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For this season finale, we break format to pair a film, not with another film, but with a concept. Pushing the structure of a double-feature podcast to breaking point,  we look at Billy Wilder's 1950 noir classic, then look at how contemporary film culture has transformed us all into a strange version of Gloria Swanson's iconic femme fatale - Norma Desmond. Desmond lives in a memory palace built from her years of stardom, fruitlessly longing for another moment in the spotlight, desperate to recapture the victories of years passed.  For many, the decline of cinema's cultural relevance and the increasing share given over to corporate, IP-driven interests has led to a similar retreat into film history. We explore cinema's prevalent obsession with the past, from American auteurs' drift towards nostalgia to deep-faking and dieting dead or aging stars. Finally, we look ahead, and try and conceive of a  future for the movies. Thank you for listening, and stay tuned for a special announcement very soon. email us: [email protected] Instagram: @cinema_rising Intro music: Joel Oldham @old.joel Artwork:  Fred Sanders @fredsanders.creative

In the penultimate episode of the season, we look at one film you know and one you might not. We talk the certified best film ever, Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, alongside Ronald Chase’s Bruges-La-Morte. Vertigo (1958) Burdened with the title of “The Greatest Film Ever Made”, Hitchcock’s technicolour noir remains a discomfiting study of memory, obsession, and the act of looking itself. Bruges-La-Morte (1978) Director Ronald Chase cut his teeth as a dancer in the 1950s, before transitioning into opera design and filmmaking, using projection of original footage to enhance the theatrical experience. Shot on a shoestring, repurposing the crew and equipment from a previous project, Chase’s adaptation of the novel of the same title is a bizarre, feverish feat of low-budget ingenuity. Also one of the only non-Star Wars roles from C3-P0 actor Anthony Daniels . Available for free on Chase’s Vimeo. https://vimeo.com/412529232 email us: [email protected] Instagram: @cinema_rising Intro music: Joel Oldham @old.joel Artwork:  Fred Sanders @fredsanders.creative

In this episode, we are joined by filmmaker (and Felix's roommate) Andrea Ratti. Andrea's Website Andrea's Letterboxd His picks: The Long Grey Line (1955) One of legendary Hollywood director John Ford's many masterpieces, The Long Grey Line adapts the real-life of Martin "Marty"  Maher, who spent over fifty years as an instructor at West Point: America's officer training academy. Still Life (2006) China's Three Gorges Project is an enormous industrial undertaking that has resulted in the flooding of several major urban areas, displacing millions in the process. Jia Zhangke's Still Life follows two ordinary people searching for lost loved ones in the soon-to-be flooded city of Fenjie. email us: [email protected] Instagram: @cinema_rising Intro music: Joel Oldham @old.joel Artwork:  Fred Sanders @fredsanders.creative

We welcome filmmaker Thomas Watchorn to discuss two films that deploy elements of folk horror, but remain markedly different to more conventional entries in the sub-genre. Tom's Vimeo Page Tom's Letterboxd Tom's Twitter Red Shift  (1978) Directed by The Long Good Friday director John Mackenzie as part of the Play For Today series, Red Shift is an adaptation of a novel by Alan Garner (ostensibly written for children) - a time-hopping exploration of the link between land and memory, touching on topics as vast as religion, mental health and the subjugation of women through history.  Rökkur (2017) After his ex leaves him a troubling voice message, a man ventures to a secluded cabin where the pair grappled with a litany of painful memories. Evidently, something else is going on, with director Erlingur Thoroddsen weaving an unsettling mystery into the carefully crafted relationship drama. email us: [email protected] Instagram: @cinema_rising Intro music: Joel Oldham @old.joel Artwork:  Fred Sanders @fredsanders.creative

Returning champion Joe MacDonald joins us in the basement as we look at the intersection of memory and technology, the past and the future. Sans Soleil (1983) Chris Marker's galaxy-brained video essay moves from Africa to Japan as the french filmmaker pontificates on a range of topics, particularly how tech has shaped our relationship to memory. Total Recall (1990)  Dutch maverick Paul Verhoeven loosely adapts Philip K Dick's 'We Can Remember It For You Wholesale', in the processing creating both an entertaining Arnold vehicle and a typically subversive examination of America's fantasies. email us: [email protected] Instagram: @cinema_rising Intro music: Joel Oldham @old.joel Artwork:  Fred Sanders @fredsanders.creative

This week, we are joined by Cardiff-based artist and designer Beth Morris, who programmes two strange romances that explore the collision of myth, romance and memory. Beth's insta: @bam.create Corridor of Mirrors (1948) Terence Young is best known for his work on the 007 franchise, less known for his contributions to the 1980 Saddam Hussein vanity project/biopic The Long Days. Back in 1948, he directed Corridor of Mirrors, a haunting gothic romance, distinct from the largely drab films coming out of post-war England. Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951) Starring Ava Gardner and James Mason, Pandora  is a stunning technicolour romance, inspired by the myth of The Flying Dutchman, which tells of a sailor cursed the travel the ocean for eternity until he can find a woman willing to die for him. email us: [email protected] Instagram: @cinema_rising Intro music: Joel Oldham @old.joel Artwork:  Fred Sanders @fredsanders.creative

For our first episode of the new year, we are very excited to welcome filmmaker and musician Matt Farley. For an intro to Matt's work, check out our discussion of Heard She Got Married from the start of this season. We battled technical difficulties and sickness - but very excited to share our mammoth  discussion of two films chosen by Matt The films: Silent Night Deadly Night Part 2 (1987) Liberally reusing footage from the first installment, SNDN2 is a classic B-movie oddity, filled with off-kilter acting, wild tonal shifts and low-budget ingenuity. Anyone who remembers the halcyon days of early YouTube may recall "garbage day!" - one of many bizarre line-readings from the film. Freaky Farley (2007) Written by, and starring Matt -Freaky Farley is both an homage to SNDN2 and another stellar entry in the Motern-verse. Shot on 16mm, with beautiful autumnal backgrounds, FF represented a huge step up for the Farley and Roxburgh team. Follow Matt on Twitter @MoternMedia Matt's Website: moternmedia.com email us: [email protected] Instagram: @cinema_rising Intro music: Joel Oldham @old.joel Artwork:  Fred Sanders @fredsanders.creative

We close out the year with one pic from each of the lads - two festive noirs coming at memory in very different ways. We also devote our middle section to a discussion of 2021 in cinema: What was good? What was bad? Don't form your own opinion, just listen to ours. This week's films: Blast of Silence (1961) Allen Barron directs and stars in this bleak urban character study of a Cleveland hitman on a job in New York over the festive period. Both a fun mix of pulpy existentialism and a unique document of sixties NY, Blast of Silence has enjoyed a critical revival in recent years, owing to high-profile admirers like Martin Scorsese and Joe Dante. Mr. Arkadin (1955) One of Orson Welles' many unfinished works, Mr. Arkadin follows a low-level criminal hired by a mysterious financier to investigate his own past. The exact reasons why a man would need his own background researched is perhaps not as clear as it seems...

Two of cinema's greatest Adams, together at last. Felix programmes a double-bill themed around amnesia, one that yields a truly incredible result. Listen to find out more. The Living Dead: Three Films About the Power of the Past (1995) Adam Curtis is a filmmaker who has loomed in the periphery of Cinema Rising, now finally getting a closer look. THe Living Dead is in fact a TV series, examining the way that the global memory of WWII was reshaped post-war; drawing connections to CIA experiments in mind control and Thatcher's weaponising of Churchill's memory. 50 First Dates (2004) A highly effective rom-com following a caddish veterinarian played by Sandler who falls for a woman unable to create new memories. FIlled with great messages and some questionable ones! email us: [email protected] Instagram: @cinema_rising Intro music: Joel Oldham @old.joel Artwork:  Fred Sanders @fredsanders.creative

The second episode of our "memory" season  - this time we look at two films about what happens when you get so drunk you forget what happened the night before. Also, the sound quality improves in the second half, apologies for the ASMR noises. The Blackout (1997) Matthew Modine plays Matty, a "flavour of the month" actor with a serious drug and alcohol problem. Under the watchful eye of a deranged nightclub impresario played by Dennis Hopper, he may have committed a crime can't remember. The Hangover (2009) Long before he shocked the world with his provocative, daring film about a clown that's veeeeery scary, Todd Phillips made a little comedy that propelled many of its cast into stardom, spawning two sequels and a range of imitators. email us: [email protected] Instagram: @cinema_rising Intro music: Joel Oldham @old.joel Artwork:  Fred Sanders @fredsanders.creative

We made it to Season Three...this time we explore "memory", kicking off with a top-tier double bill from Felix, based around the toxicity of nostalgia. Follow the show on Instagram @cinema_rising to see some of the truly wild art Fred Sanders will be creating for this season, utilising the archive of digital images available on foundphotos.net. Also email us: [email protected] This week's films: Twin Peaks: The Return (2017) When it was announced that David Lynch would be returning for a third season of his beloved collab with Mark Frost, it seemed like just another attempt to cash in on the warm memories audiences held onto from the original season. What we expected: cherry pie, damn fine coffee and a kooky send-up of American soap operas. What we got: a twenty-hour nightmarish examination of a decaying America rendered in startling, harsh digital - a bold new vision from Lynch that once again pushed the very medium of television into uncharted territory. Heard She Got Married (2021) Matt Farley and Charles Roxburgh  are true outsider artists, having made films together for over twenty years, their body of work has inspired a small, but loyal, fanbase which includes one Felix Dembinski. Heard She Got Married  is one of the darker entries in the pair's oeuvre - an unsettling, black-comedy noir about a washed up musician returning to his hometown. Intro music: Joel Oldham @old.joel Artwork:  Fred Sanders @fredsanders.creative

We close out our second season with a stellar double-bill from Felix and our second Halloween episode. Two horror films about fashion, beauty, consumerism and of course, ritual. We've already started recording episodes for the next season, Memory, so it won't be long until we're back in your ears. This week's films: The Neon Demon (2016) Film bro icon Nicolas Winding Refn's really went in on this glittery LA fairy tale. We follow Elle Fanning, a wide-eyed teen striving for success as a model, bewitching everyone she encounters with her beauty and youth.  We once again end up on the topic of Qanon as we discuss the predatory, youth-worshipping culture of the fashion industry. In Fabric (2018) A sly, Giallo-homage/satire by our very own Peter Strickland, In Fabric follows a middle-aged single mum, who buys a red dress from a sinister department store in middle-England, with unexpected and deadly results. See you all in the next season and Happy Halloween x Instagram: @cinema_rising Email: [email protected] Intro music: Joel Oldham @old.joel Artwork:  Fred Sanders @fredsanders.creative