Films Change Lives

This podcast reflects my love of cinema and hearing about the films that have changed other people’s lives for the long term. While I’m an established scholar, editor, and author who loves sharing my own love of cinema, I’ve come to realize that it’s the dialogues with others that teach me the most.


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit filmschangelives.substack.com

We discuss:
The dearth of nuanced representations of deaf people on film, and CODA as an important new example
ASL in cinema: pitfalls and opportunities for relaying physicalized expressivity
Music as self-expression in relation to coming-of-age and personal growth across generations
Perfectly imperfect parenting 
Leftist emphases on community-minded, localized solidarity
The value of generative quiet
A film that inspires amateur music-making 
Connecting music with togetherness in CODA



This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit filmschangelives.substack.com

We talk about
The deceptively simple plot of The Quiet Girl
Exquisitely nuanced visual and sonic details of life within it
The distinctively Irish vision and mindset of the film
The Irish language being featured (unusually for a globally successful release)
Sharing the film experience with loved ones who will understand
The difference between realizing and verbalizing what is to be understood in this very subtle film
The significance of subtexts throughout the film
Painful suppressed truths of dysfunctional family life and potential domestic abuse
Music relaying consciousness
Stephen Rennicks’ compositional style
Subtleties of sound effects and Foley artistry
Sonically being in the world
Unspoken but full love
Small but crucial acts of kindness



This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit filmschangelives.substack.com

Please forgive the relatively low-grade quality of this pilot episode. We recorded it at home via Zoom, which felt right because of the personal subject matter. It was a cold, snowy, winter day, and the film uplifted us. We discussed:
Processing the film together, in real time, while it was still fresh
Being virtually “seen” by the film
Queer isolation
Queer children and their parents
Multi-generational politics of queerness
Transcending time and death
Communication with the deceased
Hope beyond tragic ends



This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit filmschangelives.substack.com

We discuss:
Greta Gerwig’s distinct directorial approach
Authentically representing teenage life and being
Social class in America
Emotional realness
Meaningful ellipses
Phil Lowrie and “Crash Into Me” as a “crystal song”
Stand-out performances by Saoirse Ronan Laurie Metcalf
Maternal melodrama
Suppressed emotional truths and poignant subtexts of life at high school
Sisterhood beyond the family



This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit filmschangelives.substack.com