‘Russo Bros. Pizza Film School’: ‘Avengers’ Directors Launch Weekly Instagram Series Talking About Classic Films

Russo Bros Pizza Film School

If we were to ask the /Film readership what their ideal version of “living the dream” might look like, I imagine that “watching movies and eating pizza” would be one of the most popular responses. Now Anthony and Joe Russo, the directors behind the biggest movie of all time, will be doing exactly that in a new Instagram Live show called Russo Bros. Pizza Film School. Get the details below.

For the next few weeks, the Russos will be spending their Friday nights broadcasting on Instagram Live with this new show, which is designed to “educate and spread some love to favorite classic films.” Each week, they’ll announce a movie that inspired them to become filmmakers and give audiences one week to watch it; then they’ll spend the following week’s episode talking about that movie with a special guest, talking about “how different flicks have transformed their relationship to cinema, while enjoying pizza from a local pizzeria.”

You can tune in on their page on Friday nights at 5 P.M. PT/8 P.M. ET. starting on May 15, 2020. Here’s how the brothers describe the new show in their own words:

View this post on Instagram

Introducing #RussoBrosPizzaFilmSchool… like a lot of you, our families have been watching movies together during quarantine. And these family movie nights have inspired us to start sharing some of our favorite classics with all of you. For the next few weeks we’re going to post a #MovieoftheWeek, the movies that had the greatest influence on us growing up. The movies that made us want to be directors. We will announce a movie every Friday, and then go LIVE the FOLLOWING Friday to discuss that movie, while taking questions from all of you. So you’ll have one week to watch each film. Our FRIDAY IG LIVES will include special guests, and our favorite pizzas from some beloved local restaurants. We love movies and we love pizza, so let’s just call it #RussoBrosPizzaFilmSchool. Our first #MovieoftheWeek is LA HAINE, directed by Mathieu Kassovitz (it’s available on both Amazon Prime Video and iTunes Movies). After you’ve watched the film, be sure to tune in to our IG LIVE at 5pm PST next FRIDAY (05/15) with our special guest, award-winning film critic and commentator Pete Hammond. Who’s enrolling? (Also, a special shout out to Joe’s son, Basil, for editing the logo).

A post shared by The Russo Brothers (@therussobrothers) on May 8, 2020 at 9:02am PDT

The Russos, of course, started out in the indie world making films like Welcome to Collinwood and established themselves as go-to directors of intelligent television comedies like Arrested Development, Happy Endings, and Community. They were hired by Marvel Studios to direct Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and eventually became that studio’s pride and joy by helming Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, the latter of which is now the highest-grossing movie of all time. They became emblematic of a type of studio filmmaker over the course of the past ten years – so much so that I named them the filmmakers that defined the 2010s. (And that’s not a dig, either: I have a lot of love for Avengers: Endgame.)

The first movie they chose to spotlight in their new show is La Haine, a 1995 French drama directed by Mathieu Kassovitz (Gothika, Babylon A.D.) and starring Vincent Cassel (Ocean’s Twelve, Westworld), Hubert Koundé (The Constant Gardener), and Saïd Taghmaoui (Wonder Woman, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum). I couldn’t find an official English-language trailer, but here’s an extended clip:

The movie was added to the Criterion Collection several years ago, and leading up to that release, the company put out this video explaining three reasons why they chose that film to be a part of its prestigious collection. Here’s what they highlighted: