FS #179: Into the Wild / Smiles of a Summer Night / Top 5 Senior Citizen Performances

September 28: Adam and Matty review Sean Penn's latest film as writer/director, "Into the Wild" ... Plus, Listener Feedback, Massacre Theatre, the first movie in our Ingmar Bergman Marathon -- Smiles of a Summer Night" -- and our Top 5 Senior Citizens On Screen, in honor of Hal Holbrook's performance in "Into the Wild."

Music by Bottle Rockets courtesy of Bloodshot Records

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Filmspotting #179
:21-12:41 - Review: "Into the Wild"
Music: Bottle Rockets, "Better Than Broken"
13:21-14:41 - Audio Feedback
14:42-25:47 - Listener Feedback ("Across the Universe," Overrated Directors)
Music: Bottle Rockets, "Middle Man"
26:35-31:12 - New DVDs, Donations/Nicknames
31:26-34:08 - Massacre Theatre (Winner: Melinda Hale)
34:09-37:46 - Chicago Film Fest Preview
37:47-45:05 - Bergman #1: "Smiles of a Summer Night"
Music: Bottle Rockets, "Happy Anniversary"
45:37-59:15 - New Poll, Top 5: Overrated Directors
59:16-1:02:48 - Close/Next Show/Outtake (New "Elah" ending)

CORRECTIONS/NOTES
- McCandless: Hero or Dumb Jerk?

- "Into the Wild" makes use of one of my (Adam's) all-time favorite poems - "I Go Back To May 1937" by Sharon Olds.

- "Network" has been added to my Top 5 penalty box... and is being considered for the pantheon.

Have a comment or Top 5 list you'd like to share? Send an e-mail or short mp3 clip to feedback@filmspotting.net. Or give us a call at 206-203-CINE and leave a voice message.

FS #178: Across The Universe / In the Valley of Elah / Top 5 Overrated Directors

September 21: I am here as you are here as you are me and we are all together... well, Adam and Matty are together anyway in their disappointment with Julie Taymor's "Across The Universe," which attempts to tell the story of the turbulent '60s through the songs of the Fab Four.

"And Adam and Matty took from their mic bag a rock..." Plus, your hosts dare to do battle with Paul Haggis's latest Oscar-bait, "In the Valley of Elah," a true crime murder mystery that examines the effects of war on returning soldiers and their families.

Also on the show: Massacre Theatre and our Top 5 Overrated Directors.

Music by Ha Ha Tonka courtesy of Bloodshot Records

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Filmspotting #178
:14-10:18 - Review: "Across The Universe"
Music: Ha Ha Tonka, "Up Nights"
11:19-23:33 - Review: "In the Valley of Elah"
Music: Ha Ha Tonka, "Gusto"
23:59-29:00 - Massacre Theatre (Winner: Megan Reilly)
29:01-37:36 - Poll Questions, Toronto Musings, Next Marathon
Music: Ha Ha Tonka, "Cure For The Common Cold"
38:33-51:57 - Top 5: Overrated Directors
51:58-54:24 - Close/Next Show/Outtake

CORRECTIONS/NOTES
** Post-publish comment: A few people have written in commenting on how much I've been dominating the discussion over these first few shows with Matty. Believe it or not, I am well aware of the problem. I hear the same show you do. I appreciate everyone being patient with us as we adjust to each other. Matty is brand new to this (ball)game and obviously I had settled in pretty well with one guy over the past 2 1/2 years. It may take us a little time.

- Matty says "EE-lah" ... Adam says "AY-lah" ... In the movie, Tommy Lee Jones says "EL-ah." Take your pick.

- For those of you who have generously given to the Filmspotting coffers the past two weeks, thank you! You have not been forgotten. Your official Sam Van Hallgren nicknames will be read on next week's show.

Have a comment or Top 5 list you'd like to share? Send an e-mail or short mp3 clip to feedback@filmspotting.net. Or give us a call at 206-203-CINE and leave a voice message.

FS #177: Toronto Top 5 / Eastern Promises / Guy Maddin / The King of Kong

September 14: When we last left Adam and Matty in Toronto, the fledgling duo seemed all hugs and kisses with few disagreements to mar their burgeoning relationship. Would their discussion of David Cronenberg's new Russian mob thriller "Eastern Promises," starring Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts, further cement their lovefest, or would the gloves finally come off?

Also on this Toronto Film Fest edition: A conversation with visionary Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin, whose new film "My Winnipeg" could command a strong position on Filmspotting's Top 5 Toronto Film Fest Movies countdown.

In addition, the boys find time to confront their own dangerous obsessions with a review of "The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters." Seth Gordon's documentary (currently playing to great critical and audience acclaim) examines the esoteric world of classic arcade gamers and, specifically, the epic clash between Billy Mitchell and Steve Wiebe for Donkey Kong supremacy.

Music by The Arcade Fire courtesy of Merge Records

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Filmspotting #177
:13-10:39 - Review: "Eastern Promises"
10:40-11:49 - Cronenberg Poll
Music: Arcade Fire, "Wake Up"
12:37-27:43 - Interview: Guy Maddin
Music: Arcade Fire, "Rebellion (Lies)"
28:24-31:14 - Massacre Theatre (Winner: Brent Funderburk)
31:15-41:25 - Review: "The King of Kong"
Music: Arcade Fire, "Une Annee Sans Lumiere"
41:59-45:39 - Film Fest Poll, Venice Film Fest Notes
45:40-58:12 - Top 5: 2007 Toronto Film Fest Movies
58:13-59:36 - Close/Next Show

CORRECTIONS/NOTES
- "Into the Wild" doesn't open in Chicago now until Sept. 28, so we will have something else in its spot next week.
- Click here for Guy Maddin bonus audio.

Have a comment or Top 5 list you'd like to share? Send an e-mail or short mp3 clip to feedback@filmspotting.net. Or give us a call at 206-203-CINE and leave a voice message.

Toronto Interview: Sam Riley ("Control")

Adam sits down with Sam Riley, who portrays enigmatic Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis in the new film "Control." Check out the movie's official site here.



Have a comment you'd like to share? Send an e-mail or short mp3 clip to feedback@filmspotting.net. Or give us a call at 206-203-CINE and leave a voice message.

Toronto Dispatch #2: Atonement, My Winnipeg, No Country For Old Men

Days 3 and 4 of the Toronto Film Festival are in the books, and Filmspotting has conquered a combined 17 more films. Adam was mesmerized by Joe Wright's "Atonement" (pictured) and Guy Maddin's hypnotic tribute to his hometown, "My Winnipeg" ... Matty finally found TIFF salvation thanks to the Coen Bros. and "No Country For Old Men."



Have a comment you'd like to share? Send an e-mail or short mp3 clip to feedback@filmspotting.net. Or give us a call at 206-203-CINE and leave a voice message.

Toronto Dispatch #1: Best/Worst So Far

Adam and Matty have seen a combined 15 movies through the first two days of the Toronto International Film Festival. Which stood out as the best? The worst? Surprise, Adam might just have some love for Javier Bardem (pictured) and "No Country For Old Men," while Matty was finally won over by Guy Maddin's 'Keillor-esque' live performance of "My Winnipeg."



Have a comment you'd like to share? Send an e-mail or short mp3 clip to feedback@filmspotting.net. Or give us a call at 206-203-CINE and leave a voice message.

FS #176: Shoot 'Em Up / Top 5 Farewells

September 7: The movie gods and Fate herself conspired to release Michael Davis's action movie/action movie send-up "Shoot 'Em Up" just in time for Sam's retirement from Filmspotting. Co-starring two of Filmspotting's favorite actors (Paul Giamatti as super-villain and Clive Owen as the film's indestructible super hero), the movie was impossible to ignore (impossible, that is, if you don't count the circumstances that kept Adam and Sam from screenings to this weekend's even more compelling release, "3:10 To Yuma" with Christian Bale and Russell Crowe). "Shoot 'Em Up" also promised loud, stupid bloodshed and depictions of women as victims and sex objects (just a couple of Sam's hot buttons). Could Giamatti and Owen redeem the movie's immodest ambitions? Or would Adam and Sam have one last row for old time's sake?

Also on the show: A very special, "earmuffs" edition of Massacre Theatre and, in honor of Sam's last show, the Top 5 Movie Farewells.

Music by Spoon courtesy of Merge Records.

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Filmspotting #176
:22-3:17 - Open, Samontage #1: Disagreements
3:18-17:24 - Review: "Shoot 'Em Up"
17:25-20:58 - Poll Questions
20:59-22:34 - Samontage #2: Mr. Sensitive
Music: Spoon, "You Got Yr Cherry Bomb"
22:56-26:25 - New DVDs, Donations
26:26-28:47 - Massacre Theatre Winner (Michelle Foy)
28:48-30:41 - Samontage #3: Acting
30:42-33:02 - Massacre Theatre "Earmuffs Edition"
33:03-38:18 - Samontage #4: Vanperbole, Samontage #5: Humor
38:19-48:29 - Top 5: Farewells
48:30-50:45 - Close/Next Show/Outtake

CORRECTIONS/NOTES
- Check out the new documentary "Cut" by listener Eliyahu Ungar-Sargon.

Have a comment or Top 5 list you'd like to share? Send an e-mail or short mp3 clip to feedback@filmspotting.net. Or give us a call at 206-203-CINE and leave a voice message.