The Intermission

VFX Bakeoff 2015

Mon, 12 Jan 2015 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - VFX Bakeoff 2015 - We recap the goings-on at this weekend's VFX Oscar "bake-off," and make our predictions.

Grab Bag 6

Tue, 06 Jan 2015 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - Grab Bag 6 - This is about as loose as we have ever been on any show. My god.

What You Missed in 2014 (Pt. 2)

Tue, 23 Dec 2014 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - What You Missed in 2014 (Pt. 2) - Let's finish this year off right, shall we? These episodes are fun.

What You Missed In 2014 (Pt. 1)

Sun, 14 Dec 2014 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - What You Missed In 2014 (Pt. 1) - We go through our collected lists of the best movies of the year.

2014 Oscar Shortlists

Thu, 11 Dec 2014 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - 2014 Oscar Shortlists - Let's run down the short lists for Oscar nominees in the categories of Visual Effects and Documentary. Predictions time!

Hollywood Positivity

Tue, 30 Sep 2014 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - Hollywood Positivity - Maybe the "What Are You Working On?" episode was too negative. Hollywood's definitely not ALL bad, so let's talk about the good stuff!

The Suggestioning

Tue, 23 Sep 2014 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - The Suggestioning - Three men. Twenty topics. One hour. Five golden rings. Seven deadly sins. One hour photo. Six.

"What Are You Working On?"

Mon, 15 Sep 2014 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - "What Are You Working On?" - Boy, do we hate that question.

Grab Bag 5: three

Wed, 10 Sep 2014 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - Grab Bag 5: three - This is about as loose as we've ever been.

Plot Hole Film Criticism

Tue, 15 Jul 2014 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - Plot Hole Film Criticism - We have a nice, long, sliiiiiightly meandering conversation about the state of online film criticism.

The Future of Star Wars

Mon, 23 Jun 2014 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - The Future of Star Wars - Alright, let's touch base. Where we at with all this? (As with all new episodes, this can also be viewed on YouTube. Click the forum button below.)

Grab Bag 4: Grabfourmers

Wed, 30 Apr 2014 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - Grab Bag 4: Grabfourmers - We talk about things!

Tokes & Stokes

Sun, 06 Apr 2014 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - Tokes & Stokes - Exhausted after a long day of filming, we sit down to discuss the cinematic masterpiece that is TOKES & STOKES, our April Fools gag for the year.

Best / Worst of 2013

Mon, 20 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - Best / Worst of 2013 - It's a huge Intermission, to recap all the movies we loved and hated in 2013. Strap in, it was a pretty crappy year.

VFX Bakeoff 2014

Mon, 13 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - VFX Bakeoff 2014 - We break our regularly scheduled Potterness for our yearly recap of the VFX Oscar Bakeoff. Sorry for the hot audio on this one, we're out of practice.

Programming Childhood

Sun, 01 Dec 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - Programming Childhood - For this episode of The Intermission, in preparation for next week's Potter marathon (friendsinyourhead.com/potter, y'all), we talk about film and TV we'd love to introduce children to.

#62 - Texters and Shushers

Sun, 11 Aug 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #62 - Texters and Shushers - We have a conversation about the apparently hot-button issue of texting in movie theaters.

#61 - Kickstarter

Mon, 22 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #61 - Kickstarter - The pros and cons of this cultural shift in democratic filmmaking, as well as stories from one of our own who raised tens of thousands of dollars for his own project.

#60 - "Grab Bag 3"

Sun, 07 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #60 - "Grab Bag 3" - This time we go for two hours. Yeah, man. There's a LOT of grabbing in this bag.

#58 - The World of Film Scores

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #58 - The World of Film Scores - Teague and his score-enthusiast pal Matt sit down with composers Kyle Newmaster and Alex Smith to talk everything film scores. A group of composers hanging out around a piano with some beers apparently results in four-hour-long episodes of Down in Front.

#57 - "And Then We Made A Movie"

Sun, 10 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #57 - "And Then We Made A Movie" - Damn near everyone on DIF, and many of the friends we've made from the DIF community, holed up in Eddie's house to make a documentary in five days. Insanity ensued.
(Watch this episode on YouTube)

#56 - Film Gear

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #56 - Film Gear - We talk a bit about toys. Cameras, jibs, dollies, the fun stuff.

#55 - Grab Bag 2: Bagging Grabbier

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #55 - Grab Bag 2: Bagging Grabbier - Oh, another one of these? Damn, Down in Front, you used to stand for something.

#54 - Is the VFX Industry Imploding?

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #54 - Is the VFX Industry Imploding? - With Rhythm and Hues filing for bankruptcy, the VFX industry is slow-panicking and hyperbolizing. This banner doesn't help, but I felt like being all clever with the R&H logo.
This is invisible text. Shh.(Also, try this episode in video!)

#53 - Film Criticism

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #53 - Film Criticism - We discuss our (apparent?) role as film critics, in the aftermath of an odd encounter with a filmmaker, and explore the full spectrum of authority in film criticism over the years.

#52 - Grab bag!

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #52 - Grab bag! - We talk about the news of the week, because we can. JJ Abrams on Star Wars, Celebrity Twitter Moment Pt. 1, House of Cards, and Mike hates geeks now.

#51 - The Best / Worst of 2012

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #51 - The Best / Worst of 2012 - We sit down and do a year-in-review recap on the best and worst movies of last year.

#50 - VFX Oscar Bake-Off 2012

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #50 - VFX Oscar Bake-Off 2012 - Every year, Trey goes to the selection meeting for what films will get VFX Oscar nominations. This year, everyone went.

#49 - Recommendations

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #49 - Recommendations - We like things, you like things, we like you, so we tell you things we've liked lately.

#48 - Setiquette

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #48 - Setiquette - There's a lot of little do's and don'ts about being on a film set. We treat this episode more like a "if you've never done that, here's some oddball stuff you might not know" conversation.

#47 - Book Recommendations

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #47 - Book Recommendations - With a bunch of plane rides in our collective futures, we sit down and chat about some of our favorite books and what we recommend that's come out lately.

#46 - "Backyard Blockbusters"

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #46 - "Backyard Blockbusters" - John Hudgens made a documentary about fanfilms, which we here at DIF are all a part of. Today we sit down with him to discuss the Hollywood premiere of said documentary, and talk inside-baseball shop. Check the forum for clips.

#45 - Unpopular Opinions

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #45 - Unpopular Opinions - We sit down with the chat room and have a frank discussion about things we have to defend to others, and our opinions that, well, offend others.

#44 - Disney Buys Lucasfilm

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #44 - Disney Buys Lucasfilm - We convened an emergency meeting of Down in Front, even pulling out old equipment to patch a Skype call in, to discuss the breaking news. Audio quality is a bit weird, but hey, we needed to use cables from the '70s to make this happen!

#43 - "Dem Hollywood Blues"

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #43 - "Dem Hollywood Blues" - People asked, and hey, why not. Steel yourself for this one: we're keeping it real. Click here for a picture of a kitty.

#42 - "Ten Things We Hate About You"

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #42 - "Ten Things We Hate About You" - We're fans, all of us, but there's a few things about fandom that get under our skin. We try not to be too self-loathing.

#41: "DIF in Spaaaaaace"

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #41: "DIF in Spaaaaaace" - We sit down to speak as non-commentators do on the subject of space, science, and hope for the future. For some reason.

#40 The Pink Five Story

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #40 The Pink Five Story - We sit down with Trey to discuss Pink Five, on this, the week of his grand unveiling of the Kickstarter to get the last episode off the ground. Funny anecdotes and coolness ensue.

#39 - "Comic-Con Recap"

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #39 - "Comic-Con Recap" - No movies, nuthin' fancy, we just share the stories from our collective Comic-Con experience.

#38 - "On Aurora, Colorado"

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #38 - "On Aurora, Colorado" - Like everyone else, we were horrified and saddened by the shooting in Colorado last week. We're not here to discuss breaking news, but the social fallout of this is something we have a bit to say about.

#37 - "Are We Worried About Pixar"

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #37 - "Are We Worried About Pixar" - Just today (in other words, AFTER this recording) it was announced that Finding Nemo 2 is also happening. We have an informal, uninformed, completely speculative conversation about our...concerns.

#36 - "Musicals"

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #36 - "Musicals" - After Mike and Trey enjoyed Rock of Ages, it got us to thinkin'... why don't we talk about musicals more? Not just us, I mean, everyone.

#35 - "Comic Con!"

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #35 - "Comic Con!" - With Comic Con coming up, we sit down to share stories and fun anecdotes about the nerd supernova, and give some tips for folks going for the first time.

#34 - "On Snow, White, and Hunstmen"

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #34 - "On Snow, White, and Hunstmen" - Let's talk about adaptations. Specifically, let's talk about Snow White and the Hunstman.
(Here's Dorkman's actual-review.)

#33 - "The People vs. The People vs. George Lucas"

Mon, 28 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #33 - "The People vs. The People vs. George Lucas" - We sit down to discuss the documentary "The People vs. George Lucas," which is available (in the U.S., at least) on Netflix streaming.

#32 - "Talkin' Battleship"

Mon, 21 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #32 - "Talkin' Battleship" - After this recording, we all agreed: never again shall we go see a movie just because it'd be so bad we'd have fun making fun of it on the show.

#31 - "Chat: The Avengers"

Wed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #31 - "Chat: The Avengers" - We sit down opening weekend to discuss our thoughts. Commentary to come later. No spoilers, then a spoiler warning, then spoilers. Have fun!

#30 - "Are Video Games Art?"

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #30 - "Are Video Games Art?" - This isn't a debate, it's just a conversation, but we take it several interesting ways and forsake movies for a week to get all abstract.

#29 - "Chat: Cabin in the Woods"

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #29 - "Chat: Cabin in the Woods" - Since we can't do a commentary for this one yet, we sit down and talk the hell out of Cabin in the Woods. No spoilers for a few minutes, there's a warning.

#28 - "Film vs. Digital"

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #28 - "Film vs. Digital" - Chris Nolan called congress of the secret culty order of the director brotherhood to talk film vs digital. We do the same with less goat's blood.

#27 - "Some Hunger Games"

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #27 - "Some Hunger Games" - Is it just another Intermission? Is it just another DIF? It's both! This week we talk at length about Hunger Games, and a bit about John Carter.

#26 - "Joss"

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #26 - "Joss" - Oh who cares. Let's just talk some Joss. Also, what's Trey's beef with The Avengers? It hasn't even come out yet!

#25 - "The Heroine's Journey"

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 00:21:00 GMT

The Intermission - #25 - "The Heroine's Journey" - We spend a lot of time talking about The Hero's Journey. But what if there was another classical story structure?

#24 - "Notes and Revisions"

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #24 - "Notes and Revisions" - We spend some time discussing our favorite stories about that what we all fear most: notes.

#23 - "The Burton Thing"

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #23 - "The Burton Thing" - We did Batman Returns, and it occurs to Teague - is Tim Burton's distinctive style an achievement or a hindrance, or both? And what are other directors' stylistic thumbprints?

#22 - "The Ark Story"

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:45:00 GMT

The Intermission - #22 - "The Ark Story" - The first in our mayhaps-series of "stories of things we've made." This time we get the story, top to bottom, of the making of Ark - from deals to filming to more deals. If you're in the US, Ark is available on Hulu.

#21 - "On Commentaries"

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #21 - "On Commentaries" - We've done commentaries for three years - almost 150 of them, now - we figured it might be time to sit down and discuss the form.

#20 - "Bake Off Stories"

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #20 - "Bake Off Stories" - Every year Trey goes to the VFX Oscar bake-off and comes back with his stories and opinions, as well as his bets for the nominees. This was a wacky-ass year for the bake-off, too.

#19 - "Piracy and Fair Use"

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #19 - "Piracy and Fair Use" - We sit down for an hour and discuss piracy in general, and at the half hour mark, switch over to the subject of "fair use."

#18 - "Winter Movies"

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #18 - "Winter Movies" - We plow through our opinions about all the movies we saw this Holiday season. No spoilers.

#17 - "Meeting of the Minds"

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #17 - "Meeting of the Minds" - A very special installment of something else, Teague met with three other dudes from the community to talk DIF, racism, and commentaries. Cool videos in the forum link.

#16 - Pitch Meeting

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #16 - Pitch Meeting - Trey uses the group of us and the chat room as a brain trust for a project he's working on, and asks us a simple question: what kind of supplemental online content for a series would interest you?

#15 - "Thuh-ree Uh-Dee!"

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #15 - "Thuh-ree Uh-Dee!" - The panel discusses their opinions of 3D in films, and then asks resident stereoscopic madman Dorkman how they do 3D conversions.

#14 - Mocap Oscar?

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #14 - Mocap Oscar? - We have an hour-long discussion on the thought-experiment "should motion captured performances be eligible for Academy Awards?" It's...nerdy.

#13 - Nielsen Ratings

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #13 - Nielsen Ratings - Alright, let's have an awkward conversation. It's time, guys. The Nielsen Ratings really aren't evil. They're just misunderstood.

#12 - Film School! Film School?

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #12 - Film School! Film School? - The gang sits down to discuss the pros and cons of their various film-educational experiences.

#11 - Conspiracy Theories

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #11 - Conspiracy Theories - From Iron Fist of the Obsidian Sith to Trey's history as the premier debunker of alien autopsies, to the moon...conspiracy theories are funny.

#10 - Network. No, Cable. Television. No, HBO.

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #10 - Network. No, Cable. Television. No, HBO. - What's the difference between a creative team working for network? Cable? Premium cable? Film, web? ... Porn?

#9 - The Terra Nova Special

Wed, 9 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #9 - The Terra Nova Special - Our first one-hour special on a particular topic - Brian, Dorkman, and Trey don't like Terra Nova. Trey...doesn't like Terra Nova. Like, in addition to that.

#8 - Best Worst Movies

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #8 - Best Worst Movies - ...sometimes these descriptions are difficult, by the way. "This episode is about best worst movies." Deep, right?

#7 - Anything But The Shark

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #7 - Anything But The Shark - It's like bouncing a ping pong ball on the paddle. We just try not to drop it and actually, you know, jump the shark.

#6 - The Blockbuster Bubble

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #6 - The Blockbuster Bubble - We ask a question that's been bothering us for a long time - if a bad movie can make a billion dollars, what's the virtue in making a good one?

#5 - The Classics

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #5 - The Classics - A rousing thirty minute discussion about the classics: classics nobody has seen, classics we haven't seen, and classics we just don't get.

#4 - How We Write Movies

Wed, 5 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #4 - How We Write Movies - In what may be the first of a series (email us questions), Teague lobs screenwriting questions at the panel to get the consensus of three years of movie analysis from our screenwriters.

#3 - Why, Of All Places

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #3 - Why, Of All Places - Trey asks an interesting question: why do we do our jobs? What have been the high points and low points?

#2 - For Screens Large and Small

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #2 - For Screens Large and Small - We pick the brains of Trey, director of Ark and Pink Five, and Julian Higgins, co-director of Fallout: Nuka Break, about the business of making movies for the web.

#1 - Origins and TFN Fanfilms

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The Intermission - #1 - Origins and TFN Fanfilms - Our first episode of this little experiment, we talk how we met, what we've done, and what the hell we're doing.