The Projector #50: What Can We Do For You? (Patreon)

by Keith Phipps

Hello readers of The Projector. This one’s going to be light on the musings, heavy on the housekeeping. If I’m doing my math right — always an iffy proposition — we’ve now been at this about a year. So, first off, thanks again. The Patreon has been a huge boost to our ability to keep doing this podcast. (I’m looking at a microphone that’s helped immeasurably during this quarantine period as I write this.) Your support means a lot! It’s also made us start thinking about what else we can do. So we’re asking for a little feedback.

We’ve been trying to do about a bonus episode a week and plan to keep doing that. They’ve ranged from games to one-offs about new movies we’re not covering on the main show to topical discussions to television reviews to deep dives into filmmakers’ careers (like out upcoming Gina Prince-Bythewood episode). So question one: Which of these do you like? We’ll probably keep doing all of them, but if there’s a particular sort of episode you look forward to hearing, let us know.

Question two: What else can we do? Other podcasts we like — like Blank Check and The Flop House, to name two — have hosted live episodes and watch parties. If we can figure out the technology, would you be interested? What about merch? Would you want our logo on a mug? It could happen! Is there anything other podcasts do that you might enjoy us doing? We’re fishing for ideas here, so let them fly. (Yes, that’s a mixed metaphor. I need more coffee.)

Meanwhile, we hope you’re enjoying our latest episodes, in which Emily VanDerWerff joins us to talk about Palm Springs and Groundhog Day. (Well, not me. I was still moving at the time.) And here’s a few pieces you might enjoy:

• Want to read about the 1986 dirtbike movie RAD? Of course you do. At Vulture, Amos Barshad explores the history of the cult classic.

• At The New Yorker, Rachel Syme eulogizes the late, great Olivia de Havilland.

• At RogerEbert.com, Matt Zoller Seitz pays tribute to Christopher Reeve’s terrific work as Superman.

• At The New York Times, our own Scott Tobias writes about the final season of Netflix’s Last Chance U.

• For Vulture, past NPS guest Alison Willmore write about the brutal delights of Charlize Theron: action hero.

• And friend and former co-host Rachel Handler ranks Christopher Nolan movies based on whether or not they’re worth dying to watch.

Finally, at Mel, Tim Grierson considers the career of Vince Vaughn as part of his Misleading Men column.