Cinemallennials

Hello my name is David Lewis and I am the host of Cinemallennials, a podcast where myself and another millennial watch a classic film ranging from the 1890s to 1969 and discuss its significance and relevance in our world today.

Hello my name is David Lewis and I am the host of Cinemallennials, a podcast where myself and another millennial watch a classic film ranging from the 1890s to 1969 and discuss its significance and relevance in our world today.

Before we get into the show today, this episode was recorded on December 2nd, 2021, 54 days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. When the invasion occurred Rachael and I made sure that we wanted to make this and the following points clear. We stand with Ukraine and that we made this with the intention of discussing the film’s historical and cultural significance and to contextualize it for our time.

On today’s episode of Cinemallennials I talked to Rachael Crawley, making it 3 out of three K Cut hosts and we talked about Sergei Eisenstein’s medieval epic, Alexander Nevsky. Mostly known for his Soviet supported and majorly influential films like Battleship Potempkin, and October: Ten Days that Shook the World, Sergei Eisenstein is not only considered one of the first film theorists, but is often considered as one of the greatest artists the screen has ever known.

While Nevsky isn’t the first propaganda film, it’s visionary director, paved the way we see historical epics and how they are created. From his use of undercranking the camera, shot composition, and use of powerful score, Eisenstein began a seemingly never ending thread of how moving images can influence an audience into believing that they too can emulate the characters and situations on screen.

Alexander Nevsky follows the story of The Battle on the Ice, a pivotal conflict in Russian history in which Russian Prince Alexander Nevksy, fought The Germanic Teutonic Order fought to save Russian Orthodoxy. After the knights of the Teutonic Order sack the city of Pskov Alexander rallies his the peasantry to form a small army in order to repel the almighty power of the papally backed Teutonic Knights. Alexander Nevsky and its impact today exhibits just how powerfully long lasting the silver screen can be. SO sit back relax and let there be no more war.

On today’s episode of Cinemallennials, I talked with Will Pender, host of Now that’s What I Call A Podcast about the silent horror classic, The Phantom of the Opera starring the Man of a Thousand Faces, Lon Chaney, and the original scream queen, Mary Philbin. Lon Chaney paved the way for all of our favorite grotesque but deeply human onscreen characters. Costumed and made up creatures like Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolfman, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Apes from The Planet of the Apes, The Elephant Man, Jar Jar Binks, The Amphibian Man from The Shape of Water and one of my all-time favorites, Gollum/Sméagol could have never been realized if Lon Chaney and his makeup never appeared on screen. 

Based on Gaston Leroux’s 1910 novel, The Phantom of the Opera follows the story of Christine Daae, a young singer who for years has been tutored by a kindly masked figure, known to her as Spirit of Music but known to everyone else as The Phantom of the Opera, a shadowy spirit that causes chaos when his musical sensibilities are disturbed by the Opera’s owners.  Defied once more and thought to have been betrayed by his muse, our, sometimes recognized as an empathetic figure, the Phantom goes on a rampage claiming if he can’t have Christine, no one can. So sit back, relax, and befriend the outcast.

On today’s episode of Cinemallennials, I talk with another K Cut podcast host, James Bunn about Frederico Fellini’s master work on the process of filmmaking, 8 ½. Frederico Fellini’s legacy is that of his films, grounded fantasy, a cavalcade of nostalgia, fever dreams, lust, and desire. From Tim Burton to David Lynch, Fellini is revered as one of the masters of surrealist cinema. 

Considered as one of the greatest films and filmmakers of all time, from both a technical perspective boasting praise amongst other cinematic legends like Martin Scorsese, Ferderico Fellini’s 8 ½ is a tour into the soul of an artist. Someone that both believes in their own hype and yet doesn’t one that tries to express the truths of life and the condition of humanity but perpetuates lies. 

On today's episode of Cinemallennials I talked with my cousin Devon about the 1968 science fiction classic, Planet of the Apes, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and starring Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, and Kim Hunter.

Planet of the Apes follows the story of a crew of astronauts that crash land on a planet 300 million light years into the future where their perception of both man and ape are reversed, the simians are intelligent and are the conquerors of the world where man is primitive and enslaved. Confronted with this discovery after being hunted by the apes, one of the astronauts Taylor becomes enslaved and has caught the eye of both an animal psychologist, Dr. Zira and her archeologist fiancée Cornelius who claims that apes evolved from man. Upon the discovery of this hypothesized missing link, the chief scientist and defender of the ape faith, Dr. Zaius does all that he can to exterminate Taylor in order to protect the dark knowledge only he knows.

From featuring themes like racial supremacy to the balance of faith and science, Planet of the Apes is truly not only a hard Science-Fiction classic, but it is still extremely relevant for our world today.

On today’s episode, I talked with Nolan Ryan, yes you heard that right and no its not that Nolan Ryan, but we talked about legendary Japanese director, Akria Kurosawa’s 1958 epic, The Hidden Fortress. 

If you’re in any way interested in film, you’ve heard of those kinds of films that did alright in the era in which they were born but would go on to inspire major blockbusters that were released much later, The Hidden Fortress is one of these films as depending on who you ask, has either inspired one of the biggest blockbusters in history, or the film’s director directly lifted from it and that film is Star Wars. 

The Hidden Fortress follows the accidental adventure of two peasants, Tahei and Matashichi who stumble onto a large cache of gold that was hidden by the recently defeated Akisuki clan. They decide to split the gold until a mysterious man begins to follow them, uncovers their plot, all while hiding a secret of his own, a fiery princess who longs to restore her clan and reunite with her people, if only there was a way to pass through enemy lines undetected and thus begins our adventure. So sit back, relax, and throw everything into the fire. 

On today’s episode, I talked with Devin Araujo about the 1946 noir, The Big Sleep. Produced and directed by the legendary Howard Hawks, starring the equally as legendary Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, who previously enchanted the word over in 1944’s To Have and Have Not, causing a massive call for the two stars and future Hollywood power couple to share the screen again.

Private eye, Philip Marlowe (played by Bogey) is hired by aging millionaire general Sternwood to investigate the disappearance of Sean Regan, an ex-IRA officer and bootlegger that the general had hired to dig into his youngest daughter, Carmen’s gambling debts as the man looking for them, pornographer and rare book salesman, Geiger is on the prowl. Marlowe takes the job and tails Geiger home to find a drugged Carmen and a murdered Geiger. Marlowe takes Carmen home and recruits the help of Carmen’s older sister, Vivian, but he soon finds out that she’s no angel either. So sit back, relax, and don’t throw yourself at the first person you’re attracted to.

On today’s episode, I talked with an old school friend of mine, Mike Bardzilowski who picked 1959’s North by Northwest starring Cary Grant, and New Jersey’s own, Eva Marie Saint. While our generation generally knows Alfred Hitchcock’s horror pictures like Psycho, and The Birds at this point in Hitchcock’s career he was known as the master of suspense, from his intrigue-based melodramas and psychological thrillers filled with heavy metaphors and themes. He was on one of the most prolific runs ever for a director in Hollywood, he made Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, The Man Who Knew Too Much (his own remake), and Vertigo in 1958. Hitchcock wanted to take a break from that kind of filmmaking to make something fun. He had an idea for a master spy mistaken identity story, and always wanted to make a chase scene on the top of Mount Rushmore, but he and writer Ernest Lehman needed to fill in the rest and that’s how North by Northwest was born

North by Northwest follows the story of Roger O. Thornhill, or ROT for short, a fast and loose-lipped ad-man that accidentally ends up being kidnapped by a group of spies that think he’s someone else, he luckily escapes their grasp, but not for too long as he is soon set up for the murder of a UN official, leading to a life of dodging both US authorities and communist agent until he runs into Eve Kendall, an elegant blonde that might have more to her than meets the eye. So sit back, relax, and… DUCK!

On today’s episode, I talked with my cousin, Kelly, the executive editor on We are Bookish who also has a master’s degree in screenwriting, and you can tell by what she says in the show. Kelly picked 1950’s All About Eve, the first Best Picture winner we are talking about on the show. Written and directed by Joseph Mankiewicz, who adapted the script from a short story called The Wisdom of Eve by Mary Orr, All About Eve is a film that personifies theater by presenting the people who run them, play in them, and who obsessively consume it and the vicious cycle of it all. All About Eve due to its elegant and sharp-witted writing is often to be the greatest screenplay ever written, this is also due to the many interpretations people glean from the film, whether it be how women treat each other, how age plays a factor in acting, what does it mean to be successful as a woman and comments on sexuality making its appeal to be inherently intriguing to audiences ever since it was released in 1950.

All About Eve is well, all about Eve, played by Anne Baxter in the sense of her relationship to Margot Channing, played by Bette Davis. Eve is obsessed with Margo and goes to see every show the actress is in, and one night she is invited to meet her matinee idol and tells Margo the tragic story of her life. Margo pities Eve and hires her, and even shelters her in her own home, her social circles, and professional career that is until Eve starts to pull on some of Margo’s established threads. So sit back, relax and fasten your seatbelts for a bumpy night. 

On today’s episode, I talked with Christian Palacios, an old soccer and AP World history classmate and he picked a film that is steeped in both world and film history, and that film is, Citizen Kane.

At the age of 16, Welles gets his acting debut using the gift of the gab in Dublin in 1931, fast 1935 he makes his radio debut, on CBS, a year later he establishes himself as a director with The Voodoo Macbeth, which featured an all-black cast adaptation of the accursed play. In 1937 he established Mercury Theatre and opened with a powerful anti-fascist adaptation of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, titled Caesar: Death of a Dictator and at the age of 23 he shocked the world over with War of the Worlds. All of these achievements led up to what is known as the greatest film contract ever written, one in which said he would provide two films to RKO Pictures both with complete creative control that means producing, cowriting, acting, and editing an unheard of and mocked notion at the time, especially for a new film director. He teamed up with writer Herman Mankiewicz, and Directory of Photography, Greg Tolland, one man had a vendetta the other, wanted to break new ground and that greatest of all-time contract, combined with two of Hollywood’s best behind the scenes men, they soon resulted in arguably the greatest film ever made, Citizen Kane.

Citizen Kane follows a reporter on assignment to find out the meaning of the last word of the greatest media mogul in the 20th century, Charles Foster Kane, Rosebud. Our reporter visits both surviving and deceased mentors, partners, friends, and an ex-wife to figure out the placement of the last piece to the jigsaw that was Charles Foster Kane’s life. So sit back, relax, and watch out for any screaming cockatoos.

On today’s episode, I talked with Aubrey Rieder who chose 1941’s Sullivan’s Travels, the comedic romp that isn’t just a comedy. Written and directed by wildly ahead of his time, playwright Preston Sturges, and starring Joel McCrea and the gorgeously tough Veronica Lake  Sullivan’s Travels follows the story of John L. Sullivan a multimillionaire director of comedy films like Ants in your Plants of 1941, and Hey Hey In the Hayloft who plans to make O Brother Where Art Thou? an epic that follows the social miseries of the day.

When confronted about not having the life- experience of those miseries by his producers, Sullivan has a great idea that if he goes full method by dressing up and living amongst the downtrodden and the poor he’ll truly understand the subject of his film. That is until he arrives back in LA only hours later and discovers a down on her luck but practical actress and that’s where our rollicking adventure begins. 

So sit back relax, and don’t forget the doughnuts

On today’s episode, I talked with my friend Mary Gallagher who picked the 1917 comedy short, The Immigrant starring Charlie Chaplin, Edna Purviance, and Eric Campbell. Chaplin didn’t just star in The Immigrant, he also produced, wrote, directed, composed the music, and edited the film.

Charlie Chaplain was a comedic genius and is so influential if you’ve never heard his name or seen a film of his, you definitely know his look, the bowler hat, and the toothbrush mustache. Chaplin’s film career spanned 53 years beginning from 1914-1967 and is still impacting our culture today. If you know the song Smile, that's Chaplin, if you’ve seen the YouTube video called “The Greatest Speech Ever” that’s Chaplin, if you’ve seen The Joker, 9 of the films songs were composed by him. We will definitely be covering a lot of Chaplin’s greatest films in the future but for now, sit back, relax and see how Chaplin’s most famous character tramps his way to America.

On today’s episode, I talked with Alex Wilson, the man who designed the brilliant logo you see on your screen. Alex picked 1960’s Psycho considered to be the origin and the inspiration for almost every modern horror film with director Alfred Hitchcock’s original themes, roles, and camera techniques that eventually became horror hallmarks for decades to come.

Psycho follows the story of Marion Crane, a secretary at a real estate company in Phoenix Arizona who is hooking up with a California based pilot named Sam. When a moment to escape that life dull life and to be with her lover, presents itself, Marion takes it on the road. Instead of meeting Sam, she runs into trouble until she finds a backroad motel to shelter her from the storm, little does she know, an even bigger deluge is on the horizon.

As per Hitchcock’s tradition, we will not be discussing certain moments or reveals (as people probably know them without knowing them and plus we want people to discover them while watching Psycho on their own. Yes, I know it’s a 60-year-old film.  This tradition goes back to when the film was first brought to theaters, he was one of the first and only directors to mandate a no late policy as people at the time would just walk in and out of movies whenever they felt like it and would wait until the film was over to see what they missed. So, sit back relax and don’t be too close to the shower.

SPECIAL EPISODE ALERT! NETFLIX'S REBECCA EDITION

Today’s episode is a very special one as not only do we have our first returning guest with Heather Reed coming back on the show, but the film we are looking at, Rebecca was just remade, by Netflix starring Lily James and Armie Hammer and is now available for all of us to watch. So after you listen to the show watch the new version on Netflix and tell us what you thought!

Now I know I am bending my own rules a bit, but like I said, this is a very special occasion. Heather is the person that finally pressured me into not being intimidated by Hitchcock’s legacy of scares and thrills and to actually watch one and then two of his films over the next two days.

Rebecca was Alfred Hitchcock’s first Hollywood picture and is the only film of his that won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Rebecca’s influence much like it’s titular character is often considered to be a shadow hanging over the new psychological thrillers director’s films like Villenueve, Fincher, and Ramsey.

Rebecca follows the story of the eventual second Mrs.deWinter, a young naïve woman who falls in love with the rich, sophisticated and vastly complicated Maxim de Winter whose deceased ex-wife, Rebecca haunts his and consequently her daily life even when they return to the vast ancestral deWinter estate, Manderley What follows is a tale of hidden truths, distrustful help in the form of the housekeeper, Mrs.Danvers, and a terrible secret that is held over the second Mrs. deWinter. So sit back, relax, and don’t take advice from a housekeeper that doesn’t blink.

After you listen to the show, check out the 1940 Rebecca we discussed, then check out Netflix's new Rebecca and let me know what you thought of them!

Cinemallennials is a podcast where myself and another millennial are introduced to a classic film for the very first time ranging from the birth of cinema to the 1960s. Myself and my guest will open your eyes to the vast landscape of classic film as we discuss the films' performers,  their performances, those behind the camera, and how they and their films still influence our world today.

On today’s episode, I talked with Frances Mulraney, a former colleague of mine who picked, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari or in its original German, Das Kabinett des Dr. Caligari . Described as the first true horror film by Roger Ebert, and the precursor to arthouse films by Danny Peary, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is by far and away one of if not the most influential, and discussed silent film of all time. From its encapsulating German Expressionist atmosphere to featuring film’s very first ambiguous twist ending The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari has influenced not only the genres of horror, psychological thrillers, and film noir, but it also has been used as a muse for films like Metropolis, M, Battleship Potempkin, The Man Who Laughs, Dracula, Frankenstein, pretty much all of the works of Tim Burton, especially, Edward Scissorhands, and The Nightmare Before Christmas and even Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island. As it is the 100th anniversary of the film's debut, it is the perfect time to get into it.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari follows the story of Franzis, who tells the strange tale of how a mad psychiatrist brainwashed a young man who has slept walked for all of his 23 years to murder the ones Franzis loves the most, and his quest to stop them both only for the audience to later find out who our main character are really. So, sit back relax, and whatever you do, don’t ask anyone about the date you might die.

On today’s episode, I talked with Olivia Dalessandro, who picked 1902’s, A Trip to the Moon or Le Voyage dans la Lune written, directed, and starring the one-man studio himself, Georges Méliès. Inspired by the writings of the godfather of science fiction, Jules Verne, Méliès is the first to bring science-fiction and fantasy to the silver screen.  Not only is he a pioneer in science-fiction, but he also popularized editing techniques like substitution splices, dissolves, time-lapses, and hand-painted colorization that enabled the growth of the science-fiction fantasy genre films we run to see on the big screen today. A Trip to the Moon follows the story of an expedition to the moon where astronomers and space marines encounter the vastness of space, The Man in the Moon, and even an alien race! So, sit back, relax, and enjoy the first ride to the final frontier.

On today’s episode, I talked with Eric McDonough, otherwise known as Conservative Film Buff on Twitter, and Letterboxd. Eric picked 1928’s The Passion of Joan of Arc. 

Directed by Danish Francophile Carl Theodore Dreyer for the Société Générale des Films. Dreyer quite literally took his dialogue and scenery from the annals of history as he used the actual court minutes that were recorded by the members of the clergy that put Joan of Arc to the stake in May of 1431.  Fast-forwarding to 1927, Dreyer has immense pressure on him to create a masterpiece as French nationalism was at a peak, and Joan was officially named as a saint by the Catholic Church only years earlier, and he did just that. 

The Passion of Joan of Arc is known for its slower, but intense pacing, its revolutionary cinematography, the miraculous story of its survival as its lost negative was discovered in a mental institution in Norway, and of course its reputation for containing the greatest acting performance ever recorded.

The Passion of Joan of Arc follows the last days of Jeanne d’Arc, a French peasant girl that stated Angels sent by God told her to unite and free France from English rule during the conflict we now know as the Hundred Years War. She accomplishes this through miraculously breaking the Siege of Orleans, securing the coronation city of Reims resulting in the coronation of King Charles VII all by leading from the front, as a teenager. She is eventually captured and ransomed to the English to be tried for heresy and this is where The Passion of Joan of Arc begins.

So sit back relax and don't sign any abjurations.

On today’s episode, I talked with actor Derrin Stull, who picked 1928’s The Man Who Laughs.

You know when we were all kids and some of us including myself dressed up as what we were told were the classic Halloween costumes? Y’know like the Mummy, Frankenstein’s monster, Dracula? Well, our main character Gwynplaine should be held among them as The Man Who Laughs built the aesthetic foundation and stage upon which the Universal Picture Horror film series, its monsters, and the horror genre as a whole starred.

Directed by German expressionist Paul Leni and starring horror actor progenitor Conrad Veidt alongside the very first scream queen herself Mary Philbin, The Man Who Laughs follows Gwynplaine a man who was horribly disfigured as a child and is sentenced to live his life with a permanent smile due to his father’s failed rebellion. His life is both cursed and blessed in childhood as he saves a baby girl named Deá who is blind, and both are then rescued by a kindly philosopher. They grow older, fall in love, and live happy lives despite the crowds that cruelly mock Gwynplaine until someone unveils his secret past. So, sit back, relax, and watch the smile that inspired one of film’s greatest villains, The Joker.

   On today’s episode, I talked with Heather Reed, who picked 1931’s M or M: Eine Stadt zukt einen Morder, which was directed by Fritz Lang, and was written alongside his wife, Thea von Harbou who both worked together previously on his Dr. Mabuse series, the five-hour-long Die Nibelungen Saga, and possibly the most influential Science-Fiction film of all time, Metropolis. M starring Hollywood icon before he was one, Peter Lorre follows the story of Hans Beckert, a child murderer who is tracked down by both the German Authorities and the criminal underworld. M is considered to be the first in the serial killer slasher film genre. So sit back relax, and enjoy the show.

On today’s episode, I talked with my twin brother Tom about 1968’s 2001: A Space Odyssey directed by the legendary Stanley Kubrick. Due to its technical achievements in visual effects, its scientific accuracy, sound design, and how it approaches philosophy and life’s biggest questions, 2001: A Space Odyssey, is often considered to be the greatest film of all time.  After the release of Dr. Strangelove, Kubrick wanted to set out to make “the proverbial good science fiction film”. 

Based on the short stories of one of the most-influential Science-Fiction writers of all time, Arthur C. Clarke, 2001 covers the length and breadth of time and space as our characters seek to discover the link between early and technologically advanced man. So, Sit back, relax, and open the pod bay doors to 2001: A Space Odyssey. 

Welcome to Cinemallennials! 

Cinemallennials is a podcast where myself and another millennial are introduced to a classic film for the very first time ranging from the birth of cinema to the 1960s. Myself and my guest will open your eyes to the vast landscape of classic film as we discuss the films' performers,  their performances, those behind the camera, and how they and their films still influence our world today.