The Rough Cut Cinema Podcast

On a jam-packed episode, your hosts review the current state of their Fall 2023 Movie Draft slates and report back from the Toronto International Film Festival, before discussing buzzy comedy Bottoms and building out a High School Comedy Syllabus with 10 films from 1980 through the present.

In part one of a two-part conversation about the obsession with intellectual property in cinema, Zach and Carson discuss The Last Voyage of the Demeter and use Universal Pictures as a case study for the question of how to use IP to give audiences what they actually want.

While many of the rest of the year's most anticipated movies have played at various festivals already, many more have yet to be screened publicly. Will they be masterpieces? Or disasters? Zach and Carson make their predictions as they preview everything from Maestro to Saw X the best way they know how: a competitive draft.

Zach and Carson discuss Australian horror debut Talk to Me, before working together to construct a modern horror syllabus spanning the last 10 years.

The day we'd all been waiting for has come and gone: the Barbie and Oppenheimer combo was a wild critical and commercial success, and Zach and Carson are here to break down the phenomenon and discuss their thoughts on two of the year's most exciting films.

With one of the great franchises back in theaters, Zach and Carson discuss the latest Mission: Impossible installment and then build out their proposed 10-film syllabus for a theoretical Tom Cruise 101 course.

(00:00) Introduction

(03:40) Mission: Impossible

(33:37) The Tom Cruise Syllabus

Rough Cut Cinema is back! Join Zach and Carson as they discuss moviegoing from the first half of 2023, digging into topics such as: the Oscar chances of Past Lives and Asteroid City, the state of Movie Stardom, the acting styles of Keanu Reeves and Dave Bautista, and Barbie and Oppenheimer pre-release fatigue.

With Nia DaCosta's Candyman reboot hitting theatres, we've made an exception to our minimum credits rule to talk about that film's producer and cowriter, the Oscar-winning Jordan Peele. Join Carson and Zach as they talk about 2019's Us, discuss Peele's contributions to the genre, try to unpack the Academy's response to horror, and play — for one of your hosts — a very rough round of the Letterboxd game. 

Sara joins Carson and Zach as they draft their most anticipated movies set to drop for the rest of 2021, with one twist: you're only allowed to watch one new release per month.

If you've been waiting for some hot takes this might be the episode for you. Does Tarantino deserve all his praise? Is Death Proof better than Pulp Fiction? Is Shrek bad? Is Shrek good?! Your hosts tackle these questions and more while breaking down Inglourious Basterds and its divisive, movie-loving director.

The entire Rough Cut team jumps on this special episode of The New Auteurs to hash out the best Oscar winners in history.

A disaster-piece that wrought the death of cinema? Or an unfairly maligned masterpiece? Zach and Carson break down the Wachowskis' Speed Racer and get into the dynamic duo's auteur style. 

Your hosts break down the nominations for the upcoming ceremony and make their way-too-early predictions for who will take home the gold in the major categories.

Does King Kong have **** on them? Your hosts try to answer that question as they dig into Denzel's filmography, rewrite Oscar history, and dissect the crimes committed in Training Day. 

Rather than countdown their top films of 2020, Carson and Zach get creative, listing each of their top 10 "things" in movies from last year - from casting decisions to scores and performances to makeup, they get into the nitty-gritty of what made cinema great.

Every single film is burning in a massive warehouse fire. You can only save one per decade. Listen as Zach, Carson, and special guest JD Gray rebuild film canon from the ground up. Then the trio dive into a tricky discussion on truth, the media, and film, centered around the work of Orson Welles.

Carson and Zach explore the work of David Fincher in advance of December's MANK, diving into his 1997 classic THE GAME. What's real? How much of 2020 has been manufactured by a shadow organization for the pleasure and pain of one billionaire? Listen to find out.

Carson and Zach are joined by Sara D'Amico and Ben Nadeau in a friendly competition to see who can draft the best roster of horror movies in a variety of categories. Come for the nuanced discussion of horror classics and overlooked gems, stay for the active attempts at team sabotage. 

In celebration of all things scary, Carson and Zach count down each of their top 5 horror auteurs before returning to the Letterboxd game with a bloody twist.

For this month's Rough Cut Spotlight subject, your hosts take a look at writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood through the lens of her debut film Love & Basketball. Join Zach D'Amico and Carson Cook as they talk about Quincy McCall's NBA ceiling, debate The Old Guard's superhero bona fides, bemoan the Beyond the Lights soundtrack that could have been, and, as always, play the Letterboxd game. 

Jonny Diaz joins hosts Carson Cook and Zach D'Amico to breakdown Amy Adams's career and acting style, dive deep into 2008's Doubt, and sort Adams into an auteur category where they have yet to venture on The New Auteurs.

To start off Rough Cut Cinema's Amy Adams month, The New Auteurs looks at the career of her two-time collaborator Adam McKay. Listen as they discuss McKay's early comedy career (9:14), debate which recent SNL head writer they'd like to see turn to directing (14:13), consider whether Anchorman has aged well since its release (28:21), discuss the through-line that leads from McKay's early comedies to The Big Short and Vice (38:30), pick their favorite Anchorman cameos (50:55), and play the Letterboxd game (56:45).

Ben Nadeau joins Carson and Zach in dissecting how the auteur theory applies to Christopher Nolan. The guys debate Nolan's legacy in the superhero genre (4:59), argue over what he'll be remembered for in 30 years (10:48), discuss his auspicious beginnings and lack of Oscar love (16:23), go deep on The Prestige (28:01), throw out historical comparisons for Nolan (57:16), categorize Christopher Nolan as an auteur (1:06:19), and play the Letterboxd game (70:25).

As Christopher Nolan month kicks off at Rough Cut Cinema, your hosts take a look at the career of Interstellar co-star Jessica Chastain. Join as they discuss Chastain's theatre and television roots (4:40), pick their favorite Aaron Sorkin movies (15:12), go in-depth on Crimson Peak (29:35), discover the rarefied air Chastain reached with Mama's box office performance (42:45),  bemoan Charlie Hunnam's inability to pull off an American accent (55:30), and play the Letterboxd game (61:45).

As part of the Spotlight on Spike Lee over at Rough Cut Cinema, staff writer Sara D'Amico joins Zach D'Amico and Carson Cook to talk about the films of 25th Hour star Edward Norton. Join the team as they discuss method acting (6:00), run through Norton's career (14:48), take a deep dive into 2014's Birdman (27:23), consider which modern superhero actors are most likely to reenact the premise of Birdman in real life (57:56), and play a few rounds of The Letterboxd Game (66:31).

As Rough Cut Cinema's Spotlight on Charlize Theron comes to a close, staff writer Jonny Diaz joins Zach D'Amico and Carson Cook to discuss screenwriter Diablo Cody's style as an auteur (0:50); dive into her misunderstood 2009 horror-comedy Jennifer's Body (22:52); debate historical comparisons (70:00) and Cody's auteur categorization (73:48); and play the Letterboxd game (79:35).