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PODCAST

Fifteen Minute Film Fanatics

Fifteen-Minute Film Fanatics

Two friends with strong opinions watch films separately then discuss them on the show for the first time. Can their friendship survive? Join Mike and Dan as they discuss one film each episode--and in only fifteen minutes, give or take a few. There are no long pauses, pontifications, or politics--just two guys who want to share their enthusiasm for great movies. On Twitter. On Letterboxd. Email: fifteenminutefilm@gmail.com.

tv & film film reviews

All Episodes

24:06

Nosferatu (1922)

Fifteen Minute Film Fanatics ·

2022/09/12

On the hundredth anniversary of F. W. Murnau's NOSFERATU (1922), Mike and Dan talk about the film's staying power and the thrill of watching dozens of cinematic conventions being invented before your eyes. The characters are like people watching horror movies, trying to remain logical while feeling uneasy or disturbed. Alien, Jaws, Rear Window, Niagra, The Witch and even COVID-19 all enter the conversation. So levitate out of that coffin and give it a listen! You can see a good print of NOSFERATU

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25:54

Fitzcarraldo

Fifteen Minute Film Fanatics ·

2022/09/05

A film that's both a joy and struggle to watch, Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo (1982) dramatizes the trials and triumph of a man bringing what he knows is aesthetic bliss and artistic excellence to the heart of darkness. But is he insane for thinking so? How much does he resemble Kurtz, Ahab, or Quixote? And how does watching Fitzcarraldo's attempt to bring the opera to the jungle remind us of trying to get your friends to read the books you like and see the films you admire? Don't turn everything

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22:15

Rocky

Fifteen Minute Film Fanatics ·

2022/08/29

Season 8 begins with a fanatic favorite and listener request: Rocky (1976). Mike praises the film's "unexpected subtlety" and Dan talks about how the first installment dwarfs all of its sequels--and why Rocky needs to lose in order to win. Marty, Raging Bull, and Creed all come into the conversation. So gulp those eggs, lace those Chuck Taylors, and give it a listen! Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Letterboxd. Please rate and

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4:41

Season 8 Teaser--with Sean Connery!

Fifteen Minute Film Fanatics ·

2022/08/25

Season 8 will begin on Monday, August 29, 2022. In the meantime, check out this unbelievable promo with one of the world's most-recognizable actors! Terrific bumper music: Bluebird by E's Jammy Jams Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Music provided by FreeMusic109 https://youtube.com/FreeMusic109 Please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on Twitter and Letterboxd @15MinFilm. Please rate and review the

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23:48

A Matter of Life and Death: Powell and Pressburger...

Fifteen Minute Film Fanatics ·

2022/07/11

If you were making a film about the afterlife, would the next world be in monochrome or technicolor? In their season 7 finale, Mike and Dan answer this question as they talk about Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's A Matter of Life and Death (1946), which Mike contends has "all the things that make a movie great" and which Dan describes as a "beautiful hallucination-like all the best films." The Wizard of Oz, The Matrix, The Shining, and an idea from Robert Frost's "Birches" all find their way

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29:06

No Country for Old Men

Fifteen Minute Film Fanatics ·

2022/07/05

Mike and Dan talk about one of the most faithful adaptations of any novel: the Coen brothers' No Country for Old Men (2007). Join them for a conversation about how the film poses questions about maintaining one's dignity and morality in a world one no longer recognizes, the way in which the film allows the viewer to think along with the characters, and whether or not the ending is as much of a downer as it seems upon first viewing. So get those tent poles, flip that coin, and give it a

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21:38

Detour

Fifteen Minute Film Fanatics ·

2022/06/27

How much unease can a film pack into 68 minutes? A great amount, as Mike and Dan discuss in this week's episode on Detour (1945), Edgar G. Ulmer's noir masterpiece and certainly one of the best examples of the genre. The guys talk about the ways in which the film dramatizes the whims of whatever malevolent force controls the universe and Ann Savage's unpredictable, electrifying performance. I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, Seinfeld, The Third Man, Raging Bull, Out of the Past, The Shining, Double

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28:05

In the Mood for Love

Fifteen Minute Film Fanatics ·

2022/06/20

"You notice a lot of things if you look." So says Maggie Cheung in Kar-Wei Wong's fascinating In the Mood for Love (2000). Mike and Dan notice many things about this terrific film, such as how it presents adultery in a way that surprises audiences used to seeing it as a plot device or a reward for a character's misery--as in The Bridges of Madison County. How the film suggests adultery as a terrible fact and a fact that two star-crossed lovers respect, despite their anguish, is what makes it so

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21:01

Planet of the Apes

Fifteen Minute Film Fanatics ·

2022/06/13

"Does man, that marvel of the universe, that glorious paradox who sent me to the stars, still make war against his brother? Keep his neighbor's children starving?" Charlton Heston finds out when he lands on Planet of the Apes, the 1968 classic that sparked sequels, a TV show, toys, Halloween costumes, and CGI reboots, but still stands above all of them. Mike and Dan talk about their favorite moments, watching it as a kid vs. seeing it now, and the way in which the famous surprise isn't as shocking

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6:14

One Shot: Princeton Garden and Alamo Drafthouse

Fifteen Minute Film Fanatics ·

2022/06/08

In this short episode, Mike and Dan talk about their favorite places to see movies. Dan raves about the Princeton Garden Theatre in Princeton, NJ; Mike praises the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, TX. Both offer terrific experiences for watching first-run and classic films and both are heavenly places for film fanatics. So get to Princeton or Austin or anywhere there's an Alamo Drafthouse and see what the fuss is about! Terrific bumper music: Bluebird by E's Jammy Jams Creative Commons — Attribution

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21:01

Top Gun: Maverick

Fifteen Minute Film Fanatics ·

2022/06/06

Ride into the danger zone with Mike and Dan as they discuss the first--and perhaps only--blockbuster popcorn movie of the season: Top Gun: Maverick. Dan defends his enjoyment of Tom Cruise's movies, Mike talks about a question the film asks that it can't answer, and both examine the ways in which Maverick has the feel of an 80s movie and the classic structure of the "Make a plan / execute the plan" movie. Jennifer Connelly's lighting, Jon Hamm's difficulty in containing Tom Cruise, and the

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23:04

A Scanner Darkly

Fifteen Minute Film Fanatics ·

2022/05/23

Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly (2006) is a better film than Blade Runner, the adaptation often seen as the gold standard of Philip K. Dick adaptations. Join Dan and Mike for a conversation about the experience of watching this terrific and trippy interrogation of the surveillance state, the noise that permeates our lives, and the ways in which our identities are scanned and sold. Other topics include rotoscoping, John LeCarre, Primer, The Departed, and whether or not Woody Harrelson knew he

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19:31

One Shot: The Northman

Fifteen Minute Film Fanatics ·

2022/05/18

No one was as jazzed up to see The Northman as Mike and Dan. Both are great admirers of Robert Eggers's The Witch and The Lighthouse, each of which has been discussed in previous episodes. But the disaster of The Northman is more than a disappointment; it's indicative of a trend in contemporary films in which the audience is held almost in contempt. This episode doesn't follow the usual three-act structure--it's all a rant about why The Northman fails and what its failure reminds us about how

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18:37

Le Samourai

Fifteen Minute Film Fanatics ·

2022/05/16

"What kind of man are you?" So asks one of the people who interact with Jef Costello, existential assassin in Jean Pierre-Melville's Le Samurai (1967). Mike and Dan try to answer this question by comparing Jef to Richard Stark's serial thief Parker (and subject of John Boorman's Point Blank) and a few other figures. Melville's masterpiece uses what Dan calls a "symphony of silence" to generate real tension until the final moments, in which Jef finds himself as another performer in the nightclub

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19:33

Prisoners

Fifteen Minute Film Fanatics ·

2022/05/09

“Pray for the best but prepare for the worst” is what Hugh Jackman’s character advises his son in Prisoners, Dennis Denis Villeneuve’s 2013 thriller. And “the worst” is what we get: this is another intense movie, like Dear Zachary or Zodiac, that you can’t indiscriminately recommend to anybody around the water cooler. Mike and Dan talk about the many terrific performances here–among them Jake Gyllenhaal’s best–as well as how the film’s strengths and weaknesses are both matters of artistic

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21:23

All About Eve

Fifteen Minute Film Fanatics ·

2022/05/02

The general atmosphere gets very Macbethish as Mike and Dan talk round out their Season of Mankiewicz with All About Eve (1950), Joseph L. Mankiewicz's masterpiece. The guys talk about how the film offers theatricality as a way of life and means of getting what one wants and how it both plays into and mocks our desire to hobnob with famous folks. The greatness of George Sanders, Chris Farley's interview of Paul McCartney, and Jimi Hendrix's "Room Full of Mirrors" all enter the conversation. So--of

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20:50

The Untouchables

Fifteen Minute Film Fanatics ·

2022/04/25

When's the last time you saw a film with an all-star cast, big-name director, notable screenwriter, period sets, shootouts, explosions, snappy dialogue--and poignant moments? Mike and Dan talk about how Brian DePalma's The Untouchables (1987) combines all of these elements into a satisfying experience. Dan compares it to Shakespearean history plays and the guys then bring in Lincoln, Seven Samurai, A Man for All Seasons before asking what happened to Kevin Costner, a great straight man who's

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37:54

My Cousin Vinny and More: A Talk with Dale Launer

Fifteen Minute Film Fanatics ·

2022/04/18

Dale Launer has written screenplays for films that everyone has seen: Ruthless People (1985), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) and, notably, My Cousin Vinny (1992). Join Mike and Dan as they talk to Dale about screenwriting, his inspiration for Vinny Gambini (hint: it's a rock star who died in 2013), and how the torrid tale of the making and unmaking of Blind Date (1987) reflects the perils of screenwriting, producers, and too many chefs. He also shares his list of favorite screenplays. So drop that

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5:39

One Shot: The Lady Vanishes

Fifteen Minute Film Fanatics ·

2022/04/13

After coming off of Foreign Correspondent, here's a mini-episode on another oft-overlooked yet perfect Hitchcock film: The Lady Vanishes (1938). Mike talks about his recent rewatching of this early thriller, what Dan calls "Hitchcock's Agatha Christie," and how it has the magic formula for satisfying an audience. So stir your Mexican tea and give it a listen! Terrific bumper music: Bluebird by E's Jammy Jams Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0

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18:24

Foreign Correspondent

Fifteen Minute Film Fanatics ·

2022/04/11

Mike and Dan share their similar reactions to Hitchcock's 1940 espionage thriller: Why aren't more people talking about this movie? A Hitchcock film that sometimes feels as if it were directed by Howard Hawks, Foreign Correspondent is a terrific film that Mike and Dan urge their listeners to see. Adjusting for scale, it's Hitchcock's most expensive film, his Mission Impossible, but also one that has delicate moments to complicate the terrific special effects set-piece in the third act. During their

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311 results

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