A film’s success often rests on the shoulders of its most bankable stars. But have stars once born to seduce the silver screen become influencers more than actors? Joined by actor Mike Gomez, we try get to the bottom of what exactly makes us fall in love with an actor. Among the giants whose shoulders many actors stand on today is none other than Marlon Brando, cinema’s OG pretty bad boy. The latest episode of Celebrating Cinema talks acting, movie stars and the hearts they steal.

Book tickets ⁠here⁠ for Marlon Brando 100.

Show notes

• The Best Acting of All Time Compilation
• Movie Monologues That Changed My Entire World View | Like Stories of Old
• The Best Acting I’ve Ever Seen | Thomas Flight
• Rick Dalton Going Mad | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Films mentioned

(click on the links for tickets to screenings at LAB111)

• La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher, 2023)
• Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World (Radu Jude, 2023)
• The Fly (David Cronenberg, 1986)
• Spider-man (Sam Raimi, 2002)
• Back to the Future (Robert Zemeckis, 1985)
• Antwone Fisher (Denzel Washington, 2002)
• The Lion King (Roger Allers & Rob Minkoff, 1994)
• Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014)
• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson, 2001)
• Charlie’s Angels (McG, 2000)
• Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (Quentin Tarantino, 2003)
• Slumdog Millionaire (Danny Boyle, 2008)
• Monkey Man (Dev Patel, 2024)
• Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio de Sica, 1948)
• Cinema Paradiso (Giuseppe Tornatore, 1988)
• What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (Lasse Hallström, 1993)
• Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)
• On the Waterfront (Elia Kazan, 1954)
• The Score (Frank Oz, 2001)
• The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
• Twilight (Catherine Hardwicke, 2008)
• Good Time (Josh & Ben Safdie, 2017)
• The Intern (Nancy Meyers, 2015)
• Reality (Tina Satter, 2023)

Our hosts