The CINEMA CENTRIC meet up for an episode with filmmaker S.J. Chiro, a director whose work is quietly precise, emotionally attentive, and deeply attuned to inner worlds and moral complexity. Chiro first came to wider attention with Lane 1974, a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age film that tenderly charts identity, belonging, and the unspoken currents beneath adolescence. She then directed East of the Mountains, an adaptation of David Guterson’s novel starring Tom Skerritt, a film defined by its gentle rigor, its meditations on aging, grief, masculinity, and the quiet autonomy of a life approaching its dusk. Across her work, there is a consistent sensitivity to interior lives and a commitment to letting emotional truth emerge without fanfare, a quality that makes her an especially rich voice in contemporary American cinema.

In this episode, S.J. chose to explore the work of Jane Campion, one of the most distinctive, uncompromising filmmakers in world cinema and a director whose films live in the rich terrain of subjectivity, memory, desire, and the tensions between stillness and rupture. For our Criterion segment, we watched every Jane Campion title available in the Criterion Collection and on the Criterion Channel, from early shorts to her later films.

Our conversation weaves these ideas back into S.J. Chiro’s own work and creative process: how restraint can be a strategy for emotional precision, how the camera can become a companion to a character’s interiority, and how memory and longing inform both narrative and performance. We talk about the way Campion’s films unsettle simple arcs and invite the viewer into a layered, subjective space, and why, for Chiro, those qualities resonate deeply with her own artistic concerns.

S.J. Chiro

Website:

⁠https://sjchiro-director.com

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/sjchiro

IMDb:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1849850

Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S._J._Chiro

The CINEMA CENTRIC meet up for an episode with pop-punk musician, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Joel Reader, a figure whose musical trail runs straight through the heart of Bay Area punk, Lookout Records history, and decades of sharp, melodic underground rock.

Joel first emerged in the mid-90s as the bassist for The Mr. T Experience, helping shape one of the most beloved eras of East Bay pop-punk with records that balanced humor, heart, and airtight songwriting. From there, he stepped forward as a frontman with The Plus Ones, revealing a gift for power-pop hooks, sincere vocals, and songs that linger long after the last chord fades. In the 2000s, Joel became a key part of Pansy Division as lead guitarist and vocalist, contributing to the band’s later-era legacy as one of punk’s most vital and openly queer voices. After relocating to Boston, he founded The Fatal Flaw, where his writing leans more indie and melodic, yet still carries the same wit and emotional clarity that’s defined his work from the start.

Across every chapter, Joel’s music shares a common spine: melodic instinct, honesty, and a deep respect for the craft of a great song. Whether anchoring a rhythm section, fronting a band, or shaping harmonies from the side of the stage, his fingerprints are unmistakable.

For our Criterion segment, Joel brings This Is Spinal Tap, the definitive rock mockumentary, and we talk about why its satire cuts so close to the bone. We explore how the film captures the absurdity, tenderness, ego, and fragile camaraderie of band life in a way that only someone who’s lived it can truly appreciate. It’s a conversation about music, identity, longevity, and why laughing at the chaos is sometimes the only way to survive it.

Joel Reader

Website:

http://www.TheFatalFlaw.net

Bandcamp:

https://TheFatalFlaw.bandcamp.com

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/4cwwcndKYhhWOEFqUw7mtf?si=9s5hqUHCT2iriYhlu2lwNw

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/TheFatalFlaw

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/TheFatalFlaw

The CINEMA CENTRIC meet up for an episode with physical media advocate, collector, and author Jeff Rauseo, a voice in cinephile circles whose obsession with formats, physical media, and how we watch movies runs deep. Jeff has built a reputation exploring the intersections of technology, culture, and film-lover habits, and now he’s dropped a book, Lost in the Stream: How Algorithms Redefined the Way Movies Are Made and Watched, that unpacks how streaming platforms, algorithms and physical formats are reshaping cinema’s future.

In this episode titled “FORMAT WARS”, we dive headlong into the battlefield of home video formats: from the early days of Betamax vs. VHS, to LaserDisc’s creation of audio commentaries, to DVD, Blu-Ray, UHD/4K, and the recent twists in television and audio formats that keep even the savviest collectors scratching their heads. Jeff guides us through the timeline and technology, where each format excelled, where they failed, and how some “obsolete” formats still hold advantages today when it comes to quality, archival value, and collector appeal. Using his deep knowledge (and thousands-strong collection) Jeff explains why certain older formats might actually outperform streaming or newer media in specific cases.

We also touch on how Criterion has embraced formats, how special editions, LaserDiscs of the past, Blu-Rays and UHD releases reflect not just technology but curatorial practice and preservation. This episode isn’t just a tech talk, it’s about what format says about film culture, ownership, and the act of watching itself. It’s also about why labels, brands, and proprietary formats (HD DVD vs. Blu-Ray, Dolby Vision vs. HDR10+, etc.) created confusion for consumers and shaped the war of formats in more ways than just “which disc looks better.”

Whether you’re a collector hunting rare tapes, a viewer exhausted by streaming thumbnails, or a lover of Criterion, this episode with Jeff Rauseo will give you a clearer map of the home-video terrain and a renewed appreciation for how we watch movies.

Jeff Rauseo

Important Links:

https://linktr.ee/JeffRauseo