Tag: jenna ipcar

Smug Film Podcast Episode #12 – Chloe Pelletier / Alamo Drafthouse / Theory of Everything / Interstellar (1/12/15)

Episode 12 44:39 | View on iTunes | Download Mp3

On this episode, Jenna Ipcar and I are joined via Skype by Chloe Pelletier, Smug Film contributor and server at the Alamo Drafthouse. We discuss everything from her job to The Theory of Everything to Interstellar to the city of Yonkers. Plus, a special appearance by John D’Amico! 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!

If you enjoy the show, 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 the iTunes charts, which a large part of how we reach new listeners. Word of mouth is always best of all though, so if you like our show, tell your friends and followers!

Jenna Ipcar’s Top 5 of 2014

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An honorable mention.

Ah yes, December. The month in which we all gather round the fireplace with a warm glass of wassail, cozy up to our loved ones, and talk about how many movies we regretted spending thirteen bucks on over the last twelve months.

Just kidding—I was actually pretty impressed with 2014 overall as far as new releases went. Of the 103 movies I watched this year—26 of which came out this year—I found that I enjoyed most of the new releases. I only actively disliked about one of them, Gone Girl). So, whereas 2013 was a year of ‘meh’ for me, I’d say 2014 was a year of three-star or higher films—a good solid year. 

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Want our Best of 2014 Holiday Special? Join Smug Film Club!

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Alright, you little pipsqueak! We know you like our podcast, and we know you’ve been waiting with bated breath for a new episode.

Well, you’ll be pleased to learn that Season Two of the podcast starts on January 5th, with new episodes going up every Monday after that! But, if you join Smug Film Club (our awesome mailing list where we never email you unless we’re giving you cool free exclusive bonus stuff) you can listen to a brand new podcast episode right now!

It’s our Best of 2014 Holiday Special, where we discuss our favorite movies of the year, and holiday movies in general. This special bonus episode will never be on iTunes or anywhere else—the only way to hear it is by becoming a Smug Film Club member, which is a completely free and painless process. Find out more about Smug Film Club here!

Jenna Ipcar on ‘Nightcrawler’

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Nightcrawler (2014)
Written & Directed by Dan Gilroy
117 min.

I don’t even know where to start with this one. On so many basic levels, it’s just flat out bad—Nightcrawler is what I would call a full-blooded B movie. How exactly it’s been getting rave reviews, I can’t say I particularly understand. I assume we’re just so desperately hungry for movies that aren’t based off comic books or teen romance novels that most of us will just take whatever we can get.

Yet, as I left the theater, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was something deliberate about the heavy-handed execution of the whole thing.  What if these aspects that seemed like missteps were really just deliberate choices made in order to hammer the point of the film home? After all, there did seem to be a very specific point to Nightcrawler: to shine a light on the dangers of unchecked, amoral startups in an economy saturated with entrepreneurial go-getters.

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Back To The Future: I’ve Finally Seen It, And I Have Questions

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Every generation has movies that define their childhoods. Typically, these are ones you ‘just had to be there’ to truly experience an unwavering, visceral nostalgia for. I was born in the 80’s, so if I had to make a master list of my own, just off the top of my head it’d probably include Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, The Lion King, and Robin Hood: Men in Tights. But there are many 80’s and early 90’s staples that I managed to miss completely—no, I didn’t grow up under a rock, but movies like The Princess Bride, Clueless, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Home Alone (okay, most everything by John Hughes) and Back to the Future are all ones I somehow managed to miss entirely.

But now, thanks to a friend who literally set up a private screening in a college lecture auditorium for me because he was so upset I hadn’t seen it, I have finally watched Back To The Future for the first time at the age of 27. And boy do I have questions.

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