Comfort Films Podcast

We're back, comfort fans! To kick off season 4, we're welcoming back guest Katherine Pyeatt to talk nerdy about a movie that collects many of our old favorite conventions into one awesome package, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves! It's got action & adventure, a ragtag team of found family, a tremendous sense of humor, complex special makeup effects, tons of pop culture references, and one wonderfully thicc dragon. We talk about the fabulous fight choreography, the detailed weapon-crafting, our own experiences with RPGs (including tabletop gaming and a whole lot of Baldur's Gate 3), the necessity of creating a well-rounded party, and we celebrate the one specific thief who stole all three of our hearts. Choose your class and join the campaign for this special season opener episode!

For the last of our offbeat holiday selections this year, we're talking about an instant new classic for us, The Holdovers! This film bridges the no-man's-land time between Christmas and New Year's Day, when time stretches, everything seems a little foggy, and it's easy to forget what day it is. We're thrilled to welcome first-time guest, long-time friend, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Sanjay Salomon to discuss this film, which has many personal connections to his own youth growing up in Western Mass, at Deerfield Academy (main filming location) no less! We also talk about Alexander Payne's vision of The Holdovers as a part of the 70s film catalogue that includes some of our other favorite movies like Hal Ashby's Harold & Maude and The Last Detail, the top notch performances from Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, and first time film actor Dominic Sessa, Ryan Warren Smith's production design that captures the true spirit of a New England winter, and the amazing score from Mark Orton, which draws heavily on 70s influences like Cat Stevens and somehow perfectly evokes both the time and the place of The Holdovers. Pour yourself a tall drink of your choice and ring in the New Year with us!

It's the most wonderful time of the year again, and that means it's time for our holiday special episode! This Christmas season, we decided to revisit a nostalgic animated favorite from childhood, the Rankin-Bass Frosty the Snowman holiday special. We discuss the origins of the song that inspired the cartoon, Jimmy Durante's excellent voiceover, Frosty's place within the Rankin-Bass holiday lineup, and our reactions to rewatching this special after many years. Hop a train to the North Pole with us, and don't forget your magic hat!

This week, our holiday episode is about an obscure little offbeat Christmas film that means a lot to us personally, A Midwinter's Tale - or In the Bleak Midwinter, if you're outside the US. Kenneth Branagh wrote and directed (but uncharacteristically, did not act in) this film about Joe Harper, an out-of-work actor who decides that an independent Christmas production of Hamlet is just the thing to somehow pull him out of his depression and get back on track. Fortunately, the magic of Shakespeare and live performance do come around in the end to remind Joe what life is all about. We discuss the unique relationships formed when working in theater (especially broke indie theater), the high emotions that occur when a group of actors are trapped together for long periods of time, how rehearsal and character work often beget psychological introspection, and this film's place as an unsung Christmas classic that harkens back to better known holiday fare like It's A Wonderful Life. This episode is for the entertainers--the people who are often out there working through the holidays, often for little more than the love of performing, creating family when they can't be with their own. Come tread the boards with us!

We're kicking off a month of non-traditional holiday films with Bridget Jones's Diary, welcoming back guests Kate Duffy and Danny Zeliger to discuss this Sex and the City meets Pride and Prejudice chick flick classic. We talk about the scandal of casting Texas-born Renee Zellweger as a definitively British character, Colin Firth's re-envisioning of his BBC Mr. Darcy as the modern Mark Darcy, Hugh Grant's pitch-perfect though (at the time) against-type portrayal of sleazy Daniel Cleaver, Helen Fielding's brilliant choice to re-imagine Jane Austen in the contemporary era, the movie's perfect balance of humor and romance, John's personal adventures in cooking blue soup, the importance of someone liking you just as you are, and how all four of us see this film as a perfect watch for the Christmas-to-New Year holiday timeframe. Throw on your best reindeer jumper, fill your plate with turkey curry, and give us a listen!

To cap off our Friendsgiving month, we welcome back Christina and Mac from World of Horror Podcast to talk about a feel-good family film that is as sweet as a delicious piece of pecan pie a la mode -- Paddington 2! We discuss the movie's heartfelt themes of family, being yourself, and building community; how Paddington's perspective as an immigrant makes his contributions to society even more unique and valuable; the brilliant use of CGI and visual storytelling that enhances the film rather than replacing the work of artists; the amazing performances from Hugh Grant, Sally Hawkins, Brendan Gleeson, and Ben Whishaw, who brings real humanity to a little bear; and how Christina uses Paddington to teach ethics in the classroom. This film is like a warm hug from a relative you've missed for a long time, and we can't think of a better movie to discuss for Thanksgiving! We are grateful for all our guests this month, and we are grateful to you, our listeners, for giving us a chance to talk movies with you year-round. Have a safe, happy, and comfort-filled Thanksgiving!

For the third installment of our Friendsgiving series, we welcome first-time guest and professional singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Zev Marx-Kahn to discuss Pitch Perfect (2012), which Zev first saw at age 11. It greatly inspired him to join an a capella group once he went to college a few years later, and he's able to share his first-hand experience to give some serious street cred to our movie discussion. We talk about the absolute perfection of Rebel Wilson's Fat Amy, the differences between movie a capella and real-life a capella, the short-term cultural takeover of the "Cups" song, the talented cast and equally sharp musical arrangements, the surprisingly emotional moments in this seemingly fluffy film, and which pie we prefer at our Thanksgiving feast. Aca-join us for an aca-mazing chat!

For this second episode of our Friendsgiving series, we welcome back Etta Goodridge (of previous episodes 35: Legally Blonde and 79: Wet Hot American Summer) to travel back in time to the Middle Ages to solve a monastery mystery with Sean Connery and Christian Slater in The Name of the Rose! We discuss the connections between Connery's William of Baskerville and greatest of all literary detectives Sherlock Holmes, references to the seven deadly sins, F. Murray Abraham's chilling performance as evil Inquisitor Bernardo Gui, Ron Perlman's full commitment to the disgusting role of Salvatore, the accuracy of the history and philosophy underpinning the screenplay, and what exactly was the deal with medieval monk hairdos. Meet us in the secret library for a great discussion!

For the month of November, we're throwing a four-episode Friendsgiving celebration and inviting friends old and new to talk about some of their favorite films! We start with welcoming returning guest Frank Bonanno to discuss the Steve Martin/Rick Moranis mob movie My Blue Heaven, a de facto comedic sequel to Goodfellas (which came out a few weeks later). Writer Nora Ephron was married to Henry Hill biographer Nicholas Pileggi during the writing of Wiseguy and took real stories of Hill's time in witness protection as inspiration for her screenplay. We talk about the Goodfellas connections, the crazy casting process that at one point had Arnold Schwarzenegger playing mobster Vinnie Antonelli, Joan Cusack's excellent work as prosecutor Hannah Stubbs - who holds her own toe to toe with Martin's Antonelli and Moranis's Barney Coopersmith, the difficulties of finding good Italian food in certain parts of the country, and the idea of a heaven populated by mobsters in witness protection. Let's hit the dance floor and do the merengue--don't forget to overtip your server!

For the second of our DisComfort Films episodes for Halloween month, we’re joined by special guest and real life pal Cathleen Mortensen Bittner to discuss the one and only Stephen King adaptation directed by the man himself, Maximum Overdrive!  Though this gory, darkly humorous film has never received its due from critics, all three of us consider it a masterpiece of cartoonish, near-slapstick horror.  We discuss King’s director influences from Hitchcock to Romero, the hard-hitting AC/DC-dominated soundtrack, the Cold War as a backdrop to this and many other 80s films, Brat Pack star Emilio Estevez’s ex-con hero Bill Robinson, the questionably criminal background of Bubba Hendershot (Pat Hingle), the role of anxiety in horror, and the movie’s many excellent practical effects, including the very angry soda machine.  Keep a close eye on your appliances and join us to explore the question, “Who made who?”