Filmbound - Episode 7: Early Man

To state the obvious, the big difference between FILMBOUND and our defunct TV show NOW PLAYING is that Paul and I have much more time on the podcast to talk about the selected films.  On a typical TV episode each of the five films was allocated 30-40 seconds for a scripted intro, 45-60 seconds for a clip, a minute and a half to two minutes for one person's scripted review, and 70 seconds for the impromptu discussion between us.  If there was time left over at the show's end, we could use it to add to the conversation about one or more of those films.

With the podcast our discussions per film have generally lasted 20-25 minutes, yet neither of us say everything we would like to or intend to.  For instance, a couple comparisons I'd meant to make regarding THE 15:17 TO PARIS came to mind after the show was recorded.  The way the conversation gets steered sometimes veers away from comments I intended to make.  Nevertheless, I appreciate that the podcast provides the space for fuller analyses of the films.

If the discussion about EARLY MAN seems shorter than the time we usually set aside for a film, that's because it is.  It happened that both of us saw Nick Park's stop-motion animated comedy directly before our recording session for episodes 4-7.  In theory that should mean we would have more to say about it than something more distant in memory.  I don't know if our more limited conversation had to do with needing more time for reflection, holding positive but mild appreciation of the film, or being tired from hours of recording.  Maybe it was a combination of those three factors.



The episode gets a little feistier when we consider if qualifying some films as guilty pleasures diminishes them.  I am not a fan of such a classification, so as things tended to go with our spoilers discussion on episode 5, I play the role of the grumbler. 

We're recording this weekend, and as I mentioned before, we're going to try to get new episodes released a little closer to their opening dates.  To do that the plan is to release two episodes next week so the RED SPARROW and A WRINKLE IN TIME episodes don't arrive via your preferred podcast service more than a month after they've opened.  We'll also be doing our first episode devoted to a non-current film, but I'll wait to reveal what it will be.

Upcoming episodes:

-March 21: ANNIHILATION and our recommendations segment
-March 23: GAME NIGHT and a discussion about the ideal theatrical experience
-March 28: RED SPARROW and our recommendations segment