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Napalm, Keeping Quiet, and Sweet Country Music – The Lovely Career of Robert Duvall – Episode 240

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In this episode, Dara revisits the careers and acting talent of two very special American actors – the very recently deceased Robert Duvall and Tom Noonan. Duvall had an amazingly long career from his breakthrough role in 1962’s To Kill a Mockingbird, through the New Hollywood 70s and right on to this current decade. He was a performer of effortless and natural charm who was a master of quiet, deceptively unmannered acting.

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One Film After Another – Movie and TV Review of 2025! – Episode 235

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To kick off a new year of the podcast, Dara looks back at his viewing pleasure and displeasure of 2025 and drops some top tens for your consideration. Beginning with a wrap-up of last year’s Oscar-winning and nominated titles, he goes on to list his favourite films of 2025, as well as his top films outside that group. There are some obvious choices there as well as a couple of surprises.

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Flipping the Script and Messing with Expectations – Episode 230

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In this episode, Dara considers the power of defying expectations. Partly prompted by a conversation with his dementia-affected father, his thoughts are also informed by a New York psychologist who worked with first responders to World Trade Center attacks. Role-reversal can be both destabilising and disarming, but it rarely goes unnoticed, and it often provokes both consternation and resentment.

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Can Women Love Monsters? Guillermo del Toro says ‘YES’! – Episode 228

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After watching Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, Dara finds himself wondering about the director’s world view, and specifically his perspective on beautiful, sincere women and their superficially unattractive love interests. The Mexican director has an established sympathy with those considered ugly and monstrous by society – could a Freudian reading be applicable?

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You Silly Girl! Gender Roles from 1940s Hollywood – Episode 227

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A week under the weather had Dara running for the comfort of old Hollywood classics. In this episode, he reports his findings.

Influenced by the spooky season, he reached for a couple of Hitchcock staples of the older variety – 1940’s Rebecca and 1941’s Suspicion. Two very different but no less complicated love stories, one featuring espionage and seduction, the other – gulp! – murder!

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Robert Redford – The Meeting Point of Hot and Cold – Episode 221

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In this very straightforward episode, Dara marks the passing of Hollywood icon Robert Redford by revisiting his career as an actor and director. From his true arrival as a Hollywood A-lister in 1969’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, all the way to his last leading role in The Old Man and the Gun (2018), Redford held the screen with an effortless charisma and presence, only enhanced by his matinee idol good looks.

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Reaching for the Tourniquet, or How to Stop the Bleeding – Episode 218

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In this episode, Dara admits to being a bit exhausted after moving house for the fifth time since the pandemic. It is not the most fun he has ever had and the ongoing grief ripples over Pepper the dog are adding to the load. However, the glass is (probably) half-full and at least the nickname for the new home has come very quickly and easily.

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It’s Emma Thompson, Stupid! (She’s a Dame, Don’t You Know…) – Episode 214

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This episode is as on the nose as a John Lee Hancock film! No ambiguity, no grey areas, it’s a celebration of the career of Emma Thompson. After recently rewatching 1995’s Sense and Sensibility, Dara was reminded of how much he has always admired Thompson and her work. So he decided to dedicate an hour to her (almost) entire filmography.

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‘Sinners’ and ‘Moonstruck’ – Movie Pleasures of the Old and New School – Episode 205

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In this week’s episode, Dara reviews Ryan Coogler’s rip roaring ‘Sinners’, a movie that defies easy categorisation but is infused with the director’s characteristic heart, immersive world-building, and brilliant lead performances. Of particular delight was a thread of Irishness that leant the movie an unexpected and resonant depth. There’s also an Irish connection to the movie that Dara recommends as a double bill partner for ‘Sinners’.

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