In this episode our Twin Feature is Bottle Rocket (1996) & The Mastermind (2025), as we try to define the ‘Post-Heist’ Film. In a literal sense: films that mainly take place after a heist. From a genre perspective: films that deconstruct the typical conventions of a heist movie, with characters less charismatically suave as they are idle, adrift in the socio-economic and political landscape they exist in. They are characters who don’t steal for necessity, they steal for meaning.

Sources:

Lee, D. (2014), The Heist Film: Stealing with Style. New York, NY: Columbia University Press

Hayward, S. (2006), Cinema Studies: Key Concepts. 3rd Edition. London: Routledge

Neale, S. (1980), Genre. London: BFI Publishing

Lacey, N. (2000), Narrative and Genre: Key Concepts in Media Studies. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press

In this episode our focus is on Slasher Movies?... and our Twin Feature is Predator (1996) & No Country for Old Men (2007), as we discuss what defines a Slasher Movie, and how the typical codes and conventions of the sub-genre can transcend the overarching horror genre and be applied to action movies and thrillers in freshly effective ways.

Sources:

Hayward, S. (2006), Cinema Studies: Key Concepts. 3rd Edition. London: Routledge

Clover, C. (1992), Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in Modern Horror Film. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press

Neale, S. (1980), Genre. London: BFI Publishing

Lacey, N. (2000), Narrative and Genre: Key Concepts in Media Studies. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press

In this episode our focus is on Heroes & Villains and our Twin Feature is Happy Gilmore (1996) & The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007).

When thinking of classic character types, there is a good chance the hero and the villain are the first that come to mind. Luke Skywalker & Darth Vader, Batman & The Joker, Chief Martin Brody & The Shark who terrorised Amity Island. Instantly recognisable archetypes that have become ingrained in the media we watch. And when looking at cinema through this structuralist context, it's easy to see how those underlying narrative concepts are present, and incredibly similar, even in the most unassuming of places, namely a brash 90s sports comedy, and a niche arcade gaming documentary.

Sources:

Hayward, S. (2006), Cinema Studies: Key Concepts. 3rd Edition. London: Routledge

Campbell, J. (2008), The Hero with a Thousand Faces. 3rd Edition. Novato, CA: New World Library

Levi-Strauss, C. (1983), The Raw and the Cooked: Mythologiques, Volume 1. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press

Lacey, N. (2000), Narrative and Genre: Key Concepts in Media Studies. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press

Propp, V. (1971), Morphology of the Folktale. 2nd Revised Edition. Edited by Louis A. Wagner. Translated by Laurence Scott. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press