Flashback

Revisiting films from the past with a modern critical eye.

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About the Show

Every two weeks, film critics Dana Stevens (Slate) and K. Austin Collins (Vanity Fair) revisit notable films from the past—movies outside of the current releases and that have influenced modern culture and canon—and analyze them with a contemporary, critical eye.

Hosts

  • Dana Stevens is Slate’s movie critic.

  • K. Austin Collins is a film critic for Vanity Fair and a crossword constructor for the New Yorker and the New York Times.

Within Our Gates (1920)

The oldest known surviving film made by an African American director.

The Lady Eve (1941)

A breezy screwball comedy about a witty card sharp who falls in love with her clumsy, unassuming mark.

A Brighter Summer Day (1991)

A Taiwanese epic that follows the violence and the sorrow that happens when the system fails you.

The Naked Kiss (1964)

A former sex worker tries to start anew in suburbia, and then comes upon a sinister secret.

Starship Troopers (1997)

A critically maligned sci-fi romp that’s become a cult classic.

The Birds (1963) and Marnie (1964)

An Alfred Hitchcock–Tippi Hedren double feature.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)

A teen movie that didn’t settle for portraying all the usual teen movie tropes.

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

The psychological melodrama with feuding stars Bette Davis and Joan Crawford became legendary for its campiness.

The Petrified Forest (1936)

In Humphrey Bogart’s breakout film performance, it’s easy to see why he became a star.

A Letter to Three Wives (1949)

Whose husband ran away with Addie Ross?

The French Connection (1971)

The Gene Hackman crime thriller that was all about the chase.

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

The psychological thriller swept the big Academy Awards that year and had audiences screaming in theaters.

Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

The divorce drama starring Dustin Hoffman and a not-yet-star Meryl Streep was a major cultural and critical hit.

Johnny Guitar (1954)

The rare Western in which the true rivalry is between two defiant women.

It’s Always Fair Weather (1955)

An atypically dark musical about three comrades returning from World War II.

One From the Heart (1982)

A largely forgotten flop by Francis Ford Coppola that still showcases his ambitious filmmaking.

Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

A campy horror classic that birthed an iconic character—one who barely gets any actual screen time.

High and Low (1963)

Akira Kurosawa’s masterful crime thriller plays with multiple dichotomies: heaven and hell, upper and lower class, right and wrong.

The Awful Truth (1937)

A highly improvised screwball comedy that solidified Cary Grant as a charming romantic lead.

Daughters of the Dust (1991)

This feature film directed by a black woman was the first to be widely distributed in U.S. theaters.