The Blue Jay is More than Black and White

02/28/21 • 30 min

Today Mike and Christi flatter this beautiful, dramatic romance tale of high school sweethearts with a secret past. Spend the next several minutes with Mike and Christi as they break down why this film is in the top five films of all time for Christi and why she captured Mike to make him watch this film till he squawked. This film opens with Jim (Mark Duplass) and Amanda (Sarah Paulson) running into one another at a local grocery store. As they spend the next 24 hours together the details of their history remind them of the pain their shared and alter their future forever. Listen while Mike and Christi share their mutual admiration for the filmmaking techniques that make the film this weeks pick.

“She says, I don't know who that person was. But the look on his face is

I know who that person was.” - Christi Dodge

We cover the aspects of this film like:

The beauty of the cinematography of this film being shot in black and white
The acting between Sarah Paulson or Mark Duplass is at times subtle yet so colorful
The story unfolds elaborately, laying out the bread crumbs to truth of these two.
Improvised scripts
The Duplass method of film making - and why we align ours with it
This film is currently streaming on Netflix

NEXT WEEKS FILM: Once available on hbomax.com

Subscribe, Rate & Share Your Favorite Episodes!

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of Dodge Movie Podcast with your hosts, Mike and Christi Dodge founders of Dodge Media Productions. If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts to subscribe and leave a rating and review.

Don’t forget to visit our website, connect with Christi on Facebook and LinkedIn. To connect with Mike you can find him on Instagram. Also, feel free to share your favorite episodes of our podcast across social media.

“She says, I don't know who that person was. But the look on his face is

I know who that person was.” - Christi Dodge

We cover the aspects of this film like:

The beauty of the cinematography of this film being shot in black and white
The acting between Sarah Paulson or Mark Duplass is at times subtle yet so colorful
The story unfolds elaborately, laying out the bread crumbs to truth of these two.
Improvised scripts
The Duplass method of film making - and why we align ours with it
This film is currently streaming on Netflix

NEXT WEEKS FILM: Once available on hbomax.com

Subscribe, Rate & Share Your Favorite Episodes!

Previous Episode

Be Our Plus One

Today Mike and Christi fawn over the film Plus One, this generations romantic comedy. It is a little more raunchy and a little more rowdy. Two friends who are tired of attending their friend’s wedding agree to be each other’s plus one. Alice (Maya Erskine) and Ben (Jack Quaid) are forced to rehearse toasts, purchase gifts and pay for hotel rooms as all of their friends are getting married. Their relationship throughout the ten weddings change to more than just friends. We also include our our regular features like: Mike’s pick up line, the smoochie and pause count and a rundown of the numbers.

“And she(Alice) really plays up kind of this role of being the manic pixie frat guy in this film. And I think there's a commitment and earnestness that makes this character work, even though it's kind of like your drunken buddy in college, except they're out of college and they probably should start getting their lives under control by now” - Mike Dodge

We cover the aspects of this film like:

How the traditional gender roles are flipped
The use of handheld and why it is annoying sometimes
Why blurry twinkle lights in the background makes every shot beautiful
The way that their characters change over the course of the film.
The use of location to reduce the budget that benefits independent filmmakers
More show-don’t-tell techniques
The use of costuming to convey character growth

Next Weeks Film: Blue Jay on Netflix

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Next Episode

Once Upon a Time When We Talked About Once

Our youngest son suggested this film when we said that we would be doing Irish films, he watched it in one of his film classes. In Once a busker (a gent who plays his guitar in a public place hoping for pedestrians to chuck coins or low bills into his guitar case) meets a girl and their romance develops. The film is set against the backdrop of working class people trying to find small moments of joy while working to keep a roof over their head.

“And in film school, I clearly remember a conversation that we had about the difference between a movie that has music in it and a musical. And the big difference is if the characters are citing dialogue in the song, and if the song informs the storyline, that's a musical.” - Christi Dodge

Some of our favorite parts of this movie are:

Geurilla Filmmaking as showcased in the opening shot
Diagetic vs. Non-Diagetic music
The use of practical lighting creating a darker tone to the film
The Oscar winning song that leads the pack of songs in this film
We debate a mother’s intention when borrowing money from her daughter.

Subscribe, Rate & Share Your Favorite Episodes!

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of Dodge Movie Podcast with your host, Mike and Christi Dodge. If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts to subscribe and leave a rating and review.

Don’t forget to visit our website, connect with us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and share your favorite episodes across social media. Email us and let us know what you think of these films and what other films we should breakdown at [email protected].

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