Episodes

Happy Thanksgiving! This week, we are playing a rerun of the movie draft we held all the way back on episode 2 of the show with Jacob Phillips: the Movie Sequels Draft. This was a really fun draft! I hope you enjoy revisiting it or hearing it for the first time! https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Feedback: Email us at establishingshotpod@gmail.com Leave a voicemail from the button on the right side of the screen on our website https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Support the Show: ...

A new era of Spielberg’s career was launched when he partnered with Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen to start a brand new studio from scratch: DreamWorks SKG. I talk through the history of this endeavor and what it means for Spielberg’s career. I also do a bonus review of the 2010 samurai film 13 Assassins, a movie chosen for review by a supporter of the show. https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Feedback: Email us at establishingshotpod@gmail.com Leave a voicemail from the button on ...

Spielberg’s Amistad, the telling of a true historical event in which enslaved Africans took over their slave ship and were then captured and put on trial to determine their freedom, has some things going for it. It looks great, the acting is really good (phenomenal, in fact, for Djimon Hounsou in his breakout role), and the design of the film is on par with any good historical drama. However, there can be problems that arise when a white filmmaker takes on a story that should be centered around ...

Sometimes critics or the general public get a movie wrong! This week, we let you know which movies deserve reconsideration or a revisit with our Top 5 Underrated Movies. These are movies that were critical flops or just considered not very good by the general public but that we thought were actually really good! It is a fun discussion with opinions that are destined to be vehemently disagreed with! https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Feedback: Email us at establishingshotpod@gmail.com L...

A few years after the most successful year of his entire career, Spielberg released what he called his first true sequel in The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Our discussion revolves around the fun elements of this film and it’s development as well as some of the major problems with its story. My guest really likes this Jurassic Park installment where I didn’t care for it too much, which made for a fun debate. Join us and Goldblum’s Ian Malcolm as we return to the world of dinosaurs! https://www...

Joe George is a writer for several publications including Den of Geek and Think Christian, but he also wrote a book exploring superhero movies through a theological lens: The Superpowers and the Glory. This week we discuss his process for writing about pop-culture, his interest in superheroes and what he does with his book, why superhero films have become a staple in our culture, and an upcoming project he has in the works concerning the history of police in film. We might even tell you which su...

Schindler’s List is almost undeniably Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece, the pinnacle of his career, and releasing just 6 months after the record breaking Jurassic Park. However, it didn’t come without its struggles on an emotionally charged set or its controversy over its depiction of the Holocaust. We talk about all of this, the phenomenal acting, its beauty, and the ethics of it all in this episode. https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Feedback: Email us at establishingshotpod@gmail.com ...

Sometimes science goes all wrong, and sometimes that happens in movies! This week we do a draft of our favorite movies where some sort of scientific endeavor goes all wrong, whether technological, biological, or sometimes both like in Spielberg’s Jurassic Park which inspired this draft. We had a great time talking about these movies and what is interesting about them, and we hope you have fun listening! https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Feedback: Email us at establishingshotpod@gmail....

In 1993, Steven Spielberg once again awed audiences by giving them something they had never seen so real before on the big screen: dinosaurs. With Jurassic Park, he started what would turn out to be one of the greatest movie years for a director ever, started a technological revolution in film with advances in CGI, and even broke his own box office record. But maybe more importantly, he once again captured the wonder and fear of his audiences and left them with a great theatrical experience. We ...

We follow up our discussion of Spielberg’s Hook with a semi-related Disney Villains Draft! Disney fan Colby Ewert joins me to go back and forth picking our favorite villains from Disney and Pixar films. We compiled some great lists along with some great discussion of these villains and what makes them great. We also start off the conversation with a bit of fantasy football talk, another love of both me and Colby. https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Feedback: Email us at establishingshot...

With Hook, Spielberg was beginning a new decade of filmmaking, but this adventure movie that acts as a twist on a classic tale really marks the end of a particular phase in his career. This film was a huge deal at the time, not only because of the well known names of Peter Pan and Hook attached to it, but also because of the actors in those roles: Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman. We talk about all of this, the amazing production design, the nostalgia, and even some things that didn’t hold up o...

Which movie decades are the best? We are doing a rerun of our very first movie draft from our first episode this week! In this first movie draft, we took turns taking movie decades, trying to amass the best group of decades. This endeavor made for some good discussion, and it is great to have it as a standalone episode now. You can decide who got the best group of 4 decades! https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Feedback: Email us at establishingshotpod@gmail.com Leave a voicemail from th...

For this intermission in our Spielberg series, we take a look back at his career thus far, analyzing his career of the 1970s and 1980s overall. Then we discuss the transition point Spielberg is in moving out of the 80s and into the 90s and do a bit of a preview of his mid-career of the 1990s and 2000s. This was a pivotal time in his career! I also share my personal rankings of the films we have covered so far and what I am most looking forward to in the upcoming section of the series. https:...

The fall movie season is upon us! In this episode, I do a recap of great films I have seen since the ‘Best of the Year So Far’ episode. Then, I look forward to the upcoming slate of fall movies, talk about the ones I am most excited about, and give a rundown of all of the significant movies coming out to make note of. It should be a fun season for movie lovers! https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Feedback: Email us at establishingshotpod@gmail.com Leave a voicemail from the button on th...

Spielberg ended his run of 80s movies with the romance-drama-comedy-fantasy Always. If that sounds like a confusing mish-mash of genres, it’s because it kind of is. While the movie is tonally confusing and has a plot that is strangely questionable at best, it is still beautifully shot with a really great performance from Holly Hunter. Also starring Richard Dreyfuss, John Goodman, and Audrey Hepburn in her very last role, this made for a really fun discussion even if we didn’t care too much for t...

It is movie draft time! This week we celebrate the completion of the original Indiana Jones trilogy on the show by doing a draft of movie trilogies! Guest Christiaan Funkhouser and I take turns choosing 7 of our favorite film trilogies, and you get to decide who ended up with the best collection. Enjoy our discussion of how to define a trilogy, of these trilogies that we chose, and of course all of our honorable mentions. https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Feedback: Email us at establi...

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, seemingly the last of a trilogy of adventure collaborations between Steven Spielberg and George Lucas at the time, came in the middle of a bit of a career shift for Spielberg. You can see a bit of that infused into the movie with more emotional themes mixed into the typical Indy action fare. We talk about that, the incredible stunts and effects, and more in our discussion of this search for the Holy Grail. https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Feedback:...

Christian Bale had his big debut for most people in Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun, which we discussed last week. This week, we accompany that discussion with a movie draft of Christian Bale performances. We take turns choosing our favorite performances from Bale, and discuss his acting career along the way. https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Feedback: Email us at establishingshotpod@gmail.com Leave a voicemail from the button on the right side of the screen on our website https://www.e...

Empire of the Sun is a forgotten gem in Steven Spielberg’s filmography, which is fitting since its setting is sort of a forgotten perspective on WWII. This is a bit of a hybrid for Spielberg in that it marries his childlike fantastical side with his newfound interest in making more serious, mature movies. This film is full of phenomenal shots typical of Spielberg and introduces us to a young Christian Bale, all while giving us a really interesting story about growing up in the midst of war. ...

Actor Christian Robertson joins me in this episode for a great interview. We talk about his personal journey into getting into acting, what he has learned from acting coaches, what it is like to work with directors and be on set, some advice for people wanting to get into acting, and more! https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Feedback: Email us at establishingshotpod@gmail.com Leave a voicemail from the button on the right side of the screen on our website https://www.establishingshotpod...

In his first attempt at a serious adult drama, Spielberg takes on not just a new type of movie for his career but also an adaption of an award winning novel with a predominantly black cast (unfortunately a tremendous anomaly at the time). This movie has become a bit of a classic but at the time was steeped in controversy. We dig into its inconsistencies, the controversy, the incredible display of acting talent, and more in this episode. https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Feedback: Emai...

Twilight Zone: The Movie was supposed to be a collaborative passion project for longtime fan of the TV series Steven Spielberg who produced it and directed one of its four segments. But with a tragedy casting a shadow over the production and release, it turned out to be a bit of a regret. We talk about the details of the film, which segments are best, what too much power in Hollywood can lead to, and much more. We also discuss a couple of episodes of Spielberg’s show Amazing Stories that he hims...

We have made it to Episode 50!!! For this special milestone episode, I share three thoughts on what I have learned so far in the journey of making this podcast relating to both creative efforts in general and more specifically the art of film. Then, I share my favorite films of 2024 so far! Spoiler: it has been a weak year so far but there are still some really great films at the top. https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Feedback: Email us at establishingshotpod@gmail.com Leave a voic...

This week, I interviewed Elijah Davidson, Chief Critic and Managing Editor of Brehm Film, to pick his brain about writing about film. What is the process of writing books and articles about films? How do you choose which books to publish? What ways do cultural influences affect how films are received? What critics or writers are influential? What is some advice for aspiring writers or film critics? These are all questions that we dig into through this episode! https://www.establishingshotpod...