Natalie Portman in Black Swan (Aronofsky, 2010)

On this edition of the podcast, J. Robert Parks and Robert Davis talk about the new film from Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan, starring Natalie Portman who won the Best Performance Oscar for her role in the film.

0:00 Intro
1:17 Trailer: Black Swan, Aronofsky (2010)
3:08 Discussion
24:00 Outro

Jeff Bridges and Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit (Coen & Coen, 2010)

On this edition of the podcast, J. Robert Parks and Robert Davis talk about the new film from the Coen Brothers, a remake of a classic American Western, and rationalize away — utterly dismiss — any difficulties that might arise from the possibility that they have not seen the original.

0:00 Intro: Context for a Film
8:39 True Grit, Coen & Coen (2010)
14:00 A trio of voices, a triptych of clips:
- Quint, Jaws (Robert Shaw)
- Dr. Benway, "Twilight's Last Gleaming" (William S. Burroughs)
- Rooster Cogburn w/ Mattie Ross, True Grit (Jeff Bridges w/ Hailee Steinfeld)
17:55 True Grit, continued
35:01 Outro

George Clooney in The American (Corbijn, 2010)

It sounds like the setting for a Samuel Beckett play, but it's actually the latest edition of the Plastic Podcast, wherein Robert Davis and J. Robert Parks talk about a recent George Clooney film and use that as an excuse to say a little something about Michelangelo Antonioni. Where they go from there is anyone's guess.

0:00 Intro
1:42 The American, Corbijn (2010)
14:11 The Passenger, Antonioni (1975)
19:31 The Town, Affleck (2010)
22:11 Enter the Void, Noé (2009)
32:15 Outro

Juliette Binoche in Abbas Kiarostami's Certified Copy (2010)

This edition of the Plastic Podcast is a joint production with the AFI Film Festival's AFI Fest Now website. The folks who put together the festival's online magazine kindly asked us to comment on a few of the films in their 2010 lineup, so we chose two of our favorites. We're hosting these special episodes here at dailyplastic.com and at afi.com. The first was about the new film by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and this second one is about the latest film from Abbas Kiarostami.

0:00 Intro
1:06 Clip: Certified Copy, Kiarostami (2010)
1:53 Discussion
30:49 Outro

Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010)

This edition of the Plastic Podcast is a joint production with the AFI Film Festival's AFI Fest Now website. The folks who put together the festival's online magazine kindly asked us to comment on a few of the films in their 2010 lineup, so we chose two of our favorites. We're hosting these special episodes here at dailyplastic.com and at afi.com. First up, the new film by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. In the next episode, we talk about the latest from Abbas Kiarostami.

0:00 Intro
1:41 Discussion: Uncle Boonmee, Apichatpong (2010)
26:19 Outro

Jesse Eisenberg in David Fincher's The Social Network (2010)

On this edition of the Plastic Podcast, Rob and J. Robert talk about the new David Fincher film about Facebook, The Social Network. Is it Kane? All the President's Men? Elephant? And who is this Marshall McLuhan fellow, anyway?

0:00 Intro
1:04 The Social Network Teaser
2:06 Discussion: The Social Network, Fincher (2010)
21:02 Present Difficulty
42:44 Outro

Stencil found on steps in London (2004)

On this edition of the Plastic Podcast, Rob and J. Robert talk about a recent documentary by noted street artist Banksy, whose stencils and more elaborate works seem to respond to and interact with the world around us. But is the whole movie a hoax? And what if it is?

0:00 Intro
2:19 Discussion: Exit Through the Gift Shop (Banksy, 2010)
27:19 Outro

Anthony Perkins in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960)

He is, you know. Psycho. At least in the hands of Guy Ritchie and Robert Downey, Jr.

On this edition of the Plastic Podcast, Rob and J. Robert talk about Ritchie's recent adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's characters, about Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, and about Gus Van Sant's intriguing 1998 remake of Hitchcock's classic, recklessly shaping and reshaping that trio's Venn diagram like an elementary school teacher sorting out her transparencies. Come along, won't you?

0:00 Intro
2:45 Trailer: Sherlock Holmes!
3:26 Sherlock Holmes (Ritchie, 2009)
13:49 The Manic, Mumbling Detective
16:20 The Cinematic Industrial Age
20:11 Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960), Psycho (Van Sant, 1998)
27:25 In Color
29:12 Assessing the Original and the Humble Remake
33:50 Implicating the Audience
37:09 The Moving Vernacular
44:15 Outro

Further Reading

• Rob's piece on the lesser known traits of Sherlock Holmes, with ample links into Conan Doyle's text.

Leonardo Dicaprio in Christopher Nolan's Inception

Labor Day has come and gone, and Chicago just had its first cool day in weeks, so it's a good time to glance back at a couple of the summer's big movies. On this episode of the Plastic Podcast, Rob and J. Robert talk about Inception and Toy Story 3, with a brief nod toward Despicable Me.

0:00 Intro
0:47 Trailer: Inception Story
2:02 Inception (Nolan, 2010)
20:56 Toy Story 3 (Unkrich, 2010)
25:41 Despicable Me (Coffin/Renaud, 2010)
29:25 Complications and Traditions
33:15 Outro

Leonard Proxauf in Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon (Das weisse Band)

This episode of the Plastic Podcast concludes our conversation about the Academy Award nominations. Rob and J. Robert talk about the nominees in the other major categories and mention a few overlooked favorites of 2009. Here's part one.

0:00 Intro: The Conversation Continues
0:18 Best Acting Categories
6:46 Best Animated Feature Film
10:31 Best Original Screenplay
13:10 Best Adapted Screenplay
15:14 Best Documentary Feature
25:50 Best Foreign Language Film
35:18 Other Faves of 2009: Pontypool, Two Lovers
38:07 Make Way for Tomorrow (McCarey, 1937), Text of Light (Brakhage, 1974)
40:25 Done

Notes

• Films not named above that are nevertheless discussed at some length in this podcast, given the time constraints: The Messenger, Food, Inc., The White Ribbon, Coraline, The Princess and the Frog, Burma VJ, Anvil! The Story of Anvil, Forbidden Lie$.
• Actor whose name is mis-pronounced by Rob in both halves of this conversation: Christoph Waltz, who — guess what — is Austrian. Rob will say valts from now on.
• Rob on Pontypool, the 3D of Coraline, Food, Inc., Burma VJ, and his list of 2009 faves
• List of Oscar nominees
• Part one of our conversation