The Letterboxd Show Letterboxd

The season two premiere of Best in Show kicks off with a very special guest: Sean Fennessey, Head of Content at The Ringer, co-host of The Big Picture podcast and fellow awards obsessive. Gemma, Mia and Brian interrogate Sean about his favorite films of the year so far, and he talks about finding Letterboxd more useful than Wikipedia (his words!) for the sheer encyclopedic knowledge of awards season available—all thanks to your lists—and the time he watched Sunshine with Drew Barrymore.

Sponsor: GKIDS/The Boy and the Heron

Chapters:


The Boy and the Heron (00:00:00)
Opening credits (00:01:27)
Sean Fennessey (00:08:12)
What we watched (00:54:50)
Closing credits (01:01:37)

Credits: Recorded in Los Angeles and Auckland. Edited by Slim, production manager Sophie Shin, editorial producer Brian Formo. Theme: ‘Hyperlight’ by Letterboxd member Trent Walton (AKA Echo Wolf), artwork by Danny Haas. Best in Show is a TAPEDECK production. Title courtesy of Christopher Guest.

Links: Best in Show’s new HQ page on Letterboxd; Awards Season 2023-2024 list; Sean Fennessey’s Letterboxd profile; Mia’s interview with Martin Scorsese; Martin Scorsese’s Letterboxd profile
Lists mentioned: List of movies mentioned, Sean Fennessey’s David Fincher, Ranked, The Killer List, Men, Alone

Writer and Executive Producer of Scott Pilgrim Takes Off BenDavid Grabinski joins slim and Flynn to chat about Big Trouble in Little China, Stop Making Sense, Midnight Run, and The Legend of Billie Jean.

They also discuss their favorite concert experiences, Harry Potter midnight releases, forcing their relatives to watch Planes, Trains, and Automobiles every Thanksgiving, poorly marketed rom-coms, and much more.

Chapters:


Searchlight (00:00:00)
Big Trouble in Little China (00:04:44)
Stop Making Sense (00:12:16)
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off (00:20:14)
Midnight Run (00:27:53)
Legend of Billie Jean (00:37:52)
Closing credits (00:48:00)

Credits: Recorded in Los Angeles, Massachusetts, and Philadelphia. Edited by Slim. Theme music: “Vampiros Danceoteque” by Moniker. Production manager: Sophie Shin. The Letterboxd Show is a TAPEDECK production. Email us!

Editor and critic of ScreenCrush.com and writer of a brand new book on Siskel & Ebert, Matt Singer joins slim and Brian to talk Los Angeles Plays Itself, Gymkata, his new book Opposable Thumbs, Classic Albums: Steely Dan - AJA, and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.

They also discuss their connections to LA through film, memories of reading their favorite film critics, learning to love bad films, what the heck a mixing board even does, and grappling with emotional films later in life.

Chapters:


Annual Letterboxd Sale (00:00:00)
Opening credits (00:02:00)
Los Angeles Plays Itself (00:05:55)
Gymkata (00:17:44)
Opposable Thumbs (00:30:03)
Steely Dan (00:45:11)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (00:53:15)
Closing credits (01:04:07)

Credits: Recorded in Los Angeles, Brooklyn, and Philadelphia. Edited by Slim. Theme music: “Vampiros Danceoteque” by Moniker. Production manager: Sophie Shin. The Letterboxd Show is a TAPEDECK production. Email us!

On this very special episode of The Letterboxd Show, we focus on Martin Scorsese’s latest film, Killers of the Flower Moon. This special is structured like the book that it’s based on: in three acts. The main interview is with staff writer for The New Yorker and National Book Award finalist, David Grann, whose searing account of the Osage murders is the basis of Scorsese’s new film. We speak to not just Grann, but also include two bits from a roundtable interview with Scorsese himself, paired with Osage Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear. You’ll hear from Scorsese himself about adapting Grann’s book, then an in interview with Grann, wherein he talks at greater length about some of the broader history that he charts in his phenomenal book and about some of the Osage writing that made it into the film. And finally this special will close with some words from Chief Standing Bear about their trust in Grann and the trust that Scorsese had to earn.

Credits: Recorded in Los Angeles and New York City; produced by Brian Formo, edited by Slim; features music from Robbie Robertson’s score for Killers of the Flower Moon.

Lists & Links: Martin Scorsese’s Letterboxd account

The power of podcasting compels you to listen as the Letterboxd crew gathers for a roundtable discussion about The Exorcist.

Slim⁠ puts on his seasonable vestments and welcomes ⁠Gemma⁠, ⁠Mia⁠, Brian and ⁠Mitchell⁠ into the Letterboxd Studio to walk down memory lane on their first-time watches, favorite moments, and much more. They also spend time on The Exorcist: Believer, The Exorcist III, and offer up some other religious horror recommendations. Happy Halloween!

Chapters:


Opening credits (00:00:45)
The Exorcist roundtable (00:04:24)
Sequels (00:34:31)
Religious horror recommendations (00:43:16)
Closing credits (00:53:20)

Credits: Recorded in Auckland, Delaware, LA, and Philadelphia. Edited by Slim. Theme music: “Vampiros Danceoteque” by Moniker. Editorial producer: Brian Formo. Production manager: Sophie Shin. The Letterboxd Show is a TAPEDECK production. Email us!

Horror maven and Dread Central editor-in-chief Mary Beth McAndrews joins Mia and Flynn to trauma bond with the girlies over her four favorite films: Joel Anderson’s Lake Mungo, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Cure, Bob Clark’s Black Christmas and Dusty Mancinelli & Madeleine Sims-Fewer’s Violation. Our conversation covers Mary Beth’s academic specialties in found footage horror and woman-helmed rape-revenge narratives, Hugh Grant’s shocking middle name (hidden in one of these film’s titles), the coming-of-age ritual of showing your friends The Midnight Meat Train on a high school sleepover and how all three of us have survived EMDR therapy. Plus! Read Mia’s deep-dive into Letterboxd’s most obsessively rewatched horror movies on Journal.

Chapters:


Opening credits (00:00:00)
Lake Mungo (00:04:43)
Cure (00:19:14)
Black Christmas (00:27:51)
Violation (00:37:34)
Closing credits (00:52:33)

Sponsor: Apple Original Film: Fingernails.

Credits: Recorded in Los Angeles CA, Nantucket MA and Washington DC. Edited by Slim. Theme music: “Vampiros Danceoteque” by Moniker. Editorial producer: Brian Formo. Production manager: Sophie Shin. The Letterboxd Show is a TAPEDECK production. Email us!

Lists & Links:

Mary Beth’s podcasts Scarred For Life and Watched Once, Never Again

Holli’s Black Christmas review