102: My So-Called Life (1994-1995)

Introducing our lost episode! Three years ago, we started prepwork for a rewatch podcast about the groundbreaking 90s teen series, MY SO-CALLED LIFE, which ran on ABC-TV from 1994 to 1995. The plan: record and bank a few episodes before committing to the launch. Then life happened…you can guess the rest.

Just in time for the 30th anniversary of the series, here is Episode 1 of our MY SO-CALLED LIFE rewatch. Join us as we dissect the Pilot, share our connections to the show, and get reacquainted with introspective 15-year-old Angela Chase (Claire Danes) as she navigates the ups and downs of adolescence and a painful crush on Jordan Catalano (Jared Leto). 

MY SO-CALLED LIFE was an anomaly in the mid-90s when glossy teen soaps like 90210 reigned. Quiet, introspective, and sometimes dark, MSCL was the first TV series to focus on the subjective experience of a teenage girl, and later in its run, the first primetime series to show a teen coming out on-screen.

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#101: Something Wild (1986)

We were going to introduce Jonathan Demme’s SOMETHING WILD by saying that not a lot of movies start with the kidnapping of the main character in the first five minutes, but according to Wikipedia’s “Films about Kidnapping” list, that isn’t true. And our main character, straitlaced banker Charlie Driggs (Jeff Daniels), isn’t exactly kicking and screaming when he’s picked up by Lulu (Melanie Griffith), an attractive Soho hipster with a Louise Brooks bob. What follows is a genre-defying film that is part road movie, part off-kilter rom-com, and part suburban nightmare crime thriller, featuring a truly terrifying debut performance by Ray Liotta.

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#100: The Big 100! Calm Down & Share This Edition

Five years ago on a drive back from Lubbock, we came up with the concept for this podcast. Here we are, celebrating 100 episodes, by switching it up, with patience and love.

Dave picks a movie Ashley adores, COLUMBUS (2017). Ashley chooses RASHOMON (1950) for Dave.

Are we in for a Kogonada/Kurosawa rap battle? Or just a kinder, more generous show? No enforced viewing this time. Just the gift of time and attention during Ashley’s recent visit home from grad school.

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#98: Ikiru (1952)

In what is turning out to be a very existential few months for the podcast, this month we take a close look at Akira Kurosawa’s IKIRU, in which we follow a lifelong civil servant played by Kurosawa regular Takashi Shimura as he comes to terms with his impending death, and maybe, just maybe figures out what the point of all of this is. And in the third act, Kurosawa, ever the keen observer of humanity, gives us a glimpse of the man’s legacy to those left behind. And so, can the living ever really learn what the dead have to teach us?

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#96: La Dolce Vita (1960)

There are some who believe, and we’re among them, that the creative spark  is what makes us human, but making art is frequently hard, emotionally taxing and the results often fall short of our ideal. So is it any wonder that some would-be creators might lose themselves in hedonistic pleasure seeking, rather than doing the work to find meaning? This is perhaps the central question of Dave’s choice, Fellini’s LA DOLCE VITA. Rife with symbolism and references to Dante’s Inferno, the soul of our hero is at stake. What choice will he make: to make his own meaning or be lost?

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#94: Tootsie (1982)

We’re back from our hiatus with an all-new deep dive into Dave’s pick. This week we’re talking about TOOTSIE (1982) and we have questions: Can someone who disguises himself as another type of person really understand what it’s like to be that kind of person? And more importantly, did the screenwriters of Tootsie actually intend to convey a subtle message that indeed you can not understand what it is like to be a woman in a patriarchal society by disguising yourself as one? Is Michael Dorsey, a.k.a. Dorothy Michaels (Dustin Hoffman), actually an anti-hero here? And what was up with that ending? Justice for Sandy and Julie!

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#92: Seconds (1966)

There is a lot more to John Frankenheimer’s SECONDS than a synopsis or even first viewing can convey. First of all, what is it? Is it sci-fi à la The Twilight Zone or pre-Cronenberg body horror, or a thesis on man’s search for meaning? As it turns out, it’s a little bit of all of this, and maybe some other things, too. Beautifully photographed and masterfully paced and edited, Seconds turns a relatively simple premise into a tense and multilayered examination of purpose, meaning, and existence.

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#90: The Conversation (1974)

Can we ever be sure of the motives of others? Can we even be sure of our own? Coppola’s THE CONVERSATION explores how emotions like greed, pride and fear shape our actions through the eyes of Harry Caul (Gene Hackman), a professional wiretapper who wrestles with the implications of the information he is supplying. Lives are at stake, nothing is as it seems, and it may be Harry who loses his soul.

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#88: Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993)

We open on a snowy plain, a tiny figure approaching from the horizon. What follows is a 32 part quasi-biography of the eccentric 20th century pianist told in the style of a multi-part TikTok video. Made in the early 90’s, THIRTY TWO SHORT FILMS ABOUT GLENN GOULD is clearly ahead of its time with its fractal storytelling. We get bits of music, interviews, sketches, animations and audioscapes that each give us a glimpse into the man and the artist that was Glenn Gould. Don’t be intimidated by the large number of films. There is a little something for everyone, and if you hate one, you can just scroll up (or wait–they are short).

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#86: Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974)

Where does Alice live? Not Socorro, NM anymore. Ellen Burstyn plays a recently widowed housewife looking for a new start for herself and her son in ALICE DOESN’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE. Martin Scorsese, master of urban violence, brings a sense of danger and isolation to this otherwise heartfelt story. Highlights include the very authentic relationship between mother and son. It’s not easy to be a single mom looking for work in 1970s America, but Alice meets the challenges with hope, a touch of exasperation and some deep cuts from the Great American Songbook.

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