Over at my old RSS feed for a now-defunct podcast I hosted called Voices & Visions, I would recruit friend and Austin-based journalist Dan Solomon to go back 20 years to talk about a year in music. We would curate a new list of ten favorite records from that year, playing snippets of certain songs and discussing our feelings about music in general. As of 2021, I decided to include my dear friend Jason Simpson, also a writer, to join us in this endeavor. Though V&V no longer exists, I’ve archived all of the episodes here for your listening pleasure.

I’ve had the pleasure of talking with writer/director/actor Keith Gordon (CHRISTINE, DRESSED TO KILL) a half dozen times now. First it started out talking about his directorial career (WAKING THE DEAD, A MIDNIGHT CLEAR), then we began a yearly tradition of discussing underrated films from each decade. He’s a true blue cinephile, a one of a kind talent and an all-around super cool artist that I’m grateful to have corresponded with over these past few years. Here’s to many more!

Not only is Mr. Sorkin a part of the team, but he even asked former co-host Patrick Ripoll and a couple other previous guests, to come back for the first episode under our new format. We talk about director David Lean and so much more. More to say during the introduction but thank you to all for listening and for your support. It's going to be a much better show from here on out!

Musician and friend Russ Woods joins us as we talk about the movies we watched this week. Then we discuss the work of provocateur auteur Todd Haynes, mainly focusing on his films SAFE and FAR FROM HEAVEN but we touch upon a few others at the end.

What started in the year 2015 when we briefly looked back at the year 1985 in film has now become a wild yearly tradition where we try to cover as much as we can within a span of about six hours or so. Linked here are all the episodes in one place.

What started back six years ago with 1985 continues. This time it’s one entire episode instead of split into two: all six hours plus of an annual tradition co-starring yours truly, Collin Souter and Erik Childress as we run down nearly every film that came out thirty years ago. This time it’s all about 1991!

What started back five years ago with 1985 continues. This time it’s one entire episode instead of split into two: all five and a half hours of an annual tradition co-starring yours truly, Collin Souter and Erik Childress as we run down nearly every film that came out thirty years ago. This time it’s all about 1990!

The mid-80s informed a lot of our taste, and much like previous years' retrospectives, it's always a blast to go back and see what holds up and what we each consider to be favorites and least favorites from a particular year. Joined once again by Erik Childress and Collin Souter we return for what is officially a yearly tradition that started thanks to original podcast creator Jim Laczkowski. We started with 1985 and plan to do this yearly tradition all the way up until 1999

For 2018 of course, we travel back to 1988 and relive the entire year. Just about every weekend of releases are mentioned from classics like WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT to obscure discoveries like BAGDAD CAFE. How much will Jim & Erik argue the merits of certain horror movie sequels? Does either David Byrne or Bono come up courtesy of superfan Collin?

Nothing's gonna stop us now!  Ladies and gentlemen, let's go back thirty years to when three film critics fell in love with going to the movies.  The mid-80s informed a lot of my taste, and much like previous years' retrospectives, it's always a blast to go back and see what holds up and what we each consider to be personal favorites from a particular year.

We did it all for the glory of love. Ladies and gentlemen, let's go back thirty years to when I fell in love with going to the movies. The mid-80s informed a lot of my taste, and much like last year's 1985 retrospective, it's always a blast to go back and see what holds up and what we each consider to be personal favorites from a particular year. RogerEbert.com's very own Erik Childress and Collin Souter return for what is to become a yearly tradition.

Here the origins of how these yearly retrospectives all began back in 2015. That year celebrates my 30th anniversary as a movie freak since 1985 is really the start of my cinephilia (if that’s a word). BACK TO THE FUTURE was the movie I saw when I was seven years old that pretty much changed my life forever.

After our reviews of both films (one of which is a straight-up disagreement) something rather unexpected occurs. A wildly organic conversation erupts about the nature of why we watch so many movies in the first place! Patrick questions his need to see "everything" despite leaving the show as a permanent co-host and I come to terms with the fact that movies are just a part of my own personal narrative. So it gets pretty heavy and personal later on in a very interesting way.

Recorded in 2012 before THE MASTER was released, Steve Prokopy joins us for a live discussion on the incredible Paul Thomas Anderson, a well-respected master of filmmaking. Despite touching upon all five of his films throughout the conversation, we mainly focus on MAGNOLIA and THERE WILL BE BLOOD in particular. In addition, Steve reviews CHERNOBYL DIARIES, Jim finally watched FIVE EASY PIECES, Patrick continues his J-horror journey with UZUMAKI (Spiral).

Inspired by one of my favorite podcasts, Screen Drafts, I decided to revise their general format for just this episode in which Movie Madness host Erik Childress and I collaborated on what we feel are the top ten Richard Donner movies. Yes, this is subjective and we consider these to be personal favorites overall but there were a couple of twists along the way mainly due to different placement and some titles that one of us may have felt more strongly about than others.

It's time for a new take on a director previously covered by the Director's Club. We won't keep you in suspense - It's Brian De Palma Redux! Former DC host, Jim Laczkowski reprises his role in the spirited debate on the career of one of our more controversial subjects. We'll cover such horror staples as "Carrie" and "Dressed to Kill" as well as contrast him to another director who may have influenced him just a bit. We won't forget early favorites like "Phantom of the Paradise" or mainstream hits like "The Untouchables" and "Mission Impossible". Love him or hate him, we hope you enjoy our Brian De Palma Blow Out!

Reminder: This came out in 2011. For the first time ever, we welcome two guests for a point/counter-point discussion on a very divisive filmmaker. This whole new format quite possibly turned out to be our best show yet with lots of hilarity and violent screams of fury! Some love Brian De Palma as a remarkable visual artist and cite him as a member of the New Hollywood group of filmmakers, while others despise him for being derivative and lazy with the storytelling process. We wanted to explore both sides. It got heated. There was swearing. Our guests, Peter Sobczynski of Efilmcritic.com is on the plus side, whereas Matt Gamble is on the negative side.

I figured it was time to finally tackle another big-name director that's been highly requested and anticipated. The legendary and very influential Stanley Kubrick is discussed in epic proportions with a wonderful new addition to the Director's Club guest list. Al Kwiatkowski joins me as we attempt to dissect nearly all of Kubrick's work, realizing that he had to skip over a couple of his films in the interest of time and for the inevitable sequel episode in a year or so. Keep in mind that about five minutes into the 2001 discussion, something truly bizarre happened to the sound file that cannot be explained. I left a snippet of it in there for you to hear for yourselves followed by the re-recorded conversation that happened a couple days later.

Now Playing Network Master of Ceremonies (and Director's Club founder) Jim Laczkowski joins us for this episode which has us looking at the films of French Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve! With Jim's help, we look at how Villeneuve brings his unique combination of thoughtfulness, pathos, family focus, and strangeness to dramas, genre thrillers, and films across the sci-fi spectrum. Includes lots of spiders and one talking fish.

In this episode, the Director's Club takes the cannoli and runs with it as we look at the films of Francis Ford Coppola. With Uberfounder of the Director's Club (and Now Playing Network head) Jim Laczkowski, in Part I we dive into his four masterpiece films, and explo re where in his early history was hints of such an amazing run of movies. Come eavesdrop on our conversation about the "Godfather" films, "Apocalypse Now", and, er, "The Conversation"!