Monday 24 December 2012

Movie Matters #18 - Christmas Special III

In the third annual Movie Matters Christmas special, co-hosts Lee Howard and Michael Mackenzie exchange and review seasonal gifts: Ron Howard's FROST/NIXON and Michele Placido's ANGELS OF EVIL, two well-received recent films based around real life historical figures. In addition, Lee and Michael select and announce a winner for the BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW Blu-ray competition.

 


The music sampled in this episode is from THE POLAR EXPRESS by Alan Silvestri, SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT by Morgan Ames and Doug Thiele, NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION 2: EDDIE'S ISLAND ADVENTURE by Nathan Furst, FROST/NIXON by Hans Zimmer, and ANGELS OF EVIL by Negramaro.

Created by Lee Howard & Michael Mackenzie
Edited by Michael Mackenzie
Music selection by Lee Howard
Audio support by David Mackenzie

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Friday 21 December 2012

Call for Top 10 lists

The end is nigh! No, not the end of the world. That's just silly. But there are only ten days left in 2012, which means it's once again time for us to begin preparing for that most sacred of annual traditions, the Movie Matters "Top 10 Films of the Year" special.

And we want your lists.

Last year, we had an overwhelming response - so overwhelming, in fact, that we weren't able to feature all the MP3s we received in the episode itself and had to do a supplemental mini-episode for them. This year, we're going to be slightly strict and impose a five-minute limit on any MP3 files.

So, send us your Top 10 films of 2012 in either text or MP3 form (email MP3s to moviematterspodcast[dot]gmail[dot]com; either email text lists or simply post them as a reply to this thread). The criteria can be of your own choosing, but let us know what they are - e.g. theatrical releases by UK release date, theatrical releases by US release date, DVD/Blu-ray releases. We'll be recording the show at some point in January -there's no confirmed date yet, but we'll let you know as soon as we have one so you can be sure to get your lists in on time.

Monday 3 December 2012

Movie Matters Mini #5 - The Killing III Part 1

In the first of two instalments dedicated to Danish serial killer sensation THE KILLING (FORBRYDELSEN), Movie Matters co-hosts Lee Howard and Michael Mackenzie team up to take a look at the first five episodes of the third and final 10-part season, currently airing in the UK on Saturday nights on BBC Four and BBC HD. In addition to discussing the episodes that have already aired, Lee and Michael also speculate on what the remainder of the season will hold for Detective Inspector Sarah Lund and her infamous knitted jumper.



Links of note:


The music sampled in this episode is from THE KILLING by Frans Bak.

Created by Lee Howard & Michael Mackenzie
Edited by Michael Mackenzie
Audio support by David Mackenzie

Please also remember that time is running out for you to contribute to the first ever Movie Matters competition. Your mission? Listen to this clip and identify (a) the actress speaking and (b) the director she is speaking about. Your prize? A copy of the divisive BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW on Region A Blu-ray Disc. Send your answers to moviematterspodcast[at]gmail[dot]com.

http://moviematterspodcast.blogspot.com/
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Sunday 11 November 2012

Movie Matters Mini #4 - Skyfall

Co-hosts Lee Howard and Michael Mackenzie join the rest of the world in pondering the matter of the new James Bond film, Sam Mendes' SKYFALL, which sees Daniel Craig return for his third outing as 007, accompanied by Judi Dench, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Bérénice Marlohe, Albert Finney and Ben Whishaw. This mini-episode also includes a more general discussion of Daniel Craig's tenure in the role and the Bond series as a whole.



Links of note:


The music sampled in this episode is from LICENCE TO KILL by Michael Kamen, the SKYFALL title theme by Adele, and the James Bond theme by Monty Norman.

Created by Lee Howard & Michael Mackenzie
Edited by Michael Mackenzie

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Wednesday 31 October 2012

Movie Matters #17 - Halloween Special III

All Hallows' Eve descends on the Movie Matters podcast as co-hosts Lee Howard and Michael Mackenzie, accompanied by special guest Daniel Sardella, brave the terrors of three spine-tingling horror movies in the show's third annual Halloween special: Ti West's THE INNKEEPERS, the horror anthology THE THEATRE BIZARRE, and Richard Donner's classic THE OMEN.


This episode also features Movie Matters' first ever competition, open to all listeners worldwide. Listen to the show for details on how to win a Blu-ray Disc of one of the films covered in a previous episode...


The music sampled in this episode is from THE THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS by Danny Elfman, THE INNKEEPERS by Jeff Grace, THE THEATRE BIZARRE by Pierre Marchand and THE OMEN by Jerry Goldsmith.

Letterboxd lists:

Created by Lee Howard & Michael Mackenzie
Edited by Michael Mackenzie

Thursday 11 October 2012

Movie Matters #16 - Sci-fi double bill

Co-hosts Lee Howard and an uncharacteristically cantankerous Michael Mackenzie take a look at two of the science fiction genre's more unusual and divisive offerings from recent years: Panos Cosmatos' dark, dystopian BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW and William Eubank's ambitious meditation on the human condition, LOVE. Lee and Michael also catch up on films they've been watching recently and upcoming cinema releases they're looking forward to.

 



The music sampled in this episode is from BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW by Jeremy Schmidt and LOVE by Angels & Airwaves.

Created by Lee Howard & Michael Mackenzie
Edited by Michael Mackenzie

Tuesday 31 July 2012

Movie Matters Mini #3 - The Bridge

In this Movie Matters Mini episode, co-hosts Lee Howard and Michael Mackenzie discuss various films and TV shows they've been watching recently before turning their attention to the critically acclaimed Danish/Swedish crime drama THE BRIDGE, the 10-episode first season of which sees a pair of mismatched detectives joining forces to stop a serial killer with an axe to grind against the complacency he sees in both countries' societies.




The music sampled in this episode is "Hollow Talk" by Choir of Young Believers, the main title theme to THE BRIDGE.

Created by Lee Howard & Michael Mackenzie
Edited by Michael Mackenzie

Thursday 7 June 2012

Movie Matters Mini #2 - Prometheus

In this Movie Matters Mini episode, co-hosts Lee Howard and Michael Mackenzie turn their attention to one of the most anticipated films of the year: Ridley Scott's return to the universe he helped to create in PROMETHEUS, the long-awaited prequel to ALIEN starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender and Charlize Theron. In this free-flowing discussion, Lee and Michael take a detailed look at the already contentious sci-fi blockbuster and where it fits into the Alien series.



The music sampled in this episode is from PROMETHEUS by Harry Gregson-Williams.

Created by Lee Howard & Michael Mackenzie
Edited by Michael Mackenzie

Friday 11 May 2012

Movie Matters #15 - Red Riding Trilogy

After an unexpected hiatus, the Movie Matters podcast returns with a look at the RED RIDING trilogy, the critically acclaimed 2009 adaptation of David Peace's grim and grisly quartet of novels. Co-hosts Lee Howard and Michael Mackenzie look at each instalment in turn - Julian Jarrold's 1974, James Marsh's 1980 and Anand Tucker's 1983 - and offer their thoughts on the trilogy as a whole.




The music sampled in this episode is from RED RIDING: 1974 by Adrian Johnston, RED RIDING: 1980 by Dickon Hinchliffe and RED RIDING: 1983 by Barrington Pheloung.

Created by Lee Howard & Michael Mackenzie
Edited by Michael Mackenzie
Special thanks to George Fearns for the episode idea

Tuesday 17 April 2012

Movie Matters Mini #1 - What We've Been Watching

Movie Matters returns with the first in a series of mini-episodes designed to bridge the gaps between our more traditional and time-consuming "themed" episodes. The mini-episodes dispense with the likes of the Blu-ray Hall of Fame and upcoming releases section in favour of a more informal, unstructured discussion about various film-related topics. In this episode, co-hosts Lee Howard and Michael Mackenzie discuss various films and TV shows they've been watching recently and play the final remaining listeners' "Top 10 of 2011" MP3 list.


The music sampled in this episode is from THE WOMAN IN BLACK and THE KILLING.

Created by Lee Howard & Michael Mackenzie
Edited by Michael Mackenzie

Sunday 26 February 2012

Movie Matters #14 - supplement

Somewhat later than anticipated, we've put together a supplemental bonus to the most recent Movie Matters episode containing the three "Top 10 of 2011" MP3 lists we didn't have time to showcase in the episode itself. We hope you enjoy listening to these additional takes on the year that was 2011 and can forgive the delay in getting them out there.


The music sampled in this episode is from DRIVE.

Created by Lee Howard & Michael Mackenzie
Edited by Michael Mackenzie

Thursday 26 January 2012

Movie Matters #14 - Top 10 of 2011

In this bumper length special edition of the Movie Matters podcast, co-hosts Lee Howard and Michael Mackenzie cast their eyes back over the previous twelve months, celebrating the best (and worst) of 2011. In addition to their own personal Top 10 lists, the duo also reveal lists submitted by listeners and pick out some anticipated titles for the coming year.





The music sampled in this episode is from HANNA, DRIVE, TRUE GRIT, ARRIETTY, 13 ASSASSINS, ANGELS OF EVIL and BLACK SWAN.

Please note that we have NOT been able to play every single MP3 list we received. The response was far greater than we were expecting and some of the submitted MP3s were a little on the long side, which would have resulted in what was already a four-hour epic being extended to somewhere approaching the five-hour mark. As a result, we have played the first three MP3s we received and are holding the rest back for a standalone mini-episode to be made available in the near future. We hope you understand and are not too disappointed not to have had your clips featured in the episode itself.

Created by Lee Howard & Michael Mackenzie
Edited by Michael Mackenzie

Thursday 12 January 2012

Call for Top 10 lists

It's nearly that time of year once again: we're gearing up to record the first Movie Matters episode of 2012, which, in the tradition of 2011's first episode, will be a countdown of our favourite films of the previous year. We'll each by revealing and discussing our personal Top 10 Films of 2011, and as with last year's episode would like to read out as many of our listeners' Top 10 lists as possible.

So, get in touch with us with your favourite films of 2011. Either list the films in order of preference or not, and use whichever criteria you like (e.g. theatrical release dates in your country, home video release dates, etc.), just as long as you let us know what they are. Also, feel free to let us know about your most hated and/or most disappointing film(s) of the year, and anything else that takes your fancy. Either post your comments here, or email them to moviematterspodcast[at]gmail[dot]com. Alternatively, feel free to get creative and submit your nominations in MP3 form. We've had a couple of these already and would love to feature more, time permitting.

Deadline is Saturday, January 21.