January 16th, 2021
It's Emily's birthday this week, which means she gets to pick the topic. That topic: the legacy of Brokeback Mountain, which came out just over 15 years ago, as well as author E. Annie Proulx's recent comments about the fan fiction giving Ennis and Jack a happy ending.
00:00:00 - 00:09:40 - Intro & News
00:09:41 - 00:43:44 - Emily & Ed discuss Brokeback Mountain at 15
00:43:45 - 00:48:43 - SRS Recommends & Outro
Links
Tom Little on Twitter, as recommended by Emily
January 10th, 2021
This week, Emily and Ed discuss their top ten films, TV shows, podcast etc. from 2020, as well as the release of Wonder Woman 1984, and the deaths of MF DOOM and Joan Micklin Silver.
Note: This episode was recorded before there was an attempted coup at the US Capitol, which explains why the intro is cheery and all about how things have been pretty quiet.
00:00:00 - 00:24:33 - Intro & News
00:24:24 - 01:47:04 - Emily & Ed discuss their best of the 2020
01:47:05 - 01:48:23 - Outro
December 28th, 2020
For the last episode of 2020, Emily and Ed talk about the culture that helped them deal with this somewhat trying year.
00:00:00 - 00:24:20 - Intro & News
00:24:21 - 00:54:03 - Emily & Ed discuss the art that got them through 2020
00:54:04 - 00:58:45 - SRS Recommends & Outro
December 12th, 2020
This week, Emily and Ed discuss the recent news that WarnerMedia will be putting all of their 2021 theatrical releases - including major prospective blockbusters like Dune, The Matrix 4 and Kong vs. Godzilla - onto their HBOMax streaming platform on the same day they will hit theatres.
00:00:00 - 00:22:54 - Intro & News
00:22:55 - 00:44:05 - Emily & Ed discuss WarnerMedia's decision to put all their movies on HBOMax
00:44:06 - 00:48:03 - SRS Recommends & Outro
Links
- The Bandcamp page for Shelley Byron & The Poison Sleep, as recommended by Emily
December 5th, 2020
This week, Emily and Ed discuss the trailer for Sia's forthcoming film/album Music, the criticism of the trailer and Sia's response to the criticism, and then talk about how the project fits into the broader problems with depicting autism in media.
00:00:00 - 00:15:06 - Intro & News
00:15:07 - 00:43:40 - Emily & Ed discuss autism in film and TV
00:43:41 - 00:48:05 - SRS Recommends & Outro
November 27th, 2020
This week, Emily and Ed discuss the aesthetics, themes and tropes of autumnal movies, and ask if movies can be autumnal regardless of when they are actually set so long as they have the right knitwear.
00:00:00 - 00:18:52 - Intro & News
00:18:53 - 00:44:50 - Emily & Ed discuss Autumnal Movies
00:44:51 - 00:47:54 - SRS Recommends & Outro
November 21st, 2020
This week finds Emily and Ed discussing filmmakers who repeatedly work with the same groups of collaborators, and the ways in which working together numerous times can provide a comfort and safety for a filmmaker, or challenge them to keep trying new things. They also discuss the seismic news that Emily in Paris will be returning for another season.
00:00:00 - 00:15:14 - Intro & News
00:15:15 - 00:48:33 - Emily & Ed discuss frequent collaborators
00:48:34 - 00:54:01 - SRS Recommends & Outro
Links
- You can check out Emily's new podcast The Mother of All Losses here
November 14th, 2020
As the 2020 Presidential election finally(?) grinds to an end, Emily and Ed discuss the pop culture detritus surrounding the election, what works of art they think really captured the absurdity of the Trump era, and elections in film more generally. They also pay tribute to John Sessions and Alex Trebek.
00:00:00 - 00:27:28 - Intro & News
00:27:29 - 01:00:01 - Emily & Ed discuss elections in pop culture
01:00:02 - 01:05:13 - SRS Recommends & Outro
November 1st, 2020
This week, Emily and Ed discuss Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, the ethical questions surrounding its production, and the limits of an outrageous, offensive satire in an outrageous, offensive age. They also discuss the death of Sean Connery and his complicated legacy.
00:00:00 - 00:17:17 - Intro & News
00:17:18 - 00:39:17 - Emily & Ed discuss Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
00:39:18 - 00:43:52 - SRS Recommends & Outro
Links:
Sassy Justice, as recommended by Emily
October 25th, 2020
To mark the closing of Quibi, the poorly-conceived mobile streaming service that lasted six months before collapsing under its own readily apparent flaws, Emily and Ed talk about why it was such a transparently bad idea, how the people involved misunderstood what streaming is, and how people consume media. They also discuss Borat Subsequent Moviefilm and its weird gatecrashing of the Presidential election, AOC streaming on Twitch, and Ben Wheatly adding another unexpected film to his plate.
00:00:00 - 00:23:10 - Intro & News
00:23:11 - 00:23:11 - Emily & Ed discuss the end of Quibi
00:41:38 - 00:41:39 - SRS Recommends & Outro
October 22nd, 2020
This week, inspired by the news that Ben Wheatley has shot a lockdown movie, Emily and Ed discuss movies that take place primarily in one location, which genres are particularly suited to that approach, and what it takes to make a movie set in one place work.
00:00:00 - 00:20:22 - Intro & News
00:20:23 - 00:52:44 - Emily & Ed discuss movies primarily set in one location
00:52:45 - 00:56:39 - SRS Recommends & Outro
October 11th, 2020
This week, Emily and Ed discuss films and TV shows that impact them differently in lockdown because they depict events and experiences that they can't engage in right now, and stir up memories of when they could. They also discuss Cineworld/Regal closing theatres in the UK and the US, and how those decisions connect to the broader failings of their governments to get the Coronavirus under control.
00:00:00 - 00:26:12 - Intro & News
00:26:13 - 00:54:23 - Emily & Ed discuss art that impacts them differently in lockdown
00:54:24 - 00:58:15 - SRS Recommends & Outro
Links
- Rachel Syme's interview with Mandy Patinkin, as recommended by Emily
September 28th, 2020
This week, Emily and Ed discuss dreams in films and television: stories about dreams, memorable dream sequences, and movies that evoke a dreamlike (or nightmarelike) feeling. They also talk about some of the notable Emmy winners, and the possible return of The Knick.
00:00:00 - 00:20:17 - Intro & News
00:20:18 - 00:53:25 - Emily and Ed discuss dreams in movies and TV
00:53:26 - 00:56:55 - SRS Recommends & Outro
Links
Alice Sneddon's Bad News, as recommended by Emily
September 23rd, 2020
This week, jumping off of the story about Amazon's The Boys getting review-bombed for switching to a weekly release schedule for its second season, Emily and Ed discuss the current state of streaming, how the success of The Mandalorian may be making streaming services reconsider the value of the Netflix release model, and the tension that exists between how people have been conditioned to watch streaming shows and what might be best for generating buzz and discussion and, ultimately, subscribers. They also talk about the Creative Emmys, The Sopranos, and Jake Gyllenhaal's "weird" phase.
00:00:00 - 00:35:10 - Intro & News
00:35:11 - 00:57:32 - Emily & Ed discuss the state of streaming
00:57:33 - 01:00:28 - SRS Recommends & Outro
Links
- The Misbehaviour episode of the Seventh Row podcast, as recommended by Emily
September 14th, 2020
There was a ton of news this week. New Oscar eligibility rules? Yes. New Dune trailer? Yes. New Borat movie? Sure, why not. Emily and Ed go over all the news worth knowing this week.
00:00:00 - 00:05:22 - Intro
00:05:23 - 01:03:54 - Emily & Ed run through the week's news
01:03:55 - 01:08:34 - SRS Recommends & Outro
Links
Dan Olsen's In Search of a Flat Earth, as recommended by Emily
The video essays of Patrick H. Willems, as recommended by Ed
Shannon Strucci's adult swim just cancelled the best show on television, as mention by Ed in the discussion about The Venture Bros.
September 10th, 2020
This week, inspired by the release of Tenet and Christopher Nolan's reputation as a director obsessed with time, Emily and Ed discuss movies that make particularly innovative use of time as a concept, as a structural device, or as a theme. They also discuss the release of Mulan, and laugh a lot at the very idea of Jeremy Renner.
00:00:00 - 00:36:07 - Intro & News
00:36:08 - 01:20:24 - Emily & Ed discuss Time
01:20:25 - 01:24:56 - SRS Recommends & Outro
August 31st, 2020
Inspired by the New York Times article "How the Criterion Collection Crops Out African-American Directors", Emily and Ed discuss the ways in which the Criterion Collection shapes the canon of great films while omitting the work of African-American filmmakers. They also talk about the death of Chadwick Boseman, who passed away last week at the age of 43.
00:00:00 - 00:32:16 - Intro & News
00:32:17 - 00:57:42 - Emily & Ed discuss the Criterion Collection
00:57:43 - 01:02:46 - SRS Recommends & Outro
August 27th, 2020
Following the cancellation of Netflix's Patriot Act, Emily and Ed discuss the current state of late night television and how one of Amercia's oldest TV formats has adapted to the new realities of Coronavirus. At least, they get to that eventually, after detours through Batman news, the Cuties marketing controversy, and Netflix's short-sighted approach to commissioning and cancelling shows more generally.
00:00:00 - 00:49:45 - Intro & News
00:49:46 - 01:11:16 - Emily & Ed discuss the state of late night television
01:11:17 - 01:16:26 - SRS Recommends & Outro
August 16th, 2020
Inspired by Ed's quarantine playthrough of Persona 5, this week's episode is all about depictions of school in film, television and videogames. There's also talk about W.A.P., the continued upheaval in film distribution as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, and the death of Linda Manz.
00:00:00 - 00:26:21 - Intro & News
00:26:22 - 00:56:21 - Emily & Ed discuss depiction of school in art
00:56:22 - 01:02:13 - SRS Recommends & Outro
Links
- Jacob Geller's YouTube channel, as recommended by Ed, and specifically The Intimacy of Everyday Objects and Who's Afraid of Modern Art
August 2nd, 2020
It's Ed's birthday this week, so he gets to pick any topic to talk about. This year, he chose the Uncharted series of video games, which he played through during lockdown and has a lot of thoughts about. He and Emily also talk about the announcement of Defector, the new site from a group of former Deadspin writers; the BAFTA television awards and their virtual ceremony; the Emmy nominations; and that time Batman fought the Predator.
00:00:00 - 00:29:37 - Intro & News
00:29:38 - 00:58:49 - Emily & Ed discuss the Uncharted games
00:58:50 - 01:02:49 - SRS Recommends & Outro
Links
- Emily's comedessay Poser can be found on YouTube here
- You can check out Fringe of Colour at their website
- Susana Polo's article about Batman vs. Predator can be found on Polygon