Episode Thirteen - Onibaba

Kaneto Shindo is no stranger to The Masters of Cinema collection and one the joys in recent years has been seeing his works born again on Blu Ray. Onibaba is a rare type of film; critics have argued over its particular genre for years and unlike many Japanese period pieces Onibaba features strong female characters and with visual imagery directly influenced by the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki it has stood the test of time as one of the most unique films of its era.

For this discussion Joakim is joined by journalist James Marsh.

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Episode Twelve - House

How many times do you watch a film and know exactly what is going to happen in the end? With cinema comes conventions, form and to an extent predictably. Nobuhiko Obayashi's House is one of those rare films in which it take you along for the ride; it can legitimately be called unique, daring and brave but this mean it is actually any good?

In this episode we are joined by Rudie Obias, co-host of the Auteurs Cast and all round film blogging powerhouse to discuss what makes House worth your time.

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Episode Eleven - Sunrise

Often considered one of the greatest films ever made; FW Muranu's Sunrise is a film that seems to unite critics and audiences alike in universal praise and acclaim. Made toward the end of the silent era Sunrise was Muranu's first American film and having given complete control over production by studio Fox he crafts a film of such technical grandeur it easily ranks amongst the Avatars of film history as one of the most ambitous films ever produced.

In this episode we are joined by Sam Inglis from 24 Frames Per Second to delve into why we love Sunrise so much.

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Episode Ten - Harakiri

The Samurai film is a sub genre of cinema that once bitten is almost impossible guaranteed to spark and interest that will never leave you. With so much films made in the 40s, 50s and 60s there can be a tendency for them to blur into one with the iconography of swords, windswept landscapes and extremely stern looking men glaring into the camera.

Masaki Kobayashi Harakiri is one of the exceptions. A stylistic tour de force form the beginning it Kobayashi didn't set out to make just another genre film for the masses; Harakiri is one for the ages and in this episode we are joined by Craig Skinner from Bleeding Cool for an in depth look at the film and why region coding is stupid.

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Episode Nine - Salesman

The importance of documentary cinema is sometimes lost a great majority of those who follow cinema yet the fact remains its influence of contemporary culture cannot be downplayed. Documentary film and television has in the past helped freed wrongfully convicted men, launch careers, destroy careers, save lives and end lives.

So it may seem a little underwhelming that on first appearances Salesman turns its eye to a group of down and out middle age men flogging Bibles to people who simply can't afford them. Yet Salesman is far from your average film; it made conventions and broke them and in this episode we take a look at why this film matters.

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Episode Eight - Lifeboat

Propaganda films can be a mix bag often ranging from the sublime to the quite frankly awful. Alfred Hitchcock; according to some the greatest director of all time, also joined the fray with his 1944 film Lifeboat.

It may not be one Hitchcocks most famous film but is certainly one of his most interesting. In this episode Joakim and I dig into this slice of wartime fun, and no we don't think he is the greatest director of all time....

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Episode Seven - Touch of Evil

One question I am often asked about podcasting is why do it? There's no financial reward to speak off and in fact in most cases it actually ends up costing you. The answer is of course its for the sheer love of doing and when Joakim invited the truly great West Anthony from the Auteurs Cast on to talk about the Orson Welles masterpiece Touch of Evil the sheer joy podcasting took over and it was only hunger that could stop us from talking.

To date this is our longest episode and special mention needs to go out to Joakim for a truly class job in getting this one ready.

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