Shot/Reverse Shot

91. Marketing and Hype

After a punishing week that saw the release of a trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, a teaser for the trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, a trailer for Fantastic Four: This Time We'll Get It Right, We Promise and, of course, the Internet-breaking trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Matt and Ed decided to sit down and talk about the state of movie marketing today. In addition to freaking out a little bit over seeing Han and Chewie on screen again, they discuss the ever decreasing amounts of footage being released as trailers, the ways in which marketing drives the feeding frenzy of click bait criticism (and vice versa) and the ways in which the team behind The Force Awakens both play into and defy these trends. 

They also find time to talk about Marvel's Daredevil and the baffling low-budget British musical Walking on Sunshine, because not everything takes place in a galaxy far, far away. Some of it takes place in the cheaper-to-film parts of Italy.

Spoiler Warning: From 21:30-22:00, there is a brief discussion of the trailer for Terminator Genisys which reveals an apparently significant plot point which is itself revealed in the trailer, so fair warning if you are trying to avoid that trailer.

89. Creative Partnerships

Following the news that John Williams will not be composing the score for Steven Spielberg's forthcoming Cold War thriller Bridge of Spies, Matt and Ed decided to talk about long-running and significant creative partnerships in film. As well as director/composer combinations like Spielberg/Williams, Hitchcock/Hermann and Kitano/Hisaishi, they discuss what working with the same editor from film to film gives a director, how working with the same actors can allow filmmakers to plumb new depths, and the ways in which these kind of relationships can fall apart, and what effect that can have on future projects. It all ends with a proposal for a new "Michael Sheen plays a famous British person" film that is inspired/ridiculous.

88. Shakespeare

Partly inspired by news of a new, 300-fied version of Romeo & Juliet, but largely because they're both fans, this week finds Matt and Ed talking about cinematic adaptations of the works of William Shakespeare. In addition to discussing good adaptations and bad adaptation, traditional adaptations and adventurous adaptations, they discuss their own personal relationships with Shakespeare's work, including a brief digression on theclassic '90s Disney series Gargoyles, the reinterment of Richard III, and Ed's René Goscinny-inspired childhood.

86. What Does It Take For A Film To Flop?

Inspired by the spectacular lack of success of Andy and Lana Wachowski's Jupiter Ascending, this week's episode is given over to films that failed and failed big at the box office. After discussing the aforementioned space opera and the Wachowskis' other flops, Matt and Ed talk about some of the biggest money losers ever, how hard it is to determine how much money a film actually lost, and what factors can make a film fail.

83. Why Do We Care About the Oscars?

With the Academy Awards mere days away, Matt and Ed discuss why exactly they care about the Oscars, especially since they both occasionally hypocritically dismiss them as not really meaning anything. In so doing, they talk about the real commercial and artistic impact that an Oscar nomination can have, wonder if the Academy secretly hate Martin Landau, and talk about some of the odder wins/snubs in Oscar history. They also try to predict who will win on Sunday, foolishly.

Notes:

- Here is the article by Mark Harris on the narrative of "X and Y" films in Oscar season that Ed mentions in the episode.

- Harris' book, Pictures at a Revolution, is an essential and entertaining work of film history that's especially interesting in examining what the Oscars can mean in a broader cultural context. 

82. Historical Accuracy

Considering the ongoing controversy surrounding Ava DuVernay's civil rights drama Selma and its relatively minor deviations from history (as well as the ongoing non-controversy surrounding Morten Tyldum's The Imitation Game and its multiple, egregious deviations from history) Matt and Ed decided to ask why historical inaccuracy is so often used as a criticism against works of fiction, where exactly the line  between inaccuracy and artistic license lies, and wonder if Dave Lister holds the real truth behind the Kennedy assassination.

81. Why Are There So Few Perfect Trilogies?

This week, Matt and Ed ponder why it is that so many film series are able to produce two good-to-great films, then fumble it when they have to make a final film to round out the trilogy. What is it about third films that makes them so prone to failure, and why do some series manage to avoid those pitfalls? They try to answer those questions, though not without deviating into an apoplectic rant about Return of the Jedi.

79. The Hobbit Trilogy

December saw the release of the third and final film in Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy, a series which saw the man who turned a series of dense books into three fairly swift films do the opposite by transforming a short, snappy novel into three bloated epics. As fans of Jackson's Lord of the Rings films, not to mention his pre-LOTR work, who were disappointed by the Hobbitses, Matt and Ed decided to sit down and talk about the two trilogies in depth in order to figure out where the second trilogy went wrong. Along the way they talk about Star Wars, discuss the desirability of dwarfs and coin the term "Twilightise".

Links:

• Here is the interview with Viggo Mortensen referenced in the episode.
• This is the Cracked article that is briefly discussed.

74. Interstellar

Probably the most talked about and divisive film of the last few weeks, if not the whole year, has been Christopher Nolan's Interstellar. For its fans, it's a bold and ambitious attempt to use blockbuster filmmaking to tell a story of space exploration, love and quantum physics. For its detractors, it's an overblown mess that awkwardly blends mawkish sentimentality with pretensions of intellectualism. Joe and Ed were similarly divided on the film, so they decided to spend a whole episode talking about the film's merits and its flaws, and what they reveal about Nolan's work as a whole.

This episode features plenty of discussion about the plot of Interstellar, so if you haven't watched the film and don't want it spoiled, you'd be better off waiting until you have seen it. Unless you don't mind having the plot spoiled, in which case listen away!

73. Days of Fear and Wonder

In honour of the brilliantly named Days of Fear and Wonder season currently being run by the BFI, Joe and Ed spend the latest episode talking about science fiction. They discuss their favourite sci-fi films, how some great ones manage to use big ideas to make up for low budgets, the reasons why the genre as a whole seems to be held in higher esteem by critics than horror, and the role that it can play in representing contemporary fears in fantastical settings. It all ends with a lovely little song as well.

71. High School

This week, the boys are - much like Rodney Dangerfield - going back to school, with an episode that explores the teen experience and the perils of secondary education.

This whole thing was inspired by Beyond Clueless, Charlie Lyne's most excellent essay film about teen movies, which was a Shot/Reverse Shot highlight of this year's Sheffield DocFest. Mr. Lyne foolishly agreed to be interviewed at the festival and can be (just about) heard talking through his experiences making the film. The outro music this week comes courtesy of Summercamp, whose score for Beyond Clueless is beyond fantastic. It was recorded live at the Beyond Clueless after party and is therefore somewhat of an exclusive.

70. 2014 Halloween Special

Ever since this show started almost three years ago, the boys have tried to put out a special Halloween episode in which they talk about scary movies. It's their little mid-autumn tradition. Unfortunately, these episodes have traditionally been plagued by technical problems which meant that they could not be released. This year, in a shocking break from tradition, they actually have an episode to show for it!

In this special creepy and/or kooky edition of Shot/Reverse Shot, Joe and Ed talk about the things that scared them as kids, what scares them now, and the whole thing ends up being part podcast, part therapy session, part celebration of one-time horror icon Michael Parkinson. There's also a rare discussion of videogames, and the question of whether games can be more effective at delivering scares than films.

69. Comebacks

The news that True Detective season two has seemingly lined up its cast has got the boys thinking about the first season and how it marked the culmination of Matthew McConaughey's return to critical favour. They then use that to consider whether the second season might have rehabilitate the faltering careers of Vince Vaughn and Colin Farrell, then discuss some of the great comebacks in film history, including ones which fizzled out almost as soon as they happened and ones that lead to long, sustained periods of great work from the people involved. There's also a gratuitous Black Books quote for any Graham Linehan completists out there.

68. Prequels

Inspired by this great article about prequels by Noel Murray for The Dissolve, Joe and Ed use this week's episode as an opportunity to talk about the weaknesses of the prequel model of storytelling. It's not entirely about laying into the Star Wars prequels (though that is somewhat unavoidable where this topic is concerned) since it also encompasses a discussion of the differences between gap-filling, mythology-based prequels and standalone adventures, which prequels they perceive as being especially cynical and mercenary, and examples of prequels that are actually good because they use their pre-established endpoint to build tension. Mainly, it's just an excuse for Ed to talk about how rad NBC's Hannibal is, especially when compared to some of the other Hannibal Lecter prequels.

62. Online Criticism

This week, inspired by the ongoing devolution of mainstream film criticism into a swampy morass of multi-page lists, news stories that don't contain any news and are barely stories, and the general sense that engaging film discourse is being pushed further and further away from the centre of the discussion, Joe and Ed rail against everything they think is wrong with film criticism as it exists in the digital age. It's not all negativity - they point out some sites and writers that are doing great, intelligent work and praise the big outlets that use their clout to try to create a more thoughtful approach to the dreaded listicle - but it's mainly an honest discussion about trends in film criticism that they find troublesome and downright tacky.

SEO-Friendly Alternate Title: This List Of 114 Things Wrong With Online Film Criticism Will Leave You Speechless.

60. Knowing Too Much

Inspired by Escape From Tomorrow, a deeply flawed film with a production history that's more interesting than the film itself, Joe and Ed discuss the problems that arise when you know too much about how a movie was made. Does knowing that a film was difficult to make or had a compelling back story prejudice a viewer's opinion of the work itself? Can a gimmick like Escape From Tomorrow's hurt a film by making people overly aware of its mechanics while they watch it, or is it justified by the fact that people will be drawn to it? What separates that film from Richard Linklater's Boyhood (which seemingly cannot be discussed outside of the ambitious way in which it was filmed)? These are just some of the questions that they consider as they try to figure out how much knowledge is too much. Have a listen, and feel free to weigh in on Facebook, Twitter, or by leaving us a review on iTunes. You can also listen to the episode on Stitcher.

Note: This episode has some audio issues resulting from problems with Ed's microphone. The audio is still listenable, and it's a fun, interesting discussion, but there is a background fuzziness that gets noticeably worse as the episode progresses. We apologise, and will endeavour not to repeat the mistake in the future.

59. Marvel

To mark the release of Guardians of the Galaxy, the final film in Phase Two of Marvel's Cinematic Universe and their first attempt at making films that aren't strictly speaking about superheroes, Joe and Ed decided to see the film and then have a nice old chinwag about it, as well as a more general conversation about Marvel's almost unprecedented success over the last six years. 

Along the way they talk about what the film's success means for future Marvel movies, why the studio has had such consistent success where other studios have struggled to get their own superhero movies to achieve the same degree of critical and commercial success, and how Chris Finch from The Office is the real star of Guardians of the Galaxy. If you like this more timely approach, and if you're a fan of the show in general, please rate and review it on iTunes.

Note: We don't discuss much in the way of specific plot details in this episode, so if you haven't seen Guardians of the Galaxy yet you can listen without fear of it being spoiled. However, there is a slightly spoiler-laced discussion about the film's post-credits scene from 10:40 to 16:13, so if you don't want to know anything about that (relatively minor) aspect of the film, feel free to skip ahead.

56. Separating Art from the Artist

Inspired by the controversy surrounding Gary Oldman's recent interview with Playboy, as well as long-standing debates over the merits of artists like John Wayne and H.P. Lovecraft, who held views that many people disagreed with for political or moral reasons, and Woody Allen, whose work has long been talked about in relation to the allegations of child molestation against him, Joe and Ed decided to tackle the question of whether it is valid to dismiss an artist's work because you object to their personal views or actions.

In addition to discussing the artists mentioned above, they consider the difference between considering the work of someone accused of a crime and someone who has actually been convicted, the many, many differences between Caravaggio and Rolf Harris, and whether overt racism in art is easier to contend with than coded racism. It's more serious than usual, but it's also one of the boy's shortest, sharpest episodes to date. If you like the episode, and the show in general, please rate and review us on iTunes.

49. Cult Films

This week, the boys stop to ponder Cult Films, spending a good deal of this episode wrestling with the parameters of what constitutes a cult film and whether or not it's definition has changed over time.

Along the way, Joe pauses to relate how his hatred of Kevin Smith almost landed him in a drunken fist fight and Ed floats the terrifying prospect of a Shot/Reverse Shot Grindr profile. 

Special guest on this week's episode is Ryan Finnigan of [SIC]Blog, who drops in to chat with Joe about the Five and Dime Picture Show, a cult film thread the pair curate.

46. 2013 Round-up

Well, another year has passed, and like everyone else on the Internet, Shot/Reverse Shot has decided to sit down and ask ourselves the question, "2013, what was all that about, then?"

In pursuit of an answer, Joe and Ed talk about the big news stories of the year, such as the proliferation of non-stories about imaginary Star Wars casting, the "Marvelisation" of cinema, changing modes of distribution, and why everyone hated Zach Braff's Kickstarter. They then get into specifics and talk about the most disappointing films of the year, why The Lone Ranger is secretly pretty good, and which films were so terrible they made them wonder if cinema is all it's cracked up to be. They round out the episode and the year by revealing the official Shot/Reverse Shot Top Ten films of 2013. It's a pretty great list, though that's as much due to 2013 being a pretty great year for films as it was down to the boys having amazing taste. So take a bow, 2013!

Thanks to everyone who has listened to the show this year. The feedback we receive from listeners is hugely important to us, as is the idea that anyone would listen to us in the first place. Thanks again, and here's to another good one in 2014.