Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 (Part 1)

This week we try something a little different.  We are breaking up a rather lengthy discussion of the newest Hunger Games movie into two episodes.  We begin this episode talking about the new Batman v Superman trailer and a little more Bond.  But then we get into our thoughts on the final Hunger Games movie.  Check out our part 2 episode that will be coming out next.  Subscribe on iTunes:  https://itun.es/i6gB67Y  Check out our Facebook page:  www.facebook.com/actorandengineer and follow us on twitter @actorengineer.

Frank and Project Greenlight Wrapup

This week we finish up our discussion of the fourth season of Project Greenlight and our impressions of the show and the movie.  We also talk about the film Frank.  Between the cast including Domhnall Gleeson, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Michael Fassbender (playing the titular Frank) and a director, Lenny Abrahamson (whose new movie "Room" is already getting Oscar buzz), this movie has a lot to talk about!  Subscribe on iTunes:  https://itun.es/i6gB67Y  Check out our Facebook page:  www.facebook.com/actorandengineer and follow us on twitter @actorengineer.

Spectre

Bond...James Bond is the subject of our podcast this week.  We talk about the fourth Bond movie for Daniel Craig (and the second for director Sam Mendes).  We explore the info from the Sony email hack which gave insight into how the script changed during development (probably for the better).  We also talk about the Bond women (Lea Seydoux and Monica Belucci) and the villain (Academy Award Winner Christoph Waltz).  Subscribe on iTunes:  https://itun.es/i6gB67Y  Check out our Facebook page:  www.facebook.com/actorandengineer and follow us on twitter @actorengineer.

Steve Jobs

This week we talk about the new collaboration between Aaron Sorkin and Danny Boyle that we had a hard time categorizing.  Is it a biopic?  Is it a slice-of-life movie?  Is it a tryptic?  We also talk about the Sorkin-ized dialogue and Danny Boyle's disguised thumbprint.  Fassbender, Winslet, Stuhlbarg, Daniels, Rogen...  The list goes on.  Subscribe on iTunes:  https://itun.es/i6gB67Y  Check out our Facebook page:  www.facebook.com/actorandengineer and follow us on twitter @actorengineer.

Crimson Peak

This week we try to get into the Halloween spirit by taking in writer-director Guillermo Del Toro's newest film, Crimson Peak.  Does it live up to his previous creepy films?  Or does it leave us wanting more?  How does he use the three main actors in the film (Mia Wasikowsa, Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain) and how cool is Jim Beaver's beard?  Check out the podcast to find out.  Subscribe on iTunes:  https://itun.es/i6gB67Y  Check out our Facebook page:  www.facebook.com/actorandengineer and follow us on twitter @actorengineer.

Blue Ruin

This week we talk about an independent movie that ratchets up the tension quickly and keeps it there.  The second feature by writer-director Jeremy Saulnier focuses on a man who is bent on revenge, but may not know exactly the way to go about it.  We also talk about the last few episodes of Project Greenlight and how Jason Mann is progressing with making his first feature, Leisure Class.  Subscribe on iTunes:  https://itun.es/i6gB67Y  Check out our Facebook page:  www.facebook.com/actorandengineer and follow us on twitter @actorengineer.

The Martian

This week we talk about what could be considered the first big movie of awards season.  Ridley Scott is back to sci-fi, and this time it has nothing to do with Aliens.  We talk about Matt Damon's performance in this movie that has Cast Away qualities.  We also discuss the casting choices for the supporting characters and what we think the reasoning may have been behind some of them.  Subscribe on iTunes:  https://itun.es/i6gB67Y  Check out our Facebook page:  www.facebook.com/actorandengineer and follow us on twitter @actorengineer

Actors Who Play Against Type

This week we talk about male and female actors who choose roles (or are chosen for roles) that are a bit out of their comfort zone.  We bring up a few of our favorite filmmakers and wonder how they saw the dramatic potential in comedic actors and, to a lesser extent, picking dramatic actors for more comedic roles.  Subscribe on iTunes:  https://itun.es/i6gB67Y  Check out our Facebook page:  www.facebook.com/actorandengineer and follow us on twitter @actorengineer

Black Mass

This week we talk about the new movie starring Johnny Depp as the blue-eyed, ruthless South Boston Mob leader Whitey Bulger.  Will this Scott Cooper-directed movie add to the long legacy of brilliant gangster movies?  Listen up and find out!  Subscribe on iTunes:  https://itun.es/i6gB67Y  Check out our Facebook page:  www.facebook.com/actorandengineer and follow us on twitter @actorengineer

Skeleton Twins and Project Greenlight

We spend the beginning of the episode talking about the return of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's Project Greenlight to HBO and the small furor that the first episode's "Damonspaining" created.  Then we talk about Skeleton Twins, a movie that came out last year starring Kristin Wiig and Bill Hader.  We talk about the particular sense of humor that this movie has, our views on the main performances and the stellar supporting performances.  Subscribe on iTunes:  https://itun.es/i6gB67Y  Check out our Facebook page:  www.facebook.com/actorandengineer and follow us on twitter @actorengineer

It Follows

This week we talk about an independent horror movie from 2014 that has been fairly devisive among critics and horror fans.  We discuss how the movie uses horror tropes to its advantage and where we may have some issues with the plot and the execution of the ending.  Subscribe on iTunes:  https://itun.es/i6gB67Y  Check out our Facebook page:  www.facebook.com/actorandengineer and follow us on twitter @actorengineer

City of God and Welcome to Me

This week we talk about two movies that may be considered opposites, but we attempt to connect them with some creative license.  City of God is a Brazilian film from 2002 that was nominated for multiple Oscars that we both just recently watched for the first time.  Welcome to Me is a recently released  Will Ferrell-produced Kristen Wiig movie that makes the viewer ask why they are laughing at this comedy.  We talk about that and much more.  Subscribe on iTunes:  https://itun.es/i6gB67Y  Check out our Facebook page:  www.facebook.com/actorandengineer and follow us on twitter @actorengineer

Life Itself

This week we talk about the documentary centering on one of the most influential movie critics of our time, Roger Ebert.  We talk about how his criticism has affected our movie watching and his fight with jaw cancer.  Paul starts off the episode quickly talking about his experience with the much maligned movie Fantastic Four.  Subscribe on iTunes:  https://itun.es/i6gB67Y  Check out our Facebook page:  www.facebook.com/actorandengineer and follow us on twitter @actorengineer.  

Fall 2015 Movie Preview

This week we talk about the movies that we are excited to see that are coming out in the next few months.  We talk about the blockbusters (Star Wars, Spectre, etc.), some smaller "independent" movies and even a few documentaries.  We talk about our favorite directors that have movies coming out: Tarantino, Innaritu and many more!  Subscribe on iTunes:  https://itun.es/i6gB67Y  Check out our Facebook page:  www.facebook.com/actorandengineer and follow us on twitter @actorengineer.

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

In this episode we talk about the newest addition to the Mission Impossible anthology series of movies.  Once again a different director tries his hand at directing (and writing) an adventure for Ethan Hunt and his buddies.  What worked?  What didn't? How awesome is Tom Cruise?  We talk about that and also how much of the technology that we see in this movie we believe will become a reality.  Subscribe on iTunes:  https://itun.es/i6gB67Y  Check out our Facebook page:  www.facebook.com/actorandengineer and follow us on twitter @actorengineer.

Ant-Man

We talk about the newest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, although in many ways it feels like a standalone movie that just happens to be in the Marvel Universe.  We talk about young Michael Douglas, Paul Rudd as a superhero, Evangeline Lilly just wanting to kick butt and why Michael Peña is a national treasure.  Subscribe on iTunes:  https://itun.es/i6gB67Y  Check out our Facebook page:  www.facebook.com/actorandengineer and follow us on twitter @actorengineer.