Watch With Jen‪™‬ Jen Johans

As promised, Watch With Jen is back with your second brand-new time-sensitive episode of the week! And my goodness, it's a stellar conversation that writers, book lovers, WWII history buffs, & fans of awesome heroines will love.
Returning to the podcast today, we have the terrific Susan Elia MacNeal. The NY Times bestselling author of the Maggie Hope mystery series and the standalone MOTHER, DAUGHTER, TRAITOR, SPY, Susan Elia MacNeal has won the Barry Award & has also been nominated for the Edgar, Macavity, Agatha, Left Coast Crime, Dilys, ITW Thriller, & other awards. A Brooklyn resident, where she lives with her husband & son, Susan is back to talk about kickass women & especially her intrepid spy Maggie Hope, since the wonderful final installment of that series, THE LAST HOPE, releases on May 21 (today!).
Consider this the sequel to our lovely, wide-ranging Season 3 conversation about Spy Movies, since it ties in with our topic. Sharing some behind-the-scenes information about researching & writing her beloved WWII Maggie Hope series, Susan also drops some incredible news about an upcoming series that I can't wait to get to dig into, & celebrates three great films about Kickass Women working together - FEMALE AGENTS, WIDOWS, & OCEAN'S EIGHT.
Originally Posted on Patreon (5/21/24) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/104666818
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We're back from our short spring hiatus this week with a very special conversation featuring my friend & occasional co-host, the wonderful Senior Vice President of The Black List, Kate Hagen. Joining us today are two of our favorite women & returning guests, the fabulous writer-director, cinephile, & retired professor Allison Anders, & her incredibly in-demand music supervisor daughter Tiffany Anders. Allison, of course, is the great filmmaker behind such contemporary classics as GAS FOOD LODGING, MI VIDA LOCA, GRACE OF MY HEART, & THINGS BEHIND THE SUN, & Tiffany Anders is the tastemaker & music supervisor behind RESERVATION DOGS, PEN15, & BEEF.
Passionate about music - especially rock & its intersection with film - they're here today to tell us all about the upcoming triumphant return of their beloved early aught Los Angeles-based film festival Don't Knock the Rock (aka DKTR), which showcases hard-to-see & overlooked music documentaries & rock classics & boasts Master Classes, Special Guests, discussions with filmmakers, & more. This year's festival is particularly exciting because it has both an in-person component at the American Cinematheque Los Feliz 3, which runs from May 23-27, & a streaming festival hosted by Cineville from May 23-July 31 that everyone can access. Filled with stories about music, movies, records, LA, & more, this breezy, infectiously delightful discussion is a perfect summery weekend listen!
Originally Posted on Patreon (5/18/24) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/104487153
Theme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive
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Welcome to our first Physical Media episode of 2024. Joining me today, we have a terrific quartet of movie minds discussing a handful of titles newly released on disc, including novelist Alison Gaylin on TO DIE FOR, podcaster-critic Blake Howard on CONTAGION, filmmaker Chris McKay on THE SHOOTIST & THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE, & podcaster-critic Rachel Wagner on FOOTLOOSE (1984). Additionally, you'll hear me cover the new Criterion box set of Eric Rohmer's TALES OF THE FOUR SEASONS & the new Blu-ray edition of the Anthony Mann western THE TIN STAR solo. A wonderful compilation episode that provides lively commentary, excellent film references, & double feature ideas, plus hilarity & tangents galore, I hope you have as much fun listening to this series of conversations as I did having them.
Note: This is the last new episode of Watch With Jen before a brief April hiatus but rest assured, we have so much more in store for you this season when we return in May. Also, Patreon subscribers will begin finding more writing & other surprises waiting for them shortly.
Originally Posted on Patreon (4/10/24) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/102095895
Theme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive
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In this ambitious research-filled exploration of one of Italian cinema's most fascinating & influential figures, Canadian actor-writer-podcaster Robert Bellissimo returns to the podcast to discuss the singularly daring maestro Luchino Visconti. An aristocratic count turned Socialist who fought the Nazis as a member of the Italian Resistance & was sentenced to death before fate & history intervened & he was eventually able to testify & help sentence to death the man who tortured him during WWII, Luchino Visconti is a man who lived a thousand lifetimes before he became one of the most acclaimed & groundbreaking directors of the twentieth century.
The man behind arguably the first Neorealist feature, the film noir OSSESSIONE (which was made before Hollywood adapted the same James M. Cain novel as THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE), in this rich episode, we discuss three of his towering, staggeringly beautiful, & emotionally devastating works, including ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS (which inspired both THE GODFATHER & RAGING BULL), THE LEOPARD, & DEATH IN VENICE. Delving into the history, significance, analysis, text, & subtext of these remarkable movies, this is a conversation to listen to with a notebook as it might send you on the hunt for more incredible features.
Robert's Bio: Robert Bellissimo is an actor, acting teacher, and YouTube video podcaster. He is also an ongoing contributor to two Toronto film critics' websites, IN THE SEATS and SCREENFISH. Robert's YouTube channel - Robert Bellissimo at the Movies - is an exploration of all things cinema, which includes reviews and in-depth interviews with guests who work in film.
Originally Posted on Patreon (3/26/24) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/101108059
Theme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive
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This week, I'm delighted to be joined once again by my good friend Kate Hagen, who is the Senior Vice President of The Black List. Returning to the show for another conversation with some of our favorite independent filmmaking heroes, in the past, we've spoken to such greats as writer-director Allison Anders and actors turned producers Amy Robinson & Griffin Dunne.
Today, we're honored to be chatting with the woman who received an award naming her a New York trailblazer, writer-director Nancy Savoca, who, along with her frequent co-writer, producer, and husband Richard Guay have made such groundbreaking & beloved award-winning & critically acclaimed indies as TRUE LOVE, DOGFIGHT, HOUSEHOLD SAINTS, THE 24 HOUR WOMAN, and more.
A must for fans of independent filmmaking of the '80s & '90s, in this illuminating discussion, Nancy & Rich chronicle not only their journey as filmmakers but more recently, their incredibly vital work on behalf of MissingMovies.org to try to locate, preserve, and safeguard indies for future generations.
Originally Posted on Patreon (3/20/24) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/100694293
Theme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive
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Welcome to the finale of our podcast miniseries devoted to celebrating the 1988 contemporary classic, action buddy comedy MIDNIGHT RUN, written by George Gallo & directed by Martin Brest. Produced & hosted by Blake Howard & Jen Johans of One Heat Minute Productions & Watch With Jen, respectively, over the past 12 weeks, you've heard us explore the film we first bonded over when we became friends in 2019 by surfing through an incredible roster of guests from journalists to novelists & beyond who love it as much as we do. If you've missed previous discussions or are just discovering the show today, you'll find all 12 installments available wherever you get your pods in the One Heat Minute Productions & Watch With Jen podcast feeds.
All good things must come to an end & this episode, lovingly edited by Blake Howard sends the show off on a beautiful note with a thoughtful & candid conversation with MIDNIGHT RUN screenwriter George Gallo that's inter-spliced with select excerpts from Charles Grodin's memoirs, performed by the incredible character & voice acting legend, Mr. James Urbaniak. Whether you're listening on a plane, train, bus, car, or running or walking, this is the perfect spring travel partner for you & we want to thank you so much for taking us along with you on your journey. See you in the next life (....or maybe in a future bonus episode).
Note: Since this is our finale, you'll hear the next new episode of Watch With Jen next week!
Originally Posted on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/100356852