In the Mood for Podcast: Episode 33

EPISODE 33: Surrogates + Slaves

[1:13:04]

You can Listen online or

Download MP3

(Right click... save as)

It's Episode 33 of In the Mood for Podcast, a British-based film podcast hosted by Calum Reed of Ultimate Addict and Pete Sheppard of In the Mood for Blog. This week we reveal our preconceptions about Quentin Tarantino before reviewing his brand new Western "Django Unchained." We're in for the straight-talking intimacy of Ben Lewin's "The Sessions," while the minor releases of Horror anthology "V/H/S" and culinary documentary "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" attempt to whet our appetite. We talk about our favourite screenwriters and on-screen performances of disability, before rounding it all off with some swift SAG predictions. If you savour us when we're at our shortest and snappiest, here's a baby podcast for you. We can't mimic Quentin all of the time...

Discussed on the podcast: 

Listener Question: "Who are your favourite screenwriters?" [Ibbi] [2:45 - 9:30]

Opening Segment: Discussing the early work of Quentin Tarantino, and our review of "Django Unchained" [9:35 - 30:55]


*Preconception Corner*

Reviews of: 

• "V/H/S"
• "Jiro Dreams of Sushi"

[31:00 - 49:45]

Closing Segment: Our take on Ben Lewin's "The Sessions, our favourite disabled performances, and predictions for Sunday's Screen Actors' Guild awards  [49:55 - 1:05:25]

*Shag, Marry or Kill?*
*The Watson Factor*
*The Poupaud Range*

Intro Music: New theme music!
Outro Music: Spark, "Revolving" (Monsieur Adu Reworking of Allegro in C Minor)

The Sessions (2012)

The Sessions
Directed by Ben Lewin

Starring: John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, William H. Macy

Grade: C+

Adapted from an article by the film’s disabled central character, Mark O’Brien, “The Sessions” feels the burden of its source material. An insightful but nevertheless compromised account from a remarkable man, it distinctly feels as if director Ben Lewin is rashly trying to extrapolate events into a feature-length narrative. The main story involving O’Brien and sex surrogate Cheryl (both played expertly by John Hawkes and Helen Hunt) unfolds over six ‘sessions’ in which a touching journey takes place between the pair, but the script insists on plumbing worthless humour from Christian paranoia and the strange ambivalence of William H. Macy’s catholic priest towards the subject of sex. This is a warm story with a healthy attitude towards intimacy and human connection, but even the acting can’t transform this into a substantative exercise for the big screen.