Wolfgang Petersen’s epic WWII submarine film came out in Germany in 1981 and changed the way many filmmakers constructed tension in war and action films. It changed the way people viewed Germans during the war because it portrayed the submariners as simply human. And it became the most popular foreign language film in the US for a very long time. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we begin our series on 1981 with Petersen’s “Das Boot.”
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People often talk about the great movie year of 1999, and one of the great films that came out that year is ‘The Matrix,’ the film that made bullet-time a filmmaking standard and stunt wire work almost an expectation in action films. But it’s a great film because of its script, written by Lana née Larry and Lilly née Andy Wachowski, who went on to co-direct it as well. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we delve into our next Listener’s Choice movie selection with ‘The Matrix.’
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One of the interesting things to explore in the usage of found footage style films is how it can be applied to different genres. Okay, so it works better in some genres than others, but it’s not a genre in and of itself, nor is it restricted to horror movies. But one thing that is consistent is the fact that we’re watching real people in a real situation they likely didn’t survive. There is an inherent connection to reality that isn’t present in other styles of films because of this, and in a film like Norway’s ‘Trollhunter,’ it ups the stakes because everything feels that much more real. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we wrap up our found footage series with André Øvredal’s 2010 fantasy thriller ‘Trollhunter.’
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When making found footage style films, it’s important to stick with the conceit — someone is holding the camera and filming events as they happen, then we someone later stumble upon the footage and watch it to understand what happened. What’s great about Josh Trank’s 2012 debut film ‘Chronicle’ is that he takes that conceit and finds ways to use it to his advantage while also exploring ways to break out of the conceit with multiple cameras and camera movement. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we continue our found footage series with this great superhero film.
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The J.J. Abrams team jumped into the found footage realm with a fun Godzilla-style monster movie that was kept under strict wraps while filming, to the point where excited audience members actually believed that it might have possibly been a live-action version of Voltron. “Cloverfield,” which, in the film, is the name the government gives to this top secret creature after-the-fact, is a unique creature feature that at once allowed for an intimate story set in a massive location. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we discuss Matt Reeves’ 2008 film “Cloverfield.”
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For many audience members, found footage films are just an opportunity to film a horror story on the cheap and don’t bring anything to the table. There are films, however, that work to use the filmmaking style to their advantage in exploring different ways to tell their stories. Sure, it’s a conceit, but if you buy into it, it can make for a fun style of storytelling. Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we begin our Found Footage Series with John Erick Dowdle’s 2008 film “Quarantine.”
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Tom Hanks and baseball — they go together like peanut butter and chocolate. Aside from always wanting to be an astronaut, Hanks has always been a great baseball fan and eagerly jumped at the chance to be in Penny Marshall’s 1992 film about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The film is a crowd pleaser and drew in the crowds when it was released, which was great because it shined a light on an aspect of sports history that had sadly been largely forgotten. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we finish our Tom Hanks series with a dip back into our spring Baseball series of past years.
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Tom Hanks already won his back-to-back Oscars and with an ensemble film like “Apollo 13,” he wasn’t a clear choice to get nominated again to make a three-peat a possibility. All of that aside, as anyone on the cast or crew who worked on the film knows — as well as anyone who saw the film — he was clearly born to play an astronaut. He reunited with Ron Howard on the making of this amazing film dealing with one of the worst space disasters the world has ever seen, and even though everyone knew what happened, it was a compelling piece of cinema. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we continue our Tom Hanks series with “Apollo 13.”
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Forrest Gump broke all sorts of box office records when it was released in the summer of 1994, which may be why people spent a lot of time digging into what they thought the film was really saying, even if it’s not what the filmmakers were actually saying. At its heart, it’s a character story about people struggling to find their paths in life, and looking back on it 20 years later, it’s still an absolutely beautiful film. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we continue our Tom Hanks series with Robert Zemeckis’ Oscar-winning film, “Forrest Gump.”
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In the late 70s and early 80s, Disney Pictures had been getting grief for releasing films that were too adult. When “Splash” came along, they decided to create a new label for releasing more adult fare. And thus, Touchstone Pictures was born! On top of that, the film was such a success that it pushed its star, Tom Hanks, and director, Ron Howard, up toward the upper echelons of the Hollywood elite. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we begin our Tom Hanks series near the beginning of his career with “Splash.”
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