Dead Poets Society (1989)

Take a step back in time to late 80s cinema where hope abounds, it’s a bit schmaltzy, and the sensibilities don’t always hold up. Peter Weir directs a bombastic Robin Williams as Mr. Keating, an eccentric English teacher at a private school. Keating inspires his students to Carpe Diem, push back against authority, and explore the arts. Listen in to Jim and A.Ron as they examine their own experience with the film. And find out who almost got cast as Mr. Keating!

The Truman Show (1998)

The Truman Show is an amazing movie that was successful despite its marketing and its star, Jim Carrey, being an unknown dramatic quantity. And as good as it was in 1998, it might be even better today. Join us for a tale of a man who lives in a world of deceit, surveillance, embedded ads and science-fiction-sized wave machines.

Witness (1985)

Today we’ve got Witness, the 1985 Harrison Ford-led visual guide to becoming Amish. In truth, it’s a romance film clad in suspenders, a milking hat, and the trappings of a noir thriller. The podcast was a lot of fun to record and hopefully just as much fun to listen to, especially if you want to hear about A.Ron’s father’s irrational dread of grain entrapment.

Bald Move Prestige - Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

Special thanks to our twin commissioners, Steven S. and Mozbeet for commissioning one of my very favorite films, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, directed by Peter Weir and based on the Patrick O’Brian series that is my very favorite books of all time. Thank god Jim thinks it’s awesome too, or there might have been bloodshed. We discuss the film’s historicity and verisimilitude, the unique relationship between Captain Jack and Doctor Maturin, life aboard an 19th century Man o’ War, and I make a pitch for reading the original novels towards the end. Thanks again Steven and Mozbeet, this was a real treat!