Author: Cody Clarke

Smug Film Podcast Episode #1 – Writing About Film (4/7/14)

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1:07:12 | View on iTunes | Download Mp3

This is the very first episode of the Smug Film podcast! On this episode, I am joined by fellow Smug Film contributors John D’Amico and Jenna Ipcar. We discuss Matt Zoller Seitz’ article, Please, Critics, Write About the Filmmaking, and what we believe the duties of a film reviewer are. We also go on tangents—from Russian cinema to the ideal usage of DSLR cameras—and to close, we answer questions from our mailbag. Be sure to listen to the very end of the episode for a movie joke by comedian Anthony Kapfer!

If you have a question for the show, leave it in the comments or email us at Podcast@SmugFilm.com.

If you enjoy the podcast, be sure to subscribe on iTunes, and leave a rating and a comment on there as well. Doing this helps us immensely as far as our ranking on there, which is what allows people to be able to discover us. Word of mouth is always best of all though, so spread the word!

Movie Stuff Referenced in this Episode:
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The We and the I: Michel Gondry’s Best Film Yet

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The We and the I (2012)
Directed by Michel Gondry
Written by Michel Gondry, Jeff Grimshaw, and Paul Proch
103 min.

Spoiler free.

It’s kinda unfair for me to call this his best film yet, because I haven’t seen every one of his films. Gondry is one of those directors where everyone knows his name, but few have seen more than a couple of his movies, and would be surprised to hear he’s made 10 in the last 13 years:

Human Nature (2001)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Dave Chappelle’s Block Party (2005)
The Science of Sleep (2006)
Be Kind Rewind (2008)
The Thorn in the Heart (2009)
The Green Hornet (2011)
The We and the I (2012)
Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy? (2013)
Mood Indigo (2013)

I’ve seen almost all of them, though. The only one I haven’t seen is The Thorn in the Heart, not counting the two I can’t see, since they haven’t, as of yet, had much of a release: Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy? and Mood Indigo.

All this to say, I’m at least more qualified than most to make this statement. Especially since I’ve even heard of this movie, which is an impressive feat in and of itself that sets me apart from everyone else on this planet.
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An Interview with Marc Cantone, Director of ‘Bowling Blind’

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 A couple weeks ago I wrote about my films Shredder and Rehearsals going up on IndieFlix, and since then I’ve been exploring their library. ‘Library’ isn’t even a good enough word for it—it’s an absolute treasure trove of under the radar, wholly independent films that you’d never come across anywhere else. Not all of them are good, but there are absolute gems to be found, such as my favorite discovery so far, a 35-minute documentary called Bowling Blind.

The film is about a blind bowling league that bowls in the basement of a housing building for the blind in Manhattan. If you enjoy light, honest documentaries about colorful characters, you’ll definitely like it. It’s a very warm movie, suitable for any age.

Recently I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with the director, producer, and cameraman of the film, Marc Cantone:
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A Manly Review of ‘How to Be a Man’

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How to Be a Man (2013)
Directed by Chadd Harbold
Written by Bryan Gaynor, Chadd Harbold, and Gavin McInnes
Story by Chadd Harbold
85 min.

Mild spoilers ahead.

I love me some Gavin McInnes. From his appearances on Red Eye, to his pieces for Taki Mag, to his YouTube shorts, to his standup, to his book, to his previous feature-film, The Brotherhood of the Traveling Rants, I’m certainly a fan of his work, and a fan of him as a person, too—when I interviewed him here last year, he was a delight. Sweet and honest and gracious, the polar opposite of what his detractors might expect him to be based on his brash demeanor and polarizing views on all things life. I see him as a living embodiment of the phrase ‘warts and all’, and an inspiration to anyone who holds honesty as a virtue. A man as man ‘might be and ought to be’, to borrow a Rand-ism.

All this to say, I have a knot in my stomach as I write this review, because I have a duty to be honest here—a duty as a critic, of course, but also, a duty to Gavin and all that he stands for. He would not want me to sugarcoat my feelings on this film just because I like him. That would not be very manly of me. And so, here goes.

I did not like this movie.
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Fuck You, Fruitvale Station

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Fruitvale Station (2013)
Written and Directed by Ryan Coogler
85 min.

Extremely minor spoilers.

Basing a movie on a true story is a lot of responsibility. At least, in theory it is. In practice, facts are often handled willy-nilly—take for instance the movie Any Day Now, a film which, despite baring the ‘based on a true story’ badge, is near entirely made up. Fruitvale Station plays fast and loose with the facts too, but nowhere near as offensively—which is not to say that this movie didn’t offend me, just that it offended me for other reasons.
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