Current Programs:
The Brattle Film Podcast
The official podcast of Boston’s unofficial film school: The Brattle Theatre. Since 1953 the Brattle has been a home for film lovers to gather and share great cinema; showing an eclectic mix of classic, cutting-edge, foreign, cult, and art-house movies on 35mm film, digital projection, and now virtually.
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Follow The Brattle Theatre on Letterboxd for the full list of films mentioned in each episode.
1:19:54 • We take a look back on the 20 years of our theatre’s history as a thriving non-profit institution, looking at the highs and lows, the films we premiered, and the decisions Ned and Ivy made when they took on running The Brattle. We also address a listener question about the “cinema as church” analogy made during Episode 32: Movies About Going to the Movies, and consider the difference between the way films depict movie-going vs TV-watching.
1:30:20 • We spend the first part of this week’s episode highlighting some titles currently playing or coming soon to The Brattlite. Then, Ned and Alissa interview The DocYard curator Abby Sun about a new, year-long virtual festival of 1990’s Asian American Film and Video called My Sight is Lined with Visions.
1:30:09 • Inspired by Paul Anton Smith’s “Have You Seen My Movie,” a streaming exclusive currently running on The Brattlite, we’re joined by MIT professor Ezra Glenn to talk about our favorite movies about going to the movies and films that take place in cinemas.
1:55:43 • In our epic year-end episode, Ian, Ivy, Ned, and Alissa attempt to name check every film we each loved (or at least thought was worth checking out) from a year that was actually a pretty good year for movies. We hope listeners will not forget these titles, even if we all attempt to erase everything else about 2020.
1:27:01 • We kick off Session 2 with special guest Russ Fischer of The Boxoffice Studios who joins to help us assess the state of the cinema industry at the beginning of 2021. And Ned and Ivy share exciting news about the state of our cinema, The Brattle Theatre.
1:47:30 • We close out 2020 by casting a wide net for Holiday, Alt-Holiday, and Holiday Adjacent movie suggestions across a range of film genres. Then we close out the season with some favorite New Year’s Eve pictures.
1:27:49 • Since we won’t be able to do our annual holiday tradition of screening It’s a Wonderful Life in December, we take a look at some terrific but lesser known holiday pictures.
1:30:22 • We spotlight several of the films playing in our virtual cinema at the end of November / beginning of December. But first we talk Shark Movies after we get a detailed voicemail from a listener.
1:00:48 • Part 2 of our discussion about memorable encounters with iconic horror films with a whole lot more stories sent in by our listeners, fellow film programers, writers, and podcasters.
1:21:17 • For Halloween, we talk a bit about our upcoming Virtual Gothic Horror series and then invite listeners, members, film writers, fellow podcasters and cinema programmers to share stories of their first encounters with iconic horror movies.
1:27:02 • This week we look at some recent films that take on enhanced significance when watched during a semi-quarantine. Also we explore just a few of the joys found in contemporary low-budget sci-fi pictures, and we discuss the issue of gatekeeping in genre movie production and reviewing.
1:16:44 • In this special episode, Ned, Ivy, and Alissa bring us their report from the 2020 Virtual Toronto International Film Festival.
1:30:00 • We look back on “the summer of no movies” by talking about all the classic films we finally got around to seeing since we haven’t had any theatrical releases to go to. With endless streaming options available, and our definition of what constitutes a “classic film” ranging from CITIZEN KANE to SPEED, we each screened some great and fun features.
1:26:14 • We check in with six of the films currently running in our virtual cinema, including 4 documentaries, a new arthouse flick from Belgium, and a restored Hungarian work of psychedelic animation.
Programs Discussed: DESERT ONE, GHOST TROPIC, REPRESENT, JAZZ ON A SUMMER’S DAY, SON OF THE WHITE MARE, and MORONI FOR PRESIDENT
Podcast – Episode 35: The 2021 Oscar Nominations, Part 1
1:46:27 • Ned, Ivy, Alissa, and Ian discuss their individual histories and feelings about the Academy Awards, and dive deep into this year’s nominated films and performances.