"Ideas are like fish. If you want to catch little fish, you can stay in the shallow water. But if you want to catch the big fish, you've got to go deeper." David Lynch pushed the boundaries of filmmaking. He was known for his surrealism, his expressionism, his images, and, much of the time, for not making sense. He certainly wasn't interested in ex…

You, Freud. Me, Jane? Alfred takes on sex, lies, and money missing from the big safe at work. It's half trippy para-psychology Spellbound, part neo-noirish femme fatale Vertigo, this time with a returning Tippi Hedron as the slippery-with-the-truth title character and an up-and-coming Sean Connery as the guy who catches her...and falls in love with…

The Darkness is out there. Everyone can feel evil working in the shadows of the real world, however figurative or literal you want to attribute it. So, naturally, evil plays a big part in our stories; it behooves us storytellers to know how to effectively represent it. How do we do that? Josh and Ira talk through their own personal tips and tricks.…

It's the end of the world! Hitch backs up the classic Psycho with another horror film, but this time it's nature itself that's out for humanity rather than one of our own. What would happen if all the birds in the world suddenly turned against us? Would we stand a chance? That's the very simple question at the heart of this one that will have you l…

Should I stay or should I go now? It takes SO MUCH EFFORT to reach a plateau--a new level--it can be absolutely daunting to consider doing it all over again to reach the NEXT plateau--the next level. So...how long is it okay to sit back and rest on one's laurels? How long is it okay to stay on one level before mustering up the courage and energy to…

We all go a little mad sometimes... Welcome to the birth (debatedly) of the slasher film! Hitch might not have been the absolute FIRST to dive into the mind of a twisted serial killer, but he arguably is the most influential to have ever done it. This movie is...well, quite simply: one of the best films ever made. Anthony Perkins is spectacular, as…

Happy New Year!!! With the holidays now in the rear view, our thoughts turn to the year ahead: 2025. What do you have planned for this coming year? What do you want to get done? Where do you want to go? What do you want to accomplish? Josh and Ira answer those questions for themselves, and we invite you to do the same!…

Another year gone! 2024, we hardly knew thee... What will you remember this year for? What's going to come to mind when you think of 2024? What were the victories and the defeats? The adventures? The high points and the low points? Josh and Ira answer those questions for themselves, and invite you to consider and answer for yourself. Here's to 2024…

Buddy the Elf--what’s your favorite color? Will Ferrel brings us a modern holiday classic as the man who was raised by elves up in the North Pole and has just found out he was adopted...so off he goes to meet his real father in the land of humans: New York City. It's Ferrel at his best, the fish out of water, the giant fool with a heart of gold and…

I've seen what we could be like together... Nicholas Cage has it all! The penthouse apartment, the eight-figure bank account, and all the solitude in the world. What else could a man want? Well, he's about to fin dout. A mysterious Don Cheadle plops him into the middle of what his life would have been like had he chosen love and family instead. It'…

You gentlemen aren't REALLY trying to kill my son, are you...? Might be Ira's favorite Hitchcock. It's the prototypical spy film, predates even James Bond, except that this spy is actually just a regular dude. Handsome Cary Grant, of course, but he's pulled into an international conspiracy entirely by mistake. Chock full of some of the most iconic …

Finishing something can make a lot of things suddenly become clear. There are revelations about our work that can literally only be gained by seeing something through and marking it as "done" in our own heads. So...what have we learned, Josh and Ira, in finishing our own projects? We discuss. Also, Josh recommends Annihilation which is playing on P…

You shouldn't keep souvenirs of a killing... We're back to Vertigo! The last time we watched this one, it was late summer of 2021, deep in the AFI's Top 100 list. Top ten, in fact. Seems like an age ago, and yet, the movie took us right back there. It's still great, undeniably one of Hitch's absolute best; probably the closest he ever got to a prop…

Josh calls DVD Extras his film school. The interviews, commentaries, documentaries, featurettes, and other bonus material has been as valuable in his filmmaker education as any class or study. We talk about the benefits of all this extra material around movie making that you might not be tapping into. Also, Josh recommends Kitchen Nightmares, and I…

An innocent man has nothing to fear... Alfred is doing something new this time: he's telling a true story, every word of it, top to bottom. Henry Fonda plays Manny Balestrero, bass player at the famous Stork Club and father of two, just scraping by to support them. And then he's fingered for being the hold-up man terrorizing the neighborhood shops …

Harold Bloom defined 'strangeness' as a mark of originality that is endemic and absolutely required for any work of literary art to be considered a masterpiece or a classic. Dan Simmons goes further to define it as a quality in the writing or storytelling that indicates to us, the reader (or viewer for Film/TV), are in the presence of an intelligen…

A man... a statesman... is to be killed... Hitchcock does his one and only remake! Twenty+ years earlier, back in his British period, he did this story once before, under the exact same name! So...does he mix it up? Does he IMPROVE on the original? We watch and find out!

Let's suck in the guts, guys. We're the Ghostbusters... Bustin' still makes us feel good! The boys are back and saving New York yet again from the spookies. It's been five years, everyone has done a bit of going their separate ways, but there are shenanigans afoot. Ghosts need busting! Can they capture some of the magic of the original? We watch an…

They're here... This movie is the perfect horror film for beginners; Spooky 101, if you will. It's not super violent, super scary, or super disturbing...but it DOES bring the noise. It IS scary, and unquestionably a horror movie that gets appropriate crazy by the end. It exists in that weird middle-ground between E.T. and Nightmare on Elm Street, a…

Who you gonna call? It's hard to understate just how large of an impression this movie made on the kids who grew up in the 1980s (and 90s). This movie felt like it was EVERYONE'S favorite movie. Deadpanned Bill Murray, nerdy Harold Ramis, golden retriever Dan Akroyd, skeptical/wtf Ernie Banks, goofy Slimer, possessed Sigourney Weaver, that-neighbor…

What's it liked to get older? As Josh and Ira dip their toes into 'middle age,' things start to change. You're not old yet, but you're not young anymore. Some things improve. Some things get worse. Ya boys talk about it. Enjoy! Also, Josh recommends Seinfeld which is currently on Netflix, and Ira recommends Alien 3, which is currently on Disney+.…

I think, Captain Wiles, we're tangled up in a murder... Old Al is trying his hand again at a comedy. This time, its a country community with a dead body on their hands, and they don't want anyone to know about it. Hitch's comedies have been hit and miss so far. How does this one stack up? We watch and discuss :)…

How many drafts is the right number of drafts??? Is it okay to write the thing once and then call it done? Or do we need to write and rewrite and edit and write some more and more and more? Or...is it something in between? Josh and Ira discuss what works for them! Also, Josh again recommends Chernobyl on Max, and Ira recommends Mountain Queen which…

The cat has a new kitten... Hitch and Grace Kelly team up again, this time with Cary Grant swapped in for Jimmy Stewart, and the vast, gorgeous French Riviera rather than a single, confined apartment. Grant plays a jewel thief being framed for a robbery he didn't actually commit, and Grace is the woman he falls for. We watch and discuss!…

Back in Ira's DJing days, he put together literally hundreds of sets. An interesting pattern developed during that time: no matter how much his skill increased as he went (and it did), some sets just worked better than others. Some were great, others weren't, and no amount of skill could make a set great that wasn't from the outset. So...just how m…

That's a secret, private world you're looking into out there... It's Hitchcock's first true classic. Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly star in one of the crime film concepts for the ages: a man is laid up with a broken leg and a view out his window into the apartment courtyards behind his building...and he thinks he witnesses a murder. What a delight t…

The feedback loop is at the heart of developing any skill. But, the vast majority of the work we do as storytellers is done alone. So, where and when do you open yourself up for other people to comment on? And once get that feedback, what do we DO with it? We discuss! Also, Josh recommends some of his all-time favorite shows, The Office (UK), Arres…

Do you really believe in the perfect murder...? Hitchcock certainly does! This time, it's a man who wants to knock off his cheating wife. Can he get away with it??? Or can the old school, meticulous, quiet Scotland Yard inspector see through it all and figure it out? We watch and find out :)

Have you ever thought of your script, book, or film as a persuasive argument? It is. Drama quite literally arises from two (or several) characters with very different, very persuasive points of view clashing with each other. That's called rhetoric. And if our characters' rhetorical skill can only ever be as strong as the person who wrote that chara…

I want to make a confession... Hitchcock has a nose for a character in a bind, and that's on full display with this one, where a priest takes confession from a murderer, then becomes the main suspect in that very same murder. Will he break his oath as a priest and tell the authorities the truth? Or will he hang for another man's crime? We watch and…

So, you've heard about a movie that has MULTIPLE endings. Maybe they're in the actual film, maybe they're extras on the DVD, or maybe they're just rumors and old scripts. What place do those hold in the context of good storytelling? Are they untapped goldmines, or are they the cast-offs of the perfecting process? We discuss! Also, Josh recommends X…

You do my murder, and I do yours... We might best know Patricia Highsmith from The Talented Mr. Ripley, but Strangers on a Train was her shocking debut novel, and folks: it slaps even as a movie, and ESPECIALLY in the hands of an Alfred Hitchcock who really feels like he's learned a thing or two about telling suspenseful stories. This one is a TRIP…

Off with their head! Sometimes, a character has to die. But, when are those times? When is it right for the audience or the reader to kill a character? Are there rules, or at least guidelines, around when to bump somebody off for the best effect on your story? We brainstorm from our own experience, and we use a wonderful write-up from onestopforwri…

Go or don't go, it's all the same. I thought you loved me... Hitchcock teams up with legend of the silent era Marlene Dietrich as a stage actress who's murdered her husband and enlisted her lover's help to try and cover it up. We're also back in the UK! After a couple flops, it certainly feels like Hitch is trying very hard to make a hit. Does it w…

What makes a great anti-hero?

In seventeen-hundred and seventy, Captain Cook discovered Australia... Hitchcock tries his hand at the high-brow romantic drama of a young man falling in love with a once-glorious woman now living in exile and the bottle. Certainly not what one thinks of when they're imagining a Hitch joint. Does it work? We watch and discuss!…

Bestseller. Top of the Box Office. Hit TV show. Oscar. Millions...success will fix everything, right? I mean, it's literally what we're chasing so hard, the tippy top of our dreams, how could it possibly NOT fix us, right? RIGHT? Hmmm. So, what if it doesn't? What if success were only to make our personal issues WORSE? Oh, god. Perhaps the work on …

Murder can be an art, too... So, Hitchcock is doing some THINGS. He's out on his own away from Selznick for the first time in Hollywood, and he's come out with a big swing: can we shoot a movie with no cuts? All one take? Or, at least the illusion of that? And how would such a real-time filming method influence the drama that unfolds? Kinda blew ou…

You've probably heard this before: there is no ONE WAY to be a writer. Or a filmmaker. Or an actor, or a painter, or a dancer, or a sculptor...the possibilities, personalities, and pathways are endless. Why is that? And if its true, how can I find my own way? We discuss and answer! Also, Josh recommends The Terror Season 1 (again!), and Ira recomme…

I loved Andre Latour, and you murdered him... It's the last rodeo for Alfred Hitchcock and David O. Selznick, the last time the two work together. And this time, it's written by the producer himself. We have ourselves a murder, a mysterious, beautiful woman accused, and a dashing young lawyer who's convinced she didn't do it. So, how does it all sh…

What's the best way to work: burst energy, get it out as hard and fast as you possibly can go go go don't stop...or slow and steady, this is a marathon not a sprint, and you can't just drop everything when life never stops, so drip drip it away, one brick at a time until you're finally done? Spoiler: it's not an either/or. It's BOTH. We talk about …

Say it again, it keeps me awake. ...I love you... Ingrid Bergman and Hitchcock go back to back! This time its Cary Grant she teams up with, in a tale of international espionage, manipulation, uranium, and...love. All things Hitch has covered before, but not quite like this. Grant and Bergman heat up the silver screen. We watch and discuss!…

On this podcast, we've talked before about BAD habits and how to break them. But what about GOOD habits? What about that stuff that we know we SHOULD be doing, but it's hard to get going? Josh and Ira talk about how it works for them. Also, Josh recommends The Terror Season 1 (again), and Ira recommends Welcome to Wrexham, which is on Hulu.…

Amnesia: the trick of the mind for remaining sane... You see "Dream Sequence by Salvador Dali" in the credits and you get excited! Hitch is doing some things with this one. We're going super psychological with it. Like SUPER psychological. Gregory Peck doesn't remember who he is, but he's convinced he's a murderer. Ingrid Bergman is convinced that …

It's so, sooooo hard when you're starting out. We all look forward to the day where it gets easier. The thought of the work just pumping out of us, amazing and free, kinda keeps us going in those early, dark, hard days. But...DOES it get any easier? We ask each other and discuss. Also, Josh recommends The Terror Season 1, and Ira recommends Eurotri…

Dying together's even more personal than living together... Hitchcock plays with setting this time around, confining his ENTIRE FILM to a single lifeboat. And it doesn't pull any punches. Dead babies, murder, suicide, paranoia, love, hate, desperation, and brutal violence...it all takes place on that tiny boat. This film really goes for it. We watc…

So you want to be a writer. You're interested in a life of storytelling. Long term. What do you need to know? Or, as someone who's already dedicated themselves to a lifetime of spinning tales, what would you say to someone who was interested in doing the same? As a pair that fall into the latter, Josh and Ira discuss! Also, Josh recommends The Angr…

The cities are full of women... Alfred transports us to small-town America this time, a land of unlocked doors, everyone knows everyone, and the world is full of innocence. But then Uncle Charlie comes home, and all that idealism starts to unravel. Uncle Charlie is hiding something. He might not be who young "Charlie" (Charlotte) thought he was. Hi…

An ass-kicking never feels good! It hurts every time. And yet, especially in the creative sense, we all need to be told when we're doing something wrong; we all need to be humbled. So...how can getting your ass kicked be a good thing? If the pain is the same either way, how can you tell constructive criticism from just a plain whoopin'? We discuss!…

Must I remind you that *you* are the fugitive from justice and not I? It's The 39 Steps: Part 2! Hitchcock returns to what is clearly a favorite premise: an innocent man on the run from a criminal conspiracy with the fate of the country at stake. This time, we're in American, and there's a real-world war going on. So...how does it shake out? Does A…