The Playlist Podcast Network

Ryan Oliver and Jenny Nulf (No Excuses) look back on Summer 2019: the up's, the down's, the winner's, the loser's, and the existential dread about what theatrical moviegoing will look like over the next couple years. The two discuss a myriad of titles that did not get a proper review on The Discourse over the summer, starting with films they both saw, then moving to ones only one of them saw. 0:00-14:00: Thoughts on the Summer Movie Season 14:00-56:12: Films We Both Saw John Wick: Chapter 3 Always Be My Maybe Plus One Non-Fiction Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark Ready or Not 56:13-End: Other Films We Saw Jenny: The Souvenir The Last Black Man in San Francisco The Third Wife Tigers Are Not Afraid Invader ZIM: Enter the Florpus Yesterday Late Night The Lion King Ryan: Dark Phoenix Men in Black: International The Dead Don’t Die Stuber The Peanut Butter Falcon Good Boys Brittany Runs a Marathon Sword of Trust

For Episode 6 of The Fourth Wall, we head to the studio of composer Bear McCreary to discuss his diverse body of work! From the age of five, Bear developed an incredible passion for film and film music which started him on the path to becoming a film composer eventually leading him to become one of the final prodigies of Hollywood legend Elmer Bernstein. Bear's distinct blending of traditional and modern film scoring sensibilities is what sets him apart from other composers along with his drive to innovate. You'd be hard pressed to find another composer who's catalogued such a wide variety of projects with such diverse instrumentation ranging from "Battlestar Galactica", to "Outlander," to AMC's "The Walking Dead", to "10 Cloverfield Lane," to 2018's video game smash hit "God of War." 2019 might be Bear's biggest year yet as he's the musical genius behind two beloved franchises in the "Child's Play" reboot and massive summer blockbuster "Godzilla: King of the Monsters." During our conversation, we discussed growing up as film fans, his work on "Godzilla" and "Child's Play," how he managed to revitalize a classic Blue Oyster Cult B-Side track, and much more!

Ryan Oliver and Playlist Editor-in-Chief Rodrigo Perez dedicate the entire episode to the Disney/Sony fallout regarding Spider-Man in the MCU, and contextualize it to show that there are no villains in this story: it's just business. 

The new Cate Blanchett/Richard Linklater film "Where'd You Go, Bernadette" launches Noah and Chance into a Be Reel category about mothers who reject motherhood. All in vastly different life situations, the protagonists of "Bernadette" (2019), "Ricki and the Flash" (2015) and "Second Act" (2018) find a common bond in pursuing much more than what society (real or imagined) tells them they deserve. If that sounds overly serious, well, Meryl Streep growls Springsteen, Jennifer Lopez hurls a man into a Christmas tree, and Cate Blanchett rips Seattle a new one. Let's go. 

Aisling Franciosi stars in "The Nightingale," which is the summer's bravest drama or toughest watch depending whom you ask. It could be both, which is fitting of Franciosi's character, Clare, a very complicated woman out for justice against British Army officers in 1825 Australia. In this interview with Chance Solem-Pfeifer, Franciosi discusses how 'Nightingale' director Jennifer Kent would push her actors on set (and get pushed back, sometimes literally). Plus, a quick story about the day Franciosi got the call to play Lyanna Stark despite knowing nothing about "Game of Thrones."

Episode 5 of The Fourth Wall is a special one as we welcome famed James Bond composer David Arnold!  Arnold recently received two Emmy nomination for his work on the BBC and Amazon adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s “Good Omens” which features some of the composer’s most unique and diverse orchestration to date. Arnold is no stranger to working with the BBC and showrunner Steven Moffat as he also scored four seasons of the acclaimed series “Sherlock” and is currently working on music for their upcoming “Dracula” series. His film compositions range from 1998’s “Godzilla,” John Singleton’s “Shaft,” and “Independence Day,” however, Arnold is most revered and beloved for his exceptional work on five James Bond films – “Tomorrow Never Dies,” “The World is Not Enough,” “Die Another Day,” “Casino Royale,” and “Quantum of Solace.” Having been hand selected by the legendary Bond composer John Barry after a rocking Bond cover album, Arnold is considered by many fans to be the gold standard when it comes to the music of 007 - second only to Barry himself. During our conversation, we not only gushed over our love of Bond, but discussed his working relationship with Neil Gaiman on “Good Omens,” “Sherlock,” some slight tidbits on the music of BBC’s “Dracula” and much more. 

Robert Daniels (812Reviews, MediaVersity) returns to The Discourse this week to join Ryan Oliver in discussing two difficult, yet worthwhile films slowly expanding through the month of August: Jennifer Kent’s “The Nightingale” and Julius Onah’s “Luce.”   0:00-3:23: Recommendations Robert: “The Angry Birds Movie 2” 3:24-11:40: “The Nightingale” Review 11:41-20:10: “The Nightingale” ***SPOILERS*** 20:11-32:23: “Luce” Review 32:24-End: “Luce” ***SPOILERS***

Check out this interview with filmmaker Christopher Good, director of the films "Crude Oil" and "Brad Cuts Loose" and various music videos including Mitski's "Nobody."

After smaller roles in shows such as "Endeavor" and "Medici" and films such as "Fury" and "The Imitation Game," actor Jack Bannon is taking DC Television by storm as Alfred Pennyworth in the new Epix Original Series "Pennyworth." Bannon just also happens to be my guest on Episode 4 of The Fourth Wall. During our conversation Jack talked about the daunting task of joining the likes of Michael Caine and Jeremy Irons as he shaped his version of Alfred, getting to play inside the incredibly detailed and somewhat heightened version of 1960s London, approaching a character with PTSD and much more!

Every so often a "Be Reel" category arises that makes us wonder if we didn't unknowingly orchestrate the films ourselves, solely to podcast about them later. Today we discuss three films all from 1989 about deep-sea divers encountering alien life. While James Cameron's technically unparalleled "The Abyss" is the headliner (happy 30th this week), "DeepStar Six" and "Leviathan" may have their lower budget charms as well. In addition to evaluating all the mining teams and goofy beasts of this genre, Chance and Noah often ask, "What the hell were you thinking, 1989?"