The Letterboxd Show

On this special episode of The Letterboxd Show, Mia chats with Cheryl Dunye about the Criterion Collection’s new release of her groundbreaking 1996 film The Watermelon Woman, which was the first feature directed by an out Black lesbian. Written, directed and starring Cheryl herself, The Watermelon Woman follows a young Black lesbian who works a day job in a video store while trying to make a film about a Black actress from the 1930s, known for playing the stereotypical “mammy” roles relegated to Black actresses during that period. Cheryl talks to Mia about her signature “Dunyementaries,” finding cinematic inspiration from the likes of Julie Dash and Charles Burnett, and how sometimes you have to create your own history.

Sponsor: Searchlight Pictures presents Theatre Camp playing in select theatres on July 14.

Credits: Recorded in Los Angeles, CA. Edited by Slim. Theme music: “Vampiros Danceoteque” by Moniker. Editorial producer: Brian Formo. Production manager: Sophie Shin. The Letterboxd Show and Weekend Watchlist are TAPEDECK productions.

On this special episode of The Letterboxd Show, Slim chats with filmmaker Patrick Wilson about his directorial debut Insidious: The Red Door, in theaters now courtesy of Sony. The horror movie follows the Lambert Family 10 years after the events of Insidious Chapter 2. They decided to completely block out those events…. BUT those forgotten memories have caused unforeseen problems over the years and their family life now kinda sucks... and Josh is off to college unable to find common ground with his dad. Patrick and Slim talk about focusing on a realistic family issues coming to the Lamberts, the importance of Goblin to horror cinema, how Fast 5 showed him you CAN rejuvenate a franchise, his popularity on my Man Ass Letterboxd List, and slim calling Insidious: The Red Door “The Babadook for divorced dads.”

Credits: Recorded in Philadelphia PA. Edited by Slim. Theme music: “Vampiros Danceoteque” by Moniker. Editorial producer: Brian Formo. Production manager: Sophie Shin. The Letterboxd Show and Weekend Watchlist are TAPEDECK productions.

With Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny out in cinemas, the Letterboxd Show crew mounts a Four Favorites debate to determine once and for all which of the previous four Indy crusades is the best overall, which one has the best puzzles, and which is the horniest! Slim punts for Raiders of the Lost Ark (“No one has ever lost a debate speech by saying they love seeing Nazis explode”). Gemma is all in for the PG-13 horror-show that is Temple of Doom (“It’s freaky!”). Mia has only love for Last Crusade, and Mitchell is the president of the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull admiration society.

Plus: that singular, torn-off sleeve, why Paul Mescal’s Gladiator workout is nothing compared to Ford’s shredding, why Slim sees himself in Temple of Doom’s Willie Scott, Spielberg as the ultimate ally for rats, Gemma and Mia thirst-riding the Disneyland Indiana Jones ride, and why Dial of Destiny is great for mathletes like Mitchell.

Chapters:

• Opening credits (00:00:00)
• Raiders of the Lost Ark (00:05:06)
• Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (00:15:52)
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (00:28:43)
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (00:41:40)
• Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (00:54:06)
• Closing credits (01:03:49)

Sponsor: Bleecker Street’s The Lesson out in theatres on July 7.

Credits: Recorded in Philadelphia PA, Auckland NZ, Los Angeles CA and Newark DA. Edited by Slim. Theme music: “Vampiros Danceoteque” by Moniker. Editorial producer: Brian Formo. Production manager: Sophie Shin. The Letterboxd Show and Weekend Watchlist are TAPEDECK productions.

Lists & Links:

List of movies mentioned

‘Written by Women’ by aobh

Reviews mentioned:

Hayley & Stephanie & Will Sloan’s Raiders of the Lost Ark reviews

Gemma’s Kingdom of the Crystal Skull review

David Ehrlich & Slim & Ella’s Dial of Destiny reviews

On this special episode of The Letterboxd Show, Mia Lee Vicino chats with filmmaker Celine Song about her directorial debut Past Lives, in theaters now courtesy of A24. The romantic drama stars Greta Lee as Nora and Teo Yoo as Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, who are wrest apart after Nora’s family emigrates from South Korea. 20 years later, they are reunited for one fateful week as they confront notions of love and destiny. Mia and Celine talk about bridges both literal and figurative, the challenges of filming a pivotal dramatic scene on location in New York City, and the surprisingly salacious results of her own past life reading.

Credits: Recorded in New York, NY. Edited by Slim. Theme music: “Vampiros Danceoteque” by Moniker. Editorial producer: Brian Formo. Production manager: Sophie Shin. The Letterboxd Show and Weekend Watchlist are TAPEDECK productions.

The song used in this episode is titled In Yun from Past Lives soundtrack.

Links: Journal article: Missed Connections

Happy Pride Month, folks! On this episode, writer and director Georgia Oakley joins Gemma and Ella to discuss her debut feature Blue Jean, now in theaters across the US. We unspool the past and present queer–and unintentionally political–histories in the UK via Oakley’s film, while also celebrating four more striking female performances in her four favorites: Three Colors: Blue, Safe, A Woman Under the Influence and Morvern Callar. Topics include: coming out as a daily thing, Juliette Binoche’s unpredictable behavior, the greatest performance by any actor ever, lessons from low-budget theater, Cate Blanchett doing things, the hostility of pastel colors, the unknowability of good actors, queer-coded kids films, missing your tube station to process your post-movie thoughts, the one movie that made Ella change her own Four Faves, and the one scene that makes Georgia want to get up in the morning.

Chapters:

• Opening credits (00:00:00)
• Pride Month plans (00:01:12)
• Blue Jean political context (00:06:10)
• Three Colours: Blue (00:09:52)
• Blue Jean needle drops (00:22:00)
• Safe (00:25:25)
• Tomboy (00:38:40)
• A Woman Under the Influence (00:41:01)
• Morvern Callar (00:50:50)
• Blue Jean and club scenes (00:55:45)
• Closing credits (01:01:35)

Credits: Recorded in Auckland NZ, Los Angeles CA and London UK. Edited by Slim. Theme music: “Vampiros Danceoteque” by Moniker. Editorial producer: Brian Formo. Production manager: Sophie Shin. The Letterboxd Show and Weekend Watchlist are TAPEDECK productions.

Lists & Links:

List of movies mentioned

Ella’s interview with Georgia on Journal

“What will I do with this life?” by C

“Movies that you (initially) thought were “okay” but hit you so damn hard when they ended” by Hungkat

“The Feminine Grotesque” by Angelica Jade Bastién

Reviews mentioned:

Hari Nef’s Safe review

Issy’s Blue Jean review

Filipe’s A Woman Under the Influence review

Welcome to a special Magic Hour brought to you by The Letterboxd Show! Magic Hour is our video series that has lived primarily on YouTube and it features two filmmakers having a conversation with each other. In this special audio episode, actress-writer-director Zoe Lister-Jones (Slip, Beau Is Afraid) chats with Emma Seligman (Bottoms, Shiva Baby). They discuss the difficult jump from indie to studio films, some words of advice from Ron Howard, Adam McKay and Elizabeth Banks, and sticking up for members from your indie film crew when trying to hire them onto the larger features.

Beau Is Afraid concerns a horrifying trip home to visit mother, with Lister-Jones as the mother in psychological flashbacks. And it’s available on VOD now. Lister-Jones also became the first woman to create-write-direct and star in every episode of a tv series which is Slip on the Roku Channel. It follows a woman who can travel through the multiverse via her orgasm. And Bottoms, directed by Seligman, is a high school comedy about two queer women who start an after-school fight club program in an attempt to lose their virginities to cheerleaders they have crushes on. After its premiere at SXSW, Bottoms hits theaters at the end of the summer.

Links:

Bottoms trailer. Slip trailer.

Bottoms on Letterboxd

Beau Is Afraid on Letterboxd

Shiva Baby on Letterboxd

Band Aid on Letterboxd

Slip on The Roku Channel

Credits:

Recorded in Los Angeles. Produced by Brian Formo; edited by AJ (aka CultPopture) for video and Slim for audio; production coordination by Sophie Shin; artwork by Matthew Buchanan; features some music by Bobby Krlic from his score for Beau Is Afraid. Intro’d by Mia Lee Vicino and Brian Formo.

Special thanks to MGM Studios and Independent PR.

Ahoy sexies! Self-described “writer person” Kyle Turner joins Mitchell and Mia to discuss his new book, The Queer Film Guide: 100 Great Movies That Tell LGBTQIA+ Stories, available now online and in bookstores. We take a deep dive into Kyle’s chronicling of over a century in queer film, while also exploring his four favorites: Cruising, Clue, Frances Ha and Spa Night. Topics include: Gregg Araki’s unique autograph style, sleeveless shirts are gay rights, Al Pacino dancing in an S&M bar, loving our problematic faves, Clue’s alternate ending gamble, be gay do communism, “MY WIFE”, the delightful messiness, fluidity and evolution of queer representation, Greta Gerwig is White Mother, the beauty in naïveté and the miracle that is The Christmas List.

Chapters:

• Opening credits (00:00:00)
• Cruising (00:05:45)
• Clue (00:25:54)
• The Queer Film Guide (00:34:47)
• Frances Ha (00:46:41)
• Spa Night (00:58:08)
• Closing credits (01:10:41)

Credits: Recorded in Newark DE, Los Angeles CA and Brooklyn NY. Edited by Slim. Theme music: “Vampiros Danceoteque” by Moniker. Editorial producer: Brian Formo. Production manager: Sophie Shin. The Letterboxd Show and Weekend Watchlist are TAPEDECK productions.

Lists & Links:

List of movies mentioned

The Queer Film Guide: 100 Great Movies That Tell LGBTQIA+ Stories

The Queer Film Guide Letterboxd list

The Queer Film Guide: Director’s Cut by Kyle Turner

An actor gets the chance to say “MY WIFE” and really makes a meal of it by Angela Ferraguto

Reviews mentioned:

feat. dante from the dmc series & Persia’s Clue reviews

nabeel’s Frances Ha review

Darryl James’s Spa Night review

This week ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Slim⁠ and Mia discuss their growing watchlists including Weekend Watchlist: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Past Lives and the Boogeyman. They also discuss not being NYC experts. After a quick ⁠⁠⁠look back at recent releases⁠⁠⁠ and community reviews they discuss their watchlists including one last look at their progress so far this year.

⁠⁠⁠Weekend Watchlist – Updated Weekly list⁠⁠⁠ > movies mentioned in this episode.

Chapters:

• Opening credits (00:00:00)
• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (00:02:20)
• Past Lives (00:07:05)
• The Boogeyman (00:11:08)
• Last week (00:14:23)
• Watchlists (00:20:09)
• Letter time (00:28:03)

Letterboxd reviews and links mentioned:

• ⁠Transcripts⁠⁠ of podcast episodes available
• Jack Facts’ ⁠⁠Top 50 of 2023⁠⁠
• Cinemonika & Casey Malone’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse reviews
• Slim’s Past Lives review
• Brian’s The Boogeyman review
• Becky Rice’s You Hurt My Feelings review
• Mike’s Down with Love review
• Amanda’s In the Cut review
• Robert’s On the Count of Three review
• The Letterboxd Show Four Faves episode with Ariela Barer
• The Letterboxd Show ‘Down with Love’ 20th Anniversary Special with Peyton Reed
• The Letterboxd Show ‘In the Cut’ 20th Anniversary Special with Jane Campion

Credits:

• This episode was recorded in Delaware and Philadelphia, and edited by Slim.
• Facts by ⁠⁠Jack⁠⁠.
• Transcript by ⁠⁠Sophie Shin⁠⁠.
• Theme: ‘⁠⁠IZON’ by Trent Walton

This week ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Slim⁠ and Mia discuss their growing watchlists including Weekend Watchlist: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Past Lives and the Boogeyman. They also discuss not being NYC experts. After a quick ⁠⁠⁠look back at recent releases⁠⁠⁠ and community reviews they discuss their watchlists including one last look at their progress so far this year.

⁠⁠⁠Weekend Watchlist – Updated Weekly list⁠⁠⁠ > movies mentioned in this episode.

Chapters:

• Opening credits (00:00:00)
• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (00:02:20)
• Past Lives (00:07:05)
• The Boogeyman (00:11:08)
• Last week (00:14:23)
• Watchlists (00:20:09)
• Letter time (00:28:03)

Letterboxd reviews and links mentioned:

• ⁠Transcripts⁠⁠ of podcast episodes available
• Jack Facts’ ⁠⁠Top 50 of 2023⁠⁠
• Cinemonika & Casey Malone’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse reviews
• Slim’s Past Lives review
• Brian’s The Boogeyman review
• Becky Rice’s You Hurt My Feelings review
• Mike’s Down with Love review
• Amanda’s In the Cut review
• Robert’s On the Count of Three review
• The Letterboxd Show Four Faves episode with Ariela Barer
• The Letterboxd Show ‘Down with Love’ 20th Anniversary Special with Peyton Reed
• The Letterboxd Show ‘In the Cut’ 20th Anniversary Special with Jane Campion

Credits:

• This episode was recorded in Delaware and Philadelphia, and edited by Slim.
• Facts by ⁠⁠Jack⁠⁠.
• Transcript by ⁠⁠Sophie Shin⁠⁠.
• Theme: ‘⁠⁠IZON’ by Trent Walton

Oscar-winning filmmaker Jane Campion joins The Letterboxd Show for a very special episode, marking the 20th anniversary of one of Gemma Gracewood’s Four Favorites: In the Cut (2003). Campion’s erotic thriller stars height-of-her-fame box office darling Meg Ryan and pre-Hulk, pre-13 Going on 30 Mark Ruffalo as a literary professor and a detective, respectively, who dive headlong into a red-hot sexual romance, while a serial killer is on the loose in New York City.

In the Cut received an infamous CinemaScore ‘F’ grade on release, with many major critics panning the film. But the Letterboxd average rating has only grown over the years as the misunderstood noir masterpiece finds its audience at last. Now, with a new uncut director’s cut Blu-ray on the market, Gemma reads Campion some thirsty Letterboxd reviews and gets the goods from Jane about her favorite sex scenes, intimacy coordination, earning trust with actors, what it really means to win an Oscar, and why the structures of filmmaking need to change.

Credits: Recorded in New Zealand. Edited by Slim. Editorial producer: Brian Formo. Production manager: Sophie Shin. Special thanks to Stuart McKenzie. The Letterboxd Show and Weekend Watchlist are TAPEDECK productions.

The songs in this episode are from the soundtrack for In the Cut: Pink Martini’s cover of Que Sera Sera, and Betty Everett’s You’re No Good.

Lists & Links:

List of movies mentioned

In the Cut uncut director’s cut Blu-ray from Mill Creek Entertainment.

Reviews of In the Cut by Jeffrey Chen, Jaime Rebenal, Mia Vicino, Kanane and Sophie Shin.