Call It, Friendo

This week, we discuss two films which feature wrestling. The first is Paradise Alley (1978), an American sports drama written, directed by, and starring Sylvester Stallone (in his feature directorial debut). The film tells the story of three Italian American brothers in Hell's Kitchen in the 1940s who become involved in professional wrestling. The second is The Iron Claw (2023), a

This week, we discuss two critically acclaimed films from Brazil. The first is Estômago (2007), a Brazilian–Italian film directed by Marcos Jorge. It tells the story of Raimundo, a humble man who moves to the big city to become a chef. The film won a number of awards in Brazil. The second is Bacurau (2019), a Weird Western film written and directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho and

This week, we discuss two films from American director Samuel Fuller. The first is White Dog (1982), a drama/horror film based on Romain Gary's 1970 novel of the same name. The film depicts the struggle of a dog trainer named Keys (Paul Winfield), who is black, trying to retrain a stray dog found by a young actress (Kristy McNichol), that is a "white dog"—a dog trained to make vi

This week, we discuss two films which competed for the Palme d’Or in 2021. The first is A Hero (2021), an Iranian-French drama film written and directed by Asghar Farhadi and starring Amir Jadidi, Mohsen Tanabandeh and Sahar Goldoost. The film was screened at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, ultimately winning the Grand Prix. The second is Annette (2021), a musical romantic drama f

This week, we discuss two highly acclaimed films from the 90s. The first is Before the Rain (1994), a Macedonian war film written and directed by Milcho Manchevski and starring Katrin Cartlidge and Rade Šerbedžija. The film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 67th Academy Awards. The second is Farewell My Concubine (1993), a Chinese-Hong Kong epic historical drama

This week, we discuss two films from the 1970s starring Elliott Gould. The first is The Silent Partner (1978), a 1978 Canadian thriller film directed by Daryl Duke and starring Elliott Gould, Christopher Plummer, and Susannah York. The second is Capricorn One (1977), a 1977 British-produced American thriller film in which a reporter discovers that a supposed Mars landing by a crewe

This week, we discuss two films from legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. The first is Throne of Blood (1957), which is based on Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The film stars Toshiro Mifune and Isuzu Yamada in the lead roles. With a budget of $350,000, the film was one of the most expensive films ever made in Japan at the time of its release. The second is Ikiru (1952). The film e

In this week’s episode we run through our best of 2023, starting with our top 5 toss pick films. We also delve into our favourite (and least favourite) media released last year. Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie Letterboxd – @andycifpod @donnchadh Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two films connected to Sherlock Holmes. The first is Zero Effect (1998), a mystery comedy film written and directed by Jake Kasdan in his feature directional debut. Starring Bill Pullman as "the world's most private detective", Daryl Zero, and Ben Stiller as his assistant Steve Arlo, the film's plot is loosely based on the Arthur Conan Doyle short story "A Sca

This week, we discuss two films about the Japanese mafia. The first is The Yakuza (1974), a neo-noir crime drama film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Robert Mitchum, Ken Takakura and Brian Keith. The screenplay by Paul Schrader and Robert Towne is from a story by Schrader's brother, Leonard Schrader. The second is Sonatine (1993), directed, written and edited by Takeshi Kit