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One of the very last original American film exchanges exists in Oklahoma City, and after a century of being used as a movie theater it's now less than a month away from being discontinued. Luckily, the Oklahoma Film Exchange has been created to keep that from happening.

Why should Oklahomans and non-Oklahomans alike care about preserving this piece of film history?

Well, Dalton Stuart and Nick Sanford are here to give you the big pitch - the historical context of this little theater, the cultural importance of keeping it going, and why the Oklahoma Film Exchange, with a little bit of financial help, can turn it into a hub for movie lovers inside and outside of the state for the foreseeable future.

Go to SaveFilmRow.com to learn more, or go straight to the Indiegogo to donate now, and remember to spread the word! The help is needed, the help is appreciated!

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Happy 2025! All things must end, and Death By Movies says farewell and rings in the new year with a mammoth, star-studded celebration of one of the most emotionally impactful movies of all time - Steven Spielberg's E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial - and why we need movies, both individually and culturally.

Thank you all so much for listening to and supporting the show. Talk movies with the people you love - there's nothing better in the world.

00:00 - Intro and waxing poetic.

21:24 - Chat Pile frontman Raygun Busch returns to talk about why E.T. means so much to him, argue about Close Encounters and the Avatar movies, rank his ten favorite Spielberg movies, and more!
(Instagram and Letterboxd)

1:36:34 - OKC film and music reviewer Brett Fieldcamp (KGOU and The Oklahoma City Free Press) had insanely never seen E.T. before, but with great authority still sheds some light on the musical approach of John Williams, talk about fatherhood and the depiction of children in Hollywood movies, deconstruct Papa Steve's strengths and weaknesses, and more!
(Instagram)

03:20:50 - Artist/philosopher Shawn Barfield interrogates the mood setting of the early 1980s, comparing and contrasting Spielberg's work to Ridley Scott's Blade Runner and George Lucas's Star Wars, considers what kind of art changes the world, and more!
(Instagram)

03:47:16 - Kirsten Therkelson had also insanely never seen E.T. before, and things sure get kooky as we get into safety practices for children on set in Hollywood movies, Mac and Me, the cycles of sincerity and irony reflected in pop culture, and more!
(Instagram and Letterboxd)

04:52:30 - Resident little stinker and GoodTrash co-host Dalton Stuart helps land the plane by answering absolutely cocaine-fueled mailbag questions, how cinema has and hasn't evolved, where film culture and discourse is now, and what we hope the future holds.
(Instagram and Letterboxd)

Movie podcast recommendations:
GoodTrash GenreCast
How I Met Your Monster
Beyond The Screenplay
The Big Picture
Blank Check

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Andrew McDonald (andrewww.mp4) stops by to bid a final farewell to the podcast he helped build with the second to the last episode of the feed, and of course we're talking about Peter Jackson's J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

We dig into foundational things, like Tolkien's preference of applicability over allegory, what his background as a linguist did in shaping the story, the bazooka this fires at Joseph Campbell's hero's journey, the interconnectedness of existence, and why The Lord of the Rings might be the best story ever told.

We also dive into Peter Jackson and team's adaptation choices, his directorial style (or lack thereof), Howard Shore's transcendent score, the simple structure of The Fellowship of the Ring, the insane structure of The Two Towers, the ethics of the Return of the King post-production, and much, much more.

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Lord of the Rings: How Music Elevates Story

Why TV Is Wrong For Tolkien

Helm's Deep: How To Film An Epic Battle

How Ian McKellen Acts With His Eyes

Middle Earth and The Perils of Worldbuilding

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Tolkien

Tolkien's Secret Vice

The Complete Philosophy of The Lord of the Rings

Heroism and Moral Victory - The Lord of the Rings

Peter Jackson's Most Profound Change to the Lord of the Rings

A Mythology of Hope - The Lord of the Rings

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The Sandman flies solo to yell at you for over three hours about James Cameron's pop culture phenomenon Titanic.

Sync the movie up with this episode and listen along as the acting styles of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet are examined, why Big Jim is a great storyteller and absolute maniac of a human being, the haunting nature of the real life wreck site, boobs, screenplay structure, the sterilization of modern Hollywood romances three decades later, and the meaning of life.

Titanic: Melodrama Done Right

Is Titanic Good, Actually?

Mr. Plinkett's Titanic Review

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Transcendental style in film! What is it? Can it actually use the mechanics of film grammar to give the viewer the feeling of the transcendent? And most importantly, what is it?

Luckily Dustin Sells (GoodTrash GenreCast!) is here to take our hands and explain it to us like we're five!

We delve into madman Paul Schrader's book on the subject, discuss intention, film techniques used to portray the transcendent, and look at three films that fall into this category in particular: Carl Dreyer's Ordet, Robert Bresson's A Man Escaped, and the contemporary Ida, written and directed by Paweł Pawlikowski.

We also talk about the beauty of mundanity, the importance of boredom, Yasujirō Ozu's use of space, why directors like Ingmar Bergman and Andrei Tarkovsky don't fall under the "transcendental style" umbrella despite having scenes of dudes lumbering around while fretting about God, and the different ways cinema can portray the transcendent. Also...David Lynch and M. Night Shyamalan?

Follow Dustin on Letterboxd and Instagram, stupid!

Why Did Ozu Cut To A Vase?

When Movies Are A Religious Journey

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Sam Scovill (former stand up open micer with Nick Sanford, Jeopardy winner, and NASA expert) stops by to do a commentary on Ron Howard's 1995 classic and arguably greatest "dad movie" ever Apollo 13 -- you know, starring Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Ed Harris, Kathleen Quinlan, Gary Sinise, and many other sTaRs ha ha ha hadhkdh -- and talk about why this movie rules despite some historical inaccuracies while the movie plays out before our very eyes!

And this isn't just some 'Cinema Sins' bullshit, no no no. There are many historical inaccuracies portrayed, sure, but we dive into the context of why good faith concessions must be made sometimes in the spirit of streamlined storytelling.

Sam also talks about the wonders of space exploration, the insane amount of work it takes to get a rocket off the ground, and the importance of humanity banding together to reach for the stars.

Follow Sam on Instagram!

Sam's recommended book list!

A Man on the Moon - Andrew Chaikin
How Apollo Flew to the Moon - W. David Woods
Lost Moon - Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger
Apollo 8 - Jeffrey Kluger
Carrying the Fire - Michael Collins
First Man - James R. Hansen
Failure Is Not An Option - Gene Kranz
Tough and Competent - Gene Kranz
Flight - Christopher C. Kraft
Never Panic Early - Fred Haise

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Has it already been ten years of Christopher Nolan's Interstellar? Where has the time gone?

Time just keeps going forward, and we're all prisoners to its ceaseless march.

David McEntire (Objects In Space frontman!) orbital-slingshots back to the podcast to talk Christopher Nolan's silent film influences, visual poetry that harkens to directing giants like Andrei Tarkovsky and Stanley Kubrick, how Steven Spielberg plays into all of this, Matthew McConaughey's performance, Matt Damon jumpscare, Hans Zimmer's music...and so much more. So much movie, so much to talk about, god it made us so tired.

Also touched upon are simple, easy topics like love and loss, transcending time, the dangers of nostalgia, and the melancholy of Albert Einstein.

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Transcending Time | Interstellar's Hidden Meaning Behind Love and Time

Interstellar Is About The Death of Film

Christopher Nolan vs. Interstellar - The Nolan Crosscut

Interstellar: When Spectacle Eclipses Story

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The Sandman flies solo to talk what's ostensibly his favorite film ever - M. Night Shyamalan's Signs.

It gets and stays kooky, as subjects such as spirituality, how normal Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix have turned out to be, miracles, synchronicity, processing disasters, the influence of Spielberg's Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and all sorts of other shit are delved into.

Movie starts at 02:33!

The Essence of Faith - What Signs Was Really About
M. Night Shyamalan's 2018 Drexel Commencement Speech

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