Episode 11: Difficult Films

Episode 12: It's the Pictures That Got Small

This episode, my last episode, we wrap up the series with a few of the Music Box’s world-famous weeks of programming: the 70mm Festival and the Christmas Double Feature & Alternative Xmas series, all a testament to the lasting power of celluloid, and to the filmmakers who still shoot on film and then send their work straight to Southport. I also take a dive into the film that takes me full-circle to the Music Box, the first I ever saw here – 2001: A Space Odyssey, the gem of their 70mm crown. I talk with Organ Maestro Extraordinaire Dennis Scott, Assistant Technical Director & Programmer Rebecca Lyon, General Manager Ryan Oestreich, film projectionist & historian Tim O'Neill, and my friend Nick Currie for this supersized final episode.

Episode 11: Difficult Films

I’ve long felt the Music Box is the premier environment for films that are harrowing, challenging, gross, abstract, or just plain lengthy - you’ve bought your ticket and there’s an audience with a shared stubbornness to see it through. This episode is dedicated to Difficult Films, movies I personally felt exhausted by, that poked and prodded me into submission, including a look at the auteurs oft endured: Lars Von Trier, Catherine Breillat, Claire Denis, and Gaspar Noé; as well as a look at the Music Box’s new “Who Gives an F” series. I speak with Ryan Oestreich and Rebecca Lyon from the Music Box, as well as Tim O’Neill and my friend James Conley, who I cajoled into rewatching that notorious centerpiece of Difficult Films with me: Irréversible.

Episode 10: ArtFlop Era

On this episode, we enter our ArtFlop Era. I speak again with my friends Michael Elias and Nick Currie about the newest iteration of our film club: ArtFlop, a series dedicated to visiting movies that reached for the moon but were not a financial or critical hit at the time, from BOOM! to CAN'T STOP THE MUSIC, from POPEYE to THE PAPERBOY. I also dedicate some space to my personal patron saints of ArtFlop & two of my all-time favorite maverick filmmakers: the Wachowski Sisters.

Episode 9: The Disney Dilemma

The overgrown kid in me still likes Marvel & Star Wars, I just can’t help it. But as Admiral Ackbar warns us, it’s a trap! On this episode, we dive into the discussion du jour, what I like to call The Disney Dilemma. I rope in my friends over at A Piece of Pie: The Queer Film Podcast for a crossover episode – I speak with creator & host Brian Rowe and my fellow contributors Lauren Emily Whalen, Rob Cameron, and Matthew Jackson. We have the Music Box in Chicago, but what happens if everything else becomes content IP oatmeal boosted by brainless online listicles, when everything gets sent straight to streaming in our living rooms all owned by the same company? That’s the heart of the Disney Dilemma.

Episode 8: Church of the Sunday Matinee

On this episode, I discuss with friends and family the films that feel spiritual to them - everything from MAGNOLIA to CONTACT, to ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM: COMPANY to BABE: PIG IN THE CITY - and the Music Box’s legendary weekend matinees series, including months dedicated to the icons Marlene Dietrich and Bette Davis. And I speak with Steve Prokopy, film critic & PR Manager for the Music Box and curator of the wildly popular Billy Wilder 'Nobody's Perfect' matinee series, with Part 2 to come later this year.