PODCAST · tv
Film Explorers
by Film Explorers
Exploring the bounds of cinema every week!
Episodes
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The Finale
Hi everyone, Josh here. As you can see since you tapped or clicked on this episode, this is the finale of Film Explorers, a show that the four of us have spent years of our life working on. In this episode, we go back to the very beginning of cinema history and our own with A TRIP TO THE MOON. We...
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Boyhood (2014)
12 YEARS IN THE MAKING. This episode, we’re all back for one last traditional episode talking about Richard Linklater’s BOYHOOD. We talk about beginnings and endings, capturing time in a bottle, and what the next step is for each of us. Chapters: 00:00:00 Intro 00:06:07 What We Watched 00:43:31...
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Field of Dreams (1989)
ALL HIS LIFE, RAY KINSELLA WAS SEARCHING FOR HIS DREAMS. THEN ONE DAY, HIS DREAMS CAME LOOKING FOR HIM. This episode, Jackson and Josh tackle one of the ultimate dad movies, Phil Alden Robinson's FIELD OF DREAMS starring Kevin Costner. We talk about baseball obviously, but specifically why it's...
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Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
A FAMILY ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN This week, we continue our oddly scheduled sprint to the finish with one of Jackson's final picks, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE. We talk about indie family dramas being Jackson's bread and butter, grandfathers on film, getting really emotional about pushing a...
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Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) & Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
MORE THAN ONE WEARS THE MASK. IT’S HOW YOU WEAR THE MASK THAT MATTERS. This week, Josh and Sutherland dive deep INTO AND ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE, its fractals of animation, its effusive adoration for the comic book medium, and how it’s changed the game for so many different types of media. We…
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Millennium Actress (2001)
THE MAGIC OF MOVIES, THE MYSTERY OF MEMORY. This week, we cover a filmmaker who is long overdue for an episode on our show, Satoshi Kon and his 2001 exploration of very medium of film and its effervescence, MILLENNIUM ACTRESS. We talk about the beauty of having no idea what to say, the power of...
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Us (2019)
WATCH YOURSELF. This week, we cover one of the great horror directors of the modern era with Jordan Peele’s US. We talk horror at the Oscars, comedians venturing into genre film, and how instantly iconic the imagery of Us has become. We also recap some of the new releases we've caught up with…
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
IT ALL ENDS. Joey's final month of picks culminates with the end of his personal favorite film franchise, HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 2. We talk about modern franchise filmmaking, our histories with Harry Potter, and why this film just had to be picked before the show ended. We…
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La Haine (1995)
HOW FAR YOU FALL DOESN’T MATTER, IT’S HOW YOU LAND… This week, we cover one of the seminal French films of the 1990s and one of the highest rated films of all time on Letterboxd, LA HAINE. We talk about '90s politics, putting off watching classics, a history of French cinema leading to this…
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Dune: Part Two (2024)
LONG LIVE THE FIGHTERS This week, we cover one of the most discussed films of the last year and one of our single most mentioned movies in the history of the show as a part of Joey's final four picks, DUNE: PART TWO. We talk unbelievably epic filmmaking, dropping hot takes about movies with a 4.4...
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Dazed and Confused (1993)
IT WAS THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL IN 1976. A TIME THEY’D NEVER FORGET. (IF ONLY THEY COULD REMEMBER) This week, we begin Joey's month of our big finale with Richard Linklater's DAZED AND CONFUSED! We talk stoner comedies, coming of age movies that exist outside of time, the post-Vietnam era, one of…
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12 Angry Men (1957)
LIFE IS IN THEIR HANDS - DEATH IS ON THEIR MINDS! This week, Sutherland delivers his final pick for the show with Sidney Lumet's seminal 12 ANGRY MEN, a film that's deeply special to him and all of us. We talk about morality and judgment, putting racists in timeout, and what makes this movie so...
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Dune (2021)
IT BEGINS. This week, we roll through another of Sutherland's all-time favorites, Denis Villeneuve's DUNE. We get deep into changes from the book, Villeneuve's visual aesthetics, and how it has grown into a massive favorite of multiple hosts on the show. We also get deeper into A Minecraft Movie,...
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Singin' in the Rain (1952) with Catherine
WHAT A GLORIOUS FEELING! This week, we invite on a very special guest to talk about the classic MGM musical SINGIN' IN THE RAIN. Catherine tells us her four favorites, Joey and Sutherland talk about the Minecraft Movie, Josh and Catherine watch Contact, and Jackson experiences Mamma Mia for the...
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Back to the Future (1985)
HE WAS NEVER IN TIME FOR HIS CLASSES. HE WASN'T IN TIME FOR HIS DINNER. THEN ONE DAY...HE WASN'T IN HIS TIME AT ALL. This week, we begin the journey to the end. Sutherland begins his month of whatever he wants with BACK TO THE FUTURE. We talk about what makes a seminal classic like this, how we...
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Life of Pi (2012)
BELIEVE THE UNBELIEVABLE DOUBLE FILM EXPLORERS, YAYYYYY! This week, we wrap up our Oscars Roulette with Ang Lee's foray into 3D, LIFE OF PI. We break down our perspectives on the 3D craze of the early 2010s, our feelings about the film's visuals and discussion of religion, and Joey continuously...
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Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
THE RETURN OF THE GREAT ADVENTURE. This week, we're covering one of the most famous movies ever made ever, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. Again, what do you want me to say? We talk about how much this movie has changed our lives, film history as a whole, and also Nazi monkeys. Chapters: 00:00:00 Intro...
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Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
HOW DID WE END UP HERE? This week, we go back to 2015's winner of numerous categories at the Academy Awards, BIRDMAN or (THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE). We talk about if we consider a pretentious movie inherently bad, the one-take gimmick and if it's enough to carry a movie, Michael Keaton's...
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If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)
TRUST LOVE ALL THE WAY This week, we start our Oscars Roulette rolls with Barry Jenkins' adaptation of James Baldwin's masterwork IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK. We talk about Regina King's stunning Oscar-winning performance, one of the greatest musical scores of all time, and Jenkins' cinematic...
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Mission: Impossible II (2000)
EXPECT THE IMPOSSIBLE AGAIN! This week, we're wrapping up one of the most chaotic months of the show so far with a film from a franchise we've been talking about since the very beginning of the show, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE II. We talk about mashing up a massive American franchise with a director…
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Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995)
YOU'LL LAUGH UNTIL YOU DIE...THEN YOU'LL RISE FROM THE DEAD AND LAUGH AGAIN! This week, we cover our first Mel Brooks movie in the history of the show, his spoof of Bram Stoker's classic DRACULA: DEAD AND LOVING IT! We do a bit of comparing to the book, drop hot takes about a certain comedy…
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Marmaduke (2010)
LIVE LARGE. I don't even know what there is to say. We're covering the big dog movie. He's a dog and he's big. That's about it. Chapters: 00:00:00 Intro 00:01:51 What We Watched 00:23:18 Marmaduke 00:59:19 Final Thoughts + Ratings 01:10:37 Emails from our Friends <3 01:13:09 Jackson's Pick +…
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Stalker (1979)
This week, we're continuing to roll through the Letterboxd Top 250 with Andrei Tarkovsky's STALKER! We get as philosophical as you'd expect us to about the meaning of it all (or if there even is one), how we feel about cinema like this, and what makes it all so difficult. We also catch up with…
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There Will Be Blood (2007)
THERE WILL BE GREED. THERE WILL BE VENGEANCE. DRAINAGEEEEEEEEEEE!!! What can I even say about this one?! This week, we're covering one of the seminal classics of contemporary American cinema, Paul Thomas Anderson's THERE WILL BE BLOOD. What do you want me to say?? We also talk about Young Sheldon...
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The Handmaiden (2016)
Welcome back to our first episode of the new year as we begin our journey through some favorites from the Letterboxd Top 250 for the month of January, starting with Park Chan-wook's THE HANDMAIDEN. We talk about filmmakers tricking their audiences, male gaze, and lesbians staying winning. We also...
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The 2nd Annual Film Explorers Holiday Special
Happy holidays from the four of us! As is tradition every December on the show, we sit down for one big dive into all of our picks for the holiday season in one massive Holiday Special. Jackson walks us through what may have been a miscalculated pick with BETTER WATCH OUT, Josh brings us through...
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Gladiator II (2024)
PREPARE TO BE ENTERTAINED. This week we're wrapping up our 2024 slate of films by covering the last in our Denzel Washington marathon, Ridley Scott's GLADIATOR II. We talk about our complicated feelings about the first Gladiator, Denzel absolutely eating the rest of this cast alive, rhinos in the...
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The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)
This week, we're wrapping up our retrospective of the films of Denzel Washington with Joel Coen's (and Shakespeare's) THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH. We talk about Joey's obsession with German expressionism, Kathryn Hunter always going underappreciated, and if having the most insane style imaginable is...
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Mississippi Masala (1991)
PASSION. TRADITION. MIX IT UP. In a typical hard left turn for us out of the action genre, this week we cover Mira Nair's MISSISSIPPI MASALA, a stunningly steamy romance set very near to where a lot of us grew up. We talk about diving into a West African history that we aren't familiar with…
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The Book of Eli (2010)
SOME WILL KILL TO HAVE IT. HE WILL KILL TO PROTECT IT. As our Denzel Washington marathon continues, we move forward a bit in his career and cover the Hughes Brothers' THE BOOK OF ELI. We talk expressions of religion in modern film, Denzel at debatably his coolest, and finally getting Mank himself...
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Man on Fire (2004)
CREASY'S ART IS DEATH, AND HE IS ABOUT TO PAINT HIS MASTERPIECE. Spooktober is over, and as we approach the release of one of the year's biggest films in Gladiator II, we're knocking out some blindspots in the filmography of one of the titans of the film industry: Denzel Washington. This week we...
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Annihilation (2018)
FEAR WHAT'S INSIDE. In what will probably become one of our most controversial episodes so far, we finally tackle one of our nemeses (nemesises? nemesi?!) Alex Garland and his 2018 sci-fi horror ANNIHILATION. We talk about not seeing the vision, how digital cinematography can make or break your...
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Christine (1983)
HOW DO YOU KILL SOMETHING THAT CAN'T POSSIBLY BE ALIVE? After some more adventurous choices the last few weeks, Josh brings us back to basics with some more Stephen King and a second John Carpenter in 1983's CHRISTINE. We talk about what it means to gender your vehicles, having the worst most…
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Pulse (2001)
DO YOU WANT TO MEET A GHOST? It's just getting scarier, babes. We're diving straight into J-Horror with Kiyoshi Kurosawa's PULSE, an absolutely terrifying film about all those little ghosts that are hiding right behind the screen you're currently reading this on. We talk about the rise of…
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Ghostwatch (1992)
“WE DON'T WANT TO GIVE ANYBODY SLEEPLESS NIGHTS." Spooktober Vol. 2 is upon us, and as part of our favorite season of the year, we're tackling 1992's GHOSTWATCH, a film that's truly unlike anything we've ever covered. We talk tricking your audience, ghosts lurking in the background, scarring...
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Aftersun (2022)
MEMORY BURNS. Quick little disclaimer: we do talk about topics relating to depression and suicide this episode. If any of that content is particularly sensitive to you, feel free to skip around with the chapters. Wrapping up our month of all female directors with Charlotte Wells' AFTERSUN, a…
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News from Home (1976)
In a hard shift into what has to be our deepest dive into arthouse cinema and the avant-garde art scene, we go back to 1976 for Chantal Akerman's NEWS FROM HOME, a film that left us legitimately speechless. We talk about how personal the film is to all of us, how painful it is, and how optimistic...
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Promising Young Woman (2020)
REVENGE NEVER LOOKED SO PROMISING. Disclaimer: we talk about some really difficult content this week, since Promising Young Woman is a film about sexual assault. We always include chapters in our episodes so you can skip around, but if you feel in any way uncomfortable with that material, feel…
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Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2000)
LITTLE ENGINES CAN DO BIG THINGS... In a really interesting double feature with last week's episode, we take a trip to Jackson's childhood with his pick for a September filled with only female directors, THOMAS AND THE MAGIC RAILROAD directed by Britt Alcroft. Alec Baldwin snorting something that...
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Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses (2006) with Carson
ENCHANTED DANCING IN A MAGICAL WORLD! In one of our longest and silliest episodes to date, we take the plunge into the magical world of BARBIE IN THE 12 DANCING PRINCESSES, guided by our good friend and Barbie historian Carson! She lectures us on the history of the Mattel straight-to-DVD Barbie...
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Rocky II (1979)
ONCE HE FOUGHT FOR A DREAM. NOW HE'S FIGHTING FOR LOVE! A huge conclusion to our sequel month run with one of Sutherland's favorite movies of all time, ROCKY II! If you thought Blade Runner was heated...it still is but this one is also incredibly contentious! We talk how to construct a good…
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Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
CAPTAIN JACK IS BACK! After three weeks off from recording, we're so unbelievably back talking about one of the most iconic films to our generation, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST. We talk about theme park rides being adapted into film, grungy gross visual effects that have never been...
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Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
THE KEY TO THE FUTURE IS FINALLY UNEARTHED. You know the movie, I don't have to intro it for you. BLADE RUNNER 2049 is one of the most beloved movies of the 2010s, an instantly iconic film of the science fiction genre. We talk through Roger Deakins being at the top of his game, Ryan Gosling…
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Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)
JUSTICE IS COMING. Unfortunately, we have once again been reached. In this very special throwback episode of Film Explorers, we return to the genesis of the show with one of the longest running bits in our short history, JACK REACHER: NEVER GO BACK. We talk studio cash-grabs, Tom Cruise clenching...
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Men in Black (1997)
PROTECTING THE EARTH FROM THE SCUM OF THE UNIVERSE. This week, we're rounding out our blockbuster slate for the month of July with another classic '90s Will Smith joint MEN IN BLACK! We talk about Josh staying winning with these picks (don't worry, that doesn't last long), Vincent D'onofrio being...
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BONUS: First Cow (2019)
A SIMPLE WESTERN ABOUT THE ORIGIN OF THE AMERICAN DREAM. In a very special bonus episode for Josh's birthday, they chose one of their all-time favorite films to get the feature presentation treatment on the show with Kelly Reichardt's FIRST COW! We talk through the beauty in Reichardt's…
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E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
HE IS AFRAID. HE IS ALONE. HE IS THREE MILLION LIGHT YEARS FROM HOME. In a month where we're covering some of the biggest blockbusters of all time, we had to go to the father of them all: the man, the myth, the legend Steven Spielberg and his seminal '80s classic E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL. We…
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BONUS: Absurdly Early Oscar Predictions (2025)
If you've been craving more random bonus conversations, do we have something perfect for you. Here's nearly two hours of Josh and Sutherland having a stupid laid-back conversation about a bunch of movies they haven't seen yet! Seriously though, Oscar predictions at this point in the year (and...
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Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
REVENGE IS COMING. Listen, I know what you're thinking. Why are we covering the second movie in one of the worst film franchises to ever grace the silver screen? We haven't even covered the first one! My answer is, I don't know why we watched TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN. I'm pretty sure…
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Independence Day (1996)
EARTH. TAKE A GOOD LOOK. IT MIGHT BE YOUR LAST. We're going back, back to the one that started it all. Somehow Roland Emmerich returned, and after we loved his universally panned Moonfall, what do we all think of his undisputed American classic INDEPENDENCE DAY? We talk big stupid dumb action, we...
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Film Explorers have?
Film Explorers currently has 108 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Film Explorers about?
Exploring the bounds of cinema every week!
How often does Film Explorers release new episodes?
Film Explorers publishes regularly with 108 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Film Explorers?
You can listen to Film Explorers on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Film Explorers?
Film Explorers is created and hosted by Film Explorers.
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