Episode 64: Crow Stories / Hidden Figures

CROW STORIES by Sean Kernan

Description

On today's episode of Deep Focus, host Tom Breen talks with Branford photographer Sean Kernan about CROW STORIES, his new documentary that offers a glimpse into the life, landscape, and culture of the Crow People, a Native American tribe concentrated in southern Montana. For the second segment, he's joined by Inner City News editor Babz Rawls-Ivy for a review of the new movie HIDDEN FIGURES.

Other Links

http://www.crow-stories.net/
http://www.seankernan.com/
http://www.bestvideo.com/film-screening-connecticut-photographer-sean-kernans-crow-stories-documentary-screens-mon-jan-30/

Episode 63: Silence

SILENCE by Martin Scorsese

Description

On today's review-only episode of Deep Focus, host Tom Breen talks with New Haven Independent reporter Allan Appel about Martin Scorsese's new movie Silence, about two 17th century Portuguese missionaries who travel to Japan in search of a lost mentor.

Episode 62: Love Hate Relationship / La La Land

Description

For the first segment of today's show, host Tom Breen talks with local rapper Joey A.X. and Boston-based filmmaker Sev One about their recent music video, "Love Hate Relationship," which explores Joey's ambivalent, affectionate perspective on the city in which he grew up: Elm City. Tom is joined by Lucy Gellman and Allan Appel during the second segment for a divisive review if La La Land, Damien Chazelle's new musical that stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.

Other Links

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN_10rZyBwk
http://www.killjoeyax.com/

Episode 61: Best Movies of 2016

Moonlight (Courtesy of TIFF)

Description

Today's episode is all about the best movies of 2016. Host Tom Breen is joined by New Haven movie blogger Dan Heaton and Madison Art Cinemas owner Arnold Gorlick to go through their top 10 movies of the year. The episode also features a number of voicemails from Deep Focus guests, friends, and listeners, sharing their picks for the best movies of 2016.

Top 10 Picks

TOM'S PICKS

10. Fences by Denzel Washington
9. Krisha by Trey Edward Shults
8. After the Storm by Hirokazu Kore-eda
7. Green Room by Jeremy Saulnier
6. The Fits by Anna Rose Holmer
5. Hunt for the Wilderpeople by Taika Waititi
4. The Lobster by Yorgos Lanthimos
3. Moonlight by Barry Jenkins
2. Hail, Caesar! by Joel and Ethan Coen
1. O.J.: Made in America by Ezra Edelman / 13th by Ava DuVernay / Weiner by Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg

ARNOLD'S PICKS

10. LBJ by Rob Reiner
9. Florence Foster Jenkins by Stephen Frears
8. I Am Not Your Negro by Raoul Peck
7. The Innocents by Anne Fontaine
6. La La Land by Damien Chazelle
5. Indignation by James Shamus
4. Manchester by the Sea by Kenneth Lonergan
3. Lion by Garth Davis
2. Jackie by Pablo Larrain
1. Moonlight by Barry Jenkins

DAN'S PICKS

Most Puzzling Film to Find on So Many Best Of Lists
Toni Erdmann by Maren Ade

Best Film Made Unnecessary by a Vastly Better Film on the Same Story
Florence Foster Jenkins by Stephen Frears

Best Rape Romance
Elle by Paul Verhoeven

The Film That Most Made Me Want to Attack Everyone Involved with a Ball-peen Hammer
The Light Between Oceans by David Cianfrance

Best Kiwi Film with Lots of Haikus
Hunt for the Wilderpeople by Taika Waititi

The Best Entry in the Horror Renaissance
The Autopsy of Jane Doe

Best Documentary Whose Title Is Unnervingly Part of the Joke
Weiner by Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg

Best Musical Whose Stars Neither Sing Nor Dance Well
La La Land by Damien Chazelle

The Film With the Highest Ratio of Laughter Provided to Laughter Expected
Manchester by the Sea by Kenneth Lonergan

The Film Most Disserved by the Glib Characterization: "A Black, Gay Film"
Moonlight by Barry Jenkins

GUEST PICKS

Allan Appel - Loving by Jeff Nichols, and The Witch by Robert Eggars
Lucy Gellman - The Handmaiden by Park Chan-wook
Brian Slattery - The Witch by Robert Eggars
Betsy Kim - Eye in the Sky by Gavin Hood
Brian Meacham - Hunt for the Wilderpeople by Taika Waititi
Dudley Andrew - Moonlight by Barry Jenkins, and Kaili Blues by Gan Bi
Russ Martin - Captain America: Civil War

Episode 60: Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers / Manchester by the Sea

Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers (1980)D

Description

On this episode, host Tom Breen welcomes "Kitchen Sync" host and WNHH Station Manager Lucy Gellman for another installment of their food and movies series. They take a look back at Les Blank's 1980 documentary Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers. For the second segment of the show, Breen is joined by Allan Appel for a review of Manchester By The Sea.

Other Links

https://vimeo.com/111386326

Episode 59: Green Room / Krisha / Nocturnal Animals

Jeremy Saulnier's GREEN ROOM

Description

In the spirit of being as prepared as possible for the Best Movies of 2016 show at the end of the year, host Tom Breen and Lyric Hall’s Joe Fay shine a light on a few smaller, critically-acclaimed movies that may have slipped under your radar when they came out in limited release earlier in the year. Jeremy Saulnier’s GREEN ROOM and Trey Edward Shults’ KRISHA are two low-budget, independent dramas that know how to make the most of confined spaces, unexpected violence, and the absurdity (funny, sad, inspiring, and devastating) of the stories we tell ourselves about who we are and how we act in extreme situations. For the second segment of the show, Breen and Lucy Gellman review Tom Ford's new movie, NOCTURNAL ANIMALS.

Links

http://lyrichallnewhaven.com/events/

Episode 57: In Search of Lost Films / Loving

Description

On today's episode of Deep Focus on WNHH Community Radio, host Tom Breen talks with film journalist Phil Hall about his new book, "In Search of Lost Films," which explores the many influential and intriguing movies that have disappeared over the course of the past century. For the second segment of the show, Breen is joined by WNHH Station Manager Lucy Gellman and New Haven Independent reporter Allan Appel for a review of the new movie, Loving.

Other Links

https://soundcloud.com/onlinemovieshow
http://cinema-crazed.com/blog/author/philhall/
http://filmsnobbery.com/author/phil-hall/
https://www.amazon.com/Search-Lost-Films-Phil-Hall/dp/1593939388
https://www.loc.gov/programs/static/national-film-preservation-board/documents/pub158.final_version_sept_2013.pdf
 

Episode 56: I Am Shakespeare / Moonlight

Poster for I AM SHAKESPEARE

Description

This episode of Deep Focus is all about I AM SHAKESPEARE, a new documentary from New Haven filmmaker Stephen Dest that tells the story of Henry Green, a young man from Newhalville struggling to reconcile the many different sides of himself in a city painfully divided by class, race, education, and violence. Breen talks with Dest and Green about the story behind this film, the power of committing so much of yourself to a work of art, and the prospect of better understanding yourself and your city through movies. For the second segment of the show, Tom is joined by Inner City News editor Babz Rawls-Ivy and New Haven Independent reporter Markeshia Ricks for a review of MOONLIGHT.

More Links

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/new_film_supports_new_art_for_new_haven/

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/new_film_will_tell_henry_green_story/

Episode 55: Hacksaw Ridge / Joe Fay

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Description

On today's episode of Deep Focus, host Tom Breen and fellow WNHH hosts Allan Appel and Lucy Gellman review Hacksaw Ridge, a new World War II movie from director Mel Gibson that stars Andrew Garfield as American Army medic and battlefield conscientious objector Desmond Doss. For the second segment of the show, Breen talks with Lyric Hall film programmer Joe Fay about his time working at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Dallas-Fort Worth and about two movies that have had a strong influence on his own understanding and love of cinema: Tobe Hooper’s 1974 slasher classic THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, and Joe Dante’s family-friendly 1989 horror-comedy THE ‘BURBS.

Episode 54: Frank and Caroline Mouris / The Handmaiden

Excerpt from FRANK FILM (1973) by Frank and Caroline Mouris

Description

On today's episode of Deep Focus, host Tom Breen welcomes experimental animators and filmmakers Frank and Caroline Mouris and film archivist Brian Meacham to the show to talk about the Mouris' careers making movies, some reflections on the mesmerizing world of experimental animation, and upcoming screenings of their films at the Whitney Humanities center. For the second segment of the show, Breen, Allan Appel, and Lucy Gellman review the new movie The Handmaiden.

Timeline

00:00 - 43:02 -- interview with filmmakers Frank and Caroline Mouris and Yale film archivist Brian Meacham
44:00 - 59: 38 -- review of The Handmaiden

Other Links

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZm67rgUAfQ
https://www.facebook.com/events/964252377030216/

Episode 53: It Happened But Nobody Noticed / Denial

Jerry Lombardo (Thomas Breen photo)

Timeline

00:00 - 38:20 -- interview with Jerry Lombardo and Eric Michael Schrader about It Happened, But Nobody Noticed
39:20 - 58:42 -- review of Denial

Description

This week's episode is about It Happened, But Nobody Noticed, a 2009 documentary from directors Jerry Lombardo and Eric Michael Schrader that documents New Haven’s punk and New Wave underground music scene from 1978 to 1988. Host Tom Breen talks with Lombardo and Schrader about how this movie came to be; some of the bands, venues and unique personalities that made up New Haven’s punk and New Wave scene in the 80s; and the ways that movies and music can intersect to help us understand this specific time and place in our city’s underground cultural history. The second half of the show features a review of the new movie Denial.

Other Links

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu3hrc-sx50

Episode 52: Mark Schenker / American Honey

Mark Schenker (Thomas Breen photo)

Timeline

00:00 - 37:20 -- interview with Mark Schenker about his new series on John Huston
40:25 - 59:44 -- review of American Honey

Description

On this episode, host Tom Breen talks all about the movies of John Huston with Yale dean and lecturer Mark Schenker, who will be hosting a 4-part series on Huston's movies at Best Video Film & Cultural Center in Hamden starting Sunday Oct. 23. For the second segment of the show, Breen is joined by Allan Appel and Lucy Gellman for a review of the new movie American Honey. Independent's website.

Other Links

http://www.bestvideo.com/prof-mark-schenker-returns-for-new-lecture-series-starting-sun-oct-23-how-to-read-a-film-subject-is-films-of-john-huston/

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/kubrick_lectures_at_best_video/

Episode 51: Home Movie Day 2016 / 13th

Molly Wheeler (Lucy Gellman photo)

Timeline

00:00 - 31:20 -- interview about Home Movie Day
34:40 - 55:38 -- review of 13TH with Babz Rawls Ivy

Description

On today's episode of Deep Focus, host Tom Breen talks to Brian Meacham, Molly Wheeler, and David Pilot about Home Movie Day New Haven 2016, hosted Saturday 10/15 at the New Haven Museum. During the second half of the show Breen welcomes fellow WNHH host and Inner City News CT editor Babz Rawls Ivy for a review of Ava Duvernay's new Netflix documentary, 13TH.

Other Links

http://www.centerforhomemovies.org/hmd/

Episode 50: Sully / The Magnificent Seven

SULLY by Clint Eastwood

Timeline

00:00 - 27:43 -- review of SULLY
27:43 - 49:52 -- review of THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN

Description

On today’s episode, host Tom Breen and New Haven Independent reporter Allan Appel talk about two new movies with opposing, yet related, conceptions of American heroism. Clint Eastwood’s SULLY and Antoine Fuqua’s THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN are both fascinated with stubborn, courageous American men who are masters of their craft and confident in their expertise, no matter how much skepticism or vitriol they must endure for the sometimes unorthodox nature of their practice.

Other Links

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjKEXxO2KNE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-RBA0xoaWU
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/stop_sniping_at_american_sniper/

Episode 49: Brendan Toller / Russ D Martin

Brendan Toller (Lucy Gellman photo)

Timeline

00:00 - 36:37 -- interview with Brendan Toller
39:35 - 55:43 -- interview with Russ D Martin

Description

On today's episode of Deep Focus, host Tom Breen talks with local filmmaker Brendan Toller, director of the new documentary DANNY SAYS, about two movies that have had a profound influence on him as a watcher and maker of movies: BENJAMIN SMOKE, a 2000 documentary about a singer-songwriter, drag queen, speedfreak, misfit named Benjamin from Atlanta, Georgia, and SILVERLAKE LIFE, a 1993 documentary about a California couple living and dying with AIDS. On the second segment of the show, Tom interviews local filmmaker Russ D Martin about his new movie, ...an inappropriate affect.

Links

http://dannysaysfilm.com/Danny_Says/Danny_Says.html
https://www.facebook.com/aninappropriateaffect/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGE_LX5nO54
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjGVT4BUG-w

Episode 47: Rich Hanley / Last Days of the Coliseum

Rich Hanley (Thomas Breen photo)

Topics

00:00 - 48:47 -- interview with Rich Hanley about Last Days of the Coliseum

Description

On today's episode of Deep Focus, host Tom Breen talks with Rich Hanley, Associate Professor of Journalism at Quinnipiac University and writer/director of the 2010 documentary Last Days at the Coliseum. Tom and Rich talk about the history of the New Haven Coliseum, and the symbolic intersections of hockey, rock and roll, wrestling, and urban renewal in mid-century downtown New Haven.

Links

https://www.facebook.com/newhavencoliseum/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUslRv5A3IU
https://soundcloud.com/new-haven-independent/episode-47-rich-hanley-last-days-of-the-coliseum?in=user8148908/sets/deep-focus

Episode 46: Matt Feiner / Little Men

Matt Feiner (Thomas Breen photo)

Topics

00:00 - 36:00 -- interview with Matt Feiner about Starman and The Girl in the Cafe
38:36 - 57:21 -- review of Little Men

Description

On today's episode of Deep Focus, host Tom Breen talks with Matt Feiner, the founder and owner of Devil's Gear bike shop and a New Haven-based visual artist, about two movies that he holds dear: 1984's sci-fi road trip movie Starman, and 2005's romantic comedy with a conscience, The Girl in the Cafe. On the second segment of the show, Breen is joined by Allan Appel and Lucy Gellman for a review of the new movie Little Men.

Video Links

STARMAN (1984) movie clip

Trailer for LITTLE MEN (2016)

Other Links

http://thedevilsgear.com/

Episode 45: Nick Palmer / Indignation

Nick Palmer (Thomas Breen photo)

How to Listen

Listen on SoundCloud

Listen on iTunes

First Segment

Guest: Nick Palmer
0:00 - 35:45 - interview with CT filmmaker Nick Palmer about Parable Media, "A Bottled Rose," and FTMA

Second Segment

Guests: Allan Appel, Lucy Gellman
37:34 - 56:22 - review of the new Philip Roth-adaptation INDIGNATION

Description

On today's episode of Deep Focus, host Tom Breen talks with CT filmmaker Nick Palmer about his work on the 2016 48 Hour Film Project New Haven, the Film and Television masters program at Sacred Heart University in Stamford, and a few of his short films to date, including "A Bottled Rose" and the promo-trailers for "To Live and Die in L.A." On the second segment of the show, Tom talks with Allan Appel and Lucy Gellman about the new Philip Roth-adaptation, Indignation, about the son of a butcher from Newark, New Jersey who struggles to adjust the goyish, repressed American heartland of Winesburg, Ohio.

Video Links

CT Filmmaker Nick Palmer's showreel

Trailer for INDIGNATION

Other Links

http://parablemedia.format.com/

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/sydney_perry_chai_haven/

Episode 44: The Land / Hip Hop Movies

The Land by Steven Caple Jr.

How to Listen

Listen on SoundCloud

Listen on iTunes 

First Segment

Guest: Lucy Gellman
0:00 - 18:30 - review of THE LAND by Steven Caple, Jr.

Second Segment

Guests: Chef the Chef, Lucy Gellman
18:30 - 44:39 - discussion of hip hop movies over the past 30 years

Description

On this episode, host Tom Breen talks to Bridgeport-based musician Chef the Chef and WNHH Station Manager Lucy Gellman about Steven Caple Jr.'s "The Land" and how the hip hop movie genre has evolved and grown over the last 30-40 years.

Video Links

Trailer for THE LAND

Episode 42: Rebecca Bombero / Wiener-Dog

Still from WIENER-DOG by Todd Solondz

How to Listen

Listen on SoundCloud

Listen on iTunes

First Segment

Guest: Becky Bombero
0:00 - 18:55 - interview with New Haven Parks director Becky Bombero about the Friday Flicks series

Second Segment

Guesst: Allan Appel, Lucy Gellman
20:45 - 45:45 - review of WIENER-DOG

Description

On this episode host Tom Breen speaks to Rebecca Bombero, director of the city's Department of Parks, Recreation and Trees, about a summer film series, and to New Haven Independent reporters Lucy Gellman and Allan Appel about Todd Solondz' new movie "Wiener-Dog."

related Links

2016 Friday Flicks Schedule

WIENER-DOG trailer