Someone Else's Movie
352 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 2 years ago - ★★★★ - 32 ratingsSOMEONE ELSE’S MOVIE is just what it says on the label: Each week, an actor, director, screenwriter, critic or industry observer will discuss a film that he or she admires, but had no hand in making. Hosted as genially as possible by Norm Wilner.
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Episodes
Cameron Gibson on The Prestige
July 27, 2021 04:00 - 49 minutes - 33.7 MBFor our 350th episode, Cameron Gibson -- one of the lead magicians at Jamie Allan's Illusionarium, which opens in Toronto this Thursday, June 29th -- tackles Christopher Nolan's 2006 drama The Prestige. Your genial host Norm Wilner has nothing up his sleeves.
Michael Sarnoski on Spider-Man
July 20, 2021 04:26 - 21 minutes - 19.5 MBWith his remarkable Nicolas Cage drama Pig making its way into theatres across North America, we grab director and co-writer Michael Sarnoski for a few minutes to talk about his love for Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, the 2002 blockbuster that cast Tobey Maguire as everyone’s favorite wall-crawler and laid the template for comic-book movies going forward … though no one knew that at the time. Your genial host Norm Wilner thinks you should see Pig, by the way.
Gemma Files on The Borderlands
July 13, 2021 04:01 - 45 minutes - 41.4 MBAward-winning horror author and screenwriter Gemma Files (Experimental Film, the new collection In That Endlessness, Our End) burrows deep into the theological inquiry of Elliot Goldner’s 2013 found-footage creeper The Borderlands, which was released in North America as Final Prayer. Your genial host Norm Wilner is a little worried about the implications of all this Lovecraftian horror, but let’s see where this goes.
Katherine Cullen on Bottle Rocket
July 06, 2021 04:00 - 46 minutes - 42.2 MBWriter and performer Katherine Cullen — who’s spending this month with Britta Johnson remounting their 2017 play Stupidhead! as a series of live audio broadcasts from July 7th to 16th, and then as in-person performances on porches and backyards from July 20th to August 1st — is here to celebrate Bottle Rocket, the 1996 indie that brought Wes Anderson, Owen Wilson and Luke Wilson onto the film scene. Your genial host Norm Wilner is trying to process the fact that Bottle Rocket is 25 years old...
Josh Ruben on Clive Barker’s Nightbreed
June 29, 2021 04:02 - 45 minutes - 41.2 MBActor and filmmaker Josh Ruben — whose new horror-comedy Werewolves Within is in theaters now and coming to IFC Films Unlimited this Friday, July 2nd — has been haunted by Clive Barker’s Nightbreed for a very long time … too long, perhaps. But now he’s ready to unpack the effect Barker’s 1990 monster mash had on his developing imagination. Your genial host Norm Wilner is here to guide him.
Ilya Naishuller on The Way of the Gun
June 22, 2021 04:00 - 35 minutes - 32.1 MBDirector Ilya Naishuller — who followed his 2015 breakout Hardcore Henry by turning Bob Odenkirk into an action star in the immensely satisfying Nobody, now available on disc and digital — takes a break from his next production to salute the swaggering mayhem of The Way of the Gun, the 2000 directorial debut of Oscar-winning screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie. Your genial host Norm Wilner had forgotten all about that one.
Saul Williams on Lovers Rock
June 15, 2021 04:00 - 37 minutes - 34.6 MBAuthor, actor, poet and hip-hop pioneer Saul Williams — who stars in and scores Charles Officer’s Akilla’s Escape, now available on VOD across North America — takes the mic for Lovers Rock, the second and best feature in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe film cycle. Your genial host Norm Wilner thinks you’ll enjoy this one.
Patrick White on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
June 11, 2021 04:00 - 39 minutes - 36.1 MBWith his directorial debut Queen of Spades arriving on VOD next week, writer and producer Patrick White (Jack Brooks, Monster Slayer) is here to spread the love for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the Oscar-winning animated experience from directors Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman that brought Miles Morales to the big screen and expanded our conception of what comic-book movies can do. Your genial host Norm Wilner is still team Spider-Ham, though.
Lowell on Bong Joon-ho’s The Host
June 08, 2021 04:02 - 30 minutes - 28.3 MBSinger and songwriter Lowell turns screenwriter and composer with the horror movie Bloodthirsty, which earned her two Canadian Screen Awards nominations for best score and best original song; now that it’s available on VOD, she’s here to talk about another kind of monster movie: The Host, Bong Joon-ho’s delirious 2006 thriller about a dysfunctional Seoul family brought together by the rampage of an angry fish monster. Your genial host Norm Wilner knows how it feels.
Alyson Richards on The Goonies
June 01, 2021 04:00 - 32 minutes - 29.4 MBToronto screenwriter and producer Alyson Richards — whose latest project, the queer survival thriller The Retreat, is freshly available on VOD — is here to celebrate Richard Donner’s beloved 1985 adventure comedy The Goonies in all of its messy, frenetic glory. Your genial host Norm Wilner has some questions.
Karine Vanasse on Never Rarely Sometimes Always
May 25, 2021 04:00 - 31 minutes - 28.9 MBAward-winning actor, producer and all-around great person Karine Vanasse — star of Emporte-Moi, Polytechnique, Cardinal and the brand-new animated adventure Felix and the Treasure of Morgaa — discusses the intimate power of Eliza Hittman’s 2020 drama Never Rarely Sometimes Always, and the sad reality that stories like this still need to be told at all. Your genial host Norm Wilner is just sorry this episode isn’t three hours long.
Jessica Ellis on The Martian
May 18, 2021 03:59 - 46 minutes - 43 MBHer lovely first feature What Lies West just landed on VOD in North America, so writer-director Jessica Ellis is here to stand up for Ridley Scott’s The Martian, the 2015 drama where Matt Damon gets marooned on the red planet and an all-star international cast rallies to save him … if he can keep himself alive long enough. Your genial host Norm Wilner worries that movies about space problems aren’t supposed to be this much fun.
Ryan Noth on Old Joy
May 11, 2021 04:00 - 1 hour - 55.9 MBWith his new film Drifting Snow arriving on VOD today, filmmaker Ryan Noth (No Heart Feelings, The National Parks Project, Farm Crime) is in the mood for another road-trip picture: Kelly Reichardt’s 2006 breakout Old Joy, a melancholy drama starring Daniel London and Will Oldham as old friends trying to reconnect with a drive to a hot spring. Your genial host Norm Wilner is more than happy to go along for the ride.
Scott Abramovitch on The Apartment
May 07, 2021 04:01 - 1 hour - 64.6 MBOn this special Friday bonus episode, writer-director Scott Abramovitch — whose first feature Eat Wheaties! just arrived on VOD platforms everywhere — tackles The Apartment, Billy Wilder and Itzek Diamond’s Oscar-winning 1960 masterwork where Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine and Fred MacMurray play out a timeless parable about the price of upward mobility. Your genial host Norm Wilner is really happy with this one, insight-wise.
Mary Holland on Drop Dead Gorgeous
May 04, 2021 03:59 - 41 minutes - 38 MBActor and screenwriter Mary Holland (Veep, Homecoming, Happiest Season and the new-to-VOD comedy Golden Arm) steps up for the brave young women of the Sarah Rose Cosmetics Mount Rose American Teen Princess Pageant in Michael Patrick Jann’s beloved 1999 mockumentary Drop Dead Gorgeous. Your genial host Norm Wilner totally forgot Amy Adams was in this.
Dusty Mancinelli on Back to the Future Part II
April 27, 2021 04:00 - 54 minutes - 49.8 MBNow that Violation has arrived on Shudder Canada, filmmaker Dusty Mancinelli (who wrote and directed the film with star Madeleine Sims-Fewer) is here to talk about Back to the Future II, the 1989 sequel in which Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale and company literally revisit their 1985 blockbuster to the delight of audiences everywhere. Your genial host Norm Wilner is good to go.
Brea Grant on Gremlins 2 – The New Batch
April 20, 2021 04:00 - 42 minutes - 38.7 MBThe multifaceted Brea Grant — who wrote and stars in Lucky, wrote and directed 12 Hour Shift and co-stars in The Stylist — is here to celebrate the anarchic glories of Gremlins 2: The New Batch, the 1990 sequel where Joe Dante deconstructed his 1984 blockbuster with a sledgehammer. Your genial host Norm Wilner has been quoting the Brain Gremlin for thirty years now. (This is not a euphemism.)
Devereux Milburn on Punch-Drunk Love
April 13, 2021 04:01 - 55 minutes - 50.7 MBHis first feature Honeydew arrives on VOD today, so it’s the perfect time for writer-director Devereux Milburn to break down the revelation that was Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch-Drunk Love — the knockout 2002 romance that changed the way the world saw Adam Sandler. Your genial host Norm Wilner has some fairly profound feelings of his own about this one.
Saman Kesh on Chungking Express
April 06, 2021 03:59 - 52 minutes - 47.8 MBWriter, director and producer Saman Kesh — whose new project Doors just landed on VOD platforms everywhere — is here to explain how the fever dream of melancholy that is Wong Kar Wai’s Chungking Express changed the way he saw cinema. Your genial host Norm Wilner just hopes all those empty pineapple cans were properly recycled.
Emma Seligman on Keeping the Faith
March 30, 2021 03:59 - 39 minutes - 36 MBWriter-director Emma Seligman — whose first feature Shiva Baby is now available to rent on digital TIFF Bell Lightbox and goes into wider VOD release across North America on Friday — tackles another directorial debut: Edward Norton’s Keeping the Faith, in which Norton and Ben Stiller play a priest and a rabbi whose lifelong friendship is rocked by the reappearance of a childhood friend (Jenna Elfman). Your genial host Norm Wilner knew those nine years of Hebrew school would come in handy eve...
Leah Cameron on Last Night
March 23, 2021 04:00 - 50 minutes - 46.4 MBWith her semiautobiographical web series The Communist’s Daughter newly streaming on CBC Gem, writer-director Leah Cameron is here to celebrate Don McKellar’s Last Night, the delicate 1998 drama about a handful of Torontonians — played by Sandra Oh, Sarah Polley, David Cronenberg, Tracy Wright and many more — facing the end of the world. Your genial host Norm Wilner is just happy we made it to the other side.
BenDavid Grabinski on Something Wild
March 19, 2021 04:00 - 44 minutes - 41.2 MBIt’s our anniversary week! Have a bonus episode! Here’s writer/director BenDavid Grabinski, whose terrific first feature Happily drops on VOD today, to discuss the indie miracle that is Jonathan Demme’s Something Wild, which pairs Jeff Daniels and Melanie Griffith for a screwball comedy that proves more than worthy of its title. Your genial host Norm Wilner thinks you should see Happily, by the way.
Anthony Scott Burns on Manhunter
March 16, 2021 04:00 - 54 minutes - 50.2 MBIt’s SEMcast’s sixth anniversary, and writer-director Anthony Scott Burns — whose eerie psychodrama Come True is now available on VOD — joins us to celebrate Michael Mann’s Manhunter, the 1986 cat-and-mouse thriller that first brought Thomas Harris’ characters to the screen. Your genial host Norm Wilner is always happy to talk about the magnificent pissiness of Brian Cox.
Phil Connell on A Bigger Splash
March 09, 2021 05:00 - 1 hour - 60 MBWith his first feature Jump, Darling arriving on VOD today, writer-director Phil Connell is here to discuss the luxurious chaos of Luca Guadagnino’s A Bigger Splash, and how much pleasure there is to be had in watching Ralph Fiennes and Dakota Johnson invade Tilda Swinton and Matthias Schoenaerts’ Italian paradise. Your genial host Norm Wilner was just happy to think about something other than winter for an hour.
Ali LeRoi on The Town
March 02, 2021 05:00 - 39 minutes - 36.6 MBVeteran writer/producer Ali LeRoi — whose body of work includes writing Down to Earth and Head of State, creating and producing the television series Everybody Hates Chris and Are We There Yet, and whose powerful first feature The Obituary of Tunde Johnson just dropped on VOD in North America — loves heist movies, and he especially loves Ben Affleck’s 2010 thriller The Town, accents and all. Your genial host Norm Wilner is really curious to see how these things all line up.
Shatara Michelle Ford on You’ve Got Mail
February 23, 2021 05:02 - 51 minutes - 46.7 MBWriter-director Shatara Michelle Ford, whose powerful first feature Test Pattern is now streaming on the Kino Marquee virtual cinema platform, has loved Nora Ephron’s 1998 rom-com You’ve Got Mail since she was a tween, and is more than happy to talk about how Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan make it awfully easy to excuse some very problematic material. Your genial host Norm Wilner is sorry he sounds like he’s stuck in a fishtank this week.
Tallboyz on Hook
February 16, 2021 05:01 - 35 minutes - 32.2 MBGuled Abdi, Vance Banzo, Tim Blair and Franco Nguyen — who are collectively known as Tallboyz, and whose sketch show returns for a second season tonight, Tuesday September 16th, on CBC and CBC Gem — assemble to talk about Hook, Steven Spielberg’s 1991 fantasy adventure starring Robin Williams as a grown-up Peter Pan, Dustin Hoffman as his arch-enemy Captain Hook and Julia Roberts as Tinkerbell. Your genial host Norm Wilner is a little nervous about this one.
Nicole Dorsey on Smooth Talk
February 09, 2021 05:00 - 57 minutes - 52.7 MBWriter-director Nicole Dorsey, whose powerful first feature Black Conflux will finally be arriving later this spring after being named to TIFF Canada’s Top Ten in 2019, breaks down the power and influence of Joyce Chopra’s unnerving 1985 drama Smooth Talk and the devastating performance of Laura Dern and Treat Williams. Your genial host Norm Wilner is awfully nostalgic for the days when he recorded this show in person.
Haley Mlotek and Adam Nayman on Showgirls
February 02, 2021 05:00 - 1 hour - 56.6 MBFilm critics Haley Mlotek and Adam Nayman were among a dozen experts interviewed by Jeffrey McHale for his 2019 documentary You Don’t Nomi, about the reclamation of Paul Verhoeven’s Showgirls — received on its release in 1995 as an unmitigated disaster — as both a camp classic and legitimately good movie. So of course they’re here to talk about Verhoeven’s film, and why it’s time to take it seriously. Your genial host Norm Wilner learned a whole dance routine for this.
Steven Kostanski on Mortal Kombat
January 26, 2021 05:00 - 50 minutes - 46.3 MBSteven Kostanski — writer-director of Manborg, The Void and the brand-new splatterfest Psycho Goreman, just released on VOD — steps up and throws down for Paul W.S. Anderson’s Mortal Kombat, the 1995 hit that turned a videogame series into a remarkably satisfying cinematic experience. Your genial host Norm Wilner is happy to battle alongside him.
Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin on Reality
January 19, 2021 05:00 - 29 minutes - 27.2 MBMichael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin, who spun their friendship into bittersweet, chaotic comedy in The Climb (debuting on VOD today) are here to discuss the allure of Matteo Garrone’s 2012 Cannes Grand Prix winner Reality, and the curious ways in which it meshes with their own festival favorite. Your genial host Norm Wilner is rooting for them.
Sugith Varughese on Galaxy Quest
January 12, 2021 05:00 - 43 minutes - 39.8 MBNever give up, never surrender! Actor, writer and director Sugith Varughese — whom you may know from Kim’s Convenience and Transplant, and who just turned up on The Expanse — is here to share his love for Galaxy Quest, the ingenious sci-fi comedy where Tim Allen, Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver are washed-up TV stars recruited by actual aliens to save the universe. You have no idea how long your genial host Norm Wilner has been waiting for someone to pick this movie.
Quinn Armstrong on Brief Encounter
January 05, 2021 05:00 - 1 hour - 63.1 MBIt’s 2021! We made it! And writer-director Quinn Armstrong, whose fascinating found-footage psychodrama Survival Skills is now available on VOD, is here to talk about the seemingly incongruent Brief Encounter, the Celia Johnson-Trevor Howard romance (written by Noel Coward, and directed by David Lean) that hasn’t lost an ounce of its power after three-quarters of a century. Your genial host Norm Wilner is eager to see how that all lines up.
John Patrick Shanley on Portrait of a Lady on Fire
December 29, 2020 05:01 - 32 minutes - 29.7 MBSurprise! We have an episode this week after all! John Patrick Shanley — the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Moonstruck, and most recently the writer-director of Wild Mountain Thyme, in theatres and on demand now — is here to talk about Portrait of a Lady on Fire, and how Celine Sciamma’s 2019 masterpiece clobbered him with its art and its passion. Your genial host Norm Wilner knows how he feels.
Phillip Iscove on Batman Returns
December 22, 2020 04:01 - 1 hour - 71.6 MBWhat better way to mark the holiday season than to welcome back Phillip Iscove — creator of Sleepy Hollow, co-host of the delightful Podcast Like It’s 1999 and friend of the show — to celebrate his very favorite Christmas movie: Batman Returns. You know, the one where Tim Burton got to do literally anything he wanted after the success of 1989’s Batman, and made one of the weirdest damn things ever produced by a major studio. Your genial host Norm Wilner is here to help Phil unpack it.
Sam Bain on Joe Versus the Volcano
December 15, 2020 05:00 - 34 minutes - 31.5 MBWith his new feature film The Stand In freshly arrived on VOD, screenwriter and producer Sam Bain (Peep Show, Ill Behaviour, Four Lions) is here to talk about Joe Versus the Volcano, the Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan fantasy comedy that marked John Patrick Shanley’s 1990 directorial debut. Your genial host Norm Wilner brought plenty of orange soda.
April Mullen on Run Lola Run
December 08, 2020 05:01 - 34 minutes - 32 MBWith her new film Wander arriving on VOD, producer-director April Mullen — whose credits include episodes of Wynonna Earp and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and the features 88 and Below Her Mouth — shares her love of Run Lola Run, the high-concept 1998 thriller that made Tom Tykwer and Franka Potente international sensations. Your genial host Norm Wilner is happy to take this ride again.
Francis Lee on Now, Voyager
December 01, 2020 05:00 - 26 minutes - 24.2 MBWriter-director Francis Lee, whose new drama Ammonite (on VOD this Friday, December 4th) pairs Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan as 19th-century lovers, is here to talk about another tale of unexpected empowerment: Now, Voyager, the Warner Bros. melodrama where Bette Davis takes hold of her destiny after meeting the right psychiatrist. Your genial host Norm Wilner is very happy to stay in 1942 for another week. They have ice cream!
Andre Gregory on Casablanca
November 24, 2020 05:43 - 55 minutes - 50.6 MBTo celebrate the publication of This Is Not My Memoir, legendary theater director and occasional screen actor Andre Gregory is here to talk about a film he’s loved as long as he can remember: Casablanca, the little Michael Curtiz picture where Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman talk about Paris and letters of transit. Your genial host Norm Wilner will remember this just fine, don’t you worry.
Sonia Boileau on Dirty Dancing
November 20, 2020 05:00 - 37 minutes - 34.1 MBIt’s been a rough week, you deserve a bonus episode … so here’s filmmaker Sonia Boileau, whose new drama Rustic Oracle arrived on VOD this week, talking about her pure and radiant love for the unapologetic Swayze worship of Emile Ardolino’s Dirty Dancing. Your genial host Norm Wilner is not … not a fan.
Cavan Campbell on What’s Up, Doc?
November 17, 2020 05:00 - 48 minutes - 44.9 MBFilmmaker Cavan Campbell, whose new short Receiver just shared the Air Canada Best Short Film award at the Reel Asian film festival, will never tire of watching Barbra Streisand and Ryan O’Neal destroy San Francisco in What’s Up, Doc?, Peter Bogdanovich’s 1972 salute to classic screwball comedies. Your genial host Norm Wilner can’t help but notice he has the exact same bag as Cavan.
Adam Brody on Coraline
November 10, 2020 05:03 - 43 minutes - 40.2 MBActor and producer Adam Brody (The O.C,Ready Or Not, Promising Young Woman and now Evan Morgan’s The Kid Detective) embraces the hand-crafted nightmares of Henry Selick’s 2009 adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline, mostly because he really loves watching it with his daughter. Your genial host Norm Wilner thinks that’s a wonderful reason to talk about a movie.
Jake Horowitz on They Came Together
November 03, 2020 05:02 - 49 minutes - 44.9 MBWith his holiday-movie parody Cup of Cheer arriving on digital and on demand this Friday, November 6th, writer-director Jake Horowitz goes to bat for They Came Together, David Wain’s 2014 deconstruction of prefab romantic comedies with Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler leading a murderer’s row of very funny people. Your genial host Norm Wilner can say that again. Tell him about it.
Mark Tonderai on The Straight Story
October 27, 2020 04:00 - 45 minutes - 42.1 MBWith his new film Spell coming out on demand this Friday, director Mark Tonderai (Hush, House at the End of the Street) is here to talk about David Lynch’s radically conventional 1999 drama, the one where Richard Farnsworth drives a riding mower across the American heartland and meets a lot of really nice people. Your genial host Norm Wilner is all revved up for this one.
Wayne Wang on Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai des Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
October 23, 2020 04:00 - 35 minutes - 32.3 MBWith his new film Coming Home Again arriving in virtual release today, director Wayne Wang muses on the debt he owes to Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai des Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles — a singular experiment in location and duration built around a deliberately opaque Delphine Seyrig performance. Your genial host Norm Wilner can’t wait to peel back the layers on this one.
Jessica Reynolds on Thirteen
October 20, 2020 04:00 - 36 minutes - 33.1 MBRage! Rebellion! Hormones! Actor and writer Jessica Reynolds, who stars opposite Jared Abrahamson and Don McKellar in The Curse of Audrey Earnshaw — just released on VOD — tackles the emotional storm that is Catherine Hardwicke’s 2003 Sundance breakout Thirteen. Your genial host Norm Wilner is sure this will go fine.
Jennifer Abbott on They Live
October 13, 2020 04:00 - 47 minutes - 43.2 MBFilmmaker Jennifer Abbott has two documentaries playing (virtually) at the Planet in Focus festival this week: The Magnitude of All Things and The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel. But she still made the time to talk about They Live, the subversive John Carpenter masterwork that only grows more prescient with every election cycle. Your genial host Norm Wilner packed extra bubblegum for this.
Kodi Smit-McPhee on Mr Nobody
October 06, 2020 04:00 - 27 minutes - 25.5 MBKodi Smit-McPhee — whom you may remember from The Road, Let Me In, Slow West and a few X-Men movies, and who stars in the new time-travel thriller 2067 — dials in from Australia to ponder the many lives of Jared Leto in Jaco Van Dormael’s reality-scrambling Mr. Nobody. Your genial host Norm Wilner did not see this in his future.
Neasa Hardiman on M
September 29, 2020 04:01 - 48 minutes - 44.8 MBBAFTA-winning filmmaker Neasa Hardiman (Happy Valley, Jessica Jones) — whose first feature Sea Fever is available on disc and digital, and unnervingly relevant to 2020 — is here to talk about Fritz Lang’s seminal 1931 thriller M and its impact on her own artistic development. Your genial host Norm Wilner apologizes in advance for that bleep, but some secrets demand to be kept.
Sarah Polley on The Thin Red Line
September 22, 2020 04:00 - 58 minutes - 53.7 MBActor and filmmaker Sarah Polley credits one film with launching her on the path that led to Away from Her, Take This Waltz, Stories We Tell and Alias Grace: Terrence Malick’s 1998 war epic The Thin Red Line. Your genial host Norm Wilner has been looking forward to this conversation for years.