Episode 329 – KINDS OF KINDNESS

Runtime 72 minutes Show Contents 0:00 Introduction with guest Jim Laczkowski 3:35 The New Slang: KINDS OF KINDNESS 56:38 The Other Side: Jim and Ryan talk further reading after Yorgos Lanthimos’ new film Thoughts from your host… Today’s guest and I have recorded a lot of episodes over the years. We have talked about cerebral films, absurdist films, and animated films (twice!). Our conversations have taken us all over the cinematic map and I, for one, have been proud of all the podcasting postcards we have sent home. Perhaps what makes me most proud is that even when the films we choose don’t land for us, we always find our way to an interesting discussion over why. Jim has never been the sort of critic who will write off a film with a simple little “It sucks” – he’s much more interested in taking the pieces apart, finding the faulty spring or cog, and even going so far as to pose a hypothesis on why the maker put the part(s) in place. That’s one of the many things I like about the lad – his interest in thoughtful conversation, be it praise or poisonous. It’s growing increasingly rare in an age not just of thumbs, stars, rotten and fresh…but also of fandom, allegiance, tribalism, and artistic devotion. Writers like Jim are growing more important in a world that is growing more and more binary. He has the ability to say that something fails “even though”, or succeeds “despite”…and these are very important qualities not just in the world of criticism, but in the world full stop. What I bring you today is a conversation where my guest and I talk about a film we don’t think works, but we do that by way of a conversation that works incredibly well in large part to the passion and perspective of my wise friend. Links Mentioned on Episode 329: The Director’s Club Podcast where the boys discuss 1994 in Music Matineecast 305 where Jim and I discussed BEAU IS AFRAID Jim’s Twitter can be found here. Comments and feedback are welcome and thank you very much for listening.  Enjoy!