I frequently pitch Someone Else’s Movie to potential guests by explaining that the podcast is evergreen: Because movies don’t change, a given episode can be just as relevant in five years as it is today. That’s a feature, not a bug.
In this case of this week’s episode, though, it’s a depressing truth: Spike Lee’s masterpiece Do the Right Thing hasn’t aged a day in the 31 years since its release, because white cops keep killing Black people.
Aisling Chin-Yee, whose first feature The Rest of Us is available on digital and on demand today, was more than willing to dig into that ugly reality, and into the film itself. I’m really glad she picked this, although I’m also deeply, deeply angry that literally nothing has changed about its subject matter.
Give it a listen. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play and Stitcher and get the episode immediately, or download it directly from the web. And then get ready to roll through the other stuff I’ve done over the past week:
- three episodes of NOW What, including my last Hot Docs episode featuring a conversation with Ali Weinstein, director of #Blessed and producer of Lulu Wei’s There’s No Place Like This Place, Anyplace; a look at the Toronto vegan restaurateur who’s looking to break Uber Eats’ stronghold on delivery apps, and a discussion of the rush to reopen child care in Ontario
- a thing for this week’s Hot Summer Guide about the renewed cultural importance of drive-in theatres
- yesterday’s story about Cineplex preparing to reopen its megaplexes across Canada, which seem like a terrible idea
- the latest installment of NOW’s weekly VOD calendar, and expanded reviews of Artemis Fowl, The King of Staten Island and Lenox Hill
That feels like plenty, right? And yet somehow there’s more to come.