A plug for “Film Junk”

Over a year ago I discovered the “Film Junk” weekly podcast, which I have been listening to since then.  I listen to it when I’m walking my dog and other times throughout each week. It’s a bit of an acquired taste, but I have really gotten to like the guys who created it.  Sean, the sort-of leader is a video game programmer and is the webmaster and editor of the whole Film Junk site.  Jay is a film school grad who has been making movies since he was a kid and is now making a feature length documentary.  Greg is a broadcasting grad who made a name for himself on FM radio.  Frank is a computer science grad who is on the podcast and also contributes content to the Website.  They get a bit profane and silly sometimes but its all tongue-in-cheek and in good fun.

There are two personal reasons why I like the podcast so much.  First, these guys are all Canadians and the show comes from St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada (about an hour away from Toronto, 15 minutes from Niagara Falls).  This gives a different perspective, especially for political and “values” content.  Second, they are all half my age or younger, which keeps me plugged into new and often exciting discoveries.

I think they just finished episode number 298 and they are planning a cool show for number 300.  They record the podcast every Sunday at Sean’s house and it goes up on the site for download on Monday.  I really like the structure of the podcast:  They start with news from the film business, followed by review of one or two movies that they are all committed to seeing so that they can all participate.  Then they do a segment called “Trailer Trash” where they discuss and critique the various trailers they have seen in the theater or on the Internet. Then comes my favorite part: “What I Watched,” where each guy talks about what he watched over the past week, including television shows.  I find out about all kinds of cool stuff from this segment, especially from Jay who discusses all kinds of obscure films.  Then they close with a segment called “Junk Mail” where they read email comments and questions from fans.  Because this is a podcast that can be downloaded anywhere in the world, they get email from all kinds of places like Australia, Denmark, Germany, Brazil …. you get the picture.

Even if you don’t get into the podcast, the Film Junk site is really great.  Put it in your Favorites/Bookmark pages.

~  Tom