‘funny,’ not funny

The inexplicable Béla Tarr | topic: The Turin Horse, Werckmesiter Harmonies, religion in post Soviet film | with Lionel & Jim

Well, we did it. After years of swearing off the films of Béla Tarr; a director recommended to us by Bob Loy, we bit the bullet and watched two of his films: Werckmeister Harmonies, and The Turin Horse. These are not easy films. We definitely felt like we were missing some major cultural context in these films, but did our best to process them through our unsophisticated American perspectives. As always, Lionel is very attuned to the sounds of the film. He mentioned a couple of sonic elements that I missed. We compare this to Stravinsky, Straczynski, and Stargate SG1. Go figure.One note: the audio input of my mac seems to be all messed up, so I tried recording this episode with my AirPods, which was a mistake. I've done my best to equalize my voice, but the results are not what I would like.

Solaris & Stalker | topic: The films of Andre Tarkovsky | with Lionel & Jim

This conversation explores the depths of Andre Tarkovsky's films Solaris and Stalker, delving into their themes, production challenges, and philosophical insights. Spoiler: we really loved Stalker, and we really didn't love Solaris. It also touches on science fiction's portrayal of communication with extraterrestrial life and the influence of Soviet filmmaking constraints.

“The Forgotten People” | topic: Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life and Daughters of the Dust | with Sara Elkins

Sara joins the podcast again, and we discuss two documentary films Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life by Merion C. Cooper, and Daughters of The Dust by Julie Dash. Common themes are migrating peoples and disappearing cultures. We compare accounts of the migration of the Bakhtiari [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakhtiari_people] people in this documentary and the series The Ascent of Man by Jacob Bronowski. For both films, we focus on the film making, story, and historical context of these two films and also the soundtrack.

“Too much Vérité” | topic: Vittorio De Sica, Federico Fellini, Shoeshine, Umberto D, 8 1/2 | with Jim & Lionel

This episode explores classic Italian cinema, focusing on Vittorio De Sica's masterpieces 'Shoeshine' and 'Umberto D.', and contrasts them with Federico Fellini's '8 1/2'. We delve into themes of societal decay, human resilience, and cinematic artistry. At the end of the episode we respond to our live listeners, especially Sarah Elkins who suggests a film for a future episode.To comment on live episodes, please join our Patreon feed to support this independent podcast (no matter what the outro says) https://patreon.com/jiminfantino [https://patreon.com/jiminfantino]

Scams and the scammy scammers who love them | topic: Popular Scams, Scambaiting, Cyber Security | a conversation with Jonathan Copper

This episode features cybersecurity expert Jonathan Cooper discussing the latest scams, phishing tactics, and how to protect yourself in a digital world. Learn about real-world examples, AI threats, and practical tips to stay safe online. - Rise of AI-generated scams - Phishing and email scams targeting all ages - Business email compromise (BEC) cases and impact - The psychology behind scams and social engineering - How to recognize and prevent common scams like fake checks and fake book clubs This description was written by AI