Secret Movie Club Podcast

SMC Pod #83: Pieces of Cinema-Directing

The team (Connor Lloyd Crews, a late arriving Edwin Gomez, Daniel Ott, and Craig Hammill) join to discuss the role of the director in making movies. They try to wrestle with the reality of the job versus the mythology of the job. Everyone name checks three of their favorite directors. Connor and Craig debate three act versus five act structure. Edwin yet again gets nostalgic about INDIANA JONES & THE CRYSTAL SKULL while Craig remains silent. 

Secret Movie Club DECEMBER 2021 Calendar Podcast!

The Secret Movie Club Team (Connor Lloyd Crews, Daniel Ott, Craig Hammill) drive recklessly at fast and furious speed through our December 2021 line-up! Bergman, Burton, classic French Cinema, 15 hour Rainer Fassbinder brilliance, Capra, horror, anime. . . 

SMC Pod #82: INVASION USA, Edwin‘s Birthday, & Personal Movie Taste

For the very first time (since the podcast was started remotely during the COVID pandemic), the Secret Movie Club Team (Connor Lloyd Crews, Edwin Gomez, Daniel Ott, Craig Hammill) with a huge mixing and contribution assist from talented sound guru Secret Movie Clubber Bri Robert (@brirob9) are all in the same room to celebrate Edwin's birthday and discuss Cannon Film's & Chuck Norris's mind-blowingly fun & ridiculous (as Craig would say) or awesome (as Edwin would say) action movie INVASION USA. The team cracks a bunch of jokes then gets down to business discussing the concept and importance of respecting individual and personal movie taste. 

SMC Pod #81: Night of the Hunter & All That Jazz-two distinctly American classics

The SMC team (Connor Lloyd Crews, Edwin Gomez, Daniel Ott, Craig Hammill) discuss Secret Movie Club's recent 35mm double feature of Charles Laughton's 1955 dark folk tale classic NIGHT OF THE HUNTER and Bob Fosse's 1979 semi-autobiographical rumination on Broadway and death ALL THAT JAZZ. Connor actually points out the movies are much more connected then might appear on the surface. Daniel surprises everyone by letting an f bomb fly. Edwin yet again berates Craig for not programming GODZILLA FINAL WARS. 

SMC Pod #80: Pieces of Cinema-Acting

Special Guest actor Lisee Metcalf @localmistake (TikTok) and The Secret Movie Club team (Connor Lloyd Crews, Edwin Gomez, Daniel Ott, Craig Hammill) gather to discuss the contribution of actors and acting to the creation of great movies. Lisee and Daniel declare undying love for Kristen Stewart and Adam Driver. Connor points out how brilliant Jeremy Irons' dual performance as twins is in David Cronenberg's Dead Ringers. Craig goes on the record as feeling that method acting yields many of cinema's great performances. 

SMC Pod #79: Halloween Hangover-the Horror Subgenre edition!

The Secret Movie Club team (Connor Lloyd Crews, Edwin Gomez, Daniel Ott, Craig Hammill) take stock of the exhausting yet exhilarating October slate of horror movies of all kinds. This leads to a discussion on how rich horror is as a genre since so many sub-genres: horror-comedy, horror-drama, horror-musical, horror-satire, horror-parody, horror-western have grown from the fertile soil of horror. Many movies get name-checked including The Hunger, Don't Look Now, Toby Dammit. . .

SMC November 2021 Calendar Podcast!

The SMC team (Connor Lloyd Crews, Edwin Gomez, Daniel Ott, and Craig Hammill) roll out and announce our November 2021 schedule of movie screenings! Everything from two John Cassavettes' 70's gems on 35mm, the GuadaLAajara Film Festival, CASINO, and much much more!

SMC Pod #78: BEETLEJUICE & Tim Burton

The Secret Movie Club Team (Connor Lloyd Crews, Daniel Ott, eventually Edwin Gomez when he finally wakes up and calls in, and Craig Hammill) discuss Tim Burton's seminal 1988 Halloween-horror comedy-coming of age-totally its own thing BEETLEJUICE, the importance of the performances of Michael Keaton and Catherine O Hara in making the movie work, what makes the best Tim Burton movies so "Tim Burton", as well as a discussion about why his post 2003 output has seemed so different from his first 15 years. 

SMC Pod #77: Donnie Darko & Cult Films

The Secret Movie Club podcasting team (Connor Lloyd Crews, Edwin Gomez, Daniel Ott, Craig Hammill) dive into Richard Kelly's cult classic DONNIE DARKO, their own favorites, as well as what exactly defines a "cult" movie in the age of easily accessible media.  Edwin also wins when he corrects Craig's pronunciation of Alejandro Jodorowsky. 

Defend This Movie #3: JOKER

It has come to this. Team members Edwin Gomez and Craig Hammill debate Todd Phillip's 2019 JOKER, the highest grossing rated R movie of all time that finally won Joaquin Phoenix the Best Actor Oscar.  Edwin loves the movie.  Craig respects many aspects but has some big issues. Mental health and the proper setting up of a new Batman mythos get discussed. As well as the movie's reverence for Martin Scorsese. Edwin keeps insisting on using a Mohammed Ali metaphor to describe this debate. Craig says the audience will have to decide who Ali is after listening.