Team Vintage Sand is composed of three middle-aged cisgender White males who happen to be old friends and happen to have a passion for Film. In spite of these boundaries of perspective, however, we could not let this moment of social activism and (hopefully)progress go unnoted. Because perhaps more than any other cultural institution, Hollywood's treatment of Black people both in front of and behind the camera has shaped the nation's perception of race relations over the past century. We have no claim of expertise on this history based on lived experience. Our goal in creating this episode (the first of two parts; in Episode 24, we will examine the work of Black filmmakers over the last 100 years)was to simply and briefly trace the changing history of the Black experience in American film. Our aim is to open some doors to artists, trends and films that even film fans may not know well. In doing so, we are hoping that our listeners will have the same experience we had in creating this episode; to re-examine our own assumptions and look for different lenses through which to view this rich and complex history.

For Episode 22, Team Vintage Sand returns to the work of Alfred Hitchcock, for the first time since Episode 5. In that one, we promised (or threatened) to devote a whole episode just to Hitchcock's villains, characters who often end up stealing the films they're in and are often more compelling than his heroes. Reaching all the way back to "The 39 Steps" (1935) and continuing through his penultimate film, 1972's "Frenzy", our intrepid team discusses what makes a great Hitchcock villain and which actors best fit the mold and which succeed by breaking it entirely. So listen in, and we know you'll say about us, "Why, they wouldn't even harm a fly."

Third time's the charm, as we turn once again to Danny Peary's peerless 1993 book, "Alternate Oscars". This go-round, Team Vintage Sand focuses on the 1950's, a decade with some questionable Best Picture choices (to put it politely). Still can't believe that "The Greatest Show on Earth" beat the unnominated "Singin' in the Rain"? Stunned that "Around the World in 80 Days" topped "The Searchers", which was also not nominated? Then join us on our alternate history as we set things right, start laughin' at clouds, and mete out justice in our usual cruel-but-fair Vintage Sand style. Our only ground rule? No foreign-language films, because otherwise this would be a four-hour episode. And if you disagree with our choices, well, as the irrepressible Osgood Fielding famously put it, nobody's perfect. Zowie!

In the midst of the pandemic, many have turned to the art of the past, finding understandable comfort in nostalgia. Team Vintage Sand, in its usual charming and curmudgeonly way, has decided instead to look to the decade to come. In this episode, we discuss the directors that we think will become the next great voices in Film. Some obvious candidates are here, including Ryan Coogler, Damien Chazelle, Greta Gerwig, Barry Jenkins and genre folks like Ari Aster and Denis Villeneuve. But there are some surprises as well. So we hope you'll join Josh, Michael and John as, via Zoom, they buck the general trend by seeking comfort in the future.

Well, Vintage Sand listeners, we've reached the summit. Join us at the summit, where the air is thin and the trees are stubby, as John, Michael and Josh take you through their five favorite films of the decade recently ended. Some real surprises, some total non-surprises, and an overall sense that the early reports of the death of Film-with-a-capital-"F" were a bit premature. Seize the moments, or let the moments seize you!

Yes, fans, it's the episode ten years in the making as Michael, John and Josh present the first half of their countdown of their ten favorite films of the newly-ended decade. For a period in film history that has already been mercilessly dismissed as a greed-driven, witless descent into endless sequels, remakes, CGI and superheroes, the 2010's gave us some of the greatest films in our history, ones that will surely stand the test of time as "classics". Ah, but which films are those, you ask with bated breath? As always, there is both lots of agreement and disagreement, and that's where it gets interesting. Come join us for the ride, like Llewyn Davis taking that cat along on the subway...

When our Greatest Living Director puts out a new film that feels like a capstone to the major themes of his incomparable career, you know that Team Vintage Sand is on the case. Thus, Episode 17--The Irishman: It's What It Is. Martin Scorsese's 3 1/2 hour epic The Irishman reunites all of the director's major players (and adds in Al Pacino for good measure) to tell a sprawling organized crime story whose scope and range have not been seen in 35 years, since Leone's Once Upon a Time in America (which Josh thinks is a better film than The Irishman, over Mike and John's strenuous objections). The Irishman will probably not be Scorsese's last film, but it seems to be a final statement regarding both his ideas on the human impact of the male-centered world of organized violence (from Mean Streets through The Departed)and, in its brilliant final half hour, the spiritual searching prominent in some of his most underrated films (Last Temptation, Kundun, Silence). While we disagree slightly on The Irishman's place in the Scorsese canon, it's a must-see for even the casual film lover. And in the end, the only hitman who can never be stopped is Time...

Join Team Vintage Sand as we commemorate the 20th anniversary of one of the most polarizing films ever created by a major filmmaker: Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, his final work. Released to mixed reviews in 1999, the film has been undergoing a critical reappraisal in recent years. Hear the sparks fly as Michael (generally) likes the film, John's willing to consider both sides and I hate it even more than I did two decades ago. Cool, cerebral erotic thriller? Pathetic softcore non-porn by a erstwhile genius who by then was hopelessly out of touch? Your call, dear listener. And the password is Fidelio...

In a perfectly symmetrical bookend to Episode 6, this episode finds our intrepid heroes of Team Vintage Sand exploring our favorite movie endings of all time. Creating a perfect conclusion to a movie is an extremely challenging task; even our greatest filmmakers have occasionally found it to be problematic (rat crossing a balcony railing, anyone?). We go around the world, and all the way back to silent film, to tip our collective hats to those we feel have gotten it just right. Plus, you get Michael and John presenting East Village Dinner Theatre, Josh trying to sing, and the first annual There Will Be Blood Imitation Contest. Forget it, Jake--it's vintage Vintage Sand.

Love him, hate him or both, the arrival of a new film by Quentin Tarantino is an important event for anyone even remotely interested in film. In this episode, Team Vintage Sand takes a deep dive into Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, QT's love letter to the LA of his childhood. Can the brilliant performances by Brad Pitt and Leonardo Di Caprio overcome a meandering script and yet another controversial ending that rewrites history in a way that some have found trivializing and offensive? Where does the film fit in the Tarantino canon? The answer to these and other burning questions are contained in our latest episode, brought to you by the good people at Red Apple Cigarettes. We smoke 'em...