This week, Offbeat Holiday Film Month continues with 2020’s Happiest Season from writer/director Clea Duvall. This modern meet-the-family rom-com is full of the usual Christmas film tropes, but puts a unique spin on them through smart writing and great performances.
It’s December, which means a lot of holiday programming. This month, we’re discussing Offbeat Holiday Films that are just a little left of the usual classic fare, starting with Shane Black’s Christmas-adjacent noir comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang from 2005.
We close out November Noir month this week with another modern-day take on the genre. Rian Johnson’s Brick from 2005 is an inventive homage to classic noir that combines its unique language with an updated setting: a 21st-century high school.
This week, we delve into the world of neo-noir with 1981’s Blow Out. This thriller from filmmaker Brian De Palma has a lot of the hallmarks of classic noir but with a lot of modern-day flair. It’s edgy, paranoid, and masterfully made.
In this week’s episode, we delve into the world of Technicolor noir with 1953’s Niagara. This story of love and betrayal includes a lot of the classic tropes of the noir genre and includes a fantastic early performance from the great Marilyn Monroe.
This week, we kick off November Noir month with one of the genre’s quintessential titles: 1946’s The Postman Always Rings Twice. This tale of desire, betrayal, and fate is one of several films adapted from the writing of James M. Cain that set a standard for everything that came after it.
This week, we wrap up Stephen King Adaptations Month with 1986’s Maximum Overdrive. This is the only film that Stephen King has directed to date, and it’s quite a ride.
On this week’s episode, Stephen King Screen Adaptations Month continues with the recent remake of Salem’s Lot. We welcome Mike’s librarian friend and horror aficionado, Andy Remondino, to help us make sense of what we watched.
This week Mike and Steven discuss Mike Flanagan’s Stephen King-approved adaptation of Doctor Sleep, the 2019 follow-up to The Shining.
This week, we kick off Stephen King Big Screen Adaptation Month with one of the writer’s stories that doesn’t get as much love as some of the others. 1983’s The Dead Zone, directed by David Cronenberg, is a psychic thriller that stars the great Christopher Walken and Martin Sheen.
