Mar 7, 2017
On today's show, we have the 59th movie on the Sight and Sound International Critics' Poll: Barry Lyndon. Speaking of Sight and Sound, today's guest is a freelance critic for that esteemed film journal, as well as the social media maven for Film4, Michael Leader. Michael joins host Lady P and Flixwise regular Kristen Sales to discuss Stanley Kubrick's overlooked masterpiece. Barry Lyndon has historically been dogged by a kind of middle child syndrome. It has neither the technical marvel of 2001: A Space Odyssey ('68), nor the crowd-pleasing sexuality and violence ofA Clockwork Orange ('71) or The Shining ('80). Nevertheless, our panelists believe Barry Lyndon to be among Kubrick's shining achievements. They talk about why the film is such a success, and why it's taken so long for it to be properly recognized as one of the greats. Plus, they talk about Ryan O'Neal, his eventual fall from grace (Warning - don't click this link if ever hope to take Mr. O'Neal seriously again), and, of course, they touch on the film's notoriously arduous production process.
Then for our second topic, we discuss Michael's latest film distribution venture, Misc Films. Michael and Misc Films' co-founder, Rowan Woods, have joined forces to get some of their favorite little-seen indies a proper screening in London. Michael talks about what it takes to organize a screening in a major metropolitan area and how you go about getting the rights to these works. Eventually the panelists just geek out about the various rep houses in their respective areas, and they talk about how to drive people back to the theatre.