Scene Unseen

Scene Unseen Movie Reviews is an audio podcast featuring film criticism and discussion. In each Scene Unseen episode, hosts Christopher Browne and Jimmy Skodras review a recent film release, with the concept that Chris has seen the film in question and Jimmy has not. Jimmy's "review" is consequently based on the film's marketing, other works by the same filmmakers, his own personal biases and assumptions, and other factors according to his own whim.

Scene Unseen debuted in 2006, reviewing in its premiere episode the film, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. Over 100 episodes (reviews, InterViews, and specials) have since been produced.

History

The hosts have said in several episodes that the inspiration for the podcast came from their disagreements over two 2006 films: Cars and United 93. Jimmy refused to see either film; in the former case, his refusal stemmed from his disapproval of the Cars advertising poster (simply The Title over a red backdrop) and the filmmakers' decision to design their automobile characters with the eyes on the windshields instead of the headlights.

Jimmy's opposition to United 93 was based on hearing that the film neglected to address any conspiracy theories surrounding the real-life events it depicted, and his own feeling that since he already knew the story, there was no reason to "bother spending any dough to see a CNN reenactment". He was unswayed by Chris' insistence that United 93 was one of the best films of the year.

Scene Unseen was created with technical and production assistance from the hosts' mutual friend Matt, who became the show's producer. In spite of the show's title, they deviated from their premise in the very first episode, in which both Chris and Jimmy saw Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest before the review.

Early Scene Unseen episodes tended to be AbOUT thirty minutes long, with the discussion limited to the films at hand, but later episodes have grown longer and include more off-topic conversation (including other films, music, books, video games, news events, and the hosts' personal lives).

Hosts

In the podcast, Chris and Jimmy have revealed some details about their backgrounds. Chris Browne, the "seen" host, is originally from Santa Cruz, California; Jimmy Skodras, the "unseen" host, comes from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Jimmy is proudly Greek. Both hosts currently live in the Los Angeles area and work in the film industry.

Jimmy holds a consistent hatred for director Marc Forster (despite not having seen any of Forster's films in their entirety) and animated movies, particularly those featuring talking animals. He is a devoted fan of Christopher Walken, Sylvester Stallone and the 1993 film Cliffhanger.

Chris is a proponent of "Method Movie Going", which involves participating in an activity directly related to the film you have just seen or are about to see. He has talked in the podcast about visiting a Dr. Seuss gallery before seeing Horton Hears a Who!, going skateboarding before seeing Paranoid Park, and cooking Italian food along with Big Night. He has encouraged listeners to write in about their own instances of Method Movie Going.

In the July 17th, 2008 episode (which was one of the many episodes recorded without Jimmy while he was vacationing in Greece), it was revealed that Chris is a childhood friend of actress Linda Park, best known as Hoshi Sato from Star Trek: Enterprise.

Format

The original theme song opening each Scene Unseen episode was "Sassy", by Michael Winger. Beginning with the September 2007 Halloween episode, the opening music has been themed to that week's featured film.

Following each week's introduction, Chris and Jimmy discuss the film in question and its marketing. They conclude with a segment called "Letterboxing" (a pun combining the film format and the combat sport) in which each reviewer summarizes their opinion of the film and whether or not they recommend it to listeners.

In the second part of the episode, Chris and Jimmy each offer a DVD recommendation in a category related to that week's film (for example, "Nature Movies" in the episode featuring Into the Wild). They also share recommendations e-mailed in from listeners. (This segment was called "Netflix This" in early episodes.)

Special Episodes

Occasionally, Scene Unseen has eschewed its usual format for episodes featuring interviews with directors and other notable film industry figures. The following people have been interviewed on the podcast:

• Darren Aronofsky
• Joe Carnahan
• Jay Chandrasekhar
• Common
• David Fincher
• Scott Frank
• Crispin Glover
• Ray Harryhausen
• Don Hertzfeldt
• Gordy Hoffman
• Kazi
• Neil LaBute
• Don LaFontaine
• Kasi Lemmons
• David Lynch
• George Miller
• D. A. Pennebaker
• Philippe Petit
• Seth Rogen (as part of the Borat episode)
• Harry Shearer
• Steve-O
• Randy Thom
• Gordon Willis

At the end of each year, Scene Unseen produces a "Year in Review" episode, in which the hosts invite several guests to a "square table" discussion of their favorite and least-favorite movies released that year.

For the "2006: The Year in Review", the guests were Jeromy Oblivian, Rayne Roberts, Brian Burke, and Aly Hawkins. For the "2007: The Year in Review," the guests were Marchelle Bradanini and Rachel Fleischer. For the "2008: The Year in Review," the guests were Alex [...], Rachel Fleischer, and Dannah Budny.

Also, one notable episode was the Blindness episode, where filmmaker Kevin Smith and actor Seth Rogen were on the show with Chris & Jimmy.

Partnerships

In August 2007, Scene Unseen produced the official podcast for the film Beowulf. For the podcast, Chris and Jimmy interviewed the film's stars Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Brendan Gleeson, Anthony Hopkins, and Ray Winstone, and its director Robert Zemeckis. The podcast was the only interview Zemeckis gave for the film.

In December 2007, Scene Unseen announced a partnership with MovieMaker magazine; the show was first mentioned in the magazine's Winter 2008 issue.

In the summer of 2008, Chris and Jimmy announced the first Scene Unseen Fan Contest in partnership with IMAX, in which twenty-five listeners would be chosen to win pairs of tickets to an IMAX screening of The Dark Knight.

In March 2009, the hosts announced their second collaboration with IMAX, in which another twenty-five pairs of IMAX tickets for Watchmen were given away.

Reaction

Apple iTunes has labeled the Scene Unseen podcast "New and Notable", What's Hot", a "Featured TV & Film" selection, and a "Staff Favorite". The show has a permanent spot in the "At the Movies" section, was selected by iTunes staff as one of the "Top 100 Podcasts of 2006", and (as of May 2009) has a 4.5/5 rating averaged from over 300 user reviews.

In February 2008, That Podcast Show reviewed "Scene Unseen" and gave it 4 out of 5 stars. In November 2008, VideoETA.com named "Scene Unseen" the #1 Movie Podcast on the Internet.

Filmmaker described the show: "If you're tired of listening to some film critic drone on and on about a movie you're not going to see, or you can't take one more minute of Ebert and Roeper, you need a new way to get your film-talk fix. Cue Scene Unseen...both priceless and free."

MovieMaker magazine wrote, "Scene Unseen, the podcast which pits co-hosts Chris Browne and Jimmy Skodras against each other to discuss both recent and classic films, sounds just like me and my friends arguing the merits of particular movies. Except it's funny. And enlightening."

Santa Cruz Good Times said that "Scene Unseen is not only comedy gold, but also a new way of approaching the overdone genre of film criticism."

Film Stew commented, "Scene Unseen is just the beginning, part of not so much the death of film criticism but its reinvention..."

Scene Unseen has also been mentioned in Stuff magazine, Moving Pictures Magazine, Script Magazine, and the podcasts Filmspotting and Creative Screenwriting.

List of Episodes

External links

• Scene Unseen Movie Reviews official site
• "10th Anniversary Outtakes Remix"
• VideoETA.com Number One Ranking
• MovieMaker Magazine
• Moving Pictures Magazine article, "Reviews on Review"
• Filmmaker Magazine article, "Calling All Critics"
• That Podcast Show review
• Script Magazine
• Beowulf official site