TOM AND JERRIES: Join me and editor, filmmaker and blogger David Brook (Blueprint Review), as we talk Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World and The Enemy Below, both films about naval vessels playing cat and mouse with each other.

“To wives and sweethearts, may they never meet.” I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by…Sounds like it’s time for Episode 103 of Pop Art, where we find the pop culture in art and the art in pop culture.

It’s the podcast where my guest chooses a movie from popular culture, and I’ll select a film from the more art/classic/indie side of cinema with a connection to it.

For this episode, I am happy to welcome as my guest, editor, filmmaker and blogger David Brook, who has chosen as his film the 18th century sea epic Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, while I have chosen the WWII drama, The Enemy Below, both films about naval vessels playing cat and mouse with each other.

And in this episode, we answer such questions as: What is the attraction of cat and mouse films? Why did Peter Weir retire from filmmaking? Why did Dick Powell only make four movies? What do the context of the times when both films were made tell us about the films? Why did Curd Jurgens flee Germany? Where does Star Trek come in? How do both movies differ from the books? Why did Russel Crowe sell the violin he purchased to play in the movie?