Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Five minute film finder.
Sizzle reel. Hello and welcome to five Minute Film Finder, a pioneer library system podcast where we talk about films that you can watch with your pioneer library system library card using our digital services. Hoopla and Kanopy. I am Tracy, and today I'm joined by Ben. Hi, Ben.
[00:00:24] Speaker B: Hi, Tracy.
[00:00:26] Speaker A: We're doing one of our Sizzler reel episodes today. So we're gonna be talking about some of the themes that are on Hoopla and Kanopy for this month for their kind of movie clubs. And we're talking about some staff picks. Have you seen any good movies recently, Ben?
[00:00:41] Speaker B: No, but so many on the lists
[00:00:44] Speaker A: and there's a ton to watch on Hoopla and Kanopy.
[00:00:48] Speaker B: I mean, if you want to jump right into the canopy. Theme, their kind of theme is we've got great movies.
[00:00:54] Speaker A: Have you seen any movies recently?
We've got a bunch, yes. Kanopy's film is.
Its film theme is Decades. They're calling it Dedicated to Decades. So essentially, if you go into the actual theme for it, it is split up 100 years of movies, 1920s to 2000s. And each decade is split up for the film through that decade. And there are some certified bangers, truly. Yes. The twenties, they've got some Buster Keaton, they've got the General Nosferatu, which I believe we've covered on the podcast before.
They've got Metropolis on there. The Fritz Lang film, which have you ever seen that?
[00:01:39] Speaker B: I have.
[00:01:40] Speaker A: It's amazing.
[00:01:41] Speaker B: It's been a very long time, but yes, it's amazing.
[00:01:43] Speaker A: The 30s have even more Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton type stuff. It's got Bringing Up Baby, a classic. The thin man noir movie, 40s, you've got the Treasures of the Sierra Madre, the Bicycle Thief, His Girl Friday. Sorry, wrong Number, which we covered really recently.
[00:02:03] Speaker B: I'm actually very happy to hear how many of these movies that we've covered already.
[00:02:06] Speaker A: So I'm gonna say we've done quite a few.
[00:02:08] Speaker B: We've done a good number.
[00:02:09] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure. 50s has dial em for Murder, which we covered. It's got Rashomon.
[00:02:14] Speaker B: Oh, boy.
[00:02:17] Speaker A: Strangers on a Train, Funny Face, Funny Face, which I love.
[00:02:21] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:02:22] Speaker A: Such a good movie.
The 60s has a ton too. The Producers, the graduate, Cleo from 5 to 7, HUD, charade, battle of Algiers, which you guys covered really recently.
[00:02:34] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:02:35] Speaker A: Umbrellas of Cherbourg. If you want to see a weird 1960s French musical starring Catherine Deneuve. And we love Catherine deneuve.
[00:02:42] Speaker B: We love Catherine.
[00:02:44] Speaker A: 70s has Monty Pythons Holy Grail, Picnic at Hanging Rock.
The original. The Wicker Man.
Not the Nic Cage. Oh, no, the bees. Wicker Man.
[00:02:55] Speaker B: I'm on fire.
I'm on fire.
[00:02:59] Speaker A: So good. He's our finest actor.
80s has a ton of stuff. They've got Possession, which I think they're making a remake of soon. The horror film.
[00:03:06] Speaker B: That's what I hear. Yeah.
[00:03:08] Speaker A: So you can get in on the original on that. Spinal Tap, Pennies from Heaven. The Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters joint.
[00:03:16] Speaker B: Mm. Witness another Peter Weir.
[00:03:19] Speaker A: The 90s has Titanic.
Do we need to cover anything else from the 90s?
[00:03:28] Speaker B: Saving Private Ryan.
Big movies from big directors.
[00:03:33] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:03:35] Speaker B: They have a stacked and 2000s. Punch drunk love, Zodiac, Memento, There Will Be Blood. Oh my gosh.
[00:03:43] Speaker A: Just up in the Air. Doubt.
Rent.
[00:03:47] Speaker B: Wow, wow, wow.
[00:03:50] Speaker A: 2010 has the big short, which we covered a while ago. Snowpiercer, which I know, Parasite.
One of, I think the greatest films ever made. Portrait of a Lady on fire fences. And 2020's got some bangers too. It's got the worst person in the world. It's. It's got two years ago Oscar winner Honora in there, which I still think is great.
It's got Hundreds of Beavers, which we've covered.
It's got all kinds of stuff. So truly, if you're just like looking for a movie, maybe. Truly. Roll a couple of dice, see what number you get.
And watch a film on Canopy this month.
[00:04:34] Speaker B: I think it's hard to miss. Yeah, I mean, if you pick one of the first four films out of any one of those decades, I think you're gonna have a good time.
[00:04:41] Speaker A: Yeah, they're gonna. They put the strong ones near the top of the list or their strongest ones, quote unquote, near the top of the list.
So I think it's kind of impossible to miss over on Hoopla. It's. It's a theme that's gonna really please you, Ben.
[00:04:56] Speaker B: Tell me more.
[00:04:58] Speaker A: Because you're a soft guy and you love a romantic comedy.
[00:05:02] Speaker B: Oh, good.
[00:05:03] Speaker A: It's kind of quirky romantic comedies. It says chaotic romantic comedies. And there are a couple of big films in there. So the main one that they are kind of basing it off of is Married to the Mob, the Michelle Pfeiffer film from the 80s. It's Alec Baldwin, it's Matthew Modine, it's.
[00:05:23] Speaker B: She.
[00:05:24] Speaker A: She is married to a mobster. He gets killed and then she realizes she can start her life over, but she's having to kind of fight. Witness protection.
[00:05:33] Speaker B: Great.
[00:05:36] Speaker A: There are a Couple of lesser known films on here that are a little bit more of sort of hallmarky sort of variety.
One of them is called Daughter of the Bride. I will say, at the very least, that does have Marcia Gay Harden in it, and I do love her.
And then there's a dance movie called Dance Off. That looks fun. The only actor I recognized it from it was David Burtka, which is Neil Patrick Harris's husband.
[00:06:02] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:06:03] Speaker A: Who is a lovely actor.
There is an incredible looking movie from 1989 called Her Alibi, starring Tom Selleck and supermodel Polina Porizkova.
[00:06:17] Speaker B: I mean, during the 90s. I mean, when. When he came on Friends, I thought Tom Selleck was the coolest man that ever.
[00:06:25] Speaker A: Oh, here's the thing. Me and your mom still think that me and everybody's mom still think that that is the most handsome man who's ever lived. It's about him being a mystery writer, and she is a murder suspect.
[00:06:38] Speaker B: Great.
[00:06:39] Speaker A: Sounds fun. And then you just put your cursor over the last one, which I know you have fond feelings for.
[00:06:45] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. And, like, the kind of fond feelings that I feel like a lot of millennials who are introspective have of, like, I know I loved this movie at the time, but also have grown to realize how problematic a lot of the story is.
[00:06:58] Speaker A: Yes. But here's the thing. 500 days of summer, it's a.
[00:07:01] Speaker B: It's a time in my life. It's a. It's a feeling in my heart.
[00:07:04] Speaker A: Yes. You can just imagine the part where a bluebird comes down and he dances to hollow notes.
[00:07:10] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely. Yeah.
[00:07:12] Speaker A: It's.
[00:07:12] Speaker B: It's in my brain. Yeah.
[00:07:13] Speaker A: It's the reason I like the Pixies.
[00:07:15] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:07:15] Speaker A: For sure. Because he performs. Here comes your man.
[00:07:19] Speaker B: So good.
[00:07:20] Speaker A: It's a great movie.
[00:07:21] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:07:22] Speaker A: But perspective.
[00:07:25] Speaker B: Perspective is good.
[00:07:26] Speaker A: Perspective is good.
[00:07:28] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:07:28] Speaker A: So that's those.
I have a fun list of staff picks here. Do you want to go through those?
[00:07:33] Speaker B: Let's go through some staff picks. Yeah.
[00:07:35] Speaker A: Okay. So our first staff pick is that Jamie recommended Gross points point blank, which we just did an episode on really recently, but I didn't get to be on that episode.
[00:07:49] Speaker B: And we have apologized profusely. We will never make that mistake again.
[00:07:56] Speaker A: Joan Cusack is one of our finest
[00:07:58] Speaker B: actresses, and she, like, fills up the, like, 10 minutes of scream time that she gets in this movie.
[00:08:04] Speaker A: She's so good. Yeah, yeah. John Cusack.
Joan Cusack.
[00:08:09] Speaker B: Yeah. Mandy Driver.
Mandy Driver.
[00:08:12] Speaker A: She doesn't really get to play a lot. I think she's so good in it.
[00:08:15] Speaker B: Yeah. And we were talking because we did. We just did Good Will Hunting and it's the same year.
[00:08:21] Speaker A: Okay. When I listened to your episode, that blew my mind.
[00:08:26] Speaker B: We were just like, what? Different performances. And also in her accent versus not in her accent. She seems worlds apart, but she's so cool and charming.
[00:08:38] Speaker A: Yes. So amazing.
[00:08:39] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:08:40] Speaker A: So check out gross point blank. And then go back and check out our episode. On it. Darren chose 2005's red eye.
[00:08:49] Speaker B: Great.
[00:08:49] Speaker A: The Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy. Oh, no. We're on a plane. And I think terrorism is happening.
[00:08:57] Speaker B: Yeah. Thrilling. Thrilling events happen.
[00:09:00] Speaker A: Did you know that was directed by Wes Craven?
[00:09:02] Speaker B: No.
[00:09:03] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:09:04] Speaker B: That's more fun.
[00:09:05] Speaker A: Wes Craven.
[00:09:06] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:09:06] Speaker A: So you are in the hands of a horror master in that film. I've actually never seen that, but I know that it's kind of like a cult classic at this point.
[00:09:13] Speaker B: Cool.
[00:09:13] Speaker A: So I've heard great things.
[00:09:14] Speaker B: I mean, especially with those two. Like, that's worth going back to check out. Just to be like, Wes Craven and two of our current, like, top actor actors.
[00:09:24] Speaker A: Yes. Because they're both amazing.
So I do think I'm gonna visit that in the upcoming month. Samuel did the parallax view from 1974. Do you know about the Parallax View?
[00:09:36] Speaker B: I know nothing about the Parallax View.
[00:09:38] Speaker A: So this is a sort of. Would you believe that this is a. I think. Yeah. 1974. It's a 70s claustrophobic thriller from Samuel. Political thriller.
[00:09:49] Speaker B: Color me surprised.
[00:09:52] Speaker A: It's about Warren Beatty. He is a reporter.
[00:09:55] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:09:55] Speaker A: And he's handsome because he's Warren Beatty, and he sees sort of a bad political thing happen. And then all the other reporters who see this start to happen slowly start dying off.
He's the last one left. So conspiracy thriller. Samuel gave me his two little sentences on it were.
Would recommend to anyone wanting to not have a good time in that distressful.
Or if they want insight into the psyche of any relatives who grew up in the 1970s.
[00:10:28] Speaker B: I feel like every movie that I've watched because of Samuel could fit that description of just, like, looking to feel kind of bad and stressed out.
[00:10:36] Speaker A: So what I will say is that I looked up because the director is Alan J. Pacula, I think his name is. And I was like, that sounds familiar. What else did he direct? He directed Klute, the spy thriller.
[00:10:45] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:10:46] Speaker A: And then he also directed Sophie's Choice.
[00:10:48] Speaker B: Oh, boy. Yeah, sure. Yeah.
[00:10:50] Speaker A: That's what you're getting into there. But I think this is considered, like, one of Warren Beatty's greatest performance.
[00:10:55] Speaker B: Oh, okay, great. I think on that alone it's worth worth the watch.
[00:10:59] Speaker A: Yes.
I had Coral give us a recommendation this month and she recommended Mr. Malcolm's list from 2022.
I know nothing about this description of this is. It's a sweet PG Regency romance with a fun cast and premise. So I believe it's that a guy's list of what he wants is in, a future wife comes out and two women sort of trick him about stars Theo James. Hey, remember Theo James. It starts Frida Pinto. Hey, remember Frida Pinto.
[00:11:30] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:11:31] Speaker A: And it stars Zawe Astin, who is. She was in this movie that I really loved from a few years ago called Velvet Buzzsaw. That is a crazy horror movie.
[00:11:41] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:11:42] Speaker A: She is also the long term partner of Tom Hiddleston.
[00:11:45] Speaker B: Amazing.
[00:11:46] Speaker A: And she's great. I've heard that movie is super duper fun.
Zan, who is my co worker, recommended Jackie Chan's first strike from 1996.
[00:11:56] Speaker B: Cool.
[00:11:56] Speaker A: Which is technically Police Story 4. Okay. And he said there's a really good fight scene with a ladder. And that was his main reason recommending it.
[00:12:05] Speaker B: Honestly, like 90s Jackie Chan, that is how I would describe most of the movies is like, okay, what's the one scene that I remember from this like drunken Master and being like, oh yeah, that one.
[00:12:18] Speaker A: Yeah, I think so. He was a big Jackie Chan fan. So he was like, I think this is the one where he fights him with the ladder. And so we pulled it up and it was like, yes, it is. And it looks cool. So I'll probably be watching that. I'll just go ahead and jump in with my pick if that's okay with you.
I am going to recommend 2025's Good Boy. Do you know anything about Good Boy Ben?
[00:12:39] Speaker B: I know it's a dog movie, sort of. It is.
[00:12:42] Speaker A: So this movie was directed by Ben Leonberg and while it does have a few people in it, the main star of it is his dog.
His dog's name is Indy.
[00:12:53] Speaker B: I love
[00:12:55] Speaker A: is a movie about a guy who moves into a house and bad things start happening to him. But it is told entirely from the perspective of his dog. The dog is the emotional center of the movie. The dog lives.
Gonna just say that now. Don't think it ruins the movie. It's plenty stressful still knowing that.
But there I'm hoping on the canopy version I actually got the chance to see this in theaters last year. But at the end of the theater version there was like a little thing where he came On. And he was like, hey, this is my dog. My dog is not a trained actor.
We spent three years making this film.
Here's how we made it feel like my dog is acting.
And it was incredible. And it was incredible while watching the movie and seeing all the ways they did it. It's like a mini masterpiece because it's only about an hour and 17 minutes, I think.
[00:13:43] Speaker B: Yeah. Real tight.
[00:13:46] Speaker A: And it's so scary. And it's so like, I cried during this horror movie about a dog. So you're just like.
Cuz it's the cutest dog going through all this stuff. I think it was nominated for some indie spirit awards. Like it. It's truly. They made it by rubbing two nickels together.
And it's.
It's amazing.
[00:14:05] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:14:05] Speaker A: As a horror movie and as like an emotional film.
[00:14:07] Speaker B: And it's just sort of a feat of filmmaking.
[00:14:09] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure. So I'm gonna recommend good boy from 2025. What is your recommendation for this month?
[00:14:16] Speaker B: My recommendation, mainly just to get you to talk about something you're excited about, is the Thomas Crown Affair.
[00:14:22] Speaker A: The Thomas Crown Affair.
[00:14:24] Speaker B: The original Thomas Crown Affair with Pierce Brosnan. Because I think that's a remake. Oh, so the middle version, I guess I should say.
[00:14:32] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:14:32] Speaker B: In between the original from probably the 70s, I think.
[00:14:36] Speaker A: 60s or 70s.
[00:14:37] Speaker B: 60s.
[00:14:37] Speaker A: 70s.
[00:14:37] Speaker B: Yeah.
So I saw this too young and it affected me, but like, because it was good filmmaking and I was just like, oh, this is really intense.
[00:14:49] Speaker A: And then were you also just like, Pierce Brosnan is the most handsome man.
[00:14:52] Speaker B: I was Pierce Brosnan pilled.
[00:14:54] Speaker A: Because from the 90s bonds. I was just like, well, that's what a gentleman is.
[00:14:59] Speaker B: Yeah. And I didn't realize until, gosh, maybe five years ago that people didn't like the Pierce Brosnan James Bonds.
[00:15:06] Speaker A: That's. Here's the thing.
[00:15:07] Speaker B: I was like, are they the best Pierce Brosnan? The best ones, obviously.
[00:15:10] Speaker A: Pierce Brosnan in them.
[00:15:11] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:15:12] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:15:13] Speaker B: And is he believable as a handsome spy? Yes. Yes.
[00:15:17] Speaker A: He's the most believable as a handsome spy. If you told me right now that Pierce Brosnan was a handsome spy, I'd be like, yes.
[00:15:24] Speaker B: In real life too.
[00:15:25] Speaker A: Yes, of course. Yeah. Great pick. I'm really excited for the upcoming Michael B. Jordan directed and starring Thomas Crown Affair because I love him.
I think he's great. And I think he picks interesting projects that are also capable of being massive blockbusters and makes blockbusters really intellectual and thrilling.
[00:15:52] Speaker B: Yeah. So like, brings depth to them.
[00:15:54] Speaker A: Yeah. And I think this is a movie that people already feel that way about. So, like, add him into the mix.
Yeah, I can't wait. Yeah, I need to. I didn't know that was on hoopla. I need to hit that up.
[00:16:04] Speaker B: Yeah, we should do that. Yeah.
[00:16:06] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:16:07] Speaker B: All right.
Is there anything else that we need to cover?
[00:16:11] Speaker A: I don't think so. I think that's what we have for this month. So we have a ton of great movies.
[00:16:15] Speaker B: Yeah, we. We have a light month again, just because we're closing out summer busyness and then getting back to our regular schedule. But, I mean, we don't really need to. To twist your arm about it. There's plenty of great movies to see on both platforms right now.
[00:16:32] Speaker A: Yeah, just open one up and close your eyes and wave your finger around and see what you land on.
[00:16:38] Speaker B: Oh, man. Yeah, we should canopy roulette next episode for sure. Yeah.
[00:16:45] Speaker A: Okay. While we talk about that, you gu and find some good movies to watch. You can also check out our DVD collection at the library. All of this is free with your library card, so come hang out with us for what's left of the summer. Thanks for listening.
[00:17:00] Speaker B: Bye.
Five Minute Film Finder is a digital program brought to you by Pioneer Library System in Oklahoma. All opinions expressed in this episode are those of the host and not those of the organization.
Five Minute Film Finder is produced, recorded and mixed by Ben Si. Theme music by Ben Si.
If you have any questions, concerns, or comments, please email podcastioneerlibrarysystem.org Remember to, like, review and subscribe. Thanks for listening.
