BFG Podcast #129: 'Saltburn' and 'May December'

Two provocative new movies get the BFG podcast treatment this week. Host Neal Pollack begins the show with a wicked audio rendition of his piece excoriating stupid pundits who say that Hollywood has a new "Blacklist" because some people are expressing dumb opinions about the Israel-Hamas conflict. Spoiler alert: there is no Blacklist, not even a show starring James Spader Let's lay that discussion to rest.

JP Guinn appears on leave from his semester at Oxford to discuss 'Saltburn' with Neal. They both agree that this move is "very horny" and that it's fun to watch it in a theater with people who it makes uncomfortable. Neal thinks it's more than a bit of a Talented Mr. Ripley knock-off, while not as good as The Talented Mr. Ripley. JP says it's a huge leap forward for Emerald Fennell as a filmmaker. And they both love Rosamund Pike and Richard E. Grant. It's a real talking-piece of a film, which is why we're talking about it.

But we're really talking about Todd Haynes's 'May December', which Stephen Garrett and Neal give their highest recommendation. Neal reads it as a comedy, Stephen as a tragedy, but why not both? Regardless, it's "peak Todd Haynes," which is saying something in a career that has already had so many peaks. Both Stephen and Neal agree that this Netflix release about Hollywood exploiting people involved in childhood sex-abuse scandals is one of the year's best films.

Enjoy our show!