emily kubincanek Archives

Extra Milestone – Battleship Potemkin (1925), Harvey (1950), Clue (1985)

Emily Kubincanek makes her welcomed and triumphant return to Extra Milestone, and this week’s selections are among the most varied yet! We begin by celebrating the 95-year anniversary of Sergei Eisenstein’s magnum opus Battleship Potemkin, a film more fundamentally significant than almost any other when it comes to the art form of editing and propaganda storytelling. After that, we take a lighthearted and melancholy stroll into the world of Henry Koster’s Harvey, a rich and complex comedy featuring one of the best performances by the great James Stewart. Finally, we get to the bottom of Jonathan Lynn’s Clue, a cult-classic murder mystery that neither of us had seen before, and were delighted to discover was great!

Extra Milestone Podcasts

Extra Milestone – Sunset Boulevard (1950), The Gold Rush (1925)

Emily Kubincanek returns to Extra Milestone at last, and in no small fashion! We’re diving headfirst into the most Classic of Cinema with two brilliant films that connect to the Silent Era! First up is Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush, a dramatic comedy featuring Chaplin’s ‘Little Tramp’ that cemented many dramatic traditions while simultaneously telling a heartfelt and humorous story! From there, we jump forward to Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard, which examines the world of showbusiness, the remnants of the Silent Era, and the widespread sacrifices found in Hollywood living through a melancholy lens steeped in Film Noir tradition.

Extra Milestone Podcasts

Extra Milestone – Friday the 13th (1980), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Re-Animator (1985)

The summer is about to conclude with a creeping, atmospheric, gory bang, because Emily Kubincanek is back on The Extra Milestone to discuss a trio of Horror Classics! We start with a look at Sean S. Cunningham’s iconic slasher Friday the 13th, and how it sets itself apart from other such films, as well as the excitement of it all that still plays today. We continue with a discussion of James Whale’s sequel Bride of Frankenstein, including the similarities to Mary Shelley’s novel and how Universal crafted a new narrative around the characters. Finally, we dive into the hellish effects showcase that is the late Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator!

Cinemaholics Podcasts

Cinemaholics Podcast #176 – The Old Guard, Palm Springs, Greyhound, First Cow, Family Romance LLC, Sometimes Always Never

Special guest Emily Kubincanek joins us for a marathon of reviews this week, starting with the new Netflix action blockbuster, The Old Guard, starring Charlize Theron and KiKi Layne. Then we loop into Hulu’s time-bending rom-com Palm Springs, starring Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti. Tom Hanks writes and stars in the new Apple TV+ WWII epic, Greyhound, which just released this week. We slow things down for the meditative First Cow from writer/director Kelly Reichardt. Oh, and Werner Herzog made a new Japanese-language film called Family Romance, LLC. Last, we finish things off with a wordy scramble of a review for the British quirk-film Sometimes Always Never, which stars Bill Nighy and Sam Riley.

Extra Milestone Podcasts

Extra Milestone – Rebecca (1940), Le Trou (1960)

Special guest Emily Kubincanek joins us for a double milestone feature of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca, which just celebrated 80 years since its release, as well as Jacques Becker’s final film Le Trou (or The Hole), which recently had its 60th anniversary. As always, we lay out the context for what makes these films so memorable all these years later, plus there’s a little contention between the Cinemaholics on both films, so stay tuned to hear where we all land.

Cinemaholics Podcasts

Cinemaholics Podcast – The Plot Against America

Special guest Emily Kubincanek joins us for a bonus review of The Plot Against America, a new HBO mini-series starring Zoe Kazan, Winona Ryder, John Turturro, and many more. From David Simon (creator of The Wire), this alternate history drama follows a Jewish family in 1940s New Jersey trying to grapple with the presidency of Charles Lindbergh, who wins on a platform of staying out of World War II and has a history of antisemitism.

Cinemaholics Podcasts

Cinemaholics Podcast #156 – Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Special guests Julia Teti and Emily Kubincanek join Jon and Will for an in-depth review of Portrait of a Lady on Fire, one of the most universally acclaimed new films from the last year. Directed by Céline Sciamma, this sweeping romantic drama centers around an intense love affair between a young painter (Noémie Merlant) and the woman she is secretly painting a portrait of (Adèle Haenel).