Talking Images

In the 1910s, Lois Weber was one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood. She wrote, directed, produced, and even starred in films that pushed boundaries, made huge profits, and frequently angered censors. But how well have her morality tales actually held up, and did she ever make anything remotely as good as Suspense, either before or after?In this episode, Allison, Brett, and Chris walk through her films, from anti-abortion dramas to colossal blockbuster epics, and everything in between, to find out which films still manage to speak to us.Spoiler: While Brett maintains that Suspense is her only truly impressive work, the film he hates the most is actually Chris' favourite.

Has any director achieved more than Chantal Akerman while still in their 20s? The only comparison point is really Orson Welles. This is the woman who made Jeanne Dielman, voted the greatest film of all-time by Sight & Sound, when she was 24, and the masterpieces kept coming. In this episode, Matt and Chris dive into what makes Chantal Akerman's early masterpieces so special, from their daring and changing form, redefining what cinema could be, to their deeply personal, human, and touching connections. We will also explore why these films put so many people off, even pissing them off, and the controversy around Jeanne Dielman in particular - but more importantly, we will discuss each of the 4 major feature films Akerman made in the 70s - timestamps included:Je tu il elle / I, You, He, She (1974) - 00:17:12Jeanne Dielman (1975)- 00:32:45News From Home (1976) - 00:52:07Les rendez-vous d'Anna / The Meetings of Anna (1978) - 01:05:01We also made the decision to include the more often overlooked 5th major film she made immediately after her 4 early masterpieces:Toute une nuit / A Whole Night (1982) - 01:16:40A worthy inclusion in this set? Let us know, but we felt we had to talk about it!

For 13 years, the ICMForum has hosted a poll of obscure favourites. In that time, only 6 films have won. In this episode, we discuss we discuss each winner in detail, and talk about why you NEED to seek them out.Oh, and the 14th edition is going on right now. You can submit your vote up until the 30th of September.Timestamps:00:00:00 - Intro00:10:19 - Letter Never Sent00:26:53 - Sundays and Cybele00:49.09 - Muddy River01:03:48 - Carriage to Vienna01:15:37 - Rapture01:32:42 - Birth Certificate

How many films will we be able to agree on this time? Listen in as Arthur, Chris, Sol, and Tom reveal their top 10 films of 2024. Spoiler: As usual, even our number 1s are not safe from criticism, though we did have a few surprising overlaps and agreements.And while we may not see eye to eye on everything, we do seem to all have one thing in common: the belief that 2024 was a pretty amazing year for cinema.

Do you love exactly the same films for exactly the same reasons as you did 10-20-30+ years ago?In this episode, we try to figure out how and why taste changes, and explore how different our preferences are from when we first got into cinema.We will also ponder the very serious possibility that cinema acts as a literal drug, where the more exposed we are, the stronger a fix we need.Could it be that we are all on the same path to more and more extreme tastes, be it experimental cinema or the goriest horrors we can find?Listen in and find out.

He made the B-movie about a rubber tyre killing people with its psychic powers. He had superheroes give monsters cancer and stoners raise a dog-sized fly. Quentin Dupieux is weird. He's surreal. And ... kinda trashy and lowbrow when he wants. In this episode, we turn everything on its head, starting with his most recent film (that we have all seen - Daaaaaalí! - and working our way back to his very first mini-feature Nonfilm - as we try to figure out what makes him tick and how we could explain his films at a dinner party.Timestamps:Intro: 00:00:00Dinner Party Pitch - 00:03:00Daaaaaalí! - 00:12:14Yannick - 00:22:08Smoking Causes Coughing - 00:34:07Incredible but True - 00:39:38Mandibules - 00:45:00Deerskin - 00:51:17Keep an Eye Out - 00:56:32Reality - 00:59:23Wrong Cops - 01:04:33Wrong - 01:09:19Rubber - 01:11:46Steak - 01:19:43Nonfilm - 01:23:17

Are we in a new 60s, where Hollywood is burning out of steam and foreign films, along with A24 and Neon, are taking the spotlight? Could we be on the road to one of the best decades in history, or is it something far more lacklustre going on? Join us as we break down our impressions of the first half of the 2020s and guess/share our hopes of what this decade will be remembered for. How wrong will we be?

Adam, Brett, and Chris collectively watched practically every single Pixar Short, from the early CGI experiments in the 80s to Academy Award nominees and winners to DVD extras and the still-running "SparkShorts." Exhausted from endless Cars Franchise tie-ins, though more optimistic about Toy Story, this episode flies between love and admiration to disappointment. Listen in to hear which Pixar shorts we love, which disappointed us, and which sparked a heated debate with "soulless content" accusations. Don't worry, it ends on a note of positivity as we discuss the co-op program, an initiative we were all thoroughly ignorant of, but resulted in some of the best work from Pixar employees.

Join us as we see where we fit in on the scale between Grown Ups and Jeanne Dielman, accidentally diss a bunch of people as being part of a hive mind, and stumble onto moments of self-awareness and discovery.

Can returning champion [NAME REDACTED] hold onto their title against new and old foes? Tune in to the 2nd edition of Talking Images' Big Quiz Show to see which of the hosts actually know what they're talking about. P.S. Be sure to check out our first Quiz Show episode as well.

We did it! We have recorded 100 episodes (+ a pilot) of our extremely niche film podcast, and it seems some people care! Join us as we walk down memory lane, reveal our most cringe-worthy, as well as proudest moments, and share our so-far hidden stats of the most listened-to episodes. We'll also reveal our unpopular film opinions, which just might become future episodes.

Do people still read, or should all communication about film now be in the form of memes? In this episode, we reveal what film magazines we still read (for some, it is zero), why we review films ourselves (are we just screaming into the void?!), and discuss whether Letterboxd could be throwing reviews a lifeline (though the joke reviews always seem to win out). We'll also explore what we actually want from film reviews, decry spoilers, shake our heads at heavy plot descriptions and try to give tips to writing reviews in today's TL:DR generation.

Eric Rohmer was in his 70s when he delivered his final official cycle, Tales of Four Seasons. How do these 4 films stack up against his legendary Moral Tales or Comedies and Proverbs cycles? How do they capture the seasons, let alone youth? Was he still on point? Join us as we talk through A Tale of Springtime (1990), A Winter's Tale (1992), A Tale of Summer (1996), and An Autumn Tale (1998) in chronological order, and break down their themes, how they fit together, and how they make us feel. Timestamps: Intro: 00:00:00 A Tale of Springtime: 00:08:26 A Winter's Tale: 00:24:12 A Tale of Summer: 00:43:59 An Autumn Tale: 01:05:28