Cinephile conversations with memory and drift.
Director's Club treats cinema as something lived with, argued over, and returned to over time. Its conversations move from director studies into music, live Q&As, oddball horror, Chicago film culture, and affectionate guest-led detours.
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Director's Club is a film conversation show that treats directors, movies, and the culture around them as things worth sitting with. It is not built for rapid takes. The show tends to move by association, letting a viewing memory, a guest's aside, or a stray comparison open into a larger point about style, mood, history, or emotional residue. Its director episodes can be expansive, as in the Frank Capra discussion that weighs the sweetness of his reputation against the bleakness and cynicism running through It's a Wonderful Life. The Alfred Hitchcock project adds a more structured counterweight, following 48 Alfred Hitchcock films chronologically across 2026. Even there, the framing feels exploratory rather than academic. Bonus episodes widen the show's borders. A live conversation with Nick DiGilio brings in film criticism, memoir, lists, and the meaning of a long viewing life. A talk with Ryan Verrill shifts toward Antenna Releasing, city-specific moviegoing, library screenings, Blu-ray culture, and the practical chaos of independent film work. The Bloodbeat episode shows the show's oddball side, leaning into a bizarre 1983 horror film with synth texture, surreal commentary, and a willingness to meet a strange movie on its own wavelength. B-Side Me stretches the Director's Club format into music, replacing two films from a director with two songs from a band or musician. Those episodes on Beach House, Fiona Apple, and Counting Crows bring the same close attention to atmosphere, grief, fame, contradiction, guitar sound, keyboards, and the private meanings that attach themselves to songs. The overall effect is conversational rather than polished smooth. It suits listeners who want criticism that can be funny, uncertain, personal, and sharply observant in the same breath. The show values digression because digression is often where the real reading begins.
Made for: For patient film listeners who like director studies, repertory-minded criticism, bonus detours, and conversations that make room for personal memory. It also fits music fans drawn to close readings of songs and artists through B-Side Me.
What sets it apart: Director's Club pairs director-centered film discussion with a porous, personal format that can hold live criticism, boutique-release talk, experimental horror bonuses, and music episodes without losing its reflective core.
A monthly show that reviews one film director per episode with the occasional bonus episode. Episodes 123-172 were hosted by Brad & Al. As of 2022, new episodes will be hosted by Jim and/or Bill. The spin-off show, B-Side Me, is also here (for now) which is all about music/bands!
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Director's Club makes director studies conversational, linking close film discussion with personal response and the culture surrounding movies.
Jim Laskowski treats a director's work as an invitation to connect craft, history, and personal response, then lets returning guests test those connections in conversation.
A Capra chat makes your next It's a Wonderful Life rewatch considerably less cozy.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Counting Crows songs frame a thoughtful look at early records, artistic success, and the privacy fame can take away.
Counting Crows come through as a band pulled between close-up songwriting and the isolating machinery of fame. Jim Lazkowski and Sharon Gissie move through the group's early records by way of "Recovering the Satellites," letting touring, privacy, and the wish for a quieter life…
A warm Beach House discussion where dream-pop texture, sea imagery, and grief move through the same emotional space.
Beach House sits at the center of a warm, searching single-episode conversation about mood, memory, and texture. Co-hosts Jim and Sharon consider whether shoegaze is the right frame for the band, then move into the dream-pop atmosphere that seems to fit more naturally.
A warm Capra discussion that finds postwar unease beneath a familiar Hollywood glow.
Director's Club approaches Frank Capra in a relaxed, reputation-minded mode, with Jim Laskowski joined by Ross and Tripp of A Trip Through Comedy.
A loose Ryan Verrill conversation about film memory, Chicago screenings, and a busy creative life.
Directors Club's bonus conversation with Ryan Verrill looks past auteur talk toward the shape of a film life being assembled in public. The host of The Disconnected discusses a new venture first announced with Stolen Kingdom, films that hit him strongly in 2025, and library…
A knowingly disorienting dive into Bloodbeat's ghost samurai, synth haze and stubborn fascination.
Jim Laskowski treats his half-hour Bloodbeat deep dive as a chance to recreate the film's disorienting pull. Weird synth interruptions, clips from other podcasts and the director's account of what followed the movie give the episode the feel of an audio seance.
A warm festival preview that turns an early favorite into a thoughtful debate about audiences, awards and cinematic merit.
Jim Laskowski and returning guest Bill use the Chicago Critics Film Festival to ask what happens after the excitement of a screening fades. Their preview of the Music Box lineup lingers on The Power of the Dog, Benedict Cumberbatch's performance and Jane Campion's direction,…
Friendly interviews from inside pop culture.
Culture, conversation, and weekend momentum.
Creative work, traced back to its sources.
Fan-first interviews with genre creators.
A bonus interview episode of Directors Club featuring guest correspondent Sharon Gissie interviewing director/writer/star Alex Heller about her film 'The Year Between'.
Jim Laskowski hosts a bonus episode previewing the Chicago Critics Film Festival, running November 12-14 at The Music Box in Chicago.
Host Jim Lazkowski dedicates his birthday episode to documentary filmmaker Ross McElwee, inspired by McElwee's film 'Bright Leaves'.
Jim Lazkowski and Sharon Gissie use `B-Side Me #5: Counting Crows` to compare `Mr.
["Director's Club episode four, 'B-Side Me Episode #4: Beach House,' frames Beach House as dream pop rather than shoegaze and uses Jim and Sharon's co-host banter to set the show's two-song format.", "Jim compares Beach House to Slowdive and Cigarettes After Sex, while Sharon argues that Victoria Legrand's voice and the band's clear lyrics keep the songs emotional instead of buried in noise.", "The episode revisits the self-titled 2006 debut, Teen Dream, Bloom, Depression Cherry, and Once Twice Melody, then points to 'Space Song' as the track that exploded through TikTok, Apple Music, and TV placements.", "Sharon's divorce-era story about 'Myth' and the Green Mill in Chicago leads into 'On the Sea,' which they read as a calm meditation on death, acceptance, and letting go."]
Jim Laskowski and guests Ross Bratin and Tripp Burton use Frank Capra to move beyond It's a Wonderful Life and Mr.
A podcast host introduces a new series where he will chronologically review all 48 Alfred Hitchcock movies over the course of 2026, starting with his early silent films.
A bonus episode featuring a live Q&A with Chicago film critic Nick Digilio about his 40-year career and new memoir.
A Q&A for The Last Stop in Yuma County helped launch Antenna Releasing after Francis Galluppi asked, 'Should we start a Blu-ray company?'
Jim Laskowski presents Director's Club: Bonus Episode: Bloodbeat (1983) as a holiday horror film with psychic energy, a glowing samurai, and rural Wisconsin Christmas imagery.
Jim and Sharon introduce their podcast Beside Me, which discusses two songs from a musician each month, and announce their focus on Fiona Apple.
Co-hosts Jim and Sharon introduce their music podcast B-Side Me and express excitement and intimidation about discussing the band Belle & Sebastian.
Jim and Patrick binge-watch all seven Nightmare on Elm Street films in one day, sharing their reactions and commentary.
The host announces the closure of the Directors Club website and introduces a bonus episode with Joel Potrykus.