? Unexpected underage dinner guests in addition to the people you'd actually invited? Even a cinephile whose closest brush with the kiddy set was a debate on the similarities between "WALL-E" and Chaplin can end up having to entertain young ones sometimes. This week on the IFC News podcast we look to our own collections to see what films we own that might not have been made for children, but that would entertain them just fine.
Download now (MP3: 28:44 minutes, 19.8 MB)
[Photo: "The King of Kong," Picturehouse Entertainment, 2007]
IFC News Podcast #93: Debating Two Toronto Films
Monday, September 8, 2008 | 9:08 AM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
The Toronto Film Festival is in full swing, and so this week on the IFC News podcast we argue over two of the films screening there: Spike Lee's World War II drama "Miracle at St. Anna" and Mike Leigh's North London comedy "Happy-Go-Lucky."
Download now (MP3: 25:53 minutes, 23.7 MB)
[Photo: "Miracle at St. Anna," Touchstone Pictures, 2008]
IFC News Podcast #92: The Rules of Sad Assassins
Monday, September 1, 2008 | 11:37 AM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
If movies have taught us anything, it's that there's a huge shadow economy for professional killings, and dozens of angsty men and women around the globe specially trained to fill it. "Bangkok Dangerous" finds Nicolas Cage becoming the latest to join the ranks of these sad assassins, and in honor of the film, this week on the IFC News podcast we look at the many reasons movie hitmen tend to be so tragic.
Download now (MP3: 34:42 minutes, 31.8 MB)
[Photo: Nicolas Cage in "Bangkok Dangerous," Lionsgate, 2008]
IFC News Podcast #91: A Salute to Manny Farber and Termite Actors
Monday, August 25, 2008 | 9:58 AM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
In honor of the late critic Manny Farber's idea of termite art, and of the movie doldrums of late August, this week on the IFC News podcast we pay our respects to our favorite working leads in good-bad films. After all, great acting is one thing, but the ability to yell about getting revenge on the guy who killed your wife while flexing your abs and outrunning a fireball is quite another, and worthy of its own kind of appreciation.
Download now (MP3: 32:23 minutes, 29.6 MB)
[Photo: Jason Statham in "Death Race," Universal Pictures, 2008]
IFC News Podcast #90: Our Fall Indie Film Preview
Monday, August 18, 2008 | 2:17 PM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
The season of troubled (but incredibly box office-friendly) superheroes, of IMAX, of fanboys attacking critics, of women (hey!) wanting to see films after all, of some incredibly stupid comedies, of summer is coming to a close. This week on the IFC News podcast, we look ahead to fall and offer ten picks of indie films we're looking forward to, as well as word on ones we've already seen.
Download now (MP3: 29:56 minutes, 27.4 MB)
[Photo: The Coen brothers' "Burn After Reading," Focus Features, 2008]
IFC News Podcast #89: Famously Disastrous Film Productions
Monday, August 11, 2008 | 2:20 AM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
"Tropic Thunder" may get its main goofs from the idea of delusionally self-important actors being dropped into an actual war zone to contend with some very real threats to their coddled existence, but it also contains many a nod to the great tradition of film productions going disastrously wrong. This week on the IFC News podcast, we look through some of cinema's most infamous examples, from Martin Sheen's near-fatal heart attack during the making of "Apocalypse Now" to Michael Cimino knocking down and rebuilding a $1.2 million "Heaven's Gate" set because he didn't like how the buildings were spaced.
Download now (MP3: 38:12 minutes, 35 MB)
[Photo: "Apocalypse Now" indeed - Martin Sheen in "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse," Triton Pictures, 1991]
IFC News Podcast #88: The Passion of the Passion Project
Monday, August 4, 2008 | 9:26 AM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
This week, indie director David Gordon Green tests out the mainstream waters with stoner comedy "Pineapple Express." It's not uncommon to see filmmakers getting their start in the independent world before moving on to studio fare, it's rare that we get to see the opposite scenario. This week on the IFC News podcast, we look at those instances where a successful studio director takes a pay and budget cut in order to make, if not necessarily an indie flick, certainly a smaller scale passion project.
Download now (MP3: 33:54 minutes, 31 MB)
[Photo: "Pineapple Express," Columbia Pictures, 2008]
IFC News Podcast #87: Has Comic-Con Nuked the Fridge?
Monday, July 28, 2008 | 3:44 PM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
125,000 fans and fanboys struggled their way through traffic jams and back home through epic airport delays in order to attend the just-wrapped Comic-Con 2008. But amidst all the movie hype, some attendees grumbled that this was the year the convention finally lost sight of the comic books it was actually started to showcase. This week on the IFC News podcast, we look at what's changed for Comic-Con, why it's gotten so much press attention this year and which movies everyone's been talking about.
Download now (MP3: 32:17 minutes, 29.5 MB)
[Photo: "Watchmen," Warner Bros. Pictures, 2008]
Panel footage from Comic-Con:
"The Wolf Man," with Benicio Del Toro and make-up artist Rick Baker
"The Spirit," with director Frank Miller and Samuel L. Jackson
"Watchmen," with director Zack Snyder, Billy Crudup, Carla Gugino and others
"RocknRolla," with director Guy Ritchie and Gerard Butler
IFC News Podcast #86: Squandering Comedic Talent
Monday, July 21, 2008 | 9:08 AM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
Finding a good vehicle for a great comedian can be tough -- the ability to be funny doesn't always come hand in hand with the ability to act, and the film needs to work with a comedian's persona and particular strengths. A few recent or upcoming films have done brilliantly bad jobs of this -- most notably "Run Fatboy Run," with Simon Pegg, but to a lesser extent "The Rocker" with Rainn Wilson and "Hamlet 2" with Steve Coogan. This week on the IFC News podcast, we look at ten past films that have, in different ways, squandered the comedic talent attached to them.
Download now (MP3: 32:39 minutes, 29.8 MB)
[Photo: "Run Fatboy Run," Picturehouse Entertainment, 2007]
IFC News Podcast #85: From Screen! To Stage! To Screen!
Monday, July 14, 2008 | 3:51 PM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
Once upon a time, successful musicals went from the stages of Broadway or the West End to Hollywood for lavish film adaptations, yielding everything from "Oklahoma!" to, more recently, "Dreamgirls" and this week's "Mamma Mia!" But it's become just as common for movies to inspire musical theater productions -- hello, "Xanadu" -- with sometimes more dubious results. This week on the IFC News Podcast, we look at the musical world of stage-to-screen, screen-to-stage, and that rare but growing category of screen-to-stage-to-screen, suggest films that would make great or terrible Broadway shows, and wonder why anyone every greenlit "Carrie - The Musical."
Download now (MP3: 37:07 minutes, 33.9 MB)
[Photo: "Mamma Mia!", Universal Pictures, 2008]
IFC News Podcast #84: Is the Sky Really Falling on Independent Film?
Monday, July 7, 2008 | 12:12 PM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
A few weeks ago, former Miramax president Mark Gill gave a speech at the L.A. Film Festival's Financing Conference about the dire future of indie film ("Yes, the sky really is falling," he assured) that got everyone talking. The speech can be read online here. This week on the IFC News podcast, we discuss THINKFilm's issues, the closing of Warner Independent and Picturehouse and the other events that have lead up to this glum pronouncement, and whether things really are as bad as Mr. Gill claims.
Download now (MP3: 30:01 minutes, 27.4 MB)
[Photo: The sky, she falls -- "Chicken Little," Buena Vista Pictures, 2005]
IFC News Podcast #83: The Wide World of Drug Movies
Monday, June 30, 2008 | 4:41 PM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
In this week's "The Wackness," one-time Nickelodeon star Josh Peck plays a teenager who spends the summer of 1994 dealing pot out of an ice cream cart and consuming plenty of his own product. In honor of the film, and in particular of Ben Kingsley's admirably fried performance as a shrink who accepts weed in lieu of cash for sessions, we're spending this IFC News podcast in the world of drug movies, from stoner comedies like "Smiley Face" to meth dramas like "Spun."
Download now (MP3: 35:06 minutes, 32.1 MB)
[Photo: "The Wackness," Sony Pictures Classics, 2008]
IFC News Podcast #82: Taking on AFI's 10 Top 10s
Monday, June 23, 2008 | 10:53 AM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
According to the AFI's latest list, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is the best American animated film, ever, while "Raging Bull" is the greatest sports flick and "Lawrence of Arabia" is the most epic epic. This week on the IFC News podcast, we look over their picks, agree with some, disagree with others, and dissect whether "epic" is really even a genre anyway.
Download now (MP3: 32:10 minutes, 29.5 MB)
[Photo: The best American animated film of all time? "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," Disney, 1937]
IFC News Podcast #81: On Child Actors
Monday, June 16, 2008 | 10:26 AM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
This week on the IFC News podcast, we're inspired by the upcoming release of "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl," starring current reigning child star Abigail Breslin, as well as the recent passing of "It's a Wonderful Life"'s Bobby Anderson and the arrest of Tatum O'Neal, to take a look at child actors on screen, how to best make the leap into adult stardom and what happens when you can't.
Download now (MP3: 34:07 minutes, 31.2 MB)
[Photo: Tatum O'Neal in "Paper Moon," Paramount Pictures, 1973]
IFC News Podcast #80: Physical Disability in Film
Monday, June 9, 2008 | 3:08 PM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
In "Quid Pro Quo," opening this week, Nick Stahl plays a wheelchair-bound reporter who begins a journalistic investigation into a group of handicap wannabes who long for disabilities of their own. Intriguing look into an unexplored subculture, or recycling of film stereotypes about the disabled? It got us thinking, and so this week on the IFC News podcast we examine how people with physical disabilities have been portrayed in movies, from "Freaks" to "My Left Foot" to "Rory O'Shea Was Here," and discuss whether actors playing disabled characters is the new blackface.
Download now (MP3: 30:26 minutes, 27.8 MB)
[Photo: "Quid Pro Quo," Magnolia Pictures, 2008]
IFC News Podcast #79: The Art of Online Video
Monday, June 2, 2008 | 9:36 AM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
This week on the IFC News podcast, we take a look at short-form web video, which, if the hype is to be believed, is either the future of entertainment or the destroyer of all things. We take a look at online projects from indie talent like Isabella Rossellini, mumblecore figurehead Joe Swanberg and "The Blair Witch Project"'s Daniel Myrick, and debate how much of what's arisen from the web so far has artistic staying power.
Download now (MP3: 30:30 minutes, 27.9 MB)
[Photo: "Green Porno," Sundance, 2008]
IFC News Podcast #78: Cannes Endpoint
Tuesday, May 27, 2008 | 1:46 PM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
We've stuck a fork in the 2008 Cannes Film Festival and that puppy is well charred. A day late and a Euro short, we take a look at the fest as a whole on this week's IFC News podcast, before discussing the pros and cons of two of the most talked-about films from American directors, Steven Soderbergh's "Che" and Charlie Kaufman's "Synecdoche, New York," surveying the prizes and giving out a few of our own.
Download now (MP3: 34:36 minutes, 31.6 MB)
[Photo: "Synecdoche, New York," Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, 2008]
IFC News Podcast #77: Cannes Midpoint
Monday, May 19, 2008 | 2:07 PM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
The 2008 Cannes Film Festival is halfway through, and so this week on the IFC News podcast we're coming to you straight from France to discuss the festival so far, a few of the films we've liked and Woody Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," on which we're very divided.
Download now (MP3: 33:59 minutes, 31.1 MB)
[Photo: "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," Weinstein Co., 2008]
IFC News Podcast #76: Get (Uwe) Bolled Over
Monday, May 12, 2008 | 10:01 AM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
There are petitions just to stop him from making more films. Stride has offered to give away free gum if one million people sign. He's punched out the scrawnier of his critics in a boxing ring. He's the filmmaker the world loves to revile, and in honor of (or maybe just to warn you about) the upcoming "Postal," this week on the IFC News podcast we discuss the career and films of Uwe Boll, and whether or not he's the contemporary Ed Wood.
Download now (MP3: 29:50 minutes, 27.3 MB)
[Photo: Uwe Boll plays himself in "Postal," Freestyle Releasing, 2007]
IFC News Podcast #75: Not Another Teen Movie Podcast
Monday, May 5, 2008 | 11:18 AM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
This week, "Juno"'s Ellen Page is back in theaters with "The Tracey Fragments," playing another troubled but eloquent teenager girl. Is it safe to say that Page is the wide-eyed, smart-mouthed face of the MySpace generation on the indie screen? In honor of her role, this week on the IFC News podcast, we take a look at some of the better representations of teens on screen, from "Kes" to "Ghost World."
Download now (MP3: 27:56 minutes, 25.5 MB)
[Photo: "The Tracey Fragments," THINKFilm, 2007]
The IFC News Podcast is at Tribeca
Monday, April 28, 2008 | 6:32 PM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
The IFC News podcast is taking this week off — catch us in video form instead in our coverage of the Tribeca Film Festival right here. Want to download these video dispatches? Here's the link on iTunes.
+ IFC News Festival Video Podcasts (iTunes)
IFC News Podcast #74: Your Indie Summer Movie Preview
Monday, April 21, 2008 | 11:26 AM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
The weather's warming, the days are longer and "Iron Man" ads are getting inescapable — clear signs that summer's on the way. This week on the IFC News podcast, we present ten indie alternatives to the season's blockbusters that we haven't seen and are really looking forward to.
Download now (MP3: 28:41 minutes, 26.2 MB)
[Photo: "The Promotion," Dimension Films, 2008]
IFC News Podcast #73: Movies in Real Time
Monday, April 14, 2008 | 10:13 AM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
The moment the phone rings in "88 Minutes" and Al Pacino is told he has the titular amount of time left to live, the film joins the small group of flicks set in real time — every minute that ticks by in the film is equal to a minute of the audience's time. "24" may have conditioned us to follow narratives as they unfold (and wonder if the characters will ever manage a bathroom break), the real time feature remains tricky and often gimmick-driven. This week on the IFC News podcast, we look at some of the directors, from Hitchcock to Linklater, and some of the structures, from dinner parties to hostage situations, of films set in real time.
Download now (MP3: 28:10 minutes, 25.7 MB)
[Photo: "88 Minutes," Columbia Pictures, 2008]
IFC News Podcast #72: Seniors of the Silver Screen
Monday, April 7, 2008 | 9:22 AM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
Looking at the posters of the adorable New England senior citizens that make up the chorus featured in doc "Young@Heart," it's hard not to think about how, with the exception of rapping grannies, you just don't see people over the age of 65 in movies that often. Certainly not as the focus of a film — which is why, this week on the IFC News podcast, we look over the small selection of features centered on older casts, and the films that seem specifically intended for the neglected 65-plus demographic.
Download now (MP3: 26:45 minutes, 24.5 MB)
[Photo: "Young@Heart," Fox Searchlight, 2007]
IFC News Podcast #71: Gambling on the Movies
Monday, March 31, 2008 | 9:59 AM
By Matt Singer and Alison Willmore
"21," which is based on the true story of a group of MIT students who used a card-counting system to win millions of dollars in the Vegas casinos, isn't the first film to tackle gambling as a topic... and it's doubtful anyone would call it the best, either. But gambling, whether it be on cards, dice, horses or other people, is tough to capture on screen. This week on the IFC News podcast, we look at "21," the plague of the poker fad on screen, and a few gambling films that get it right.
Download now (MP3: 29:44 minutes, 27.2 MB)
[Photo: "21," Columbia Pictures, 2008]