I believe that many films can change our lives for the better. I interview scholars about the films that have had a lasting impact on who they are and what they believe cinema can do in real-world ways. <br/><br/><a href="https://filmschangelives.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast">filmschangelives.substack.com</a>
Films Change Lives
Claim This Podcastby Elsie Walker
11 episodes
Updated Daily
Accepts GuestsHas Sponsors
Podcast Overview
I believe that many films can change our lives for the better. I interview scholars about the films that have had a lasting impact on who they are and what they believe cinema can do in real-world ways. <br/><br/><a href="https://filmschangelives.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast">filmschangelives.substack.com</a>
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
1/21/2026
1 verified contact email on file for Films Change Lives
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Recent Episodes
July 13, 2026
David T. Johnson on WEAPONS
<p>We discuss:</p><p>Film as a gratifying experience, a roller-coaster ride!</p><p>The value of shared or collective experience</p><p>Wanting to extend the film by talking about it</p><p>Classical narrative</p><p>Chains of cause and effects (and also effects before causes!)</p><p>The film’s will or the “filmind” (applying a philosophical concept from Daniel Frampton’s book Filmosophy)</p><p>Cinematography by Larkin Seiple </p><p>All stylistic elements working together for maximum affect</p><p>Blurred distinctions between reality and dreaming</p><p>Being programmed to fear, but this being mixed with unusual, rescuing moments of humor</p><p>Ideas and representations of quintessential American community</p><p>American communities representing types of people, and as previously imagined in westerns, or Classical Hollywood films by John Ford or Howard Hawks or Alfred Hitchcock</p><p>Non-diegetic music as a form of thinking (especially in connection with the child protagonist, Alex)</p><p>Music that honors the power of a child</p><p>The importance of rationality in the face of terror, but also the limits of that</p><p>The fragility of a stable community in America (even going as far back as the post WW2 era)</p><p>The ending as a payoff for the anxiety we lived through the film!</p><p>Possible social statements on police brutality, the commonality of gun violence, and specific threats to children in schools</p><p>Bruce Kawin’s concepts of “good” and “bad” horrors (i.e. horrors with a sense of moral purpose, or not)</p><p>The genesis of the film in some of the director’s Zach Cregger’s life—his living with an alcoholic parent, and his dealing with the sudden tragic death of a friend</p><p>Genre mixing: combing the western, horror, zombie movie</p><p>George Sanders, “A Swim in a Pond in the Rain”</p><p>Drawing on Sanders’ teachings, the story as a structure or a framework upon which we can hang our ideas</p><p>The film allowing critical distance and time to process its own extremities</p><p>Connections with John Carpenter’s original Halloween</p><p>Tonal complexity, bravura performances, and a knockout final sequence!</p><p><strong>NOTE: this episode includes mature content, including many references violence and thematic content unsuitable for children</strong></p><p></p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://filmschangelives.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1">filmschangelives.substack.com</a>
June 20, 2026
Episode 9: J. M. Tyree on FARGO
<p>We discuss:</p><p>Representing the American Midwest, the especially lives of people in Minnesota</p><p>Tonal ambiguity and cinematic strangeness!</p><p>Carter Burwell’s genre-bending score</p><p>Ironic parallels between Fargo and Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960)</p><p>William H. Macy’s oddly charming performance as a loathsome character</p><p>The film’s connections with westerns and films noir</p><p>The film echoing Shakespeare’s problem plays and/or theater of the absurd (notably Waiting for Godot)</p><p>No Country for Old Men (2007) as the inverse of Fargo</p><p>A Serious Man (2009) as it resonates with the humor of Fargo</p><p>The subversion of narrative and gendered norms, especially in the strength of Margie’s character and in relation to Classical noir</p><p>A harsh winter environment for offsetting and understanding the warmth and softness of Margie</p><p>A feminist approach to the characters of both Margie and Jean</p><p>The value of gallows humor</p><p>Defining a worldview of the Coen Brothers, in terms of confronting awful things with hilarious details</p><p>Finding surprising depths of morality, especially in relation to ideas of greed and toxic masculinity</p><p>The significance of a key representative scene featuring two non-main characters: Officer Olson and Mr. Mohra </p><p>How the film speaks to current trends in the political climate of America</p><p>What morals we can learn from the film NOW, going beyond its nostalgic value</p><p></p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://filmschangelives.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1">filmschangelives.substack.com</a>
June 20, 2026
Episode 8: Chris Becker on MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON
<p>We discuss:</p><p>The wonderment Marcel inspires</p><p>The voices of Jenny Slade and Isabella Rossellini</p><p>The genesis of the movie</p><p>The treatment of everyday objects as precious, sometimes repurposed</p><p>The impact of multi-media storytelling</p><p>The significance of seeing the world on a different scale</p><p>Sources of inspiration, such as Sarah Penwarden’s creation of found poetry (in relation to Marcel’s world of found objects): see “Reliving a Poetry Symposium through Found Poetry”</p><p>Disconnection as well as connection through social media</p><p>Deciding what to hold on to</p><p>Finding one’s place in a big world</p><p>The importance of showing conflicts unresolved</p><p>Breaking from Hollywood norms of conflict-based and investigation-based narrative construction</p><p>Thinking beyond the limits of the body</p><p>The idea of dust as skin, and its being all around us as a symbol of mortality</p><p>The opposite of fear-mongering</p><p>Cherishing everyday and re-appreciating everyday details</p><p>The power in a way of seeing</p><p>Small details that matter hugely</p><p>Buddhist implications of the film’s processes</p><p>Philip Larkin’s poem titled “The Trees,” as featured in the film </p><p></p><p></p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://filmschangelives.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1">filmschangelives.substack.com</a>
11 total episodes available
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