Welcome to the third episode of The Movie Homework Podcast! We kick things of by discussing some of the movies we’ve recently watched. Mariam is currently taking a course in the films of Ingmar Bergman, and discusses her disappointment in the confounding The Serpent’s Egg. Meanwhile Ari has been catching up with some of 2011’s Oscar bait, and discusses the various ways in which The Iron Lady, The Help and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close are strange failures.

Mariam’s pick for Ari this week was Thomas Winterberg’s 1997 classic Festen. It was the first film from the Dogme ’95 movement and was a big arthouse hit upon its release and won the jury price at the 1997 Cannes film festival. Since Ari knew about the general “thing” that happens in Festen he was reluctant to watch it. Will he continue to remain ambivalent about the film, once he actually sees it?

Ari’s pick for Mariam was the Coen brothers’ A Serious Man. The 2009 film deals with the life of Larry Gobnik, a Jewish university professor living in 1960s Minnesota. Although the film received acclaim and a nomination for Best Picture at the Oscars, it remains one of the Coen’s least seen films. But what will Mariam think about it?

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Welcome to the second episode of the Movie Homework Podcast.

We begin the episode by discussing Ari’s homework for Mariam, Brad Anderson’s Transsiberian from 2008. The film stars Emily Mortimer and Woody Harrelson and came and went in theatres, but Ari feels like the film has largely been ignored. Is there something more to it than just a by-the-numbers tourist’s-in-peril thriller?

Mariam’s homework for Ari was the somewhat more highbrow L’Eclisse by Michelangelo Antonioni . The film deals with a young woman played by Monica Vitti who starts a relationship with her mother’s stockbroker played by Alain Delon. But how will Ari feel about the high-art of the Antonioni film, after having thus far only dealt out thrillers for homework?

We close the episode by setting up homework for the third episode. If you enjoy the show, agree or disagree with our takes, want to create homework for us or just have anything to say, you can email us, write on our Facebook wall or Tweet at us!   

Welcome to the Movie Homework Podcast, with your hosts Ari Gunnar Thorsteinsson and Mariam Wolfe! Each episode we pick out films for each other to watch, making "Movie Homework" for each other. We kick this episode off by talking about some films of 2011, favorites and those we felt were under-appreciated. We then dive into the homework, with Ari's pick for Mariam, Brian De Palma's Blow Out. We close the show with a discussion on Mariam's pick for Ari, John Frankenheimer's The Island of Dr. Moreau. 

If you enjoy the show, agree or disagree with our takes, want to create homework for us or just have anything to say, you can email us at write on our Facebook wall or Tweet at us!