Four Favorites with Robert Daniels: Beale Street, messy masterpieces and sad robots

The Letterboxd Show

Hey Joe, what do ya know? Film critic Robert Daniels (New York Times, LA Times, RogerEbert.com, etc.) is here to chat with Slim and Mitchell about his four favorites: Killer of Sheep, If Beale Street Could Talk, A.I. Artificial Intelligence and Bamboozled. If you think that sounds like a Mount Rushmore of titles, you’d be exactly right! Strap in as Robert takes us on an incredibly insightful tour through the complicated themes and explosive emotions of these gems. Topics include: what it means to be human, blackface through Hollywood’s history, the adaptability that comes with being Black in America, the glimmer of hope that must be held for the next generation, a call for The Underground Railroad to get more attention and why “masterpiece” doesn’t always mean “perfect”.

Chapters:

• Opening credits (00:00:00)
• Killer of Sheep (00:07:44)
• If Beale Street Could talk (00:19:41)
• A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (00:35:46)
• Bamboozled (00:52:52)
• Stats talk (01:10:08)
• Closing credits (01:13:29)

Credits: Recorded in Newark DE, Philadelphia PA and Chicago IL. Edited by Slim. Theme music: “Vampiros Danceoteque” by Moniker. Editorial producer: Brian Formo. Production manager: Sophie Shin. The Letterboxd Show is a TAPEDECK production.

Lists & Links:

List of movies mentioned

Robert’s Letterboxd profile

Robert’s Sight & Sound 2022 ballot; Robert’s Criterion essay on Beasts of No Nation; Robert’s IndieWire interview with Charles Burnett on My Brother’s Wedding; Robert’s interview with Barry Jenkins for Medicine for Melancholy; Robert’s interview with Barry Jenkins for The Underground Railroad; Robert’s Polygon essay on Brian Tyree Henry’s big scene in If Beale Street Could Talk; Robert’s ranking of Spike Lee movies for Okayplayer; Robert’s essay on Bamboozled for The Playlist

Lists mentioned:

Films that took an already amazing and well-known song and made it better by adding a cinematic moment to it that you are always reminded of when you hear the song by Starboy

Reviews mentioned:

Graham Williamson’s Killer of Sheep review

Kambole Campbell’s Bamboozled review