Smug Film Podcast Episode #13 – Brad Avery / Apocalyptic Films / Italian Neorealism (1/19/15)

Episode 13 52:12 | View on iTunes | Download Mp3

On this episode, John D’Amico and I are joined via Skype by Smug Film’s own Brad Avery. We discuss his essay Bicycle Thieves and Other Apocalyptic Films, and explore his idea that apocalyptic films and italian neorealist films have a lot in common. As always, we close the show with questions from our mailbag. If you have a movie-related question you’d like answered on the show, send it to Podcast@SmugFilm.com!

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10 Films Every Libertarian Should See

dogville
Dogville (2003)

I don’t really get into my political leanings here at Smug Film, for the obvious reason of this being a site about movies, not politics, but also because I hate creating arbitrary ‘dividing lines’ in my work. It’s petty, and I can’t stand when others do it. For instance, I’m a huge Woody Allen fan, I think he’s our greatest American filmmaker, but I cringe whenever he peppers little jabbing jokes against the Right in his films when the story doesn’t even call for it. Those sort of winks to the audience take you out of the film momentarily, whether you agree with them or not. It’s distracting and wholly unnecessary. So rest assured, people who disagree with me politically—there will be no lazy digs, or insults, or other ‘playing to the base’ bullshit in this post whatsoever.

This list will be of particular interest to libertarians, that’s a given, but even if that ain’t your particular alignment, it should at least be a unique window in the the sort of things we, or at least I, care about, both politically and philosophically. And don’t worry, there are no propaganda docs on here; these are simply great movies, many of which (hell, probably all of which) aren’t even made by libertarians. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, they just so happen to contain, within their myriad elements, certain elements that we get a kick out of. Enjoy!
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