In part 2 of The Cine-files exploration of Richard Curtis' holiday classic, Love Actually, John, Steve and their special guest Michael Vogel will go from the world of international diplomacy to a dive bar in Wisconsin. They'll watch the sacrifice of a sister and the shattering moment when a dedicated wife and mother realizes her marriage is not what she thought it was and we will see how true love can triumph over language and how speaking the truth at Christmas can lead to happiness in life. 

There might not be another Christmas movie that is simultaneously more beloved and more criticized, than Richard Curtis' Romantic Comedy, Love Actually. This holiday tale follows 9 distinct love stories which vary from the serious to the silly to the downright ridiculous. And of course, we wouldn't think about discussing this movie without one of it's biggest fans, animation writer and producer and Geek Buddy, Michael Vogel.

On this episode of The Cine-Files LIVE, hosts John Rocha and Steve Morris discuss the 1980s Cold War classic film, Rocky IV and its Directors Cut! We're gonna have a fun time discussing this one and comparing it to the directors cut and hearing all of your thoughts as well.

The Cine-Files is not only thrilled to conclude their conversation of one of the greatest western's in the history of cinema, George Stevens 1953 classic, Shane, but they are eve more thrilled to have spoken to the director's son, George Stevens Jr, who was on set with Alan Ladd, Van Heflin, Jack Palance and Jean Arthur almost 70 years ago.

On this very special episode of The Cine-Files, we are joined by a true pillar of the Hollywood community. George Stevens Jr. is not only the son of the director of this incredible film but the founder of The American Film Institute, the Creator of the Kennedy Center Honors and a man who has forged a link between Hollywood and Washington DC to support the arts and artists throughout the United States.

John and Steve just finished a livestream on two of Steve's favorite Kung Fu films, Jackie Chan's Drunken Master and Drunken Master 2 (Or Legend of the Drunken Master in the US) 

Drunken Master is the film that made Jackie Chan a star and for pure athleticism, inventiveness and number of fight scenes it simply can't be beat. 

When Jackie Chan returned to the role of Wong Few-Hung 15 years later he might have lost a step in terms of physicality (all evidence to the contrary) but he has definitely gained in experience, resources and time. The fight choreography in this film is among the most brilliant, detailed and impressive ever put on film. 

t's Halloween at The Cine-Files and we are celebrating by exploring the most self referential horror movie in the history of the genre, Scream. 

It's here, the episode you've been waiting for, the one where John, Steve and their special guest, Emmy award winning sound editor Jon Greber conclude their deep dive into, what many consider to be Paul Thomas Anderson's masterpiece, There Will Be Blood.

This week on The Cine-Files, we continue our exploration of Paul Thomas Anderson's brilliant, challenging, raw, emotional, poetic and fundamentally unknowable film, There Will Be Blood, starring Daniel Day lewis and Paul Dano with special guest Jonathan Greber.

There are few films that have been requested more than Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood and for good reason. It is a film that is truly unlike anything else and we are honored to have Emmy winning sound editor Jon Greber joining us for what is an absolutely remarkable conversation.

To celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, The Outlaw, John Rocha is taking us back to 1988 to discuss one of his favorite films about an educational hero who, like The Outlaw's family, immigrated from Bolivia and made his mark in America. Jaime Escalante transformed the lives of thousands of students in East Los Angeles. His passion for education, unique teaching style and belief that his students could excel resulted in more students passing the AP Calculus test than any one thought possible.

It's a great film and it led to an incredible conversation about education, privilege, Hollywood, and the world Hispanic Americans.

One can argue that there is no more influential period in cinema than the French New Wave. Without it there is no cinematic revolution in the seventies. No Scorsese, Bogdanavich or Hal Ashby. Can there be a Reservoir Dogs or Quinten Tarantino without Jean Luc Godard? The odds are, the answer is no. And no other film exemplifies the French New Wave more completely than Jean Luc Godard's groundbreaking masterpiece, Breathless.

There are many arguments about the funniest team in the history of cinema. There are die hard Laurel and Hardy fans. Some people love Abbot and Costello. Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis made some of the most successful comedies of all time and, of course, one cannot overlook the genius of Monty Python. Still, for the combination of physical comedy, brilliant wit and pure chaos it's tough to beat the Marx Brothers and for Max Brothers Movies, it's tough to beat the brilliant and irreverent Duck Soup. 

In this week's episode, Steve and John are once again joined by the hosts of The Lubber's Hole podcast to explore Peter Weir's period epic, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, based on the Patrick O'Brian Novels. 

This conversation is, if anything better than the last one. 

If you're a Patrick O'Brian fan a subscription to The Lubber's Hole is definitely in your future.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lubbers-hole-a-patrick-obrian-podcast/id1508854933

Well it's finally happened. With the help of Ian Bradley and Mike Shank from The Lubber's Hole Podcast, The Cine-Files is finally digging in to the the film based on Steve's favorite series of books, Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey -Maturin series. Peter Weir does a masterful job capturing the living detail of a British Man of War in the Napoleonic era and Russel Crow and Paul Bettany brilliantly embody Stephen Maturin and Captain Jack Aubrey.

How would you feel if you found out that a rat was making your dinner? Would you be disgusted, nauseous, Angry, or would you accept, as Anton Ego, explained, that a great artist can come from anywhere?

It's hard to pick the strangest idea for a film to come out of Pixar studios; a garbage collecting robot? An old man who takes his house Up with a bunch of balloons? Or maybe it's that trip inside a little girl's brain? However, the story of a rat who dreams of becoming a great chef and  (Spoiler Alert) succeeds has got to be in the running. 

And of course, we wouldn't dream of doing a Pixar movie without our resident animation expert MIchael Vogel to help us out. 

This film is a compelling and haunting exploration into the relationship between one of America's most infamous outlaws and the man who decided to kill him. There were so many questions that came up as Steve and John explored this incredible film. The kind of questions that you can't answer but never get tired of exploring.

Almost since the beginning of The Cine-Files, John and Steve have been planning to tackle this incredible western. It was one of John's favorites and Steve had never seen it, so he held off one watching it until they were ready to do the show. It certainly was worth the wait and the conversation they had on the first part of this gorgeous and thought provoking films is one of their favorites. 

The Cine-Files and Geek Buddies are together again to honor the great Richard Donner with a live discussion of one of his most popular films. However, Michael, Shannon, John and Steve don't exactly have the same opinion on this 80's adventure story. 

This is a Cine-Files Live episode so while you can certainly listen to the audio here, it's even more sense to see the conversation on our YouTube channel. 

https://youtu.be/C3bBbZYz_lM

Steve and John are almost sad to be concluding their exploration of one of their favorite films, John McTiernan's archetypal action film, Die Hard.

This week on The Cine-Files, Steve and John continue their exploration of one of the greatest action films of all time, John McTiernan's, Die Hard.

Yippeee Ki Yay MotherFucker

To say that Die Hard is one of Steve and John's favorite movies is an understatement. To say that The Cine-Files didn't come close to doing it justice back in 2016 is a fact. To say that they were thrilled that you picked this movie for them to redo in 2021 is as true as it can be.

There are many firsts in this episode of The Cine-Files -- First Cary Grant Movie, First Rosalind Russell Movie, First film directed by Howard Hawks and their first true Screwball Comedy.

That's a lot of firsts for one episode and John and Steve have an absolute ball discussing them.

This week John and Steve return to the Oakland Colosseum to watch one of the most improbably teams in the history of baseball break one of the leagues most important records, a 20 game win streak. More importantly the A's win those 20 games and make it to the playoffs with one of the smallest payrolls in the league.

Back in January we asked you which movie from 2011 you wanted us to dig into first in 2021. Your answer, by the slimmest of possible margins, was Moneyball. Moneyball is as unlikely a movie as the A’s were to become a great team and yet it manages to be funny, heartfelt, and very thought provoking.

Cine-Files Live has been a fantastic addition to the Cine-Files schedule for many reasons.

1. Steve & John get to talk about films they might not ever get to discuss on the regular show. (Ie. Transformers)

2. John gets to do what he does best. Hosting a show, interacting with the audience and keeping the whole thing running perfectly.

3. Steve doesn’t have to do any editing. (We can’t begin to tell you how happy this makes him.)

4. Cine-Files LIve gives John and Steve a chance to interact with all of you. (Actually this should probably be number 1)

The 1979 film Being There, directed by Hal Ashby and starring Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvin Douglas and Jack Warden is an odd, quirky, funny and surprising film about a, not very bright, gardener who ends up friend to the richest man in the world and advisor to the President of the United States. Is it a religious parable, a condemnation of the rich, a statement about the human race's fundamental foolishness or simply a really funny movie?

To say that Paul Thomas Anderson's 2002 film Punch-Drunk Love inspires an incredible range of reaction is an understatement. some people find this film uncomfortable, stressful or simply incomprehensible. Others see it as brilliant, powerful and endlessly fascinating. Steve and John see it as an incredible opportunity to discuss not only the filmmaking but the meaning behind the this truly unique piece of cinema. 

Cine-Files Patron John Goetz made this pick and we are so happy he did because 13 Assassins is an incredible Samurai film with a great cast, beautiful images and one of the most ridiculous battle scenes ever put on film.

In their second Cine-Files Live, Steve and John dig into the classic 80's action movie predator. it's fantastic ensemble cast, great score and smart direction from John McTiernan in his first film, Predator is an absolutely fantastic ride. However, what makes this conversation really great are the comments, questions and contributions of our Cine-Files audience.

There are movies that are thrilling and movies that are terrifying. There are movies that leaving you gasping for breath with laughter and ones whose scope and spectacle practically blow you out of your seats. Remains of the Day is none of those things and yet despite it’s restraint, it delivers an emotional punch as profound as it is unique.

Not one but two of our Cine-Files Patrons chose, the 1993 Merchant/Ivory drama The Remains of the Day for John and Steve to review and we are thrilled that they did. With incredible performances from Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, James Fox, Christopher Reeve and Hugh Great, Remains of the Day is as powerful as it is restrained. It certainly deserved its eight Oscar nominations and in a year without Stephen Spielberg's masterpiece, Schindler's List it would certainly have won, at least, some of them.

Star Trek Expert, Scott Mantz returns to The Cine-Files to conclude their exploration of Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country in honor of the incredible actor, Christopher Plummer, who chews up the scenery as the Klingon, General Change. This is an amazingly, satisfying conclusion to the adventures of the original cast and John, Steve and Scott have a fantastic time discussing it.

This week the crew of The Can-Files returns to the 23rd Century to explore the final voyage of Star Trek’s original cast with an exploration of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. This is a fantastic movie and we wouldn’t think of digging into it without our resident Star Trek expert, Scott Mantz.

And as a bonus, Steve and Scott have a very special announcement they just can’t wait to share with all of you.

Believe it or not John and Steve have actually made it to the final moments of one of the greatest movies in the history of Cinema and yet, even after hours and hours of exploration, they still find new ideas, perspectives and revelations in these incredible films.

The thing about great movies is that they create opportunities for reflection, not just on the world of the film but on our own lives. The Godfather Part 2 is a prime example of this and the conflicts, struggles, betrayals and defeats that Steve and John explore in this episode certainly create plenty of opportunities for reflection.

The thing about great movies is that they create opportunities for reflection, not just on the world of the film but on our own lives. The Godfather Part 2 is a prime example of this and the conflicts, struggles, betrayals and defeats that Steve and John explore in this episode certainly create plenty of opportunities for reflection.

The journey through the world of the Corleone Family is unlike anything The Cine-Files have ever embarked on before and they have approached it with the reference and attention to detail worthy of these incredible films. The fact is, the perspectives of John and Steve continue to evolve, episode by episode as they discover new and deeper nuances of these remarkable films. 

The Cine-Files are proud to bring you the conclusion of their epic discussion of Francis Ford Coppola's masterpiece, The Godfather. This is one of the greatest films ever mad and John and Steve took these episodes as a serious responsibility and yet, the amazing thing about cinematic masterpieces is that there is always more to discuss.

There has, perhaps been no more anticipated episodes of The Cine-Files than Francis Ford Coppola's , The Godfather and, consequently, no movie that John and Steve stressed about more than this masterpiece. In part 2, we see the change of Michael Corleone from a man determined to separate from his family to a killer a fugitive and eventually, a Don.

The Godfather is, without question, one of the most eagerly anticipated movies in the history of The Cine-Files and that's not surprising. After all, it ranks as the number two film on the latest AFI 100, surpassed only by Citizen Kane. To say that Steve and John approached this masterpiece with trepidation is an understatement but, the fact is, the conversation they had was so much fun that it will probably end up being the longest exploration of a film in the history of the podcast (at least, that is, until they move on to The Godfather Part 2)