Sibling Cinema

This week, we discuss the Coen Brothers' stylish satire of the Golden Age of Hollywood, Hail, Caesar!SPOILER ALERT We will be talking about this movie in its entirety, including the mystery of "The Future" and the ultimate resolution of Baird Whitlock's kidnapping. If you haven't seen this film, we strongly suggest you watch it before listening to our takes.A Universal Pictures and Working Title Films production. Released on February 5, 2016. Directed, written, produced, and edited by Joel and Ethan Coen. Starring Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes, Jonah Hill, Scarlett Johansson, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, and Channing Tatum. Cinematography by Roger Deakins. Music by Carter Burwell.The story follows a single, chaotic day in the life of Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin), a "fixer" for Capitol Pictures in 1951. Mannix spends his days (and nights) suppressing scandals and managing the fragile egos of the studio’s stars. His world is thrown into disarray when the studio's biggest star, Baird Whitlock (George Clooney), is kidnapped from the set of the prestige Roman epic Hail, Caesar! Tales of the Christ by a mysterious group calling themselves "The Future." As Mannix juggles a pregnant starlet's image, a singing cowboy’s transition into high-society drama, and a persistent pair of rival gossip columnists (both played by Tilda Swinton), he must also weigh a lucrative, low-stress job offer from Lockheed against his grueling but soul-stirring devotion to the magic of the movies.

We're winding down our very long first season with a two part season finale. We look back at all the Best Picture winners we've covered and select the best of the best. Tune in next week for our new season. We have a ten-part series featuring films celebrating a decennial anniversary this year. First up, the 100th anniversary of Buster Keaton's 1924 classic Sherlock Jr.

Episode 69: THE GODFATHER Our countdown* comes to an end after a year and a half, give or take. We're talking about one of the giants of American cinema, Francis Ford Coppolla's The Godfather. The iconic cast includes Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, James Caan, Abe Vigoda, John Cazale, and Talia Shire. Does it really deserve the number one spot? Listen in and see what we think. Spoiler Alert: We talk about the movie in its entirety, so if you haven't yet seen it, check it out. Or not. That ball is in your court. *What is this list? We explain it in more detail in our Trailer and its Description, but as a high-level answer: we aggregated several different lists that rank the ninety-four winners of the Best Picture Academy Award in a rough attempt to get a consensus. It is not intended to be rigorous or definitive. It's just a framework to guide our journey through cinema history.

Episode 67: LAWRENCE OF ARABIA This week we discuss David Lean's sprawling 1962 historical epic, Lawrence of Arabia. Peter O'Toole stars as British WW1 officer, TE Lawrence, who gains fame by uniting Arab tribes against the Ottoman Empire. The huge supporting cast is headlined by Omar Sharif, Anthony Quinn, Alec Guinness, and Claude Raines. It won Best Picture over To Kill a Mockingbird. We debate that and its placement here as number 3 on our countdown.* Spoiler Alert: We talk about the movie in its entirety, so if you haven't yet seen it, check it out. Or not. That ball is in your court. Come back next week as we play it again with Casablanca. *What is this list? We explain it in more detail in our Trailer and its Description, but as a high-level answer: we aggregated several different lists that rank the ninety-four winners of the Best Picture Academy Award in a rough attempt to get a consensus. It is not intended to be rigorous or definitive. It's just a framework to guide our journey through cinema history.

Episode 65: SCHINDLER'S LIST Steven Spielberg's passion project, Schindler's List, was released at the end of the year 1993. This harrowing 3+ hour Holocaust epic was a surprise box office hit and racked up a slew of awards. Then-unknown Liam Neeson starred in the title role as materialistic German businessman in Poland during World War II. He's a self-serving war profiteer, but as conditions worsen for his Jewish workforce, he ultimately choses to shield them from the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps. Ben Kingsley co-stars, as well as another then-unknown, Ralph Fiennes, who delivers a chilling performance as notorious war criminal Amon Goethe. It won Best Picture and ranks here as number 5 on our countdown.* Spoiler Alert: We talk about the movie in its entirety, so if you haven't yet seen it, check it out. Or not. That ball is in your court. Come back next week as we keep our friends close, but The Godfather, Part II closer. *What is this list? We explain it in more detail in our Trailer and its Description, but as a high-level answer: we aggregated several different lists that rank the ninety-four winners of the Best Picture Academy Award in a rough attempt to get a consensus. It is not intended to be rigorous or definitive. It's just a framework to guide our journey through cinema history.

Episode 63: ON THE WATERFRONT Marlon Brando delivers one of his most iconic performances in Elia Kazan's 1954 thriller, On the Waterfront. Karl Malden, Rod Stieger, Eva Marie Saint and Lee J. Cobb also star. It ranks here as number 7 on our countdown.* Spoiler Alert: We talk about the movie in its entirety, so if you haven't yet seen it, check it out. Or not. That ball is in your court. Come back next week as we talk all about All About Eve. *What is this list? We explain it in more detail in our Trailer and its Description, but as a high-level answer: we aggregated several different lists that rank the ninety-four winners of the Best Picture Academy Award in a rough attempt to get a consensus. It is not intended to be rigorous or definitive. It's just a framework to guide our journey through cinema history.

Episode 61: ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST For this week's podcast we watched the 1975 classic One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Directed by Milos Foreman, this adaptation of Ken Kesey's highly regarded novel stars Jack Nicholson as Randle (yes, that's how it's spelled) McMurphy. In one of his most iconic roles, Nicholson's antiestablishment beatnik is sent to a mental health facility to assess his competency to serve his prison sentence. He clashes with the facility's rigid warden, Nurse Ratched, played here by Louise Rainer. Brad Douriff, Will Sampson, Danny DeVito, and Christopher Lloyd play the other inmates with whom McMurphy bonds. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest won Best Picture in a stacked year, and ranks here as number 9 on our countdown.* Spoiler Alert: We talk about the movie in its entirety, so if you haven't yet seen it, check it out. Or not. That ball is in your court. Come back next week for the number eight, Billy Wilder's 1960 masterpiece The Apartment. *What is this list? We explain it in more detail in our Trailer and its Description, but as a high-level answer: we aggregated several different lists that rank the ninety-four winners of the Best Picture Academy Award in a rough attempt to get a consensus. It is not intended to be rigorous or definitive. It's just a framework to guide our journey through cinema history.

Episode 59: IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT Come hitch a ride with us as we revisit Frank Capra's classic screwball comedy, It Happened One Night. Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert star in this rich mouse/poor mouse comic road movie from the early sound era. It beat out eleven other nominees to win the Best Picture prize for 1934 and ranks #11 on our countdown.* Spoiler Alert: We talk about the movie in its entirety, so if you haven't yet seen it, check it out. Or not. That ball is in your court. Come back next week as we jump ahead more than eighty years for Bong Joon Ho's 2019 dark comedy Parasite. *What is this list? We explain it in more detail in our Trailer and its Description, but as a high-level answer: we aggregated several different lists that rank the ninety-four winners of the Best Picture Academy Award in a rough attempt to get a consensus. It is not intended to be rigorous or definitive. It's just a framework to guide our journey through cinema history.

Episode 57: THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS This week we delve into Jonathan Demme's 1991 thriller The Silence of the Lambs. Jodie Foster plays an FBI student tasks with interviewing the infamous serial killer Hannibal the Cannibal Lector, in the hopes of gathering clues to help find an at-large killer. Lector is, of course, played by Anthony Hopkins in perhaps his most iconic role. Not for the faint of heart, The Silence of the Lambs won the Best Picture prize and ranks #13 on our countdown.* Spoiler Alert: We talk about the movie in its entirety, so if you haven't yet seen it, check it out. Or not. That ball is in your court. Come back next week for a bit of a change of pace, The Best Years of Our Lives from 1946. *What is this list? We explain it in more detail in our Trailer and its Description, but as a high-level answer: we aggregated several different lists that rank the ninety-four winners of the Best Picture Academy Award in a rough attempt to get a consensus. It is not intended to be rigorous or definitive. It's just a framework to guide our journey through cinema history.

Episode 55: ANNIE HALL This week's episode takes us to New York City in the mid-Seventies. Woody Allen wrote, directed and starred in this semiautobiographical comedy about a comedian reflecting on his recently defunct romance with a quirky aspiring singer. Allen plays the lead, Alvy Singer, and Diane Keaton gives a career-defining performance in the title role. This is the movie that beat Star Wars for the 1977 Best Picture prize, and it ranks #15 on our countdown.* Spoiler Alert: We talk about the movie in its entirety, so if you haven't yet seen it, check it out. Or not. That ball is in your court. *What is this list? We explain it in more detail in our Trailer and its Description, but as a high-level answer: we aggregated several different lists that rank the ninety-four winners of the Best Picture Academy Award in a rough attempt to get a consensus. It is not intended to be rigorous or definitive. It's just a framework to guide our journey through cinema history.

Episode 53: MOONLIGHT I'm going to refrain from making "La La Land-no oops-Moonlight" jokes in the episode description. There's plenty of that silliness in the episode. If you don't know what that means, just listen in and we'll tell you all about it. Aside from all the talk of Oscarcast goofs, we do actually get into a pretty in depth discussion on this very serious, very personal drama, following a young boy becoming a man in an impoverished section of Miami. Moonlight shocked the industry by winning the Best Picture Academy Award (TM) for 2016. It ranks #17 on our countdown.* Come back again next week as we whistle and march our way into David Lean's 1957 epic The Bridge on the River Kwai. Spoiler Alert: We talk about the movie in its entirety, so if you haven't yet seen it, check it out. Or not. That ball is in your court. *What is this list? We explain it in more detail in our Trailer and its Description, but as a high-level answer: we aggregated several different lists that rank the ninety-four winners of the Best Picture Academy Award in a rough attempt to get a consensus. It is not intended to be rigorous or definitive. It's just a framework to guide our journey through cinema history.

Episode 50: NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN Not really a Halloween movie, but pretty scary nonetheless. This week we talk about the Coen brothers' lone Best Picture winner, No Country for Old Men. Released in 2007, it follows Josh Brolin as Llewelyn Moss, a Texas man on the run from a deadly assassin, Anton Chigur, played menacingly by Javier Bardem. Tommy Lee Jones plays the weary lawman desperately trying to keep the evil at bay. No Country for Old Men ranks #20 on our countdown.* Come back again next week. We get into the 'teens with the highest-ranking Best Picture winner of the 1980s, Amadeus. Spoiler Alert: We talk about the movie in its entirety, so if you haven't yet seen it, check it out. Or not. That ball is in your court. *What is this list? We explain it in more detail in our Trailer and its Description, but as a high-level answer: we aggregated several different lists that rank the ninety-four winners of the Best Picture Academy Award in a rough attempt to get a consensus. It is not intended to be rigorous or definitive. It's just a framework to guide our journey through cinema history.

Episode 48: REBECCA Last night, we dreamt we went to Manderley again . . . but we really we just watched a classic movie about it. The 1940 Alfred Hitchcock mystery Rebecca is the subject of our podcast this week. Joan Fontain plays a timid young woman who married a mysterious, wealthy widower, Maxim de Winter, played by Laurence Oliver. When she returns to his famed estate, Manderley, the newly wed must confront long-buried secrets, the memories of a dead wife, and a creepy housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson). Rebecca is based on the best-selling novel by Daphne Du Maurier. It was released in 1940 and won the top prize at the Oscars (TM) for that year. It ranks #22 on our countdown.* Come back again next week as we rumble our way into 1961's West Side Story. Spoiler Alert: We talk about the movie in its entirety, so if you haven't yet seen it, check it out. Or not. That ball is in your court. *What is this list? We explain it in more detail in our Trailer and its Description, but as a high-level answer: we aggregated several different lists that rank the ninety-four winners of the Best Picture Academy Award in a rough attempt to get a consensus. It is not intended to be rigorous or definitive. It's just a framework to guide our journey through cinema history.