Yes, folks -- I'm back! For one time only, I've decided to dip back over to my dormant podcast and drop this ep, which is really a homemade audio commentary I made for one of the most astoundingly gawdawful movies I saw last year. So, if you want to hear me drunkenly, profanely ramble during a whole movie for an hour and 40 minutes, oh boy, are you in luck!
The following Crizzlecast is one of two I did with Dylan Otto Krider, a journalist/writer and one of my former editors at the Houston Press. As some of you know, I've taken some time off from doing this podcast to deal with other matters. So, I've had this one on the shelf for quite some time. Just recently, I heard that Krider suffered a stroke in the left side of his brain, due to a spontaneous carotid artery dissection that resulted in a blood clot. He recently had surgery, which was successf...
We'll talk about why I haven't posted here in a few months at another time. It's time for me to post a Crizzlecast I've actually held on to because the guest asked me to do so. As you'll listen to this ep, you'll understand why. I talk to filmmaker/actress Marya Murphy, who certainly dispensed a lot more than I expected her to. She first starts off talking about being a victim of stalking. (Wasn't expecting that.) Then, she speaks on the pitfalls of divorce, as she was severing ties with her fil...
On this lively edition of the Crizzlecast, I Skype over to LA to talk to multi-talented vocalist Karina Nistal. Nistal and I go way back, when I used to see her dance at a monthly club night back in Houston. We talk about those early days, along with her transition into singing, her years working with her jeweler father as a teenager (and the horrific event that made her leave the business) and how she's handling living in Los Angeles. She also compliments me like crazy during the episode, which...
Yes, after a month of quiet slumber, the Crizzlecast returns! Today's episode has me talking with New York-based filmmaker Jesse Epstein. After several false starts, not to mention her taking care of her newborn baby, we get into talking about her short films, what got her filmmaking, how she's handling life as a mother and, for some reason, my man-titties. If you would like to hear me talk about my man-titties more, please donate to the podcast so I can keep this going.
I head back over to Brooklyn -- hipster country -- to holla at another Crizzlecast guest. Today, I'll be speaking with Lance Scott Walker, the former Houstonian who wrote for a lot of Houston-based publications before heading over to the East Coast to make it as a writer and musician. We talk about his great moments in Houston freelancing, his musical side project the White Papers and the two books he'll be releasing on Houston hip-hop. Yes, sir -- he's an accomplished author, musician AND he's ...
Today, I head back to Houston (via Skype) and talk to one of my former music-journalism colleagues over there, Kwame Anderson. A former rapper-turned-schoolteacher, we discuss how he still dabbles in music writing for Free Press Houston, which of course slides into what he's hating the most about music today. We also discuss his days dropping rhymes in groups Seeds of Soul and Freedom Sold. He also reminds me that he and I went to college together. (Didn't have the heart to tell him that I forgo...
For today's Crizzlecast, I fiberoptically venture out to Brooklyn, the hipster capital of the world, to talk to guest Nathan Gelgud. A film critic I share column space with over at INDY Week, the man is also quite the illustrative artist. I talk to him about the various doodles he has done for others as well as on his own website. Of course, we also chop it up a bit about film and film criticism, which we both agree has made us quite tired and jaded even though we're in our thirties. It's anothe...
For today's Crizzlecast, I take it all the way up to Sundance country to talk to today's guest. I speak with Scott Renshaw, the head film critic over at the Salt Lake City Weekly. We talk about the Sundance Film Festival as well as his early days reviewing films in high school, what's it like reviewing movies in Utah, his hilarious Twitter page and why it's such a pain in the ass to get a press screening for Star Trek Into Darkness. Talking with film critics is always hilarious. You'll see why w...
It's another Crizzlecast where I talk to an old high-school classmate. This time around, it's Jennifer Kabay Barnett, a lady who often busted my chops back in the day. We delve into that rather uncomfortably, as well as her new career as a published author, her rampant love of Paul McCartney and anything British and why she feels her Texas home is haunted. By the way, she also break my balls a bit about not reading her book. So, if you want to hear that in all its awkward glory, take a listen.
Yeah, this Crizzlecast is definitely an emotional one. For this episode, I talk to Pam Nelson, former copy editor for the News & Observer, grammar maven and an old colleague of mine. We discuss how she got into journalism and her wild-and-crazy college days. And, then, we get into the deaths that we've had in our family -- and that's when things get really real. Take a listen, but you may want to have some Kleenex nearby.
Here's another "emergency" ep of the Crizzlecast for all you hungry listeners out there. This episode has me rapping with John Munson, who runs the art-house side of Raleigh's Ambassador Cinemas. We delve into his long career playing movies at theaters. We also spend huge chunks of time venting about what's wrong with the movies (publicists, talky audiences, bad movies, etc.) So, take a listen and I promise that, next week, the Crizzlecast will be back to its regular schedule.
I know, I know -- where the hell have I been? To put it short, I've been going through things, which I'm sure I'll devote a whole Crizzlecast. But, until then, here's a special "emergency" episode for all my muhf***as who listen to this. Today's ep has me talking with Toby Leonard, the all-too-cool proprietor of the Belcourt Theatre, the even-more-awesome art-house theater and performance venue, in Nashvile. We talk about how he got to run and program movies at this place as well as his visits t...
Today's Crizzlecast is special: it's the one where I have a mini-meltdown. Of course, I wasn't expecting to have one -- nor have it recorded for people to listen to -- but considering how things have been going for me, I decided to get some things off my chest near the end of this ep. I guess I should also mention I spoke to film critic James Frazier for today's show. We talk about seeing films in the Iowa town where he resides, his politics and how he started Critic Speak with former Crizzlecas...
Here's the deal with today's Crizzlecast. Last fall, I interviewed Matt Zoller Seitz, film critic, TV critic, video essayist, blog founder -- whatever you wanna call him. Anyway, we discussed the differences between reviewing movies and reviewing TV, his experiences reviewing movies along with Godfrey Cheshire and Armond White, his love for Spielberg, how hectic it is writing about television these days, the death of 35mm film, seeing 48 Hours with his daughter, that time I stayed at his place d...
Sorry for the delay but if you listened to Tuesday's Crizzlecast, you know how things have gotten, well, unfortunate for me lately. But I just had to drop this ep where I spoke to LA buddy Adam Villani. It starts off rather vanilla, with the former blogger discussing his life with a wife and a new baby. But then, he starts talking about black people and swimming -- and that's when the podcast really gets bugnuts crazy. Also, in the middle of it, he discusses his experiences being a contestant on...
Yeah, things aren't going well for me these days. Thank God I have a pal like Andrew Dignan, who hasn't exactly been living the good life either, to be there for me to vent. We spend the bulk of this Crizzlecast kvetching about how broke and unemployed we are. But it isn't all woe-is-me stories. We also reminisce about the time I went to Los Angeles and visited him for a few days. We also discuss his on-again, off-again career as a film blogger and his experiences working on a movie starring a u...
Rounding out Aaron Week on the Crizzlecast is a rather lively one-on-one with San Antonio film scribe/video essayist Aaron Aradillas. We talk about how he started out interviewing film critics, how he sees movies with limited vision and what's it like seeing films in the Lone Star State. We also get into some weird territory when he recalls how much he loathed an African-American linguistics teacher back in college. He also tears Jeffrey Wells a new one. Enjoy.
Hey, I've spent weeks talking to guys named Kenji and Dan. Now, it's time to spend a week talking to a couple of guys named Aaron. First up is Aaron Hillis, a well-known film critic and writer who knows a thing or two about distributing and programming movies. We talk about his new hustle as owner and proprietor of New York video store Video Free Brooklyn, as well as discuss his days distributing indie films through Benten Films. We also discuss what exactly are mumblecore films -- and I don't k...
I once again holla at an old, high-school chum for today's Crizzlecast. I actually Skype all the way to Argentina to talk to Paula Lifschitz, a former classmate of mine who is now based in her Buenos Aires homeland. We talk about our former teenage selves as well as the rocky road she traveled to get to where she is today. We also discuss her career as a burgeoning artist. We also break down the differences between England and France that I hope my listeners over there (yes, I do have internatio...
This week on the Crizzlecast, I'll be talking to a couple of independent ladies whose intelligence, savvy and beauty can leave a brotha all flummoxed! First up is Asya Shein, the head of the Fusicology marketing and promotion empire. This convo was recorded right before she took off for SXSW in Austin, and given that she was doing three to four things while I was talking to her, she did manage to speak on her early days promoting raves in Toronto, finding her way into the States to promote shows...
For our final Dan Week guest on the Crizzlecast, I speak with Danny Baldwin -- no, not the actor. Baldwin is a San Diego film critic, best known for his work in Bucket Reviews and, now, Critic Speak. We actually begin talking about other critics, specifically Armond White and previous Crizzlecast guest Victor J. Morton. Eventually, we get into Baldwin's life as a film critic as well as how much of a pain it is watching a decently-projected movie in San Diego. We eventually talk about Daniel Bald...
It wasn't until last night that I realized I recently interviewed two men named Dan. So, screw it -- let's have Dan Week on the Crizzlecast! First up is Dan Sallitt, a former film critic, film blogger, film lister and, more importantly, filmmaker. We discuss how he went from reviewing movies to making them. And we also delve into the making of his latest film, The Unspeakable Act, which I like to call the saddest, least creepiest movie about incest you'll ever see. Basically, if you want to hear...
You wouldn't know it from looking at the photo, but this white boy knows a lot about R & B. Today on the Crizzlecast, I speak to one of my colleagues in the Triangle film-critic circle, Neil Morris (aka the Marquee Marquis). Along with talking about his career in film criticism, we discuss his love for '80s R & B as well as action heroes from that same decade. This sets off a weird-ass debate we have about how the movie stars of today ain't got nothing on Stallone and Schwarzenegger. By ...
Believe it or not, today's Crizzlecast also doubles as a therapy session for me. I speak with Andrew Johnson, who's not a therapist, but a film blogger and fellow podcast host. I talk to him about growing up in Central and South America, going to college in North Carolina and his days reviewing movies for the college paper. Later on in the episode, Johnson talks about how he used to catch me at movie screenings all sullen and what not. I proceed to tell him there was a reason for that -- and tha...
You know when I begin a Crizzlecast singing the Gap Band's "Yearning for Your Love," you know it's gonna be a good episode. And that's exactly what I did when I spoke to today's guest, Monica Castillo. Another film critic from the Boston area, I talk to the lovely and vivacious Castillo about growing up seeing movies in Florida, her eventual move over to reviewing movies in Beantown and how she aided in launching the Boston Online Film Critics Association. We also get into her side hustle as -- ...
Sometimes, it's hard as hell being a film critic. Just ask today's Crizzlecast guest, Brett Michel. The first film critic from Boston I'll be speaking to this week, Brett and I chop it up about the exhausting ups and downs a freelance critic (especially one from Boston, where attending a movie screening can sometimes be a painful experience) has to go through. Of course, we also get into why he became a film critic in the first place and how serious he takes seeing a movie properly on the big sc...
I'm just gonna say this: I'm was pretty much in a dark place when I interviewed New Jersey artist Jim McHugh for today's Crizzlecast. Another freelance illustrator I've worked with, I managed to plow through with the convo even though I was feeling quite despondent and the whole thing was flanked with technical difficulties. Nevertheless, I did get to know more about Jim and his career as an illustrator for hire. We also get into his influences, his side hustles (one has something to do with Sta...
This week on the Crizzlecast, I'll be talking to two illustrators I've worked very closely with over the years. The first one out the box is Baltimore artist Alex Fine. He's a well-known freelancer whose work has been seen in countless publications. We talk about how he's gotten his work in those publications as well as his influences. We also talk about certain celebs he's illustrated that screwed him over. (Yeah, you definitely wanna listen to that!) And near the end, I bring up 2 Broke Girls,...
We close out Muriel Awards Week (I recently wrote a piece over at the official blog) here with a convo with Muriels voter Philip Tatler IV. We talk a lot about old and new movies, especially movies that Tatler, a Tennessee-based, reality-show film editor and cinephile, feels has some remarkable editing. We also discuss the sort of reality shows he has no choice but to edit. We close it out with Tatler and I sifting through Film Comment's Top 50 of last year and seeing which films we thought were...
