errol morris

Matt Singer, author of Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel and Ebert Changed Movies Forever, joins us to discuss two TV guys who argued passionately about movies for over twenty years, during a period when American Cinema was in its heyday, and film criticism rose to the challenge. Matt's book covers the history of S&E's successful collaboration, somewhat surprising since they were first longform movie critics from competing Chicago newspapers, before they joined thumbs and their Two Thumbs Up! became a household movie endorsement. Matt describes the relationship, respect, and competition between the two, as well as his own relationship with Roger Ebert, and the history of S&E's work, how it evolved, what they did well, and maybe some places they missed the boat. Our conversation runs the gamut from fun stuff like skunks on the show to deeper questions about film criticism today. Matt's extraordinary knowledge about the history of S&E, as well as his enthusiasm for Siskel and Ebert as people and critics, for their show, and for movies in general bubbles forth in this episode. Whether you remember Siskel and Ebert or not, don't miss this episode about an extraordinary period in American Film.

Matt's website:
https://www.matt-singer.net/

Matt's day job (read his articles here):
https://screencrush.com/

Matt on Letterboxd: @superpulse
https://letterboxd.com/superpulse/

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Paul and Erin review a heaping pile of new titles: Martin Scorsese's KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, David Fincher's THE KILLER, Sofia Coppola's PRISCILLA, Errol Morris' THE PIGEON TUNNER, plus THE ROYAL HOTEL, FAIR PLAY, TALK TO ME, TOTALLY KILLER, and A HAUNTING IN VENICE. Plus: Erin reports on her trip to Frankfurt and Berlin, and Paul reviews the pre-Code melodramas NIGHT NURSE and ONE WAY PASSAGE.

The sheer joy of an anecdote can be downright cinematic....

On this very special episode we dive into a fascinating documentary that gives us a glimpse into the mind of one of the 20th Centuries great storytellers, by one of the greatest documentarians of our time.  On Apple TV+ now, it's 'The Pigeon Tunnel'.

Errol Morris pulls back the curtain on the storied life and career of former British spy David Cornwell — better known as John le Carré, author of such classic espionage novels as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Constant Gardener. Set against the turbulent backdrop of the Cold War leading into present day, the film spans six decades as le Carré delivers his final and most candid interview, punctuated with rare archival footage and dramatized vignettes.

This film takes us down the complex rabbit hole of personality giving us a glimpse at what made one of the best storytellers of the modern age tick.

It's a fascinating watch and we had the pleasure of sitting down with producers Stephen and Simon Cornwell (who also happen to be the sons of le Carré to talk about the genesis of the project and the legacy of the man himself across a myriad of mediums.

The Pigeon Tunnel is on Apple TV+ now.

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy return to review six new films this week. They include the film that was supposed to be Nicolas Cage’s first western, but wasn’t (Butcher’s Crossing). Documentarian Errol Morris gets inside the head of spy novelist John Le Carre (The Pigeon Tunnel) and comedian Bill Burr tries to not let the new woke generation get inside his (Old Dads). The director of Borat adapts a two-man show (Dicks: The Musical) and a new documentary on Amazon is a warm-up for this week’s theme of property theft (Silver Dollar Road). That leaves us with the latest from Martin Scorsese on the true story of the 1920s murders amongst the Osage community in Oklahoma (Killers of the Flower Moon).

0:00 - Intro

2:02 - Butcher's Crossing

10:55 – The Pigeon Tunnel

15:49 - Old Dads

22:59 - Silver Dollar Road

32:18 - Dicks: The Musical

41:28 - Killers of the Flower Moon

1:00:54 – Preview of Next Week’s Movies

1:02:09 - Outro

Were biological weapons used in the Korean War?

Clip from Poisoner in Chief - MBM Podcast Ep. 26

Welcome to Movies By McManus, a new YouTube channel and Podcast discussing movies, TV, books, comics, and all types of media in the context of who created it and what effect it's trying to have on the world.

Short video breakdowns hosted by Greg McManus and accompanying long form podcasts hosted by Greg and his brother Michael McManus will be released every week.

Follow us on social media @moviesbymcmanus

Clip from Poisoner in Chief - MBM Podcast Ep. 26

Welcome to Movies By McManus, a new YouTube channel and Podcast discussing movies, TV, books, comics, and all types of media in the context of who created it and what effect it's trying to have on the world.

Short video breakdowns hosted by Greg McManus and accompanying long form podcasts hosted by Greg and his brother Michael McManus will be released every week.

Follow us on social media @moviesbymcmanus

In the early hours of November 28th, 1953, U.S. Army biochemist Frank Olson plummeted out the window of room 1018A at the Statler Hotel in New York City. Though his colleagues first reported this as a jump or fall, details about Frank Olson's opposition to the use of bioweapons in the Korean War, his connections to the CIA's Project MKUltra, and a recent unwitting LSD trip would eventually come to light.

What happened to Frank Olson? Did he fall out the window in the middle of the night? Did he have some sort of nervous breakdown and leap to his death? Or, is it possible that Frank Olson was pushed?

Content warning: This episode includes discussions of drug use and possible suicide. If you feel suicidal and need to talk, Wikipedia has a list of crisis lines around the world.

Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/DasCriminal

Sources: https://bit.ly/3bhoMVw

Paco and George are joined by comedian Sara DeForest to recap Alex Gibney’s HBO documentary THE INVENTOR: Out For Blood In Silicon Valley. It's the story of Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes, the low-talking, non-blinking CEO that promised to revolutionize blood testing. Elizabeth Holmes became the world's youngest self-made billionaire and was heralded as the next Steve Jobs until a huge fraud scandal lead to the dissolution of her multibillion-dollar company. 

Our guest is San Francisco comic Sara DeForest, a marketing consultant and writer who has her own trajectory in the tech industry and shares a hilarious Elizabeth Holmes anecdote. Sara also writes for the sketch groups Basement Party and End Games.

We get to know Sara and play Cast This Doc and Doc Pitch.

Great tweet from Liz Watson

George says if you're in tech, "keep it dry."

Paco wants a documentary on Emperor Norton

Follow Sara on:

Twitter: @saradeforest

Instagram: @defunkyfo

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In the early morning of November 28, 1953, 42-year-old Army scientist Frank Olson "went out the window" of a room in New York City’s Statler Hotel. Did he jump or fall? Was it an accident or was it murder? 

The #RCP team discuss and analyse this case using the arc of Wormwood, the Netflix true-crime documentary re-enactment series from Academy Award-winning documentarian director Errol Morris. 

Two-plus years in the making, this innovative narrative from the director who pioneered many true-crime techniques is narrated by Dr Frank Olson's now Harvard graduate clinical psychologist son, Eric. Eric was nine years old when his father's boss came to the house to tell to them that his father was dead - and he has been consumed with questions and the search for truth about what really happened to his father ever since. 

#HisNameWasFrank 

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Mayor Marty Walsh joined us for another edition of Ask The Mayor to talk about the future of the body cam program. Plus, filmmaker Errol Morris, Emily Rooney, and Callie Crossley. (Full Show 01/05)

This episode of Sup Doc is sponsored by GUIDEDOC - http://www.guidedoc.tv/supdoc/ For our 2 year anniversary, we're covering true crime documentaries all throughout our Month Of Mayhem series. Paco and George delve into the iconic Errol Morris documentary The Thin Blue Line (creating the exoneration/investigation genre) with our guest comedian, writer, and FrotCast podcaster Vince Mancini. The Thin Blue Line is the fascinating, controversial true story of the arrest and conviction of Randall Adams for the murder of a Dallas policeman in 1976. Billed as "the first movie mystery to actually solve a murder," the film is credited with overturning the conviction of Randall Dale Adams for the murder of Dallas police officer Robert Wood, a crime for which Adams was sentenced to death. With its use of expressionistic reenactments, interview material and music by Philip Glass, it pioneered a new kind of non-fiction filmmaking. Its style has been copied in countless reality-based television programs and feature films. Terrence Rafferty in The New Yorker has called it "a powerful and thrillingly strange movie. Morris seems to want to bring us to the point at which our apprehension of the real world reaches a pitch of paranoia -- to induce in us the state of mind of a detective whose scrutiny of the evidence has begun to take on the feverish clarity of hallucination." It was voted the best film of 1988 in a Washington Post survey of 250 film critics. Premiere magazine described it as one of the most important and influential movies of the '80s. Vince Mancini is a writer, comedian, and podcaster. A graduate of Columbia’s non-fiction MFA program, his work has appeared on FilmDrunk, the UPROXX network, the Portland Mercury, the East Bay Express, and all over his mom’s refrigerator. Fallout of the Justin Halpern Papa Roach meme: http://uproxx.com/filmdrunk/paul-ryan-papa-roach-frotcast/

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The entire month of May we cover True Crime documentaries in our MAYHEM series. This week we celebrate the life and work of Jonathan Demme, director of films like Married to the Mob, Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia and Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense. Plus Paco gives his review of Casting JonBenet, we talk about the career of Steven Soderbergh and we hear some stuff cut out of last week's episode with Allison Mick! Our true crime MAYHEM series continues! Next week we'll be doing Thin Blue Line with Vince Mancini, and we also announce Tower with Craig Staggs and Steph Swope of animation team Minnow Mountain. Our Patreon Page: www.patreon.com/supdocpodcast Sign Up for a chance to get a FREE month of docs to watch from GuideDoc! https://guidedoc.tv/supdoc/

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On this edition of Sup Doc Paco and George chat with the one and only Jesse Thorn. Jesse grew up in SF, is an early pioneer of podcasting, has a very popular and respected show on NPR called Bullseye with Jesse Thorn, runs the podcast network Maximum Fun, and dresses real swell. We talk about the Errol Morris documentary Fast, Cheap and Out of Control plus the meaning of life, Mr. T, nerd uncles, and Babe Pig In The City among others. Really great talk.

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