Movie Podcasts
A good movie podcast will, if nothing else, teach you how to properly pronounce the names of all those foreign film directors you like so much. I’m regularly listening to three these days:
1. “Lichman & Rizov ‘Live’ at Grassroots Tavern” via The House Next Door
This podcast features John Lichman, Vadim Rizov, and Keith Uhlich, two contributors to and the editor of the blog The House Next Door, probably the most important outlet for young film writers right now, and various special guests (past episodes have featured S.T. VanAirsdale, Grady Hendrix, Glenn Kenny, and Karina Longworth) ruminating on a wide range of films and film-related topics. “‘Live’ at Grassroots Tavern” really is recorded in a bar, so lips tend to be loose, which encourages a free-flowing conversation but also makes it easier for people to stick their feet in their mouths (did I say that right?).
This podcast sounds a lot like a night out after a movie would if you were friends with some of the brighter observers of the New York film scene. I listen to it at work where I can drift in and out.
This podcast features Rob Davis, who reviews movies for Paste and is the proprietor of Errata, one of my favorite movie blogs (it’s updated less frequently than most blogs, but every post is quality), and J. Robert Parks, who writes about film for a variety of outlets. The bulk of this podcast, which is considerably more . . . let’s say “polished” than “‘Live’ at Grassroots Tavern,” consists of the thoughtful and articulate hosts’ takes on mostly new movies, but it also occasionally includes interviews with filmmakers (past subjects include Errol Morris, David Gordon Green, and Marjane Satrapi.
“The Errata Movie Podcast” basically sounds like a very good NPR program about movies would minus the listener call-ins. I like listening to it on walks to and from work when I can pay attention.
3. “Rated PG” via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
This podcast features Barry Paris and Barbara Vancheri, the two film critics for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. I listen to this because it’s local and I honestly can’t recommend it to out-of-towners — like the Post-Gazette’s movie section as a whole, it’s competent but unremarkable. For Pittsburghers: hang on until the end, which is when they usually talk about smaller movies and special screenings.
Thursday 10 Jul 2008 | andyhorbal | Film, Links
Hey, Andy, thanks for the link and the nice comments about Errata. We’re trying to balance our chit chat about new movies with in-depth looks at great filmmakers — Kiarmostami, Haneke — but we don’t have a grand plan. Just wingin’ it. (E.g. we’re going to follow our recent overview of big dumb summer movies with a look at Killer of Sheep.)
I like the Grassroots Tavern podcast, too. I feel like I’m eavesdropping from the next table over, sipping slowly, stretching my stay to hear the whole thing.
Errata is great indeed. But I think the Grassroots is inaudible… they seem to have a good time, but is it enjoyable for the listeners too? Too many talkers, they don’t even introduce each others, their line of conversation is inebriated and the ambient sound so loud it gives headache if we care to focus… I don’t know, maybe it’s just harder for me because I’m French. And it’s only my taste.
Compared to the Errata podcast it’s like night (what a podcast should not be) and day (the perfect example of one).
Rob you should give some podcast training course for the benefit of everyone.
Rob, that Killer of Sheep episode is going to be, dare I say . . . killer?
Harry, those are all valid complaints. I like “‘Live’ at Grassroots Tavern” mostly as background noise, although some episodes (the most recent one with Andrew O’Hehir, the first and second ones with Glenn Kenny and Karina Longworth) are worth a closer listen. I wouldn’t want to listen to other podcasts like this, but I’m glad that I have this one (it’s enjoyable for me). Informal riffing like this has its place.
Thanks for the linkage, Andy. (And for saying nice things about me on Dave Kehr’s blog a while back.) Re Mr. Tuttle’s totally valid complaints and questions: John and I proposed the podcast as a joke (we were spending a lot of time there in general), and oddly enough, Keith took us up on it. Even more to our surprise, people who aren’t our personal pals are now coming on, which is very cool indeed. I don’t know if the listeners enjoy it (although I guess someone must be, because a surprising number of people listen to it), and I don’t know if I would listen to it. (I’d rather zone out on iTunes.) I do feel like they’ve gotten better of late, thanks to our guests; Andrew, Glenn & Karina bring a level of insider information and experience we simply don’t have, though we’re working on it.
But I do have to point out that we make an effort to ID ourselves at the top of every podcast, and — with a couple of notable exceptions — we are generally NOT inebriated during the podcast. (Afterwards perhaps.) Any flaws in our train of thought lie squarely with our inherent mental deficiencies.
Sorry for being direct and so harsh, it’s not that terrible of course. You don’t have to listen to my complaints if you have a large fanbase. ;)
Though if you talked with a cinema sound engineer you would probably get tips to minimize the surrounding sound, and capture your voices better (individual mics?). It’s worth giving it a thought.
Even today’s phone technology is better at isolating the speaker’s voice from the background. It would be more comfortable listening if you all spoke on a phone…
That or maybe try to record this show in a place less noisy? As it is it seems like you just don’t care…
If you only listen to the fans who dare not be frank, you’re never going to improve. Now you can hate me, but at least you heard a constructive criticism from the other end of the spectrum.
You have a good idea there, why not make the best of it to become one of the best cinema podcasts?
I’m not saying Errata is the only possible format, but at least Rob features a respect for his job and for his listeners. Maybe you think your listeners don’t deserve the best comfort, but that’s another problem.
re: ID guests.
The introductory “hello” when you introduce everyone is not enough to be familiarized with a voice if we’ve never heard it before, and especially if there are only similar male voices and a loud ambient sound. It’s just helpful and polite to introduce the next speaker with a name when someone jumps in. That’s the job of the moderator on a radio show.
That’s all valid, and I know we’re limiting ourselves. But we’re doing it for fun, not profit. It’ll probably stay in this obnoxious format for a while. I prefer writing, honestly.
Well you could bounce back my criticism at me then, as I keep blogging in English without caring for grammar and spelling. It would be only fair. ;)
to set the record straight:
i do every podcast intoxicated on grain alcohol before i operate heavy machinery.