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This week on No Coast Cinema: Tom and Conor sit down with Alexandra Halkin, founding director of the Americas Media Initiative, to talk about the Cuban Visions screening series. Presented in conjunction with Full Spectrum Features and the Athenaeum Theatre, Cuban Visions presents a variety of films from a diverse set of filmmakers that display the world of contemporary Cuba. Each screening follows a theme that explores a topic such as LGBTQ rights or economics and presents viewers with the […]

It’s a No Coast Cinema special feature with a panel of critics who have just returned from this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Tom sits down with Matt Cipolla of Filmmonthly, Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com and Robert Daniels of 812 Film Reviews to talk about which films impressed them and which ones fell (very) flat on screen. http://serve.castfire.com/audio/3594208/no-coast-cinema-special-sundance-2019-recap_2019-02-08-141508.64kmono.mp3

This week on No Coast Cinema: Tom and Conor sit down with Colleen Griffen, producer of the new film An Acceptable Loss starring Tika Sumpter and Jamie Lee Curtis. The film centers around Libby (Sumpter) as she struggles to come to terms with her past as a national security advisor to the ruthless politician Rachel (Curtis). Together they discuss the origins of the project, Griffen’s experience working with husband/director Joe Chapelle and the importance of racial and gender diversity in casting. […]

This week on No Coast Cinema: It’s that time of year again: the Oscar race is in full swing and Tom and Conor are ready for the biggest award show in Hollywood. As ever, the nominations are riddled with controversy and who better than NIU professor Joseph Flynn help to us make sense of it all. Together, they discuss the Best Picture noms, the prominence of black cinema in this year’s race and why “Roma” is a turning point for […]

Today on No Coast Cinema, Tom and Conor sit down with writer/director Kyle Leland and actor Hannah Kopen. Together, we discuss their backgrounds, their careers, and their award-winning short film Hammersmith: Hurdle of Dreams. Made for Chicago’s 48-Hour Film Festival and having led them overseas to the Cannes Film Festival, it is now being made into a 5 part webseries currently in production. The film centers around Bayou Straits, an embarrassingly narcissistic director, and the disruption he causes on set. […]

This week on No Coast Cinema, Tom and Conor usher in a new year of independent film exploration! Amy  Guth (the Executive Director of the Midwest Film Festival) joins to educate us about the Best of the Midwest Awards. The event will be held at the Promontory on Thursday, January 17th – you can purchase tickets here. Next, Tom and Conor take a look at 5 under-seen films of 2018 that deserve your attention for their unflinching approaches to confronting […]

Today, Tom and Conor connect with Marty Rubin, the Associate Director of Programming for the Gene Siskel Film Center. Together they discuss the Film Center’s history as well as dive into the upcoming 4K restoration screenings of Edgar G. Ulmer’s Detour and Wim Wender’s Wings of Desire. Later, Tom and Conor address this year’s slew of Golden Globe nominees, a pursuit which leaves them examining the implications of all awards shows. What happens at the intersection between artistic expression and […]

This week on No Coast Cinema, Tom and Conor welcome back Amy Guth, Executive Director of the Midwest Independent Film Festival to preview the Best of the Midwest nomination party on December 4th. For 50% off your ticket, use code NOCOAST. Plus, the board of review convenes to look at the best (and worst) films of November, including Bohemian Rhapsody, Widows, Boy Erased and The House That Jack Built. http://serve.castfire.com/audio/3572738/3572738_2018-12-03-145038.64kmono.mp3

This week on No Coast Cinema, Tom and Conor discuss the continuing issue of remakes, reboots and sequels in Hollywood and how companies and creators might be destroying their own legacy. They look at the case of J.K Rowling and the Fantastic Beasts franchise as well as Disney’s latest remakes of “renaissance era” classics Aladdin and The Lion King. http://serve.castfire.com/audio/3570332/3570332_2018-11-26-112432.64kmono.mp3

On this very special edition of No Coast Cinema, host Tom Hush talks with filmmaker Jake S. Weisman about the curious case of Orson Welles’ The Other Side of the Wind. They discuss the story of the film’s completion and a little bit of the history behind it, including its haphazard shooting and the legal battle over Welles’ footage following his death in 1985. They also look at Netflix’s involvement with the project and what it means for future films looking […]

Today on the No Coast Cinema Board of Review, film critic Matt Cipolla returns to review the latest films to hit theaters this October with venerable Chairmen of the Board Tom and Conor. Later; Michael Heidemann of the Sound Sessions podcast and the Patti Vasquez Show with Andrea Darlas joins to discuss film soundtracks, including Thom Yorke’s Suspiria score. Together, they take a look at the various roles music played in October’s cinematic releases and share some of their favorite […]

On this edition of No Coast Cinema, Tom sits down with regular guests John Davies and Matt Cipolla to talk about Sinema Obscura’s jump to broadcast television and Matt’s experience covering the Chicago International Film Festival. Sinema Obscura debuts on CAN TV on November 5th (check your local listings) You can read more of Matt Cipolla’s thoughts on film by following him on Twitter @CipollaMatt. Like the show? Subscribe to No Coast Cinema on iTunes and follow us on  Facebook, Twitter, and […]

This week on No Coast Cinema, Tom and Conor sit down with the cast and the writer/director of one of their favorite Chicago indies this year, Rendezvous in Chicago. Split into three vignettes, the film depicts three different relationships in their beginning, middle and end. Each pairing is unique, relatable, and portrayed with an effortless nuance by the cast and director. Writer/director Michael Glover Smith and actors Rashaad Hall, Nina Ganet and Clare Cooney delve into each vignette and the film […]

Today on No Coast Cinema, Tom and Conor sit down with director Kyle Henry to discuss his film Rogers Park, a critically acclaimed dramedy that examines four people struggling amidst midlife crises. Kyle shares insight into the production and distribution processes for the film, his background in the independent film scene, and touches on the communal spirit that makes Rogers Park such a natural place to film. Rogers Park can be found on iTunes, VUDU, and Amazon Prime  

No Coast host Tom Hush and film critic Matt Cipolla dive into the last month in movies and break down films such as The Predator, The Nun, Assassination Nation and Mandy.

Today on No Coast Cinema, we speak with four of the minds behind the brilliant feature Banana Season – actors Eve Rydberg and Brennan Stacker, writer/director Sanghoon Lee, and producer/editor James Choi. We learn about Sanghoon’s background as a filmmaker and what led him to the craft starting with his time in South Korea, discuss Eve Rydberg and Brennan Stacker’s experiences throughout the film, and dig into the ever-versatile duties of a film producer with James Choi. Combining magical realism, […]

Tom and Conor sit down with young filmmaker Karson Pilote at the Middle Coast Film Festival to talk about his short documentary, “Heart of the Blackhawks: The Pierre Pilote Story” The film tells the story of legendary Blackhawk and hockey hall of famer Pierre Pilote, who happens to be Karson’s grandfather. Karson talks about capturing his grandfather’s legacy in the documentary, the process of making the film itself and why Pierre Pilote is truly the heart of the Blackhawks. “Heart […]

No Coast host Tom Hush sits down with up and coming Filipino director Raya Martin to discuss his gripping crime drama, “Smaller and Smaller Circles”. Based on the novel of the same name, the film follows two Jesuit priests in the Philippines tracking down a serial killer who is targeting young boys. Martin discusses adapting the story for the big screen and the influence of other serial killer movies such as “Seven”, as well as his own experience growing up […]

On this very special episode of No Coast Cinema, we celebrate our fiftieth episode – the big L! Later, we interview returning guests director David A. Holcombe, producer Spence Warren, and screenwriter Adia Ivey about Soft Cage Film’s upcoming project Blacksite: The Musical! It’s a rollicking musical about police brutality in which a community finds empowerment despite the continuing human rights crisis in their neighborhood. Based on the true story brought to light by the Guardian in 2015, we dig […]

Today on No Coast Cinema, Tom and Conor spend a moment discussing the life and legacy of legendary actor and sex icon Burt Reynolds. Later, they celebrate the Academy’s decision to remove the ‘Most Popular Film’ category from next year’s Academy Awards and conjure some ideas for other, similarly wrong-headed Oscar categories. Finally, the boys dig into the Predator cinematic universe beginning with a discussion of upcoming film The Predator’s decision to employ an actor who is also a registered […]