On the fortieth episode of All the Film Things, I talked with professor/ author James Miller!
James Miller is a liberal studies professor at the New School for Social Research in New York City. He wrote music reviews for Rolling Stone in the 70s and spent much of the 80s reviewing books and writing pop music criticism for Newsweek. Among Jim’s many accomplishments, he has been a Guggenheim Fellow and his work continues to be published in magazines, peer- reviewed academic journals, and newspapers. Jim has written several books over the course of his decades- spanning career focused on various subject matters from philosophy (Examined Lives: From Socrates to Nietzsche) to politics (Can Democracy Work? A Short History of a Radical Idea, from Ancient Athens to Our World) to music. His book Flowers in the Dustbin: The Rise of Rock & Roll won the ASCAP- Deems Taylor Award for the best music book written of 1999.
Jim’s latest book, the first he’s written focused on film, is titled The Passion of Pedro Almodóvar: A Self- Portrait in Seven Films and will be published through Columbia University Press on April 29. Through this book, Jim examines the work, and by extension self, of Almodóvar through his most personal films. This book will be available for purchase wherever books are sold so preorder your copy now on Barnes & Noble, Amazon, etc.! You'll definitely want to click this link to preorder the book on Barnes & Noble!: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-passion-of-pedro-almodovar-james-miller/1146504374;jsessionid=473B373D1171A12E15F5B951CC989AA7.prodny_store01-atgap07 If you’re in the New York area, Jim will be sitting down with Robert Polito for an hour- long conversation on pub day about his book at the New School at 6 pm. Learn more about this event by clicking this link!: https://event.newschool.edu/booklunchjimmiller
This is Jim’s first appearance on ATFT! I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to interview him without two- time ATFT guest, film historian Max Alvarez presenting me with this opportiunity. I’m very grateful to him and Sarah C. Noell of Columbia University Press for helping bring this interview into fruition. Before reading Jim’s book, I had seen three Almodóvar films and the latter two, Parallel Mothers (2021) and All About My Mother (1999), blew me away. For a few years now, I had been wanting to go through Almodóvar's work but his films are not so easy to come by. Reading Jim's brilliant, analytical book was the perfect opportunity to finally dive in, leaving me completely changed. Why aren’t people talking about Almodóvar?! Quentin Tarantino was right when he said Almodóvar is largely underrated in the US. This episode was recorded on April 3, 2025.
In this episode, Jim shares incredible stories from his career from gettign a private concert from Paul McCartney to inspiring a Jimi Hendrix song. We talk about some of cinema’s greatest filmmakers, such as Ingmar Bergman and Alfred Hitchcock, before discussing the work of Pedro Almodóvar for much of the episode. Filmmakers and film aficionados will especially enjoy this episode. Jim also talks about the impact of Michelangelo Antoninoni's Blow-up (1966) , Almodóvar's dynamic with muse Penélope Cruz, and inspiring Tom Hayden to write his memoir. All this and much more on the latest episode of All the Film Things!
P.S.) If you're listening on Spotify, share your thoughts on Pedro Almodóvar in the comments!
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