The Frances Farmer Show

This is the debut episode of The Frances Farmer Show. Each episode we talk about an older movie and a newer movie and a bunch of other things besides, with a special, but by no means exclusive, look at cinematic goings-on in the Seattle area. This week, we discuss Howard Hawks's 1946 Humphrey Bogart-Lauren Bacall film noir The Big Sleep and David Lynch's prequel to his acclaimed early 90s television series Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. We also take a look back at last week's Oscars, a look ahead to what's coming to Seattle Screens and a look all around the career of David Lynch.

We interrupt your Oscar weekend with a Special Announcement. The show is changing names and changing homes. Nothing else major will change. The show will still be in the same format and be found on the same podcast feed. But we're moving the show over to Seattle Screen Scene in an attempt to streamline our endeavors. Hopefully this will cause very little disruption in all of our lives.

In anticipation of next week's Academy Awards, Mike and Sean run down their picks in the top categories, both who they think will win and who should win the awards, out of all the films and performances from 2015. They also start their year-long exploration of the films of 1946 with one of that year's Best Picture contenders, The Razor's Edge, with Gene Tierney and Tyrone Power, and Jacques Tourneur's Western Canyon Passage, starring Dana Andrews, in some circles now one of the highly regarded films of that year, but which then received only one Oscar nomination (for Best Song).

This week, Mike and Sean tackle two harrowing films about revenge and economics from master auteurs. First up is Akira Kurosawa's 1960 The Bad Sleep Well, starring Toshiro Mifune, Masayuki Mori and Takashi Shimura, that's followed by Claire Denis's 2013 film Bastards, with Vincent Lindon, Chiara Mastroianni and Michel Subor. They also pick their essential Capitalism is the Devil movies, discuss the career of Toshiro Mifune and check out What Mike's been Watching.

This week on The Donnie Yen Show, Mike and Sean discuss two of the star's collaborations with director Yuen Woo-ping: 1993's kung fu epic Iron Monkey and 1985's breakdancing comedy Mismatched Couples. They also take a look at Donnie's latest release, Ip Man 3 and pick their Essential Dance Fights. They'll also examine Donnie's career as a whole and this week's music comes from the man himself.

In anticipation of the local premiere of Jacques Rivette's monumental 1971 serial Out 1, this week Mike and Sean take a look at his 1976 pirate film Noroît, starring Geraldine Chaplin. Continuing the theme, they discuss Douglas Fairbanks's 1926 classic The Black Pirate, make their picks for Essential Pirate Film and talk about the career of the greatest swashbuckler of them all, Errol Flynn. And, we promise, nobody talks like a pirate.

It's time for the annual end of the year George Sanders Show, completing their year-long look at the best films of 1965. Sean and Mike discuss The Beatles in Richard Lester's Help! along with Duccio Tessari's spaghetti Western A Pistol for Ringo. They also name the best performances, screenplays, directors and films of 1965.

Unable to contain their excitement for the latest Star Wars film, Mike and Sean get together for a special bonus episode to discuss The Force Awakens. What was supposed to be a quick little episode stretched to over an hour (and could have gone for a lot longer) because it's Star Wars and they really could talk about it for hours and hours.

For their third annual Discoveries episode, Mike and Sean take a look back at some of the best older movies they watched for the first time in 2015. From Sean's list of first-time views, Mike chose to discuss Oliver Stone's 2004 historical epic Alexander, in its Ultimate Cut version. From Mike's list, Sean chose the Tyrone Power carny noir Nightmare Alley, directed by Edmund Goulding in 1947.

In anticipation of the upcoming The Force Awakens, Sean and Mike take a look back at the first film either of them ever saw, George Lucas's 1977 Star Wars. And in celebration of Thanksgiving, they also talk about Çetin İnanç's 1982 epic The Man Who Saves the World, also known as Turkish Star Wars. They also talk about the singular, wildly successful and somewhat disappointing career of George Lucas and make their picks for the essential Blockbuster Saga.