Podcast Portal: Benview on Spielberg

Welcome to Podcast Portal: a spontaneous column that will highlight podcasts of all genres that are lesser known or new shows that are worth giving a listen. With the medium continuing to grow, it is hard to acknowledge all of them. However, I am going to try and find as many noteworthy titles as possible to share and hopefully expand your mind to the greatest growing medium out there. If you have any podcast that you feel is worth adding to the Podcast Portal, please make sure to inform me whether through the comments or through an e-mail (information in sidebar). 

SHOW: Benview on Spielberg
HOSTS: Justin Quizon, Matt Benson
NETWORK: Benview Network
EPISODE BEING DISCUSSED: "Duel"

One of the greatest topics in the podcasting community is fans talking at great length about any given topic. The more notable one is Denzel Washington is the Greatest Actor of All Time Period, which chronicles the career of Denzel Washington literally from A to Z. Fans are enthusiastic to share their thoughts and in many ways have evolved the conversation of pop culture to a more textbook fashion that is very digestible and opens up audiences to a wider pallet of content. In the case of Benview on Spielberg, they become the first show to do something unthinkable: tackle the entire filmography of director Steven Spielberg.

While it may seem blasphemous to tack on "unthinkable" to Spielberg, it fits well in the podcast medium. True, there are shows dedicated to dissecting length series such as M*A*S*H* and Seinfeld, but very few film podcasts take the time to talk about a career spanning over 40 years and features a daunting amount of content. Even the late great The Auteurcast rarely discussed filmmakers with more than seven films. To summarize, even if Spielberg is the most iconic working director, I don't think that the enthusiasm is there to talk about every last one of his films, especially the early work.

To preface: I have not seen Duel. I went into this episode to learn about the film. It may not make the conversation points as immediately accessible, but it gives me a chance to see if they recap in an informative way. Thanks to their diligent research on Movie Fanfare and IMDb (in order of significance), there's a lot to get out of this. There's a plenty of discussion between the current version and the original televised one that gave Spielberg his start. With plenty of humor thrown in, it is a comical, informative look into a legend's career. Truthfully, I wouldn't mind more global context when it comes to Spielberg. Basically, if there's any interesting behind the scenes stories (for instance: how did Spielberg come to make this film?). Otherwise, the show works very well.

Of course, this show is being done by two veterans of the pop culture dissection. Justin Quizon, all around Spielberg lover, writes for continually entertaining website Agents of GUARD. Matt Benson, all around Spielberg apatheticist, helped to launch the great Benview Network and is featured on almost half of the shows on there, including the criminally ignored (even by the host) Benson's Boombox. Together, they make a great team that make discussing Spielberg into something worth listening to. 

RATING: 3.5 out of 5

WORTH A SECOND GO?: Provided that you like recap shows and Steven Spielberg, this will be a show that you may want to check out. The director has made a lot of noteworthy films and I cannot wait for them to talk about 1941 and The Color Purple. They have great chemistry and mediocre information resources. I think they'll do just fine.