It’s Halloween week, so naturally I’ve got an especially spooky choice lined up for Someone Else’s Movie. But it’s not a horror movie, not exactly.

That said, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is not not a horror movie. It’s about a vampire who’s decided to put her skills to good use, feeding exclusively on men who prove themselves unworthy. That’s not exactly a spoiler for Ana Lily Amirpour’s 2014 breakout, but more of a mission statement, and the tension between what we expect from a film like this and what Amirpour is actually doing becomes part of the fun. Certainly my guest, the documentary filmmaker Aisha Jamal, had fun with it — and it was a nice way to tee up next week’s screenings of her new film, The Theft, at the Windsor International Film Festival.

Wanna hear it? Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Podcasts or your podcatcher of choice, or download the episode directly from the web and listen to it while you linger outside a gas station, waiting to pass judgment on the bloodbags within. (Also, here’s the interview with Ana Lily that I mention during the episode.)

And yes, about The Theft: I am indeed returning to the Windsor International Film Festival for a whole week — from this Thursday to next Thursday — and I’ll be hosting screenings and moderating Q&As and generally hanging out with other friendly film folks. You should check it out if you’re in the area; the movies are good, the people are swell and the local restaurants are very appealing. Plus, me!

But of course I’ll still be publishing Shiny Things, and if you’re not already subscribed you should get caught up on all the goodness! Last week I wrote about the new discs of Pennies from Heaven, Little Shop of Horrors, Frankenhooker and The Pope’s Exorcist, and if you’re on the paid tier you would have found my reviews of Wildwood, Wicker, Once Upon a Time in Harlem and the second season of The Lowdown in Friday’s exclusive What’s Worth Watching mailing. Not on the paid tier? Why not try it out? There’s all sorts of good stuff in there!

My appreciation for Late Fame continues for a second week on Someone Else’s Movie, as I follow the film’s screenwriter, Samy Burch, with its director, the former film critic, archivist and programmer Kent Jones.

Kent’s had an incredible career, from working on Martin Scorsese’s cinephile documentaries to directing one of his own, and while we’ve been in the same room a number of times over the decades, given our entangled professions, this is the first real conversation we’ve had. And I’m so glad it was about The Passenger, Michelangelo Antonioni’s existential drama — or maybe it’s a thriller? — starring Jack Nicholson as a burnt-out war correspondent who impulsively abandons his life to assume the identity of a dead man, and finds himself drifting into a shadowy world of arms dealers, mysterious women and other profiteers. It’s a film rich with themes and philosophies, and Kent is just the guy to steer us through it.

So hop in! Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Podcasts or your podcatcher of choice, or download the episode directly from the web and listen to it while you rifle through the belongings of the man whose life you’re appropriating. That’ll be a nice way to pass the time.

And then get caught up on Shiny Things, where I’ve been juggling late arrivals and shifting release dates. Last week I reviewed Via Vision’s updated collection of the Ginger Snaps trilogy and Warner’s new 4K restoration of Neil Jordan’s Interview with the Vampire, and subscribers to the paid tier got my reviews of The Social Reckoning, Mike Flanagan’s new take on Carrie and Netflix’ sea-monster show Below in Friday’s What’s Worth Watching dispatch. There’s a lot more coming this week, including two of the year’s most anticipated documentaries, so upgrade your subscription so you don’t miss a post!

We don’t get a lot of Ken Loach films on Someone Else’s Movie. In point of fact the number is precisely zero. Loach’s longtime screenwriter Paul Laverty doing the show a couple of years ago to promote their final project, The Old Oak, is as close as I’ve come.

So imagine my delight when Adam Belanger and David Lafontaine picked Kes for this week’s episode. Actually, you don’t have to; you can hear it in my voice.

Adam and David are totally up front about what their first feature A Breed Apart owes to Loach’s 1970 breakthrough drama about a troubled kid in the north of England — even though the two films are worlds apart in time and place, and even subject matter. Their film is in conversation with Kes in a unique and curious way, and we try really hard to discuss that without revealing too much about their movie.

Want to listen? Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Podcasts or your podcatcher of choice, or download the episode directly from the web and listen to it while you self-soothe with falconry in a great wide meadow, seeking the silence you’ve been unable to find at home. And if you find yourself intrigued by the themes of Adam and David’s film, come see them kick off A Breed Apart‘s theatrical run this Saturday, October 3rd, at 3pm at the Revue Cinema. I’ll be there too, introducing the film and moderating a post-screening Q&A with the cast and crew!

Fun fact: The night before, I’ll be introducing last week’s guest, documentarian Nick Davis, for a 7:15pm screening of You Had to Be There at TIFF Lightbox, and moderating the post-screening Q&A; tickets go live  on Wednesday, and I’ll add the link as soon as it’s live. Suddenly I’m doing stuff again! It’s nice!

And then, of course, Shiny Things awaits you; last week I tackled the new releases of I Love Boosters, The Invite, The Outer Threatand Scary Movie, and subscribers to the paid tier got my exclusive reviews of The History of Concrete, You Had to Be There and Apple TV’s Brothers. Are you a subscriber to the paid tier? You’re not? You know there’s a free trial, right? Maybe, I dunno, free-try it!

People have been bringing inarguable classics onto Someone Else’s Movie all year — and this week is no different, as director Nick Davis chooses a movie I am shocked to learn no one else had in 626 episodes: Young Frankenstein.

Seriously, you guys. I’ve been making this show for eleven and a half years now (and one week!) and this is the first time someone wanted to talk about one of the greatest spoofs in human history? For shame. But Nick turns out to be uniquely qualified to tackle it, having produced a doc about Wilder and — understandably — using that opportunity to pepper the legend with questions about this joke, that prop, etc. It’s all glorious.

So go find  the show on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Podcasts or your podcatcher of choice, or download the episode directly from the web and listen to it while you’re roll, roll, rolling in ze hay.

And don’t miss Nick’s new documentary, You Had to Be There, which is in the process of opening across North America over the next couple of weeks, and is an entirely engaging look at how a legendary Toronto production of Godspell launched the careers of half a dozen brilliant performers — among them SCTV stars Eugene Levy, Martin Short and Andrea Martin, Paul Shaffer, Victor Garber and this weird ball of energy named Gilda Radner … who, of course, would eventually marry Gene Wilder. It’s at the TIFF Lightbox next Friday, October 2nd. It’s very sweet.

Also! Shiny Things went into overtime last week, as I reviewed Warner Archive’s flawless 4K restoration of Out of the Past and the new releases At the Place of Ghosts, Passenger, Tunerand She Rides Shotgun. And of course paid subscribers got a brand-new What’s Worth Watching on Friday, featuring my exclusive reviews of The Beast of Mossy Bottom, Garth Jennings’ exuberant rockumentary Pulp: What Do You Do for an Encore? and the new season of Slow Horses. Didn’t get it? Worried you’ll miss the next one? Just level up to the paid tier and you’ll instantly have access to dozens of WWWs. Membership has its privileges, or something.

And now I’m off to Sudbury for Cinefest, where I’ll be doing some hosting, moderating and panel-ing in the back half of the festival. If you see me gawking at the Canadian Shield, please be gentle with me. It’s my first time.

TIFF is still rolling along, but I am pivoting to physical media for this week’s episode of Someone Else’s Movie, now resuming its regular schedule because “every other day” is basically a full-time job.

As it happens, physical media is the full-time job of this week’s guest, David Gregory. He’s the co-founder and president of Severin Films, a truly excellent producer and distributor of 4K and Blu-ray special editions. I’ve reviewed a bunch of them over at Shiny Things, most recently The War Game and Threads, but to boil it down? Severin does God’s work for genre cinema.

Want another example? Check out their special edition for Delicatessen, which is the movie David wanted to bring onto the podcast. And I was delighted, because somehow no one had ever chosen Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro’s delirious dystopian reverie about post-apocalyptic apartment dwellers grudgingly indebted to the local butcher. Also it’s a comedy. And a love story. And a horror movie, from a certain angle. And who doesn’t want to hear about that?

Not you, surely. So go find  the show on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Podcasts or your podcatcher of choice, or download the episode directly from the web and listen to it to pass the time while you carve up the latest … package … for your customers.

After that, you might as well catch up on your Shiny Things. And if you’ve already read about my visit to the brand-new Cinema Cellar store, there’s a review of Warner Archive’s glorious 4K edition of Out of the Past coming up later today. So don’t miss out! And if you haven’t joined the paid tier already, upgrade that subscription so as not to miss Friday’s What’s Worth Watching, which this week returns to its original “only good stuff, I promise” form factor.  See you there?

Turns out releasing three episodes of Someone Else’s Movie in five days isn’t that much of a challenge. Here’s the last of my TIFF run, featuring Quebec writer-director Alexandre Franchi, whose new film L’Autre has its world premiere tonight at the festival with a repeat screening Monday afternoon.

I hadn’t seen Alexandre since he brought his first film, The Wild Hunt, to the 2009 festival. He’s gone through some stuff since then, a lot of which is in this new movie. It’s pretty good; you should check it out.

And Alexandre picked another movie that’s been a long time coming: Alain Resnais’ 1959 new-wave breakthrough Hiroshima, Mon Amour, a haunting romance set against the backdrop of one of humanity’s greatest atrocities. I’m surprised it’s taken so long for someone to bring this particular film to the podcast, but I guess it was waiting for him.

Come on, then; subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Podcasts or your podcatcher of choice, or download the episode directly from the web and listen to it while your lover sleeps beside you in the sanctuary you’ve made for one another.

After that, there is Shiny Things; specifically, my visit to the new brick-and-mortar Cinema Cellar store that just opened in downtown Toronto and is currently All Criterion All The Time. It’s nice there. And of course if you’re a paid subscriber you got yesterday’s What’s Worth Watching, featuring my exclusive reviews of the new seasons of North of North and The Paper and Gal Gadot’s new thriller The Runner, which is … well, it’s not good, but it is worth watching. As a cautionary tale, perhaps.

Not on  the paid tier? Level up! Five bucks a month gets you so many additional words, why wouldn’t you want that?

Surprise! Here’s the week’s first bonus episode of Someone Else’s Movie, and if you’re thinking “Wait, did he say the first?” well … yes, yes he did.

I’m just trying to keep up with TIFF’s schedule, and award-winning documentarian Carol Nguyen is bringing her first feature-length project  Still Night, Burning House to the festival on Saturday. So her episode drops now, because there’s another one cued up for Saturday!

I know! It’s nuts! But I’d be a total butt if I deprived you of a very engaging discussion of Tampopo, and the manner in which Carol discovered Juzo Itami’s 1985 “noodle Western” in the first place. We also take a more serious turn into the  subject matter of Carol’s film, and how she navigates the very specific responsibilities that come with making a movie about her own family. Somehow it all works.

Want to hear how? Call up the show on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Podcasts or your podcatcher of choice, or download the episode directly from the web and listen to it while you practice your noodle flips. It’s an art, you know!

And while there’s not much new in Shiny Things since Tuesday’s post — just a nod to Paramount’s latest release of the original Star Trek series — you’ve got about 24 hours to upgrade to paid so you don’t miss out on tomorrow’s exclusive edition of What’s Worth Watching. Five bucks a month gets you so many more words! Why wouldn’t you want that? Why?

Anyway, think about it. And I’ll see you back here on Saturday.

It’s almost TIFF time, and for the first of (at least) three festival-related episodes of Someone Else’s Movie I’m delighted to have Denis Côté on the podcast.

Denis is a director I’ve been trying to land for the entire run of the show, and while I was sure we’d be able to record an episode when I programmed his alluring experiment Mademoiselle Kenopsia at TIFF 2023, he had to miss the festival to get a new kidney. Totally understandable, but still.

Three years later, he’s feeling much better and still making the movies he wants to make, once again collaborating with the formidable actor Larissa Corriveau for Nobody’s Violence, a characteristically unquantifiable character study about a woman who performs a very specific service for individuals in need. It has its North American premiere in Toronto on Friday, September 11th, with additional screenings Sunday and next Saturday. Tickets and showtimes are available at the link above. You should see it.

Denis chose Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up for his episode, and I can see how that film’s been an influence not his entire filmography — it’s a movie about voyeurism that makes voyeurs of the audience, drawing us into a photographer’s increasingly frenzied search for meaning as he comes to believe he’s captured evidence of a muder. Has he? Sure seems like it, but the more he tries to prove it the blurrier everything gets. You’ve seen Blow-Up, right? You should see Blow-Up. Vanessa Redgrave is really good in it!

So see Blow-Up, and then join us for the conversation on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Podcasts or your podcatcher of choice, or download the episode directly from the web and listen to it while you snap random images in a London park, looking for a truth you’ll never find. Still beats watching mimes play tennis.

After that, you should catch up on last week’s Shiny Things because I crammed a whole bunch of August catalogue releases into two columns.

It’s a lot: 4K editions of Danger: Diabolik, Practical Magic, Auntie Mame, The People vs. Larry Flynt and Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, as well as the Blu-ray releases of Viggo Mortensen’s Falling, Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague and James L. Brooks’ nearly-forgotten I’ll Do Anything. And then of course there were my exclusive reviews of Onslaught, Mayday and the new series of  Taskmaster in the What’s Worth Watching blast sent out to paid subscribers on Friday. Didn’t you get that? Wouldn’t you like to? All you need to do is upgrade your subscription and you’ll be on the list.

C’mon, be on the list. All the cool people are.