Do the Film Thing

April 27, 2025 - In this audio essay, Victor explores the classic 1961 film The Hustler, starring Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, Piper Laurie and George C. Scott.  Written, edited and produced by Victor Omoayo Email the show at [email protected] Find DO THE FILM THING on various podcasting platforms and Instagram via LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/dothefilmthing

April 13, 2025 - In this audio essay, Victor explores the body horror satire The Substance, written and directed by Coralie Fargeat, starring Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid. SOURCES FOR THIS EPISODE Gates, Marya E. “Female Filmmakers in Focus: Coralie Fargeat on ‘The Substance.’” Roger Ebert, 2 Oct. 2024, www.rogerebert.com/interviews/female-filmmakers-in-focus-coralie-fargeat-on-the-substance.    Written, edited and produced by Victor Omoayo Email the show at [email protected] Find DO THE FILM THING on various podcasting platforms and Instagram via LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/dothefilmthing

April 6, 2025 - In this audio essay, Victor explores the Diahann Carroll and James Earl Jones-starring romantic drama Claudine, directed by John Berry.  SOURCES FOR THIS EPISODE Booker, Teresa A. “Teaching Note Explaining Internalized Oppression Using the Film, Claudine.” Radical Teacher, no. 114, July 2019, pp. 87–89. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.5195/rt.2019.557.   Written, edited and produced by Victor Omoayo Email the show at [email protected] Find DO THE FILM THING on various podcasting platforms and Instagram via LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/dothefilmthing

March 30, 2025 - In this audio essay, Victor explores Gina Prince-Bythewood's 2000 debut feature Love & Basketball, starring Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps. SOURCES FOR THIS EPISODE "Love & Basketball: For Your Heart" by Roxane Gay. Criterion Collection Essay, Sep. 23, 2021. https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/7534-love-basketball-for-your-heart  Written, edited and produced by Victor Omoayo Email the show at [email protected] Find DO THE FILM THING on various podcasting platforms and Instagram via LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/dothefilmthing

March 23, 2025 - In this audio essay, Victor explores the cynical journalistic drama Ace in the Hole, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Kirk Douglas and Jan Sterling. Written, edited and produced by Victor Omoayo Email the show at [email protected] Find DO THE FILM THING on various podcasting platforms and Instagram via LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/dothefilmthing

March 16, 2025 - In this audio essay, Victor explores the exquisite romantic drama Phantom Thread, written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Vicky Kreips and Lesley Manville.  Written, edited and produced by Victor Omoayo Email the show at [email protected] Find DO THE FILM THING on various podcasting platforms and Instagram via LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/dothefilmthing

March 9, 2025 - In this audio essay, Victor explores the Akira Kurosawa classic Ikiru, starring Takashi Shimura.  Written, edited and produced by Victor Omoayo Email the show at [email protected] Find DO THE FILM THING on various podcasting platforms and Instagram via LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/dothefilmthing

March 2, 2025 - In this SEASON THREE PREMIERE, Victor explores the critically acclaimed 2023 romantic drama Past Lives, written and directed by Celine Song, starring Greta Lee, Teo Yoo and John Magaro. Written, edited and produced by Victor Omoayo Email the show at [email protected] Find DO THE FILM THING on various podcasting platforms and Instagram via LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/dothefilmthing

August 11, 2024 - In this audio essay, Victor explores two poignant and biting satires on race and media, Robert Townsend's 1987 debut film Hollywood Shuffle and Spike Lee's 2000 feature Bamboozled.   Written, edited and produced by Victor Omoayo Sources for this episode: Barlowe, Jamie. “‘You Must Never Be a Misrepresented People’: Spike Lee’s Bamboozled.” Canadian Review of American Studies, vol. 33, no. 1, Jan. 2003, p. 1. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.wheatonma.idm.oclc.org/10.3138/CRAS-s033-01-01. Black, Ray. “Satire’s Cruelest Cut: Exorcising Blackness in Spike Lee’s Bamboozled.” Black Scholar, vol. 33, no. 1, Spring 2003, p. 19. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.wheatonma.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/00064246.2003.11413200. Blakemore, Erin. "The Fair‑Skinned Black Actress Who Refused to ‘Pass’ in 1930s Hollywood." HISTORY, 26 Jan. 2021, https://www.history.com/news/fredi-washington-black-actress-hollywood-jim-crow-era. Clark, Ashley and Lee, Spike. "In Conversation: Spike Lee with Ashley Clark". Interview. Bamboozled, Criterion Collection, 2019. Townsend, Robert. Audio Commentary. Hollywood Shuffle. Criterion Collection. 2023.   Email the show at [email protected] Find DO THE FILM THING on various podcasting platforms and Instagram via LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/dothefilmthing

July 28, 2024 - In this audio essay, Victor explores the themes of identity, motherhood and masculinity in the Oscar-winning film Moonlight (2016), directed by Barry Jenkins. Written, edited and produced by Victor Omoayo Sources for this episode: Jenkins, Barry. Audio Commentary. Moonlight, A24, 2016. Tracy, Maurice. “Moving through Trauma: Black Queer Vulnerability in Moonlight.” QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking, vol. 9, no. 1, Spring 2022, pp. 43–57. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.14321/qed.9.issue-1.0043. Watkins-Hayes, Celeste, et al. “Eclipsed: Darkness, Light, and Motherhood in the Sexualized Drug Economy of Moonlight.” Western Journal of Black Studies, vol. 43, no. 3/4, Fall/Winter2019 2019, pp. 81–89. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=143467848&scope=site.   Email the show at [email protected] Find DO THE FILM THING on various podcasting platforms and Instagram via LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/dothefilmthing

July 21, 2024 - In this audio essay, Victor explores the characters and themes of two heist thrillers, F. Gary Gray's Set it Off (1996) and Steve McQueen's 2018 adaptation of Widows. Written, edited and produced by Victor Omoayo Sources for this episode: Bell, James. “Thieves Like Us.” Sight & Sound, vol. 28, no. 11, Nov. 2018, pp. 22–26. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=132175783&scope=site. Email the show at [email protected] Find DO THE FILM THING on various podcasting platforms and Instagram via LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/dothefilmthing

July 7, 2024 - In this audio essay, Victor explores writer-director Todd Field's third feature film Tár (2022), starring Cate Blanchett, Noémie Merlant, Mark Strong, Nina Hoss, Julian Glover, and Sophie Kauer. Written, edited and produced by Victor Omoayo Email the show at [email protected] Find DO THE FILM THING on various podcasting platforms and Instagram via LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/dothefilmthing

June 23, 2024 - SEASON TWO PREMIERE! In this audio essay, Victor explores Ridley Scott's two Alien prequel films, Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017) by focusing on their themes of creation and two central characters, Dr. Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and David (Michael Fassbender). Written, edited and produced by Victor Omoayo Sources for this episode: Bolea, Stefan. "Alien: Covenant." Philosophy Now, 2018. https://philosophynow.org/issues/124/Alien_Covenant Hyba. "Aliens & Artificial Intelligence: An Analysis of David8." Medium. February 24, 2021. Retrieved June 8, 2024. https://hybaiswriting.medium.com/aliens-artificial-intelligence-an-analysis-of-david8-e198c6389e2e. McWilliam, David. "Beyond the Mountains of Madness: Lovecraftian Cosmic Horror and Posthuman Creationism in Ridley Scott's Prometheus (2012)." Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, vol. 26, no. 3, 2015, pp. 531-545,631. Literature Online, https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/beyond-mountains-madness-lovecraftian-cosmic/docview/1861072576/se-2?accountid=15020   Email the show at [email protected] Find DO THE FILM THING on various podcasting platforms and Instagram via LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/dothefilmthing

March 10, 2024 - SEASON ONE FINALE! In this audio essay, Victor explores the multiverse-spanning film Everything Everywhere All at Once, written and directed by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert, starring Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu, James Hong, and Jamie Lee Curtis. Googly eyes, tax forms, and hot dog fingers - OH MY! **SEASON TWO will debut June 2024!** Written, edited and produced by Victor Omoayo Sources for this episode: Chin, Daniel. ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ Reimagines the Multiverse. The Ringer, 29 Mar. 2022. https://www.theringer.com/movies/2022/3/29/23000959/everything-everywhere-all-at-once-multiverse “Everything Everywhere All at Once - Box Office Mojo.” Box Office Mojo, https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt6710474/?ref_=bo_se_r_1. Accessed 5 Mar 2024. “Nihilism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nihilism. Accessed 5 Mar. 2024. Pratt, Alan. Nihilism | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://iep.utm.edu/nihilism/. Accessed 26 Feb. 2024   Email the show at [email protected] Find DO THE FILM THING on various podcasting platforms and Instagram via LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/dothefilmthing

March 3, 2024 - In this audio essay, Victor explores the 2007 horror film The Mist, written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the 1980 novella by Stephen King. Written, edited and produced by Victor Omoayo Sources for this episode: "The Mist - Box Office Mojo." Box Office Mojo, www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0884328/?ref_=bo_se_r_1. Accessed 9 Feb. 2024.   Email the show at [email protected] Find DO THE FILM THING on various podcasting platforms and Instagram via LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/dothefilmthing

February 25, 2024 - In this audio essay, Victor explores the 1985 cult classic comedy The Last Dragon, directed by Michael Schultz, starring Taimak, Vanity, and Julius Carry. Written, edited and produced by Victor Omoayo Sources for this episode: The Last Dragon. Audio Commentary by Michael Schultz, directed by Schultz, TriStar Pictures, 2015. Smalls, Shanté Paradigm. “Eating Popcorn with Chopsticks: Revisionary Black Masculinity in Berry Gordy’s the Last Dragon.” Criticism, vol. 58, no. 2, Spring 2016, pp. 305–26. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.13110/criticism.58.2.0305. Cha-Jua, S. (2008). Black Audiences, Blaxploitation and Kung Fu Films, and Challenges to White Celluloid Masculinity. In P. Fu (Ed.), China Forever: The Shaw Brothers and Diasporic Cinema (pp. 199-223). University of Illinois Press.   Email the show at [email protected] Find DO THE FILM THING on various podcasting platforms and Instagram via LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/dothefilmthing

February 18, 2024 - In this audio essay, Victor explores Martin Scorsese's 1985 comedy After Hours, starring Griffin Dunne, Rosanna Arquette, Linda Fiorentino, Teri Garr, Catherine O'Hara, and Verna Bloom. Written, edited and produced by Victor Omoayo Sources for this episode: Ebert, Roger. Scorsese by Ebert. The University of Chicago Press, 2008. Edwards, Ivana. "The Essence of 'Kafkaesque'." The New York Times, December 29, 1991, pp. 12, https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/29/nyregion/the-essence-of-kafkaesque.html.  O'Malley, Sheila. "After Hours: No Exit.", The Criterion Collection, July 11, 2023, https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/8197-after-hours-no-exit.  Scorsese, Martin, Griffin Dunne, Amy Robinson, Michael Ballhaus and Thelma Schoonmaker. Audio Commentary. After Hours, Criterion Collection, 2023.   Email the show at [email protected] Find DO THE FILM THING on various podcasting platforms and Instagram via LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/dothefilmthing

February 11, 2024 - In this audio essay, Victor explores David Lynch's mesmerizing 2001 neo-noir Mulholland Dr., starring Naomi Watts, Laura Harring and Justin Theroux.  Written, edited and produced by Victor Omoayo Sources for this episode: Rodley, Chris (edited by). Lynch on Lynch. Revised Edition. London: Faber & Faber, 2005. Lynch, David and Naomi Watts. "David Lynch and Naomi Watts." Mulholland Drive, Criterion Collection, 2015. Harring, Laura, Johanna Ray, Justin Theroux, and Naomi Watts. "Laura Harring, Johanna Ray, Justin Theroux, and Naomi Watts." Mulholland Drive, Criterion Collection, 2015. Email the show at [email protected] Find DO THE FILM THING on various podcasting platforms and Instagram via LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/dothefilmthing

February 4, 2024 - In this audio essay, Victor explores the 1997 film Eve's Bayou, the directorial debut of Kasi Lemmons.  Written, edited and produced by Victor Omoayo Sources for this episode: Lemmons, Kasi. "Kasi Lemmons" [Interview] Eve's Bayou, Directed by Kasi Lemmons, Criterion Collection, 2019 Allen, Nick. "Ebertfest 2016: Kasi Lemmons Presents a Director's Cut of 'Eve's Bayou'.", April 16, 2016, https://www.rogerebert.com/festivals/ebertfest-2016-kasi-lemmons-presents-a-directors-cut-of-eves-bayou. "AFI Movie Club: EVE’S BAYOU .", June 8, 2020, https://www.afi.com/news/afi-movie-club-eves-bayou/. Email the show at [email protected] Find DO THE FILM THING on various podcasting platforms and Instagram via LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/dothefilmthing

January 28, 2024 - In this audio essay, Victor explores Spike Lee's incredible third feature film, 1989's Do the Right Thing, highlighting specific characters and the film's examination of racism.  Written, edited and produced by Victor Omoayo Sources for this episode: “A Conversation With James Baldwin.” 1963-06-24. WGBH, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. December 4, 2023. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-0v89g5gf5r>. Baldwin, James, 1924-1987 author. The Fire Next Time. New York, Dial Press, 1963. "Giancarlo Esposito Breaks Down His Most Iconic Characters | GQ." YouTube, uploaded by GQ, 3 February 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRBhL7ctydE&t=1024s Lee, Spike. Audio Commentary. Do the Right Thing, Criterion Collection, 1995. Lee, Spike and Lisa Jones. Do the Right Thing. Fireside, 1989.   Find DO THE FILM THING on various podcasting platforms and Instagram via LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/dothefilmthing

January 21, 2024 - In this audio essay, Victor explores Wong Kar-wai's 1994 film Chungking Express, starring Takeshi Kaneshiro, Brigitte Lin, Tony Leung and Faye Wong.  Written, edited and produced by Victor Omoayo Sources for this episode: Rayns, Tony. Audio Commentary. Chungking Express, Criterion Collection, 2008. Sanders, Jason. "'Those Two Characters are there, Forever Young': Wong Kar-Wai on Chungking Express.", May 7, 2019, https://filmmakermagazine.com/107448-wong-kar-wai-chungking-express/.    Find DO THE FILM THING on various podcasting platforms and Instagram via LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/dothefilmthing

January 14, 2024 - In this audio essay, Victor explores Mira Nair's 1991 cross cultural sophomore feature Mississippi Masala, starring Denzel Washington, Sarita Choudhury, Roshan Seth, and Sharmila Tagore. Written, edited and produced by Victor Omoayo Sources for this episode: Nair, Mira. Audio Commentary. Mississippi Masala, Criterion Collection, 2022.  Taraporevala, Sooni. Interview. Mississippi Masala, Criterion Collection, 2022. Lachman, Ed. "Ed Lachman on Mississippi Masala," Mississippi Masala, Criterion Collection, 2022.    Find DO THE FILM THING on various podcasting platforms and Instagram via LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/dothefilmthing

January 7, 2024 - Welcome to the inaugural season and first episode of Do the Film Thing! In this audio essay, host Victor Omoayo explores Love Jones (1997), written and directed by Theodore Witcher, and starring Nia Long and Larenz Tate.  Written, edited and produced by Victor Omoayo Sources for this episode: Witcher, Theodore. Audio Commentary. Love Jones, Criterion Collection, 2022.   Find DO THE FILM THING on various podcasting platforms and Instagram via LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/dothefilmthing