All Movie Talk, Episode 9
Show contents, with start times:
- Second Take: The Prestige (1:23)
- Trivia Question: United Artists (9:00)
- Best of the Year: 1940-1949 (9:44)
- Film Buff's Dictionary: Smash Cut (20:17)
- Top 6: Directorial Debuts (23:43)
- Director Spotlight: Jean-Pierre Jeunet (43:07)
- Closing: Trivia Answer, Preview of Next Week (56:57)
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Show Notes:
Second Take: The Prestige
Both Sam and Stephen enjoyed The Prestige, the latest film by Christopher Nolan, though we don't feel it's quite up to his best works. We talked about Nolan's career in our very first episode, so you'll want to hear that if you haven't yet.
The Prestige stars Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman, with great supporting turns by Michael Caine and David Bowie.
You can also read Stephen's review of The Prestige for more discussion about the movie. He's still disappointed Ricky Jay was barely in the movie.
Trivia Question: United Artists
Two of the first movie stars were Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, who started the production company United Artists in 1919, along with two other big movie players of the era.
Best of the Year: 1940-1949
- 1940
- 1941
- 1942
- Best Picture Oscar: Mrs. Miniver
- Sam's Pick: Casablanca
- Stephen's Pick: Casablanca
- It is important to note that while Casablanca is technically a 1942 film, the Academy classified it as a 1943 film, and it won the Best Picture Oscar for the following year.
- 1943
- Best Picture Oscar: Casablanca
- Sam's Pick: Shadow of a Doubt
- Casablanca is technically a 1942 film, and so Sam excluded it from consideration as his favorite 1943 film.
- 1944
- 1945
- 1946
- 1947
- Best Picture Oscar: Gentleman's Agreement
- Sam's Pick: Odd Man Out
- As with 1929, Sam finds 1947 an unusually weak year with a few great films but none that inspire the same level of enthusiasm as his picks for other years.
- 1948
- 1949
Film Buff's Dictionary: Smash Cut
The smash cut is a cut whose purpose is to be startling to the viewer. The transition between shots is abrupt, drawing attention to the cut and shaking things up. The German documentarian Leni Riefenstahl helped pioneer its use.
Some famous examples include the abrupt cuts to black in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (1980), and any scene where a knife is about to stab somebody and then the film cuts to a kitchen knife chopping meat.
Top 6: Directorial Debuts
See our separate Top 6 entry for more information about our picks.
Director Spotlight: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Jean-Pierre Jeunet's films:
Jeunet collaborated with Marc Caro on several of his early films. Jeunet's films feature a sort of dark whimsy, in which strange themes are often presented in a sort of lighthearted way. Jeunet also loves Rube Goldberg devices, complicated contraptions that perform simple tasks.
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