Episode 145: The Two Toms [Far From the Madding Crowd; Unfriended; Elsa + Fred]
It’s Episode 145 of In the Mood for Podcast, a British-based film podcast hosted by Calum Reed of Ultimate Addict and Pete Sheppard of In the Mood for Blog.
Our latest episode is our shortest yet, as connection problems plagued our recording, and this week’s offering of films was fairly minimal. The big question this week is whether negative preconceptions about Thomas Hardy and Thomas Vinterberg respectively, could be conquered when we sat down for period romance “Far From the Madding Crowd”. Elsewhere, we both caught geriatric romance “Elsa + Fred,” starring Shirley MacLaine and Christopher Plummer, while Cal was in the queue for social media horror “Unfriended,” which gets us talking about the value of gimmicks. Plus: a series of listener questions leads to an inquisition into last week’s Pootsition and the advent of a new segment, there are digressions about the strength of 1964’s Best Actress and 2004’s Best Actor fields, and Pete launches an unexpectedly vicious assault on the work of Julian Jarrold.
Listener Questions [Ibbi]
[3:50 – 13:19]
Red Light District: Revealing the non-new films we’ve been catching up with in the past month, featuring discussion of “Dead Ringer,” “Middle of the Night,” The Pirate,” and “Up”
[13:20 – 19:08]
Preconception Corner
Reviews of:
- Elsa + Fred 22:45 – 31:52
- Unfriended 31:53 – 37:40
- Far From the Madding Crowd 37:41 – 47:32
Shag, Marry or Kill?
The Pootsition
The Garrett Gauge
Episode 140: The Birthday Quintet [Insurgent; The Gunman; The Voices]
It’s Episode 140 of In the Mood for Podcast, a British-based film podcast hosted by Calum Reed of Ultimate Addict and Pete Sheppard of In the Mood for Blog.
This week we discuss Sean Penn’s brawn in the critically-derided “The Gunman” and Ryan Reynolds’ form in the flat-out weird horror comedy “The Voices,” while the return of Shailene Woodley in Robert Schwentke’s “Insurgent” brings excitement (as does the surprise appearance of Naomi Watts), but did the Divergent sequel live up to the promise of its predecessor? Elsewhere, in the wake of the release of “Mommy” we take the opportunity to discuss the career of Xavier Dolan (leading to a Greek peace offering), we discuss the crowded Best Actor field of 2007, one of this week’s performers prompts a resurrection of the “best actress under thirty” debate, and Pete has taken to social media with his frustration at radio airplay.
Preconception Corner
A Conversation on Xavier Dolan: Discussing the filmmaker’s work thus far, in the wake of this week’s release of “Mommy”
[15:25 – 25:12]
Reviews of:
- The Gunman 25:13 – 33:30
- The Voices 33:31 – 42:06
- Insurgent 42:07 – 58:08
Shag, Marry or Kill?
The Pootsition
The Garrett Gauge
Episode 129: Flights of Fancy [Birdman; The Theory of Everything; Enemy]
Episode 129: Flights of Fancy
It’s Episode 129 of In the Mood for Podcast, a British-based film podcast hosted by Calum Reed of Ultimate Addict and Pete Sheppard of In the Mood for Blog.
In this episode, we turn our attention to the awards race, as this week sees the release of two films vying for Oscars, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s meditation on the theatre, “Birdman,” and spirited Stephen Hawking drama “The Theory of Everything”. We also take the opportunity to discuss the Producers Guild Award nominations and the winners from the National Society of Film Critics’ annual round of voting, touching (lightly) upon a victory for Jean-Luc Godard, and speculating about the Oscar chances of Timothy Spall, Marion Cotillard, and Rene Russo among others. Elsewhere, Pete’s improvable opinion of Denis Villeneuve is tested when Jake Gyllenhaal takes on a double role in “Enemy” and last year’s Norwegian Foreign Language Oscar entry “Kon-Tiki” finally made British shores, while some disappointing controversy about the latest Nicholas Cage film, “Dying of the Light,” threatens to overshadow the review. Meanwhile, there’s news of upheaval for the Factor and Range, Cal’s latest reading material provides a window into the Best Picture Oscar race of 1967 and Rex Harrison’s bad behaviour, and Felicity Jones’ sixties attire may finally have won over her childhood cohort.
- Mark Schultz turns his back on “Foxcatcher”
- Producers Guild Award nominations are announced
- National Society of Film Critics winners
[2:40 – 14:45]
Preconception Corner
Reviews of:
- The Theory of Everything
- Kon-Tiki
- Dying of the Light
- Enemy
[26:00 – 1:03:10]
Closing Segment: Our take on Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s “Birdman,” discussing the Best Picture race, and our favourite films about the theatre!
[1:03:15 – 1:22:45]
The Isaac Range
Outro Music: The National, “All the Wine”
Episode 75: Pillow Talk [The Counsellor; The Butler; Don Jon]
Episode 75: Pillow Talk
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It’s Episode 75 of In the Mood for Podcast, a British-based film podcast hosted by Calum Reed of Ultimate Addict and Pete Sheppard of In the Mood for Blog.
This week’s episode sees the return of the French quarter, as Pete ventured to a local film festival to catch his beloved Daniel Auteuil’s recent double-feature, “Marius” and “Fanny,” as well as Juliette Binoche in “Camille Claudel 1915.” Elsewhere, we’re discussing the joys of this week’s mainstream releases, including Scarlett Johansson’s womanly prowess in sexed-up comedy “Don Jon,” and the varying degrees of raunch Penelope Cruz and Cameron Diaz bring to Ridley Scott’s brutal thriller “The Counsellor.” We ponder the difference between BAFTA and Oscar, discuss whether voice performances should vie for awards, while a listener question forces us to address the mediocrity of some of the Academy’s Supporting Actress winners from years gone by. There are huge preconceptions about Lee Daniels’ “The Butler,” but can its depiction of the civil rights movement survive our scrutiny and mark a mature step forward for the director? Listen to find out, and enjoy musings on the absurdity of John Cusack’s fake nose , how Zooey Deschanel might have ruined one of the week’s offerings, and why Cuba Gooding Jr. and Jane Fonda really need to hang out more.
The Week’s News:
- The Honorary Oscars have been handed out
- Scarlett Johansson wins Best Actress at the Rome Film Festival for “Her”
- There’s going to be a sequel to “It’s a Wonderful Life”
[2:25 – 13:25]
Preconception Corner
Reviews of:
- The Counsellor
- Don Jon
- Marius / Fanny
- Camille Claudel 1915
[36:40 – 1:04:55]
Closing Segment: Our take on Lee Daniels’ “The Butler,”* and discussing historical inaccuracies in films! [1:03:50 – 1:23:40]
The Watson Factor
The Poupaud Range
Outro Music: Rhye, “Hunger”
In the Mood for Podcast 
