Talking Images

Talking Images is the official podcast of ICMForum.com.

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20 episodes
Updated April 15

Episodes20

Newest first

April 15 · 36 min
Interpretation: The Enemy of Art and Joy? (Are We the Problem?!)
Do you turn into a human film seminar every time a movie ends? And if so, do you need help? Are you scaring away those around you? Do you even enjoy films anymore? Could it be that interpretation is really the enemy of art and joy? In this episode, Chris, Arthur, Ben, and Sol grapple with the ideas of Susan Sontag’s infamous essay "Against Interpretation", and someone will make the exact opposite case: that interpreting films can really make them come alive. Oh boy, are we the armchair intellectuals ruining everything?
March 15 · 1 hr 22 min
Did Lois Weber Forget Everything She Learned When Making Suspense?
In the 1910s, Lois Weber was one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood. She wrote, directed, produced, and even starred in films that pushed boundaries, made huge profits, and frequently angered censors. But how well have her morality tales actually held up, and did she ever make anything remotely as good as Suspense, either before or after? In this episode, Allison, Brett, and Chris walk through her films, from anti-abortion dramas to colossal blockbuster epics, and everything in between, to find out which films still manage to speak to us. Spoiler: While Brett maintains that Suspense is her only truly impressive work, the film he hates the most is actually Chris' favourite.
Dec 1, 2025 · 1 hr 6 min
Screw Cinemas: Is Watching Movies From Home Better Than Going to the Theatre?
While everyone is decrying the death of movie theatres, Lauren could not care less. For her, watching films at home is an entirely superior experience; too many movies have been spoiled by seeing them with others on the big screen. Can the case be made that the home experience is simply cozier, quieter, and, well, better ... or will the panel attempt to tear her apart?
Nov 1, 2025 · 1 hr 36 min
The Early Masterpieces of Chantal Akerman
Has any director achieved more than Chantal Akerman while still in their 20s? The only comparison point is really Orson Welles. This is the woman who made Jeanne Dielman, voted the greatest film of all-time by Sight & Sound, when she was 24, and the masterpieces kept coming. In this episode, Matt and Chris dive into what makes Chantal Akerman's early masterpieces so special, from their daring and changing form, redefining what cinema could be, to their deeply personal, human, and touching connections. We will also explore why these films put so many people off, even pissing them off, and the controversy around Jeanne Dielman in particular - but more importantly, we will discuss each of the 4 major feature films Akerman made in the 70s - timestamps included: Je tu il elle / I, You, He, She (1974) - 00:17:12 Jeanne Dielman (1975)- 00:32:45 News From Home (1976) - 00:52:07 Les rendez-vous d'Anna / The Meetings of Anna (1978) - 01:05:01 We also made the decision to include the more often overlooked 5th major film she made immediately after her 4 early masterpieces: Toute une nuit / A Whole Night (1982) - 01:16:40 A worthy inclusion in this set? Let us know, but we felt we had to talk about it!
Oct 1, 2025 · 44 min
Biopics Bore Us: Is This the Laziest Genre?
Are biopics mostly just lazy summaries of Wikipedia articles? A production mill of comfort food aimed to cash in on the icons of your youth/past? Or: Are they great insights into intriguing people of the past and present? Join us as our hosts share their disdain for conventional biographies, before being told - by IMDb - just how many biopics they actually love.
Sep 1, 2025 · 1 hr 42 min
The 6 Best Obscure Films of All Time?
For 13 years, the ICMForum has hosted a poll of obscure favourites. In that time, only 6 films have won. In this episode, we discuss we discuss each winner in detail, and talk about why you NEED to seek them out. Oh, and the 14th edition is going on right now. You can submit your vote up until the 30th of September. Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:10:19 - Letter Never Sent 00:26:53 - Sundays and Cybele 00:49.09 - Muddy River 01:03:48 - Carriage to Vienna 01:15:37 - Rapture 01:32:42 - Birth Certificate
Aug 1, 2025 · 1 hr 10 min
The Brilliance of Buster Keaton: The Films, the Gags, and the Death-Defying Stunts
Buster Keaton was so dedicated to his craft that he broke his neck and still finished the take. Then showed up the next day. In this episode, we trace his rise from Fatty Arbuckle's sidekick to his own master, ending the journey while Keaton was still at the top of the world, with his last solo-directorial effort in the silent era: The General. We'll chat through his best shorts, with particular focus on One Week and The High Sign, get into his first attempt at a feature film with Three Ages, and then cover his two arguably best films, Sherlock Jr. and The General. Along the way, we'll pause to just awe at the incredibly creative, hilarious, and often death-defying gags and stunts, and talk about why he remains icon to this day. Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:10:22 - Fatty Archbuckle's Sidekick 00:17:47 - One Week 00:30:02 - The High Sign 00:35:02 - Three Ages 00:45:40 - Sherlock Jr 00:54:13 - The General
Jul 1, 2025 · 2 hr 46 min
Best Films of 2024: Our Top 10s
How many films will we be able to agree on this time? Listen in as Arthur, Chris, Sol, and Tom reveal their top 10 films of 2024. Spoiler: As usual, even our number 1s are not safe from criticism, though we did have a few surprising overlaps and agreements. And while we may not see eye to eye on everything, we do seem to all have one thing in common: the belief that 2024 was a pretty amazing year for cinema.
Jun 1, 2025 · 1 hr 32 min
Top 50 Films of the 2020s (So Far)
The ICMForum community has voted on the best films of the 2020s (so far). Join us as we present and react to their (our) choices, with a surprising number of disagreements! In this episode, we go through the top 50. Feel free to explore the complete list of ICMForum's Top 250 of the 2020s. You can also see the list on IMDb and iCheckMovies.
May 1, 2025 · 1 hr 23 min
Evolving Tastes: Do We All Become Film Snobs as We Get Older?
Do you love exactly the same films for exactly the same reasons as you did 10-20-30+ years ago? In this episode, we try to figure out how and why taste changes, and explore how different our preferences are from when we first got into cinema. We will also ponder the very serious possibility that cinema acts as a literal drug, where the more exposed we are, the stronger a fix we need. Could it be that we are all on the same path to more and more extreme tastes, be it experimental cinema or the goriest horrors we can find? Listen in and find out.
Apr 2, 2025 · 25 min
Should Everyone Be Forced to Rewatch Showgirls?
Showgirls went from being considered one of the worst films of all time to one of the best in less than 30 years. How does a film go from winning both Worst Picture and Worst Picture of the Decade at the Razzies to being in They Shoot Pictures Don't They's Top 1000? Was everyone who saw it then just "wrong"? Did they come in with the wrong expectations? Or: Was Showgirls just too ahead of its time? In this episode, Sol and Arthur tackle these and more questions while complaining, over and over again, how none of the original haters wanted to rewatch the film and join the podcast. Should everyone just bite the bullet and see Showgirls again?
Mar 1, 2025 · 1 hr 31 min
Quentin Dupieux: The Prince of Weird
He made the B-movie about a rubber tyre killing people with its psychic powers. He had superheroes give monsters cancer and stoners raise a dog-sized fly. Quentin Dupieux is weird. He's surreal. And ... kinda trashy and lowbrow when he wants. In this episode, we turn everything on its head, starting with his most recent film (that we have all seen - Daaaaaalí! - and working our way back to his very first mini-feature Nonfilm - as we try to figure out what makes him tick and how we could explain his films at a dinner party. Timestamps: Intro: 00:00:00 Dinner Party Pitch - 00:03:00 Daaaaaalí! - 00:12:14 Yannick - 00:22:08 Smoking Causes Coughing - 00:34:07 Incredible but True - 00:39:38 Mandibules - 00:45:00 Deerskin - 00:51:17 Keep an Eye Out - 00:56:32 Reality - 00:59:23 Wrong Cops - 01:04:33 Wrong - 01:09:19 Rubber - 01:11:46 Steak - 01:19:43 Nonfilm - 01:23:17
Feb 2, 2025 · 31 min
Is Emilia Perez This Decade's Crash?
One of us rated Emilia Perez 1/10 - find out why, as we make blanket statements about why the Academy may love it, estimate its chances and utter the words "inspirational trauma porn" more than once.
Dec 28, 2024 · 58 min
The 2020s Are Halfway Done: What Will This Decade Be Remembered For?
Are we in a new 60s, where Hollywood is burning out of steam and foreign films, along with A24 and Neon, are taking the spotlight? Could we be on the road to one of the best decades in history, or is it something far more lacklustre going on? Join us as we break down our impressions of the first half of the 2020s and guess/share our hopes of what this decade will be remembered for. How wrong will we be?
Nov 15, 2024 · 1 hr 11 min
10+ Hidden Gems From the Last 3 Years [ICMFFF2024]
The ICMForum's 8th annual film festival is here. In this episode, Chris and Matt discuss the 10 films on the main slate and shout out favourites across the program.
Nov 1, 2024 · 1 hr 45 min
We Watched Every Pixar Short, and Now We Will Judge Them
Adam, Brett, and Chris collectively watched practically every single Pixar Short, from the early CGI experiments in the 80s to Academy Award nominees and winners to DVD extras and the still-running "SparkShorts." Exhausted from endless Cars Franchise tie-ins, though more optimistic about Toy Story, this episode flies between love and admiration to disappointment. Listen in to hear which Pixar shorts we love, which disappointed us, and which sparked a heated debate with "soulless content" accusations. Don't worry, it ends on a note of positivity as we discuss the co-op program, an initiative we were all thoroughly ignorant of, but resulted in some of the best work from Pixar employees.
Oct 15, 2024 · 1 hr 31 min
What is Horror: Is it Enough to be Scary?
Are all war films horror? Someone on today's panel will claim so - but in that case - where can we draw the lines? Join us as we try to define horror and, more controversially, make bold claims that some huge horror films, including The Omen, don't qualify.
Oct 1, 2024 · 2 hr 6 min
What the Hell is Taste (and How Well Do We Know Our Own)?!
Join us as we see where we fit in on the scale between Grown Ups and Jeanne Dielman, accidentally diss a bunch of people as being part of a hive mind, and stumble onto moments of self-awareness and discovery.
Sep 15, 2024 · 1 hr 59 min
Worst Movie Ever: What Makes a Film THAT Bad?!
We may love cinema, but some movies are just pure torture. In this episode, we will reveal our picks for the worst movie ever made, dive into what makes us hate (or dislike) films in general, and, as a provocative bonus, reveal which critically acclaimed darlings we have rated 1/10.
Aug 15, 2024 · 46 min
Another Big Quiz Show Episode
Can returning champion [NAME REDACTED] hold onto their title against new and old foes? Tune in to the 2nd edition of Talking Images' Big Quiz Show to see which of the hosts actually know what they're talking about. P.S. Be sure to check out our first Quiz Show episode as well.