Seasons: A Year of Movies
34 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 3 years ago - ★★★★★ - 2 ratingsSeasons: A Year Of Movies is a (mostly) weekly podcast where Emma Ramirez and Jacob Benfell talk about a series of films for each season of the year. The movies can be directly connected (a franchise, a director/writer/whatever’s filmography) or loosely connected (a thematic through-line.) We alternate picking the season’s theme, so the movies will be as varied as our thoughts are. We’ll explore why we watch the movies we do when we do, how context changes our understanding of art, geek out, and occasionally get into fights. Accompany us through the changing times of the year.
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Episodes
Seasons 34: 9 to 5
December 27, 2020 03:39 - 42.7 MBGrace and Emma join together for this workplace comedy that is not quite what it seems and find a very funny movie with a lot going on. We discuss shifting violence to mythological, colonized others, the role and limits of comedies about working and living in capitalism, as well as some truly wild facts about this film. Follow Grace on Twitter @grace_machine. Follow Emma on Twitter @uofwhales. Follow the show @seasonsmoviepod. Podcast art by Cecil Smith. Follow him on Instagram at @ c...
Seasons 33: Norma Rae
November 24, 2020 04:36 - 43.2 MBGrace and Emma watched a movie two months ago, recorded an episode about it one month ago, and are finally presenting you with the gift of this short episode. Emma likes handsome men, Grace does not like the Stephen King short story “Battleground,” and we really just love Salt of the Earth. Watch this movie or don’t; it’s rough out there. Follow Grace on Twitter @grace_machine Follow Emma on Twitter @uofwhales Follow the show @seasonsmoviepod Podcast art by Cecil Smith. Follow him on I...
Seasons 32: Man of Marble
July 19, 2020 23:27 - 88.6 MBEmma and Grace watched Andrzej Wajda’s Man of Marble the dehumanizing and humanizing process of filmmaking, the act of depicting labor on screen, and questions of what it means to watch a film that critiques non-capitalist societies. Emma makes a killer point about how abstract art is deployed in this film and Grace goes on a long tangent about Walter Benjamin. Follow Grace on Twitter @grace_machine Follow Emma on Twitter @uofwhales Follow the show @seasonsmoviepod Podcast art by Cecil Smi...
Seasons 31: Salt of the Earth
June 30, 2020 03:13 - 76.4 MBGrace and Emma discuss the film the US Government didn't want you to see, Salt of the Earth!!! They loved this antithesis to How Green Was My Valley and talk about the material conditions of the movie, its honesty and intensity around gender dynamics, and the joy found in community organizing. You can watch this piece of union propaganda on YouTube, so you should just go ahead and do it. Follow Grace on Twitter @grace_machine Follow Emma on Twitter @uofwhales Follow the show @seasonsmoviepo...
Seasons 30: How Green Was My Valley
June 18, 2020 03:49 - 2 days - 81 MBGrace and Emma talk about the 1941, John Ford directed classic that reeks of gender. We discuss the movie’s surprisingly absent labor politics, its compassion for working people, and its cruelty towards the disabled. In other news, Emma gets excited about birds and Grace thinks a lot about set design. Follow Grace on Twitter @grace_machine Follow Emma on Twitter @uofwhales Follow the show @seasonsmoviepod Podcast art by Cecil Smith. Follow him on Instagram at @ cecil_smith_ Email us questi...
Seasons 29: Modern Times
June 01, 2020 23:40 - 65.3 MBTo start off our season about work and labor, we watched the 1936 Charlie Chaplin film, Modern Times. By leaning into artifice and exaggeration, the movie is able to highlight the very real issues of its day (and ours). Grace notices the oppressive authority of sound, Emma notices a certain lack of shoes, and we both display an incomplete knowledge of how cocaine works. Get comfy and settle in for a piece of “communist propaganda” that yearns for the middle-class dream and that we both abso...
Seasons 28: The Wind Rises
April 14, 2020 21:30 - 101 MBIt’s a Ghibli finale! In the final episode of this season, Grace and Emma talk the limits of capitalist art, the beauty of horrible things, gender, clothes, and the joy of dreams. It’s Miyasaki’s most sober and self-reflective movie, so prepare for a lot of sad talk about movie production itself. They also rank every Miyazaki movie and introduce the theme for the next season! Follow Grace on Twitter @grace_machine Follow Emma on Twitter @uofwhales Follow the show @seasonsmoviepod Email us q...
Seasons 27: Ponyo
February 06, 2020 02:38 - 74.8 MBPonyo is not just a fish movie for babies; it’s also a representation of non-revolutionary utopia, a display of the sudden onset of climate change, and a hella trans fairy tale. Emma talks a lot about a Polish horror musical, and Grace unpacks the movie’s family dynamics. Please, always wear a seatbelt, follow traffic signs, and keep your eyes on the road when you drive. Follow Grace on Twitter @grace_machine Follow Emma on Twitter @uofwhales Follow the show @seasonsmoviepod Email us questi...
Seasons 26: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
January 07, 2020 02:56 - 64.9 MBIn this episode, Grace and Emma return to their podcasting origins to talk about the latest and perhaps the worst Star Wars movie. Instead of watching The Rise of Skywalker, we recommend you: 1) listen to this episode, 2) watch the score-only version of The Last Jedi, and 3) write your Rose Tico fanfic. Follow Grace on Twitter @grace_machine Follow Emma on Twitter @uofwhales Follow the show @seasonsmoviepod Email us questions at [email protected]
Seasons 25: Howl's Moving Castle
December 31, 2019 00:08 - 101 MBIn this episode, Grace and Emma give their shortest summary yet! We spend a lot of time talking about gender, domesticity, labor, and the intersections thereof. What else would you expect?! Emma wants to be a witch, and Grace is a big ol’ romantic. Follow Grace on Twitter @grace_machine Follow Emma on Twitter @uofwhales Follow the show @seasonsmoviepod Email us questions at [email protected]
Seasons 24: Spirited Away
December 11, 2019 03:49 - 87.9 MBEmma and Grace expose their dirty Marxist roots while they talk about this movie filled with images of childhood and class. They also discuss kids’ movies as a genre, whether the main character’s trust in others is naïve or important or both, and even dip in discourse about setting boundaries. The next movie is Howl’s Moving Castle Follow Grace on Twitter @grace_machine Follow Emma on Twitter @uofwhales Follow the show @seasonsmoviepod Email us questions at [email protected]
Seasons 23: Princess Mononoke
October 27, 2019 17:15 - 155 MBIn this episode, that is nearly as long as the movie it discusses, Grace and Emma attempt to break down this fantastical samurai epic. As this is masterful film with many questions and few answers, most of this episode’s runtime is existential and ambiguous. At first we try to contextualize its depiction of indigenous peoples and the Muromashi period in our shaky understanding of Japanese history Is there a way to reconcile civilization and nature? Is this movie environmental centrism? Is th...
Seasons 22: Whisper of the Heart
October 13, 2019 19:32 - 116 MBIn this extra-long and rowdy episode, Grace and Emma talk over the politics of labor and creativity, their relationship to both the themes and production of this movie, and the anxieties of growing up. Grace is anxious about a missing lunch. Emma is agape over the animation’s small details. It all builds to a final conversation about… what else? Crushes! The next movie is Princess Mononoke Follow Grace on Twitter @grace_machine Follow Emma on Twitter @uofwhaless Follow the show @seasonsmov...
Seasons 21: Porco Rosso
September 08, 2019 21:47 - 94.6 MBIn this episode, Emma and Grace discuss whether Porco Rosso complicates the idealized Europe often found in Ghibli films, the strong ladies who are definitely not moms, and the film’s interest in an inevitable turn of history that will consume all the characters. Come for our disdain for libertarianism, stay for the seaplane full of schoolgirls and pirates. Side note: The theorist that Grace talks about is Theodor Adorno, of the Frankfurt school. Max Weber is an earlier sociologist, who the...
Seasons 20: Kiki's Delivery Service
September 02, 2019 21:03 - 89.2 MBIn this episode, we talk about girlhood, queerness, and critiquing media as queer people. Grace has a truly cursed realization about Tombo. Emma gushes about an incredible dog. We also talk about the movie’s depiction of an idealized, almost utopian, Europe and its portrayal of magic as both wondrous and mundane. The next movie is Porco Rosso. Follow Grace on Twitter @grace_machine Follow Emma on Twitter @uofwhales Follow the show @seasonsmoviepod Email us questions at [email protected]
Seasons 19: My Neighbor Totoro
August 14, 2019 02:48 - 78 MBThis episode gets very personal as Grace and Emma talk over the innumerable childhood feelings this movie gave us. We talk about taking the emotions of children seriously, have our shortest summary yet, and get on a surprising number of tangents, including the unforgivably bad Totoro death God theory. The next movie is Kiki’s Delivery Service Follow Grace on Twitter @grace_machine Follow Emma on Twitter @uofwhales Follow the show @seasonsmoviepod Email us questions at [email protected]
Seasons 18: Castle in the Sky
July 21, 2019 22:52 - 117 MBBrimming with mystery, Laputa beckons to us! Grace and Emma rediscover the magic of this film and discuss its ecological worldview, condemnation of patriarchal power, and warm kindness. We also get off on several tangents including feminist discourse about mainstream video games and film, insecurity about liking movies that are cute and fun, what makes a movie for kids vs. for adults, and much more. We even manage a summary that is under 10 minutes! Next movie is My Neighbor Totoro. Follow...
Seasons 17: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
July 10, 2019 01:12 - 94.6 MBApologies for the technical difficulties in this episode. After the whirlwind heist of Cagliostro, Grace and Emma settle in for the ecological science fiction of Nausicaä. They talk over the movie’s approach to political violence and protest, of mankind’s relationship to the natural world, and its complex gender politics. Next movie is Castle in the Sky. Follow Grace on Twitter @grace_machine Follow Emma on Twitter @uofwhales Follow the show @seasonsmoviepod Email us questions at seasonsp...
Seasons 16: The Castle of Cagliostro
June 28, 2019 03:25 - 81.7 MBEmma and Grace talk over the rip-roaring heist adventure that is Miyasaki’s debut. They delve into the movie’s abstract menace, expressive charm, immaculate cinematography, and messy deception of monarchy and class. They also read a reader letter and talk about their plans for the next season.
Sita Sings the Blues
June 02, 2019 22:49 - 82.6 MBThis adaptation of part of the Ramayama was directed and animated entirely by Nina Paley. We discuss its layered approach to storytelling, the perils of working through stories from other cultures, and how even incredibly old religious stories are personal. Sita Sings the Blues is under creative commons and can be watched for free on YouTube or on sitasingstheblues.com. P.S. by the time we uploaded Emma got a Letterboxd (uofwhales).
2019 Winter - We Are The Best
March 14, 2019 02:18 - 115 MBIn which we discuss this nearly perfect film about growing up, being awkward, and the simple joy of creativity. We talk over the film’s intimate cinematography, its moments of total euphoria, and its quiet honesty. We get off on a tangent about Whiplash, La La Land, and music movies obsession with excellence, but then wrap it back to how We Are The Best Subverts these things. We also answer a few questions about Star Wars at the end.
2019 Winter - The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
February 19, 2019 17:00 - 95.7 MB*white voice* CINNABON!!! In which Emma and Jacob get way too deep on Walter Mitty’s depiction of art, labor, its surprisingly inoffensive showing of other cultures, its obnoxious product placement, and its melancholic core. A surprisingly thoughtful episode about a surprisingly thoughtful movie (that probably still doesn’t deserve the amount of time we spent on it tbh).
2019 Winter - Wings of Desire
February 11, 2019 19:00 - 67.1 MBCW: Brief Discussion of a suicide around 21:15 This month we’re talking about some of our favorite movies that the other host hasn’t seen. For this episode, Jacob introduces Emma to 1987’s Wings of Desire, a movie about angels in Berlin falling in love. We explore the movie’s profound rejoicing in the physical experience of life, its marvelous portrait of urban life, as well as its complex gender politics and moments of warm humor. Next week, we’ll talk 2013’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitt...
2018 Summer - Star Wars Wrap Up
February 07, 2019 19:34 - 28.4 MBIn this episode, named only for convenience and stubbornness, Emma and Jacob talk through their newly formed Star Wars rankings, and their plans for the rest of the year. Just a bite-sized pod until we start talking about our favorite movies later this month. Here is the schedule for the rest of the year. It will be more fully updated soon! Theme Music by Jacob Benfell
2018 Summer - Rogue One
January 18, 2019 16:40 - 77 MB24:40 – 26.32 CW: brief discussion of suicide in the Context of Spivak’s essay “Can the Subaltern Speak?” Emma and Jacob talk over this hot mess of movie that still wins their hearts. We discuss the movies subtle treatment of religious themes, its urge to speak for the voiceless of this universe, its scale and physicality, as well as its uneven structure and confusing character beats. Join us for this last, but definitely not least, entry of the Star Wars canon. (No, we will not watch Solo).
2018 Summer - The Last Jedi
January 11, 2019 20:48 - 105 MBIn this episode, Emma and Jacob pick apart the most recent Star Wars episode, finding in it both profound fault and profane brilliance. Emma talks over her mixed feelings, particularly towards the film’s treatment of Rey, while Jacob discusses their interest in the movie’s incomplete subversion of Star Wars’s mythos.
2018 Summer - The Force Awakens
December 06, 2018 22:00 - 96 MBIn this very, very late (we’re sorry!) episode, Jacob and Emma discuss their conflicting feelings about a both strange and conventional film. Emma gushes about her favorite character moments, the surprisingly subtle character beats, and Rey’s interesting place in the force, while Jacob grumbles about how how thematically weightless things feel and how much this movie does not need a death star. Just make it about the map!!!
2018 Summer - Return of the Jedi
October 16, 2018 21:12 - 84.2 MBIn this highly anticipated and very belated episode, Emma and Jacob spend 30 minutes talking about Luke and Vader’s confrontation and how it acts as a thematic center of the entire saga! Also we talk about Ewoks.
2018 Summer - Revenge of the Sith
September 15, 2018 17:22 - 91.5 MBThis time, Emma and Jacob dive in to what makes this film a linchpin for the thematic aims of the Star Wars Saga ™, its haunting imagery, insightful politics, misogyny, and ridiculous, glorious cheese. It’s a conflicted and thoughtful companion to a most conflicting and thoughtful movie. Theme Music By Jacob Benfell
2018 Summer - Attack of the Clones
September 01, 2018 19:04 - 105 MBEmma and Jacob have the most fun they’ve had since a New Hope, spend way too much time talking about the ~pear~ scene, gush about Ewan McGregor, and dig into the ways this mixed prequel tries, fails, and succeeds to complicate Star Wars. Lots of feelings spill out into our longest episode yet. Theme music by Jacob Benfell.
2018 Summer - Phantom Menace
August 02, 2018 02:00 - 76.1 MBEmma and Jacob talk about this prologue chapter’s penchant for explaining interesting ideas in the most boring manner possible, its racism, its politics, and their surprisingly positive reaction. It’s an episode filled with half-hearted defenses and back-handed compliments. The Podrace is still good though.
2018 Summer - Empire Strikes Back
July 23, 2018 01:36 - 72.3 MBJacob and Emma focus on a slew of sassy bois, lament the lack of Leia and media literacy, and unpack the public’s perception of the “best” Star Wars movie. Also, there is no mention of Boba Fett. Theme Music by Jacob Benfell
2018 Summer - A New Hope
July 16, 2018 20:29 - 79.7 MBIn this episode, Emma and Jacob freak out about how well A New Hope holds up, get on a long detour about the nonsensical and interesting philosophy of the force, sing Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill’s praises, and worry about the films to come.
2018 Summer - Star Wars Intro
July 06, 2018 01:04 - 32 minutes - 44.6 MBIn this introductory episode, Emma and Jacob introduce themselves, rank each Star War, get in mini fights about The Last Jedi, and discuss why they love and hate these dumb movies.