Filmspotting - Movie Reviews
635 episodes - English - Latest episode: 12 days ago - ★★★★★ - 3.6K ratingsAdam Kempenaar and Josh Larsen review new and classic movies, offering "affable, insightful film analysis since 2005" (NY Times).
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
#868: A Conversation with Kogonada (After Yang) / Madness Finals
April 08, 2022 05:00 - 1 hourWith his first two films, 2017's "Columbus" and the new AFTER YANG, director Kogonada has established a meditative style of filmmaking that rewards close attention. "After Yang" takes place in a near-future that’s populated by techno-sapiens, clones, and self-driving cars, but its characters struggle with all too familiar things like death, grief, and the meaning of life. In his conversation with the director, Adam asks about Kogonada's preoccupation with grieving, the quiet, non-confrontatio...
#867: Apollo 10 1/2 / Top 5 Linklater Scenes (2016) / Madness Final 4
April 01, 2022 05:00 - 1 hourAmong Richard Linklater's gifts is his ability to find the transcendent in the ordinary. A young man and woman meeting on a train. A last day of school. A life captured in snapshots over a decade. In his latest - APOLLO 10 1/2 - Linklater brings the space-mad suburban Houston of his '60s youth to life with vivid use of animation and inspired episodes of fantasy. Adam and Josh also revisit their Top 5 Richard Linklater Scenes (2016) and unveil the Filmspotting Madness Final 4 Matchups. 0:00 - ...
#866: Top 5 Hitchcockian Movies / Charlie McDowell ("Windfall") / Madness Elite 8
March 25, 2022 05:00 - 1 hourLike art itself, "Hitchcockian" can't be easily defined—but you know it when you see it. Sinister plotting, mistaken identity, dangerous obsession; a blonde, some mommy issues, a little gallows humor. That's Hitchcock more or less. This week, Adam and Josh share their TOP 5 HITCHCOCKIAN MOVIES, with picks that range from Hitch contemporaries like Henri-Georges Clouzot to current masters like Bong Joon-ho, Spike Lee, and Pedro Almodovar. Also, Adam's conversation with director Charlie McDowell...
#865: Oscars Special / Master / Madness Sweet 16
March 18, 2022 05:00 - 1 hourAdam and Josh consider the big four Oscar categories ahead of the March 27th ceremony. They share their picks for who will win and who should win. They have also been empowered to correct one snub per category—but only by cutting a current nominee. Plus, the first Golden Brick nomination of the year goes to Mariama Diallo's MASTER. Josh has a review. And the Sweet 16 round of Filmspotting Madness—Best of the '70s. 0:00 - Billboard 1:28 - Oscars: Supporting Actor/Actress 18:09 - Oscars: Lead A...
#864: After Yang / Madness Rd. 2
March 11, 2022 06:00 - 1 hourThere have been some great films about the unanticipated complications of artificial intelligence: Spielberg's "A.I.," Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner," Alex Garland's "Ex Machina," Kubrick's "2001." And while AFTER YANG, about a malfunctioning "techno sapien," evokes all of them, it also - unlike those films - avoids exploiting those complications for conflict. Instead, director Kogonada chooses to focus his attention on his film's family of homo sapiens, and how an ailing robot causes all of t...
#863: The Batman / Our Hospitality (Keaton #2) / Madness Rd. 1
March 04, 2022 06:00 - 1 hourPart detective story, part serial killer movie, Matt Reeves’ THE BATMAN evokes Fincher’s “Se7en” and “Taxi Driver”-era Scorsese, while star Robert Pattinson - more Bat than Man - brings a despondent rage to his Caped Crusader. Adam and Josh are fans. Stick around for a little Spoiler Talk about the film’s ending. Plus, Rd. 1 of Filmspotting Madness—Best of the '70s, Adam recommends DEAR MR. BRODY, and the Buster Keaton Marathon continues with 1923's OUR HOSPITALITY, where Buster proves he’s a...
#862: Buster Keaton #1–The Shorts / Filmspotting Madness
February 25, 2022 06:00 - 1 hourSilent film star Buster Keaton has and probably always will exist in the shadow of his contemporary Charlie Chaplin. And because of that underdog status, Keaton has had his share of passionate advocates. The latest is Slate critic and friend of the show Dana Stevens, whose new book "Camera Man" puts Keaton at the center of her study of "The Dawn of Cinema and the Invention of the 20th Century." With four classic Keaton shorts selected by Stevens, Adam and Josh embark on their Buster Keaton Ma...
#861: Kimi / Encanto
February 18, 2022 06:00 - 1 hourAnother year, another Soderbergh. The prolific director has been averaging a film a year for about a decade now, which has Adam wondering if we’re taking him for granted. His latest - KIMI, starring Zoe Kravitz and streaming exclusively on HBO Max - is a tech thriller that lets Soderbergh show off his craft while providing some genre thrills in the vein of “Rear Window” and “The Conversation.” Josh can admire the craft, but wonders if Soderbergh’s feverish filmmaking pace has kept him from re...
#860: Top 5 Sondheim Screen Moments
February 11, 2022 06:00 - 1 hourStephen Sondheim’s contributions to musical theater were so immense and influential that when he died last fall at 91, it was not uncommon to see him compared to Shakespeare. Sondheim hasn’t always translated so well to the big screen, but from "West Side Story" in '61 to "West Side Story" in '21 - and everything in between - there are still more than enough examples of his genius for Adam and Josh and guest Michael Phillips to compile their Top 5 Sondheim Screen Moments. (With Sondhead Micha...
#859: The Godfather at 50
February 04, 2022 06:00 - 1 hourAs they approached their rewatch of 1972’s THE GODFATHER, Adam and Josh questioned whether they - or anybody, really - could bring anything new to a conversation about a film that has been written about, talked about, watched and rewatched, quoted, and memed pretty much without ceasing since its release a half-century ago. But when they sat down for their Sacred Cow review, the answer was pretty simple: it didn’t actually matter if there is anything new to say; what mattered was the pleasure ...
#858: 2022 Movie Preview
January 28, 2022 06:00 - 1 hour2022 has the directors: Scorsese, Reichardt, Cronenberg, Wilde, Eggers, Aster, Spielberg, Peele. And the talent: Pattinson, Swinton, Cumberbatch, de Armas, Cruise, Pugh, Williams, and DiCaprio. Adam and Josh have the questions. They ring in the new movie year with their Top 5 Questions About 2022. And they announce show plans for the year, including a couple of new marathons, a new Oeuvre-view subject, and more. 0:00 - Billboard 1:14 - 2022 Movie Preview Nervous Dater, "Tin Foil Hat" 28:45 - ...
#857: Best Scenes of 2021 / Golden Brick Award
January 21, 2022 06:00 - 1 hourWe don't remember movies. We remember movie moments. This week, Adam and Josh say goodbye for now to 2021 with a celebration of the year's best scenes. The ones that made them laugh, the ones that made them cry, and the ones that sent them soaring. Featuring memorable movie moments from "Licorice Pizza," "Summer of Soul," "The Power of the Dog," "The Killing of Two Lovers," "Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar," and more. Plus, the winner of the 13th Annual Golden Brick Award. 0:00 - Billboard ...
#856: The Matrix Resurrections / The Tragedy of Macbeth
January 14, 2022 06:00 - 1 hourAdam and Josh did not choose the same color pill before recording their review of THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS. Both fans of the '99 original and equally dubious about the merits of the 2003 sequels, they emerged from Lana Wachowski's meta return to the franchise with two very different responses: one grateful to Wachowski for bringing a thoughtful and provocative inventiveness (and enough action movie chops) to the long-delayed fourth entry; the other feeling as if almost nothing about the new M...
#855: Top 10 Films of 2021 (Pt. 2)
December 31, 2021 06:00 - 2 hoursSure, a few films have dominated the conversation about the year’s best - Jane Campion’s unsettling western “The Power of the Dog,” Questlove’s ecstatic music doc “Summer of Soul,” and Paul Thomas Anderson’s breezily nostalgic “Licorice Pizza”; but with Adam and Josh joined by Slate’s Dana Stevens and Michael Phillips from the Chicago Tribune for Pt. 2 of their Top 10 Films of 2021, there isn’t even always agreement about the consensus. Plus, top 10 support for a movie musical revival, a “sui...
#854: Top 10 Films of 2021 (Pt. 1)
December 24, 2021 06:00 - 1 hourA shock comic, a gambler, a couple of exotic dancers, and Nicolas Cage all make appearances in part one of the Top 10 Films of 2021 – not to mention a singing puppet baby. On this week's show, it's "The Outliers," the films that only Adam or Josh deemed Top 10-worthy. Next week, they'll be joined by the Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips and Dana Stevens of Slate for part two and the 'consensus' best films of the year. 0:00 - Billboard 1:15 - Top 10 of 2021: The Outliers Jimmy Montague, "70th...
#853: Best Performances of 2021 / Licorice Pizza / Nightmare Alley
December 17, 2021 06:00 - 1 hourThe end-of-year conversation starts this week as Adam and Josh talk through their Chicago Film Critics Association ballots, naming their favorite 20 or so performances of the 2021 movie year. Plus reviews of LICORICE PIZZA, Paul Thomas Anderson's nostalgia trip to 70s-era San Fernando Valley, and NIGHTMARE ALLEY, a nasty new noir from Guillermo del Toro. 0:00 - Billboard 1:14 - Best Performances of 2021 Taj Mahal, "Tomorrow May Not Be Your Day" 48:16 - Review: "Nightmare Alley" 1:03:20 - Next...
#852: The Power of the Dog / Campion Oeuvre-view Awards
December 10, 2021 06:00 - 1 hourJane Campion’s filmography is one of the greatest collections of woman-led features in the history of the medium, which makes her latest - THE POWER OF THE DOG - such a startling exception. Set in 1925 against a forbidding Montana landscape, Campion’s film takes place in an utterly masculine domain, with Benedict Cumberbatch’s snarling rancher as the film’s primary focus. But armed with the just-completed Campion Oeuvre-view, Adam and Josh see what is undoubtedly a Campion movie, with its att...
#851: West Side Story / Red Rocket
December 03, 2021 06:00 - 1 hourWhen it was announced that Steven Spielberg was mounting a new film adaptation of the classic Broadway musical WEST SIDE STORY, it was entirely reasonable to ask, "Why?" Why a new film adaptation and why Spielberg. The 1961 "West Side," directed by Robert Wise, was a Best Picture-winner and is regarded as one of the great movie musicals of all time. Also? Spielberg has never directed a musical. And yet, as revered as that 1961 adaptation is, it is not without its faults, notably the casting o...
#850: House of Gucci / tick, tick... BOOM! / Spencer / Golden Brick Noms
November 26, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour'Tis the season for awards-bait movies based on real lives, so for this week's holiday review roundup, Adam and Josh discuss Ridley Scott's true-crime drama HOUSE OF GUCCI (aka House of Accents), the Lin-Manuel Miranda biographical musical drama TICK, TICK...BOOM!, Kristen Stewart's turn as Lady Di in Pablo Larrain's biopic-as-horror-film SPENCER, and the new bio-doc KURT VONNEGUT: STUCK IN TIME. Plus, the final list of nominees for the 2021 Golden Brick Award, including recommendations for T...
#849: Passing / Eternals / Bright Star (Campion #7)
November 12, 2021 06:00 - 1 hourFor her debut as a director, actor Rebecca Hall takes Nella Larsen’s 1929 novella about race and identity and turns it into a meditation on the many ways that people “pass” as a means of denying or disguising the truth. Adam and Josh praise the film as a showcase for stars Ruth Negga and Tessa Thompson, and for Hall's emergence of a gifted new filmmaker. Adam wasn’t able to make the weekend’s big release, Marvel’s ETERNALS, but Josh did and was pleased to find plenty of director Chloé Zhao in...
#848: Last Night in Soho / In the Cut (Campion #6)
November 05, 2021 05:00 - 1 hourEdgar Wright's latest, LAST NIGHT IN SOHO, is another opportunity for the director of "Baby Driver" and "Shaun of the Dead" to bring his visual panache, comic verve, and impeccable musical taste to a genre he clearly adores. Like the films that inspired it, Wright's time-hopping giallo picture – set in both contemporary London and the city in its swinging '60s heyday – takes some nasty turns. But Adam and Josh disagree about whether Wright's film is a thrill-ride that continually upends expec...
#847: The French Dispatch / Rushmore (Sacred Cow Revisited)
October 29, 2021 05:00 - 1 hourWelcome to the Wes Anderson deep end. Adam and Josh sit down to discuss Anderson's latest, THE FRENCH DISPATCH, the densest, most intricate, and maybe most melancholy of his career. There's also that cast, with standout performances from Jeffrey Wright, Benecio del Toro, and Bill Murray. Adam and Josh also share their Anderson Ranked lists and revisit their 2017 Sacred Cow review of RUSHMORE. 0:00 - Billboard 1:03 - Review: "The French Dispatch" Sex Bob-Omb, "We Are Sex Bob-Omb" 35:43 - Poll...
#846: Dune / Holy Smoke (Campion #5)
October 22, 2021 05:00 - 1 hourThe worst kept secret about Denis Villeneuve's DUNE is that it's only half a movie. Or half a story, anyway. Villeneuve split Frank Herbert's classic sci-fi novel in two, with part one offering a stunningly detailed and impressively cast setup to a conclusion we may not see for years. Adam and Josh admire the film's craft, but they were left with more questions than answers about how the new adaptation will reckon with the source material's 20th-century origins. Plus, the Jane Campion Oeuvre-...
#845: No Time To Die / Lamb / The Portrait of a Lady (Campion #4)
October 15, 2021 05:00 - 1 hourIn five films over 15 years, Daniel Craig has established himself as the pre-eminent Bond. But will he also prove to be the final 007? The 60-year-old franchise has its work cut out for it, finding someone to fill Craig's shoes and bringing the iconic, if archaic, character firmly into the 21st century. Adam and Josh agree that the new NO TIME TO DIE does right by Craig—but does that make it a good Bond film? They take their review into spoiler territory to unravel their feelings about the co...
#844: The Piano (Campion #3) / Chicago Int'l Film Festival Preview
October 08, 2021 05:00 - 1 hour“I hear what you’re saying, but you’re completely wrong.” Adam has employed his favorite catchphrase many times over the years, but never on himself. On this week’s show, as part of the Jane Campion Oeuvre-View, he revisits the director's Oscar-winning (and beloved by Josh) THE PIANO for the first time since his lukewarm first encounter with the film in 2013—and this time he comes away from the film singing a very different tune. Plus, a preview of the 57th annual Chicago International Film F...
#843: Titane / An Angel at My Table (Campion #2)
October 01, 2021 05:00 - 1 hourDirector Julia Ducournau wants to shake her audience to the core. And she more or less accomplished that feat - for Josh, anyway - with her 2016 debut "Raw." Her latest, TITANE, falls into several genre categories—body horror, revenge picture, deeply black comedy—none of which quite prepare you for the experience of watching it. While Ducournau proves herself a filmmaker of great talent, Adam and Josh debate whether the 2021 Palme d'Or winner has much to offer beyond its many unexpected and p...
#842: Casino Royale at 15 / Sweetie (Campion #1)
September 24, 2021 05:00 - 1 hourAhead of Daniel Craig's final outing as 007 in "No Time To Die," Adam and Josh revisit Craig's 2006 debut, CASINO ROYALE, a film both agree remains a high-water mark for the franchise. Plus, the Jane Campion Oeuvre-view kicks off with the New Zealand director's funny, harrowing, and utterly assured first film, 1989's SWEETIE. 0:00 - Billboard 1:06 - Review: "Casino Royale" at 15 Cate Le Bon, "Sisters" 34:31 - Next Week / Notes 47:49 - Massacre Theatre 53:44 - Campion #1: "Sweetie" 1:23:27 - O...
#841: Top 5 Films of 1971 / The Eyes of Tammy Faye
September 17, 2021 05:00 - 1 hourThe 50th anniversary of the ’71 movie year provided Adam and Josh an excuse to give Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange" the Sacred Cow treatment earlier in the year and, with this week’s TOP 5 FILMS OF 1971, to celebrate the movies that introduced iconic movie characters and performances like Richard Roundtree’s John Shaft, Gene Wilder’s Willy Wonka and Ruth Gordon’s Maude. Also on the show, Josh recommends the new THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE, featuring a galvanizing performance from star Jessica Chast...
#840: The Card Counter / Wong Kar Wai Marathon Awards
September 10, 2021 06:00 - 1 hourA gambling movie that only Paul Schrader could make, THE CARD COUNTER has the "First Reformed" director meditating on weighty subjects like redemption and absolution in his tale of an ex-con (Oscar Isaac) trying to make amends for past deeds. Tiffany Haddish and Tye Sheridan co-star. Along with that review, Adam and Josh wrap up the World of Wong Kar Wai Marathon with "The Tonys," their favorite performances and moments from the marathon. 0:00 - Billboard 0:58 - Review: "The Card Counter" Jul...
#839: Fall Movie Preview / Shang-Chi / Candyman
September 03, 2021 05:00 - 1 hourThe coming fall movie season is less a slate of titles than it is a promise fulfilled, with loads of big films coming to the big screen, some of which have been delayed for a year or more: “No Time To Die,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune,” and Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch,” to name just a few. For their FALL MOVIE PREVIEW, Adam and Josh have questions about some of those long-anticipated titles, along with queries about some of the season’s mor...
#838: In the Mood for Love at 20 / Nine Days / Top 5 Romantic Gestures (Revisited)
August 27, 2021 05:00 - 1 hourWong Kar Wai’s IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE had no shortage of acclaim on its 2000 release (2001 in the U.S.), but its stature has only grown in the past two decades and is now considered by many to be one of the great achievements of the 21st century. Adam and Josh offer no arguments to the contrary in their 20th-anniversary revisit of the film, part of their World of Wong Kar Wai Marathon. And not that you asked for it, but the review also prompts them to debate which is sexier: silence or food. Pl...
#837: Annette / Respect / Happy Together (Wong Kar Wai #5)
August 13, 2021 05:00 - 1 hourFrench director Leos Carax isn't very well known here in the States, but his films are always something of an arthouse event, coming as they do about once a decade. His 2012 film, "Holy Motors" showed up on several best-of-the-2010s lists, and his latest, ANNETTE, premiered at this year's Cannes Film Festival to a 20-minute ovation (along with a smattering of boos). An L.A.-set rock musical starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard, Carax's film is, according to guest critic Michael Phillips,...
#836: The Green Knight / The Suicide Squad / Fallen Angels (Wong Kar Wai #4)
August 06, 2021 05:00 - 1 hourLike many an auteur before him, David Lowery ("A Ghost Story", "The Old Man and the Gun") brings his obsessions to whatever material he's working with—even if that material is over 600 years old. Lowery's THE GREEN KNIGHT delivers some of the seduction and swordplay that the 14th-century source material "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" promises, but it also serves as another Lowery riff on mortality, time, and mythmaking. The fourth film in the World of Wong Kar Wai Marathon, 1995's FALLEN A...
#835: Pig / Old / Chungking Express (Wong Kar Wai #3)
July 30, 2021 05:00 - 1 hourGetting Nic Cage for your debut feature is a risky move. On the one hand, Cage is both a big name and a singular talent. On the other hand, Cage's eccentric on-screen persona can send a movie reeling into camp. PIG director Michael Sarnoski rolled the dice and won, bringing real pathos to his missing truffle pig saga, and getting Cage's most subtle and moving work in at least a decade. Adam and Josh also continue the World of Wong Kar Wai Marathon with the director's 1994 international breakt...
#834: Top 5 Beach Scenes / Days of Being Wild (Wong Kar Wai #2)
July 23, 2021 05:00 - 1 hourInspired by M Night Shyamalan's "Old," Adam and Josh take a trip to the shore for their TOP 5 BEACH SCENES. As a place of transition–between land and sea, and as a point of no returnºthe beach has long offered filmmakers an evocative setting for tales both hopeful and despairing. Also: romantic, elegiac, and deranged. Plus the second film in the World of Wong Kar Wai Marathon, 1990's DAYS OF BEING WILD. 0:00 - Billboard 1:16 - Top 5: Beach Scenes Emily Lim & Rob Kelly, "Barefoot in the Sand" ...
#833: A Clockwork Orange at 50 / Roadrunner / As Tears Go By (Wong Kar Wai #1)
July 16, 2021 05:00 - 1 hourWith its provocative mix of giddy, nihilistic violence, social satire, and formal audaciousness, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE has been a cinephile rite of passage for decades. For their Sacred Cow revisit, Adam and Josh find a film that is both more philosophical than they remember–and perversely funny. Just how funny, however, is a matter of some debate. Also up for debate: how to read the film's memorable ending. Plus, the first film in the World of Wong Kar Wai Marathon, 1988's AS TEARS GO BY, and A...
#832: Black Widow / Summer of Soul / No Sudden Move / Zola
July 09, 2021 05:00 - 1 hourMarvel's BLACK WIDOW returns the MCU to theaters for the first time since 2019, but despite the more than capable cast and some provocative ideas, Adam and Josh agree that director Cate Shortland ("Lore") doesn't always find the right balance between the traumatic and the comedic. They have nothing but praise for Questlove's SUMMER OF SOUL, which sees the Roots-founder bringing a keen curatorial eye and potent historical context to his electrifying concert documentary. Plus, a review of Steve...
FS Revisited: Raiders of the Lost Ark / Top 5 Films of 1981
July 02, 2021 05:00 - 1 hourBack in September 2012, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK was back in theaters for a limited IMAX run on the heels of its 30th anniversary. Adam and Josh took the opportunity to give the film the Sacred Cow treatment, making the dubious decision to invite noted "Raiders" skeptic Michael Phillips to join them. Luckily, this is a podcast, so there's no risk of getting your face melted off due to Michael's hot take. Plus, Michael sits in for the Top 5 Films of 1981, with a number one pick that marks him a...
#831: F9 / Top 5 Fast & Furious Moments
June 25, 2021 05:00 - 1 hourFor one of their patented "still processing" reviews, Adam and Josh go from screening to studio to discuss F9. But all Adam has is questions; namely, are the F&F movies not only critic-proof but critique-proof? Also, director Justin Lin stuck Charlize Theron in a glass box and Adam wants to know if she has access to a bathroom. Big questions for a big movie. Plus listeners make their pick for car movie that needs a sequel, and Adam and Josh revisit 2015's Top 5 Fast & Furious Moments–the culm...
#830: Pixar's Luca / 7 From '76 Awards / The Sparks Brothers
June 18, 2021 05:00 - 1 hourWhile Pixar's latest brazenly evokes the settings and stories of earlier animated classics like Disney's "The Little Mermaid," Pixar's own "Finding Nemo" and Hayao Miyazaki's "Ponyo" and "Porco Rosso," LUCA'S narrative ambition remains modest–and Adam and Josh agree that's mostly to its credit. An earnest coming-of-age story set on the Italian Riviera, the movie also works as a summer-y coming-out party. They also wrap up the 7 From '76—Best Year Ever series by naming their favorite performan...
#829: In The Heights / Car Wash (7 From '76)
June 11, 2021 05:00 - 1 hourWhen reviews started trickling in for IN THE HEIGHTS earlier this year, anticipation for the already much-hyped adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda's Tony-winning musical started to reach a feverish pitch. Adam and Josh agree that the movie largely delivers on those expectations. If director Jon M. Chu's ambition occasionally overwhelms the film, the talented ensemble and star-making lead turn by Anthony Ramos keeps things grounded, and the movie offers the kind of visceral pleasure that moviego...
#828: Undine / Harlan County U.S.A. (7 From '76)
June 04, 2021 05:00 - 1 hourDirector Christian Petzold ("Phoenix," "Transit") returns with UNDINE, a romance haunted by German history and politics–and loosely inspired by a European fairy tale. Stars Paula Beer and Franz Rogowski sell the romance, and Adam and Josh praise the director for the provocative questions he leaves unanswered. Plus Babara Kopple's Oscar-winning HARLAN COUNTY U.S.A., a film that offers a vivid–and surprisingly musical–portrait of coal country in the early '70s. Part of the 7 From '76—Best Year ...
#827: A Quiet Place Part II / Top 5 Quiet Scenes
May 28, 2021 05:00 - 1 hourBack in 2018, John Krasinksi's "A Quiet Place" was a novelty: the rare box office hit that didn't belong to an existing franchise or property. Fast forward to 2021 and "A Quiet Place" has itself become a franchise, with a third installment already in the works. This week, Adam and Josh talk about the ways that A QUIET PLACE PART II delivers on the promise of the original and also the ways that it tests the limits of an audience's ability to suspend its disbelief. Plus, they revisit 2018's Top...
#826: Summer Movie Preview / Shiva Baby / "The Savages" ('40s Noir Awards)
May 21, 2021 05:00 - 1 hourYes, this summer promises pleasures like the return of the MCU, a new Lin-Manuel Miranda musical, and Dev Patel in David Lowery's "The Green Knight"; but, in their SUMMER MOVIE PREVIEW, Adam and Josh invite you to consider less conspicuous summer releases like a Fellini-inspired animated film; a new doc from the director of 2016's "Rat Film;" a resurrected concert film from Questlove; and a tweet-thread-inspired road trip comedy. Plus, the '40s Noir Awards ("The Savages") and Josh's Golden Br...
#825: The Underground Railroad / White Heat ('40s Noir #6)
May 14, 2021 05:00 - 1 hourHistorically set but featuring flourishes of magical realism, Barry Jenkins's adaptation of Colson Whitehead's THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD is not quite what it first appears to be. All ten parts come to Amazon Prime this weekend. This week, Adam and Josh review the series' first couple of episodes, full of admiration for the Jenkins aesthetic, the cast and the score from regular Jenkins collaborator Nicholas Britell. Plus a conversation about 1949's WHITE HEAT, the final film in the '40s Noir Ma...
#824: Top 5 '70s Movie Moms / Wrath of Man / News From Home (7 From '76)
May 07, 2021 05:00 - 1 hourSandwiched between the '60s sexual revolution and the reactionary conservatism of the '80s, the '70s was an anxious decade, and as that anxiety played out on movie screens, it did not spare mothers. This week, Adam and Josh–sons of '70s moms themselves–share their TOP 5 '70s MOVIE MOMS and continue the 7 From '76—Best Year Ever series with Chantal Akerman's NEWS FROM HOME. Plus, Josh's thoughts on the new WRATH OF MAN, starring Jason Statham, and ABOUT ENDLESSNESS from Swedish auteur Roy Ande...
#823: Together Together / Oscars / The Lady From Shanghai ('40s Noir #5)
April 30, 2021 05:00 - 1 hourIt's a pair of uneasy couples on this week's show: first up, comedian Patti Harrison as a 20-something surrogate mom to Ed Helms' single 40-something dad in Nikole Beckwith's TOGETHER TOGETHER; and then real-life couple Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth in the '47 noir THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI, with Welles as an Irish drifter who gets caught up in a murder plot when he falls for the seductive Hayworth. Beckwith's movie - her second - is smarter and more satisfying than its high concept suggests; a...
#822: Oscars Special with Michael Phillips
April 16, 2021 05:00 - 1 hourWill Oscar night 2021 see Chloé Zhao crowned Best Director for "Nomadland"? Does anyone have a chance against the late Chadwick Boseman for Best Actor? And what about the Best Actress race? Will former winners Viola Davis and Frances McDormand take another statue home, or could Carey Mulligan or Andra Day surprise with the win? Adam, Josh and guest Michael Phillips from the Chicago Tribune don't really have the answers, but that doesn't stop them from taking some guesses, along with making a ...
#821: Rocky (7 From '76) / Detour ('40s Noir #4) / '80s Madness Champ
April 09, 2021 05:00 - 1 hourWhatever backlash ROCKY has received over the years for beating out the likes of "Taxi Driver," "All The President's Men" and "Network" for the 1977 Best Picture Oscar, it has largely faded as people discover - or rediscover - that the populist hit that spawned a mostly forgettable (and occasionally ridiculous) franchise has more in common with its gritty '70s peers than it gets credit for. Among those who remain unconvinced, however, is Josh. Thankfully, Adam comes to Rocky's defense and the...
#820: Godzilla ('54) vs. Kong ('33)
April 02, 2021 05:00 - 1 hourWith the new "Godzilla vs. Kong" bringing some much-needed spectacle to long-suffering theatre chains, Adam and Josh take the opportunity to settle the question of which classic monster movie has the most to offer audiences today, the mournful and metaphor-rich GODZILLA (1954) or the effects-driven adventure of the landmark KING KONG (1933). (Tease: it's a split decision.) Plus, results from the Final 4 round of Filmspotting Madness. 0:00 - Billboard 1:17 - Review: "Godzilla" ('54) vs. "King ...