Our director for this month is the mercurial Sam Peckinpah (1925-1984), who left an indelible mark on American television and cinema over a 30-year career.

Despite his many clashes with Hollywood studio brass (and often his own crew) and his early passing at the age of 59, Peckinpah distinguished himself with a singular vision of the Old West and his graphic depictions of violence in films like The Wild Bunch, Straw Dogs, Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. We'll revisit these films and what the man known as "Bloody Sam" sought to demonstrate with his often polarizing on-screen violence.

Listen, like, subscribe, and don't forget to leave a rating or review wherever you get your podcasts. Kisses many.

This month, we return to celebrate and examine the work of a personal favourite of mine: Greek-Cypriot director Yannis Economides (b. 1967).

Heralded as one of several filmmakers responsible for a recent resurgence in Greek cinema and an auteur of modern realism, Economides has spent a 20-year career as a feature director exploring the darker sides of human nature and their many manifestations among the lower and middle class of modern Greece, helming bold, unsettling, and often darkly humorous films like Matchbox, Soul Kicking, Stratos, and Ballad for a Pierced Heart.

Listen, like, subscribe, and don't forget to leave a rating/review wherever you get your podcasts. Kisses many.

This episode takes a stab at covering the life and early work of Hal Ashby (1929-1988), a director who was synonymous with the New Hollywood era of the 70s and helmed a string of beloved films that often doubled as social commentaries, including The Landlord, Harold & Maude, The Last Detail, and Shampoo. We'll revisit these films, Ashby's apprenticeship under filmmaker Norman Jewison, his contradictions, and the parallels between his male protagonists and his own life.

Listen, like, subscribe, and don't forget to leave a rating and review on your go-to podcast platform. Kisses many.