Framed & Bound

After an unexpected break, Framed and Bound returns with a new episode focusing on writer-director Robert Towne's 2006 adaptation of John Fante's novel Ask the Dust! 

Joining host Tobias Carroll for this episode is Constance Squires, author of Low April Sun, available wherever books are sold.

Discussed this episode: the ideal director to adapt John Fante; when you cast the right actor at the wrong age; The Brutalist; The Committmen...

In this episode of Framed & Bound, host Tobias Carroll and guest Lee Matthew Goldberg discuss the 1990 film Misery, an adaptation of Stephen King’s novel of the same name. It’s also the third King adaptation to be covered on this podcast. One of these days, we’ll get to Secret Window.

Discussed in this episode: the greatness of Kathy Bates, Rob Reiner’s suspense chops, the challenges of adapting Stephen Ki...

The first Framed & Bound episode of 2025 is, appropriately enough, about one of the wintriest movies ever made. This time out, Tobias Carroll and guest Jesi Bender discussed the 1980 film The Shining, an adaptation of Stephen King’s novel of the same name. It may be the sole cinematic podcast in which you’ll hear both The Killing of a Sacred Deer and Top Gun: Maverick invoked.

Also discussed this episode: ...

After a brief delay due to, well, current events, there’s a new episode of Framed & Bound. This time out, Drew Buxton joins Tobias Carroll to get very metafictional as they discuss 2022’s Adaptation, featuring two of Nicolas Cage’s best performances.

Discussed: writing about wrestling, Brian Cox’s agelessness, Charlie Kaufman’s work as a director, the challenges of adapting unadaptable books, and the great...

On the sixteenth episode of Framed and Bound, David James Keaton joined host Tobias Carroll to discuss the 1987 film Best Seller, starring Brian Dennehy and James Woods. Turns out we were not the only ones to find the end credits song to be a little bit stylistically jarring, as this review makes clear.

You can find Keaton at his website; his latest book is the novel Shallow Ends. And if you enjoyed hearing these guys...

On this week’s episode of Framed and Bound, South Brooklyn Exterminating author Ian S. Maloney joins host Tobias Carroll to unravel the twisty conspiracies of David Fincher’s 1997 film The Game — and explain what it has to do with the publishing industry.

The Criterion Collection’s page for the film has some terrific analysis of the film’s themes and images. (Apparently it’s a favorite of both Ty Segall an...

In the latest episode of Framed & Bound, guest Caroline Hagood and host Tobias Carroll discussed The Forty-Year-Old Version, writer/director/star Radha Blank’s engaging look at a playwright reckoning with art, ethics, and definitions of success.

There’s been a lot of excellent writing on the film, including Neal Minow at RogerEbert.com, Alison Willmore at Vulture, and Richard Brody at The New Yorker. 

On episode 13 of Framed & Bound, host Tobias Carroll and guest Dmitry Samarov discussed the 2018 film Can You Ever Forgive Me? In 2008, Julie Bosman at The New York Times wrote about the publication of the memoir that inspired the film — and what some of the real-life buyers of author Lee Israel’s forged letters felt about her years after the fact.

Dmitry Samarov’s latest book is Making Pictures Is How I Talk to the Wo...

On the 12th episode of Framed & Bound, host Tobias Carroll and Christian Niedan of Screen Sounds discuss the 1956 film Storm Center, about book banning in a small town. There’s also a fascinating trailer for the film that can be found on YouTube — which literally shows the final scene of the movie.

Niedan interviewed Walter Bernstein about his experience as a blacklisted writer; he also maintains a fantastic Instagram...

For episode 11 of Framed & Bound, Mairead Case (Tiny, See You in the Morning) joins host Tobias Carroll to discuss Irish Wish, a movie in which an editor played by Lindsay Lohan creates a parallel universe where she’s engaged to the rakish author whose book she made a bestseller.

The essay Mairead mentioned at episode's end can be found here.

Discussed in this episode: Irish saints, parallel...

For the tenth episode of Framed & Bound, host Tobias Carroll teams up with Kurt Baumeister — author of Pax Americana and Twilight of the Gods — to discuss the 1999 film The Ninth Gate. This was co-written and directed by Roman Polanski, and adapts Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s novel The Club Dumas. 

In The Ninth Gate, an expert in rare books is sent in search of a centuries-old book that may contain information...

On this episode, Tobias Carroll and Arianna Reiche discuss the 2002 film adaptation of A.S. Byatt’s Possession. Arianna Reiche is the author of the acclaimed novel At the End of Every Day, available wherever books are sold. You can read her short story “Potassium” here, too!

Possession is about a pair of academics researching the possible connection between two poets who lived decades earlier — two paralle...

In this episode, writer Michele Filgate — editor of the anthology What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About: Fifteen Writers Break the Silence — visits Framed & Bound to discuss Nicole Holofcener’s acclaimed 2023 film You Hurt My Feelings.

Discussed in this episode: whether writing is like therapy, authors behaving badly in bookstores, writing workshops on screen and in reality, only children, the greatness of...

Welcome to the seventh episode of Framed & Bound! This week, my guest is Matthew Specktor, author of Always Crashing in the Same Car and American Dream Machine. We discussed the 1994 film Wolf,  directed by Mike Nichols and written by Jim Harrison and Wesley Strick. It’s available to rent or purchase digitally, and there are several Blu-Ray editions out there as well.

Discussed in this episode: Wolf’s weird use of loca...

For this episode, I’m joined by Jonathan Russell Clark — author of, most recently, the book Skateboard — to discuss the 2000 film Wonder Boys, about the personal and professional crises that come to a head in one writer’s life. 

Discussed in this episode: what was and was not changed in adapting Michael Chabon’s novel; great titles of fictional books; the nature of the nonfiction novel; whether Misery fall...

In this episode, writer and editor Katharine Coldiron visits Framed & Bound to discuss the 2011 adaptation of Stephen King’s novel Bag of Bones, about a writer dealing with grief, writer’s block, and ghosts. She’s the author of the books Ceremonials and Junk Film: Why Bad Movies Matter — as well as the forthcoming collection Wire Mothers: Stories.

Discussed in this episode: Canadian locations, the very uns...

In this episode, writer Colin Dodds joins host Tobias Carroll to discuss director Lasse Hallström’s 2006 film The Hoax, inspired by the real-life case of author Clifford Irving and his entirely fictional autobiography of Howard Hughes. Discussed in this episode: fabulism on film, the absurdly good cast of this film, the way certain members of this film’s absurdly good cast are underused, the long shadow of Orson Welles...

Bell, Book and Candle has it all: a high-powered book publisher! New York's magical underground! Jack Lemmon playing the bongos! And it's (kind of) a Christmas movie! Publicist Lauren Cerand joins host Tobias Carroll for this episode of Framed & Bound.

Bell, Book and Candle is available to watch on the Criterion Channel and Tubi. It stars Kim Novak, James Stewart, Jack Lemmon, Ernie Kovacs, Hermione Gingold, and Elsa Lanchester. Th...