Bill & Claire's Excellent Adventures

Bill & Claire
  • 5.0 (7)
  • FILM HISTORY

Parenting while watching movies feels like a minefield. Bill's challenge is how to introduce his 10-year-old daughter Claire, at her own request, to more complex entertainment than Saturday morning cartoons.  So, they are going on an adventure to expand her cinematic horizons. Each episode, they'll watch a movie and then have a conversation to analyze what they saw. Listen along with your kids and let us know what they think!

  1. 03/10/2020

    West Side Story

    This week, we continue our exploration of musicals! Our second film in this series is the 1961 smash hit: West Side Story. Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblin, Rita Moreno, and George Chakiris star in this musical about star crossed lovers set against a backdrop of racially motivated gang violence in 1950's New York City. We set out to explore the doomed romance, but quickly get swept up in Cold War history lessons, representation and racism in Hollywood, the importance of authentic voices when telling someone else's story, and much more. Whether you are a longtime lover of musicals or new to the genre, we invite you to bring your snapping fingers and mambo with us through this entry in musical cinema history. Join us! Fill in some of your cinematic gaps as we venture into what we've dubbed #OperationDancingShoes.  Follow the podcast @BaCEAPodcast on Twitter. Don’t forget to leave a review or comment. And as always, thank you for listening. Let us know, what did your kids think of this one? Bill & Claire's Excellent Adventures is an In The Mouth of Dorkness production. Follow them @ITMODcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

    1h 3m

  2. 02/18/2020

    Singin' In The Rain

    This week, we kick off our exploration of musicals! Our first film in this series is the 1952 spectacle: Singin' In The Rain. Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, and Donald O'Connor sing and dance their way into our hearts in this film about Hollywood's transition from silent pictures to talkies. Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly direct, and we get to really see what the "King of Musicals" (Donen) and one of the most talented dancers ever to grace the silver screen (Kelly) can do when given relatively free creative control of a film. We dig into the artistry of the film and analyzing the character of Lena Lamont in particular (masterfully played by Jean Hagen).  Whether you are a longtime lover of musicals or new to the genre, we invite you to partner with us for this waltz through musical cinema history. Join us! Fill in some of your cinematic gaps as we venture into what we've dubbed #OperationDancingShoes. This operation name is somewhat contested, as you'll hear in the episode. Follow the podcast @BaCEAPodcast on Twitter. Don’t forget to leave a review or comment. And as always, thank you for listening. Let us know, what did your kids think of this one? Bill & Claire's Excellent Adventures is an In The Mouth of Dorkness production. Follow them @ITMODcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

    58 min

  3. 02/11/2020

    Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds

    This week, we conclude our dive into the films of Alfred Hitchcock! Our final film in the series is the 1963 classic: The Birds. Tippi Hedren and Rod Taylor star in this thriller as Melanie and Mitch, a young would-be couple who find their mutual flirting interrupted by a bizarre phenomenon of birds of all species attacking people and property in the small fishing community of Bodega Bay, California. Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette, and Veronica Cartwright round out the cast. We dig into the ethics of directing a cast, the pressures placed on actors on film sets, the Oscars, and some detours into Florida Man and politics. It was a wild chat befitting an action-packed treasure from the Master of Suspense. Join us! Fill in some of your cinematic gaps as we venture into what we've dubbed #OperationMasterOfSuspense. This operation name is extremely on the nose. I know. Follow the podcast @BaCEAPodcast on Twitter. Don’t forget to leave a review or comment. And as always, thank you for listening. Let us know, what did your kids think of this one? Bill & Claire's Excellent Adventures is an In The Mouth of Dorkness production. Follow them @ITMODcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

    58 min

  4. 02/04/2020

    Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window

    This week, we continue our dive into the films of Alfred Hitchcock! Our next film in the series was a first-watch and big hit for all of us: Rear Window. Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly delivered phenomenal performances as L.B. Jefferies, the temporarily incapacitated world-traveling photographer and Lisa Fremont, the wealthy socialite fashionista. While confined to his apartment recovering from an injury, Jefferies believes he witnesses the coverup to a grisly murder of one of his neighbors. He and Fremont set about trying to prove that a murder has taken place despite the disbelief of the police. We talk sound design and the tragedy of the commons as it relates to our fixation on the macabre. Claire talks about her plans to create her own film adaptation, and we debate theories about who actually dun it. Join us! Fill in some of your cinematic gaps as we venture into what we've dubbed #OperationMasterOfSuspense. This operation name is extremely on the nose. I know. Follow the podcast @BaCEAPodcast on Twitter. Don’t forget to leave a review or comment. And as always, thank you for listening. Let us know, what did your kids think of this one? Bill & Claire's Excellent Adventures is an In The Mouth of Dorkness production. Follow them @ITMODcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

    58 min

  5. 01/28/2020

    Alfred Hitchcock's Rope

    This week, we continue our dive into the films of Alfred Hitchcock! Our second film in the series was a first-watch for all of us: Rope. The movie features incredible performances by Jimmy Stewart, John Dall, and Farley Granger. It was written by the phenomenal Arthur Laurents, most famous for writing the script to West Side Story and based on a 1929 play by Patrick Hamilton. The film features Brandon and Philip, a couple attempting to get away with murder. Stewart plays their prep school mentor who unwittingly inspired the two with his sensationalist theories on elitism and survival of the superior. In our discussion, we touch on classism, LGBTQ representation in film, the artistry of cinematography, and acquired tastes.  Join us! Fill in some of your cinematic gaps as we venture into what we've dubbed #OperationMasterOfSuspense. This operation name is extremely on the nose. I know. Follow the podcast @BaCEAPodcast on Twitter. Don’t forget to leave a review or comment. And as always, thank you for listening. Let us know, what did your kids think of this one? Bill & Claire's Excellent Adventures is an In The Mouth of Dorkness production. Follow them @ITMODcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

    59 min

  6. 01/21/2020

    Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho

    This week, we're starting a dive into the films of Alfred Hitchcock! Our first film in the series is an all-time classic: Psycho. The movie features some amazing performances from Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh. Though, they had some really terrific roles to work with given the script. I confess, I only saw this movie all the through for the first time a year or two ago at our Alamo Drafthouse. It's funny, these movies baked into the zeitgeist, sometimes it feels like we've seen them when we haven't. I'm really looking forward to sharing these movies with Claire, and I anticipate a couple of first time watches for myself.  Join us! Fill in some of your cinematic gaps as we venture into what we've dubbed #OperationMasterOfSuspense. This operation name is extremely on the nose. I know. Follow the podcast @BaCEAPodcast on Twitter. Don’t forget to leave a review or comment. And as always, thank you for listening. Let us know, what did your kids think of this one? Bill & Claire's Excellent Adventures is an In The Mouth of Dorkness production. Follow them @ITMODcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

    49 min

  7. 01/14/2020

    Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water

    Last week, we concluded #OperationUniversalHorror with Creature From The Black Lagoon. We were so sad to see it go we just had to add Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water to the line-up. Claire had mentioned she wanted something with more dancing and kissing and, well. This creature feature had it all! ...Including a really disturbing sex scene that I had totally forgotten about! We start out our chat with that scene, consent, and bodily autonomy. We explore similar themes to the classic Universal horror monster films with a discussion about Othering and what it means to exclude people with arbitrary definitions of "Normal." Claire also digs into Damsels In Distress and how Eliza (Sally Hawkins) is an awesome hero in this film! Follow the podcast @BaCEAPodcast on Twitter. Don’t forget to leave a review or comment. And as always, thank you for listening. Let us know, what did your kids think of this one? Bill & Claire's Excellent Adventures is an In The Mouth of Dorkness production. Follow them @ITMODcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

    45 min

  8. 01/07/2020

    Creature From The Black Lagoon

    Welcome to 2020! We're excited about the new year and all the amazing films to come. This week, we conclude #OperationUniversalHorror with Creature From The Black Lagoon. We're sad to see this chapter go, but we had a blast going through these movies. Plus, we're ending on a high note because this movie is gorgeous and awesome. Shout out to Mallory O'Meara and her amazing book "The Lady From The Black Lagoon" about Milicent Patrick, the actual designer of Gill-Man. Our ITMODCast ChatCast episode from the Chattanooga Film Festival is what inspired this deep dive. Claire saw her book and insisted I get her a copy of her own. You should buy the book! Follow the podcast @BaCEAPodcast on Twitter. Don’t forget to leave a review or comment. And as always, thank you for listening. Let us know, what did your kids think of this one? Bill & Claire's Excellent Adventures is an In The Mouth of Dorkness production. Follow them @ITMODcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

    52 min
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5
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

Parenting while watching movies feels like a minefield. Bill's challenge is how to introduce his 10-year-old daughter Claire, at her own request, to more complex entertainment than Saturday morning cartoons.  So, they are going on an adventure to expand her cinematic horizons. Each episode, they'll watch a movie and then have a conversation to analyze what they saw. Listen along with your kids and let us know what they think!

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