Podcasts by I Do Movies Badly

IDMB Auld Lang Syne Off from 2021-01-03T10:54:17

After a long and edifying journey, Jim (again) says goodbye to I Do Movies Badly and the friends he made along the way.

IDMB Episode 215 - Introduction to Christmas Horror (featuring Alonso Duralde) from 2020-12-08T23:02:22

Alonso Duralde, podcaster extraordinaire and author of "Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas," returns t...

IDMB Episode 214 - Possession (1981) from 2020-12-03T22:17:55

In the pantheon of IDMB movies that have befuddled me, there's Igmar Bergman's Person, Andrei Tarkovsky's The Mirror, Kim Ki-duk's The Isles, and now, there's Andrzej Zulawski's Possession.

IDMB Episode 213 - House (1977) from 2020-11-24T21:28:05

House is uh...an indescribable film. Avant-garde haunted house horror-comedy, Obayashi's absurdist answer to Jaws is technically innovative, off the wall ridiculous, and a seeming deconstruction...

IDMB Episode 212 - The Killing of a Sacred Deer from 2020-11-17T21:23:55

The Killing of a Sacred Deer is a darkly comic tale of moral and social rigidity in which an unseen act brings out the inherent darkness in its protagonist. The balance that Lanthimos strikes be...

IDMB Episode 211 - Introduction to Highbrow Horror (featuring Benny Krown) from 2020-11-11T18:51:08

Benny Krown returns to I Do Movies Badly for the November (and a little bit of December) theme of Highbrow Horror! The guest whose last appearance to talk about Abbas Kiarostami has equal preten...

IDMB Episode 210 - Ma from 2020-10-28T19:24:35

Ma is neither great nor terrible, though its quality would certainly lean more towards the latter if not for the casting of and rewriting for Octavia Spencer, whose portrayal of a character not ...

IDMB Episode 209 - Get Out from 2020-10-21T22:14:50

What can be said about a film that in just 3 years has already been canonized as a classic and has inspired classes in academia? All I can really add to the conversation about Get Out are the re...

IDMB Episode 208 - The People Under the Stairs from 2020-10-13T18:50:05

First and foremost, thanks to everyone who contributed in some way - big or small - in helping me surpass 100,000 downloads! 

Second and..er...secondmost(?), Wes Craven's The People Under...

IDMB Episode 207 - Introduction to Racial Reckoning Films (featuring Mark H. Harris) from 2020-10-05T18:09:33

If you've ever been to BlackHorrorMovies.com or watched the fabulous documentary, Ho...

IDMB Episode 206 - The Prophecy from 2020-09-23T17:49:48

The Prophecy has a really cool premise - angels seeking an edge over other angels to win the second war in Heaven! - and some enjoyable campy performances, but is a badly disjointed film (whethe...

IDMB Episode 205 - Frailty from 2020-09-15T20:06:19

Unlike some films (here's looking at you, The Usual Suspects), Frailty holds up very well on a second viewing, probably because there's more to it than just the twist, like the honest depiction ...

IDMB Episode 204 - The Exorcist from 2020-09-09T13:44:23

Almost 50 years after its release, why is The Exorcist such an enduring, powerful horror film? I am obviously the first to ever ask this question about this cinematic classic, so allow me to ans...

IDMB Episode 203 - Introduction to Religious Horror Films (featuring Spooky Doings) from 2020-09-02T15:33:29

Chelsea Bennington and Rick Guzman, who started the Spooky Doings improv group that in turn inspired the titular podcast, join I Do Movies Badly to talk about the advent of their horror-themed i...

IDMB Episode 202 - Near Dark from 2020-08-27T18:56:01

The journey for the perfect metaphor ends with Near Dark, a wonderfully directed film that subverts the expectations of the Western genre, but that also signals that the "Others" are vile, blood...

IDMB Episode 201 - The Lost Boys from 2020-08-18T18:37:13

When Joel Schumacher took over directing The Lost Boys, he made some big changes to the initial idea including making the vampires older, making them sexier, and, by extension, making our hetero...

IDMB Episode 200 - Fright Night (1985) from 2020-08-12T20:33:34

Happy 200th Episode to and from I Do Movies Badly! But enough mushy stuff - let's talk about the original Fright Night, a film that seems to be find its queer coded vampire character infinitely ...

IDMB Episode 199 - Introduction to the Queer Vampire Cycle (featuring Terry Mesnard of Gayly Dreadful) from 2020-08-04T14:16:34

Terry Mesnard of Gayly Dreadful brings some new blood (pardon the pun) to I Do Movies Badly to discuss films of the Queer Vampire Cycle. Terry talks ...

IDMB Episode 198 - Class of 1984 from 2020-07-28T21:53:41

Did Mark L. Lester, the man behind Commando, intend us to take Class of 1984 to be a satire of the overblown panic about violence in schools or a gravely serious warning about what he deemed an ...

IDMB Episode 197 - My Bloody Valentine (1981) from 2020-07-21T20:44:06

There does seem at first to be something clever and subversive about setting a slasher film on Valentine's Day...until you remember that Valentine's Day is a Hallmark holiday and My Bloody Valen...

IDMB Episode 196 - Black Christmas (1974) from 2020-07-16T20:54:56

Black Christmas has earned its reputation as a seminal horror film, with Bob Clark's directorial choices and effective subversion of the Christmas holiday season establishing its influence for d...

IDMB Episode 195 - Intro to Canuxploitation (featuring David Bax of Battleship Pretension) from 2020-07-07T17:09:47

David Bax remains the only I Do Movies Badly guest to actively pitch me topics and thus, he returns for the second time in three months to discuss some Listen

IDMB Episode 193 - Resolution from 2020-06-26T09:53:24

Who'd have thought that it was a review from IMDb cluing me into how Resolution, a film that I initially wrote off as "two guys who did the best they could with what they had," was actually a me...

IDMB Episode 192 - Spring from 2020-06-16T16:37:04

Benson and Moorhead's Spring is a marvelous exploration of suspense over surprise, focusing on two closed off characters whose world views of objectification stem from their vulnerabilities and ...

IDMB Episode 191 - Introduction to Benson&Moorhead (featuring The Pod and the Pendulum) from 2020-06-09T13:57:51

It only made sense to bring in the first pair of guests in IDMB history to converse about the first directing pair being covered in IDMB history! Jerr...

IDMB Episode 190 - Lone Star from 2020-05-28T17:33:31

Lone Star is, for better and for worse, an efficient encapsulation of the two things that make John Sayles films well, John Sayles films: his earnest filmmaking and his egalitarianism towards hi...

IDMB Episode 189 - Eight Men Out from 2020-05-20T11:48:37

Eight Men Out is a pretty faithful and earnest retelling of the 1919 "Black Sox" Scandal...to the film's detriment. More concerned with compiling a mostly historically accurate checklist of what...

IDMB Episode 188 - The Brother From Another Planet from 2020-05-12T21:31:22

The protagonist in The Brother From Another Planet doesn't speak one word throughout the entire film, but allows the people that he meets and the neighborhood in which he meets them to tell us a...

IDMB Episode 187 - Introduction to John Sayles (featuring James McCormick) from 2020-05-05T20:46:09

He was tutored by Roger Corman like Coppola, Scorsese, and Dante. He's worked with actors like Chris Cooper, Matthew McConaughey, David Strathairn, and Angela Bassett. He's done script doctering...

IDMB Episode 186 - Man With a Movie Camera from 2020-04-29T21:00:04

With Man With a Movie Camera, Dziga Vertov pioneered many technical camera techniques (double exposure, superimposition, under/overcranking) that filmmakers would utilize regularly for decades t...

IDMB Episode 185 - Mother from 2020-04-22T10:16:37

"Dedicated propagandist" Vsevolod Pudovkin introduces us to the plight of the poor and working class with Mother, a film that reminds us all that the phrase "eat the rich" was not a contemporary...

IDMB Episode 184 - Battleship Potemkin from 2020-04-14T21:33:52

It's back to film school with the discussion of Battleship Potemkin, a film that is almost 100 years old, yet pioneered many cinematic techniques that we're still seeing implemented regularly to...

IDMB Episode 183 - Introduction to Soviet Silent Films (featuring David Bax) from 2020-04-07T11:39:50

I Do Movies Badly returns from its month-long with David Bax of Battleship Pretension in tow (tug? Like a tugboat? That's a boat joke). It's been a...

IDMB Episode 182 - The Rhythm Section from 2020-02-24T21:19:27

Reed Morano month(s) goes out with a whimper instead of a bang. From box office receipts to tepid creativity, there is no way to describe The Rhythm Section other than a disappointment. 

...

IDMB Episode 181 - I Think We're Alone Now from 2020-02-19T21:33:04

It's 13 minutes before any words are spoken in I Think We're Alone Now, but by that time, we already know all we need to about the film's main character, his world, and how he sees his role in i...

IDMB Episode 180 - The Skeleton Twins from 2020-01-29T10:03:27

The Skeleton Twins would have already been a great film thanks to the script from Mark Heyman and director Craig Johnson, but it's accentuated by the indelible mark that Reed Morano leaves on it...

IDMB Episode 179 - Meadowland from 2020-01-21T22:01:21

 Reed Morano's directorial debut is an immersive emotional journey into grief and pain, realized wonderfully by how the director/DP uses her camera. But emotion over logic doesn't always lead to...

IDMB Episode 178 - Introduction to Reed Morano (featuring Sean Meehan) from 2020-01-14T23:31:04

New York-based DP/director Sean Meehan returns to IDMB to talk about another DP/director, Reed Morano! The conversation is a little more insi...

IDMB Episode 177 - Dans Paris from 2019-12-22T15:56:19

In this final episode of 2019, Jim talks a little bit about Dans Paris (not a fan), but mostly uses it to wax poetic about Christmas and how his life has changed, is changing, and will continue ...

IDMB Episode 176 - Rare Exports from 2019-12-17T10:10:44

It would be easy to assume that Rare Exports is just a dark and cynical twist on the Christmas symbolism of which many people have grown sick, but that wouldn't do justice to the  fine line that...

IDMB Episode 175 - A Christmas Tale from 2019-12-11T11:08:29

Arnaud Desplechin's A Christmas Tale is a mix of emotions, personalities, soundtracks, powerful performances, and filmmaking tricks that masterfully encapsulates the cacophony that results from ...

IDMB Episode 174 - Foreign Language Christmas Films (featuring Alonso Duralde) from 2019-12-03T21:50:31

'Tis the season to be jolly...and for Alonso Duralde to return to I Do Movies Badly! The author of

IDMB Episode 170 - Introduction to Bong Joon-ho (featuring Jim Mickle!) from 2019-10-08T23:05:44

Writer/director Jim Mickle (Stake Land, We Are What We Are, In the Shadow of the Moon) graces I Do Movies Badly with his presence to talk abo...

IDMB Episode 169 - Close-Up from 2019-09-30T22:03:28

I'm wrapping up September with unadulterated, unfiltered Abbas Kiarostami. Close-Up, the filmmaker's second feature-length film, radiates the visual and aesthetic ambition of a young filmmaker e...

IDMB Episode 168 - Certified Copy from 2019-09-24T20:53:20

After some big news - New podcast! New co-host! Coming next week! - I get to the discussion of Certified Copy, a film that I was fully on board with for...55 minutes.

IDMB Episode 167 - Like Someone In Love from 2019-09-17T07:06:22

It doesn't take long to find application of Kiarostami's duplicity of the image. In fact, it's a theme he introduces in the very first shot of the film, setting the tone for the interplay betwee...

IDMB Episode 166 - Introduction to Abbas Kiarostami (featuring filmmaker Benny Krown) from 2019-09-09T21:07:18

New York-based filmmaker Benny Krown joins Jim in conversation to discuss the late Iranian photographer/writer/director Abbas Kiarostami. Yes, they're tw...

IDMB Episode 165 - Happy-Go-Lucky from 2019-08-27T21:11:30

I spent the entirety of Happy-Go-Lucky waiting for the other shoe to drop, for Poppy's jubilance to be exposed as a facade, for the tension and conflict I've come to expect from a Mike Leigh fil...

IDMB Episode 164 - Secrets&Lies from 2019-08-20T19:11:55

Secrets & Lies wonderfully typifies what Leigh is capable of as a director in both the performances he gets from his actors and how subtlety explores the tension between social classes. It's jus...

IDMB Episode 163 - Naked from 2019-08-06T18:50:30

Mike Leigh's Naked is lead by a phenomenal performance by David Thewlis that takes us inside the world of a self-loathing intellectual who is likely using his brilliance to keep people at an emo...

IDMB Episode 162 - Introduction to Mike Leigh (featuring Tyler Smith of Battleship Pretension) from 2019-07-30T21:39

Professor Tyler Smith makes his second appearance on I Do Movies Badly this year to discuss how he easily could have split his Mike Leigh recommendations into 2 episodes. We've only got time for...

IDMB Episode 161 - Tiny Furniture from 2019-07-11T18:54:54

Mumblecore Part 2 wraps up with the best film of the bunch, Lena Dunham's Tiny Furniture, an assured feature debut from the Girls creator that uses exemplary directorial work and semi-autobiogra...

IDMB Episode 160 - Medicine for Melancholy from 2019-06-27T09:33:20

Medicine for Melancholy may be a mumblecore film in its aesthetics, but its financial and physical confines don't hinder the film from achieving something emotionally and societally transcendent...

IDMB Episode 159 - Funny Ha Ha from 2019-06-19T23:06:32

Funny Ha Ha may be the most effective film to capture the meandering, awkward, post-college malaise in which no one had any idea what they were doing or where they were going and I never want to...

IDMB Episode 158 - Mumblecore Part 2 (featuring David Bax of Battleship Pretension) from 2019-06-10T22:38:54

We might be through with the mumblecore, but the mumblecore ain't through with us. David Bax returns to I Do Movies Badly to convince Jim to give mumblecore another chance, to explain his distas...

IDMB Episode 157 - Two Evil Eyes from 2019-05-22T11:56:51

An hour may seem like enough time to adapt an 8-page Poe short story, but it's not nearly enough time for Romero to fully and effectively explore the ambitious themes that he attempted to add to...

IDMB Episode 156 - Monkey Shines from 2019-05-13T19:36:32

Monkey Shines starts out as an inspirational tale of a man overcoming adversity with the assistance of a super smart monkey and turns into a horror story of a man trying to overcome the adversit...

IDMB Episode 155 - Season of the Witch from 2019-05-07T21:24:08

Is the pursuit of witchcraft the reason behind Joan finally taking control of her own life or was it just the decision to pursue it that finally gave her agency? More importantly, does it really...

IDMB Episode 154 - Introduction to George Romero (featuring Allie Kroeper of Bit Lip: A Teen Movie Podcast) from 2019-04-29T22:59:16

After an unintentionally long delay, I Do Movies Badly is back with a new setting, new theme, and new guest! Allie Kroeper of Bit Lip: A Teen Movie...

IDMB Favorites - Introduction to Universal Classic Monsters from 2019-03-26T23:09:35

The final favorite being revisited during this March hiatus involves a conversation with I Do Movies Badly hall-of-famer Gavin Mevius recommending me some double features of Universal classic mo...

IDMB Favorites - Introduction to Andrea Arnold from 2019-03-17T20:07:35

This walk down memory lane takes us to May 2016 where I talked with Jenni Miller, recent recipient of a failed tongue lash...

IDMB Favorites - Introduction to Film-Noir from 2019-03-10T19:11:05

Reaching all the way back to September 2016 comes this favorite episode featuring a conversation with Kristen Sales, who would later return to the show to discuss the films of Jim Jarmusch. The ...

IDMB Favorites - Introduction to Guillermo del Toro from 2019-03-03T20:08:48

Just because I'm on hiatus doesn't mean I'm not giving you something to listen to! Revisit some of my favorite conversations from I Do Movies Badly's past beginning with the Introduction to Guil...

IDMB Episode 153 - The Freshman from 2019-02-25T22:10:15

Your enjoyment of The Freshman can be perfectly predicted based on the tried and true formula that Harold Lloyd laid out in Girl Shy and Safety Last! previously: tell the perpetually true story ...

IDMB Episode 152 - Safety Last! from 2019-02-20T21:56:33

Safety Last! may only last a brief 1 hour and 7 minutes, but that was long enough to create an image that would resonate with film audiences almost 100 years later!

IDMB Episode 151 - Girl Shy from 2019-02-11T22:29:10

I was expecting a gag film and I got a character story instead. Luckily, the characters of Harold Meadows and Mary Buckingham were so relatable and likable that I was fully invested in their sto...

IDMB Episode 150 - Introduction to Harold Lloyd (featuring Tyler Smith of Battleship Pretension) from 2019-02-05T22:46:10

Tyler Smith becomes the first member of the BP Fleet to guest on I Do Movies Badly since it returned to discuss the films of silent film actor, Harold Lloyd. The recipient of an MFA from UCLA ta...

IDMB Episode 149 - The Tree of Life from 2019-01-30T20:30:01

The Tree of Life kicks off with a Bible quote from a book that should signal to you that - surprise! - there will be no easy answers. But when it comes to themes like creation, existence, signif...

IDMB Episode 148 - The Thin Red Line from 2019-01-22T21:00:07

According to David Sterritt, The Thin Red Line is a film about the harmony of the universe. Acc...

IDMB Episode 147 - Badlands from 2019-01-14T20:13

Was Terrence Malick a genius with a clear directorial vision or a newcomer with no clear idea on what he wanted to do? It's perfectly understandable to derive one or the other - or both - when w...

IDMB Episode 146 - Introduction to Terrence Malick (featuring Andrew DeSelm) from 2019-01-08T20:43:51

In this, the longest episode in I Do Movies Badly history, the conversation between Jim and guest, Andrew DeSelm, emulates the tone of its subject in its m...

IDMB Episode 145 - Trapped in Paradise from 2018-12-23T13:10:42

Trapped in Paradise may not be a great film - it may not even be a particularly good film - but it's quite a solid Christmas film if you, unlike Listen

IDMB Episode 143 - Millions from 2018-12-12T23:27:54

In order to understand Millions, one must first understand Danny Boyle. Once one appreciates the latter, one will see how his directorial trademarks brought out the best in this script.

IDMB Episode 142 - Offbeat Christmas Films (featuring Alonso Duralde of Linoleum Knife) from 2018-12-05T19:26:02

It's December and you know what that means: twinkling lights, jolly carols, and Alonso Duralde. The co-host of Linoleum Knife stops ...

IDMB Episode 141 - The Ladykillers from 2018-11-26T23:04:09

Ealing Studios Comedies month comes to an end with The Ladykiller, a film that doesn't re-invent the wheel cinematically, but which is still an absolute delight that goes to show not every film ...

IDMB Episode 140 - The Man in the White Suit from 2018-11-19T22:31:29

Kind Hearts and Coronets may have been delightful, but The Man in the White Suit is delightful! A great comedic performance from Alec Guinness centers a film with a clear focus on what it's sati...

IDMB Episode 139 - Kind Hearts and Coronets from 2018-11-13T21:12:38

Jim keeps this episode on Kind Hearts and Coronets light and airy, just like the film itself. 

IDMB Episode 138 - Introduction to Ealing Comedies (featuring Gavin Mevius of The Mixed Reviews) from 2018-11-11T21:11:45

I Do Movies Badly hall-of-famer Gavin Mevius returns to bring some joy back to the world (or, at the very least, to the podcast) by recommending some comedies from Britain's Ealing Studios! Gavi...

IDMB Episode 137 - Opera from 2018-10-30T21:01:03

October month wraps up with Opera, the best example of what makes up a Dario Argento film both for good and ill. But mainly ill. Jim's done with torturing and objectifying women, thanks very muc...

IDMB Episode 136 - Phenomena from 2018-10-23T20:06:40

Now that we've established how to make a giallo, we'll explore how Dario Argento makes a giallo: with a soundtrack that doesn't make sense, troubling attitudes towards women, and a monkey that s...

IDMB Episode 135 - The Cat o' Nine Tails from 2018-10-17T21:50:23

In order to appreciate Dario Argento, one must first fully appreciate the giallo genre. So, Jim sets out to do just that in this episode, analyizing what constitutes good giallo in order to unde...

IDMB Episode 134 - Introduction to Dario Argento (featuring James McCormick of That's Not Current) from 2018-10-10T19:35:09

Somehow, Jim and James manage to get sidetracked before the discussion on Argento even begins, but the two eventually do get around to talking about the legendary giallo filmmaker. The two discu...

IDMB Episode 133 - Cronos from 2018-09-25T20:28:47

The first shall be the last and the last shall be the first. No, it's not the Bible - it's the first film of Guillermo del Toro's career, but the last film in the month (and in Jim's heart), Cro...

IDMB Episode 132 - Crimson Peak from 2018-09-18T21:48:01

Past Jim had 3 main complaints the last time he watched Crimson Peak: everything was too on-the-nose, the scares weren't scary, and the relationships didn't work. Current Jim is here to explain ...

IDMB Episode 131 - The Devil's Backbone from 2018-09-11T22:00:16

Perhaps we shouldn't say Guillermo del Toro makes "horror" films, but rather "terror" films. Don't get me wrong - there are plenty of things to be scared of in The Devil's Backbone, but "The One...

IDMB Episode 130 - Introduction to Guillermo del Toro (featuring filmmaker Sean Meehan) from 2018-09-04T20:58:54

In the first NEW I Do Movies Badly episode in over a year, Jim talks with Sean "Undercooked Ryan Gosling" Meehan to discuss the films of Guillermo del Toro. The boys discuss the relationship bet...

IDMB Is Back! from 2018-08-30T19:12:31

After walking away from I Do Movies Badly one year ago, Jim Rohner returns to the podcast that he had intended to leave forever to lay the reasons behind the return and to hint at things to come...

IDMB Goodbye Episode from 2017-08-02T19:26:14

On this, the final episode of I Do Movies Badly, Jim bids a very fond farewell to the guests, listeners, and fans who supported the podcast throughout its tenure.

IDMB Summer Update from 2017-07-12T19:23:45

In which Jim apologizes for many things including: episode delays, continuously apologizing for episode delays, and the next episode delay as he announces - for many reasons - a hiatus for the r...

IDMB Episode 129 - Mystery Train from 2017-06-28T21:45:32

With Mystery Train, Jim says goodbye to June and Jim Jarmusch, which is fitting for a filmmaker whose elegiac work seems to deal with traveling, transitions, and hanging onto a pride from times ...

IDMB Episode 128 - Dead Man from 2017-06-20T21:18:24

All the quirks and indie filmmaking tropes that made Paterson work seem not to make Dead Man work.

IDMB Episode 127 - Paterson from 2017-06-12T21:08:48

Why is it when nothing supposedly happens (during the mundane, the routine, the regular), we assume that art can't be found? Paterson - both the film and the man in the film - are able to find t...

IDMB Episode 126 - Introduction to Jim Jarmusch (featuring Kristen Sales) from 2017-06-06T20:20:20

You know what's cool? Rock and roll music. Sloths. Jim Jarmusch. Kristen Sales espouses the coolness of all of these things, but it is primarily with Jim Jarmusch, the New York City-based musici...

IDMB Episode 125 - F for Fake from 2017-05-30T20:51:56

A documentary about some of the world's most famous fakers from one of cinema's greatest fakers. I mean that as a compliment.