Spring 2016

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Episode 35: Mike Rhodes / Money Monster

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Mike Rhodes (Lucy Gellman photo)

Mike Rhodes (Lucy Gellman photo)

How to Listen

First Segment

Guest: Mike Rhodes
0:00 - 39:29 - interview with CT filmmaker Mike Rhodes

Second Segment

Guest: Lucy Gellman
41:02 - 53:07 - review of MONEY MONSTER

Description

On this episode of Deep Focus, host Tom Breen sits down with Connecticut filmmaker Mike Rhodes to discuss freelancing, music videos, and the benefits and challenges of making movies in the Nutmeg State. During the second part of the episode, Breen also talks to WNHH Station Manager Lucy Gellman about Jodie Foster's new flick "Money Monster," starring Julia Roberts and George Clooney.

Video Links

Higher Learning: Children of the Underground. Directed by Mike Rhodes.

MONEY MONSTER (2016) by Jodie Foster

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Episode 34: Bruce Ditman / Francofonia

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Bruce Ditman (Thomas Breen photo)

Bruce Ditman (Thomas Breen photo)

How to Listen

First Segment

Guest: Bruce Ditman
0:00 - 40:19 - reviews of THIEF and BEVERLY HILLS COP

Second Segment

Guests: Lucy Gellman, Allan Appel
41:51 - 1:00:15 - review of FRANCOFONIA

Description

On today's episode of Deep Focus, host Tom Breen talks with New Haven's own Bruce Ditman about two films from the early 1980s that have had a profound influence on the way he watches, makes, and enjoys movies today. Michael Mann’s THIEF and Martin Brest’s BEVERLY HILLS COP have become classics of the heist and comedy genres respectively, but how do they hold up in 2016? For the second segment of the show, Tom talks with Allan Appel and Lucy Gellman FRANCOFONIA, a new meditative documentary by Russian filmmaker Alexander Sokurov about the timelessness of art and the history of the Louvre under Nazi occupation.

Video Links

Trailer for Thief (1981) by Michael Mann

Scene from Beverly Hills Copy (1984) by Martin Brest

Trailer for Francofonia (2016) by Alexander Sokurov

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Episode 33: BODY DOUBLES / Terror on Tape

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Laura Marsh (Lucy Gellman photo)

Laura Marsh (Lucy Gellman photo)

How to Listen

First Segment

Guests: Selby Nimrod, Sarah Lasley, Laura Marsh
0:00 - 40:11 - interview about BODY DOUBLES

Second Segment

Guests: David Gary, Nicholas Forster
41:52 - 55:33 - interview about the Terror on Tape symposium

Description

On today's episode of Deep Focus, host Tom Breen talks with curator Selby Nimrod, filmmaker Sarah Lasley, and No Pop gallery co-director Laura Marsh about BODY DOUBLES, a one-night screening series of short, experimental movies about the body: the body as an idea, a physical reality, a venue for political debate and artistic exploration. For the second segment of the show, Tom talks with Yale librarian David Gary and grad student Nicholas Forster about the Terror on Tape symposium, an academic conference dedicated to VHS.

Video Links

Trailer for Eve by Sarah Lasley

The Observatory by Doreen Garner

Trailer for Truth or Dare: A Critical Madness (1986)

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Episode 32: Miles Ahead / Born to Be Blue

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Miles Ahead

Miles Ahead

How to Listen

First Segment

Guests: Allan Appel, Brian Slattery
0:00 - 40:50 - Miles Ahead and Born to Be Blue reviews
40:50 - 50:50 - favorite music documentaries and biopics

Description

On today's episode, host Tom Breen talks with New Haven Independent staff writer Allan Appel and arts editor Brian Slattery about two new movies about legendary jazz trumpeters: Don Cheadle's MILES AHEAD, about Miles Davis, and Robert Burdreau's BORN TO BE BLUE, about Chet Baker. Tom, Allan and Brian talk through the representation of drug addiction in movies about musicians, the differences between music documentaries and music biopics, and the underlying assumption that there is some meaningful connection between the artist's biography and the art itself.

Video Links

Trailer for Miles Ahead

Trailer for Born to Be Blue

EXTRA: City of Gold review

CITY OF GOLD still

CITY OF GOLD still

Description

On this Kitchen Sync + Deep Focus EXTRA, hosts Lucy Gellman and Tom Breentalk about "City of Gold," a new documentary from Laura Gabbert that follows Pulitzer Prize winning LA Times food critic Jonathan Gold on his endlessly stimulating journey through LA's culinary culture.

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Episode 31: Latin American Cinema / Class Pictures

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How to Listen

First Segment

Guests: Margherita Tortora
0:00 - 29:39 - interview with Margherita Tortora about Latin American filmmaker series

Second Segment

Guests: Brian Meacham, Carolyn Jacobs, Andrew Vielkind
29:40 - 1:04:34 - interview about the role of the film archive, and about the Class Pictures screening night

Description

On this week's episode of Deep Focus, host Tom Breen talks with Yale Spanish teacher Margherita Tortora about her new series that brings filmmakers from Latin America to the Elm City for post-screening discussions with students and the general public alike. The series concludes this weekend with a 5-film tribute to Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, one of the founding fathers of post-revolutionary Cuban cinema. For the second segment of the show, Tom talks with Yale film archivist Brian Meacham and graduate students Andrew Vielkind and Carolyn Jacobs about a night of screenings that focuses on the history and practice of the film archive.

Video Links

Clip from Strawberry & Chocolate (1994) by Tomas Gutierrez Alea. 

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Episode 30: Ryan Licwinko / Midnight Special

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Ryan Licwinko (Thomas Breen photo)

Ryan Licwinko (Thomas Breen photo)

How to Listen

First Segment

Guest: Ryan Licwinko
0:00 - 39:45 - interview with Ryan Licwinko

Second Segment

Guests: Allan Appel, Lucy Gellman
41:08 - 55:09 - Midnight Special review

Description

On today's episode of Deep Focus, host Tom Breen talks with local amateur filmmaker Ryan Licwinko about three movies that shaped his understanding of what qualifies as artful, entertaining, well-made cinema: 1973's THE STING, 1991's THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, and 1968's 2001 A SPACE ODYSSEY. For the second segment of the show, Tom, Lucy and Allan review Jeff Nichols's latest blend of sci-fi and Americana, MIDNIGHT SPECIAL.

Video Links

Clip from The Sting (1973) by George Roy Hill

Trailer for Midnight Special

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Episode 29: Lisa Molomot / Eye in the Sky

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Scene from The Hill

Scene from The Hill

How to Listen

First Segment

Guest: Lisa Molomot
0:00 - 38:22 - interview with Lisa Molomot

Second Segment

Guests: Allan Appel, Lucy Gellman
39:22 - 55:05 - Eye in the Sky and Marguerite reviews

Description

On this episode, host Tom Breen talks with filmmaker Lisa Molomot about some of her most recent projects: her 2013 release "The Hill," which covers the city's displacement of 94 families to build a new school in the Hill neighborhood, and 2011 film "School's Out: Lessons from a Forest Kindergarten." During the latter half of the show, Breen talks with WNHH Station Manager Lucy Gellman about the recent release "Eye in the Sky," and New Haven Independent reporter Allan Appel about "Marguerite."

Video Links

Trailer for The Hill (2013) by Lisa Molomot

Trailer for Eye in the Sky (2015) by Gavin Hood

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Episode 28: American Reds / Jay Lender

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American Reds

American Reds

How to Listen

First Segment

Guest: Richard Wormser
0:00 - 31:47 - interview with Richard Wormser about American Reds

Second Segment

Guests: Jay Lender
31:48 - 1:02:24 - interview with Jay Lender about They're Watching

Description

On today's episode of Deep Focus, host Tom Breen interviews filmmaker and UNH professor Richard Wormser about his new documentary AMERICAN REDS, which offers a new history of the Communist Party USA, from the Russian Revolution in 1917 to the death of Stalin and the dissolution of the American party in the mid-1950s. For the second segment of the show, Tom talks with New Haven-born writer, director, and animator Jay Lender about his directorial debut, THEY'RE WATCHING.

Video Links

Opening clip for American Reds (2015) by Richard Wormser

Trailer for They're Watching (2016) by Jay Lender and Micah Wright

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Episode 27: Cinestudio / 10 Cloverfield Lane

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James Hanley (Lucy Gellman photo)

James Hanley (Lucy Gellman photo)

How to Listen

First Segment

Guest: James Hanley
0:00 - 38:03 - interview with James Hanley about Cinestudio

Second Segment

Guest: Jonathan McNicol
39:12 - 52:39 - review of 10 Cloverfield Lane

Description

On today's episode of Deep Focus, host Tom Breen talks with James Hanley, one of the founding members and the current co-president of Cinestudio, an independent film theater located on the campus of Trinity College in Hartford. Tom and James talk about the founding of the theater amidst the cultural unrest of the late 1960s, as well as about the lasting impact and mission of a theater dedicated to cinema as an art form and as a force for social awareness. For the second segment of the show, Tom and guest reviewer Jonathan McNicol discuss 10 Cloverfield Lane, the unexpected "spiritual sequel" to the popular 2008 found footage monster movie.

Video Links

Trailer for 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) by Dan Trachtenberg

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Episode 26: Herb Graff Collection / Son of Saul

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SON OF SAUL

SON OF SAUL

How to Listen

First Segment

Guests: Brian Meacham, Bennett Graff
0:00 - 37:01 - interview about the Herb Graff film collection

Second Segment

Guests: Allan Appel, Lucy Gellman
37:02 - 57:01 - review of Son of Saul

Description

On this episode, host Tom Breen speaks with Bennett Lovett-Graff, editor at the New Haven Review and Chief of Operations at Rainmaker Thinking Inc., and Brian Meacham, Archive and Special Collections Manager at Yale's Film Study Center about the Herb Graff Collection of over 500 films now at Yale. In the latter part of the episode, he discusses the recent film "Son of Saul" with New Haven Independent reporters Allan Appel and Lucy Gellman.

Video Links

Trailer for Son of Saul (2015) by László Nemes

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Episode 25: Philip Rosenthal / The Witch

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THE WITCH

THE WITCH

How to Listen

First Segment

Guest: Philip Rosenthal
0:00 - 35:08 - interview the psychology of home movies

Second Segment

Guests: Allan Appel, Aliyya Swaby
35:09 - 53:04 - review of The Witch

Description

On this episode, Deep Focus host Tom Breen talks to Dr. Philip Rosenthal about the psychology of home movies. During the second half of the episode, Breen talks with New Haven Independent reporters Allan Appel and Aliyya Swaby about the new release "The Witch."

Video Links

Trailer for The Witch (2015) by Robert Eggers