Secret Movie Club Podcast

SMC Pod #127: Thanksgiving Special – Nominating films for the holiday!

Coming at you a day early so you can listen while avoiding your family, the Secret Movie Club Team (Connor Lloyd Crews, Edwin Gomez, Daniel Ott, and Craig Hammill) gives their nominations for films you can watch on Thanksgiving that are NOT John Hughes’ classic Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Edwin suggests The Last Waltz, Scorsese’s concert movie actually filmed on the day. Connor surprises no one by bringing up Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man. Craig loves Terrence Malick’s The New World. Daniel explores the duality of family tied to the holiday with American Movie and Knives Out. It’s turkey time!

SMC Pod #126: GAMERA: GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE + kaiju films

The Secret Movie Club Team (Connor Lloyd Crews, Edwin Gomez, Daniel Ott, and Craig Hammill) roars again! This time about beloved 90s Gamera trilogy – Guardian of the Universe, Attack of Legion, and Revenge of Iris – and other kaiju films – a Japanese genre of stories with giant monsters like Godzilla! Craig offers his opinion that these 90s Gamera films are the peak of monster-suit effects. Connor thinks all the monsters are adorable and wants to get them all hugs! Daniel defends Pacific Rim and Del Toro’s use of CGI with heft. And kaiju expert Edwin shares his adoration of kaiju king Ishirō Honda!

SMC Pod #125: RICHARD PRYOR: LIVE ON THE SUNSET STRIP + comedians in film

The Secret Movie Club Team (Connor Lloyd Crews, Daniel Ott, and Craig Hammill) takes stage to talk at you about stand-up superstar Richard Pryror and his classic 1982 concert film Live on the Sunset Strip! The conversation then broadens out to talk about comedians in film and what they can bring to movies both in front of and behind the camera. Daniel explains why he thinks Eddie Murphy elevates Walter Hill’s 48 Hrs. Connor comes clean about his anti-stand-up and pro-sketch bias. Craig mourns the loss of Robin Williams.

SMC Pod #124: Halloween Hangover II - Dead by Dawn

The witching and horror-movie-watching season may be over, but the Secret Boo-vie Club Team (Connor Lloyd Goos, Edwin Ghost-mez, Dan-eek Ott, and Craig Hamm-kill) holds a seance for everything spooky they did for Halloween that they haven’t already talked to death on the podcast! Daniel gushes on the new film Pearl. Connor spills his guts about some new-to-him films he loved, like Deadly Lessons and Bad Ben. Edwin loses his head over a cool Friday the 13th poster. Craig sinks his teeth into SMC’s screenings of Raw and Ganja & Hess. Happy Halloween Hangover everyone!

SMC Pod #123: Mario Bava’s BLOOD AND BLACK LACE + giallo films

The Secret Movie Club Team (Connor Lloyd Crews, Edwin Gomez, and Craig Hammill) is joined by Connor’s good friend and fellow AFI alumnus, Paul Immerman, to sorta discuss Mario Bava’s Blood and Black Lace and, more broadly, the Italian giallo film: a horror subgenre noted for its psychedelic style, gore, and incredible titles like, “Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key.” Craig appreciates that - even though giallo films helped lead to slasher films - giallos are NOT slashers. Paul analyzes the evolution of Bava’s career. Edwin and Connor probably get themselves into hot water by mentioning movies that aren’t really giallos, like Zombi 2 and Suspiria.

SMC Pod #122: A conversation with Matthew Gentile, director of AMERICAN MURDERER

SMC programmer and founder Craig Hammill sits down with longtime Secret Movie Clubber, Matthew Gentile, to talk about his new film, American Murderer! Matthew shares his experiences writing and directing his first feature, a crime thriller based on the true story of Jason Derek Brown - a conman placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list - and starring Tom Pelphrey, Ryan Phillippe, Idina Menzel, and Jacki Weaver. Craig and Matthew go through the movie’s journey to the screen, from idea to post-production. See American Murderer in theaters now and on digital October 28th!

 

Check out Matthew at: https://www.matthewgentiledirector.com/ or his IG: @matthewlgentile

SMC Pod #121: David Lynch’s LOST HIGHWAY + transitional films

After our screening and Q&A with editor and producer Mary Sweeney, the Secret Movie Club Team (Connor Lloyd Crews, Alex Olivier, and Craig Hammill) hits the road with David Lynch’s neo-noir-nightmare, Lost Highway! Described by Lynch as a “psychogenic fugue,” starring Bill Pullman and Patricia Arquette, and with fascinating connections to Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo and real-world crimes and tragedies. The team also explores the idea of a “transitional film,” a movie that moves a director from one era of their career to another, through the films of Federico Fellini, Terrence Malick, and Sam Raimi. We’ll let you guess who brought up who! Edwin briefly appears.

SMC Pod #120: Summer Break 2022 catch-up!

The Secret Movie Club Team (Connor Lloyd Crews, Edwin Gomez, Daniel Ott, and Craig Hammill) reassembles to talk about what they’ve been up to during their three month break from recording! The SMC Theater got a renovation! Edwin got two new jobs! Connor watched a lot of movies and had jury duty! Daniel also watched a lot of movies and actually had jury duty while this was being recorded! Craig started reading The Count of Monte Cristo and did something else extremely exciting that you’ll just have to listen to the episode to find out about!

DEFEND THIS MOVIE #9: Late Period Scorsese - HUGO vs THE WOLF OF WALL STREET

Secret Movie Club Team members Patrick McElroy and Craig Hammill sit down to talk about two of master filmmaker Martin Scorsese’s late period films: Hugo from 2011, and The Wolf of Wall Street from 2013! Both Patrick and Craig love Scorsese, but Craig thinks Hugo doesn’t work and Patrick thinks Wolf is obvious. Craig comes to the defense of Wolf as a hilarious, relevant satire of American greed; Patrick loves Hugo because of how personal it feels for Scorsese. Will they let this disagreement lead to the end of Secret Movie Club and – possibly – the world as we know it?!

 

Check out Patrick at: https://www.facebook.com/patrick.mcelroy.3726 or his IG: @mcelroy.patrick

SMC Pod #119: Silent cinema!

The Secret Movie Club Team (Connor Lloyd Crews, Edwin Gomez, Daniel Ott, and Craig Hammill) chips away at a mammoth conversation about the silent era of film and what we can learn from silent cinema! Craig loves F.W. Murnau’s The Last Laugh. Daniel brings up the problems with how silent film is often introduced to people as an academic bore. Connor respects the Lon Chaney version of The Phantom of the Opera. Edwin drinks Strong Coke. There’s also a lot of talk about the American education system and cinematic legacy. Apologies to Emily Brontë.