The 24 Frames Cast: Recent Episodes
Tom Jennings
Sound of Falling is a critically adored arthouse modern classic apparently, It's actually rubbish.
I'm back and in the world of podcasting again with some recent watches and recommendations
Another bonus episode BUT I've found one of my name favourite films and a truly great UHD.
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A recent work conversation about The Terminator films made me realise something...going to the cinema lately has been a bit...well...dull.
I love The Criterion Collection, but something is not quite cutting it at the moment and it's time to have a look at some rather troubling recent releases.
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There are some films that feel less like stories and more like memories. In this episode, we talk about Call Me By Your Name — Luca Guadagnino’s tender, aching portrait of first love, longing, and the summers that seem to exist outside of time.
We explore the film’s incredible use of sound, silence, music, and nature, from the constant hum of cicadas to the intimacy of Sufjan Stevens’ soundtrack, and how every frame seems filled with heat, desire, and nostalgia. More than that, we reflect on why this film reaches so many people so deeply: the way it reminds us of our own pasts, the people we can never fully forget, and the strange pain of remembering moments that were beautiful precisely because they could not last.
This episode is ultimately about the power of cinema itself — how a film can make us feel seen, understood, and transported back into parts of ourselves we thought had disappeared. Call Me By Your Name isn’t just a love story; it’s a reminder of just how emotionally truthful and overwhelming great cinema can be.
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Four months in and it's time to take a look at how 2026 is doing so far.
You can find my video essay on Escape to Victory here
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What happens when the system designed to protect humanity decides it knows better than us?
In this episode, I dive into the chilling world of Colossus: The Forbin Project—a Cold War sci-fi that feels more relevant now than ever. From nuclear anxiety and early AI fears to questions about control and the films place in Sci Fi history.
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In this episode, I explore An Ungentlemanly Act—the BBC’s understated dramatization of the opening hours of the Falklands War—and what it reveals about Britain at a turning point in its history. Moving beyond a simple retelling, I examine the political tensions in both Britain and Argentina in 1982, and how those pressures led to a conflict neither side fully anticipated.
We place the film within the wider tradition of British imperial cinema, from Zulu to The Four Feathers, and consider how it both draws from and quietly questions those narratives. At its core, the film presents a familiar British story: a small group facing overwhelming odds with restraint, professionalism, and a sense of duty—but here, that story ends in surrender rather than victory.
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In this episode, I explore the themes of science, faith, and belief through the lens of the film Contact. The discussion looks at how the story challenges the divide between evidence and personal experience, particularly when the film’s scientist protagonist finds herself defending something she cannot prove. Along the way, the episode reflects on how people understand scientific knowledge, why debates about design and evolution persist, and how both believers and non-believers search for meaning in the universe.
This episode explores Manon as both a tragic love story and a sharp portrait of postwar France. We examine how Henri-Georges Clouzot adapts an 18th-century novel into a study of moral ambiguity in the shadow of Liberation and the trial of Philippe Pétain.
The discussion focuses on Manon as a socially marked woman shaped by poverty, sexuality, and public judgment, and on Robert as a dislocated Resistance fighter whose devotion masks instability rather than heroism. We consider how Clouzot crafts a distinctly unsentimental “woman’s picture,” how his visual style reflects a climate of suspicion and exhaustion, and how the film anticipates the psychological pressure of later works like The Wages of Fear and Les Diaboliques.
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I love books about films so I thought it would be nice to share a recent recommendation. Michael Curtiz: A Life in Film is more than just a biography; it's a journey through the history of Hollywood in the Golden Age and an absolute must read.
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Loveless is Andrey Zvyagintsev’s chilling portrait of a family — and a society — defined by emotional absence. Framed around the disappearance of a child, the film refuses the comforts of mystery or redemption, instead observing how indifference, distraction, and self-interest quietly shape everyday life. Through its restrained style and unflinching gaze, Loveless becomes less a story about loss than a study of what happens when care itself erodes — in private relationships and in the world beyond them.
This episode explores Night Mail (1936) as both a defining work of British documentary cinema and a carefully constructed piece of modernist art. Through close discussion, the podcast examines how the film presents work not as glamorous or heroic, but as essential, collective labour that underpins modern life. It considers the historical context of the GPO Film Unit and John Grierson’s vision of documentary as a civic tool, alongside the film’s innovative production methods and stylistic choices.
The episode pays particular attention to Night Mail’s formal design: its rhythmic editing, overtly composed soundscape, and the way image, music, and narration are tightly integrated. Central to this discussion is W. H. Auden’s poem, analysed as the film’s aesthetic and thematic climax, where industrial process, human connection, and national identity converge.
By treating Night Mail as both a social document and a work of art, the podcast asks why the film still matters today—what it reveals about attitudes to labour, infrastructure, and collective responsibility, and what it continues to teach us about the expressive possibilities of documentary filmmaking.
The film:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLkvPG-iYHM
Where to buy:
Amazon
Britain in the 1960s liked to imagine itself as a global saviour. James Bond told us we still ran the world.
But The Ipcress File told a very different story.
In this episode of Celluloid Underground, we take a deep dive into one of the most quietly radical spy films ever made — a Cold War thriller that strips espionage of glamour and replaces it with paranoia, paperwork, and psychological warfare.
We explore how a fading post-imperial Britain is reflected in cramped offices, petty bureaucratic rivalries, and a hero who shops for groceries instead of saving the world. We examine Sidney J. Furie’s disorienting visual style, John Barry’s unsettling score, and how the film creates an atmosphere where no one — not even your superiors — can be trusted.
This is not a story about power. It’s a story about uncertainty. About loyalty under pressure. And about what happens when the Cold War moves inside the human mind.
If you think spy films are about gadgets and glamour, The Ipcress File will change your mind.
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In this episode, we take a closer look at the PBS App—what it offers and whether it’s worth adding to your streaming lineup. From award-winning documentaries to trusted news and thoughtful storytelling, I also spend a little time with Ken Burns, one of PBS’s most iconic voices. Known for his deeply human approach to American history, Burns has shaped how generations experience documentaries—through powerful stories, unforgettable narration, and a style that invites you to slow down and really listen.
All music licensed through Music Bed
In this episode, we travel back to 1903 to explore the film that helped define American cinema long before Hollywood found its voice. The Great Train Robbery isn’t just an early Western—it’s a landmark collision of myth, modernity, and narrative invention. Released while real outlaws were still roaming the frontier, the film stands at a pivotal moment when the American West was fading into history but rising into legend.
We examine how Edwin S. Porter’s short, violent, technically daring film transformed cinema from a novelty into a storytelling medium. From its startling alignment with the outlaws to its groundbreaking use of action, movement, and editing, The Great Train Robbery shaped the themes that would dominate American film for the next century: frontier justice, charismatic violence, technological change, and the thin line between spectator and participant.
We also unpack the film’s iconic final shot—a bandit firing directly into the camera—and why it remains one of the most provocative gestures in film history.
If you’ve ever wondered how the Western became myth, how cinema learned to tell stories, or why American film has always been fascinated with outlaws, this deep dive uncovers the origins of it all.
A revisionist Western before revisionism existed. A myth created in real time. And a twelve-minute film that changed everything.
Where to watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In3mRDX0uqk
All music licensed through Music Bed
In this episode, The 24 Frames Cast dives deep into one of cinema’s most fascinating and overlooked revolutions: the rise of the 70mm blow-up. Beginning with Otto Preminger’s The Cardinal in 1963—an ordinary 35mm film that stunned audiences when projected in 70mm—the episode explores how Panavision, Eastman Kodak, and Technicolor worked together to create a process so convincing that even seasoned projectionists mistook it for true 65mm photography.
From the widescreen arms race of the 1950s to the golden era of roadshow presentations, we trace how exhibitors’ demand for spectacle drove the development of blow-up technology. The episode examines the birth of Dolby 70mm six-track magnetic sound, the introduction of the famous “baby boom” bass channels, and how these innovations laid the foundation for the 5.1 and 7.1 systems we use in home cinemas today.
The Movie Collector You Tube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBss6hGjKeM
In 70mm Website:
https://www.in70mm.com
Music:
https://www.musicbed.com
In this deep-dive episode of The 24 Frames Cast, we journey into the dense Cambodian jungles to explore one of the most haunting and overlooked war films ever made: The 317th Platoon (1965). Directed by former Indochina War veteran Pierre Schoendoerffer, this stark, unflinching portrayal of a French platoon’s doomed retreat reveals the final gasps of France’s colonial ambitions and eerily anticipates America’s later tragedy in Vietnam.
I will examine the film’s astonishing on-location production, its quasi-documentary realism, and the powerful dynamic between the young idealistic lieutenant and the hardened career soldier L’adjudant Willsdorf, whose lifetime of fighting France’s colonial battles becomes a symbol of a collapsing empire. Through scene analysis, historical context, and cinematic insight, this episode unpacks the film’s place in world cinema and why its quiet, devastating truth still resonates today.
Discover how Dolby Stereo revolutionised film sound. This episode explores its origins, its breakthrough films, and the hidden matrix magic that reshaped Hollywood and home cinema alike.
Recommended films to listen too:
Early & Landmark 70mm Six-Track Dolby Stereo:
- A Star Is Born (1976) – first commercial six-track Dolby release
- Logan’s Run (1976)
- Star Wars (1977) – legendary 70mm mix
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
- Superman: The Movie (1978)
- Apocalypse Now (1979) – groundbreaking, experimental sound design
Classic 35mm Dolby Stereo (Matrix Lt/Rt):
- Alien (1979) – atmospheric, tense use of surrounds
- The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
- Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
- Blade Runner (1982)
- E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
- Ghostbusters (1984)
- Back to the Future (1985)
Late-Era Dolby Stereo Highlights:
- The Fugitive (1993)
- The Lion King (1994) – superb theatrical mix
- Toy Story (1995) – one of the final major Dolby Stereo flagships
In 1974, Francis Ford Coppola released The Conversation — a quiet, unsettling film about a man who hears too much and feels too little. At first glance, it’s a story about surveillance. But beneath the microphones and tape machines lies something far more human: guilt, loneliness, and the desperate need to stay unseen.
In this episode, we step inside the private world of Harry Caul — a surveillance expert haunted by the sounds he captures and the silence he can’t escape. We explore the film’s key themes, its haunting sound design, and its eerie foresight into our digital age — when we all became both watchers and the watched.
Further reading and viewing:
- The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
- Blow Out (Brian De Palma, 1981)
- Klute (Alan J. Pakula, 1971)
- Michel Chion — Audio-Vision: Sound on Screen
- Laura Mulvey — “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”
- Don DeLillo — White Noise (on paranoia, technology, and intimacy)
Gattaca is a 1997 dystopian science fiction classic. But what makes it dystopian and how does it warn us about the future?
Alan Clarkes Elephant caused outrage on its release in 1989. A film that defies genre, it is a work of unrelenting bleakness that depicts 18 murders during The Troubles. I take a look at the films production, my personal experiences of spending time in Ireland and offer my take on this extraordinary film.
I love UHD and you should too. Here is a brief explanation of this format and the culture around it as well as my top ten picks you may wish to consider.
Great You Tube creators who review UHD's
https://www.youtube.com/@JeffRauseo
https://www.youtube.com/@moviecollector5920
https://www.youtube.com/@ElliotCoen
In 2014, I became obsessed with the films of Michelangelo Antonioni and like an idiot ignored Zabriskie Point because some pesky critics didn't like it. I've now watched it more times than I can remember and hope in some ways this episode encourages you to seek it out.
It's back and in this first part I take a look at the first five 70mm films of this years festival.
Jacques Tourneur Wyatt Earp origin story is an underrated Cinemascope gem. Find out why now!
A film noir gem that I rented by accident that turned out to be a New Year treat. Enjoy.
We all hate homework and you might think watching The Battleship Potemkin is going to be akin to doing the times table. It's not. It's a great action film that is also a timely reminder not to take any crap of the powers that be and you should watch it right now.
A recent book purchase led me on a Western binge. Two stood out from the crowd The Big Trail and The Ox-Bow Incident. Both very different and both quite excellent. Enjoy.
I've recently gone through the film of Nicholas Ray and amongst the highs and the lows really rather enjoyed In a Lonely Place. It's a film noir of sorts as well as look at the state of 1950's Hollywood.
Not the first western ever made but one of the most important, The Great Train Robbery was made when Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid were still knocking about. A violent, funny and important film in the history of cinema. Watch it by following the link below.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3jrB5ANUUY
The James Bond Retrospective now comes to the feed in this first bonus episode. From 1962 to 1971 I take a look at the Connery years with a slight detour with George Lazenby. Enjoy!
In this episode I will take a look at François Truffaut's Jules et Jim a film that no matter how many times I watch I still can't make up my mind about,
In this episode I delve into the world of a Paris vice squad in Bertrand Tavernier's L.627 where cops have to fight the very system they are trying to protect and keep drugs off the streets of Paris.
Part Two of this years festival is here. Featured in this episode:
DragonSlayer
Firefox
The Two Jakes
Malcolm X
The Agony and the Ecstasy
The show is now live on You Tube for video essays please find the link below for the first essay on The Set-Up
https://www.youtube.com/user/tomjay1979/featured
And The 24 Frames Cast is now available on Spotify, Amazon Music and all major podcast services.
In this episode I take a look at The Hobbit and Unexpected Journey, First: The Official Film of the Olympics and Bela Tarrs The Turin Horse
In this episode I take a look at Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Las Acacias and Hugh Hudsons 1980's megaflop Revolution.
A look at Octobers releases including The Forgiveness of Blood, Sunday Bloody Sunday and Rosemary's Baby.
A look at May's release including Being John Malkovich, Certified Copy, Summer Interlude and Summer with Monika
A rant at boring film talk, a Blu Ray boxset to avoid and Andrea Arnolds Wuthering Heights
Part two takes us from Manhattan to Boot Camp in this middle chapter of Scott's career.
February 2012 releases including: Three Outlaw Samurai, Tiny Furniture, World on a Wire, Anatomy of a Murder
Internet Piracy, Touch of Evil, Silent Running, Tinker Tailor Solider Spy, Contagion, TT Closer to the Edge
Star Wars Nonsense, Cross of Iron and How the West was Won Blu Rays, update on my film and reviews of How I Ended This Summer and Meeks Cutoff
A case of love at first sight as Ivan Passers lost classic Cutters Way reminds me why I love cinema in the first place.
A tad self indulgent episode in which I talk about making my first film, the Baraka Blu Ray and review Of Gods and Men
Here we go again with Sidney Lumet, Armond White, Professor Brian Cox, Tron and Tron Legacy. Enjoy.
One of the greatest novels ever written finally made its way into the cinema in 2009. Of course there would be the complainers but for me Zack Zynder not only made a great adaptation, he also made one of the greatest superhero films ever made.
A new show debuts again in which I discuss anything from my film watching world and conclude with a review: this week The Battle of Algiers
A look back at one of the 70’s forgotten films William Friedkin’s Wages of Fear Remake was a disaster on its initial release but has since become a cult classic, join me as I go back to the jungle for the type of journey nightmares are made of.
A forgotten Ealing classic get the Close Up treatment 1951’s Pool of London is a post war British Noir film that somehow manages never to be talked about...until now. For more go to: http://24framescast.blogspot.com/
In this Close Up episode I take a look at Gimme Shelter the film that ended a generation. For more information please proceed to http://24framescast.blogspot.com/
This will be the first in a series of three focusing on the work of Ridley Scott. In this episode I will talk about his early career and include in depth reviews of The Duelists, Alien, Blade Runner and Legend. For more information proceed to www.24framescast.blogspot.com
In this Close Up episode I take a look at a lost Sci Fi classic Colossus: The Forbin Project. For more information proceed to www.24framescast.blogspot.com.
A look at three films exploring the what if of nuclear war. The War Game, The Day After and Threads caused a host of controversy, debate and arguments upon their release. In this episode I take a look at what all the fuss was about and why these remain such important pieces of work. For more information proceed to www.24framescast.blogspot.com.