Chaplin, Cagney, Garbo and Grant all make Adam and Josh's 1930s "Starter Pack," 10 films to introduce you – or get you better acquainted with – arguably the greatest movie decade. Plus, the first film in our four-film Bette Davis Marathon, 1934's OF HUMAN BONDAGE, and the Elite 8 of Filmspotting Madness: Best of the 2010s. 0:00 - Billboard  1:04 - Top 5: 1930s Starter Pack Fred Astaire, "Cheek to Cheek" 43:40 - Notes  52:28 - Filmspotting Madness Elite 8 1:06:51 - Bette Davis Marathon #1: "Of Human Bondage" 1:26:33 - Outro / Outtake Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Filmspotting

#769: 1930s Starter Pack / Bette Davis #1 - Of Human Bondage / Madness Elite 8

This episode is presented by the Academy Award-Winning film 1917. Available now on Digital streaming and on Blu-ray and DVD March 24th. Sam Mendes' acclaimed WWI film was a hugely ambitious undertaking for all involved, including Oscar-winning visual effects supervisor Guillaume Rocheron ("Ad Astra," "Life of Pi"). In this edition of Filmspotting: The Process, Rocheron describes the unique challenges that the film's "single-shot" approach created, and how his VFX team collaborated with Mendes and cinematographer Roger Deakins to bring some of the film's most memorable scenes to life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Process: Guillaume Rocheron (1917)

With FIRST COW, Kelly Reichardt returns to the 19th century Oregon Territory of her most acclaimed film, "Meek's Cutoff." An early film of the year candidate, Adam and Josh praise Reichardt's parable about capitalism and self-invention for its detail, its performances and its mouth-watering "oily cakes." Plus: where Pixar's ONWARD lands in a ranking of the studio's features; Filmspotting Madness continues with a (Coen-less) Sweet 16; and the next Filmspotting Marathon is announced. 0:00 - Billboard 0:59 - Review: "First Cow" U.S. Girls, "4 American Dollars" 30:15 - Next Week/Notes 42:00 - Filmspotting Madness, Sweet 16 1:03:53 - Review: "Onward" 1:17:52 - Outro  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#768: First Cow / Onward / Madness Sweet 16

PTA. Wes. Malick. The Coens. Of course they made the cut. But who else? This week, Adam and Josh complete a task a decade in the making with their top 10 films of the decade. Plus, quick reviews of THE INVISIBLE MAN and WENDY, and Rd. 2 of Filmspotting Madness: Best of the 2010s. 0:00 - Billboard  1:13 - #6-10 Films of the 2010s 15:59 - Filmspotting Madness, Rd. 2 39:13 - Notes Nicholas Britell, "The Middle of the World" 49:01 - Reviews: "The Invisible Man," "Wendy"  1:03:24 - #1-5 Films of the 2010s 1:55:27 - Outro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#767: Top 20 Films of the 2010s (Pt. 2) / Invisible Man / Madness Rd. 2

Work from Abbas Kiarostami, Sofia Coppola, Spike Lee – and a couple of former Golden Brick winners – all make the cut as Adam and Josh start their countdown of the top 20 films of the last decade. Plus, Filmspotting Madness 2020: Best of the 2010s kicks off with 32 ("How dare you!!!" "Why???") first-round matchups. 0:00 - Billboard 1:06 - Films of the 2010s – #16-20 22:06 - Filmspotting Madness Rd. 1 43:18 - Notes Nicholas Godin, "What Makes Me Think Of You" 59:52 - Films of the 2010s – #11-15 1:49:43 - Outro  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#766: Top 20 Films of the 2010s (Pt. 1) / Madness Rd. 1

It was the decade we discovered Jennifer Lawrence, Adam Driver and Lupita Nyong'o. The decade we watched actors like Scarlett Johansson and Joaquin Phoenix realize their full potential. The decade we continued to be blessed by the existence of Tilda Swinton. As a prelude to their Top 20 films of the decade, Adam and Josh consider their Top 10 Performers of the 2010s. 0:00 - Billboard 1:11 - Top 10 Performers of the Decade Beach Bunny, "Cuffing Season" 46:12 - Next Week/Notes 1:03:07 - Top 10 Performers of the Decade, cont. 1:52:45 - Outro  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#765: Top 10 Performers of the 2010s

Filmspotting celebrated its 15th anniversary over the weekend with a 35mm-screening of Howard Hawks' RIO BRAVO at Chicago's venerated Music Box Theatre. After singing the praises of Dude, The Duke, Feathers and Stumpy during their post-film talk, Adam and Josh, along with Michael Phillips and producer Sam Van Hallgren, took questions from the audience that ranged from the practical to the philosophical. Also on the show, Josh recommends the "rotten cotton candy" aesthetic of the new HARLEY QUINN: BIRDS OF PREY and Adam praises the sinister hush of THE ASSISTANT. Plus, thoughts on "Parasite's" big night at the Oscars. 0:00 - Billboard 1:11 - "Parasite's" historic night 12:33 - JL: "Birds of Prey" / AK: "The Assistant" Dean Martin & Ricky Nelson "My Rifle, My Pony & Me" 25:21 - Kirk Douglas / Notes 38:20 - Filmspotting Madness 2020: Play-In Round 53:26 - Live in Chicago 2:10:00 - Outro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#764: Live in Chicago / Oscars / Birds of Prey / The Assistant

Since his breakout in 1971's "The Last Picture Show," Jeff Bridges has been nominated for seven Oscars and won one. Among his credits is one of the most beloved film characters of the past couple of decades ("The Dude"). And yet, do we still underappreciate him? On this week's show, Adam and Josh consider the incredible variety of the actor's work through the lens of their Top 5 Bridges Scenes. And they kick off the 8 From '84 series with John Carpenter's STARMAN, featuring the Best Actor-nominated Bridges and Karen Allen. *Filmspotting has launched on Patreon* 0:00 - Billboard 1:07 - 8 From '84 Review: "Starman" Jeff Bridges, "Hold On You" (from "Crazy Heart") 32:01 - Filmspotting on Patreon 46:59 - Next week / Notes 56:40 - Polls [Best of '84 / 2010s Acting Duos] 1:07:03 - Top 5: Jeff Bridges Scenes 1:51:09 - Outro  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#763: Top 5 Jeff Bridges Scenes / Starman (8 From '84)

Will the Academy choose to remember 2019 as the year of PARASITE, MARRIAGE STORY and LITTLE WOMEN – or of 1917 and JOKER? The Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips joins Adam and Josh for a preview of the 2020 Oscars, with picks for who will win, who should win and who should have been nominated. 0:00 - Billboard 1:12 - Oscar picks: Supporting / Screenplays Jessie Buckley, "Glasgow (No Place Like Home)" 1:00:04 - Next Week/Notes 1:08:48 - Massacre Theatre 1:12:00 - Donations 1:12:51 - Oscar picks: Lead / Director / Picture 1:51:07 - Outro / Outtakes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#762: 2020 Oscars Special with Michael Phillips

We ignore rumor and speculation and confine our 2020 Movie Preview to the current movie year (see you in 2021, Joel Coen's "Macbeth"!). New stuff from Christopher Nolan, Denis Villeneuve, Wes Anderson and other high-profile directors will – we hope – help us deal with a relative lack of 2019 MVPs Adam Driver and Florence Pugh. And we announce the follow-up to last year's 9 From '99 series: 8 From '84. 0:00 - Billboard 1:14 - 2020 Preview Bombay Bicycle Club, "Is It Real" 29:43 - 8 From '84 / Notes 43:16 - 2020 Preview cont. 1:30:18 - Outro  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#761: 2020 Movie Preview

It's tradition here on Filmspotting to devote the first episode of the new year to all the stuff we loved about last year. It's the annual Wrap Party, with Adam and Josh sharing their picks for the best opening scene, the funniest and most moving scene, the best music moment and scene of the year. Plus, reaction to this week's Oscar nominations, Josh's thoughts on the new anime film WEATHERING WITH YOU, and the winner of the 2019 Golden Brick Award. 0:00 - Billboard 1:22 - Opening Scene / Funniest Scene Michael Nyman, "Musique à Grand Vitesse: 1st Region" 26:42 - Oscar Nominations 34:41 - Next week / Notes 40:27 - Josh recommends: "Weathering With You" 42:48 - Golden Brick Winner 52:52 - Donations 54:16 - Moving Moment / Music Moment / Scene of the Year 1:40:41 - Outro  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#760: Best Scenes of 2019 / Oscar Nominations / Golden Brick Winner

Was the last year of the decade also its best? Martin Scorsese's THE IRISHMAN. Terrence Malick's A HIDDEN LIFE. Quentin Tarantino's ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD. All works that rate among those directors' best. No slouch himself, Noah Baumbach arguably made the best film of his career with MARRIAGE STORY. Greta Gerwig and Jordan Peele – the breakout directing stars of 2017 – returned with sophomore efforts, LITTLE WOMEN and US, that somehow managed to not just meet but exceed expectations. And no amount of hype prepared audiences (including critics) for Korean auteur Bong Joon-ho's PARASITE. Yeah. 2019 was a good year. On this week's show, Adam and Josh along with Michael Phillips and Tasha Robinson talk through their consensus* picks for the best of 2019, including their choices for the best film of the year. (*Consensus except for some fighting over Tarantino.) 0:00 - Billboard  1:06 - Top 10 of 2019: Consensus Picks  Sturgill Simpson, "The Dead Don't Die" 1:01:50 - Top 10 of 2019: Consensus cont. 2:11:25 - Outro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#759: (Pt. 2) Top 10 Films of 2019

The Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips and Tasha Robinson from The Next Picture Show are back for this year's Best of '19 roundtable, and in part one it's the panel's "outlier" picks – films which only made a single Top 10. And with divisive titles like James Gray's "Ad Astra" and Taika Waititi's "Jojo Rabbit" making the cut, there's plenty of lively debate to go along with the praise. 0:00 - Billboard 1:18 - Top 10 of 2019: The Outliers Randy Newman, "What I Love About Charlie" (Marriage Story) 1:16:07 - Notes 1:19:43 - Top 10 of 2019: Outliers, cont. 2:13:26 - Outro  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#758: (Pt. 1) Top 10 Films of 2019

With the critically adored but audience-divisive "Last Jedi" behind them, JJ Abrams and his team set out to deliver a Star Wars finale that satisfied everyone. And according to Adam and Josh at least, they mostly pulled it off. Fresh from their screening, Adam and Josh give THE RISE OF SKYWALKER a "still processing" review – plus some end-of-show spoiler talk. Also on the show: the four finalists for the 2019 Golden Brick Award and Adam's interview with Josh and Benny Safdie, writer/directors of the new UNCUT GEMS starring Adam Sandler. 0:00 - Billboard 1:07 - Review: "The Rise of Skywalker" The Voidz, "Did My Best" 29:52 - Golden Brick Finalists 34:03 - Next week / Notes / Massacre Theatre 39:55 - Interview: Josh and Benny Safdie ("Uncut Gems") 1:08:45 - Outro / "Rise of Skywalker" Spoiler Talk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#757: The Rise of Skywalker / Safdie Brothers ("Uncut Gems")

A long-time defender of the Star Wars prequels, Josh has rarely been given a platform on the show to actually do the work of defending them. That changes this week as he and Adam revisit THE PHANTOM MENACE, the final film in the 9 From '99 series. Plus, Adam and Josh award "The Plastic Bags," their favorite performances, scenes and surprises from the series. 0:00 - Billboard 1:12 - Review: "Star Wars, Episode I - The Phantom Menace" John Williams, "Duel of Fates" 34:41 - Next Week/Notes 47:58 - 9 From '99 Awards 1:28:22 - Outro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#756: The Phantom Menace at 20 / 9 From '99 Awards

Weekly film podcast and WBEZ radio show from Chicago featuring in-depth reviews, top 5 lists and interviews. Hosted by Adam Kempenaar and Josh Larsen. Part of the Panoply Network.

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