Stuff We’ve Seen

This week Jim and Teal give high recommendations for the new comedy Bottoms, from director Emma Seligman. It's a comedy that does the most important thing right, it's funny. Not so funny is Jim and Teal's quest to find some great new horror films to watch this season. They come across several duds, including Talk to Me, Heusera: The Bone Woman, Birth/Rebirth, and The Last Voyage of the Demeter. Who can save them? Well, perhaps a drive-in teen slasher film from the 70s and a surprise little Sci-Fi thriller gem offering from Hulu.

Out of the Blue is a little-seen film from 1980. Starring Linda Manz and directed by Dennis Hopper, Out of the Blue gained cult status over the years. Still, it was a difficult film to find outside of a VHS copy kicking around. Thanks to Chloe Sevigny and Natasha Lyonne, the film received a restoration a couple of years ago, and Jim and Teal watched the movie for the first time. It's dark subject matter, for sure, but Out of the Blue offers amazing performances by Manz and Hopper, who also co-stars. Why should you consider checking it out? Jim and Teal will tell you. What else? Hopping Vampires from Hong Kong anyone? Jim finds himself quite taken with Criterion Channel's latest offering with a 5-film series focused on those lovable hopping vampires that swept Hong Kong cinema in the 1980s. Break out your chicken blood, and your anti-hopping-vampire spells, and get ready for this thrilling, and enlightening episode.

After a few weeks off, Jim and Teal return to discuss two film from recent months, the Netflix film, They Cloned Tyrone, and the Jennifer Lawrence comedy, No Hard Feelings.

Barbenheimer is more than a mashup word; it's a cultural phenomenon. Jim took the challenge and saw both Oppenheimer and then Barbie. Did he survive? It's a battle of the unruly teens vs. old man Jimmy. Will texting and watching videos during a movie ruin Jim's good time seeing Barbie? You'll have to tune in to find out. And while Barbie was probably the last film on Teal's radar screen at the beginning of the summer, he too checked out the pop-culture sensation and was surprised by the depth and layers the movie had in store. Right-wing crybabies like Ben Shapiro, beware; this film may contain scenes of intense positivity towards women. Seek your nearest theater exit for safety.

This week Jim and Teal bring on the good films at theaters and streaming this summer with Wes Anderson's Asteroid City, a hidden gem from Norway, Sick of Myself, and Ari Aster's Beau is Afraid. Are Jim and Teal afraid of Ari Aster's three hour fever dream? Of course not. They took it on, and there is a lot to say. Teal finds interesting comparisons to Lindsey Anderson's O Lucky Man, and Jim agrees. What else? Jim dials up some destiny with the latest Indiana Jones movie, and guess what's currently filming in Jim's state of Vermont? Jim fills Teal in on his excursion to East Corinth, VT to check out the exterior town sets for Beetlejuice 2. Enjoy!

The Flash, the latest comic book summer tent movie arrived and imploded. What went wrong? Why did audiences turn away in droves? Jim saw the movie, and he provided Teal with a report. Also, why did Disney seemingly cut six second from the Academy Award-winning French Connection? And why is Discovery Warner Brothers CEO, David Zaslav bent on proving how much he hates movies by chopping the heads off the brain trust at TCM (Turner Classic Movies)? This week Jim and Teal cover all this, poorly constructed deep-sea submersibles, and Hungarian cinematic master, Bela Tarr. Strap in, there's a lot of stuff to cover.

Stuff We've Seen's Jim and Teal hit the cinema to see Spiderman: Across the Spider-Verse. Both Jim and Teal were huge fans for the first Spider-Verse installment. What will they think of this second chapter? Also on this episode, J&T look at two other comic-book adjacent and related films from the 1980s, Disney's Condorman (1981) and Flash Gordon (1980.)

It's tit-for-tat on this week's Stuff We've Seen as Jim chooses two films from the 2022 BFI Sight and Sound Critics Poll of the 264 greatest films of all time that he believes should not be on the list. In their place, Jim finds two suitable replacements. One film that Jim targets for demotion is Antonioni's 1962 film, L'Eclisse. While Jim didn't feel the film, as a whole, warranted a place on a list of the greatest films of all time, it was one ten-minute sequence during the first portion of the movie that shocked and upset him, and led Jim to determine that L'Eclisse must be re-evaluated. What did Teal think? L'Eclisse left him so angry that he is now a confirmed Antonioni hater. What??? Tune in to this episode and find out what made Teal so angry, and shocked Jim so bad. What film is Jim subbing in for L'Eclisse, and what's the other movie on the list targeted for demotion and why? All answers will be revealed in this episode of Stuff We've Seen.

Cornish filmmaker Mark Jenkin puts the film back in movie making with his latest offering, Enys Men. This 16mm environmental horror/ filmic poetry tomb is a visual feast for those looking for something further afield. Jim and Teal explore Jenkin's two features, Enys Men, and his 2019 feature debut, Bait. Both movies create an atmosphere all their own, with a look unlike anything else out there. Also, to start off this episode, Jim gives Teal a report on seeing Med Hondo's 1977 film, West Indies: The Fugitive Slaves of Liberty, which he caught at a rare screening at the Harvard Film Archive.

BFI 250 list, we just can quit you. Jim is still on his mission to see all 264 films on the 2022 Sight & Sound Critics Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time List. On this episode, Teal quizzes Jim on some of his least favorite selections from the list. While they are not all bad films in Jim's opinion, he found it difficult to reconcile the motives behind their inclusion on a critic's list of ten of the greatest films to include.

That's right, all your Easter favorites, from Ben-Hur and The King of Kings, to Passion of the Christ and The Last Temptation of Christ, Jim and Teal cover the films that make springtime, springtime. Get ready for J&T's version of Sunday school where minister Jim teaches Teal a thing or two about the New Testament.

It's time for a shaggy dog tale, or time to get taking for a story ride with Jim and Teal as they explore two films from the latter portion of the French New Wave. Let's call it, the French Next Wave, with filmmakers such as Jacques Rivette and Jean Eustache taking the helm, and making their mark in the 1970s. On this week's episode, Jim and Teal discuss two films from the BFI 2022 top 250 Greatest films of all time list, Celine and Julie Go Boating, and The Mother and the Whore. Jim challenged Teal to see both these films, and in this episode Jim will find out if Teal liked these movies, and Teal will find out why Jim challenged him to see him. Catch up with a couple of lesser-known films in the U.S. with this stroll down the podcast lake.

Since Jim and Teal won't be taping a post-Oscar's episode they wanted to weigh in on the big night and talk about 2023 Oscar Predictions before the show. Will Everything Everywhere All at Once be the big winner of the night, or could there be some surprises in store this year? Signs point to an unpredictable night in several categories. Speaking of Oscar predictions, and the discussion around them, Jim takes issue with two opposite approaches to the Oscar conversation. First, is what Jim feels is a dishonest take from film critic Peter Travers. Next, Jim zeroes in on film-coverage bad-boy, Jeff Wells. Once, a must read for Jim, Wells' longtime column on his site, Hollywood Elsewhere, has taken a bizarre turn to anti-wokes'ville, and Jim takes particular issue with Wells' relentless takedown of Everything Everywhere All at Once. Can Teal find some common ground with the internet film raconteur? Oh, and there is still enough time in the episode for Jim and Teal to tell you how much they hated Knock at the Cabin.

Every decade the BFI's Sight and Sound magazine publishes its poll of the top 100 greatest films in two separate lists created by film directors and then critics, scholars, facilitators, and educators. In February 2023 they followed those lists up with a companion list of the top 250 greatest films of all time as voted by the critics. These lists are always debatable and controversial, but the decision to make the list more inclusive and include more women filmmakers added to the controversy of what makes a film the greatest. And the shakeup landed Chantel Ackerman's Jeanne Dielman at number 1. That may have been the biggest headline from this list, but certainly not the last word. Jim and Teal provide their thoughts on the top 100, and subsequent lists in this first of what should be several episodes this year on the BFI selections. Jim's taken on the challenge, and has watched all 100 of the critics top choices, and a good hundred more from the remaining 250 (which is actually 264 due to ties.) Jim won't stop till he's seen them all, but for now, Teal is taking a pulse on some overall thoughts, surprises, loves, hates, and everything in between. If you are looking for a good place to start with the BFI top 250, this might be the podcast listen you've been waiting for.

There are plenty of debates to go around as Jim and Teal duke it out over their top films of 2022. Can they find common ground, or will it be a drag out fight to the death? Also, our two trusty podcast heroes weigh in on the Andrea Riseborough Oscar controversy.

We do it every year on Oscar Nominations day. Jim and Teal break down all the award nominees, from the surprises (Andrea Riseborough anyone?) to the expected (many awards for Everything, Everywhere, All at Once.) Catch all the fun as Jim reveals the nominations to Teal, who kept radio silence until the moment of taping. Let us know if there were any surprises or omissions that shocked you.

Jim and Teal make it to the finish line on Steven Spielberg's filmography in this third and final episode of The Spielboctagon. All Steven's films from 1998 to the Fabelmans get covered (well, they already covered the Fabelmans on episode one.) So, get ready to find out which films Teal liked, and which ones he did not. Hint! Hint! He's not a fan of The Post.

Jim and Teal return for more Steven Spielberg mania with part two of their look at his filmography. This episode covers all Spielberg's films from 1981 through 1997. So, get ready for Raiders, E.T., Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, and more. And don't worry, there are plenty of laughs along the way.

This week Jim and Teal enter the Spielboctagon. Their mission: tackle the entire Steven Spielberg filmography. Spoiler alert! They don't get very far. But in this first, of at least two episodes (who knows how long it will take them to get through every movie) they dive straight into Steven Spielberg's latest offering, The Fabelmans. You may not know it from the awful movie trailer, but The Fabelmans is a great film, and certainly Spielberg's most personal. Gut wrenching at times, inspiring at others, this is a movie that needs to be seen, and Jim and Teal hope you do go and search it out. In addition to The Fabelmans, Jim and Teal tackle the early part of Spielberg's movie career, including his made for TV film, Duel, his first feature film, The Sugarland Express, his massive hits, Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and his first miss fire, the 1979 comedy, 1941.

Jim and Teal begin an ongoing series dedicated to discussing Fascism on Film, and the way filmmakers handle this timely topic over the years. For this first episode they talk about two films that look at the rise of Nazism in Europe, and then the axis pact between Hitler and Mussolini. The Mortal Storm is an unsparing look at the dangers coming to Europe. Set in 1933, this film premiered in 1940, shortly after Hitler began his invasion of Europe. A Special Day takes place in 1938, on the day Hitler visited Italy to seal his agreement with Mussolini. Both films pack a punch, and Jim and Teal give them both high marks.