Since we released our Piracy episode a few months ago, we at Shot/Reverse Shot have received a lot of correspondence from people on both sides of the debate about piracy and its impact. So much so, that we felt that we had to respond. To that end, this episode finds Matt & Ed reading some of the reader responses and discussing what they say about the realities and justifications for piracy. They also discuss the homo-eroticism in Zack Snyder's work (which seems to be in full flower based on ...
Mar 07, 2016•52 min
To mark the end of the 10th season of The X Files , which finished last week, Ed and special guest X-pert Michaela Livingstone-Banks discuss the highs and lows of the revival, ponder the limits of nostalgia as the driving force behind art, and try their hardest to take Chris Carter to task for the terrible crimes he has committed against both art and science. Needless to say there are spoilers aplenty ahead. If you're interested in Michaela's work in public engagement as it relates to science, t...
Feb 29, 2016•1 hr 37 min
With the Oscar ceremony fast approaching, Matt and Ed try to figure out which films will take home the statues on Sunday night. Along the way they discuss possible casting for the Mary Poppins sequel, whether It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia is more harrowing than The Revenant , and the extent to which Leonardo DiCaprio is exactly like Tom Green. 00:00:00 - 00:15:41 - Intro & News00:15:42 - 00:55:44 - Matt & Ed try to predict the Oscars00:55:45 - 01:00:10 - SRS Recommends & Outro...
Feb 22, 2016•1 hr
On February 9th, 2011, one of the greatest TV shows of all time left the field for the last time. To mark the five-year anniversary of its passing, Matt and Ed pay tribute to Friday Night Lights by discussing what was unique about it, its influence, and its place in the pantheon of great television shows. They draw heavily on this oral history of the show from the dearly departed Grantland, which is well worth reading, particularly when it comes to the details of the show's production. In additi...
Feb 15, 2016•48 min
In honour of this year's big game, this episode is all about Sports movies, from earnest documentaries to rousing crowdpleasers, with a sprinkling of talk about how insane it is that Joseph Fiennes has been cast to play Michael Jackson. 00:00:00 - 00:01:50 - Intro00:01:51 - 00:23:57 - Discussion of Sports Movies00:23:58 - 00:29:58 - SRS Recommends & Outro
Feb 08, 2016•30 min
To mark the end of the Sundance film festival for another year, Matt and Ed discuss some of the big news coming out of Park City, what films from the festival have piqued their interest, and what Sundance's place in the culture is now compared to its heyday in the mid-to-late '90s. They also establish the many ways in which Kevin Smith is exactly the same as a cartoon dog. 00:00:00 - 00:00:50 - Intro00:00:51 - 00:24:38 - Discussion of Sundance00:24:39 - 00:31:32 - SRS Recommends and Outro Here i...
Feb 01, 2016•32 min
This week's episode is all about hot-button topics as Matt & Ed start with a discussion of the ongoing controversy over the Academy Awards' lack of diversity, as well as the soon-to-be-implemented changes to the Academy's membership rules. (Ed also gets to talk about being branded an "SJW Sheep" by some dickhead on Twitter.) Then they delve into the world of piracy: why people do it (and why they say that they do it), how it has altered the film industry, and how it will continue to alter th...
Jan 25, 2016•51 min
A.K.A. "Shittiest Week Ever" Minisode. Like seemingly the entire world, we were deeply saddened to hear of the death of David Bowie this week, then knocked right on the fucking floor by the death of Alan Rickman a few days later. We had hoped to put together a fuller episode about the two men, but unforeseen circumstances made that impossible. However, we submit this minisode, in which Ed talks about what Bowie and Rickman meant to him growing up and now, as a modest tribute. With apologies to C...
Jan 18, 2016•30 min
Happy New Year! As is customary, a new season of Shot/Reverse Shot starts by looking at the release schedule and considering what cinematic delights the year ahead has in store. Matt and Ed run down the blockbusters, independent curios and outright oddities that will be hitting screens in 2016, and make the first reference to So Solid Crew that anyone anywhere has made in at least 10 years.
Jan 11, 2016•1 hr 30 min
Another year has come and gone, and now we need to try and make sense of it. Fortunately, Matt and Ed are up to the task, and in this bumper round-up of the year they talk about some of the big film and TV stories, pitch some ideas for Episode VIII to Rian Johnson (#QuiJohnCandy), before finishing with a countdown of the Shot/Reverse Shot Top 10 Films of 2015. It's a silly, joyous end to a long, strange year, and we hope that you've enjoyed listening to the show as much as we have enjoyed making...
Dec 28, 2015•1 hr 43 min
Seeing that Matt and Ed spent the better part of a year talking about how much they were looking forward to a new Star Wars movie, it would be downright silly for them not to talk about the film now that it's actually out in the world. To that end, this bonus episode is a spoiler -filled one in which the boys talk about The Force Awakens : what they liked about it, what didn't work, and how it compares to the other films in the saga. Here is a link to the Mike Ryan article, "The Redemption of Ha...
Dec 28, 2015•39 min
Annoying real-life things like families and that prevented Matt and Ed from being able to record a full episode this week. Instead, they decided to talk before the release of The Force Awakens about what they hope to see (and not to see) in one of the most anticipated films of all time, their favourite (and least favourite) Christmas movies, and how shit turkey is. Think of it as a stocking stuffer ahead of next week's bumper end of year spectacular! Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and have a l...
Dec 21, 2015•25 min
Matt and Ed finish their year-long series of artist profiles with a discussion of the work of British director Michael Winterbottom, a filmmaker who seems determined to take on every genre imaginable, and who will invent genres if he has to. In addition to discussing how fun his meta experiments can be and how dull his hardcore sex experiment was, they discuss British cinema's inferiority complex, which bands offer the modern equivalent of national service, and reminisce about awkward romantic(?...
Dec 14, 2015•47 min
Inspired by Spectre and its insistence on squandering the scenery-destroying talents of Christoph Waltz, Matt and Ed are talking about Wasted Potential this week. They discuss artists who don't fulfill their potential due to the actions of others (Orson Welles), because of their own choices (Marlon Brando), or just because they stopped trying (Robert De Niro, Al Pacino etc.). They also wonder if Jesse Eisenberg's awful-looking performance as Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman is secretly brilliant,...
Dec 07, 2015•56 min
To mark the release of The Good Dinosaur , as well as the 20th anniversary of the release of Toy Story , Matt and Ed talk about the work and legacy of Pixar. In addition to discussing the merits and oddness of The Good Dinosaur (which involves some mild spoilers), why exactly Cars 2 is awful, and what makes the culture of Pixar unique in big-budget studio filmmaking, they plug Ed's line of sneakers, pitch a show based on the career of Lance Reddick, and wonder if Pixar helped fake the moon landi...
Nov 30, 2015•55 min
It's Matt's Birthday! In keeping with a recently established tradition, that means that this episode is a grab bag of topics decided by the birthday boy, including what films Matt and Ed loved as kids which they are wary of now, the odd experience of watching a film for the first time that has been referenced so much in pop culture that you know every detail about it, and whether or not Star Wars: The Force Awakens has any chance of being good. In between all of that, they look forward to the re...
Nov 25, 2015•1 hr 3 min
It's artist profile time again, and this week Matt and Ed discuss the cinematic work of Madonna. In addition to getting to grips with the (few) highs and (plentiful) lows of her work in cinema, they also try to contextualise her acting and directing in terms of her broader work as a musician and a performer, imagine a version of Swept Away starring Jason Statham, and accidentally create Middle Earth's greatest rapper.
Nov 16, 2015•52 min
There's a new Bond film out and, despite planning to, neither Matt or Ed were actually able to see it in time for this episode on Spies and espionage in cinema. Regardless of a lack of Spectre discussion, they still have plenty to talk about since 2015 has seen the release of a surprisingly large number of spy movies, ranging from the moodiness of Bond to the goofiness of Spy . They delve into the sociological and psychological underpinnings of spy movies, wonder why there are so few examples of...
Nov 09, 2015•57 min
It's a veritable Werewolf Bar Mitzvah this week as Matt and Ed tackle things both spooky and scary. After discussing some not especially frightening news (unless you find the prospect of an all-female Ocean's Eleven unduly threatening, in which case get over it), they talk about Charlie Lyne's new documentary Fear Itself (which is available exclusively on the BBC iPlayer ), before engaging in a more general natter about terrifying moments in otherwise benign movies, their favourite horror films,...
Nov 02, 2015•55 min
In what can only be described as a jam-packed episode, Matt & Ed, inspired by an interview with UCL professor Melvyn Stokes, who is conducting a study of British cinemagoing habits in the 1960s, talk about their own cinemagoing experiences. This very quickly shifts to them wondering whether or not cinema as a mass medium is doomed, and whether George Lucas is a Cassandra-like prophet of things to come. Scary stuff. Before that, though, they tackle the week's news (which is dominated by Back ...
Oct 26, 2015•1 hr 7 min
Matt and Ed are obsessed with the idea of Obsession this week, an interest which takes the form of a discussion of films about obsession, how directors' obsessions can manifest in their work, and the ways in which cinema is uniquely suited to exploring the topic. They also talk about the failure of Pan , unnerving audience responses to films, and pitch a Hans Gruber-centric prequel to Die Hard . 00:00:00 - 00:18:50 - Intro & News00:18:51 - 00:52:35 - Discussion of Obsession in cinema00:52:36...
Oct 19, 2015•56 min
This week's episode is a sort of double A-side in which the first half is largely given over to a discussion of Paul Thomas Anderson's new documentary Junun , and what its release via the streaming service MUBI could mean for future idiosyncratic releases from major filmmakers (or major works from idiosyncratic filmmakers). The second half concerns the idea of High Concept filmmaking, and the many permutations of that term, from '80s blockbusters to indie films with interesting, easily sellable ...
Oct 12, 2015•1 hr
In their latest Artist Profile, Matt and Ed take a look at the life and career of Bette Davis, one of the most indomitable women ever to grace the silver screen. In addition to discussing her work in films both good and bad, they talk about her status as a camp and feminist icon, her legendary feud with Joan Crawford, and the many milestones she established during a truly spectacular career. Show Notes 00:00:00 - 00:02:24 - Intro00:02:25 - 00:40:13 - Matt and Ed discuss the life and career of Be...
Oct 05, 2015•41 min
After an unscheduled week off, Matt and Ed are back with a vengeance to talk about all the exciting and/or interesting films scheduled to come out between now and the end of the year. In addition to discussing whether or not they're anticipating the likes of The Martian , Crimson Peak , The Revenant and Spectre , they talk about the Emmys, franchises that Ridley Scott could revisit instead of the Alien / Prometheus universe, and whether all movie biopics are built upon the idea that "behind ever...
Sep 28, 2015•1 hr
Back in March of 2012, Matt and Ed discussed the state of television for the fourth episode of this podcast. Back then, they thought that people seemed pretty excited about working in TV, and that streaming might catch on. A little over three years later, they return to the subject to assess their mild predictions and consider the era of so-called "Peak TV", a term coined after FX President John Landgraf talked at the TCA tour about how there is too much good TV. They consider the meaning of tha...
Sep 14, 2015•1 hr 4 min
In the wake of Force Friday, which saw thousands of people going bonkers for toys for a film which isn't even out for three months, Matt and Ed take stock of Star Wars as a long-running franchise, a cultural monolith, and as significant part of their own personal development as film fans. Along the way, Matt discusses the justly forgotten Matthew Weiner movie Are You Here , Ed describes one of the most enjoyably crazy Star Wars Expanded Universe stories (it involves Jabba's Palace and disembodie...
Sep 07, 2015•59 min
This week's episode finds Matt & Ed discussing evolution. Not the actual scientific theory, but the ways in which artists change over the course of their careers, and how changes in an artist's style or genre impact their relationship with their audience. They also take the opportunity to talk about how their own tastes have changed, Matt coins the most baffling campaign slogan ever, and Ed has some choice words for Peter Bogdanovich. Show Notes 00:00:00 - 00:18:08 - Intro and discussion of ...
Aug 31, 2015•57 min
For their seventh artist profile, Matt and Ed step a little bit out of their comfort zone by discussing someone who a) isn't an actor or director and b) hasn't made all that much work that they actually like. The person is question is Jerry Bruckheimer, the uber-producer who came to prominence in the 1980s with films like Flashdance , Top Gun and the Beverly Hills Cop series, and who has remained one of the most successful producers in Hollywood for three decades. As part of the discussion they ...
Aug 24, 2015•51 min
To mark the end of season two of HBO's anthology series True Detective , which generated as much discussion online as the first season did, albeit for very different reasons, Matt and Ed decided to dig into how one of last year's most acclaimed shows became one of this year's most derided. In addition to figuring out just what went wrong with season two, they discuss the glut of Disney and Star Wars news that came out of the D23 expo this weekend, the possible return of Deadwood , and whether or...
Aug 17, 2015•59 min
In what will hopefully become a tradition for the show, this week dispenses with having a set theme in order to celebrate one of the hosts' birthday. In this instance, the host in question is Ed. There's still talk of what's been going on in film and television this week - including discussion about the fallout from Josh Trank's tweet disowning Fantastic Four and Jon Stewart's departure from The Daily Show - but the core of the episode is an amorphous discussion between Matt and Ed about ambitio...
Aug 10, 2015•57 min
