I have tried out a number of movie podcasts, and one of the best is The Important Cinema Club. Listening to hosts Will Sloan and Justin Decloux feels like hanging out with your friends in the basement talking about movies. But only if your friends knew a ton about movies and were able to talk about them without being smug or making you feel like an idiot.
In The Important Cinema Club, Sloan and Decloux explore great films, but they also talk about not-so-great movies. They take a light-hearted approach, so you never feel like you are listening to movie snobs who think they know more than you.
Although they do know more than you, Sloan and Decloux are not afraid to explain why they do not like a classic like Gone With the Wind while also heaping praise on Godzilla movies or the work of Jerry Lewis. One of their recent episodes was devoted to Looney Tunes, and when they turned their focus on Steven Spielberg they decided to focus on his lesser-loved works.
So, one of the great things about The Important Cinema Club is the range of topics. In one episode, they will be talking about Starship Troopers while just a few episodes earlier they devoted an episode to Vincente Minnelli. You will likely start listening by skipping around to episodes about movies you have seen. But you also should listen to the episodes about movies, stars, and directors you have never heard of. Sloan and Decloux have a ton of knowledge, and The Important Cinema Club is one of the most educational podcasts I have found.
But most importantly, the podcast is fun. The best part is the interaction between Sloan and Decloux and their sense of humor. You can tell that they really like each other and that they love movies. Their self-effacing humor makes all of their knowledge both accessible and fun. These guys know their stuff, but they also know how to have a good time. In some ways, they are using their podcast to do what Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert did with television by elevating the conversation about movies while also making the conversation entertaining and fun.
Host Justin Decloux writes about movies, while hosting another podcast called Loose Cannons with Matthew Kumar. He is an editor at FilmTrap.com and also has written and directed films. Will Sloan writes about movies, and has written for NPR and other places. His blog and other writings cover other topics in addition to film.
Most of the podcasts are free. But once you start listening to The Important Cinema Club, you might want to support the podcast through Patreon and gain access to bonus content.
If you do not trust my recommendation, listen to my new “friends” Will and Justin tell you why you should listen to The Important Cinema Club.
What is your favorite movie podcast? Leave your two cents in the comments.
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Episodes run anywhere between forty minutes and two hours, and each one may examine an artist’s career or may analyze the history behind a certain song, or both. For example, one two-part episode centered on the relationship between Buck Owens and his guitarist Don Rich. Another episode tells the story about how radio stations banned Loretta Lynn’s song, “The Pill.” Another episode focused on Bobby Gentry’s “Ode to Bille Joe” while also giving a fascinating overview of Gentry’s career.