The Sleepless Cinematic Podcast The Sleepless Cinematic Podcast

This week, Emilio, Julian, and Madeline break out the croquet mallets and slushies for a discussion of 'Heathers', the 1989 high school dark comedy starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater. This is as formative a movie as there can be for Emilio, who can't help but speak with admiration for this cult classic. They dig into the film's satirical approach to the subject matter, its prescience about a future with rampant school violence, the star-making turns for the film's lead act...

Madeline, Julian, and Emilio are joined by guest Jamie Homs as they continue their High School Movies cycle with a "Suggestion Box" episode on the original high school musical, Randal Kleiser’s “Grease”. While Madeline and Jamie have lost count of the number of times they’ve visited Rydell High, Julian is coming in with fresh eyes as a first-time viewer! Does the magic of this bright and peppy classic work without the nostalgia of watching it as a kid? The group discusses the characterization...

Julian, Madeline, and Emilio are joined by Lily Desmond of the band Sloppy Jane to venture into the midnight realm with a discussion on the new film "I Saw the TV Glow." The group dive into its portrayals of such themes as media obsession, personal identity crisis, and co-dependency, along with its abundance of music, aided by Lily's perspective on Sloppy Jane's presence in the film. They also discuss which experiences in their lives most closely resemble main character Owen's relationship wi...

This week, The Sleepless Cinematic Podcast joins forces with Down the Yellow Brick Pod hosts Emily Kay Shrader and Tara Tagliaferro, two of the world's leading experts on all things Oz, to discuss one of the more bizarro films ever to be influenced by 1939's classic 'The Wizard of Oz' - the third and final installment of John Waters' trash trilogy, 1977's 'Desperate Living'. Emily and Tara come to this film with plenty of Oz-related background, and weigh in on several of the homages tha...

Emilio, Madeline, and Julian continue their High School Movies cycle with a "Mise-Unseen" entry on Alan Parker's 1980 classic, "Fame." Coincidentally a film that none of the trio had seen previously, they look in depth at its ensemble-based depiction of a full four years at New York City's High School of the Performing Arts. Amidst their many talking points, Julian brings a unique perspective to the film as the native New Yorker of the group, while Emilio spins a discussion from the film's "R...

Alright, Alright, Alright! This week Julian, Madeline and Emilio kick off their newest cycle of High School movies by revisiting a 90s favorite about the 70s, Richard Linklater's 'Dazed and Confused'. The trio looks back on their own time in high school, and discuss what this movie gets right about this time in life. What signature Linklater touches are present in this movie? Which of the film's impressive ensemble performances stand out, and which ones leave somethin...