There's Sometimes a Buggy

Elise Moore and Dave

Join Dave and Elise every week for a buggy-ride of cinematic exploration. A bilingual Montreal native and a Prairies hayseed gravitate to Toronto for the film culture, meet on OK Cupid, and spur on each other's movie-love, culminating in this podcast. Expect in-depth discussion of their old favourites (mostly studio-era Hollywood) and their latest frontiers (courtesy of the TIFF Cinematheque and various Toronto rep houses and festivals). The podcast will be comprised of several potentially never-ending series: - Fear & Moviegoing in Toronto: Our Perspectives on Choice Local Retrospectives - Hollywood Studios – Year by Year: Deep-cut dishing on Paramount, MGM, Warner Brothers, RKO, Fox, and Universal items from 1930 to 1948. - Acteurist oeuvre-views of worthy on-camera creatives, beginning with Jennifer Jones and Setsuko Hara. - And a big parade of special subjects hand-chosen by whichever of your hosts happens to have a handle on this buggy that week

  1. 15h ago

    Halloween 2026 – Halloween Dreams - CELINE & JULIE GO BOATING (1974) and FEMME FATALE (2002)

    For our Halloween 2026 episode we watched a pair of movies that, while containing instances of the supernatural or the paranormal, perhaps better earn their spooky season credentials through their radical destabilizing of any sense of a real world to contrast to dreams and magic: Jacques Rivette's Céline and Julie Go Boating (1974) and Brian De Palma's Femme Fatale (2002). We discuss the specific ways in which these movies yank the rug of mimesis out from under the viewer and the pleasures and challenges of watching and interpreting movies that are about narrative. We also squeeze in a brief discussion of the theologically radical ending of F. W. Murnau's Faust (1926), which we saw as part of the Silent Revue series with an enthusiastic crowd.  Time Codes: 0h 00m 20s:    Halloween Dreams 0h 03m 20s:    CÉLINE ET JULIE VONT EN BATEAU [1974) [dir. Jacques Rivette] 0h 54m 21s:    FEMME FATALE (2002) [Brian De Palma] 1h 36m 15s:      FEAR & MOVIE GOING IN TORONTO – F.W. Murnau's Faust (1926), part of the Silent Revue series at the Revue Cinema +++ Listen to our guest episode on The Criterion Project – a discussion of Late Spring * Marvel at our meticulously ridiculous Complete Viewing Schedule for the 2020s * Intro Song: "Sunday" by Jean Goldkette Orchestra with the Keller Sisters (courtesy of The Internet Archive) * Read Elise's piece on Gangs of New York – "Making America Strange Again" * Check out Dave's Robert Benchley blog – an attempt to annotate and reflect upon as many of the master humorist's 2000+ pieces as he can locate – Benchley Data: A Wayward Annotation Project!  Follow us on Twitter at @therebuggy Write to us at therebuggy@gmail.com We now have a Discord server - just drop us a line if you'd like to join!

    Halloween 2026 – Halloween Dreams - CELINE & JULIE GO BOATING (1974) and FEMME FATALE (2002)

  2. Oct 23

    Acteurist Spotlight – Danielle Darrieux – Part 2: RETOUR A L'AUBE (1938) and BATTEMENT DE COEUR (1940)

    In the second part of our Danielle Darrieux Acteur Spotlight, the Darrieux-Decoin collaboration keeps on giving in Return at Dawn (1938), a tonally unique film that's a little like After Hours with a female protagonist, and Beating Heart (1940), a romantic comedy with a distinctly Hollywood feel about a pickpocket and an ambassador. And in Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto, we watched a new restoration of Vidor's The Crowd at the Revue cinema. We discuss that film's wild tonal shifts, and what it means to be a clown.  Time Codes: 0h 00m 20s:    Introductory remarks on Henri Decoin and Danielle Derrieux 0h 08m 57s:    RETOUR A L'AUBE (1938) [dir. Henri Decoin] 0h 40m 31s:    BATTEMENT DE COEUR (1940) [dir. Henri Decoin] 1h 04m 22s:      FEAR & MOVIEGOING IN TORONTO – King Vidor's The Crowd (1928) at The Revue Cinema (Silent Revue series) +++ Listen to our guest episode on The Criterion Project – a discussion of Late Spring * Marvel at our meticulously ridiculous Complete Viewing Schedule for the 2020s * Intro Song: "Sunday" by Jean Goldkette Orchestra with the Keller Sisters (courtesy of The Internet Archive) * Read Elise's piece on Gangs of New York – "Making America Strange Again" * Check out Dave's Robert Benchley blog – an attempt to annotate and reflect upon as many of the master humorist's 2000+ pieces as he can locate – Benchley Data: A Wayward Annotation Project!  Follow us on Twitter at @therebuggy Write to us at therebuggy@gmail.com We now have a Discord server - just drop us a line if you'd like to join!

    Acteurist Spotlight – Danielle Darrieux – Part 2: RETOUR A L'AUBE (1938) and BATTEMENT DE COEUR (1940)

  3. Oct 16

    Hollywood Studios Year-by-Year – Paramount – 1936: BIG BROWN EYES (dir. Raoul Walsh) and WEDDING PRESENT (dir. Richard Wallace)

    This Paramount 1936 Studios Year by Year episode is a Joan Bennett and Cary Grant screwball double feature, Big Brown Eyes (directed by Raoul Walsh) and Wedding Present (directed by Richard Wallace). If the cool people used to say that Hepburn and Grant were a better pairing than Hepburn and Tracy, now they're saying that Grant and Bennett are an even better pairing than Grant and Hepburn. Or they should be, so let them know. Plus the Grant/William Demarest drunk scene in Wedding Present gives Grant and Jimmy Stewart's duet in The Philadelphia Story a run for its money. Time Codes: 0h 00m 20s:      1936 & Paramount 0h 08m 38s:      BIG BROWN EYES [dir. Raoul Walsh] 0h 29m 10s:      WEDDING PRESENT [dir. Richard Wallace]   0h 53m 25s:      So This is Sarris – From The American Cinema – Frank Tashlin +++   Studio Film Capsules provided by The Paramount Story by John Douglas Eames Additional studio information from: The Hollywood Story by Joel W. Finler 1936 Information from Forgotten Films to Remember by John Springer                                 +++ * Marvel at our meticulously ridiculous Complete Viewing Schedule for the 2020s * Intro Song: "Sunday" by Jean Goldkette Orchestra with the Keller Sisters (courtesy of The Internet Archive) * Read Elise's latest film piece on Preston Sturges, Unfaithfully Yours, and the Narrative role of comedic scapegoating. * Check out Dave's new Robert Benchley blog – an attempt to annotate and reflect upon as many of the master humorist's 2000+ pieces as he can locate – Benchley Data: A Wayward Annotation Project!  Follow us on Twitter at @therebuggy Write to us at therebuggy@gmail.com   We now have a Discord server - just drop us a line if you'd like to join!

    Hollywood Studios Year-by-Year – Paramount – 1936: BIG BROWN EYES (dir. Raoul Walsh) and WEDDING PRESENT (dir. Richard Wallace)

  4. Oct 9

    Acteurist Spotlight – Danielle Darrieux – Part 1: MAYERLING (1936) and ABUS DE CONFIANCE (1937)

    We begin our Danielle Darrieux Acteur Spotlight with the movie that made her internationally famous, Anatole Litvak's gorgeously morbid romantic drama Mayerling (1936), co-starring Charles Boyer; and Abus de confiance (1938), our intriguing introduction to Darrieux's collaboration with director Henri Decoin, her husband at the time. From doomed lover to starving law student, the very young Darrieux is already being presented with meaty parts that demonstrate the force of her screen presence. Time Codes: 0h 00m 20s:    Very Brief Introduction to Danielle Darrieux 0h 02m 20s:    MAYERLING (1936) [dir. Anatole Litvak] 0h 36m 47s:    ABUS DE CONFIANCE (1937) [dir. Henri Decoin] 0h 54m 09s:      So This is Sarris (Andrew Sarris's The American Cinema) – Luis Bunuel +++ Listen to our guest episode on The Criterion Project – a discussion of Late Spring * Marvel at our meticulously ridiculous Complete Viewing Schedule for the 2020s * Intro Song: "Sunday" by Jean Goldkette Orchestra with the Keller Sisters (courtesy of The Internet Archive) * Read Elise's piece on Gangs of New York – "Making America Strange Again" * Check out Dave's Robert Benchley blog – an attempt to annotate and reflect upon as many of the master humorist's 2000+ pieces as he can locate – Benchley Data: A Wayward Annotation Project!  Follow us on Twitter at @therebuggy Write to us at therebuggy@gmail.com We now have a Discord server - just drop us a line if you'd like to join!

    Acteurist Spotlight – Danielle Darrieux – Part 1: MAYERLING (1936) and ABUS DE CONFIANCE (1937)

  5. Oct 2

    Hollywood Studios Year-by-Year – Universal – 1935: LIFE RETURNS and MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION

    This Universal 1935 Studios Year by Year episode features some very curious medical ambitions: first, there's Eugene Frenke's wacky Life Returns, loosely based on the true story of scientist Robert E. Cornish and his canine Lazari; an act that could only be followed by John Stahl's Magnificent Obsession, starring Robert Taylor as a genius physician who can only realize his potential by becoming the man he killed and curing the woman he blinded. We do our best to isolate what distinguishes Stahl's Obsession from Sirk's (besides the comedic stylings of Charles Butterworth, a.k.a. the inspiration for the voice of Cap'n Crunch).  Time Codes: 0h 00m 20s:      1935 & Universal 0h 05m 40s:      LIFE RETURNS (1935) [dir. Eugene Frenke] 0h 33m 16s:      MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION (1935) [dir. John M. Stahl]   1h 06m 16s:      So This is Sarris – From The American Cinema -Robert Aldrich   +++   Studio Film Capsules provided by The Universal Story by Clive Hirschhorn Additional studio information from: The Hollywood Story by Joel W. Finler 1935 Information from Forgotten Films to Remember by John Springer                                 +++ * Marvel at our meticulously ridiculous Complete Viewing Schedule for the 2020s * Intro Song: "Sunday" by Jean Goldkette Orchestra with the Keller Sisters (courtesy of The Internet Archive) * Read Elise's latest film piece on Preston Sturges, Unfaithfully Yours, and the Narrative role of comedic scapegoating. * Check out Dave's new Robert Benchley blog – an attempt to annotate and reflect upon as many of the master humorist's 2000+ pieces as he can locate – Benchley Data: A Wayward Annotation Project!  Follow us on Twitter at @therebuggy Write to us at therebuggy@gmail.com   We now have a Discord server - just drop us a line if you'd like to join!

    Hollywood Studios Year-by-Year – Universal – 1935: LIFE RETURNS and MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION

  6. Sep 25

    Acteurist Spotlight – Sandra Dee – Part 3: PORTRAIT IN BLACK (1960) and ROMANOFF AND JULIET (1961)

    Our final Sandra Dee episode for a while sees us battling out whether the inanities of the Ross Hunter melodrama Portrait in Black (1960), based on a play by the writing duo behind White Heat, are fun or just dumb, after which we turn to Peter Ustinov's Romanoff and Juliet (1961), the most curiously gentle satire of Cold War superpower misbehaviour it's possible to imagine. We do agree on one thing in this episode: there's not enough Sandra Dee.  Time Codes: 0h 00m 20s:    PORTRAIT IN BLACK (1960) [dir. Michael Gordon] 0h 31m 29s:    ROMANOFF & JULIET (1961) [dir. Peter Ustinov] 0h 47m 49s:      So This is Sarris (Andrew Sarris's The American Cinema) – Delmer Daves +++ Listen to our guest episode on The Criterion Project – a discussion of Late Spring * Marvel at our meticulously ridiculous Complete Viewing Schedule for the 2020s * Intro Song: "Sunday" by Jean Goldkette Orchestra with the Keller Sisters (courtesy of The Internet Archive) * Read Elise's piece on Gangs of New York – "Making America Strange Again" * Check out Dave's Robert Benchley blog – an attempt to annotate and reflect upon as many of the master humorist's 2000+ pieces as he can locate – Benchley Data: A Wayward Annotation Project!  Follow us on Twitter at @therebuggy Write to us at therebuggy@gmail.com We now have a Discord server - just drop us a line if you'd like to join!

    Acteurist Spotlight – Sandra Dee – Part 3: PORTRAIT IN BLACK (1960) and ROMANOFF AND JULIET (1961)

  7. Sep 18

    Special Subject – Against Interpretation – LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD (1961), 3 WOMEN (1977) and Susan Sontag's essay "Bergman's Persona"

    For our September 2026 Special Subject we read Susan Sontag's essay "Bergman's Persona" and applied its ideas to Alain Resnais' Last Year at Marienbad, mentioned in the essay, and Robert Altman's 3 Women, which owes a great deal to Persona. Following Sontag, we ask what it would mean to try to approach a narrative film without needing to know "what happens in the story" and what other modes of response are available for films that resist plot synopsis. And for those who are still trying to figure out the occult connection of Henry James to our podcast, there's lots of Sacred Fount talk (started by Sontag). But just like us with these movie plots, you will probably be no wiser.  Time Codes: 0h 00m 20s:    Sontag on narrative complexity/opacity 0h 07m 21s:    LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD (1961) [dir. Alain Resnais] 0h 33m 18s:    3 WOMEN (1977) [dir. Robert Altman] 1h 06m 25s:      So This is Sarris (Andrew Sarris's The American Cinema) – John Cromwell   Susan Sontag's essay "Bergman's Persona: An Essay on Tragedy," published in Styles of Radical Will (1969) +++ Listen to our guest episode on The Criterion Project – a discussion of Late Spring * Marvel at our meticulously ridiculous Complete Viewing Schedule for the 2020s * Intro Song: "Sunday" by Jean Goldkette Orchestra with the Keller Sisters (courtesy of The Internet Archive) * Read Elise's piece on Gangs of New York – "Making America Strange Again" * Check out Dave's Robert Benchley blog – an attempt to annotate and reflect upon as many of the master humorist's 2000+ pieces as he can locate – Benchley Data: A Wayward Annotation Project!  Follow us on Twitter at @therebuggy Write to us at therebuggy@gmail.com We now have a Discord server - just drop us a line if you'd like to join!

    Special Subject – Against Interpretation – LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD (1961), 3 WOMEN (1977) and Susan Sontag's essay "Bergman's Persona"

  8. Sep 11

    Hollywood Studios Year-by-Year – RKO – 1935: ENCHANTED APRIL & IN PERSON

    For this RKO 1935 episode, FOTP Ann Harding returns in Enchanted April (directed by Harry Beaumont), based on a novel by Elizabeth von Armin that Elise declares, based on the cinematic evidence, to be the missing link between Jane Austen and Jane Bowles. Then we turn to one of Dave's favourites, In Person (directed by William A. Seiter), a Ginger Rogers comedy that paired her with an unusually lively George Brent. We discuss the very unusual chemistry between their characters, a Hollywood actress in disguise and an outdoorsman who cures her agoraphobia in a curious way.    Time Codes: 0h 00m 20s:      1935 & RKO 0h 04m 33s:      ENCHANTED APRIL (1935) [dir. Harry Beaumont] 0h 25m 40s:      IN PERSON (1935) [dir. William A. Seiter]   +++   Studio Film Capsules provided by The RKO Story by Richard B. Jewell & Vernon Harbin Additional studio information from: The Hollywood Story by Joel W. Finler 1935 Information from Forgotten Films to Remember by John Springer                                 +++ * Marvel at our meticulously ridiculous Complete Viewing Schedule for the 2020s * Intro Song: "Sunday" by Jean Goldkette Orchestra with the Keller Sisters (courtesy of The Internet Archive) * Read Elise's latest film piece on Preston Sturges, Unfaithfully Yours, and the Narrative role of comedic scapegoating. * Check out Dave's new Robert Benchley blog – an attempt to annotate and reflect upon as many of the master humorist's 2000+ pieces as he can locate – Benchley Data: A Wayward Annotation Project!  Follow us on Twitter at @therebuggy Write to us at therebuggy@gmail.com   We now have a Discord server - just drop us a line if you'd like to join!

    Hollywood Studios Year-by-Year – RKO – 1935: ENCHANTED APRIL & IN PERSON
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4.2
out of 5
25 Ratings

About

Join Dave and Elise every week for a buggy-ride of cinematic exploration. A bilingual Montreal native and a Prairies hayseed gravitate to Toronto for the film culture, meet on OK Cupid, and spur on each other's movie-love, culminating in this podcast. Expect in-depth discussion of their old favourites (mostly studio-era Hollywood) and their latest frontiers (courtesy of the TIFF Cinematheque and various Toronto rep houses and festivals). The podcast will be comprised of several potentially never-ending series: - Fear & Moviegoing in Toronto: Our Perspectives on Choice Local Retrospectives - Hollywood Studios – Year by Year: Deep-cut dishing on Paramount, MGM, Warner Brothers, RKO, Fox, and Universal items from 1930 to 1948. - Acteurist oeuvre-views of worthy on-camera creatives, beginning with Jennifer Jones and Setsuko Hara. - And a big parade of special subjects hand-chosen by whichever of your hosts happens to have a handle on this buggy that week

Information

  • Creator
    Elise Moore and Dave
  • Years Active
    2014 - 2026
  • Episodes
    420
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copy Us, Please!!
  • Show Website
    There's Sometimes a Buggy

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