The Cinematologists Podcast

Ep122 - Projections Podcast (w/Mary Wild and Sarah Cleaver)

For this exciting episode Neil and Dario are joined by two of their favourite film podcasters, Mary and Sarah from the Projections podcast, a thematic, season-oriented show that looks at a huge swathe of cinema through the lens of psychoanalysis.
In this episode, the four of them discuss psychoanalysis as a mode for cinema study, some of the problems with cancel culture, how Sarah and Mary went about starting Projections and their reflections on how the podcast has grown, sex in cinema, Eyes Wide Shut and Annie Hall.
It’s a great conversation with two smart, fascinating podcasters. Thanks to them for dropping by to talk.
You can listen to Projections wherever you get your podcasts and you can find out more about it here.
Details on Mary’s lecture and workshop series for the Freud Museum can be found here (the next one is in June so get booking!)
Details on Sarah’s Zodiac Film Club, can be found here.
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You can listen to The Cinematologists for free, wherever you listen to podcasts: click here to follow.
We also produce an extensive monthly newsletter and bonus/extended content that is available on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/cinematologists. You can become a member for only $2.50.
We also really appreciate any reviews you might write about the show (please send us what you have written and we'll mention it) and sharing on Social Media is the lifeblood of the podcast so please do that if you enjoy the show.
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Music Credits:
‘Theme from The Cinematologists’
Written and produced by Gwenno Saunders. Mixed by Rhys Edwards. Drums, bass & guitar by Rhys Edwards. All synths by Gwenno Saunders. Published by Downtown Music Publishing.

Ep121 - Wilderness (w/Justin Doherty and Neil Fox [obvs])

Today's episode focuses on the Jazz inspired bittersweet romance Wilderness, penned by our very own Neil Fox and directed by Justin Doherty. Both Neil and Justin subject themselves to an hour of intense Cinematologists questioning from Dario covering the development of the script, the unique production context, the casting and production design. We also get into the cinematic representation of relationships, particularly at their outset, and how the developmental phase of love can be a rollercoaster of contradictory feelings not always expressed in the most rational ways. The conversation also covers the release of the film to streaming sites at this particular moment, both in terms of issues around sexuality and race on screen, but also the after a year of the pandemic how much the world has changed from 2016, when the film was shot.
The film is available on streaming platforms including:
Google: https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/Wilderness?id=kzpGBLvw-LA.P&gl=GB
Amazon.co.uk: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wilderness-Katharine-Davenport/dp/B08VYWVXZY/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=wilderness&qid=1619440989&s=instant-video&sr=1-1
You can listen to The Cinematologists for free, wherever you listen to podcasts: click here to follow.
We also produce an extensive monthly newsletter and bonus/extended content that is available on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/cinematologists. You can become a member for only $2.50.
We also really appreciate any reviews you might write about the show (please send us what you have written and we'll mention it) and sharing on Social Media is the lifeblood of the podcast so please do that if you enjoy the show.
Music Credits:
‘Theme from The Cinematologists’
Written and produced by Gwenno Saunders. Mixed by Rhys Edwards. Drums, bass & guitar by Rhys Edwards. All synths by Gwenno Saunders. Published by Downtown Music Publishing.

Ep120 Western (w/ Dr Hannah Paveck)

Valeska Grisebach's Western (2017) transposes many of the iconographies and thematics of the western genre to the setting of a contemporary border town between Bulgaria and Greece, where a group of German construction workers build a hydro-electric plant. Their presence stirs up contemporary and historically layered tensions which are exacerbated by the communication barriers between the groups. This leads to a familiar, male driven tribalism, which one of the Germans, the stoic Meinhard (played by first time actor Meinhard Neumann), looks to navigate.
In this episode, we are joined by Dr Hannah Paveck whose article in Film-Philosophy Journal - Taciturn Masculinities: Radical Quiet and Sounding Linguistic Difference in Valeska Grisebach's Western - considers the relationship between film sound, gender and settler colonialism. We talk about her use of Jean-Luc Nancy and Eugenie Brinkema to explore how the film undermines the codings of silence associated with the heroic male hero. Furthermore, she discusses the film in the context of geopolitics and the aesthetics of art-cinema particularly the Berlin School, to which Grisebach is associated along with filmmakers such as Angela Schanelec and Christian Petzold.
Neil and Dario also talk about the writing processes they are currently involved in, their processes of work, how they approach different styles and the difficulties of moving between academic writing, journalism and blogging, particularly when the expectations from publishers and reviewers for each, can be very different.
You can listen to The Cinematologists for free, wherever you listen to podcasts: click here to follow.
We also produce an extensive monthly newsletter and bonus/extended content that is available on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/cinematologists. You can become a member for only $2.50.
We also really appreciate any reviews you might write about the show (please send us what you have written and we'll mention it) and sharing on Social Media is the lifeblood of the podcast so please do that if you enjoy the show.
Music Credits:
‘Theme from The Cinematologists’
Written and produced by Gwenno Saunders. Mixed by Rhys Edwards. Drums, bass & guitar by Rhys Edwards. All synths by Gwenno Saunders. Published by Downtown Music Publishing.
 

Andrew Dominik (Crossover Ep w/Silver Screen Video Podcast)

For this episode The Cinematologists are delighted to announce their first ever Podcast Crossover Event/Episode. As big fans of the wonderful Silver Screen Video podcast, hosted by Jacob and Jonathan, Neil and Dario were delighted when they agreed to do a collaborative episode, even more delighted when it was agreed that three films by the brilliant Australian director Andrew Dominik would be the focus ,and, yet more delighted by the result - a far-ranging and hugely fun conversation between Neil, Dario, Jacob and Jonathan on Chopper (2000) starring Eric Bana in a career-defining turn and Dominik’s two exemplary dissections of American myth (and Brad Pitt collaborations), The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) and Killing Them Softly (2012). This is the longest episode for a while, but boy gee whizz is it a good ‘un.
 Thanks to Jonathan and Jacob for this brilliant             conversation. Check out their amazing podcast here, and   wherever you get your pods.
 
You can listen to The Cinematologists for free, wherever you listen to podcasts: click here to follow.
We also produce an extensive monthly newsletter and bonus/extended content that is available on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/cinematologists. You can become a member for only $2.50.
We also really appreciate any reviews you might write about the show (please send us what you have written and we'll mention it) and sharing on Social Media is the lifeblood of the podcast so please do that if you enjoy the show.
Music Credits:
‘Theme from The Cinematologists’
Written and produced by Gwenno Saunders. Mixed by Rhys Edwards. Drums, bass & guitar by Rhys Edwards. All synths by Gwenno Saunders. Published by Downtown Music Publishing.

Conversations About Cinema (w/ Mark Cosgrove and Francesco Tava)

In this episode Neil talks to Mark Cosgrove, cinema curator at The Watershed in Bristol and Dr Francesco Tava, senior lecturer in philosophy at University of West England (UWE), about their current season of colonial cinema and discussions, Thought in Action, presented in partnership with MUBI.
Their conversation covers the positives of online events in the pandemic including accessing filmmakers and panel members from all over the world as well as welcoming diverse audiences, the hybrid future of cinema events and the value of meeting communally to discuss movies, and the importance of the colonial conversation being raised at this moment in history and Bristol’s prominence in that conversation.
Elsewhere Dario and Neil discuss audiences and the desire to be back in cinemas hosting live podcast events where movies are shared and discussed, they pay tribute to Yaphet Kotto, discuss the Masters of Cinema release of the 1967 Soviet folk horror, Viy, and touch on the Oscar nominations momentarily to celebrate the double nomination of the documentary Collective, in the wake of episode 117 and its focus on Romanian cinema.
For more information on the Thought in Action/Conversations about Cinema season visit here.
Upcoming panel discussion events:
Zombi Child (dir. Bonelli, 2019) - Thursday March 25, 18.00 - 19.00
Apiyemiyekî? (dir. Vaz, 2020) - Thursday April 15, 18.00 - 19.00
Bacurau (dir. Dornelles and Mendoça Filho, 2019) - Thursday April 29, 18.00 - 19.00
 
You can listen to The Cinematologists for free, wherever you listen to podcasts: click here to follow.
We also produce an extensive monthly newsletter and bonus/extended content that is available on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/cinematologists. You can become a member for only $2.50.
We also really appreciate any reviews you might write about the show (please send us what you have written and we'll mention it) and sharing on Social Media is the lifeblood of the podcast so please do that if you enjoy the show.
 
Music Credits:
‘Theme from The Cinematologists’
Written and produced by Gwenno Saunders. Mixed by Rhys Edwards. Drums, bass & guitar by Rhys Edwards. All synths by Gwenno Saunders. Published by Downtown Music Publishing.

Romanian Cinema (w/Film Critic Andrei Gorzo)

In this episode we talk to top Bucharest film critic and academic Andrei Gorzo about the aesthetics, history and political context of Romanian cinema. Andrei outlines how the fall of Nicolae Ceaușescu in 1989 effected a liberalisation of society, culture and the arts. But it not would be for another 10 years until the Romanian New Wave and directors like Cristi Puiu, Cornelie Porumboiu and Cristian Mungiu would spark a distinctive cinema emerge that would attained international acclaim. Andrei's research and writing is anchored by an encyclopaedic knowledge of international cinema and the connections between the emergence of the New Wave, Romania's communist history, the post-war European canon and popular cinema of the West. In this wide-ranging discussion, Andrei outlines the adoption of specific kind of realism, the problem of the concept of a national cinema with regards to Romania, the varying responses to the post-communist malaise, and the complex depiction of the uncertain relationship between the state and capitalism. 
Also in this episode, Neil reviews the soon to be released BFI Blu-Ray of Romeo is Bleeding, directed by Peter Medak, and starring Gary Oldman and Lena Olin.
You can listen to The Cinematologists for free, wherever you listen to podcasts: click here to follow.
We also produce an extensive monthly newsletter and bonus/extended content that is available on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/cinematologists. You can become a member for only $2.50.
We also really appreciate any reviews you might write about the show (please send us what you have written and we'll mention it) and sharing on Social Media is the lifeblood of the podcast so please do that if you enjoy the show.
Music Credits:
‘Theme from The Cinematologists’
Written and produced by Gwenno Saunders. Mixed by Rhys Edwards. Drums, bass & guitar by Rhys Edwards. All synths by Gwenno Saunders. Published by Downtown Music Publishing.

Sex and the Cinema (w/Film Critic Beatrice Loayza)

In this episode, we take on the thorny issue of sex and cinema but thankfully we had the extremely insightful film critic Beatrice Loayza to help is navigate the many strands of this subject. Beatrice has bylines in Sight & Sound, LA review of Book, Reverse Shot and Mubi notebook, but it was her recent piece in the Guardian - Some sex scenes are gratuitous, but a good one can electrify a film - that was the trigger for this conversation. Dario and Beatrice discuss the polarised debate around how sex scenes should be deployed, i.e. in the service of the plot, or for their aesthetic value in their own right. The conversation examines how the implied notion of the male gaze defines so much conversation about sex on screen, the lack of actual sexual representation in mainstream cinema, how blockbusters are particularly sex-less, the influence of the internet and the accessibility of pornography, the changing attitudes to hetero and queer sexual representation, and of course, what makes a 'good' sex scene. All of this framed through a context of continuing scrutiny of the film industry and its practices when in comes to shooting sex scenes, and the history of abuse that has been brought much more to the forefront in recent years. Dario and Neil go on to discuss the tricky subject of male power dynamics acknowledging and unpacking their own roles as straight white male viewers.
The episode also features a review A Nightmare Wakes released by horror distributors du jour Shudder, directed by Nora Unkel and starring the excellent Alix Wilton Regan. It's a fabulist, hallucinatory imagining of Mary Shelley's life, as her traumatic pregnancy and birth becoming fuel for the iconic literary monster she would give to the world. 
RS Benedict - Everyone is Beautiful and No One is Horny
You can also subscribe to The Cinematologists on:
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Spotify 
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Podchaser 
We produce an extensive monthly newsletter and bonus/extended content that is available on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/cinematologists. You can become a member for only $2.50.
We also really appreciate any reviews you might write about the show (please send us what you have written and we'll mention it) and sharing on Social Media is the lifeblood of the podcast so please do that if you enjoy the show.
Music Credits:
‘Theme from The Cinematologists’
Written and produced by Gwenno Saunders. Mixed by Rhys Edwards. Drums, bass & guitar by Rhys Edwards. All synths by Gwenno Saunders. Published by Downtown Music Publishing.
 
 

Simon Stephenson (Set My Heart To Five)

In the latest episode, Neil and Dario are drawn back to one of their favourite topics to talk about, Sci-Fi, albeit in a slightly different context. Neil talks to author and screenwriter Simon Stephenson about his acclaimed debut novel Set My Heart To Five, which tells the story of Jared - a bot who develops feelings. Simon is also adapting his book into a screenplay, with Edgar Wright attached to direct.
Around this conversation, Neil and Dario talk about a host of topics including the legacy of classic Sci-Fi cinema and in particular representations of artificial life/intelligence, Hollywood cinema of the 80s and 90s as a classic era, the differences between reading and watching Sci-Fi, the adaptation process and why Kevin Costner is great. Though for a full Costner love-in you will need to subscribe to the Patreon bonus episode that accompanies this main episode. (www.patreon.com/cinematologists)
Also as part of the episode, the hosts wax lyrical about their love for MUBI to coincide with their partnership for the release of Dea Kulumbegashvili’s Beginning - https://mubi.com/promos/thecinematologists - and on the occasion of MUBI’s 14th birthday, for which they are giving away a free day of movies on February 14th - https://mubi.com/ - a gesture you’ve just got to love.
Thank you to Simon for a wonderful chat. Buy his brilliant novel here (or wherever ethical that you buy your books), it’s out now in paperback.
Links to other material discussed in episode 115:
Into the Blue: Transposing the Frame in Derek Jarman’s Blue by Edwin Miles for Bright Wall/Dark Room.
The video essays of Ian Garwood on Vimeo
You can also subscribe to The Cinematologists on:
Apple Podcasts
Spotify 
Google Podcasts
Podchaser 
We produce an extensive monthly newsletter and bonus/extended content that is available on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/cinematologists. You can become a member for only $2.50.
We also really appreciate any reviews you might write about the show (please send us what you have written and we'll mention it) and sharing on Social Media is the lifeblood of the podcast so please do that if you enjoy the show.
Music Credits:
‘Theme from The Cinematologists’
Written and produced by Gwenno Saunders. Mixed by Rhys Edwards. Drums, bass & guitar by Rhys Edwards. All synths by Gwenno Saunders. Published by Downtown Music Publishing.