harry brewis – Smug Film (1/7/13

Smug Film Podcast Episode #54 – Harry Brewis / Jar Jar Binks / Lumpawaroo / Star Wars Prequels / Wookieepedia (11/9/15)

1:19:56 | View on iTunes | Download Mp3

On this episode, Cody Clarke, John D’Amico, and Jenna Ipcar are joined by Harry Brewis for a discussion of all things Star Wars prequels, including Lumpawaroo’s Jar Jar Binks theory! Plus, a voicemail from Richard Karpala, and Chloe Pelletier reviews Spectre!

If you have a question or comment that you’d like answered/played on the show, call our voicemail box at 718-395-9711, and be sure to leave your name as well!

And, if you haven’t already, head on over to our Patreon, where we’ve got a bunch of great rewards for listeners who donate to the show. Donating one dollar a month gets you a bonus mini-episode of the show in your inbox every Monday! These special episodes will never be available on iTunes or SmugFilm.com or anywhere else. The only way to hear them is by donating. And we’ve got a bunch of other great rewards too on there too, so check it out today!
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Examining Gus Van Sant’s Death Trilogy (Part 1)

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Gus Van Sant is one of those filmmakers people call ‘interesting’. On the one hand, the man’s capable of all sorts of good semi-mainstream films, from Good Will Hunting to My Own Private Idaho. But on the other, he’s responsible for slightly-too-arthouse-for-arthouse films like Even Cowgirls Get The Blues, the almost-shot-for-shot Psycho remake, and what has come to be known as his ‘Death Trilogy’—Gerry, Elephant, and Last Days.

The entire death trilogy sits in the high-fifties, high-sixties part of Rotten Tomatoes that seemingly means ‘slightly above average’, but in practice has come to mean ‘people either think it’s truly fantastic or total pretentious garbage’. (And given that this is the man who remade Psycho, maybe there’s some truth to that latter view.) But each of the death films gave me some thoughts about cinema and philosophy, so I thought I’d write a piece on each of them and try and get those thoughts straightened out.

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Smug Film Podcast Episode #8 – Harry Brewis / Vertical Videos / Death in Film / Man of Steel

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1:09:44 | View on iTunes | Download Mp3

On this episode, I am joined by fellow Smug Film contributors John D’Amico and Harry Brewis. We discuss the merits of vertical videos, death in film, Man of Steel, and much more! We also introduce a new segment called ‘Old, New, Borrowed, Blue’, and as always, take a quick break for a movie joke by comedian Anthony Kapfer, and then close the show with questions from our mailbag.

If you have a movie-related question you’d like answered on 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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Watch My Films, ‘Shredder’ and ‘Rehearsals’, For Free!

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Hey everybody. It’s your ol’ pal Cody Clarke, editor-in-chief and weekly critic at this here Smug Film. We’ve built a bit of a relationship, y’all and I, over the year-and-a-month that this site’s been in existence. I feel the love from you coming here and reading all our stuff, and I hope you feel the love right back from me. We’ve got a great thing between us, you shadowy blips on the views counter and myself. Sometimes I wish you’d participate more with comments and stuff, but s’all good—you read, you enjoy, and that’s what matters most of all.

Because we don’t exactly talk much—like I said, totally fine, no worries—you might not know that I’m not just a pontificator on all things film—I’m a maker of them as well. I’ve made two feature-length films to date—Shredder and Rehearsals. Ya boy Harry Brewis reviewed the former on here not too long ago, and ya girl Chloe Pelletier reviewed the latter. These films mean a lot to them, and mean a lot to a bunch of other people. But as of yet, they remain unseen by most.
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The Star Wars Prequels Are Better Than You Think They Are

The Star Wars prequels are widely regarded as the worst additions to a beloved franchise of all time. Red Letter Media’s feature-length eviscerations of each film are some of the funniest things I’ve ever seen, but I don’t agree with the central argument. I regularly sit down and watch all six movies, and you know what? The prequels are the best part of the experience every time.

Here’s why.
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