Alternate Sides James Lavino & Sam Neave

It’s a special holiday episode! We’re deviating from our usual chronology to talk about Jon Favreau’s 2003 Christmas classic, Elf, starring Will Ferrell, Zooey Deschanel, and James Caan. And it turns out that neither of us had ever seen this movie before this week. Plus: Ferris Bueller, overripe fruit, and “cross-hatched” dreams.LINKS:Trailer for ElfWill Ferrell takes a dart to the neck in Old SchoolWill Ferrell imitates a cat in his SNL auditionM. Ward sings Bowie's "Let's Dance"

This week we close out Season One of the podcast with a conversation about Ingmar Bergman’s family epic Fanny and Alexander, starring Bertil Guve, Ewa Fröling, and Jan Malmsjö.Plus: wind chimes, bookstore etiquette, and Gloomhaven.LINKS:Trailer for Fanny and AlexanderArt Garfunkel in the studioChevy Chase can't get left, from European Vacation

This week we discuss Michael Mann’s gritty debut feature, Thief, starring James Caan and Tuesday Weld.Plus: spa treatments, house cats, and Pink Floyd knockoffs.LINKS:Trailer for ThiefThe VEMI treatmentSteve Martin makes coffee in Dead Men Don't Wear PlaidThe end of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” (starting at 4:20)“Confrontation”, the final music cue in Thief (starting at 0:40)

This week we explore David Lynch’s black-and-white period drama The Elephant Man, starring Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, and Anne Bancroft.Plus: Just how bad was James’s first screenplay?LINKS:Trailer for The Elephant ManMichael Jackson bids for Merrick's bonesThree pages from The Mourning Cloak (1999)

This week we tackle two movies. Hal Ashby’s American satire Being There, starring Peter Sellers; and Terry Jones’s biblical spoof Monty Python’s Life of Brian, starring the Pythons.Plus: blooper reels, the death of Black Panther, and the apparently ambiguous ending of Planet of the Apes.LINKS:Trailer for Being ThereTrailer for Monty Python's Life of BrianJames's mother's eyes in Twelve MonkeysTrailer for Not the Messiah (with glimpse of James, in back row, at 0:48)

This week we discuss Terence Malick’s luminous period drama Days of Heaven, starring Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, and Sam Shepard.Plus: Virgil’s Eclogues, group dynamics, and the Identified Patient.LINKS:Trailer for Days of HeavenSteve Coogan's impression of Richard Gere (from The Trip)The "identified patient"