Alternate Sides

2012: The Act of Killing

We close out Season Four with Joshua Oppenheimer’s surreal and disturbing documentary The Act of Killing. Plus: the difficulties of dealing with mice, and a potential ne

2011: Margaret

This episode we explore Kenneth Lonergan’s underseen coming-of-age drama Margaret, starring Anna Paquin, J. Smith-Cameron, and Mark Ruffalo. Plus: a heat wave, the power

2010: Blue Valentine

This week we tune up our ukuleles to sing the praises of Derek Cianfrance’s romantic drama Blue Valentine, starring Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling. Plus: the magic o

2009: The White Ribbon

This week we we travel back to 1914 for Michael Haneke’s austere period drama The White Ribbon. Plus: the devaluing ubiquity of music, the less pleasant aspects of paren

2008: The Wrestler

This week we’re stepping into the ring to confront Darren Aronofsky's washed-up-tough-guy drama The Wrestler, starring Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei. Plus: Primord

2007: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

This week we saddle up for Andrew Dominik’s 2007 revisionist western The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, starring Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck. Pl

2006: The Lives of Others

This week we investigate the spies, bureaucrats, artists and lovers of Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s Cold War thriller The Lives of Others, starring Ulrich Mühe, Seb

2005: The Child

This week we push our stroller through the post-industrial Belgian streets of the Dardenne Brothers’ moral thriller The Child, starring Jérémie Renier and Déborah Françoi

2004: The 'Before' Trilogy

This week we wend our way through Richard Linklater’s decades-spanning Before trilogy, starring Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke. Plus: Sam gets a taste of empty-nesterdom, a

2003: Oldboy

This episode we hammer our way through Park Chan-wook’s action-thriller Oldboy, starring Choi Min-sik. Plus: the time Sam met Bruce Willis, and the event that almost end

2002: Minority Report

We close out season three with Steven Spielberg’s dystopian thriller Minority Report, starring Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton and Max von Sydow. Plus: the se

2001: Mulholland Dr

This week we take a slow, spiraling ride down Mulholland Dr, David Lynch’s puzzle-box fever dream starring Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, and Justin Theroux. Plus: Transcen

2000: American Psycho

This week we slash our way through Mary Harron’s satirical horror-thriller American Psycho, starring Christian Bale, Chloe Sevigny, and Willem Dafoe. Plus: The Picard Ma

1999: The Wind Will Carry Us

This week we explore Abbas Kiarostami’s meditative drama The Wind Will Carry Us, starring Behzad Dorani. Plus: Iranian hospitality, Marjie’s Broadway debut, and the movi

1998: Buffalo '66 & The Celebration

A double-bill! Vincent Gallo’s Buffalo ‘66, starring Gallo and Christina Ricci; and Thomas Vinterberg’s Festen, or The Celebration, starring Ulrich Thomsen, Paprika Steen

1997: Boogie Nights

This week we get into Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1997 kaleidoscopic end-of-an-era drama Boogie Nights, starring Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, and Burt Reynolds.  Plus: Jame

1996: Lone Star

This week we explore John Sayles’s 1996 bordertown drama Lone Star, starring Chris Cooper, Matthew McConaughey, and Kris Kristofferson.  Plus: Sam goes to the Emmys! LI

1995: Safe

This week we explore Todd Haynes’s prescient 1995 environmental-illness drama Safe, starring Julianne Moore.  Plus: Emmy nominations, James’s upcoming psilocybin journey

1994: Shallow Grave

This week we dig up Danny Boyle’s suitcase-full-of-cash thriller Shallow Grave, starring Ewan McGregor, Kerry Fox, and Christopher Eccleston. Plus: Ripley, the frustrati

1993: Carlito's Way

We kick off Season Three of the podcast with Brian De Palma’s crime drama Carlito’s Way, starring Al Pacino, Penelope Ann Miller, and Sean Penn. Plus: offensive accents,