23. Chess Movies W/ Aaron White Cinematic Underdogs

In preparation for our discussion on "The Queen's Gambit", Aaron White of Feelin' Film and I (Paul Keelan) went on a bender with chess movies. In under a week's span, we both watched "Pawn Sacrifice," "Searching for Bobby Fischer," "The Coldest Game," "Queen of Katwe," and "Computer Chess" (on top of "The Queen's Gambit" miniseries). 

After this whirlwind of research, it quickly dawned upon the both of us that the content stored in our brains would inspire way too much dialogue to fit into a single podcast discussion. Thus, we decided to create extra-special 'chess extravaganza' episode so that we could dissect this eclectic selection of chess films and the sub-genre at-length. 

Moving at a rapid-fire pace—as fast as a game of speed chess—we talk about everything from Toby Maguire's odd portrayal of Bobby Fischer, to the poignant focus on parenting in "Searching for Bobby Fischer," to the idiosyncratic & polarizing curio that is "Computer Chess" (Beware: it is not (I repeat it is not!) a documentary about computers playing chess). 

We also outline the various tropes common to chess films: including the themes of madness, addiction, paranoia, Washington Sq. Park, and Cold War / Soviet vs. US politics that pervade nearly all of these movies. Finally, Aaron and I both rank all of these chess films (with "The Queen's Gambit" included in the mix): separating once and for all the blundering pawns from the promotable queens to-be. 

One of the more succinct Cinematic Underdogs episodes to date, this episode packs a ton of insights and canny commentary that you will not want to miss.  

Enjoy!