ACFmovie podcast

Titus & Armond White discuss the great movies of 1968, especially the Godard pictures then first brought to America, Les Carabiniers ('63), Weekend, & La Chinoise ('67), which form a sort of trilogy of the past, present, & future of Europe--from war to revolution. (We also talk about his latest, The Image Book.) We focus on Godard's ironic documentary style & prophecies about modern society, his criticism of left-wing terrorism & right-wing consumerism--both versions of materialism. We also point to one of his signs of the alternative: Goethe.

Titus & Caitlin Peartree get to our fourth Wallace Stevens podcast--this time, we talk about the uncertainty that can get in the way of recognizing a human being & the existential implications of such an event. This is also the poem in which Stevens says he will illustrate his principle of poetry: The poem should resist the intellect almost successfully. Education & wisdom are involved in seeing that man is uncanny!

Titus & Jody Bottum talk about Michael Crichton & his most unusual novel, Eaters Of The Dead, as well as the movie that was based on it, The 13th Warrior--directed by the great John McTiernan.

Titus & Sonny Bunch discuss Watchmen, the super-hero movie most dedicated to super-heroes, their tragic & all-American character. We also talk about Zack Snyder as auteur--a man who has managed to bring a cinematic style to blockbuster production.

Titus & Caitlin Peartree continue their series of interpretations of poems by Wallace Stevens with Of Mere Being, one of the latest of his works, a brief statement on the separation between the beautiful & happiness, or the limits of human experience.

Titus & Terry Teachout turn to Out Of The Past, Bob Mitchum's best noir, his defining role as a chump, & a great variation on the femme fatale & the corrupted noble man. This is a rare story for juxtaposing the morality of the small town & the corruption of the city, the erotic lawlessness South of the border with the disheartening unhappiness of American life, & then showing how erotic tragedy grows out of this opposition between innocence & experience. The corruption of glamour is the them, & it's all-American.

Titus & Henry Olsen (Senior Fellow at EPPC, editor Unherd.com) continue the PostModern Conservative criticism of elite corruption & incompetence with a look at the coalitional, demographic, & electoral changes of recent decades--especially our elections since 2014. We show how far the electorate has moved from the elite & what a crisis is stirred by institutions & elites that no longer represent the majority.

Titus & John Presnall complete their trilogy on liberalism in the age of total surveillance with De Palma's Blow Out, which puts together image & sound, Antonioni's Blow-Up & Coppola's The Conversation, turning these theoretical studies of art & technology into a practical matter--where does art stand to corrupt politics in our world.

Titus & John Presnall continue their trilogy on liberalism in the age of total surveillance with Coppola's The Conversation. We go through the plot, what it means to want to hear the ugly truth, what it might mean to fear anyone learning your secrets, & how the invasion of secrecy was shamelessly advertised in American corporate capitalism. Listen to our conversation & be ready fora shock!

Titus & Pete Spiliakos discuss Harold Ramis's attack on institutional authority in his 80s comedies: Caddyshack, Back To School, & Ghostbusters. Pete calls Ramis a prophet of Trump: A comic writer whose reprehensible protagonists nevertheless triumph over hypocritical & complacent elites.

Titus & Paul Cantor discuss Frankenstein on its 200th an.--the novel, its history on the stage in the 19th c., & various movie adaptations in the 20th c. We talk about the genius of Mary Shelley & the rarity of a new myth being created by a single person under the historical spotlight! We talk about Enlightenment, Romantic poetry, & how new technologies of communication provoke nostalgic storytelling.

Titus & Joseph Bottum do the Christmas podcast--caroling, Dickens's A Christmas carol, reflections on the neediness & joy of being human, the modern American Christmas, & the childhood that prepares us for Christmas. We start & end with two of Jody's carols!

Titus & Flagg Taylor talk about Brooklyn, a beautiful work of selective nostalgia on the America of the 50s, from the point of view of an Irish immigrant played by the lovely, talented Saoirse Ronan. The story dramatizes the promises & perils of American freedom & the institutions needed to guide people to a decent happiness in America.

Titus & Scott Beauchamp turn from the Catholic horror The Exorcist to the scientific/atheist horror The Thing. We talk about the powers of science & the daring of facing the cold, inhospitable cosmos; about facing the horror of life as mere, but deadly self-reproduction; & the collapse of a community faced with this threat into paranoia. Listen & share!

Titus & Scott Beauchamp discuss William Friedkin's The Exorcist as a Catholic horror, where the confrontation with evil is part of man's supernatural destiny. Horror both issues from the revelations of our modern scientific powers & also investigates their limits. It makes the case for faith in our humanity at the same time it opens up the possibility that being human isn't special. Body horror especially makes us ask ourselves whether being human really is special.