The Letterboxd Show

Letterboxd’s editor in chief Gemma Gracewood and lists editor Jack Moulton discuss their favorite docs of 2020 so far. Letterboxd members call in with their own top-doc picks, and we’re joined by Eli Despres and Elyse Steinberg, two-thirds of the directing team behind The Fight, which follows ACLU lawyers as they argue for major social justice issues including trans rights in the military and abortion access. Elyse also reveals she once acted in a Todd Haynes film. (We’ve kept in interruptions by children for pandemic documentary realness!)

Films and lists mentioned:

• Official Letterboxd Top 100 Documentaries
• Welcome to Chechnya
• For Sama
• Boys State
• Disclosure
• Crip Cramp: A Disability Revolution
• Mucho Mucho Amor
• The Painter and the Thief
• Coronation
• The documentaries of Agnès Varda
• He Dreams of Giants
• The Ghost of Peter Sellers
• Father Soldier Son
• Making a Murder (and Knives Out)
• The Last Dance
• Showbiz Kids
• Miss Americana

The Fight directors:

• The Fight
• Weiner
• Crumb
• American Movie
• The Oath
• How to Survive a Plague
• A Few Good Men
• Poison
• Heavenly Creatures
• It Might Get Loud

Fantasia Fest:

• You Cannot Kill David Arquette
• Feels Good Man

This episode was recorded in Los Angeles, New York and Auckland and edited by Morgan Avery. Podcast artwork by Ann Davenport. Theme music: ‘Hitchcock’ by The Phoenix Foundation (their new single ‘Landline’ is out now). Our next episode features Irish animator Tomm Moore. To be in to win a Pro membership, leave us a voice message about your favorite animated film of all time.

Actor, documentarian and excellent human Alex Winter joins Letterboxd’s Gemma Gracewood and Jack Moulton to talk about his three new films: Showbiz Kids, Zappa and the long-awaited Bill & Ted Face the Music. 

Films mentioned by Alex:

• Bill & Ted Face the Music
• Showbiz Kids
• Zappa
• Land Without Bread
• The films of Stan Brakhage and Chris Marker
• The Rolling Stones: Cocksucker Blues
• Leaving Neverland
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind
• Raiders of the Lost Ark
• The Lost Boys
• The Empire Strikes Back
• Superman
• Jaws
• The films of Charlie Chaplin and Fred Astaire
• Once Upon A Time... in Hollywood
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail
• The Painter and the Thief
• Capone
• Vitalina Varela
• First Cow

Links

• Alex’s 50 B-Sides and Rarities list
• The Letterboxd list for this episode. 
• Alex’s Letterboxd profile

This episode was recorded in Los Angeles and Auckland, and edited by Morgan Avery. Podcast artwork by Ann Davenport. Our theme music is ‘Hitchcock’ by The Phoenix Foundation. Our next episode is also about documentaries, with the directors of The Fight. Leave us a voice message about your favorite doc of 2020.

From pitching to studios via video to filming in confined spaces, the filmmakers behind found-footage favorites Searching (Aneesh Chaganty) and new browser-horror Host (Rob Savage, Jed Shepherd and Gemma Hurley) share their best tips for making movies in quarantine. Plus, Rob and Aneesh reveal their heavy-duty Letterboxd habits, Aneesh talks about casting his next film, Run, and his roommate Blake pops in to explain their elaborate method for how to choose what film to watch.

Films mentioned by Jed, Rob and Gemma

• As Above, So Below
• Ghostwatch
• Night of the Comet
• Your Name. (君の名は。)
• The Innocents

Films mentioned by Aneesh

• The Sixth Sense
• The Mission Impossible franchise
• “When Shyamalan was a major, major deal, making hit after hit”
• Buried
• Minority Report
• Ocean’s 11
• Inception
• Step Brothers
• Sense and Sensibility
• Anvil! The Story of Anvil
• Slumdog Millionaire
• (500) Days of Summer
• Memento
• Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India
• Bombay

Links

On Letterboxd: Jed Shepherd; Aneesh Chaganty; Aneesh’s roommate Blake. 

This episode was recorded in London, Los Angeles and Auckland, and edited by Morgan Avery. Podcast artwork by Ann Davenport. Theme music is ‘Hitchcock’ by The Phoenix Foundation. Our next episode is about documentaries, with writer-director and Bill & Ted star Alex Winter, and the directors of The Fight. Leave a voice message with your question for Winter.

Since the roll-out of Studio Ghibli films on Netflix and HBO Max this year, there’s been an explosion of Letterboxd activity around the famed studio’s films. Our Ghibli-loving guests couldn’t be happier. David Jenkins (Little White Lies), Tasha Robinson (Polygon) and Adam Kempenaar (Filmspotting) share their Ghibli obsessions and discuss whether to “sub or dub”. Letterboxd members phone in with their favs. Plus: Little White Lies turns 15.

Links

• David Jenkins’ review of My Neighbor Totoro
• Polygon’s best Studio Ghibli scenes survey
• @c0mmunicants’ Ghibli tweet
• The Official Letterboxd Top 250
• Letterboxd members’ top 20 favorite comfort films
• Adam’s daughter Sophie on Letterboxd
• Mami Sunada’s The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness
• Our Q&A with the hosts of Ghibliotheque

This episode was recorded in Chicago, London and Auckland and edited by Morgan Avery. Podcast artwork by Ann Davenport. Theme music is ‘Hitchcock’ by The Phoenix Foundation. Leave a voice message for Aneesh Chaganty, our next guest, or tell us the ‘so bad it’s good’ film you’ve been rewatching in isolation for an upcoming episode.

We recorded this episode as the news of George Floyd’s death by police brutality was emerging, and held it back in order to amplify Black voices and stories. Racism has no place on Letterboxd. Here are some ideas for activism; here are more; and more. We are donating all proceeds from screenings of Josephine Decker’s Shirley via our virtual screening link (available to US members only) to BIPOC film non-profit Firelight Media. Black Lives Matter.

This episode is dedicated to films about the Black experience. Our guest is Letterboxd member Adam Davie, creator of the extensive Black Life on Film list. Adam explains why he has spent three years creating the list and why it includes “the good, the bad and the ugly as it relates to the Black experience”.

Links

• Driving Miss Daisy (Bruce Beresford, 1989)
• The Story of a Three-Day Pass (Melvin Van Peebles, 1968)
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Rodney Rothman/Peter Ramsey/Bob Persichetti, 2018)
• Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989)
• I Am Not Your Negro (Raoul Peck, 2016)
• 13th (Ava DuVernay, 2016)
• Get Out (Jordan Peele, 2017)
• LA 92 (T.J. Martin/Daniel Lindsay, 2017)
• Support The Girls (Andrew Bujalski, 2018)
• The High Note (Nisha Ganatra, 2020)
• Beyond the Lights (Gina Prince-Bythewood, 2014)
• The Wound (John Trengove, 2017)
• Rafiki (Wanuri Kahiu, 2018)
• Attack the Block (Joe Cornish, 2011)
• I Am Legend (Francis Lawrence, 2007)
• If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins, 2017)
• Black Dynamite (Scott Sanders, 2009)
• Miami Connection (Y.K. Kim/Woo-sang Park, 1987)

This episode was recorded in Pittsburgh, PA and Auckland, NZ and edited by Morgan Avery. Our podcast artwork is by Ann Davenport and our theme music is ‘Hitchcock’ by The Phoenix Foundation. Leave a voice message telling us your favorite Studio Ghibli film, or a ‘so bad it’s good’ film you’ve been rewatching in isolation for our upcoming episodes.

Listeners in the US can watch Josephine Decker’s Shirley via our virtual screening room—we’re donating all proceeds to film non-profit Firelight Media. For other links, resources and places to donate in the fight for justice, here are some anti-racism resources for white people. This Letterboxd review of I Am Not Your Negro also contains useful links. Black Lives Matter.

Has lockdown got you thirsty? This is the episode you need. Inspired by film writer Justine Peres Smith’s popular ‘Best Horny Movies for Quarantine’ list, Letterboxd editor Gemma Gracewood, Montreal-based Smith, and The Black List’s Kate Hagen dive deep into several erotic thrillers from the past two decades: Jane Campion’s In The Cut, Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden and Yann Gonzalez’s Knife + Heart. And we ask: where’s all the hot sex in Western film these days? Plus: Cronenberg, PTA, Roeg, Marilyn Monroe and more.

Links

Horny movies:

• Kate’s Essential Erotic Thrillers and 365 Sex Scenes
• The Black List
• In The Cut
• Justine’s 2018 re-examination of In The Cut for Little White Lies
• God’s Own Country
• The Handmaiden
• Knife + Heart
• Crash
• Don't Look Now
• Inherent Vice
• Damage
• Bound
• Kate’s Playboy article

Quarantine recommendations:

• Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Justine)
• Peggy Sue Got Married (Kate)
• Ratatouille (Gemma)

Filmmakers on social:

• K. Austin Collins’ Shut-in Movie Club and Letterboxd profile (Justine)
• Vidiots and video stores everywhere (Kate)
• Joss Ackland’s #ReadaLetter (Gemma)

Edited by Morgan Avery. Podcast artwork by Ann Davenport. Theme music: ‘Hitchcock’ by The Phoenix Foundation. Leave a voice message telling us your favorite Steven Spielberg film for our next episode.

Nostalgic for recent life, Letterboxd editor Gemma Gracewood, our West Coast editor Dominic Corry and New York-based freelance film critic Susannah Gruder celebrate movies set in big cities while we stay home to save lives. We discuss how directors like Michael Mann, Susan Seidelman and Richard Linklater move through cityscapes, and we see New York through newcomers’ eyes in Eliza Hittman’s stunning new film.

P.S. Join our L.A. Showdown: nominate your favorite films set in the City of Angels.

Links

City films for empty streets: 

• Crossing Delancey
• Vanilla Sky, The Quiet Earth and Merata: How Mum Decolonised the Screen
• Desperately Seeking Susan
• Heat, Collateral
• Before Sunset
• Never Rarely Sometimes Always
• The Omega Man, Woodstock
• Light Sleeper, Three Days of the Condor
• Miracle Mile
• Bright Wall/Dark Room’s list of obscure recommendations
• Babylon incl. the engagement-party scene
• Art House Online

Quarantine recommendations:

• Frederico Fellini’s Nights of Cabiria and Bob Fosse’s Sweet Charity (Susannah)
• Robert Zemeckis’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Alfred Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief (Dominic)
• Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights (Gemma)

Filmmakers on the Internet:

• Ritesh Batra’s scriptwriting chats (Gemma)
• ScriptNotes podcast with John August and Craig Mazin, including this live episode (Dominic)
• Love from BAM Netflix parties, Lou Doillon’s Instagram feed (Susannah)

Edited by Morgan Avery. Podcast artwork by Ann Davenport. Leave a voice message telling us your favorite erotic thrillers for the next episode.

Locked down and looking for comfort, Letterboxd editor Gemma Gracewood, London-based film and music writer Ella Kemp and LA-based musician and writer Demi Adejuyigbe explore why Paddington Bear, Donald O’Connor and Talking Heads are deeply uplifting in these strange times, nominate their favorite actors-doing-things-on-the-internet, and find film-watching solutions to the attention-span issues that come with staying home.

Links

Pixar director recommendations for children:

• All Ages
• 7 to 12 Years
• 12 Years and Over

The Letterboxd Feel-Good Showdown

Our interview with Paddington and Paddington 2 writer-director Paul King

Edgar Wright’s 100 favorite comedies

Rian Johnson’s favorite 70s movie musicals

Bright Wall/Dark Room’s crowd-sourced list of most obscure movie recommendations. Our panel’s picks:

• Angel (Ella)
• The Castle (Demi)
• Wham! in China: Foreign Skies (Gemma)

Patrick Stewart’s Sonnets

Sam Neill’s therapeutic Twitter and Instagram feeds

Demi’s food-bank donation drive

Richard E. Grant on Twitter

Art House Online—help us support art house cinemas by renting these new, recent and re-released films, and read Ella’s interview with Levan Akin, director of And Then We Danced

The panel’s feel-good picks for this week:

• Donald O’Connor’s ‘Make ’em Laugh’ dance sequence from Singin’ in the Rain (Gemma)
• Stop Making Sense  (1984), Jonathan Demme’s Talking Heads film (Demi)
• The Shop Around the Corner (1940) (Ella)

This podcast was recorded in Los Angeles, London and Auckland and edited by Morgan Avery. Our podcast artwork is by Ann Davenport. Leave a voice message telling us your favorite films set in big cities for our next episode, in which our West Coast editor Dominic Corry and New York correspondent Susannah Gruder will remember the recent past through movies.

A panel discussion ahead of the 2020 Oscars, hosted by Letterboxd editor Gemma Gracewood with guests Kate Hagen, Demi Adejuyigbe and Dominic Corry. We revisit our favorite films of 2019, figure out why we still love the Oscars, award some additional trophies, and talk maybe a little too much about Portrait of a Lady on Fire.

Links

Letterboxd’s downloadable Oscars Ballot: JPEG or PDF

Letterboxd 2019 Year in Review

2020 Oscars — All nominated films

2019–2020 awards season winners

The best years for Best Picture nominees, ranked (thanks to Jack Moulton)

Kate Hagen’s list of Essential Erotic Thrillers

Demi Adejuyigbe’s lists of Movies whose full titles can be perfectly sung to the rhythm and cadence of “Moon River, wider than a mile” and Movies whose entire titles can be comfortably sung to the tune and rhythm of “Little Red Corvette”

Dominic Corry’s lists of Yuppies in Peril and Films that Poetically Capture the Experience of Living in Los Angeles

Ford v Ferrari (aka Le Mans ’66): What really happened at the end?

Watch: Anna Paquin wins Best Supporting Actress at the 66th Academy Awards, hyperventilates for 22 seconds straight

Watch: La La Land, sorry Moonlight wins Best Picture

Letterboxd’s Top 10 Sundance 2020 World Premieres