Thursday 30 April 2015

Introducing the new Movie Matters site!

Movie Matters is changing! Head over to www.moviematterspodcast.com to see our brand new web site, designed from the ground up to cater to all your Movie Matters needs.


This means that the old site will no longer be updated going forward. However, we know that some of our listeners currently get their updates by following us via Blogger, so we'll leave both it and this message up for a reasonable amount of time to ensure that no-one gets left behind.

That's all for now. We hope you enjoy the new site!

Tuesday 21 April 2015

Movie Matters on Facebook

The Movie Matters Podcast now has a home on Facebook! Head over to the new page now and follow us!



We've got lots more exciting things planned for the podcast over the next few months, including a redesigned web site, a Steven Spielberg special, a couple of animated gems and -- you guessed it -- more giallo madness.

Sunday 8 March 2015

Movie Matters #30 - Giallo Double Bill

In this, the 30th instalment of the Movie Matters Podcast, co-hosts Lee Howard and Michael Mackenzie return to a subject close to both their hearts -- that most distinctive of moments, the Italian giallo. Two radically different examples of the genre are up for consideration, both from 1972 -- Sergio Martino's giallo/occult hybrid ALL THE COLOURS OF THE DARK, starring the golden couple of Edwige Fenech and George Hilton, and Aldo Lado's sombre, Venetian thriller WHO SAW HER DIE?, starring George Lazenby and Anita Strindberg. In addition to covering the aforementioned two films in depth, we also hear listener Leonard Jacobs's thoughts on ALL THE COLOURS OF THE DARK, and catch up on some of our recent viewing and future plans for the podcast.

The music in this episode is sampled from THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH by Nora Orlandi, THE CASE OF THE SCORPION'S TAIL and ALL THE COLOURS OF THE DARK by Bruno Nicolai, and WHO SAW HER DIE? and SHORT NIGHT OF THE GLASS DOLLS by Ennio Morricone.

Created by Lee Howard & Michael Mackenzie
Edited by Michael MackenzieMusic/audio selection by Lee Howard & Michael Mackenzie



Further reading:

Wednesday 18 February 2015

Movie Matters #29 supplement - listener lists

Once again this year, our loyal and esteemed listeners answered our call and kindly submitted their own text and audio 'Picks of 2014' lists: it was our pleasure to feature them all on our recent "epic-size" review of the year special.

The featured lists are reproduced below for posterity, presented in the same order in which they were read out on the show -- i.e. on a "first come, first served" basis.


Daniel Sardella

10. Blue Ruin
9. The Drop
8. Locke
7. Nightcrawler
6. The Dance of Reality
5. The Grand Budapest Hotel
4. The Strange Color of Your Body's Tears
3. Jodorowsky’s Dune
2. Under the Skin
1. Boyhood


Hazel Howard

IMPORTANT: I only watched 12 films... sums up my year! (After Mummy, Wife and Work duties the little opportunity to watch films I has saw me only manage to watch these 12)

12) Guardians of the Galaxy – Worst Film by default
11) Non-Stop – Biggest Disappointment by default
10) Her
9) Captain America: The Winter Soldier
8) How To Train Your Dragon 2
7) Boyhood
6) Edge of Tomorrow
5) Amazing Spider-Man 2
4) Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
3) The Lego Movie
2) X-Men: Days of Future Past
1) Gone Girl

Biggest Pleasant Surprises: Gone Girl, The Lego Movie, Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Edge of Tomorrow.


Wilson

Top Ten 2014 – based on UK Release dates.

10) BOYHOOD
9) GONE GIRL
8) GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
7) THE IMMIGRANT
6) CALVARY
5) MAPS TO THE STARS
4) MR TURNER
3) UNDER THE SKIN
2) 12 YEARS A SLAVE
1) INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS

Biggest disappointment – BOYHOOD, despite being on my top ten of the year, I was under the impression it was going to be the greatest film of the year and I found it, merely, good.
Most pleasant surprise – was the raft of intelligent and well crafted political films to come out of the UK – ’71, JIMMY’S HALL and PRIDE being notable examples.

Worst film I saw this year – LONE SURVIVOR. The mixture of hoorah militarism, the forced rap induction and the really dubious politics made this the most painful film viewing of the year. Despised every second of it.


Mark C

Based on UK cinema release dates

1.Pride
2. Starred Up
3. Nightcrawler
4. The Grand Budapest Hotel
5. '71
6. Jimmy’s Hall
7. Svengali


Don May (of Synapse Films)

Well (ahem) Synapse's CURTAINS, PROM NIGHT and DEMONS and DEMONS 2 Blus! ;) The other six, well... hmm... I'll have to think about it.


Sandy Richardson

1. Sorcerer (Official Blu-ray release)
2. Under the Skin
3. Interstellar
4. The Raid 2
5. Jodorowsky's Dune (Documentary)


Francisco Duarte Pedro

1. Mommy (Canada)
2. Lil' Quinquin (France) 
3. The Wolf at the Door (Brazil) 
4. Force Majeure (Sweden)
5. Wild Tales (Argentina) 
6. Ida (Poland)
7. Futuro Beach (Brazil) 
8. Under the Skin (USA) 
9. The Babadook (Australia) 
10. The Sand Dollars (Dominican Republic)


Vincent Pereira

My favorite film of 2014: David Gordon Green's JOE.


Natasha Grabham

Films released in UK cinemas in 2014

1. The Wolf of Wall Street
2. Her
3. Calvary
4. Gone Girl
5.Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
6. The Raid 2
7. X Men: Days of Future Past
8. The Grand Budapest Hotel
9. Interstellar
10. The Wind Rises 

Honourable mentions: American Hustle, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Lego Movie and We are the best!


Todd S. Gallows

1. Gone Girl
2. Boyhood
3. Nightcrawler 
4. Birdman
5. Borgman
6. The Grand Budapest Hotel
7. The Babadook
8. The Drop
9. What We Do in the Shadows
10. The One I Love

While I'm at it, I might as well do my bottom 10 again, too.

8,355. They Came Together
8,356. Tusk
8,357. Behaving Badly
8,358. Men, Women, and Children
8,359. Foxcatcher
8,360. I, Frankenstein
8,361. Left Behind
8,362. Transcendence
8,363. Not Cool
8,364. God's Not Dead


Mark Lucas

I don't think I saw 10 movies this year and there's a few more I'd like to see but here's my incomplete list anyway. A lot of arthouse and independent films again.

1. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
2. Edge of Tomorrow
3. Interstellar
4. The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies
5. Godzilla
6. The Lego Movie
7. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
8. Transformers: Age of Extinction


Colin McGuigan

The films which impressed me most on their theatrical release here in Greece were

1. The Two Faces of January
2. '71

As for BD releases:

3. The Killers (Arrow)
4. The Naked City (Arrow)
5. Ace in the Hole (Eureka)
6. South of St Louis (Olive)


Daeron

1. Boyhood
2. The Raid 2
3. Gone Girl
4. Her
5. The Grand Budapest Hotel
6. Veronica Mars
7. The Lego Movie
8. Under the Skin
9. Horns
10. Godzilla


Kirsty Grabham

2014 UK cinema releases

1. Under the Skin
2. Her
3. Gone Girl
4. We are the Best!
5. Calvary
6. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
7. The Wind Rises
8. Nymphomaniac Parts 1 and 2
9. Guardians of the Galaxy
10. Stranger by the Lake

Honourable mentions: Interstellar, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, X Men: Days of Future Past, Inside Llewyn Davis and The Grand Budapest Hotel.


Tristan

I didn't see any new 2014 releases this year. I don't go to the cinema anymore, which saddens me. Even in the so-called "art-house" cinema here in town, they only play the absolutely most mainstream pictures. Which is pathetic because I do live in a big city. Everything I truly want to see, it never plays here, & I have to wait until it's been released to BD or DVD, or is available on one of the streaming services. 

This year, I discovered a wealth of LGBT-themed films, most of which are foreign language. Most of which, I'd never heard of. Four of them alone come from Israel. IMHO, most are in the 3.5-5 star range. (I decided to list only 15 here.) Even the ones that made me angry for one reason or another were excellent. 

Top tier
The Bubble (2006)
Out In The Dark (2012)
Time To Leave (2005)
Laurence Anyways (2012)
Undertow (2009)

Honorable mentions
Heartbeats (2010)
I Killed My Mother (2009)
Weekend (2011)
Keep The Lights On (2012)
Yossi & Jagger (2002)
Yossi (2012) – The sequel to Yossi & Jagger
Stranger By The Lake (2013)
Lianna (1983) (This is one of John Sayles earliest films, & I finally got around to watching it this year.)
Come Undone (2000)
The Sex Of The Angels (2012)
Free Fall (2013)
Romeos (2011)


Black Gloves

UK theatrical releases

1. Under the Skin
2. Calvary
3. We Are the Best!
4. Nightcrawler
5. Interstellar
6. Maps to the Stars
7. The Strange Colour of Your Body’s Tears
8. The Double
9. Nymphomaniac: Volume 1
10. The Borderlands

Biggest disappointment: Godzilla

Best TV show: True Detective

Biggest surprise: Nightcrawler


Ben Robinson

2014 UK releases

1. Dallas Buyers Club
2. The Grand Budapest Hotel
3. Her
4. Interstellar
5. Guardians of the Galaxy
6. Gone Girl
7. American Hustle
8. Inside Llewyn Davis
9. Nightcrawler
10. The Golden Cage

Biggest disappointment: The Wind Rises

Biggest surprise: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Worst film: WolfCop


Aman Fida

UK theatrical or straight to DVD in 2014

1. The Raid 2
2. Guardians of the Galaxy
3. Boyhood
4. Dallas Buyers Club
5. Northern Soul
6. 12 Years a Slave
7. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
8. The Wolf of Wall Street
9. Starred Up
10. The Lego Movie

Most pleasant surprise: Godzilla

Biggest disappointment: Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Worst movie: Starry Eyes


Vanessa Vinci

US theatrical releases

Under the Skin
Birdman
Gone Girl
What We Do in the Shadows
Only Lovers Left Alive
The Babadook
Snowpiercer
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Calvary
The Zero Theorem

Runners Up: The Grand Budhapest Hotel, Edge of Tomorrow, The LEGO Movie, Maleficent

My biggest surprise was What We Do In the Shadows, the vampire horror-comedy from New Zealand that was the funniest movie I saw all year and a spoof movie as good as the Cornetto trilogy.
Biggest disappointments are Boyhood which I wanted to love so badly, but ended up being just alright, slightly boring and with a terribly colorless lead kid, and Sin City 2 which took the smokey, hyper-reality of the first movie and just flattened everything about it. I love Eva Green but even she couldn’t save that dreary, incoherent mess.

Worst movie of the year was Bobcat Goldthwait’s found footage bigfoot movie Willow Creek. It’s a found footage movie where the footage found means nothing, shows nothing, explains nothing except how stupid and irritating the two leads are. There is literally a twenty minute unbroken shot of them talking in a tent while someone outside makes footstep noises. Building tension and leading to a big scary flash of reveal, right? Wrong. Cut to them waking up the next morning, alive and unharmed. 80 minutes that felt like 3 hours.


Cevin Moore

1. The Grand Budapest Hotel
2. The Raid 2
3. Under The Skin
4. The Zero Theorem
5. Trailer Park Boys: Don't Legalize It
6. Video Nasties: Draconian Days
7. The Lego Movie
8. Blue Ruin
9. Guardians Of The Galaxy
10. Cold In July

Worst Movie: The Sacrament. I've been a fan of Ti West's other works, but this lacks both the imagination or flair of anything he's done before. A lazy TV dramatisation of the Jonestown massacre with all names changed to protect the innocent.

Biggest disappointment: Transcendence. A Sci-Fi about the end of the Internet and Wally Pfister's directorial debut, how could it fail? By being a lame re-tread of The Lawnmower Man with flashier FX, and still the same bizarre grasp of computers that Hollywood still seems to have even though everyone has one now.


BobaFett

Criteria: Official release date or festival release date in case I have seen a film at a festival

1. The Grand Budapest Hotel
2. Boyhood
3. Jack
4. Nightcrawler
5. It Follows
6. The Strange Colour of Your Body’s Tears
7. Butter on the Latch
8. What We Do in the Shadows
9. Under the Skin
10. Guardians of the Galaxy

My biggest disappointment of the year was The Battle of the Five Armies. I didn't have high expectations after the first two Hobbit films, but I didn't expect it to be this lame either. IMHO it's the worst of all six Middle-earth films. Basically most of it is one extended action sequence with too much CGI and too much silliness in it. That's not enough to carry a movie. Too me, what was once fascinating about the world of Middle-earth has mostly been lost here.

The most pleasant surprise definitely was Nightcrawler. I actually hadn't read anything about it in advance: it suddenly appeared at the cinema and reading the comments at Letterboxd got me interested in it. Must be the best directorial debut in years! The mood, the acting and the scathing media satire form a very pleasing experience.

The worst film of the year I have seen was the Mo brothers' Killers. If a psychological thriller fails to create characters with convincing psychology... it just fails. It is dark and very violent, but that alone is not enough. It's too long as well. I really liked the very last moment though (without giving it away ;)).


Alan H

10) The Babadook
9) The Guest
8) Edge of Tomorrow
7) Cold In July
6) Blue Ruin
5) Nightcrawler
4) What We Do In The Shadows
3) The Raid 2
2) The Wolf of Wall Street
1) The Grand Budapest Hotel

Most Pleasant Surprises: Wolf Creek 2, The Lego Movie, Purge: Anarchy, Robocop (remake) and Get Santa.

Biggest disappointments: Inside Llewyn Davis, The Box Trolls, Enemy, Lucy.

Worst Films: Sabotage and Jersy Boys

Best TV: Inside No9.


Erik

I don’t remember what I wrote last year as the “viewing criteria” – basically it’s just titles I’ve watched in 2014, be it in theaters, on Blu-ray, or the very odd iTunes flick.  I don’t follow any particular criteria, everything goes until the list is due.

Here goes:

In no particular order...

BOYHOOD
INHERENT VICE
BIRDMAN
SNOWPIERCER
JODOROWSKY’S DUNE
THE IMITATION GAME
THE WIND RISES
EDGE OF TOMORROW
BEGIN AGAIN
THE TALE OF THE PRINCESS KAGUYA

 Honorable Mentions: SELMA, THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING, WHIPLASH, STILL ALICE, CAKE, DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, BETTER LIVING THROUGH CHEMISTRY, DEAD SNOW 2, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, WILD, KILL THE MESSENGER, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, BLOOD TIES, THE HOMESMAN, THE IMMIGRANT, TWO DAYS ONE NIGHT, CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER, FORCE MAJEURE, VERONICA MARS, AMNESIA, X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, THE RAID 2, LUCY, A MOST VIOLENT YEAR, GONE GIRL, CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA, THE DROP, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2, ST. VINCENT, BIG HERO 6, JOHN WICK, UNDER THE SKIN, NIGHTCRAWLER, AMERICAN SNIPER, UNBROKEN, CHEF, GUI LA aka COMING HOME, IN ORDER OF DISAPPEARANCE.

Biggest Disappointment Of An Anticipated And Supposedly Great Film: INTERSTELLAR and GODZILLA.

 Biggest Would Have Been Good If The Third Act Worked Film: NON-STOP.

 Even Nolan’s DP Can’t Make A Decent Film Award / Worst Of The Year: TRANSCENDENCE.



Like last year's collated listeners' list, the rankings below represent the films most popular among the lists submitted by the Movie Matters podcast listeners. The system used to compile the list is simply to apply a numerical count to the number of occasions a specific title is included on a list regardless of ranking.

Without further ado, they are...


Listeners' Fave Films:

1=) The Grand Budapest Hotel x10
1=) Under the Skin x10
3=) Boyhood x8
3=) Gone Girl x8
5) Nightcrawler x7
6) The Raid 2 x6
=7) Calvary x5
=7) Guardians of the Galaxy x5
=7) Her x5
=7) Interstellar x5
=7) The Lego Movie x5


Runners-Up:

=12) The Babadook x4
=12) Dawn of the Planet of the Apes x4
=12) Edge of Tomorrow x4
=12) What We Do in the Shadows x4


Listeners' Most Pleasant Surprises:

Gone Girl x1 
Amazing Spider-Man 2 x1
Edge of Tomorrow x1
’71 x1
Jimmy’s Hall x1
Pride x1
The Grand Budapest Hotel x1
Godzilla x1
What We Do In the Shadows x1
Wolf Creek 2 x1
Purge: Anarchy x1
Robocop (remake) x1
Get Santa x1


Listeners' Biggest Disappointments:

Boyhood x2
Godzilla x2
Non-Stop x 2

The Wind Rises x1
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom x1
Sin City 2 x1
Transcendence x1
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies x1
Inside Llewyn Davis x1
The Box Trolls x1
Enemy x1
Lucy x1
Interstellar x1


Listeners' Worst Films:

Transcendence x2

Guardians of the Galaxy x1
Lone Survivor x1
They Came Together x1
Tusk x1
Behaving Badly x1
Men, Women, and Children x1
Foxcatcher x1
I, Frankenstein x1
Left Behind x1
Not Cool x1
God's Not Dead x1 
WolfCop x1
Starry Eyes x1
Willow Creek x1
The Sacrament x1
Killers x1
Sabotage x1
Jersey Boys x1


Listeners' Best TV Shows:

True Detective x1
Inside No. 9 x1

Friday 6 February 2015

Movie Matters #29: Top 10 of 2014

It's that time again. A range of films have been watched and rewatched, tough decisions made and our selections finalised. So let's kick-off the first Movie Matters recording of 2015 with our annual in-depth discussion of the past 12 months in film. Join co-hosts Lee Howard and Michael Mackenzie as we reveal our personal top ten films of 2014. We also discuss some of our most pleasant surprises, our biggest disappointments and our worst films of the year. Plus we highlight a number of films which narrowly missed out on our respective Top 10s that we deem worthy of an honourable mention.

 

Once again this year, our loyal and esteemed listeners answered our call and kindly submitted their own text and audio lists: it is our pleasure to feature them all on this "bumper-size" review of the year special. Like last year, a collated listeners' list -- adding all the votes together -- will be published on the Movie Matters blog and the Movie Matters LetterBoxd account in the coming days. Thank you all for being part of our continued, shared celebration and appreciation of all matters film!

So get comfy, settle in and let us be your guides as we delight, despair and dissect the year in film that was 2014.

 

The music in this episode is sampled from a selection of films eligible for inclusion in our Top 10 lists, but we shall say no more in the interest of maintaining an air of mystery!

Note: If you'd like to know in advance what films were eligible and actively considered when choosing our respective Top 10s take a glance at our Eligibility List over at the Mover Matters Letterboxd page.

 

Plus look out for our own personal full lists of everything we've seen from 2014 and our ever evolving rankings of these films soon to be published on our individual letterboxd accounts: Lee Howard, Michael Mackenzie.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! If you do manage to listen to our "bladder-busting" extended special, congratulations and we're keen to hear from you. What films are you most looking forward to in 2015? Did you agree or disagree strongly with the views expressed in this show or have any other responses to our Top 10s to share with us? Also, if you haven't already, please consider leaving us a review on iTunes as it really does help raise the profile of the podcast and attract new film fans into the fold. Thanks for listening and being part of Movie Matters.

  

Created by Lee Howard & Michael Mackenzie
Edited by Michael Mackenzie
Music/audio selection by Lee Howard & Michael Mackenzie


Links for reference:


Saturday 27 December 2014

Calling All Listeners! Request for Top 10 Lists

Merry Christmas, listeners (both new and old). We trust you're enjoying the festive season and wish you all a very Happy New Year! Roll on 2015 and another bumper-year of movies.

Preparations are now under-way here at Movie Matters HQ -- as we cram in any final notable films before locking our lists -- to record and release our customary epic "Top 10 Films of the Year" episode. The bumper-length yearly review shows are something of a Movie Matters tradition -- we've done one every year since we started, and they've always proved to be interesting (and occasionally controversial) affairs.

As with our previous Top 10s, we'd love it if as many listeners (and even non-listeners!) as possible could submit their own Top 10 lists, either in text or MP3 form. (If submitting an MP3, please try to keep it below five minutes in length.) The criteria for which films qualify for inclusion are yours to decide, though let us know what they are. (Some examples: released theatrically in your home country in 2014; released theatrically in the film's country of origin in 2014; released on DVD/Blu-ray in 2014.)

In addition to your Top 10 favourites list, we'd also be happy to hear what your biggest disappointment was, most pleasant surprise and indeed what your worst film of the year was.

Please leave a comment with your lists, send them to moviematterspodcast@gmail.com or post them as a response to our Letterboxd list.

We look forward to hearing from you and featuring your contributions on the finished podcast!

Tuesday 23 December 2014

Movie Matters #28 - Christmas Special IV

'Tis the season to be jolly, so put on your Santa hats, draw a seat up to the fire and roast some chestnuts as co-hosts Lee Howard and Michael Mackenzie exchange gifts and put them under the microscope. The theme this year is documentaries, and the two films being discussed are as different as they are enthralling. First up is Werner Herzog's celebrated GRIZZLY MAN, about the life and death of bear enthusiast Timothy Treadwell. Up next is EUROCRIME! - THE ITALIAN COP AND GANGSTER FILMS THAT RULED THE '70S, Mike Malloy's ambitious and exhaustively detailed ode to the Italian poliziesco movement.

This episode also includes a catch-up on films we've watched recently and those that we're looking forward to catching in the run-up to our upcoming end of year review episode.

The music in this episode is sampled from A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS, GRIZZLY MAN, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2, EUROCRIME! and THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL.

Created by Lee Howard & Michael Mackenzie
Edited by Michael Mackenzie
Music/audio selection by Lee Howard

 


Links for reference: