Both of you have obviously loved movies a long time. What are your earliest movie memories? Was there a film experience that so captured you when you were young that it launched you on the path you’ve taken?

Mike: I could not have been more than five or six years old when I saw The Wizard of Oz for the first time. In a theater, on a big screen, not on TV. The moment when it shifted from sepia to Technicolor smacked me right between the eyes. The rest of the movie thrilled, frightened and delighted me completely. From that moment, I’ve been helplessly hooked.

Max: In 1981, my sister and I took the train from Long Island to Manhattan and saw the French movie Diva at a downtown Cineplex Odeon. Everything about that day was magical—the movie, the theater, the urbane New York crowd. It all seemed so insiderish and sophisticated and the world suddenly seemed full of exotic possibilities. That was when I knew I was truly hooked.

Why did the two of you become writers and commentators on movies rather than actors, producers or directors? Why not actually make movies yourselves?

Mike: I’m not handsome or talented enough to be an actor. I’m not organized enough to be a producer or director. I don’t have enough money to finance my own movies. I have seen a lot of movies, and I love to talk about them.

Max: Well, I’ve always been a writer and I’m very analytical by nature. So it was natural that once I fell in love with film, I would fall in love with film criticism, especially the writings of Pauline Kael—who was such a brilliantly witty iconoclast. Not that you asked, but my favorite critics today are Anthony Lane (of the New Yorker) and David Edelstein (of Slate). Manohla Dargis is doing some pretty interesting work at the New York Times, as well.

For a show about movies, you rarely have celebrity guests. How come? Is there a temptation to let the show move in that direction?

Mike: There are hundreds of outlets for celebrity interviews from Entertainment Tonight to the E! channel. They do what they do very well. We don’t need to. Also, we pride ourselves on doing a live show. Few celebrities are willing to take time out on a Saturday afternoon to talk to us. I’m completely happy with the guests we have had, directors for the most part. Eli Roth of Cabin Fever, George Huang for Swimming With Sharks and, most recently, Peter Segal talking about the Holy Schnike DVD edition of Tommy Boy. Those are good movies, and they had interesting things to say about them.

Max: Mike’s answer pretty much sums it up.

Your show has been through some changes over the years, there’s been a name change, some changes in on-air personnel. Are you happy with the show now, or are there major changes yet to come?

Mike: Not all of the changes have taken place as we might have wanted them, but I’m happy with what the show has become. I like having two distinct voices, two points of view. I cannot imagine doing the show with anyone but Max.

Max: I’ve liked all incarnations of the show (maybe because I’ve been on all of them!) But I couldn’t ask for a better co-host than Mike. He, er, completes me.

Mike was not always a regular on the show. How did you come on board?

Mike: Years ago, I had a show on a public radio station in Virginia, and I never lost my love for the medium. With our show, I started as an occasional guest because my publisher was an original sponsor. Graduated from that to a regular guest, and finally to co-host.

I loved it when you guys used to do the “Martini pour” sound effect. What happened to it? Is the show officially on the wagon now?

Given that talk radio is a medium so dominated by political chatter, and that radio audiences seem to have an insatiable appetite for that kind of programming, have you found a show like yours has had a tough time getting a foothold in the market, or are you pleased with where the show is?

Mike: I think we’d have a much tougher time if we were on during the week, but on weekends, people welcome a break from politics. That said, we do find that some listeners want to talk about politics. When that happens, as it did with Passion of the Christ, we work with it. Are we pleased with where the show is? We always want more stations.

Max: We’d like 100 more stations and complete radio domination. But we love our fans and feel very grateful and honored to have such an intelligent and engaged group of listeners.

On the same note, much radio programming, just like the movies, is derivative and uninventive. As people producing a program very different from most radio fare, do you have any insight into why that is?

Mike: We can only do what we enjoy doing and what we’re good at. I know that it would be very difficult for us to do a more conventional review or interview show. Both of us like the spontaneity and unpredictability of live radio. Some program directors don’t understand what we’re trying to do, but listeners do. Our show has fared well wherever we’ve had a chance.

Max: Pretty much the same reason why most films are unoriginal and derivative. People are afraid to stray from formulas that have worked in the past. Tired as those formulas may be.

You’ve recently started podcasting your show. How’s that going? Do you think making the shows available as podcasts will increase the size of your audience? Have you considered how podcasting might create special opportunities for advertisers?

Mike: We certainly hope that we’re going to increase the size of our audience with podcasting. To me, it’s the first step in a major change in radio, allowing listeners to do the same kind of time shifting they’ve been doing for years with television. We are working on special deals with advertisers and hope to be spectacularly successful at it.

Max: People of pod unite! We are thrilled to be doing podcasting and hope that it will expand our listenership and create revenue opportunities in the future (That just SOUNDED like some canned answer. But I actually meant it).

Your website also features a blog written by Max. Blogging and podcasting are only two pieces of the “new media” picture. Do you see a move from static radio or television programs to fully interactive media content going on through Web sites like yours? If so, will that be a good thing or a bad thing for content producers?

Mike: Hey, I blog, too! O.K., I don’t blog as often or as lengthily as Max blogs,  but between sips of bourbon, I jot down the occasional blog. Interactivity with our kind of radio is still in its infancy. The truth is that most of our listeners are in their cars, running errands on a Saturday afternoon. I’d love to increase our internet listenership but I know that people don’t want to be tied down to their computers on weekends. That, we hope, is where podcasting flourishes.

Max: Mike and I are both on line during the show. We read the message board, and we IMDB movie names and titles that stump us. Not that we ever get stumped. . .heh. As for the blog, I’d have a blog whether I hosted Max and Mike On the Movies or not. First person essays are my bag, man.

Do the two of you read blogs or listen to podcasts regularly? If so, which ones?

Mike: I do not yet have an iPod or any of those other tiny magical devices that can hold 50,000 hours of music and all your favorite recipes. Some day soon, I hope. The blogs I read involve the more salacious celebrity gossip and so I’m embarrassed to name them.

Max: Dude, I read so many blogs, I don’t know where to begin. My favorite, currently, is Pink Is The New Blog, a deliciously snarky gossip site. I also like this guy. He’s hit or miss, but when he hits, he’s freakin’ hilarious. Of course, I do the whole Gawker, Defamer, Wonkette thing. And, because I’m a geek, I read Jim Romenesko’s Media news site.

Your program seems to have a loyal following. What kinds of new things might us hardcore Max and Mikers expect in the coming months?

Mike: We have just added a special page on the website where listeners can make suggestions on future show topics (click here to check it out). We want to learn more about what our fans would like to hear. I know every radio show probably says this, but we do have an unusually devoted and well-informed base, to use the political term. Our listeners know movies and have strong opinions about them. Every week, we want the show to be a forum with a fresh approach for as many of those voices as possible. New ideas will help bring them out.

Max: Each week, we’re going to vote off a listener until we crown the ultimate Max and Mike On the Movies survivor . . . Oh no, wait. That’s another show. More of the same, I suppose. Just with different movies and more exciting catch phrases (although, when in doubt, I can always recycle “Great Googly Moogly!")