In his latest entry in the Cinephile series, Mark Borchardt enjoys a little flight of fancy as he ponders a movie that sadly never was ...

Cinephile with Mark Borchardt: Quentin Tarantino’s Star Trek

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One of Hollywood’s most versatile and accomplished character actors, Josh Pais can now be seen in the new dark comedy <a href="https://www.freestyledigitalmedia.tv/film/checkout/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Checkout</a>, which is now on VOD. His other recent credits include The Friend, opposite Naomi Watts, and Netflix’s A Man In Full, opposite Jeff Daniels. His extensive television work includes Hulu’s critically acclaimed The Dropout, Showtime’s Ray Donovan, HBO’s Mrs. Fletcher and High Maintenance, and TV Land’s Younger. On the film side, Pais has appeared in a wide range of notable productions, including Joker, Funny Pages, produced by the Safdie brothers, and Nicole Holofcener’s You Hurt My Feelings. Drawing on decades of experience both on screen and on stage, Pais founded Committed Impulse, an innovative performance methodology emphasizing spontaneity, physical awareness, and authentic creative expression. He is also the author of <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/790583/lose-your-mind-by-josh-pais/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lose Your Mind: The Path to Creative Invincibility</a>, published by Penguin Random House/Hay House, which is now out in paperback.

Josh Pais

Film

Three Great Things: Josh Pais

Nick Dawson talks with filmmakers, musicians and comedians whose work he loves, avoiding the mundane, predictable questions they&#8217;ve heard numerous times and instead asking substantive, thoughtful questions that get to the heart of who they are.

Nobody’s Ever Asked Me That

Podcast

Nobody’s Ever Asked Me That: Juliette Binoche

Alexander Payne grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. He studied History and Spanish Literature at Stanford before earning an MFA in Film Directing at UCLA. His nine feature films include Election, Sideways, The Descendants, About Schmidt, Nebraska, and The Holdovers. His movies have been nominated for a total of 24 Oscars, including four times for Best Picture and three for Best Director. He has won two Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay, and two of his movies have won the Golden Globe for Best Picture. Five of his movies were filmed at least partially in Nebraska, where he continues to live, dividing his time among Omaha, Los Angeles and Athens. His newest movie, Et Sted Derude (Somewhere Out There), shot in Denmark and in Danish language, will be released in fall of 2027.

Alexander Payne

Three Great Things: Alexander Payne

Sophia Dunn-Walker is a French-American director and co-founder of Emmy-winning ENKIDU International Productions. Her feature documentary on the autism spectrum is currently in post-production, following a 2026 screening of its short version at the American Pavilion at Cannes. She has collaborated with Pussy Riot on several projects, and her visual approach is rooted in fine art and fashion photography, including early work assisting Annie Leibovitz and legally blind photographer Kurt Weston. Dunn-Walker has cone dystrophy, which affects color perception and visual acuity and has become an integral part of how she approaches image-making. She is also an advocate for disability representation in the arts. (Photo by BK Studios.)

Sophia Dunn-Walker

Is It Protest or Is It Entertainment?

Sky Hopinka (Ho-Chunk Nation/Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians) is a filmmaker and artist whose work explores Indigenous homeland, language, and cultural continuity through experimental and nonfiction media. His latest film, <a href="https://www.skyhopinka.com/powwow-people" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Powwow People</a>, is out now. His films have screened at Sundance, Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival, among others. Hopinka’s work has been featured in the Whitney Biennial and the Centre Pompidou. He is a 2022 MacArthur Fellow and a past recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, Radcliffe Institute and Sundance Institute.

Sky Hopinka

A Love Letter to Powwows

Devin Smock is an independent filmmaker, writer, and small business owner based in Jacksonville, Illinois. He is the writer-director of the feature film <a href="https://www.instagram.com/hollerfilm/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Holler</a>, co-founder of Subterranean Sound &amp; Vision, and co-owner of both Street Trash and Pizza Records. He also contributes film writing and reviews to MoreHorror.com and Critical Screening. His work is rooted in independent film, regional filmmaking, and creating art and businesses outside the traditional industry system.

Devin Smock

The Record Store That Accidentally Became My Film School

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Talkhouse

Lou Turner is a writer and musician (Styrofoam Winos, Ryan Davis &amp; the Roadhouse Band, MJ Lenderman, and others) based in Nashville, TN. She is the author of Twin Lead Lines (Third Man Books, 2025) as well as the editor of Quarter Notes, a literary magazine with a musical ear. Turner’s third solo record, Strangels (out Nov 6th via SPINSTER) was named “her most creatively complex and ceremonious concrete body of work to date” by The Self Portrait Gospel.
(Photo Credit: Trevor Nikrant)

Lou Turner

Anne Malin Ringwalt is a writer and musician based in Durham, NC. What Floods and Strange Power! are out now as a joint release from Inside the Castle and Dear Life Records, with recognition from the Poetry Foundation. The recipient of the Excellence Fellowship at UNC Greensboro, she is currently pursuing a PhD in English while teaching at the North Carolina Governor&#8217;s School.

Anne Malin Ringwalt

Music

Lou Turner and Anne Malin Ringwalt Are Serious About Playfulness

863: Little Fish’s Anna Sonenshein and Niki Vahle on Fundraising, Firing 50,000 Fish Sandwiches, and That $20,000 Fridge

1017. – Yotam Ottolenghi

Transmissions :: Derrick Bang on Vince Guaraldi

Mark Borchardt is a filmmaker and playwright living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Some of his films include Coven, The Dundee Project and The More the Scarier VI.

Mark Borchardt

Frankie Latina is an Italian-American independent writer-director born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who began using his uncle Dave&#8217;s Super 8mm camera to make movies when he was a teenager. He studied film at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he learned how to make 16mm movies, and made his feature debut in 2009 with Modus Operandi. It was released theatrically by Kino Lorber in 2010 and is now available on VOD. <a href="http://www.frankielatina.com/" target="_blank">Latina</a> is currently making his second feature, Snapshot.