The American Film Institute’s Top 100 movies list has been one of my favorite sources movie marathon ideas for a long time. Now there’s a podcast for that!
The podcast is called Unspooled. The premise is that Paul Scheer and Amy Nicholson watch a movie from the AFI 100 top movies list, and put together a podcast to discuss that movie.
I am a little wary of movie podcasts. Many of the movie podcasts I’ve listened to are a group of bros blathering on too long, making in-jokes, going on unrelated tangents, and having Skype-level audio quality. That’s not my cup of tea.
Unspooled is different. You can tell Paul and Amy are media professionals. Both of them have credentials on MTV, FX, and other TV and written media. The podcast itself definitely sounds like a professionally produced podcast.
What you get
Each episode has the standard discussion of the movie and what they thought about it. But it is not just talking – they also include audio clips from the movie or related media. It is also not just them – they include interviews with high-quality guests with something relevant to say about the movie. Throw in some discussion of the historical context the movie was made in too, and that is a lot of content. This is a podcast I’m going to stick with.
I started with their latest episode All About Eve. I am happy to say I now need to add All About Eve to my next movie marathon! Based on what Paul and Amy say, it contains the perfect blend of witty, fast-paced, cutting 1950’s style dialog that I love from movies like Casablanca and The Big Sleep.
I’ve listened to their episodes on The General and Platoon, and the quality is consistent for each episode.
How to Listen
If you’d like to check them out, you have multiple options:
- The Unspooled podcast website is here and includes a listing of all their episodes, with descriptions and playback.
- They also have an open facebook group
- And of course, to listen on your mobile device, go wherever fine podcasts are hosted (like iTunes)
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