Filmspotting - Movie Reviews
635 episodes - English - Latest episode: 8 days ago - ★★★★★ - 3.6K ratingsAdam Kempenaar and Josh Larsen review new and classic movies, offering "affable, insightful film analysis since 2005" (NY Times).
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Episodes
#918: Is Guardians Vol. 3 the Worst of the MCU? Plus, MCU Villains Draft
May 05, 2023 05:00 - 1 hourIt's been six years since the last "Guardians of the Galaxy" movie, and while Josh finds VOL. 3 wildly misguided, Adam will slow-motion strut with the crew. Plus, Draft Day for Killmonger and Thanos. -Draft: MCU Villains (02:16) -Review: “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3” (50:13) -Massacre Theatre (01:10:24) -Chicago Critics Film Fest w/Steve Prokopy (01:13:01) -Doc10 Film Festival / AK on “Subject” (01:20:29) (Times may not be precise with ads) Resources/Links: -Who won the MCU Villains Dra...
#917: Top 5 Joaquin Phoenix Performances, Beau Is Afraid, R.M.N.
April 28, 2023 05:00 - 1 hourEnigmatic, tortured, funny. It’s the Oscar-winning actor’s best from his '90s breakthrough to his partnerships with Shyamalan, Gray, PTA—and Todd Phillips. -Top 5: Joaquin Phoenix Performances (03:21) -R.I.P. Harry Belafonte (28:00) -Review (JL): “R.M.N.” (30:53) -Review: “Beau Is Afraid” (50:59) -Top 5, cont. (01:18:07) (Times may not be precise with ads) Resources/Links: -Joaquin Phoenix on David Letterman (Feb. 2009) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2M6hRfCp0k -”What’s Really Going On In B...
#916: How to Blow Up a Pipeline, '60s Madness Champ, Jason Isbell Doc, and Ali: Fear Eats The Soul
April 14, 2023 05:00 - 1 hourDaniel Goldhaber's "How to Blow Up a Pipeline" shows impressive craft and is fueled by real generational anxiety about the climate crisis, but does his approach answer any questions or just raise new ones? -Review: "How To Blow Up A Pipeline" (03:48) -Review (AK): “Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed” (34:10) -Filmspotting Madness—Best of the ‘60s Champ (48:59) -Marathon: “Ali: Fear Eats The Soul” (01:03:22) (Times may not be precise with ads) Resources/Links: -”Daniel Goldhaber: 5 Gen...
#915: New Releases with Michael Phillips, Kelly Reichardt (Showing Up)
April 07, 2023 05:00 - 1 hourMichael Phillips (Chicago Tribune) joins Adam for reviews of Ben Affleck’s “Air” and more new releases. Plus Adam’s conversation with Kelly Reichardt about her latest starring Michelle Williams, “Showing Up.” -Review: "Air: Courting a Legend" (04:14) -Review: “Paint” (17:32) -Review: “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields” (30:37) -Filmspotting Madness Finals (51:05) -Interview: Kelly Reichardt (01:03:00) -Review: “Showing Up” (01:17:42) (Times may not be precise with ads) Resources/Links: -”Bob Ross: ...
#914: John Wick: Chapter 4 - Endurance Test or Series' Best, '60s Madness, Imitation of Life ('59)
March 31, 2023 05:00 - 1 hourJohn Wick 4's 169-minute run time could be seen as a betrayal of its lean and mean origins or a welcome embrace of its byzantine mythology and increasingly ambitious action set pieces. And maybe a little of both. -Review: "John Wick: Chapter 4" (02:33) -Filmspotting Madness Final 4 (41:20) -Marathon Review: "Imitation of Life" (56:59) (Times may not be precise with ads) Resources/Links: -How 'John Wick 4' Pulled Off That Incredible Stairwell Scene https://screencrush.com/john-wick-4-stairwell...
#913: Books That Should Be Adapted Into Movies with Kristen Lopez and ‘60s Madness Elite 8
March 24, 2023 05:00 - 2 hoursThe new book from film writer Kristen Lopez asks, “But Have You Read The Book?” Kristen joins Adam and Josh for a conversation about books they have read—that they also want to see adapted for the big screen. Interview: Kristen Lopez (01:04) Top 5: Books That Should Be Adapted Into Movies (13:51) R.I.P Lance Reddick (55:55) Filmspotting Madness Elite 8 (01:02:42) Top 5, cont. (01:16:07) (Times may not be precise with ads) Resources/Links: Kristen Lopez https://twitter.com/Journeys_Film But Ha...
#912: The Big Lebowski at 25 (New Sh*t Has Come To Light), '60s Madness, Rodeo, and Sansho the Bailiff
March 17, 2023 05:00 - 2 hours25 years ago, the Coen Brothers followed up their Oscar-winning "Fargo" with a stoned shaggy dog riff on film noir. It bombed at the box office only to become a beloved cult film. Also like their best, everything matters. 'Sacred Cow' Review: "The Big Lebowski" (05:04) 'Brickspotting' Review (JL): "Rodeo" (47:39) Filmspotting Madness Rd. 3 (01:04:34) 'Marathon' Review: "Sansho the Bailiff" (01:27:24) (Times may not be precise with ads) Resources/Links: Sight & Sound Top 100 (Blindspots) Marat...
#911: Is Creed III Worthy of Jonathan Majors' Performance? Plus Scream VI and '60s Madness Rd. 2
March 10, 2023 06:00 - 1 hourIt takes a star of great confidence to play opposite the electrifying Jonathan Majors. And while CREED III's Michael B. Jordan is up to the challenge of his rival, can the same be said about the movie itself? Review: "Creed III" (03:02) Review (JL): "Scream VI" (29:23) Filmspotting Madness Rd. 2 (42:17) (Times may not be precise with ads) Resources/Links: Filmspotting Madness https://filmspotting.net/madness Chicago Critics Film Festival https://www.chicagocriticsfilmfestival.com Feedback: Em...
#910: '23 Oscars Special with Michael Phillips and ’60s Madness Rd. 1
March 03, 2023 06:00 - 2 hoursAdam and Josh compare Oscar ballots with the Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips, sharing picks for who will win, who should win, and who should have been nominated in the Supporting and Lead Actor and Actress categories (02:49). Then they introduce some of the Rd. 1 matchups in Filmspotting Madness 2023: Best of the 1960s (01:06:34) and announce the lineup for the year's first Filmspotting Marathon - Sight & Sound Top 100 Blind Spots (01:30:33) - before making their choices for Best Director ...
#909: Mean Streets and Badlands Turn 50, plus '60s Madness Play-Ins
February 24, 2023 06:00 - 1 hourComing on the heels of the era-defining “The Godfather” in ’72, the 1973 movie year had a lot to live up to. But if Adam and Josh’s Top 5 of 1973 (02:56) is any indication, it more than delivered. Featuring early-career masterpieces from Terrence Malick, Martin Scorsese and, yes, George Lucas, plus the decade’s most terrifying horror film, influential films from abroad, and so much more, ’73 not only met the standard set a year earlier, but makes a claim as one of the best of the decade. Also...
#908: Top 5 Magic-est Mike Moments, Quantumania, Magic Mike's Last Dance
February 17, 2023 06:00 - 1 hourWith Steven Soderbergh's sly, sexy, and exuberant contribution to the musical genre coming to a close with the release of the third and, presumably, final film in the Magic Mike trilogy, Adam and Josh see the series off with the Top 5 Magic-est Mike Moments (01:15), a celebration of the films' many memorable dance sequences. Plus Josh's review of the new "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" (21:47), and Adam's thoughts on "The Integrity of Joseph Chambers (28:15)," the latest from former Brick...
#907: Hitchcock's Psycho Still Thrills and Oscars Homework
February 10, 2023 06:00 - 1 hourAfter a string of lush, star-filled productions in the ‘50s, Alfred Hitchcock went small(er) and sinister with Psycho, which went on to become Hitchcock's best-known film and one of the most influential films of the last sixty years. For this Sacred Cow deep dive (02:04)—reviewed in anticipation of the upcoming Best of the '60s edition of Filmspotting Madness—Filmspotting considers a picture that remains unnerving and full of mystery even after a half-century of critical analysis. Plus, liste...
#906: Top 5 Shyamalan Moments / Knock at the Cabin
February 03, 2023 06:00 - 1 hourM. Night Shyamalan is on the short list of big-budget filmmakers who reliably bring original stories to the multiplex, which means that enthusiasm for his new work can be somewhat out of step with his recent track record. But with their Top 5 Shyamalan Moments (01:13), Adam and Josh prove that the director's best work is deserving of close attention. Working with ace collaborators like cinematographers Roger Deakins and Tak Fujimoto, composer James Newton Howard, and actors such as Bruce Will...
#905: 2023 Movie Preview / Skinamarink
January 27, 2023 06:00 - 1 hourGerwig, Nolan, Wes, Scorsese. The new movie year is full of promise. For their 2023 MOVIE PREVIEW, Adam and Josh look to avoid getting burned by the promise of films that disappear from the movie schedule like desert mirages (will we finally see you this year, Kelly Reichardt's "Showing Up"?) and try to keep their hopes afloat for a year that appears even more IP-heavy than normal (Barbie! Wonka! Spidey! Indy!). Per tradition, the preview takes the form of the Top 5 Questions About the 2023 M...
Reaction Shot: 2023 Oscar Nominations
January 24, 2023 20:13 - 29 minutesPleasant surprises, notable snubs, and some conflicted feelings about diversity and representation were all part of the conversation for this "Reaction Shot" to the 2023 Oscar nominations. Note: Michelle Yeoh is the first person who identifies as Asian to ever be nominated for best actress; some previously nominated actresses may have hidden their Asian ancestry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
#904: Scenes of the Year w/Griffin Newman, Dana Stevens, Alison Willmore and Matt Singer
January 20, 2023 06:00 - 2 hoursDelayed nearly three years by the pandemic, but, in many ways, 18 years in the making, the show's live NYC debut was worth all the waiting. Joined by Slate's Dana Stevens and Griffin Newman from the Blank Check podcast, plus Matt Singer (ScreenCrush) and Alison Willmore (Vulture), formerly of Filmspotting: SVU, Adam and Josh brought the year-end Wrap Party to the stage at Brooklyn's Bell House in front of a packed house. In addition to their picks for opening scene, funniest and most moving m...
#903: White Noise / Top 5 Noah Baumbach Characters
January 13, 2023 06:00 - 1 hourWith the help of regular collaborators Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach leaves the big city - and reality - behind for his ambitious adaptation of Don DeLillo's WHITE NOISE. An absurdist meditation on death nested in a consumerist satire (or vice versa?) that riffs on Elvis, Hitler, car crashes, pharmaceuticals, marriage, and family life, Adam and Josh agree that Baumbach's big swing is a mostly successful one. Also on the show, a revisit of 2017's Top 5 Noah Baumbach Characters (o...
#902: Top 10 Films of 2022 with Michael Phillips and Marya Gates
December 22, 2022 06:00 - 3 hoursIn 2005, Filmspotting established an elite list of the top films of the year. Its purpose was to teach the lost art of filmmaking and to ensure that the handful of films that made the list were the best in the world. They succeeded. Today, Filmspotting calls it the films of the year roundtable. Listeners call it: TOP TEN. This year, guest critics Michael "Fiddlesticks" Phillips and Marya "Zig Zag" Gates join Adam and Josh to name the best of the best: the Top 10 Films of 2022. In addition t...
Avatar: The Way of Water
December 13, 2022 17:00 - 43 minutesIt's been so long since the first "Avatar" that it came out two years before Josh was even on the show. But back in 2009, Josh was a fan of James Cameron's 3D game-changer. And he wasn't alone. The film, despite its lack of cultural cache a dozen years later, was a critical as well as a box office success. Adam, on the other hand, was one of the film's harshest critics. Will Cameron's return to Pandora have Adam seeing the error of his ways? Or will Josh start to question his loyalty to the N...
#901: Best Performances of 2022 / Sight & Sound / Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio / Empire of Light
December 09, 2022 06:00 - 2 hoursWith Adam and Josh facing a deadline for submitting their Chicago Film Critics Association best of the year ballots, they use this episode to hash out their picks for the best supporting and lead performances of the year—from heavy hitters like Cate Blanchett, Colin Farrell, and Michelle Yeoh to the stars of lesser-seen films like “Aftersun,” “Causeway,” and “Decision to Leave.” Plus reviews of Guillermo del Toro’s stop-motion PINOCCHIO adaption, and Sam Mendes’ 80s-set ode to movies and movi...
Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
December 04, 2022 21:25 - 33 minutesGreatest film of all time? You better believe it belongs in the conversation. From Sept. 2020, Adam and Josh discuss their first experience with Chantal Akerman's masterpiece as part of their Overlooked Auteurs Marathon. RELATED LINKS Filmspotting's (Unofficial) Sight & Sound Ballots Filmspotting Family Top 100 Poll Results Filmspotting Sight & Sound List Companion Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
#900: The Fabelmans / The Eternal Daughter / Sr.
December 02, 2022 06:00 - 1 hourWith THE FABLEMANS, what appeared to be Steven Spielberg’s portrait of the filmmaker as a young man turns out to be a more complicated autopsy of a family coming apart at the seams—that happens to have a budding filmmaker there to document it. Adam and Josh have lots of praise for Spielberg, his co-conspirator/co-screenwriter Tony Kushner, and the film’s cast, but a few minor issues may reflect a weakness that appears more broadly in the director’s work. Director Joanna Hogg has worked almost...
#899: The Art of Adaptation with David Kajganich (Bones and All)
November 23, 2022 19:00 - 1 hourLuca Guadagnino's BONES AND ALL is a coming-of-age story with an unusual twist: cannibalism. Starring Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell, the film was adapted by writer David Kajganich from a 2015 novel by Camille DeAngelis. Kajganich had previously written adaptations for Guadagnino's "A Bigger Splash" (based on the 1969 Jacques Deray film "La Piscine") and his 2018 remake of Dario Argento's cult horror film "Suspiria." In his conversation with Adam, Kajganich talks about how his backgroun...
#898: Glass Onion / Wakanda Forever / She Said / Nanny
November 18, 2022 06:00 - 1 hourFor the second installment in his "Knives Out" series, Rian Johnson leaves the family squabbling behind for a trip to a luxury island where murder most foul befalls the filthy rich. GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY shows Johnson hasn't lost his ability to pair social commentary with crackerjack entertainment. Unfortunately, director Ryan Coogler’s return to the “Black Panther” franchise is a less successful venture. While Coogler does right by the late Chadwick Boseman, his WAKANDA FOREVER i...
#897: Top 5 Father-Daughter Duos / Aftersun / Weird
November 11, 2022 06:00 - 1 hourDirector Charlotte Wells's AFTERSUN documents a holiday that 11-year-old Sophie takes with her loving but troubled father (played by Paul Mescal). The debut feature is one of the best and most sneakily heart-rending films of the year. It also inspires this week's Top 5: Father-Daughter Duos, with Adam and Josh sharing picks from Ozu, Nolan, Bogdanovich, and Spike Lee, along with a pair of inventive docs made by daughters about their dads. Plus Adam's review of WEIRD: THE AL YANKOVIC STORY. 1:...
A Conversation About the New Filmspotting Family
November 09, 2022 19:18 - 15 minutesJosh, Sam, and Adam discuss the launch of the new Filmspotting Family membership platform and how you can help support and grow the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
#896: Armageddon Time / Causeway / Wendell & Wild / Triangle of Sadness / Descendant
November 04, 2022 05:00 - 1 hourAdam and Josh cover lots of new releases on this week's show, including James Gray's guilt-ridden coming-of-age film ARMAGEDDON TIME and Ruben Östlund's eat-the-rich Palme d'Or-winner TRIANGLE OF SADNESS, along with a return to form from Jennifer Lawrence in CAUSEWAY (with Brian Tyree Henry); Henry Selick's new stop-motion collaboration with Jordan Peele WENDELL & WILD; and new docs about the secret history of Africatown, Alabama (the not-to-miss DESCENDANT), the early 2000s indie rock scene ...
#895: Top 5 Bromances / The Banshees of Inisherin / Ticket To Paradise
October 28, 2022 05:00 - 1 hourIn Martin McDonagh's new THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson play a couple of longtime friends whose relationship takes a sudden and mysterious turn. Along with their review of the film - one of the year's best - Adam and Josh consider the long history of Movie Bromances, from classic noirs and westerns to a beloved fantasy epic to a couple of notable (but possibly forgotten?) comedies from the early 2000s. Josh also has a report from his TICKET TO PARADISE date night...
#894: Top 5 Cops In Love / Decision To Leave
October 21, 2022 05:00 - 1 hourKorean auteur Park Chan-wook's DECISION TO LEAVE is something of a departure for a director best known for the violent and sexual provocations of films like "Oldboy," "The Handmaiden," and "Stoker." His latest involves a murder, but Park's camera is more attentive to the mounting attraction between Hae-joon's married police detective and the victim's wife, played by Tang Wei. Park's film inspires this week's Top 5: Cops In Love, which gives Adam and Josh a chance to give director Kathryn Bige...
#889: Blonde / Double Indemnity (Stanwyck #6) / Hockeyland
September 16, 2022 05:00 - 1 hourAndrew Dominik's long-in-the-works Marilyn Monroe tale BLONDE (based on the 1999 novel by Joyce Carol-Oates), offers a nightmarish portrayal of the actress and icon that avoids some of the pitfalls of celebrity biopics (thanks in part to its impressive formal approach) while running headlong into others. Mostly in agreement on the film, Adam and Josh remain divided on a few things, including the central performance by Ana de Armas. Also on the show, the sixth and final film in the Summer of S...
#888: Three Thousand Years of Longing / Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul / Ball of Fire (Stanwyck #5)
September 02, 2022 05:00 - 1 hourWhen George Miller's THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier in the year, it was met with some pans, some shrugs, and some raves (including a six-minute standing ovation). Most agreed, however, that it was an unexpected departure from a director whose previous film was "Mad Max: Fury Road." An intimate and intellectual dialogue-driven drama between stars Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba for much of its runtime, it occasionally blossoms into a fantastic, mille...
#887: Top 5 Fall Movie Questions
August 26, 2022 05:00 - 1 hourThe fall movie season has lots of intriguing titles that raise all sorts of questions. De Armas as Marilyn. Black Panther without Chadwick Boseman. Spielberg in autobiographical mode. This week, it's a Fall Movie Preview in the form of Adam and Josh's five most pressing questions. Plus, their picks for the 5 Most Anticipated Films of the Fall. 0:00 - Billboard 1:07 - Top 5: Fall Movie Questions 18:04 - Next Week / Notes 37:11 - Polls 42:41 - Top 5 Questions, cont. / Top 5 Most Anticipated 1:0...
#886: Bodies Bodies Bodies / Meet John Doe (Stanwyck #4)
August 19, 2022 05:00 - 1 hourIf Dutch director Halina Reijn's BODIES BODIES BODIES doesn't remain the definitive snapshot of Zillennial life in the early 2020s, that won't be the fault of the ace ensemble, featuring standout performances from Rachel Sennott ("Shiva Baby"), Maria Bakalova ("Borat Subsequent Movifilm"), or Amandla Stenberg ("The Hate You Give"). Josh and guest critic Marya E. Gates praise the cast along with the film itself for its incisive observations about the chronically online generation. Later in the...
#885: A24 10th Anniversary Draft / Prey
August 12, 2022 05:00 - 1 hourIndie distributor A24 started memorably, if modestly, back in 2012 and 2013, with titles like Harmony Korine's "Spring Breakers" and Sofia Coppola's "The Bling Ring." Within the next couple of years, they'd launched the directing careers of Alex Garland ("Ex Machina") and Robert Eggers ("The Witch"). Then in 2016, they went ahead and - very memorably - won the Oscar for Best Picture with Barry Jenkins' "Moonlight." And they haven't slowed down since. David Lowery's "A Ghost Story," Greta Gerw...
#884: Top 5 Brad Pitt Performances / Bullet Train
August 05, 2022 05:00 - 1 hourWhen Brad Pitt arrived on screen 30+ years ago, he was a pretty face with a surprising sinister side. That brief turn in Ridley Scott's "Thelma and Louise" proved to be a template for the actor's diverse and increasingly accomplished film career. For proof of Pitt's growth as an actor, look no further than the very existence of this week's TOP 5 PITT PERFORMANCES, featuring long-time Pitt skeptic Adam's mea culpa. And for proof of the high quality of the Pitt filmography, consider that Adam a...
#883: Nope / The Gray Man / The Lady Eve (Stanwyck #3)
July 29, 2022 05:00 - 1 hourWith their potent mix of horror, comedy, and social satire, the films of Jordan Peele are the rare Hollywood films that succeed in entertaining while also puzzling, sending audiences out of the theater sifting through clues in an attempt to find meaning. Peele's latest - NOPE - is no exception, with Adam and Josh sharing their own theories about the director/prophet's wild west sci-fi that's loaded with themes of trauma, spectacle, race, and the movie industry's complicity in all those things...
#882: Thor: Love & Thunder / Top 5 Chris Power Ranking
July 15, 2022 05:00 - 1 hourTaika Waititi helming another Thor movie was always going to mean a great deal of silliness along with whatever planetary crisis the MCU brain trust cooked up, but with THOR: LOVE & THUNDER, the question has become: how much silliness is too much? Put another way: how many goats is too many goats? Adam defends his 1-star Letterboxd review and Josh (sort of ) defends Waititi. With its two movie Chrises (Hemsworth and Pratt), "Love and Thunder" also gives us an opportunity to revisit 2018's TOP...
#881: Stanwyck #2 - Stella Dallas / Marcel the Shell With Shoes On / Top 5 Movie Mother-Daughters
July 08, 2022 05:00 - 1 hourAs a social climber turned selfless mother in the heartbreaking 1937 melodrama STELLA DALLAS, Barbara Stanwyck earned the first of her four Oscar nominations. And two films into their Stanwyck Marathon, Adam and Josh remain in awe of both the actress's power and her subtlety. The film itself offers a still-potent critique of class as its heroine is forced to choose between her own identity and her beloved daughter. It also gives us an opportunity to revisit 2013's Top 5 Movie Mother-Daughters...
#880: Stanwyck #1 - Baby Face (1933) / 1930s Starter Pack
July 01, 2022 05:00 - 1 hourThe frank sexuality of 1933's BABY FACE has made it one of the defining films of Hollywood’s precode era, with new Filmspotting marathon subject Barbara Stanwyck as Lily Powers, a young woman who escapes the abuse and exploitation facing her at home for the big city, where she acquires money and status by exploiting her own sexual power. Adam and Josh agree that Stanwyck is electrifying and the movie’s precode directness is a lot of fun while considering how successfully it pulls off its bala...
#879: Top 5 Movie Summers / Elvis / Lightyear
June 24, 2022 05:00 - 1 hourThe summer movie season offers the promise of a special kind of escape. With our brains and bodies fried from the heat, we go to the multiplex less for the subtlety of great cinema and more for big pleasures: belly laughs, impossible action sequences, jump scares, and explosions. Lots and lots of explosions. But which movie years best delivered on that promise? This week, Adam and Josh break out the spreadsheets to determine the Top 5 Movie Summers of all time (or at least since 1975), and Jo...
#878: Cooper Raiff (Cha Cha Real Smooth) / Hustle / Top 5 Toy Story Moments w/Griffin Newman (2019)
June 17, 2022 05:00 - 1 hourCooper Raiff's debut film, 2020's "Sh*thouse," put the young writer/director on the map with a tale of collegiate malaise, and was made not long after Raiff himself left college. His follow-up, the new CHA CHA REAL SMOOTH, sees Raiff exploring the existential restlessness that awaits college grads. As with his debut, Raiff is back in a starring role, this time with a legit movie star as his co-star, Dakota Johnson. Adam interviews Raiff, who talks about crying in movies, his mentor Jay Duplas...
#877: Top 5 Films of the Year So Far / Keaton Marathon Awards (Live in Chicago)
June 10, 2022 05:00 - 1 hourAt the midpoint of the movie year, Adam and Josh come to the show with several titles big and small vying for their Top 5 Films of the Year So Far, along with a shared number one that Josh describes as "the standard that cinema 2022 will have to meet." Plus, highlights from last weekend's live event at Chicago's Music Box Theatre, which featured a screening of Buster Keaton's THE CAMERAMAN, and Slate's Dana Stevens joining Adam and Josh for "The Porkpies," the end-of-Keaton-marathon awards. 0...
#876: Top 5 Movies For Graduates
June 03, 2022 05:00 - 1 hourFor their TOP 5 MOVIES FOR GRADUATES, Adam and Josh choose tales of hardship, uncertainty, letting go, and finding fulfillment from Hayao Miyazaki, Cameron Crowe, Agnes Varda, Akira Kurosawa, and others. Plus thoughts on the gone too soon Ray Liotta, listener picks for the best high schoolers in transition movies, and Pixar’s best of the last decade. 0:00 - Billboard 1:51 - Top 5 Movies for Graduates 34:51 - Remembering Ray Liotta 39:42 - Next Week / Notes 52:50 - Polls 1:03:08 - Top 5 Movie...
#875: Top Gun: Maverick / Steamboat Bill, Jr. (Keaton #5)
May 27, 2022 05:00 - 1 hourScrubbed of nostalgia, 1986's "Top Gun" is, let's be honest, a big slab of '80s cheese. But there's that star-making turn by Tom Cruise; some flashy direction from Tony Scott; the rousing, synth-heavy score; and a memorable supporting cast led by the never more intense Val "Iceman" Kilmer. Could TOP GUN: MAVERICK, the long in the works sequel, justify its return? Adam comes to the sequel as a "Top Gun" fanboy, with the '86 original a seminal film of his bike-riding preadolescence. Josh, thoug...
#874: Men / The General (Keaton #4)
May 20, 2022 05:00 - 1 hourDo you have to understand a movie to love it? And if so, how much do you have to understand a movie to love it? This, more or less, is what constitutes “The Garland Scale,” which Josh introduces as a means of talking about the work of Alex Garland, the brainy, provocative writer/director behind the new MEN and earlier efforts like “Ex Machina” “Annihilation” and the limited series “Devs.” As it turns out, Adam and Josh position Garland’s films at different points on the scale, including his l...
#873: Summer Movie Preview
May 13, 2022 05:00 - 1 hourWith new films from Jordan Peele, Alex Garland, and Claire Denis, not to mention the latest from Marvel, Pixar, and the long-awaited return of Tom Cruise's Maverick, the fifteen or so weekends that make up the summer movie season gives us plenty to look forward to. Adam and Josh's Summer Movie Preview comes in the form of their Top 5 questions about the upcoming movie season. 0:00 - Billboard 1:49 - Summer Movie Preview Igor Dvorkin, "Golden Summer" 24:37 - Next Week / Notes 33:14 - Massacre...
#872: Spider-Man at 20 / Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
May 06, 2022 05:00 - 1 hourBack in 2002, the superhero genre was still finding its feet. Tim Burton's "Batman" had been huge in '89, but the franchise it spawned had fizzled out by the end of the '90s. The first "X-Men" film did decent box office in 2000, but failed to become a culture-defining event like the Burton film had. Sam Raimi's SPIDER-MAN changed all that. A massive success at the box office when it opened in May 2002, it acted as a bridge between the self-aware, still campy comic book movies of the past two ...
#871: The Northman / Sherlock, Jr. (Buster Keaton #3)
April 29, 2022 05:00 - 1 hourWith obsessive attention to historical detail and a fascination with lore, language, and ritual, there is no mistaking THE NORTHMAN for the work of anyone but Robert Eggers (“The Witch,” “The Lighthouse”). But despite a bigger budget and a much bigger canvas, does the director’s new Viking revenge epic add up to anything but a bloody good time? Along with that review, Adam and Josh return to the Buster Keaton Marathon with the actor/director’s first masterpiece, 1924's SHERLOCK, JR. 0:00 - Bi...
#870: Top 5 Nicolas Cage Performances / Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
April 22, 2022 05:00 - 1 hourFor over four decades, Nicolas Cage has remained a distinctive and unpredictable screen presence, navigating a career that has gone from memorable character actor in the 80s, to unlikely movie star and Oscar-winner in the 90s, to VOD mainstay in the 2010s, and then, most recently, to critically (re)acclaimed actor finally playing roles worthy of his talent. Last year’s “Pig” earned Cage some of his best reviews in years, and now with the new meta-Cage movie THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TA...
#869: Everything Everywhere All At Once / Face/Off at 25
April 15, 2022 05:00 - 1 hourThe directing duo Daniels (“Swiss Army Man”) take a maximalist approach to filmmaking that suits the dizzying plotting of their new multiverse tale EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE. And while Daniels’ seemingly endless inventiveness is impressive and often hilarious, what makes the film really tick is the layered acting work of stars Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan. Speaking of acting, 1997's FACE/OFF has its share of it, with Nicolas Cage and John Travolta trading personas - and faces - in Jo...