For this last Film at 11 podcast episode of 2025, I have once again made the ill-advised mistake of inviting both my sons to watch a movie with me, together, at the same time. That never works out well, and certainly didn’t here. Somehow, all the squabbling and fighting that ensued (mostly, but not entirely… Read More Film at 11 Podcast: Episode 43 | National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
My son Thomas and I did a little bit of prep work in anticipation of the latest Film at 11 podcast. Over the past couple weeks, between podcast episodes, we binged the complete first (and only) season of Joss Whedon’s famed cult sci-fi series Firefly. Naturally enough, that leads us directly into the feature film… Read More Film at 11 Podcast: Episode 41 | Serenity (2005)
“We all sell out every day. Might as well be on the winning team,” says a character in John Carpenter’s They Live, a movie originally sold as a sci-fi/horror flick but that has become more famous over time for its blunt political satire. Originally produced at the height of the Reaganomics era, the film’s messaging… Read More Obey, Consume, Conform | They Live (1988)
Disaster in space seems to be a theme we’re working through in the Film at 11 podcast at the moment, at least in recent episodes with my son Joseph. Moving on from Apollo 13, this week we tackle Ridley Scott’s adaptation of the sci-fi bestseller The Martian, in which Matt Damon plays an astronaut stranded… Read More Film at 11 Podcast: Episode 32 | The Martian (2015)
Despite its PG rating (PG-13 didn’t exist at the time) and 50-year age, Jaws may not be an appropriate movie for an 11-year-old viewer, no matter how smart and otherwise mature he or she may be. That’s a big takeaway I got from this week’s Film at 11 podcast viewing with my son. Perhaps that… Read More Film at 11 Podcast: Episode 26 | Jaws (1975)
Released the following summer, one year after Batman, Warren Beatty’s extravagant production of Dick Tracy was expected to be the next big comic book (technically in this case, comic strip) blockbuster smash hit movie of the year. It might have succeeded at that, if not for one, kind of obvious problem. While every kid in… Read More Film at 11 Podcast: Episode 25 | Dick Tracy (1990)
Although I was just about the perfect age to most appreciate it, I didn’t get to see The Naked Gun in a theater with an audience. I had to wait for a VHS rental from Blockbuster the following year, at which time my teenage self became obsessed with the movie and watched it over and… Read More Film at 11 Podcast: Episode 23 | The Naked Gun (1988)
Under normal circumstances, the way the Film at 11 podcast is supposed to work is that I, as a parent, will choose a movie I want one of my children to see, and then force him to watch it and talk about it afterward. Whether the kid initially has any interest in that movie is… Read More Film at 11 Podcast: Episode 22 | Pacific Rim (2013)
With (arguably, but not very) only one good movie out of the six made to that time, the Predator franchise was in considerably poor shape by the early 2020s. Although the studio wasn’t ready to give up on it yet, the next installment would skip a theatrical release and debut instead on Hulu streaming. To… Read More A Hunter Doesn’t Wait | Prey (2022) 4K Ultra HD
For a movie nerd who’d only recently come of age and started young adulthood at that moment, the early- to mid-1990s were a very exciting time in cinema. The independent film movement was flourishing, and even within traditional Hollywood circles, a new generation of writers and directors were rising up to make their voices heard.… Read More The Biggest Mexican I Have Ever Seen | Desperado (1995) Arrow Video 4K Ultra HD
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