The Minimum Commitment: Film Theory in Small Doses
By Donn Lawler Podcasts
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Category: TV & Film
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Episodes: 82
Description
Hosted by Donn Lawler, this podcast explores film theory one movie at a time. Each episode breaks down a single film—no jargon, no lectures—just sharp analysis in under 10 minutes. Noir, sci-fi, horror, dystopias… every story says more than you think.
New episodes weekly. Minimum Commitment. Maximum Meaning.
| Episode | Date |
|---|---|
|
The Wolfman - The Distance Between Us
|
Oct 23, 2026 |
|
The Mummy - The Weight of Wanting
|
Oct 16, 2026 |
|
Frankenstein - What Do We Owe the Life We Create?
|
Oct 09, 2026 |
|
Dracula - What We Inherit
|
Oct 02, 2026 |
|
Invasion of the Body Snatchers - The Last Human Difference
|
Sep 25, 2026 |
|
The Day The Earth Stood Still - Substituting Fear for Reason
|
Sep 18, 2026 |
|
Forbidden Planet - The Enemy Within
|
Sep 11, 2026 |
|
It Came From Outer Space - The Enemy We Imagined
|
Sep 04, 2026 |
|
The Thing from Another World - The Enemy in the Ice
|
Aug 28, 2026 |
|
NOCTURNAL ANIMALS – 19 Years of Distance
|
Aug 21, 2026 |
|
NIGHTCRAWLER – The Business of the Abyss
|
Aug 14, 2026 |
|
SE7EN – Life in the Abyss
|
Aug 07, 2026 |
|
Fargo – The Price of Enough
|
Jul 31, 2026 |
|
Angel Heart – The First Step Down
|
Jul 24, 2026 |
|
Monolith - The Stories We Choose to Believe
|
Jul 17, 2026 |
|
Moon - Who Gets to Decide?
|
Jul 10, 2026 |
|
All Is Lost - What Remains
|
Jul 03, 2026 |
|
Locke - The Road Chosen
|
Jun 26, 2026 |
|
No One Will Save You - The Weight of Guilt
|
Jun 19, 2026 |
|
You Were Never Really Here - Fragments of Violence
|
Jun 12, 2026 |
|
Collateral - Cities Without Connection
|
Jun 04, 2026 |
|
Drive - Dreams Beneath Sodium Light
|
May 29, 2026 |
|
Thief - The Price of Ownership
|
May 22, 2026 |
|
Heat - The Shape of Obsession
|
May 15, 2026 |
|
Unforgiven - The Collapse of the Gunslinger Myth
|
May 08, 2026 |
|
The Proposition - The Cost of Order and the Myth of Civilization
|
May 01, 2026 |
|
Slow West - The Story That Wasn’t There
|
Apr 24, 2026 |
|
Tombstone - The Performance of Heroism
|
Apr 17, 2026 |
|
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - Becoming the Story
|
Apr 10, 2026 |
|
The Wrestler – When the Performance Is All That’s Left
|
Apr 03, 2026 |
|
F1: The Movie – Control at the Edge of Speed
|
Mar 27, 2026 |
|
Friday Night Lights – Under the Weight of the Lights
|
Mar 19, 2026 |
|
Hoosiers – Ten Feet and the Right Perspective
|
Mar 13, 2026 |
|
Rocky – The Sound of Going the Distance
|
Mar 06, 2026 |
|
Lost in Translation – The Distance Between Us
|
Feb 27, 2026 |
|
Harold and Maude – Chaos, Control, and the Performance of Rebirth
|
Feb 19, 2026 |
|
Punch-Drunk Love – Color, Control, and the Shape of a Man Who Snaps
|
Feb 13, 2026 |
|
Silver Linings Playbook – Performing Sanity in an Insane World
|
Feb 06, 2026 |
|
Season 2 Begins February 5th
|
Jan 16, 2026 |
|
See You Next Time
|
Dec 12, 2025 |
|
Conan the Barbarian – Steel, Flesh, and the Fire of Becoming
|
Dec 05, 2025 |
|
Dragonslayer – The Age of Fire, the Fall of Magic
|
Nov 28, 2025 |
|
The Green Knight – Bravery, Performed
|
Nov 21, 2025 |
|
Excalibur – The Sword, the Spectacle, and the End of Magic
|
Nov 14, 2025 |
|
Beowulf – The Lie That Made the Legend
|
Nov 07, 2025 |
|
Us: The Horror in the Mirror
|
Oct 31, 2025 |
|
Hereditary – The Shape of Inheritance
|
Oct 24, 2025 |
|
The Exorcist – A Crisis of Faith and Flesh
|
Oct 17, 2025 |
|
The Shining: Madness in the Method
|
Oct 10, 2025 |
|
Jaws – What Lurks Beneath
|
Oct 03, 2025 |
|
Halloween – A Knife in the Quiet
|
Sep 26, 2025 |
|
Arrival – Language of Tomorrow
|
Sep 19, 2025 |
|
2001: A Space Odyssey – Becoming Beyond Reason
|
Sep 12, 2025 |
|
Interstellar – Love in the Time of Gravity
|
Sep 05, 2025 |
|
Logan’s Run – Faith in the Countdown
|
Aug 29, 2025 |
|
Blade Runner – Memories You Can’t Trust
|
Aug 22, 2025 |
|
Dark City: Memory Is a Crime Scene
|
Aug 15, 2025 |
|
Chinatown – The Lie That Lives
|
Aug 08, 2025 |
|
Blue Velvet – Darkness Found Me First
|
Aug 01, 2025 |
|
Out of the Past – Shadows You Can’t Escape
|
Jul 25, 2025 |
|
Double Indemnity – No Way Out
|
Jul 18, 2025 |
|
Ballerina – Violence in Color
|
Jul 11, 2025 |
|
John Wick: Chapter 4 – The Long Fall Up
|
Jul 04, 2025 |
|
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum: Becoming the Ghost
|
Jun 27, 2025 |
|
John Wick: Chapter 2 – The Debt That Owns You
|
Jun 20, 2025 |
|
John Wick: The Trigger Was Never the Dog
|
Jun 13, 2025 |
|
The Force Awakens: Echoes in the Frame
|
Jun 06, 2025 |
|
The Last Jedi: Breaking the Pattern
|
Jun 06, 2025 |
|
The Rise of Skywalker: The Spectacle That Ate the Myth
|
Jun 06, 2025 |
|
A New Hope: The Pattern Beneath the Stars
|
May 30, 2025 |
|
The Empire Strikes Back: Vision in the Shadows
|
May 30, 2025 |
|
Return of the Jedi: Designed for Impact
|
May 30, 2025 |
|
The Phantom Menace: Empire in Disguise
|
May 23, 2025 |
|
Attack of the Clones: Manufactured Wars, Manufactured Consent
|
May 23, 2025 |
|
Revenge of the Sith: The Mind of a Monster
|
May 23, 2025 |
|
The Skywalker Saga: Nine Films. Nine Theories
|
May 23, 2025 |
|
Donnie Brasco: Identity, Performance, and the Cost of Belonging
|
May 16, 2025 |
|
Scarface: Breaking the Gangster Blueprint
|
May 09, 2025 |
|
The Irishman: Violence, Time, and the Streaming Gamble
|
May 04, 2025 |
|
Goodfellas: The Performance of Power
|
May 04, 2025 |
|
The Godfather: Legacy, Silence, and the Shape of Power
|
May 04, 2025 |
|
Episode 0 – Welcome to The Minimum Commitment
|
May 03, 2025 |