Happy Bonus Episode to all and to all a good listen. Here are some of my favorite songs of 2025 that you can enjoy as an 80-minute playlist here in the feed. YouTube and Spotify won't likely keep it up for long (if at all) but it'll be here in the official feed for now as a gift to the listeners who want to hear some new tunes that I really enjoyed in a stellar year for new music. Support these artists! Happy holidays and thank you for your kindness and support this past year.

2025 Songs

Pretrial (let her go home) - Fiona Apple

Au Pays du Cocaine - Geese

Love Takes Miles - Cameron Winter

So Be It - Clipse

Dancing in the Club - This is Lorelei & MJ Lendermen

2468 - Horsegirl

Cicada - The Ophelias

YUHDONTSTOP - De La Soul

Headphones On - Addison Rae

Total euphoria - Caroline

Nora - Case Oats

Cadillac - Colin Miller

Wasteland - Snocaps

Elderberry Wine - Wednesday

Beyond That Moon - Madison Cunningham

Didn’t I - Liam Kazar

Divinize - Lux

Monte Carlo / No Limits - Ryan Davis and the Roadhouse Band

Better Be Quiet Now - Brad Mehldau

Apple Music Playlist: https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/2025-songs/pl.u-DKD5czlda3

Side note: In the midst of the migration from Substack to Ghost, this episode got lost in the shuffle somehow so it's back in the feed now. Apologies for the confusion / repost. There may be bugs but hopefully few and far between. Thanks again for the support, all!

Returning guest, Chicago film critic, and regular contributor to the Movie Madness podcast is back for a long overdue third appearance. His most memorable one being well over a decade ago when he took the pro-side on the infamous Brian De Palma episode.

None other than the talented and hilarious Peter Sobczynski volunteered to discuss the (mostly) underrated works of satirist Michael Ritchie (no relation to Guy) who had a career with high highs and low lows. We talk mainly about three of his most under-appreciated films and skim through the majority of his filmography (despite the return to the old format change). Thank you so much Peter for coming back and stay tuned next month for another episode of B-Side Me and another returning Chicago film critic and podcaster as well to discuss another legendary comedy director!

00:00 - 13:06 - Introduction with Peter (awards season is coming)

13:07 - 45:49 - Prime Cut + Early Ritchie

45:50 - 01:16:50 - The Island!

01:16:51 - 01:47:21 - Other Ritchie Titles

01:47:22 - 01:58:02 - The Positively True Adventures…

01:58:03 - 02:09:54 - Top 3 Ritchie Films / Outro

Follow Peter!

Read Peter at RogerEbert.com

Subscribe to Peter’s Substack

In addition to the monthly movie talk regarding directors (for Director’s Club), I am happy to present the latest episode of the music version of that same format! Only this time - all about bands/musicians that we think are worth discussing. Along w/co-host Sharon Gissy, we both can’t wait for you to listen to us nerd out about music each month. This time, it's all about the remarkably talented Fiona Apple! Without further ado, here is the 3rd episode of B-Side Me.

The format is simple: each of us pick an A-side to discuss (a more popular well-known song) and then we choose a B-side (a song that’s more obscure) that we think you should listen to ASAP. Add our choices to playlists, listen to us talk about another art form we both adore just as much as film! Thank you so much to Sharon for joining me on this nerdy podcasting journey and can’t wait for 2026 (next year - we will also have guests on too).

Patrick Podcast - Uptown Song Club (more Fiona talk): https://www.buzzsprout.com/2039079/episodes/11190527-1-we-are-all-just-meat

In addition to the monthly movie talk regarding directors (for Director’s Club), I am happy to present the latest episode of the music version of that same format! Only this time - all about bands/musicians that we think are worth discussing. Along w/co-host Sharon Gissy, we both can’t wait for you to listen to us nerd out about music each month (we missed October but that’s okay, it was a very busy month). Without further ado, here is the 2nd episode of B-Side Me.

The format is simple: each of us pick an A-side to discuss (a more popular well-known song) and then we choose a B-side (a song that’s more obscure) that we think you should listen to ASAP. Add our choices to playlists, listen to us talk about another art form we both adore just as much as film! Thank you so much to Sharon for joining me on this nerdy podcasting journey and can’t wait for episode 3 in December (next year - we will also have guests on too).

No description necessary! The title says it all. Well it was tempting to record all 12 hours of us talking through the entire franchise for the ultimate commentary track and podcast for 7 films, we thought it was best to record quick reactions after each film as we binged them all in one entire day. Happy Halloween, bitch!

BE SURE TO STAY TO THE VERY END. There’s a surprise special cameo that really was a real treat for both of us to say the least. Now here are a lot of photos if you're seeing this on Substack that is :)

Returning guest, writer, librarian, Instagram superstar and host of the Not Scared Podcast, the great Chloe Waryan, returns for her yearly visit to talk about a horror filmmaker! This time it’s all about the beloved Mike Flanagan. Do we love him as much as the rest of the horror community? You’ll have to listen to find out not just our thoughts, but former co-host and horror enthusiast Patrick Ripoll makes a cameo as well. Thank you so much Chloe for coming back and stay tuned for a new episode of B-Side Me later in the month too!

00:00 - 03:29 - Intro

03:30 -10:27 - Recent Horror Films Chloe Recommends

10:28 - 52:40 - Let’s Talk Flanagan, Oculus

52:41 - 01:28:57 - Doctor Sleep, Shush/Hush, Chuck, etc.

01:28:58 - 01:36:26 - Patrick’s Thoughts

01:36:27 - 01:56:02 - Favorite Flanagan Films / Outro

Follow Chloe!

Substack/Not Scared PodcastLetterboxdChloe's Not Scared

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Spoilers spoilers spoilers! If you haven’t seen One Battle After Another (and you should) then wait to dive into this month’s bonus conversation featuring friends Bill Ackerman (of Supporting Characters) and Patrick Ripoll (of 96 Greers) as we have an impromptu talk about the latest PTA film, One Battle After Another and how it is conversation with his other work as well.

In addition, I talk about my first viewing of the film (and how unique it was) as well Bill’s thoughts on what he’s seen at the New York Film Festival that we can look forward to later in the year. Plus, there may be mentions of Judy Greer, Mick Garris and Lovers’ Rock (because why not!). Enjoy everyone and thanks to Bill and Patrick for taking time out to talk with me about the year’s best film!

00:00 - 46:56 - Bill Ackerman Talks OBOA46:57 - 01:37:50 - Patrick Ripoll Talks OBOA

My Written Review of the Film:https://directorsclub.substack.com/p/onebattle

Director's Club is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

In addition to the monthly movie talk regarding directors (for Director’s Club), I am happy to present the debut episode of the music version of that same format! Only this time - all about bands/musicians/songwriters that we think are worth discussing. Alongside co-host Sharon Gissy, we both can’t wait for you to listen to us nerd out about music each month with the first episode of B-Side Me.

The format is simple: each of us pick an A-side to discuss (a more popular well-known song) and then we choose a B-side (a song that’s more obscure) that we think you should listen to ASAP. Add our choices to playlists, listen to us talk about another art form we both adore just as much as film!

Thank you so much to Sharon for joining me on this nerdy podcasting journey and can’t wait for more episodes (featuring guests in the future as well). Stay tuned to the very end for a special rendition of one of the songs discussed, performed by yours truly!

Director's Club is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Returning guest, film writer and all-around great human being Mitchell Beaupre from Letterboxd (and a number of publications) returns for the third time to discuss a mutual favorite filmmaker of ours, the incredible Kenneth Lonergan. All three of his films mean a lot to us both so we opted to bypass the new format (which consists of two films per episode) to talk about his debut film, You Can Count On Me (newly released via Criterion Collection) then his remarkable follow-up Margaret, ending with the award-winning Manchester by the Sea.

Much more to say overall about what happened during my hiatus up top but this conversation was perfect for my return after a lot of heavy, challenging, difficult circumstances affected me on a profound level. Watching these three movies in a row - therapeutic in the best sense possible and I’m grateful to Mitchell for joining me for the return of this here show. And thank you all for listening!

00:00 - 06:01 - Prelude to the show / Catching up06:02 - 15:54 - Introduction with Mitchell15:55 - 55:54 - You Can Count On Me55:55 - 01:49:44 - Margaret, Manchester by the Sea01:49:45 - 01:56:46 - Outro

Follow Mitchell Beaupre:https://letterboxd.com/mitchell

Director's Club is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

For this excursion into something besides movies, I would recruit friend and Austin-based journalist Dan Solomon to go back 20 years to talk about a year in music - an art form that I love every bit much as film.

For this retrospective, my guests and I curate a new list of ten favorite records from that year, playing snippets of certain songs and discussing our feelings about music in general. As of 2021, I decided to include my dear friend Jason Simpson, also a pop culture writer, to join us in this endeavor.

I've been going back 30 years to talk about the year in film with Collin Souter and Erik Childress, so I asked Jason and Dan to do the same with records. A full archive will be available soon. Hopefully everyone enjoys this discussion about our favorite records from a weird year for music. It was such a blast sharing memories with dear friends from high school as well as getting to hear a lot of incredible music from the late 90s. Thank you so much for listening and much gratitude to Dan & Jay for their insights, opinions and a 30-year friendship.

Also be sure to check out this obscure Canadian band (my number 10 pick): https://www.discogs.com/master/1523139-Thrush-Hermit-Clayton-Park

Listen to me talk about my favorite album of 1999 on this podcast here:https://podbay.fm/p/the-great-albums/e/1496635200

All Yearly Music Retrospectives (feat. Jason & Dan)

1992199319941995199619971998199920002001

Coming in Fall of 2025 - B-Side Me - a spin-off show about music/bands!

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This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit directorsclub.substack.com/subscribe

Do you like explosions?! Well you're in for a summer treat. Thank you so much to guest hosts Chloe Waryan and Luther Moss for covering a director on Director's Club I never would want to cover without losing my mind. What a delightful discussion and it’s an honor to put this out for all to hear! You "don't want to miss" this episode! You also don't want to close your eyes, you don't want to fall asleep. Animal crackers optional.

00:00 - 05:40 - Show Changes / Intro from Jim!

05:41 - 07:15 - Introduction from Chloe

07:16 - 09:55 - Luther's Film History

09:56 - 14:06 - Jim's Thoughts on Mr. Bay

14:07 - 42:34 - Intro to Bay / Commercials

42:35 - 01:07:33 - Bad Boys / The Rock

01:07:34 - 01:40:30 - Armageddon / Pearl Harbor

01:40:31 - 02:20:41 - Bad Boys II / The Island

02:20:42 - 02:40:54 - Transformers

02:40:55 - 02:46:20 - Our 3 Favorites / Outro

Works Mentioned:

Bilge Ebiri - The Politics of Michael Bay's Supposedly Apolitical Movies

Michael Bay in Esquire

Variety - Bay Receives Honor 2017

The Perverts Guide to Ideology

Follow all-things Chloe:

@ChloesNotScared

Director's Club is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.