The Set-Up

Flicks with The Film Snob

The Set-Up

Aug 15 2018 | 00:03:57

00:00 / 00:03:57

Show Notes

This 1949 boxing film, made on a modest budget by Robert Wise, is a model of tight storytelling. Boxing films have been a popular genre since the very beginning of motion pictures, and those who like them usually have a favorite. Probably the most acclaimed examples would be Body and Soul from 1947, and Raging Bull from 1980, and they’re both important and deserving films. The best among those I’ve seen, however, is a bit less famous. The Set-Up, from 1949, directed by Robert Wise, has only three or four sets and a modest length of 76 minutes, and with…

Other Episodes

Episode 0

September 21, 2021 • 00:04:23

Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin / The Cordillera of Dreams

Werner Herzog presents a portrait of his friend, the journalist and travel writer Bruce Chatwin; while Patricio Guzmán examines the mountain range dividing Chile’s...

Episode 0

November 26, 2025 • 00:03:30

Only the River Flows

A detective investigating a series of murders in rural China is confronted with his own instability. “Self-aware cinema” is a nickname, that I just...

Episode

July 24, 2019 • 00:04:20

Midsommar

Ari Aster’s latest horror film depicts a group of young Americans encountering a strange pagan community in Sweden. In last year’s horror film stand-out...