Best Pick

Best Pick with John Dorney, Jessica Regan and Tom Salinsky Episode 214: Les Diaboliques Released 23 February 2022 For this episode, we watched Les Diaboliques, from the novel by Boileau and Narcejac. The screenplay is by Henri-Georges Clouzot and Jérôme Géronimi and the director was Cluzot. The cast includes Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, Paul Meurisse and Charles Vanel. It won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for the Best Foreign Film of 1955, but it was completely overlooked at the Oscars. It has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 96%. BEST PICK – the book is out now from all the usual places, including… From the publisher https://tinyurl.com/best-pick-book-rowman UK Amazon https://amzn.to/3zFNATI US Amazon https://www.amzn.com/1538163101 UK bookstore https://www.waterstones.com/book/9781538163108 US bookstore https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/best-pick-john-dorney/1139956434 To send in your questions, comments, thoughts and ideas, you can join our Facebook group, Tweet us on @bestpickpod or email us on bes

Best Pick with John Dorney, Jessica Regan and Tom Salinsky Episode 213: The Piano Released 9 February 2022 For this episode, we watched The Piano, written and directed by Jane Campion and produced by Jan Chapman. The cast includes Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Anna Paquin and Sam Neill and the music was by Michael Nyman. It was nominated for eight Oscars (including for Best Picture and Campion as Best Director) and won three. It also won the Palme d’Or at Cannes among a slew of other awards. It cost $7m and made $140m and it has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 91%. Anna Paquin at the Oscars https://youtu.be/xElXtoO_WmA Meg Ryan on Parkinson https://youtu.be/blpq-Iwu25s Papyrus https://youtu.be/jVhlJNJopOQ BEST PICK – the book is out in February 2022 and is available now for pre-order. From the publisher https://tinyurl.com/best-pick-book-rowman UK Amazon https://amzn.to/3zFNATI US Amazon https://www.amzn.com/1538163101 UK bookstore https://www.waterstones.com/book/9781538163108 US bookstore https://www.barnesan

Best Pick with John Dorney, Jessica Regan and Tom Salinsky Episode 212.5: Oscar nominations 2022 Released 9 February 2022 For this episode, we gave our initial thoughts on the nominees for the 94th Academy Awards which were announced yesterday. Love of Cinema podcast https://podfollow.com/picturehouse-podcast BEST PICK – the book is out in February 2022 and is available now for pre-order. From the publisher https://tinyurl.com/best-pick-book-rowman UK Amazon https://amzn.to/3zFNATI US Amazon https://www.amzn.com/1538163101 UK bookstore https://www.waterstones.com/book/9781538163108 US bookstore https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/best-pick-john-dorney/1139956434 To send in your questions, comments, thoughts and ideas, you can join our Facebook group, Tweet us on @bestpickpod or email us on bestpickpod@gmail.com. You can also Tweet us individually, @MrJohnDorney, @ItsJessRegan or @TomSalinsky. You should also visit our website at https://bestpickpod.com and sign up to our mailing list to get notified as soon

Best Pick with John Dorney, Jessica Regan and Tom Salinsky Episode 212: American Psycho Released 26 January 2022 For this episode, we watched American Psycho, adapted from the novel by Bret Easton Ellis with a screenplay by Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner, and directed by Harron. The cast includes Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto, Josh Lucas and Samantha Mathis and it made $34m from its $7m budget. It has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 69%. Hatchet for the Honeymoon https://youtu.be/l81vtN94-yk Vampire’s Kiss https://youtu.be/XUi45XoiNm0 Business cards https://youtu.be/QKc54z5SsEs White Male Rage https://youtu.be/vT0h0tXXBzc?t=24 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Psychopath-Test-Jon-Ronson/dp/0330492276 BEST PICK – the book is out in February 2022 and is available now for pre-order. From the publisher https://tinyurl.com/best-pick-book-rowman UK Amazon https://amzn.to/3zFNATI US Amazon https://www.amzn.com/1538163101 UK bookstore https://www.waterstones.com/book/9781538163108 US bookstore https://www.barnesa

Best Pick with John Dorney, Jessica Regan and Tom Salinsky Episode 211: Titus Released 12 January 2022 For this episode, we watched Titus, Julie Taymor’s 1999 adaptation of Shakesepeare’s play Titus Andronicus. The film stars Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange, Alan Cumming and Colm Feore and it was not a box office success, earning less than $3m from its $18m budget. Nor was it a big success at the Academy Awards where it was nominated only for its costumes, where it lost to Mike Leigh’s Topsy-Turvy. We also delve into the history of Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark and the life and work of Anthony Hopkins. https://www.ted.com/talks/julie_taymor_spider_man_the_lion_king_and_life_on_the_creative_edge Spider-Man vs Arachne https://youtu.be/-dT3EUbOQY4 Othello https://youtu.be/epW6H6UlfcE Theatre of Blood https://youtu.be/cmboDDMPRVw American Horror Story https://netflix.com/gb/title/70210884 Anthony Hopkins acceptance speech https://youtu.be/Y111jltWqoo Dust Devil https://youtu.be/eejvUNu_-Dk BEST PICK – the book

Best Pick with John Dorney, Jessica Regan and Tom Salinsky Episode 93: Nomadland (2020) Released 29 December 2021 For this episode, we watched Nomadland, written, edited and directed by Chloé Zhao, from the non-fiction book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century, by Jessica Bruder. Among a cast of non-professional actors, the leads are Frances McDormand and David Strathairn. Music is by Ludovico Einaudi. From six nominations, it won three awards: Best Director for Zhao, Best Actress for Frances McDormand and Best Picture. https://twitter.com/oscarsclip https://raindance.org/how-covid-19-impacted-the-film-industry-post-lockdown/ http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/in-memoriam-remembering-lynn-shelton Midnight at the Oasis https://youtu.be/cwRVebPZaXU BEST PICK – the book is out in February 2022 and is available now for pre-order. From the publisher https://tinyurl.com/best-pick-book-rowman UK Amazon https://amzn.to/3zFNATI US Amazon https://www.amzn.com/1538163101 UK bookstore https://www.wate

Best Pick with John Dorney, Jessica Regan and Tom Salinsky Episode 210: The Godfather Part III Released 15 December 2021 For this episode, we watched The Godfather Part III, or to be exact, we watched The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone. The film was written by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola and was directed by Coppola with cinematography by Gordon Willis and music by Carmine Coppola. The stars were Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Eli Wallach, Joe Mantegna, Bridget Fonda, George Hamilton and Sofia Coppola. The original cut was released in December 1990 and it was nominated for seven Oscars, winning none of them. https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/a27116831/rebecca-schaeffer-murder/ https://youtu.be/c5nW-uP0Tt0 BEST PICK – the book is out in February 2022 and is available now for pre-order. From the publisher https://tinyurl.com/best-pick-book-rowman UK Amazon https://amzn.to/3zFNATI US Amazon https://www.amzn.com/1538163101 UK bookstore https://www.waterstones.com/book/9781538

Best Pick with John Dorney, Jessica Regan, Tom Salinsky and our special guest Garrett Millerick Episode 209: Dr No Released 1 December 2021 For this episode, we watched the first James Bond film, Dr No from 1962. The script was adapted from Ian Fleming’s 1958 novel (the sixth to feature 007) by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood and Berkely Mather and it was directed by Terence Young. Familiar Bond stars include Sean Connery, Lois Maxwell and Bernard Lee as well as Ursula Andress, Joseph Wiseman and John Kitzmiller. The Rock is a James Bond film. https://youtu.be/9FdnevXjqdc Sean Connery slapping women. https://youtu.be/oo0d1zTAFKA Ursula Andress’s speaking voice. https://youtu.be/H2hC8Frhicg https://www.garrettmillerick.com Smile on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/track/4dfYwPTZINhbgff3l8J4sx To send in your questions, comments, thoughts and ideas, you can join our Facebook group, Tweet us on @bestpickpod or email us on bestpickpod@gmail.com. You can also Tweet us individually, @MrJohnDorney, @ItsJessRegan

Best Pick with John Dorney, Jessica Regan, Tom Salinsky and special guest Matheus Carvalho Episode 208: Baby Face Released 17 November 2021 For this episode, we watched Baby Face written by Gene Markey and Kathryn Scola from a story by Darryl F Zanuck. The director was Alfred E Green and the stars were Barbara Stanwyck and George Brent. It was nominated for no Oscars but it does have a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Barbara Stanwyck’s horse stunt in Forty Guns https://youtu.be/4w6T451thQM?t=2624 Barbara Stanwyck’s acceptance speech https://youtu.be/QBhPI95FDZw Forbidden Hollywood https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0762466774 Complicated Women https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0312252072 https://www.instagram.com/cinematheus88 https://letterboxd.com/matcarvalho http://www.cinemamuseum.org.uk BEST PICK – the book is out in February 2022 and is available now for pre-order. From the publisher https://tinyurl.com/best-pick-book-rowman UK Amazon https://amzn.to/3zFNATI US Amazon https://www.amzn.com/1538163101 UK bookstore

Best Pick with John Dorney, Jessica Regan, Tom Salinsky and our special guest Andy Stanton Episode 207: Disney Animated Features Released 3 November 2021 For this episode, we spoke to children’s author Andy Stanton who spent lockdown watching every Disney animated feature. The 59 features we picked from https://bestpickpod.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/disney-animated-features.pdf Disney’s rejection letter to female artists. https://www.vox.com/2015/7/16/8978351/famous-rejection-letters-disney-animator-women https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2010/03/disney-animation-girls-201003 Thom Tuck Goes Straight to DVD https://www.gofasterstripe.com/cgi-bin/w.cgi?showfull=36670 https://www.mic.com/articles/88167/9-harmful-stereotypes-we-never-realized-our-favorite-disney-movies-taught-us https://variety.com/1993/film/news/aladdin-lyrics-altered-108628/ https://decider.com/2016/07/02/so-that-happened-back-to-the-future-deleted-scene/ Dune trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0HgHet0sxg http://www.mrgum.co.u

Best Pick with John Dorney, Jessica Regan and Tom Salinsky Episode 206: Brazil (commentary) Released 20 October 2021 For this episode, we watched Brazil written by Tom Stoppard, Charles McKeown and Terry Gilliam and directed by Gilliam. The cast include Jonathan Pryce, Kim Greist, Michael Palin, Robert de Niro, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Bob Hoskins, Ian Richardson and Peter Vaughan. The Los Angeles Film Critics Association awarded it Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Director but it won no Oscars despite nominations for its screenplay and art direction. It has a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. We've been nominated in the 11th Annual Lovie Awards. Please vote for us - there's only one day to go. https://vote.lovieawards.com/PublicVoting#/2021/podcasts/general-series/arts-entertainment To send in your questions, comments, thoughts and ideas, you can join our Facebook group, Tweet us on @bestpickpod or email us on bestpickpod@gmail.com. You can also Tweet us individually, @MrJohnDorney, @ItsJessRegan or

Best Pick: vote for us! Episode 205.5 The Lovie Awards Released 13 October 2021 This is not a real episode, just an announcement. We've been nominated in the 11th Annual Lovie Awards. Please cast your votes for us to win Best Podcast (Arts and Entertainment). It seems to be between us and a documentary limited series about a rugby team (?). Here's that all important link https://vote.lovieawards.com/PublicVoting#/2021/podcasts/general-series/arts-entertainment Thanks for listening.

Best Pick with John Dorney, Jessica Regan and Tom Salinsky Episode 205: The Matrix Released 6 October 2021 For this episode, we watched and talked over The Matrix written and directed by The Wachowskis and starring Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne and Hugo Weaving. The visual effects were supervised by John Gaeta and the cinematography was by Bill Pope. The film earned more than $450m from its $63m budget and spawned two sequels with a third on the way. It won Academy Awards for its editing, its sound, its sound effects and its visual effects, as well as two BAFTAs and two Saturn Awards. The Matrix Regraded https://youtu.be/KEdgmNZnLs4 Decoding the music of The Matrix https://youtu.be/HhRjn_jpQxk Smirnoff advert https://youtu.be/qbOGJy3P6rA Eadweard Muybridge https://youtu.be/wNU7sXkZmSw To send in your questions, comments, thoughts and ideas, you can join our Facebook group, Tweet us on @bestpickpod or email us on bestpickpod@gmail.com. You can also Tweet us individually, @MrJohnDorney, @

Best Pick with John Dorney, Jessica Regan and Tom Salinsky Episode 204: The Ladykillers Released 22 September 2021 For this episode, we watched The Ladykillers, written by William Rose and directed by Alexander Mackendrick. The cast includes Alec Guinness, Katie Johnson, Herbert Lom, Peter Sellers, Danny Green, Cecil Parker and Jack Warner. It was one of the last of the “Ealing Comedies” and it was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the 1956 Academy Awards. It has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. To send in your questions, comments, thoughts and ideas, you can join our Facebook group, Tweet us on @bestpickpod or email us on bestpickpod@gmail.com. You can also Tweet us individually, @MrJohnDorney, @ItsJessRegan or @TomSalinsky. You should also visit our website at https://bestpickpod.com and sign up to our mailing list to get notified as soon as a new episode is released. Just follow this link: http://eepurl.com/dbHO3n. BEST PICK – the book is out in February 2022 and is available now for pre-order. F

Best Pick with John Dorney, Jessica Regan and Tom Salinsky Episode 203: Phantom of the Paradise Released 8 September 2021 For this episode, we watched Phantom of the Paradise written and directed by Brian de Palma and starring Paul Williams (who also wrote the songs), William Finley and Jessica Harper. On its initial American release, it made only $250,000 from its $1.3m budget but it has gone on to be a cult success and even at the time the score was nominated for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. It has an 83% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Zyzzx Road trailer https://youtu.be/2Kp8ycMhvO8 https://www.avclub.com/actress-memoirist-and-set-dresser-sissy-spacek-looks-1798231469 https://www.earwolf.com/show/how-did-this-get-made/ To send in your questions, comments, thoughts and ideas, you can join our Facebook group, Tweet us on @bestpickpod or email us on bestpickpod@gmail.com. You can also Tweet us individually, @MrJohnDorney, @ItsJessRegan or @TomSalinsky. You should also visit our website at https://b

Best Pick with John Dorney, Jessica Regan and Tom Salinsky Episode 202: Wild Tales Released 25 August 2021 For this episode, we watched Wild Tales written and directed by Damián Szifron and starring Ricardo Darín, Oscar Martínez, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Érica Rivas, Rita Cortese, Julieta Zylberberg and Darío Grandinetti. It was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards but lost to Paweł Pawlikowski’s Ida. The Man with the Golden Arm titles. https://youtu.be/PhwsLS1XolU SNL New Year’s Eve Sequel. https://youtu.be/kL3Ysd6sNAk To send in your questions, comments, thoughts and ideas, you can join our Facebook group, Tweet us on @bestpickpod or email us on bestpickpod@gmail.com. You can also Tweet us individually, @MrJohnDorney, @ItsJessRegan or @TomSalinsky. You should also visit our website at https://bestpickpod.com and sign up to our mailing list to get notified as soon as a new episode is released. Just follow this link: http://eepurl.com/dbHO3n. If you enjoy this podcast and you'd like to

Best Pick with John Dorney, Jessica Regan and Tom Salinsky Episode 201: The Taking of Pelham One Two Three Released 11 August 2021 For this episode, we watched The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, written by Peter Stone based on the 1973 novel by John Godey. It was directed by Peter Stone and released by United Artists. The stars are Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, Hector Elizondo and Earl Hindman. Lumières cause panic. https://youtu.be/MjufyLPKsEw Nick of Time directed by John Badham. https://youtu.be/q4PYXMpYJ28 To send in your questions, comments, thoughts and ideas, you can join our Facebook group, Tweet us on @bestpickpod or email us on bestpickpod@gmail.com. You can also Tweet us individually, @MrJohnDorney, @ItsJessRegan or @TomSalinsky. You should also visit our website at https://bestpickpod.com and sign up to our mailing list to get notified as soon as a new episode is released. Just follow this link: http://eepurl.com/dbHO3n. If you enjoy this podcast and you'd like to help us to conti

Best Pick with John Dorney, Jessica Regan, Tom Salinsky and Deborah Frances-White Episode 92.5: Exit Interview Released 4 August 2021 Our journey having concluded (we’ll record an episode looking at Nomadland later in the year), we sit down with friend of the pod Deborah Frances-White to look back on our experience with the help of some listener questions. To send in your questions, comments, thoughts and ideas, you can join our Facebook group, Tweet us on @bestpickpod or email us on bestpickpod@gmail.com. You can also Tweet us individually, @MrJohnDorney, @ItsJessRegan or @TomSalinsky. You should also visit our website at https://bestpickpod.com and sign up to our mailing list to get notified as soon as a new episode is released. Just follow this link: http://eepurl.com/dbHO3n. If you enjoy this podcast and you'd like to help us to continue to make it, you can now support us on Patreon for as little as £2.50 per month. Thanks go to all of the following lovely people who have already done that. Alex Frith, Al

Best Pick with John Dorney, Jessica Regan and Tom Salinsky Episode 92: The King’s Speech (2010) Released 28 July 2021 For this episode, we watched The Kings Speech, written by David Seider and directed by Tom Hooper. It starred Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter and Guy Pearce and from a very impressive twelve Oscar nominations it scored four wins – for Colin Firth, for Tom Hooper as director, for the screenplay and of course Best Picture. Seth Meyers Oscar Bait trailer: https://youtu.be/HjE9Fl4zKNs Big Speeches: https://guiltyfeminist.com/big-speeches/ That concludes our survey of the films which have won Best Picture – for now! We will be publishing an episode on the Best Picture winner for 2020 in due course as well as a variety of episodes looking at the world of film from different angles. To send in your questions, comments, thoughts and ideas, you can join our Facebook group, Tweet us on @bestpickpod or email us on bestpickpod@gmail.com. You can also Tweet us individually, @MrJohnDorney

Best Pick with John Dorney, Jessica Regan and Tom Salinsky Episode 91: Slumdog Millionaire (2008) Released 14 July 2021 For this episode, we watched Slumdog Millionaire, written by Simon Beaufoy, from the book Q & A by Vikas Swarup. It was directed by Danny Boyle and starred Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Anil Kapur and Irrfan Khan. It won a tremendous eight Oscars including for Danny Boyle as director and for the screenplay, but none of its cast was even nominated. Tom Cruise on Graham Norton https://youtu.be/Uu1PK5HAgho Texting on film https://youtu.be/uFfq2zblGXw Danny Boyle wins Best Director https://youtu.be/5pRlsz4yjpc https://fanlore.org/wiki/Sexy_Lamp_Test Next time we will be discussing The King’s Speech. If you want to watch it before listening to the next episode you can buy the DVD or Blu-Ray on Amazon.co.uk, or Amazon.com, or you can download it via iTunes (UK) or iTunes (USA). To send in your questions, comments, thoughts and ideas, you can join our Facebook group, Tweet us on @bestpickpod or e