Citizen Dame

Episode 325: Faces Places (2017)

We close out our Varda series with her penultimate film Faces Places (2017), co-directed by visual artist JR, with whom Varda travels across France, meeting people, taking photographs, and discussing art, image, and the passage of time.
We also decide that Godard is a jerk.
Next week, we're moving into Pride month viewing with some queer classics and even a brand-new film! First up is The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)!

324: Jane B par Agnès V

This week, the Dames continue our Varda series with the surreal and unique Jane B par Agnès V. Is it a documentary? Is it an essay film? What is this movie? In another inventive film from Agnès Varda, she sets out to help her friend Jane Birkin experience the film roles she never got to play and her fears about turning 40.

Episode 323: Le Bonheur (1965)

Our Agnès Varda month continues with a discussion of Le Bonheur (Happiness), following the lives of a happy little nuclear family whose happiness gets challenged (or does it?) when the father begins an affair. Deeply feminist and gorgeously filmed, Le Bonheur fools you into thinking its one thing and then becomes another.
We do recommend watching the film before listening to the podcast!
Next week, we'll be chatting some of Varda's documentaries, starting with Jane B. par Agnès V.

322: Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962)

This month we are (finally!) exploring some of the works of the great Agnès Varda, one of the pioneers of the French New Wave.
First up, we're starting with one of her most widely seen: Cléo from 5 to 7. Corinne Marchand stars as the titular Cléo, a young singer waiting for important medical results. Over the course of 90 minutes, Cléo tries to distract herself from the agonizing wait, first among friends, and then on a winding route through Paris.
The film screened at the 1962 Cannes Film Festival, currently ranks at 14 on Sight and Sound's list of greatest films of all time (only two spots behind The Godfather, just sayin'), and is part of the Criterion Collection.

Episode 321: Roxanne (1987)

We close out 1987 with a quirky one: Steve Martin's adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac: Roxanne, starring Daryl Hannah as the titular intellectual love interest of C.D. (Martin), a small-town fire chief with a brilliant mind and a prominent proboscis. This is a really fun way to end this series!
Next up we'll have an entire month of Agnes Varda, starting with her first feature Cleo from 5 to 7, so start watching!

320: The Princess Bride

This week, the Dames are talking about love, true love as we discuss the beloved 1987 fairy tale classic, The Princess Bride. William Goldman adapted the script from his own novel. Rob Reiner directs the film which stars Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Andre the Giant, Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest, Wallace Shawn and so many more.
Be sure to come back next week when we finish out our 1987 romantic movie series with Steve Martin and Daryl Hannah in Roxanne.

Episode 319: Maurice (1987)

And we're back! This week, we're talking about Maurice (1987), the Merchant-Ivory adaptation of E.M. Forster's startlingly progressive story of homosexual love in Edwardian England. The more things change, the more they stay the same, it seems.
Next week, we'll be discussing The Princess Bride, so Gen-Xers and Millennials should get real excited!

318: Moonstruck (1987)

This month we're traveling back to 1987, starting with the Academy Award-winning romance, Moonstruck.
Plot: Loretta Castorini, a bookkeeper from Brooklyn, New York, finds herself in a difficult situation when she falls for the brother of the man she has agreed to marry.
Directed by: Norman JewisonWritten by: John Patrick ShanleyStarring: Cher, Nicolas Cage, Olympia Dukakis, Danny Aiello, Vincent Gardenia

Episode 317: Wayne's World (1992)

We close out our Women's History Month discussion of Penelope Spheeris with THE movie of the 1990s: Wayne's World, starring Mike Myers and Dana Carvey! Hear about the film that introduced a generation to "Bohemian Rhapsody" and maybe sort of formed Lauren's entire psyche.
Next week, we'll be chatting about Moonstruck, so defo prep for that!
Party on!

316 — Suburbia (1983)

We continue our Penelope Spheeris series with her first narrative feature, Suburbia.
Plot summary:
Suburbia is director Penelope Spheeris's study of the Los Angeles punk rock scene in the early 1980s. Evan and his younger brother leave their broken home in an attempt to escape their alcoholic mother. They find family in a group of punks who live as squatters in an abandoned house by the side of the highway.

Episode 315: The Decline of Western Civilization (1981)

We're celebrating Women's History Month by discussing some of the best films of the severely underrated Penelope Spheeris, whose filmography is quite something. First up: Spheeris's first feature, The Decline of Western Civilization, an intense, enjoyable, wholly strange documentary about the LA hardcore punk scene in 1979/1980. Even if you're not a punk fan, this is a must-see.
We'll be on a brief break next week, but will return the week after to discuss Spheeris's Suburbia (1983), a fictionalized take on the punk lifestyle.

314: The Elephant Man (1980)

We conclude our David Lynch series with his first Academy Award-nominated feature, The Elephant Man. Released in 1980, John Hurt stars as John Merrick, a Victorian era freak show star whose life changes when he meets Dr. Frederick Treves, played by Anthony Hopkins. But of course, with David Lynch telling the story, there is so much more to it than what lies on the surface.

Episode 313 - Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)

This week we continue our David Lynch series with Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, the prequel film to the remarkable series.
Trigger warning for discussion of sexual abuse/incest.

312 — Mulholland Drive

This week, we continue our David Lynch series by exploring the mysteries of Mulholland Drive.
Plot summary: After a car wreck on Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesiac, she and a Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.Written and directed by David LynchStarring: Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Justin Theroux, Patrick Fischler, Robert Forster, Ann Miller

Episode 311: Blue Velvet (1986)

We're back and better than ever! After a brief hiatus while Karen was at Sundance, the Dames return to discuss some of the must-sees of the festival, followed by a deep dive into David Lynch's 1986 masterpiece Blue Velvet, starring Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, and Laura Dern.

310 — A Face in the Crowd

This week, we're discussing Andy Griffith's first big screen role in A Face in the Crowd, the 1957 film from Elia Kazan. Griffith stars as Lonesome Rhodes, a wandering musician who is discovered in a small county jail and goes on to become an influential television star. It is a fascinating and timely examination of fame, influence, and the cult of personality.
Additional Reading:
Vulture Article: "There Is No Safe Word: How the Best-Selling Fantasy Author Neil Gaiman hid the darkest parts of himself for decades."

Episode 309: Nosferatu (2024)

The Dames delve into the darkness and despair with Robert Eggers's Nosferatu, a Dracula adaptation, remake of Murnau's 1922 film, and work of art all its own.

308: Catching Up With the Dames

Welcome to 2025! As we gear up for a new year of exciting episodes and so many movies to talk about, we take a little look back at some of the films we have been watching lately, from Lauren's Hitchcock Year to Will & Harper and Wallace & Gromit, this wide-ranging conversation covers a lot of recent and upcoming releases as well as some of our favorite rewatches.
End clip: Demi Moore wins the Best Female Actor - Motion Picture Musical/Comedy award for The Substance at the 82nd Annual Golden Globes. Courtesy of the Golden Globes.
Check out Karen's interview with Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl directors Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham.

Episode 307: The Apartment (1960)

Happy New Year from Citizen Dame! For our final episode of 2024, we talk about the hilarious and melancholic The Apartment, directed and written by Billy Wilder, starring Jack Lemmon as an office worker who lets executives use his apartment for extramarital affairs, and Shirley Maclaine as the elevator girl he develops feelings for (without knowing she's having an affair of her own). Come for the Billy Wilder dialogue, stay for Fred MacMurray being The Worst.
(Available to stream for free on Prime and Tubi. TW for discussion/depiction of attempted suicide.)
We hope you have a wonderful New Year and we'll talk to y'all in 2025!
 

306: Carol (2015)

This week, we celebrate the season with Todd Haynes' 2015 holiday romance, Carol. Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara star in this adaptation of the 1952 Patricia Highsmith novel.