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Episode 113: Do Some Weed, Then Do a Murder — Reefer Madness (1938)
Join Alex in a solo episode as he has some fun with the day this episode goes out to the public: 4/20! The film explored is the oft-ridiculed Reefer Madness (1938), a propaganda film against the drug marijuana. Originally, it was meant to be an education film for parents so that they may notice the warning signs produced by a church group. The film earned cult status when it was shown in the exploitation film circuit in the ’30s & ’40s, earning immortality when efforts to preserve its historical status were undertaken in the 1970s. The film exaggerates and completely misidentifies the effects and consequences of marijuana use, using this phony information to invoke fear in ignorant viewers.…
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Episode 111: But What if He WAS His Mother, Rather Than Just Obsessed? Psycho (1960)
Join Alex in a solo episode as he explores the more overt mother obsession themes in Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960). The film released two years after Hitchcock’s Vertigo, which had subtler mother obsession themes. In this film, which stars Janet Leigh as Marion Crane and Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates, Hitchcock specifically smacks the audience over the head with the overt Oedipal complex and Freudian themes. Hailed as a masterpiece in its own right, Psycho is considered to be Hitchcock’s first horror movie, with a insane lasting cultural impact, the least of which the shrieking violins. The discussion is split into two broad parts: the first explores the Freudian themes in a historical context, as a sort of companion follow-up to the previous episode on Vertigo, and the second part latches onto the psychiatrist’s monologue at the end the film as a closer interpretation to what a modern clinical psychologist might assess and analyze within the context of the film’s plot.…
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Episode 108: Sometimes You Just Need a Frontal Lobotomy — Shutter Island (2010)
Join Alex in a solo episode as he explores the Scorsese psychological thriller Shutter Island (2010)! Starring Leonard DiCaprio as a troubled US Marshal, the film follows the Marshal’s investigation into the disappearance of a patient at a psychiatric facility and prison for the criminally insane on a desolate, rocky island in the mid-1950s. However, beneath the surface, sinister forces lurk, and the episode delves into the mysteries surrounding the case. It explores the potential psychological and psychiatric diagnoses for the characters (whether it’s schizophrenia or something else entirely). Additionally, the film sheds light on the state of psychiatric and psychological care during that era in the United States.…
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Episode 093: What Could Go Wrong on a Long Spaceflight—Slingshot (2024)
Join Alex as he takes a solo look at a recent science fiction film featuring Casey Affleck and Laurence Fishburne, Slingshot (2024). The title refers to the maneuver three men — or is it only one? — must complete around Jupiter, using its gravity well to gain speed on the way to Saturn’s moon, Titan. We also flashback to the time before, when Affleck’s John is training to make this years-long flight, while makes an ill-fated connection with Zoe. We see John slowly lose his connection with reality on this spaceflight — is there precedent in real spaceflight for the psychological effects?…
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Episode 067: A Real Life Schizophrenia Experience — A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Join Alex as he discusses wonderfully brilliant biopic of John Forbes Nash, Jr. in A Beautiful Mind (2001). The movie focuses on John Nash’s struggle with finding an original idea to make his mark while also battling schizophrenia and the paranoid delusions and hallucinations it brought. The episode takes a an accuracy approach, since we are talking about an actual historical figure. What was true about Joh Nash’s experience with the psychological disorder and how did director Ron Howard portray that for the audience in the film?
Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com) or on Facebook (@CinPsyPod).…
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Episode 024: Don’t Take a Job at a Lighthouse, You’ll Go Mad! The Lighthouse (2019)
Join Alex in a solo episode as he discusses the psychological concepts in a well-filmed but strikingly strange film The Lighthouse (2019). It stars Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe, ONLY, as we explore the descent (?) into madness when guilt, excessive drinking, and isolation make a formidable cocktail. This episode also represents a different delivery method, much like Episode 022/Fight Club, with the bulk of the discussion happening during a live stream of Alex’s (https://twitch.tv/cogpsychprof), with participation and some shoutouts to Twitch chat. It also includes some sound bites that will sound different, because they were recorded in May 2020 during a live Watch Party.…
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Episode 023: All Work and No Play Makes Jack a Narcissist—The Shining (1980) with Sully Coleman
Join Alex and guest host Dr. Sully Coleman in a discussion of the psychological concepts in Stanley Kubrick’s wild psychological horror The Shining (1980), a film where you get the sense something is wrong—perhaps it’s all the ghosts in the hotel OR, and hear me out, it’s Jack’s unrelenting narcissism!
Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com) or on Facebook (@CinPsyPod). We’d love to hear from you!
Don’t forget to check out our Paypal links to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on! Don’t forget to check out our MERCH STORE for some great merch with our logo!…
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Episode 022: Welp, it Looks Like I Broke the First Two Rules—Fight Club (1999)
Join Alex in a solo episode as he discusses the psychological concepts in a wild ride of a film, Fight Club (1999), starring Edward Norton and Brad Pitt as <<SPOILER ALERT>> the same person… but actually different people? This episode is also an experimental delivery, with the bulk of the discussion happening during a live stream of Alex’s (https://twitch.tv/cogpsychprof), with participation and some shoutouts to Twitch chat.
Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com) or on Facebook (@CinPsyPod). We’d love to hear from you!
Don’t forget to check out our Paypal links to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on!…
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Episode 014: This is an Idea of a Podcast Episode—American Psycho (2000)
Join Alex in a solo episode as he discusses the psychological concepts in an “American” classic, American Psycho (2000), starring Christian Bale in perhaps one is his most iconic performances as Patrick Bateman, an investment banker who likes to kill folks but has an awesome skincare routine.
Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com) or on Facebook (@CinPsyPod). We’d love to hear from you!
Don’t forget to check out our Paypal links to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on!
Legal stuff:
1. All film clips are used under Section 107 of Title 17 U.S.C.… -
Episode 013: Are We Supposed to Laugh At or With This Guy? Joker (2019) with Wind Goodfriend
Join Alex and frequent guest host Dr. Wind Goodfriend on discussion of the psychological concepts in Joker (2019), the latest take on the amazing batman villain. Joaquin Phoenix gives a stunning performance of a guy just on the edge of reality. That laugh gives us the creeps!
Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com) or on Facebook (@CinPsyPod). We’d love to hear from you!
Don’t forget to check out our Paypal links to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on!
Legal stuff:
1. All film clips are used under Section 107 of Title 17 U.S.C.…