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PODCAST

Words and Movies

Sean Gallagher & Claude Call

Sean Gallagher and Claude Call find two seemingly different movies and find the common thread between them.

tv & film film history

All Episodes

00:45:30

Reel 81a: In the Style of Hitchcock, Pt.1

Words and Movies ·

2024/11/11

In today's episode we explore films that look like they could be produced by Alfred Hitchcock, but they weren't. We start with Diva, from 1981. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wordsandmovies/support

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00:50:04

Reel 80b: Political Thrillers, Pt.2

Words and Movies ·

2024/10/15

In this half of the episode, we're reviewing the 1969 film Z, directed by Costa-Gavras. In this film we're in a European country that totally isn't Greece, and we see both sides of an ideological war between two extreme factions. It's a gripping story with an ending that's all too familiar, if you're politically cynical. COMING ATTRACTIONS: Episode 81 will be the first of three episodes where we look at films which are made in a very specific style. Perhaps it's homage to a director, perhaps it's

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00:39:14

Reel 80a: Political Thrillers, Pt.1

Words and Movies ·

2024/10/15

In this episode, we'll be taking a look at a pair of political thrillers, both of them based on real-life events. (It should be noted, however, that one of them is definitely fiction. Thinly-disguised fiction, but fiction nonetheless.) We start with The Battle of Algiers (1966), co-written and directed by Gillo Pontecorvo. We're not talking about a military battle here so much as a story of terrorism and counter-terrrorism at work. In Part 2 we'll be looking at 1969's Z (or Zed, if you prefer)

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01:02:35

Episode 79b: The Dark Side of TV, pt.2

Words and Movies ·

2024/09/11

We conclude this overstuffed episode with a look at 1976's Network, directed by Sidney Lumet and starring William Holden, Peter Finch and Faye Dunaway. Finch plays a television news anchor who decides to say exactly what's on his mind, and the audience reaction comes as a huge surprise to everyone. His bosses are only too happy to capitalize on this renewed popularity. But even though he's starting to show signs of mental instability, they continue to exploit him...until it stops paying

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01:01:34

Reel 79a: The Dark Side of TV, pt.1

Words and Movies ·

2024/09/11

Both Sean and I like both of these films so unabashedly that we wound up with a truly overstuffed episode. This time around we're looking at a pair of films that turned out to be oddly prophetic in their vision, although one of them missed the mark, but only slightly. In this part of the episode we examine the 1957 film A Face in the Crowd, directed by Elia Kazan and starring Patricia Neal and Andy Griffith as two people whose lives become intertwined when one of them becomes a media

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00:56:51

Reel 78b: Love the Film, Hate the Side Effect Pt4

Words and Movies ·

2024/08/12

In this half of the episode, we look at When Harry Met Sally... and we learn that not all rom-coms are alike, even if most of them look alike and--unfortunately--sound alike. COMING ATTRACTIONS: Next time around we take a look at the dark side of television, starting with A Face in the Crowd (1957) and finishing up with Network (1976). Join us, won't you? --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wordsandmovies/support

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00:59:00

Reel 78a: Love the Film, Hate the Side Effect Pt3

Words and Movies ·

2024/08/12

We're wrapping up our brief series of films that can definitely be enjoyed on the individual level, but the ripple effects they caused tend to make the films that follow in their wake to be somewhat less than amazing. And this week we begin with Halloween, from 1978 and directed by John Carpenter. Jamie Lee Curtis is a teenager who has some truly supernatural adventures in babysitting. This film set some of the slasher film template, but alas some people just have to color outside the lines

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00:49:44

Reel 77b: Love the Film, Hate the Side Effect, Pt.2

Words and Movies ·

2024/07/24

In Part 2 of our episode, we review The Accidental Tourist (1986), directed by Lawrence Kasdan and starring William Hurt and Geena Davis. Hurt plays a man who's learning to navigate his life after a broken heart, a broken marriage and a broken leg. It's a truly delightful, quiet film that will warm your heart...but there's still an unfortunate side effect to deal with. COMING ATTRACTIONS: Next time around we view a pair of films that are wildly different in both tone and content. We

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01:03:58

Reel 77a: Love the Film, Hate the Side Effect, Pt.1

Words and Movies ·

2024/07/24

This is the first of two episodes where we look at a pair of films that don't have a ton in common with one another, but instead have created some cultural ripples that haven't always had a positive effect. We begin with Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), the first time we've ever gone to the 1939 well after more than 140 films reviewed. This film, directed by Frank Capra, stars James Stewart as a rather naive young man who finds himself at the center of a political storm. Stick

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00:49:46

Reel 76b: The Gangster Film as Allegory, pt2

Words and Movies ·

2024/07/09

In this episode we review the 1981 film Thief, directed by Michael Mann and starring James Caan and Tuesday Weld. Caan plays a safecracker who's finding it quite impossible to break out of his life of crime. On the other hand, maybe he does find a way...COMING ATTRACTIONS: In our next episode we'll be looking at a pair of beloved films that have had unfortunate side effects. We'll start with 1939's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and then move on to 1988's The Accidental Tourist,

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00:54:04

Reel 76a: The Gangster Film as Allegory, pt1

Words and Movies ·

2024/07/09

Both Episode 75 and 76 (this one) have been called "allegory" episodes, but in the interest of transparency we should note that in both cases they're specifically anti-Capitalist allegories. Last time around it was Westerns, and this week we're looking at Gangster movies. And we begin with The Long Good Friday (1981), directed by John Mackenzie and starring Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren. Hoskins is a man who learns that respectability doesn't necessarily mean legitimacy. In

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00:56:06

Reel 75b: The Western as Allegory, Pt2

Words and Movies ·

2024/06/26

In Part 2 of our episode, The Claim (2000) was directed by Michael Winterbottom and stars Peter Mullan, Sarah Polley, Wes Bentley and Milla Jovovich. This one has a similar theme to McCabe, though the romance side is pushed a little more forward. But there are many striking similarities between the two films, as different as they are. COMING ATTRACTIONS: In Reel 76, we look at another pair of allegorical films. We begin with Thief (1981), directed by Michael Mann, and move on to The Long Good

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00:51:45

Reel 75a: The Western as Allegory, Pt1

Words and Movies ·

2024/06/26

This week (and next) we'll be looking at films that use genre as an overlay for their larger message. And we begin with two films that use the Western genre to convey their messages. We start with McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971), directed by Robert Altman and starring Warren Beatty and Julie Christie, along with several others from the Altman stable of actors. We often see this film listed as an "anti-Western" because it inverts so many tropes in the genre, and we can't really argue

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00:49:56

Reel 74b: The Wages of Greed, Pt2

Words and Movies ·

2024/06/11

In Part 2 of our episode, we look at There Will Be Blood (2007), directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and starring Daniel Day-Lewis, along with Paul Dano and Kevin J. O'Connor. Day-Lewis is one of the early oil tycoons whose greed takes him down a strange and destructive path. COMING ATTRACTIONS: In our next episode, we look at Westerns being used as an anti-Capitalist allegory. What? Yes, indeed, just come along for the ride. We start with McCabe and Mrs. Miller, and finish up with The Claim

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00:52:25

Reel 74a: The Wages of Greed, Pt1

Words and Movies ·

2024/06/11

Never mind what Gordon Gekko told you, for lack of a better term. Greed almost invariably leads to a downfall of some kind, and in some cases people learn their lesson and in others, they don't. In this episode we see both sides of that coin, and we start with The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), directed by John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart, Tim Holt and Walter Huston. They're three Americans who are after a remote gold mine in the Sierra Madre Mountains. They encounter hardship

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00:44:43

Reel 73b: More John LeCarre, Pt2

Words and Movies ·

2024/05/27

In Part 2 of our episode, we look at A Most Wanted Man, a 2014 film directed by Anton Corbijn and starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel McAdams, Willem Dafoe, Robin Wright, and a host of others. Again, a powerful cast of actors. Hoffman stars as the head of a covert German team that's trying to root out Islamic terrorist cells. While it's not a Cold War story specifically, there is some Russian involvement and Hoffman is at odds with German and American security officials regarding the

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00:58:43

Reel 73a: More John LeCarre, Pt1

Words and Movies ·

2024/05/27

We conclude our series of spy films with another pair of movies based on the novels of John LeCarre. In Episode 72 we had a strictly Cold War vibe going on; this time it's more of a mixed bag. So we'll start with a Cold War story with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, the 2011 film directed by Tomas Alfredson and featuring an amazing ensemble cast including Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch and many more. It's a tense story that deals with a potential mole in MI-6 who

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00:51:15

Reel 72b: Films Based on John LeCarre, pt2

Words and Movies ·

2024/05/06

In Part 2 of our episode, we look at 1990s The Russia House, starring Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer. This film, directed by Fred Schepisi, features Connery as a British Intelligence agent (wait...what?) who's looking for the author of a sensitive Soviet manuscript whose contents, if true, could mean a great deal to the Intelligence Community. COMING ATTRACTIONS: Next time, we stick with LeCarre novels rendered on film, with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), and A Most Wanted Man (2014),

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00:44:55

Reel 72a: Films Based on John LeCarre, pt1

Words and Movies ·

2024/05/06

Our look at Spy films takes a more serious turn with this look at a pair of movies based on John LeCarre novels. We start with The Spy Who Came In From the Cold (1965), directed by Martin Ritt and starring Richard Burton and Claire Bloom. It's a tale of a spy who chooses one more mission instead of coming in after a Cold War mission goes wrong. In Part 2, we'll move on to The Russia House, from 1990. --- Support this podcast:

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00:51:52

Reel 71b: Accidental Spies, pt.2

Words and Movies ·

2024/04/22

In the second half of our episode, we're reviewing the Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker parody Top Secret! starring Val Kilmer playing an Elvis/Beach Boys pop star who is invited to perform in East Germany as a means of distraction from a plot to destroy NATO submarines. Typical of most ZAZ films, it's chock full of weird sight gags, bent cliches and multi-layered jokes that don't distract (much) from the main story's ability to make progress and give you an outcome you didn't realize you

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