Stuff We’ve Seen

Enys Men and Bait: Mark Jenkin, the Celluloid Warrior

Cornish filmmaker Mark Jenkin puts the film back in movie making with his latest offering, Enys Men. This 16mm environmental horror/ filmic poetry tomb is a visual feast for those looking for something further afield. Jim and Teal explore Jenkin's two features, Enys Men, and his 2019 feature debut, Bait. Both movies create an atmosphere all their own, with a look unlike anything else out there.

Also, to start off this episode, Jim gives Teal a report on seeing Med Hondo's 1977 film, West Indies: The Fugitive Slaves of Liberty, which he caught at a rare screening at the Harvard Film Archive.

2022 BFI Sight & Sound Greatest Films List: Examining the Worst Selections

BFI 250 list, we just can quit you. Jim is still on his mission to see all 264 films on the 2022 Sight & Sound Critics Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time List. On this episode, Teal quizzes Jim on some of his least favorite selections from the list. While they are not all bad films in Jim's opinion, he found it difficult to reconcile the motives behind their inclusion on a critic's list of ten of the greatest films to include.

Easter Films: Jim and Teal Get Biblical

That's right, all your Easter favorites, from Ben-Hur and The King of Kings, to Passion of the Christ and The Last Temptation of Christ, Jim and Teal cover the films that make springtime, springtime. Get ready for J&T's version of Sunday school where minister Jim teaches Teal a thing or two about the New Testament.

The French New Wave: Jim and Teal Go Boating

It's time for a shaggy dog tale, or time to get taking for a story ride with Jim and Teal as they explore two films from the latter portion of the French New Wave. Let's call it, the French Next Wave, with filmmakers such as Jacques Rivette and Jean Eustache taking the helm, and making their mark in the 1970s.

On this week's episode, Jim and Teal discuss two films from the BFI 2022 top 250 Greatest films of all time list, Celine and Julie Go Boating, and The Mother and the Whore. Jim challenged Teal to see both these films, and in this episode Jim will find out if Teal liked these movies, and Teal will find out why Jim challenged him to see him.

Catch up with a couple of lesser-known films in the U.S. with this stroll down the podcast lake.

2023 Oscar Predictions: No Country for Old Wells

Since Jim and Teal won't be taping a post-Oscar's episode they wanted to weigh in on the big night and talk about 2023 Oscar Predictions before the show. Will Everything Everywhere All at Once be the big winner of the night, or could there be some surprises in store this year? Signs point to an unpredictable night in several categories.

Speaking of Oscar predictions, and the discussion around them, Jim takes issue with two opposite approaches to the Oscar conversation. First, is what Jim feels is a dishonest take from film critic Peter Travers. Next, Jim zeroes in on film-coverage bad-boy, Jeff Wells. Once, a must read for Jim, Wells' longtime column on his site, Hollywood Elsewhere, has taken a bizarre turn to anti-wokes'ville, and Jim takes particular issue with Wells' relentless takedown of Everything Everywhere All at Once. Can Teal find some common ground with the internet film raconteur?

 

Oh, and there is still enough time in the episode for Jim and Teal to tell you how much they hated Knock at the Cabin.

The 2022 BFI Sight and Sound Critics Top 250 Greatest Films

Every decade the BFI's Sight and Sound magazine publishes its poll of the top 100 greatest films in two separate lists created by film directors and then critics, scholars, facilitators, and educators. In February 2023 they followed those lists up with a companion list of the top 250 greatest films of all time as voted by the critics.

 

These lists are always debatable and controversial, but the decision to make the list more inclusive and include more women filmmakers added to the controversy of what makes a film the greatest. And the shakeup landed Chantel Ackerman's Jeanne Dielman at number 1.

That may have been the biggest headline from this list, but certainly not the last word.

Jim and Teal provide their thoughts on the top 100, and subsequent lists in this first of what should be several episodes this year on the BFI selections. Jim's taken on the challenge, and has watched all 100 of the critics top choices, and a good hundred more from the remaining 250 (which is actually 264 due to ties.) Jim won't stop till he's seen them all, but for now, Teal is taking a pulse on some overall thoughts, surprises, loves, hates, and everything in between.

If you are looking for a good place to start with the BFI top 250, this might be the podcast listen you've been waiting for.

The Best Films of 2022

There are plenty of debates to go around as Jim and Teal duke it out over their top films of 2022. Can they find common ground, or will it be a drag out fight to the death?

 

Also, our two trusty podcast heroes weigh in on the Andrea Riseborough Oscar controversy. 

2023 Academy Awards Nominatons

We do it every year on Oscar Nominations day. Jim and Teal break down all the award nominees, from the surprises (Andrea Riseborough anyone?) to the expected (many awards for Everything, Everywhere, All at Once.) Catch all the fun as Jim reveals the nominations to Teal, who kept radio silence until the moment of taping. 

 

Let us know if there were any surprises or omissions that shocked you.

Spielboctagon Three: The Final Battle

Jim and Teal make it to the finish line on Steven Spielberg's filmography in this third and final episode of The Spielboctagon. All Steven's films from 1998 to the Fabelmans get covered (well, they already covered the Fabelmans on episode one.) So, get ready to find out which films Teal liked, and which ones he did not. Hint! Hint! He's not a fan of The Post.

Back in the Spielboctagon

Jim and Teal return for more Steven Spielberg mania with part two of their look at his filmography. This episode covers all Spielberg's films from 1981 through 1997. So, get ready for Raiders, E.T., Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, and more. And don't worry, there are plenty of laughs along the way.