Thursday, April 27, 2017

Riske Business: A Few Favorite Film Folks

by Adam Riske
Who do I follow?

I’ve heard on a few occasions that people like hearing who we (at F This Movie!) follow in the film community. So, I’d like to dedicate this column to some of my favorite film critics, bloggers, columnists, journalists and podcasters. Thanks to all of these folks for the great and abundant content and I strongly encourage you to check out their work.

On YouTube
1) Alicia Malone – I became aware of Alicia Malone via the ScreenJunkies.com site, where she is a contributor to a variety of web shows centered on movies. She’s very versatile, covering not only tentpoles but also a deep focus on women in cinema, indie releases and classic films. I enjoy so much of her content and a lot of that is because of her enthusiasm and how obvious it is that she does her homework. Alicia is a frequent visitor of fests such as SXSW and Telluride and usually posts Vlogs, which are awesome for people like me lacking the credentials, time and/or income to attend these fests. They are like mini-vacations! My favorite thing about Alicia Malone, though, is that she used a fanboy site like ScreenJunkies as a platform for expanding predominately young men’s curiosity and interest in film outside of their comfort zone. She’s my hero. Check out her channel on YouTube to find all of her stuff.
2) Chris Stuckmann - Those who know me are aware of the dark period in my life when I went full bore into YouTube criticism. The douchier the better. It was my secret shame. There was one YouTuber, though, that I followed absolutely unironically from the start and that is Chris Stuckmann. He’s a critic with exceptional production value to his videos and great insight, even when I disagree with him on a film (which is often). I appreciate that he considers a whole list of aspects in his reviews, from context to themes to technical and performance factors. He gets pretty nerdy sometimes, but that’s to be expected and his enthusiasm is infectious when he covers genres like anime. My favorite aspect of his work, and how I came across his channel in the first place, is through his analyzed videos. They are terrific. Start with his analysis of the movie Enemy and see what I mean.

On the Web
3) Daily Dead.com – I have the good fortune of being friends with Patrick, Heather Wixson and Scott Drebit from this site, but that doesn’t make me any less of a fan. It’s my go-to site for horror news (especially Heather’s invaluable VOD run-down at the beginning of each month) and I love their columns on anniversaries (like Heather’s moving article recently on Hot Fuzz’s ten year birthday) and curiosities (for example, Scott’s latest on Mr. Boogedy, which I have to see right fucking now). #DisneyHorror4Life. As an added bonus, it’s extra Bromley. When is that ever a bad thing?

On Podcasts
4) How Is This Movie - Dana Buckler’s podcast is my favorite movie show on the internet. It’s one of the few where I drop everything and listen the moment I see a new episode on my feed. Dana’s podcast goes into film history with the stories behind the productions of some of the most enduring classics film has offered and these episodes are fantastic. But the secret sauce to How Is This Movie (for me, at least) are the special episodes featuring great interviews and especially the theater stories. Dana has more trouble seeing a movie in theaters without incident than anyone I have ever heard of. Combine that with his epic NPR-ready voice work and it makes for this magical alchemy that I find so entertaining. It’s like the dad who is trying so hard to make a perfect Christmas but everyone and everything keeps fucking it up and he’s just barely holding it together. There is nothing better than irritated Dana. Bonus points for his interview with Patrick, which is how I found Dana’s show. I’m very glad I did.
5) Book Vs Movie Podcast – A podcast I found thanks to Dana Buckler (who had a fascinating interview with BVMP host Margo Donahue covering her career working in the film industry), the Margos' show takes a novel and the film adaptation of said novel and pits them head-to-head, going over the similarities, differences, production history and verdict on which medium is better for the story in question. It’s a great listen, with my personal favorite so far (I’m still making my way through their episodes) being their show on Casino and the true crime saga that inspired Nicholas Pileggi’s book and screenplay. Pro tip: Check out Margo’s podcast on Big from late last year at F This Movie! It’s terrific.
6) Shock Waves/Killer POV – Any F-Head worth their salt has read Patrick’s tributes to the magnificent Shock Waves crew (Elric Kane, Rebecca McKendry, Rob Galluzzo and Ryan Turek) on our site. Allow me to add to that chorus of praise. Listening to a new Shock Waves episode on my ride in to work every Friday morning is the perfect way to start off my weekend. They bring the joy to horror and make every listen feel like a hangout you don’t want to end. Not so much now, but in the past I had to defend liking horror to people who didn’t understand why I liked it. There was an assumption that I liked negativity or bad feelings because I enjoyed horror. What those people will never understand is that horror fans are the coolest and nicest folks you’ll ever want to meet. If I’m ever asked why I like horror, all I need to do is turn on an episode of Shock Waves for that person and let them listen and figure out the bliss of being a horror fan. It’s something to be celebrated, which is what Shock Waves does on a weekly basis.
Those are just a few, but I definitely want to heap compliments and recommendations on a few others. I enjoy the /Filmcast; the triumvirate of MovieMadness, Director’s Club and Pure Cinema Podcast on the Now Playing Network, Nick Digilio’s Monday morning movie reviews segments on WGN Radio and finally Heath Holland’s newly minted Cereal At Midnight on YouTube. Give these folks a listen, a subscription, word of mouth or even a donation. They all deserve it! Who are you watching/reading/listening to? Let me know in the comments!

30 comments:

  1. Thank you for the recommendations!
    I'll be hitting HITM hard at work as I have burned through the archives of other movie podcasts. I've made a habit of revisiting F This Movie shows on the films I love...(and in some caeses the ones I do not)
    Keep up the great work!
    (I do enjoy Filmspotting, though I picked up on Patrick's tone of...disapproval?
    Either way, love you guys and what you do.

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    1. Filmspotting can get a bit... intellectual... i guess is the term i'm looking for.

      what i like about them is they review a lot of world cinema, not just american, and certainly less blockbusters. though they do mention them from time to time

      F This Movie is the obvious better podcast of them all, but HITM, which i only recently discovered is very interesting.

      i also listen to a lot of /Filmcast.

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    2. Tone of disa-what when? Curious to know when Filmspotting has been mentioned on the F, when was this? Seems like two very different schools of rock.

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    3. I don't remember that either.

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  2. HITM's multiple part episode on "The Business of Film" with Phil Joanou is awesome.

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  3. Love seeing Chris Stuckmann get some love! I agree that he is head and shoulders above the other youtube critics. He tries really hard, does a great job, and stays really genuine. He's also finally waking up to how great indie horror is now. About damn time!

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    1. I'm usually not a fan of critic shtick (i.e. skits etc.) but when Stuckmann does it, I think it's pretty funny. He has a good sense of humor about himself.

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    2. I also used to be really into Alicia's podcast Profiles. The show did run out of steam (and I think it's dead?) but I definitely enjoyed it for awhile.

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    3. Profiles was pretty good. I like Scott Mantz's enthusiasm. Their rankings would drive me crazy but that's okay :-)

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  4. You Must Remember This is one of my favorite podcasts. Post Mortem with Mick Garris has been fun. I dig Filmspotting: SVU because I'm a Matt Singer fan. The Q&A with Jeff Goldsmith can be interesting.

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    1. No love for the Brewcast? Ok. I guess Beta will get the "Eric Thames: A Warrior's Journey" series.

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  5. Chris Stuckmann and Alicia Malone are great YouTube choices. Chris Stuckmann is maybe the only YouTube critic who I am still subscribed to, and I think his thoughts are intelligent and well spoken. Similarly, I don't watch a lot of Screen Junkies, but when I do, I enjoy seeing Alicia Malone. She's fun and always has great things to say.

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    1. And as you pointed out above, Stuckmann is not without an enjoyable sense of humor, which is good.

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  6. I enjoy Alicia Malone and also Dan Murrell from Screen Junkies. I do like Red Letter Media to a certain degree, mostly for the "Best of the Worst" segments. I also recommend Cinefix.

    As for podcasts:
    The Projection Booth,
    Shock Waves
    The Screamcast
    We Hate Movies
    Now Playing Podcast
    You Must Remember This
    /Filmcast
    and of course, F! This Movie

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  7. Empire Magazine's podcast is where my podcast listening started, and I still listen almost every week. It's pretty basic stuff, movie news, an interview and short reviews of that week's releases (in the UK).

    I really like Bad Movie Fiends (bmfcast.com) and their mostly unironic love of bad and "bad" movies. I prefer that to How Did This Get Made.

    On YouTube, I recently burned through all of Red Letter Media's Best of the Worst videos, which were really entertaining, even though they shat on a couple of movies I genuinely love.

    But nothing beats F This Movie! It's the only movie site I visit daily, the only site I actually read the comments on and the only podcast I always listen to even if I'm not that interested in the movie in question.

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  8. I feel I should give a bit of a shameless plug here, LOL...but only because I know for fact that F This Movie and our podcast share a pretty substantial listener-base. And, we also consider FTM to be part of our extended podcast family.

    So if you dig FTM, are looking for yet another movie podcast...and haven't given us a try yet...well, please give us a little consideration. And if not, we still love you anyway. ;-)

    Keep Rockin',
    Blake
    Co-host, Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers

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  9. One vote here for BBC film critic Mark Kermode and his YT channel (he has a podcast and does short written reviews also, but I mainly follow him on YT). In terms of quantitative output, cinephile bona fides, and wit/personality, I don't think he has any serious challengers to the title of the world's best English-language video-based film critic since Ebert left the air.

    I also love Red Letter Media's "Half in the Bag" and "Re:View", though "Best of the Worst" isn't my jam. Stuckmann seems like a good bloke, and I usually agree with him, but he doesn't seem to have anything like Kermode's life experience and fullness of personality.

    Meanwhile, over in the text-based world, while much of The AV Club has devolved over the past few years since the departure of their core group, A.A. Dowd and Ignatiy Vishnevetsky have been doing terrific work in their film reviews, with fun "Film Club" video discussions on Facebook (but, annoyingly, not YT). And though I won't deny an element of hometown pride, I think the San Francisco Chronicle's Mick Lasalle might be the best writing film reviewer since Ebert passed. Like Ebert, he has a way of waxing philosophic and making profound life observations without going off-topic from the movie at hand.

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  10. None greater than Film Junk although I do love We Hate Movies and Filmspotting.

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  11. I love Red Letter Media. Half in the Bag is by far & away the best YouTube movie review channel. They are funny & insightful. I would start with their Man of Steel, Jack & Jill or Boyhood reviews.

    One of the hosts, Jay Bauman, always recommends the Shock Waves podcast & would be a perfect podcast guest for Patrick during Junesploitation.

    Stuckmann tries, I guess, but man is he boring. I agree his Enemy breakdown is great. I guess out of all the YT critics that use the generic format of sitting in front of camera giving his thoughts/reaction on movies he's probably the best...better than Jahns.

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  12. What about Jermey Jahns Adam I might be wrong but I thought I heard he wasn't your favorite lol

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  13. And Stuckmann is my favorite I just can't stand the weird faces he does in his screen caps that's a pet peeve of mine a lot of YouTubers do it make strange faces in their screen cap I can't stand it lol

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  14. i watched Stuckman for a while, but i rarely agreed with him, so i had to stop

    i watch Nostalgia Critic, but it's more for oldies

    i also watch a french guy called Le Fossoyeur De Film (The movie Gravedigger). he does a lot of interesting stuff. he does thoughts on recent movies, talk about various subject (urban legends in cinema, what is a midnight move). the main feature is the Gravedigger itself, where he'll analyse an old movie as his character, with his shovel friend named Pupuce. he mostly pick old sci-fi flicks that are almost forgotten.

    anyway, i could talk about it all day, but you,ll never watch him because it's all in french

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    1. I watched Nostalgia Critic every week for years. Then I felt like I was probably his oldest viewer and stopped.

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    2. Nostalgia Critic is one of the greats, still love his stuff.

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  15. Adam, you and Patrick should start a YT movie review channel. You two are really great together on the podcast. Your banter back and forth easily, are both funny & Patrick is a good leader of the conversation. Maybe, a 10 min review in the style of Siskel & Elbert or like Red Letter Media's Half in The Bag minus the skits.

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    1. YouTube? I dunno. I gotta get handsome again before I do that. Thanks for the kind words. Are you reading Reserved Seating each week with me and Rob? It's a column but in the same spirit of the review format I think you're looking for.

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  16. I would like to put in a word for Charlie Brooker. U.S. audiences might be familiar with him as the creator of Dark Mirror, but he's been writing about film and television since the 1990s; at least that's when I became familiar with his regular column in the Guardian newspaper. These articles were collected and published in three books, Screen Burn, Dawn of the Dumb and The Hell of it All. He also co-writes and presents the Wipe TV series: Screenwipe, Newswipe, Gameswipe, Weekly Wipe and Yearly wipe. Yes, the 'wipe' suffix is a vulgar joke, but, you know... the English. He's one of the most astute and funny critics working.

    I don't know if he podcasts, but he's regular on Radio 4 panel shows, and is too big for Youtube.

    Here is a brief, atypical example of Charlie's television work.

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