Ex Rated Movies artwork

Ex Rated Movies

250 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 year ago - ★★★★★ - 38 ratings

A movie podcast by two guys who used to date but don't anymore. We cover a broad range of movies focusing on style, substance, and originality. Or a complete lack thereof! Come join the "fun"!

TV & Film Comedy
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Episodes

2023 Oscars Spectacular Part 6

March 08, 2023 22:20 - 69.6 MB

2023 Oscars Spectacular Part 5

March 08, 2023 22:15 - 132 MB

2023 Oscars Spectacular Part 4

March 08, 2023 22:10 - 123 MB

2023 Oscars Spectacular Part 3

March 08, 2023 22:05 - 138 MB

2023 Oscars Spectacular Part 2

March 08, 2023 22:00 - 129 MB

2023 Oscars Spectacular Part 1

March 08, 2023 21:00 - 124 MB

2022 Oscars Spectacular Part 5

March 21, 2022 13:04 - 32.6 MB

For those who are still listening (Jessica, we're looking at you), thanks for sticking around! This one's only a half hour. You've got a half hour left in you, right?

2022 Oscars Spectacular Part 4

March 21, 2022 13:03 - 55.8 MB

I think this is the one where we finally get to talk about Best Actress. Maybe. I'm not sure. Haven't listened yet 🤷‍♂️

2022 Oscars Spectacular Part 3

March 21, 2022 13:02 - 55.8 MB

I'll bet we're starting to sound drunk at this point. Oh, well! Here's Part 3!

2022 Oscars Spectacular Part 2

March 21, 2022 13:01 - 56.1 MB

Here's Part 2! (I have no idea what we talked about in this part. 😬 I haven't listened to any of it! Hope it's fun!)

2022 Oscars Spectacular Part 1

March 21, 2022 13:00 - 55 MB

The 94th annual Academy Awards air March 27, 2022 and we’re coming out of hiatus to talk about ‘em! You may be thinking to yourself, “Uh-whuh?! I thought those guys were dead!” Well, we’re not, and we promised ourselves that we would make Oscar episodes no matter what! And so, hiatus be damned, we asked longtime friend Darren Dewse to join us for a four-and-a-half hour discussion of James Bond songs, Agnes of God, and the ever-compelling Best Actress category! (Don’t worry about that runtime....

Episode 200 Singin' in the Rain and Goodfellas

June 10, 2021 19:02 - 131 MB

Any way you slice it, 200 episodes is a milestone. And while other, more cowardly podcasts might insist on regulating and planning every second of such an achievement, we left it all to chance and invited Lady Luck to choose our movies for us! Last week’s AFI Roulette spins yielded two paragons of pure, unadulterated entertainment. One is a dumb, colorful musical bursting with bananas fashion, stunning set pieces, and one magnificent ass. The other is a frenetic and cacophonous gangster flick...

Episode 199 Trouble Every Day

May 31, 2021 21:13 - 82.5 MB

As we approach episode 200, Matt has decided to bring us back to where it all started. Claire Denis’ vampire-adjacent Trouble Every Day (2001), is a slow and sensual mood piece that’s sparse on dialogue but brimming with ambiguity. While the movie does contain two challengingly violent scenes, the lush camerawork from Agnès Goddard, sumptuous music from Tindersticks, and sad puppy dog eyes from Vincent Gallo help to temper their biting intensity. This is one auteur treatment of vampires that ...

Episode 198 Kicking and Screaming

May 25, 2021 14:42 - 63.2 MB

Pull up your pleated corduroys and throw on Bossanova because we’re taking a nostalgia trip back to the 1990’s. While Kicking and Screaming (1995), Noah Baumbach’s debut feature, definitely captures the look and feel of the mid 90’s, it also epitomizes the directionless ennui some liberal arts graduates *ahem* feel upon entering the “real world.” And while he certainly went on to make better films, this one’s charming analysis of stunted and ornery young adults refusing to grow up, goes down ...

Episode 197 Gremlins 2: The New Batch

May 19, 2021 20:27 - 112 MB

It’s a true testament to how great Gremlins is that practically everyone came back to work on Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990). And the fact that studio execs held out until Joe Dante was willing to make it with complete creative control, proves that whatever unique blend of horror and comedy that this movie achieves, is unrepeatable. Bigger and wackier than the first, yet still ringing all the same bells, this delightfully satisfying sequel is the ideal example of what can happen when art an...

Episode 196 The Wiz

May 11, 2021 13:00 - 75.3 MB

Evillene would be pleased because this week, we’ve got good news; we’re talking about The Wiz (1978)! Starring an age-inappropriate Diana Ross, a peanut-butter-cup-wrapper-sporting Michael Jackson, and directed by a put-the-camera-in-the-nosebleeds Sidney Lumet, this one-of-a-kind flick reimagines The Wizard of Oz with an all-black cast singing familiar story beats in soul and gospel style. Filled with huge set pieces, imaginative costume design, excellent vocal performances, and tight choreo...

Episode 195 The Secret of NIMH

May 03, 2021 13:00 - 86.5 MB

It seems that for those of us who grew up in the 80’s, The Secret of NIMH (1982) either conjures fond memories of a magical adventure or summons terrifying traumas of non-stop peril. The Exes and their newly minted #1 guest Travis Vogt, are solidly in the former category. Helmed by Don Bluth and completed by a team of Disney expats, this masterpiece of old-school hand-drawn animation tells a grim tale of a nameless widow mouse who, when faced with impossible choices, finds the courage to conq...

Episode 194 Brand Upon the Brain

April 28, 2021 13:00 - 62.3 MB

It’s been a while since we visited the strange, idiosyncratic world of Guy Maddin, but Brand Upon the Brain (2006) reminds us that we should definitely check in with it more often. Deploying frequent rapid cuts, melodramatic music, and cinematography reminiscent of film’s silent era, Maddin has concocted a feverish delirium of gender obfuscation, Oedipal implication, and Nosferatu insinuation on a shoestring budget. His films with their dazzling singular style and convoluted plots may be diff...

Episode 193 A Scanner Darkly

April 19, 2021 13:00 - 54.9 MB

Drugs drugs drugs drugs drugs! In honor of 4/20, today’s episode is all about drugs, man. Based on the Philip K. Dick novel and directed by Richard Linklater, A Scanner Darkly (2006) weaves a trippy, paranoid tale of an undercover narcotics officer who may be in over his head. Done in mesmerizing rotoscope-esqe animation and featuring an amazing cast that somehow includes Alex Jones, this cautionary tale about the high cost of addiction criminalization has an emotional resonance that keeps it...

Episode 192 Repulsion

April 13, 2021 13:00 - 52.2 MB

If you feel a bit disoriented seeing this week’s movie title instead of Sicario, don’t fear! You’re not having a break with reality! Ryan pulled a switcheroo behind the scenes and forced Matt to talk about Repulsion (1965) instead. Directed by Roman Polanski, this slow burn fever dream stars Catherine Deneuve (in her first role) as another Carol suffering from mental health problems who is left alone to stew in her psychosis. And while some of the special effects betray its shoestring budget,...

Episode 191 Spring Breakers

April 09, 2021 17:50 - 67.5 MB

It’s spring break y’all! Time to slap on a bikini bottom and polish up your grill because we’re covering Harmony Korine’s impressive tale of youth gone wild, Spring Breakers (2012). Filled with mesmerizing slo-mo montages and provocative juxtapositions, this neon-hued joyride defies expectations as it follows four young women in search of hedonism, power, and all that life has to offer. Join us as we ask: is this movie a bluff that no one wanted to call? What’s up with Gucci Mane’s face tatto...

Episode 190 Martha and Veronika Voss

March 15, 2021 13:00 - 101 MB

While obscure German arthouse cinema might not scream “party time” to most, here at Ex Rated Movies, it’s a downright jubilee! Throughout the 70’s and into the early 80’s, Ranier Werner Fassbinder (not to be confused with Michael Fassbender) was a talented and innovative voice in cinema. Though problematic (and sometimes hard to watch), his films combine difficult subject matter with creative visual flourishes and breathtaking imagery. Our double feature Fassbinder Filmbender includes the may...

Episode 189 Birth

March 08, 2021 14:00 - 72.9 MB

Happy Birth (2004) Day! This episode has been a long time coming so we’re giving ourselves a congratulatory pat on the back as we tackle this icky squicky drama about a woman whose decade-long dead husband is seemingly reincarnated in the body of a 10 year old boy. Directed by the gifted Jonathan Glazer and starring Nicole Kidman in what may be her finest role, this muted, solemn tale challenges its viewers to accept the preposterous premise and truly wrestle with the messy implications conta...

Episode 188 Notes on a Scandal

March 01, 2021 14:00 - 64.4 MB

On paper, Notes on a Scandal (2006) has our names written all over it. A sapphic British psychosexual thriller starring Judy Dench and Cate Blanchett? Yes please! However in practice, the movie doesn’t quite live up to its promise. Despite its rich subject matter, stellar performances, and competent production, the film relies heavily on tired voiceover, leaves important themes virtually unexplored, and muddies many scenes with an oppressive Philip Glass score (sorry, Philip). It all adds up ...

Episode 187 Dangerous Liaisons

February 22, 2021 14:00 - 61.2 MB

We’ve hinted about doing Dangerous Liaisons (1987) for ages and today, my dear listener, is the day. Based on the late 18th century epistolary novel by Choderlos De Laclos, and directed by Stephen Frears: The King of Middlebrow Cinema™, this wicked little gem dares to paint the French aristocracy as snipey manipulators bent on vindictive sexual conquest and calculated emotional revenge. Come for the extraordinary cast, elaborate intrigue, and opulent production design. Stay for the exquisite ...

Episode 186 Possession

February 15, 2021 14:00 - 57 MB

It’s Valentine’s Day season and Matt is reviving an old tradition we have here at the podcast of celebrating a day devoted to romance with a movie that doesn’t have a hint of romance in it. Possession (1981) is a movie that defies categorization. Part relationship drama, part sci-fi horror, part Cold War allegory (maybe?), Andrzej Żuławski’s emotional tour-de-force stars Isabelle Adjani (giving an impassioned performance) and Sam Neill (once again playing an unwanted husband) as they reckon w...

Episode 185 The Hitch-Hiker

February 08, 2021 14:00 - 58.9 MB

January 2021, a month that will surely only be remembered for Bean Dad and Game Stop stock, is now behind us. That means we’re back to our regularly scheduled programming with the only Hollywood film noir directed by a woman, The Hitch-Hiker (1953). Based on the real-life cross-country killing spree of Billy Cook, certified “cool lady” Ida Lupino tells this brutal and emotionally wrought tale with empathy and flair. While perhaps not a typical noir, this desert-set, chiaroscuro-drenched affai...

Angels in Americathon 6: Heaven, I'm in Heaven

January 21, 2021 14:00 - 24.9 MB

After more than six hours and four bottles of wine, we’ve reached the end of our journey. And while we neglect to mention the episode’s title, we did remember to look up the production designer! Heaven, I’m in Heaven closes out Angels in America on a supremely satisfying note. Unfortunately, the play’s dismal analysis of conservative American politics remains accurate to this day, but it’s message of hopeful progress through adversity endures as well. Join us for the tired and tearful final i...

Angels in Americathon 5: Beyond Nelly

January 18, 2021 14:00 - 22.4 MB

Part five, Beyond Nelly, left us dirty, tangled, and torn. It also confirmed Ryan’s bi-ness. This installment finds Hannah calling Prior “Batman”, Belize describing a fabulous version of heaven to Roy, and Harper learning about change from a bitter lady of the plains. Things are getting heavy as the grindy gears of justice slowly spin towards their inexorable ends as new relationships begin to bloom while other fade away. Join us for an episode that includes a three wiener callback, beautiful...

Angels in Americathon 4: Stop Moving!

January 14, 2021 14:00 - 22.7 MB

Perestroika begins with Stop Moving!, a slower chapter that takes its time establishing the new places and situations our characters find themselves in. Louis and Joe are shacking up and talking about smells. Prior is home and having wet dreams about an angel with eight vaginas. And Belize is reluctantly taking care of Roy who is now slowly deteriorating in the hospital. What is the pterodactyl sex move? Where does Ryan land on the Kinsey scale? How would middle toe sex work? The answers to t...

Angels in Americathon 3: The Messenger

January 11, 2021 14:00 - 18.8 MB

Part three of Millennium Approaches, The Messenger, serves as a nice tonic to the emotionally difficult previous chapter. It starts with Michael Gambon and Simon Callow looking like they’ve been dredged in flour and it ends with Meryl Streep dressed as Ethel Rosenberg gleefully commenting on the melodious sounds of a touchtone phone. We’re halfway through and the cracks are starting to show as we discuss the lamentable consequences of venery, purple v mauve, and our undeniable similarities to...

Angels in Americathon 2: In Vitro

January 07, 2021 14:00 - 22.2 MB

Second acts tend to be downers. And since In Vitro is the second act of Millennium Approaches (the first play of the gay fantasia Angels in America), it’s a bit of a downer. Everyone is either breaking up with their SO’s in bad faith, or getting all intestinal with their AIDS infections, or both! At least this chapter introduces Belize, who enters glitteringly with his fabulous coat and graceful air to salve our already weary emotional states. We’re two episodes in and we still haven’t looked...

Angels in Americathon 1: Bad News

January 04, 2021 14:00 - 23.4 MB

2020? We’ve had plenty! 2021? We’ve had none! Well, we’ve had a little bit. It’s January and that means bonus content time here at Ex Rated Movies. This year we’re tackling the sprawling HBO miniseries, Angels in America (2003). Directed by Mike Nichols and starring Meryl Streep and Al Pacino (among others) this bold and clear-eyed work wrestles with AIDS, homosexuality, and the storm that surrounded them in 1980’s America. Join us for Bad News, the tone-setting first chapter of our Angles in...

Episode 184 Batman Returns

December 28, 2020 14:00 - 65.9 MB

Christmas may be over, but we still have one last Christmas in December episode up our stocking! We’re closing out the celebration (and the year!) with a movie that is so inside our wheelhouse, it may as well be the damn wheelhouse. Tim Burton’s Batman Returns (1992) is an incredible confluence of a thoughtful script, Hollywood money, artful directing, perfect casting of a committed cast, amazing costumes, spot-on production design, a killer score, and the best transformation scene of any cha...

Episode 183 In Bruges

December 21, 2020 11:00 - 92.7 MB

Happy Winter Solstice everybody! For those of us in the northern hemisphere, it’s the darkest day of the year, which makes this week’s Christmas flick all the more appropriate. Superstar friend of the pod Jessica Baxter joins us to discuss Martin McDonagh’s feature length debut, In Bruges (2008). Set against the backdrop of a freakin’ medieval fairy tale fantasy, this dark comedy smartly deals with classic religious themes such as guilt and purgatory, but looks at them through a very modern l...

Episode 182 Gremlins

December 14, 2020 14:00 - 62.9 MB

They’re vicious. They’re gluttonous. They’re gross. They’re Gremlins (1984)! And they happen to be the subject of our second Christmas in December movie! While somewhat unfocused, Joe Dante’s holiday horror comedy is an undoubtedly wild ride of fully committed entertainment. Boasting some glorious practical effects, a catchy score (courtesy of Jerry Goldsmith), and some grade-A hilarity, it’s obvious why this imaginative dazzler spawned so many crummy knockoffs and why we, as a podcast, were ...

Episode 181 Tangerine

December 07, 2020 14:00 - 58.5 MB

It’s finally the final month of 2020, and every episode from now until New Year’s is going to be bursting with holiday goodness. We’re kicking off what we’re calling our Christmas in December Celebration with Sean Baker’s feel-good dark comedy, Tangerine (2015). Shot on iPhones 5 and starring two trans people of color, this simple, joyful romp might not immediately scream holiday cheer, but just beneath its gritty yet colorful surface lies a humanistic story of warmth and compassion that unqu...

Episode 180 The Conversation and Blow Out

November 23, 2020 14:00 - 99.8 MB

Considering the lack of movies that revolve around audio engineers (which happens to be this week’s theme), it’s remarkable how incredible our selections for this double feature are! First up: Franny For Co’s slender goddess,The Conversation (1974). It’s an engrossing, paranoid mood-piece starring Gene Hackman as a surveillance expert grappling with the morality of his work. Second: Brian De Palma’s meta-leaning Blow Out (1981). Inspired by Antonioni’s Blow Up and rendered with characteristic...

Episode 179 Unfaithfully Yours

November 16, 2020 14:00 - 58.1 MB

While we might not choose many screwball romantic comedies on this podcast, the ones we do choose definitely tend to have a dark, suicide-y angle to them. Unfaithfully Yours (1948) for example, Preston Sturges’s unique take on the jealous lover imagining revenge trope, features a long scenario set to Rossini’s overture to Semiramide, wherein our main character imagines nearly beheading his wife and then framing his secretary for the crime. And while the movie might be light on romance, it’s r...

Episode 178 God's Own Country

November 09, 2020 14:00 - 53.9 MB

At its core, the gay romantic drama God’s Own Country (2017), is a quiet, tender film about personal growth and the power of perspective. It just also happens to have a lamb-skinning scene, and an elbow-deep, bovine rectal reproductive examination. While similar to Brokeback Mountain, this movie eschews pathos by giving its characters the power of choice, yielding an emotional and satisfying experience that both Matt and Ryan had to sit and digest through the credits. Brilliant performances,...

Episode 177 Nixon

November 02, 2020 14:00 - 92.6 MB

When it comes to Oliver Stone’s Nixon (2005), it’s a testament to the sheer volume of its possible talking points, that we yammered on for over 100 minutes and didn’t even so much as mention that Madeline Kahn is in this movie! A biopic as only Stone could make it, this film examines the life of oat boy beta cuck, Richard Nixon. Starting with his humble beginnings as the son of a lemon farmer, and ending with the staggeringly tarnished highs of his history-making presidency. Travis Vogt of Th...

Episode 176 Ghost Ship

October 26, 2020 13:00 - 56.3 MB

Beginning with one incredible set piece in the first five minutes, and followed by 90 minutes of big-budget weak sauce, Ghost Ship (2002) isn’t exactly the Schlocktoberfest bon voyage we were hoping for. It does however provide a narrative about boat salvagers (of which the world could certainly use more), an excuse to talk about ghost ships en general (Mary Celeste anyone?), and an introduction to Ryan’s newest actor crush, Alex Dimitriades (aka DJ Boogie Monster, aka DJ Boner Killer). And w...

Episode 175 Terror Train

October 19, 2020 13:00 - 57.8 MB

Toot toot! All aboard for the eerie Canadian fright fest, otherwise known as Terror Train (1980). Born of the simple idea of setting a slasher on a train, this handsome flick features be-costumed college kids celebrating New Year’s Eve on a locomotive barreling through the frigid north. The revelers are unaware, however that a killer is riding among them, seeking revenge and hiding in plain sight. Featuring impressive cinematography by John Alcott, and a cast that includes scream queen Jamie ...

Episode 174 Repo! The Genetic Opera

October 12, 2020 13:00 - 55.9 MB

This week we’re mashing up our love of bad musicals with schlocky horror to bring you a god-forsaken goth, sci-fi, horror Frankenstein that fits perfectly into Schlocktoberfest. Sporting an incredible cast and a rich, promising premise, Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008) is a cacophony of dirge-y nü rock and soap level dramatics that Matt describes as “Andrew Lloyd Weber getting raw dogged by various goth bands” and Ryan describes as “Evanescence: The Musical.” And while the libretto could’ve use...

Episode 173 Dementia 13

October 05, 2020 13:00 - 46.7 MB

Now that October has unfurled her macabre pall of spine-tingling delights, we can begin out annual Schlocktoberfest! Matt’s kicking off this year’s celebration with Francis Ford Coppola’s feature length debut, Dementia 13 (1963). Produced by the one and only Roger Corman, this drive-in double feature B-side is 75 minutes of incoherent terror. Imagine an unholy mashup of Psycho and Rebecca with a whisper of Diobolique and you’ll have an idea of what this movie was going for. Created in nine da...

Episode 172 Knife + Heart

September 28, 2020 13:00 - 48.3 MB

We’ve got another francophone thriller for you this week! This time it’s the neon-tinged, giallo-esque slasher set in a 1970’s Parisian gay porn studio, Knife + Heart (2018). Nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes, this stylish treat stars Vanessa Paradis as a lovesick lesbian porn producer, whose film company is plagued by a masked serial killer who is methodically seducing her actors before taking them out with a switchblade dildo. And while that description might make this movie sound like...

Episode 171 Purple Noon

September 21, 2020 13:00 - 51.1 MB

Season 18 is upon us and we’re taking a trip to the Mediterranean with the fiendishly clever thriller, Purple Noon (1960). Loosely based on The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith and starring the oh-so-dreamy Alain Delon, this tense, imposter story is a riveting spectacle of compelling oners, difficult maritime footage, and hot mirror make outs. And while Matt and Ryan may disagree on whether this version is superior to the one from 1999, we definitely agree that Damon is no Delon. Joi...

Episode 170 The Queen and The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover

September 07, 2020 13:00 - 93.5 MB

Helen Mirren is a bit of a Mirren-cle. Her meaty acting chops, naturalist sensibilities, personal stance on reproduction, and fabulous style make her a prime candidate for one of our patented actress-loving double features. Our mini Mirren-thon includes The Queen (2006): a low stakes, multi-award-nabbing, peak behind the royal curtains. And The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover (1989): a colorfully carnal feast for the senses that’s gloriously ensconced in artifice. Both showcase this ...

Episode 169 The Warriors

August 31, 2020 13:00 - 123 MB

It’s our 169th episode, so we’re sporting bottle fingers and coming out to play with Walter Hill’s cult classic, The Warriors (1979). This stylish drama follows a gang of be-vested toughs as they make a treacherous journey from The Bronx to Coney Island after being accused of a murder they didn’t commit. With thoughtful montages, a killer opening credit sequence, and wipes out the wazoo, this almost-campy romp winds up being just a good movie with a few great moments. Join us as we ask oursel...

Episode 168 Near Dark

August 24, 2020 13:00 - 153 MB

Kathryn Bigelow is a director with vision and her second film, the dusty, moody Near Dark (1987), proves it. Set in Oklahoma and featuring three cast members from Aliens, this thriller reimagines vampires as dirty drifters constantly on the run from the law as they slink around a dismal, forsaken landscape in search of their next kill. And while the glossy Lost Boys may have outperformed it at the box office, this movie’s visual atmosphere and tangible grit leave an impression as bright as a ...