Filmspotting: Reviews & Top 5s - Kempenaar & Larsen

#885: A24 10th Anniversary Draft / Prey Aug 12, 2022

Indie 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 Gerwig's "Lady Bird," Sean Baker's "The Florida Project," and Ari Aster's "Hereditary" are just a fraction of the acclaimed titles released by the company in its first ten years. To celebrate the occasion, Adam and Josh hold the debut Filmspotting Draft: ten A24 titles each, no shared picks, no trades, no fighting. Listen and then cast a vote for who built the better roster.

Also on the show, a review of the new entry in the "Predator" franchise, PREY.

0:00 - Billboard

1:11 - A24 Draft

43:07 - Review: "Prey"

59:02 - Next Week / Notes

1:04:39 - Polls

1:11:48 - A24 Draft, cont.

1:42:37 - Outro

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#884: Top 5 Brad Pitt Performances / Bullet Train Aug 05, 2022

When 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 and Josh share only one title between them. Also on the show, Adam's thoughts on Pitt in the new BULLET TRAIN from director David Leitch.

0:00 - Billboard

1:04 - Top 5: Brad Pitt Performances

42:40 - Review (AK): "Bullet Train"

48:31 - Next Week / Notes

52:58 - Massacre Theatre

58:07 - Top 5, cont.

1:20:10 - Outro

The Pitt Reviews

Fight Club at 20 (2019)

Babel (2006)

Oceans 13 (2007)

The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (2007)

The Assassination... (2019 Reappraisal)

Burn After Reading (2008)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2009)

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

The Tree of Life (2011)

Moneyball (2011)

Killing Them Softly (2012)

12 Years A Slave (2013)

The Big Short (2015)

War Machine (2017)

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)

Ad Astra (2019)

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#883: Nope / The Gray Man / The Lady Eve (Stanwyck #3) Jul 29, 2022

With 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. Also, there are some scares. And some laughs. Adam and Josh get spoiler-y in the second half of the review to sort out some lingering questions. Adam also recommends the Russo Brothers' new THE GRAY MAN, and the Summer of Stanwyck continues with Preston Sturges's 1941 screwball classic THE LADY EVE, starring Stanwyck and Henry Fonda.

0:00 - Billboard

1:05 - Review: "Nope"

25:01 - "Nope" Spoilers

46:20 - "The Gray Man"

50:32 - Notes / Polls

1:09:33 - Stanwyck #3: "The Lady Eve"

1:40:22 - Outro

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#882: Thor: Love & Thunder / Top 5 Chris Power Ranking Jul 15, 2022

Taika 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 5 CHRIS POWER RANKING, with Adam and Josh offering their revised rankings at the end of the show. Plus Josh shares thoughts on the new GKids feature THE DEER KING and has a Golden Brick-spotting review of Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman's NEPTUNE FROST.

0:00 - Billboard

1:19 - Review: "Thor: Love & Thunder"

Saul Williams, "Binary Stars"

29:10 - Golden Brickspotting (JL): "Neptune Frost"

33:10 - Review (JL): "The Deer King"

35:52 - Notes / Polls

48:04 - Top 5: Chris Power Rankings (2018)

1:26:39 - Chris Power Rankings Redux (2022)

1:39:48 - Outro

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#881: Stanwyck #2 - Stella Dallas / Marcel the Shell With Shoes On / Top 5 Movie Mother-Daughters Jul 08, 2022

As 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, with Adam and Josh considering the memorable mothers and daughters that have come to screens in the intervening decade (lookin' at you, Greta Gerwig). Plus, Josh reviews the new stop-motion animated charmer MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON.

0:00 - Billboard

1:04 - Stanwyck #2: "Stella Dallas"

33:28 - Review (JL): "Marcel The Shell With Shoes On"

38:20 - Next Week / Notes

43:07 - Massacre Theatre

49:44 - Top 5: Movie Mother-Daughters

1:20:17 - Outro

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#880: Stanwyck #1 - Baby Face (1933) / 1930s Starter Pack Jul 01, 2022

The 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 balance of proto-feminism provocation and sentimentality. The launch of the Stanwyck Marathon also offers a chance to revisit the 1930s Starter Pack, which has Adam and Josh sharing their favorite comedies, musicals, action, and horror films from that rich decade.

0:00 - Billboard

1:01 - Stanwyck #1: “Baby Face” (w/SPOILERS)

36:03 - Polls / Notes

51:07 - Top 5: 1930s Starter Pack

1:36:12 - Outro

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#879: Top 5 Movie Summers / Elvis / Lightyear Jun 24, 2022

The 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 Josh weighs in on Baz Luhrmann's ELVIS and Pixar's LIGHTYEAR.

0:00 - Billboard

1:20 - Top 5 Movie Summers

30:28 - Reviews (JL): "Elvis," "Lightyear"

39:10 - Next Week / Notes

44:10 - Massacre Theatre

49:51 - Top 5 Movie Summers, cont.

1:10:50 - Outro

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#878: Cooper Raiff (Cha Cha Real Smooth) / Hustle / Top 5 Toy Story Moments w/Griffin Newman (2019) Jun 17, 2022

Cooper 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 Duplass, and why Michael Caine isn't right about everything. And with Buzz currently flying solo in the new "Lightyear," we revisit Adam's TOP 5 STORY STORY MOMENTS (2019) with guest Griffin Newman from the Blank Check podcast. And Adam adds to the praise that has met the latest Netflix Adam Sandler joint, HUSTLE.

0:00 - Billboard

1:24 - Interview: Cooper Raiff ("Cha Cha Real Smooth")

25:01 - Review (AK): "Hustle"

34:37 - Next Week / Notes

44:51 - Polls

54:09 - Top 5: Toy Story Moments w/Griffin Newman

1:50:40 - Outro

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#877: Top 5 Films of the Year So Far / Keaton Marathon Awards (Live in Chicago) Jun 10, 2022

At 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.

0:00 - Billboard

1:30 - Top 5 Films of the Year So Far

41:30 - Next Week / Notes

47:43 - Massacre Theatre

59:42 - Live in Chicago: "The Cameraman" / Keaton Awards

1:53:03 - Outro

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#876: Top 5 Movies For Graduates Jun 03, 2022

For 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 Movies for Graduates, cont.

1:32:12 - Outro

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#875: Top Gun: Maverick / Steamboat Bill, Jr. (Keaton #5) May 27, 2022

Scrubbed 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, though, never really took to the film that he's described as a "locker room movie."

Plus, the Buster Keaton Marathon continues with Josh's favorite film of the series, 1927's STEAMBOAT BILL, JR, and a Golden Brick nomination for HIT THE ROAD, from director Panah Panahi.

0:00 - Billboard

1:47 - Review: "Top Gun: Maverick"

27:54 - Golden Brickspotting: "Hit the Road"

33:12 - Next Week / Notes

40:57 - Massacre Theatre

46:09 - Buster Keaton #5: "Steamboat Bill, Jr."

1:00:41 - Outro

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#874: Men / The General (Keaton #4) May 20, 2022

Do 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 latest, which sees the director setting aside sci-fi in favor of horror with a biblical bent. Also on the show, the "Mad Max: Fury Road of the silent era": Buster Keaton’s THE GENERAL, the fourth entry in the Keaton Marathon. Plus, listeners weigh in on the most anticipated films of the summer and a new Deeply Flawed Filmspotting poll about high schoolers in transition.

0:00 - Billboard

1:03 - Review: "Men" w/eventual Spoiler Talk

35:32 - Next Week / Notes

41:44 - Polls

52:27 - Keaton Marathon #4: "The General"

1:11:58 - Outro

*Time codes are estimates and do not account for ads live or pre-recorded.

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#873: Summer Movie Preview May 13, 2022

With 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 Theatre

39:41 - Summer Movie Preview, cont

1:00:34 - Outro

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#872: Spider-Man at 20 / Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness May 06, 2022

Back 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 decades and the effects-driven spectacle that has come to define our current "cinematic universe" era. With a masterful control of tone, an eye for staging memorable action, and a focus on character and relationships, the Raimi/Spidey combo was a winning one. For their 20th anniversary revisit, Adam and Josh talk about the pleasure of watching a self-contained superhero movie, and break down some of the film's most iconic scenes.

Also on the show, Josh's review of Raimi's new DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS and his thoughts on Golden Brick nominee WE'RE ALL GOING TO THE WORLD'S FAIR. And Chicago critic Steven Prokopy drops by to share details about the upcoming Chicago Critics Film Festival. Plus Movie Doctors Not Doctoring poll results and a new poll that asks: "Yep? or Nope."

0:00 - Billboard

1:32 - Sacred Cow: "Spider-Man" (2002)

Danny Elfman, "Spider-Man (Main Title)"

39:55 - Review (JL): "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness"

44:15 - Buster Keaton Event in Chicago

47:54 - Chicago Critics Film Fest Preview w/Steve Prokopy

1:00:59 - Polls

1:09:12 - Brickspotting: "We're All Going To The World's Fair"

1:14:26 - Outro / Outtake (Goblin Mode)

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#871: The Northman / Sherlock, Jr. (Buster Keaton #3) Apr 29, 2022

With 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 - Billboard

1:58 - Review: “The Northman”

Tim Garland, “Trains A Comin”

37:40 - Next Week / Notes

58:53 - Massacre Theatre

1:03:29 - Buster Keaton #3: “Sherlock, Jr.”

1:26:42 - Outro / Outtake

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#870: Top 5 Nicolas Cage Performances / Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent Apr 22, 2022

For 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 TALENT in theaters, the Cage-aissance is in full swing. Joining Adam and Josh for their TOP 5 NICOLAS CAGE PERFORMANCES is “Age of Cage” writer Keith Phipps (The Next Picture Show, The Reveal).

0:00 - Billboard

1:28 - Top 5: Nicolas Cage Performances with Keith Phipps ("Age of Cage")

Gareth Johnson, "Power Move"

54:23 - Next Week / Notes

1:04:16 - Poll

1:09:47 - Review: "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent"

1:14:41 - Top 5 Cage Performances, cont.

1:51:31 - Outro

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#869: Everything Everywhere All At Once / Face/Off at 25 Apr 15, 2022

The 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 John Woo’s action spectacle. Adam and Josh give the film a 25th-anniversary revisit in anticipation of their upcoming Top 5 Nicolas Cage Performances. Plus they crown the winner of Filmspotting Madness—Best of the '70s.

0:00 - Billboard

1:25 - Review: “Everything Everywhere All At Once”

Jair Claudino Rodrigues Junior, “Sorte”

31:25 - Next Week / Notes

36:43 - Filmspotting Madness—Best of the '70s: Champion

52:32 - Review: “Face/Off” at 25

1:21:34 - Outro

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#868: A Conversation with Kogonada (After Yang) / Madness Finals Apr 08, 2022

With 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-confrontational style of his films, and the origins of "After Yang"'s thrilling title sequence. We also share a recent review of "Yang" from our sister podcast, The Next Picture Show, hosted by Tasha Robinson, Scott Tobias, Genevieve Koski, and Keith Phipps. Plus, the championship round of Filmspotting Madness—Best of the '70s.

0:00 - Billboard

0:58 - Interview: Kogonada

Mitski, "Glide"

47:15 - Next Week / Notes

51:39 - Filmspotting Madness—Best of the '70s

1:00:12 - The Next Picture Show: "After Yang"

1:27:44 - Outro

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#867: Apollo 10 1/2 / Top 5 Linklater Scenes (2016) / Madness Final 4 Apr 01, 2022

Among 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 - Billboard

1:09 - Review: "Apollo 10 1/2"

John Williams, "Jaws Theme"

30:25 - Next Week / Notes

35:43 - Filmspotting Madness—Final 4

50:22 - Top 5: Richard Linklater Scenes (2016)

1:25:22 - Outro

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#866: Top 5 Hitchcockian Movies / Charlie McDowell ("Windfall") / Madness Elite 8 Mar 25, 2022

Like 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 ("The One I Love"), whose new thriller WINDFALL--starring Jason Segal, Lily Collins, and Jesse Plemons--has a few Hitchcockian tricks up its sleeve. Plus Filmspotting Madness—Best of the 70s Elite 8 matchups.

0:00 - Billboard

1:12 - Top 5: Hitchcockian Movies

Bernard Herrmann, "Vertigo Suite: Prelude"

33:21 - Interview: Charlie McDowell ("Windfall")

1:06:42 - Next Week / Notes

1:12:28 - Filmspotting Madness—Best of the 70s, Elite 8

1:26:47 - Top 5: Hitchcockian Movies, cont.

1:46:05 - Outro

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#865: Oscars Special / Master / Madness Sweet 16 Mar 18, 2022

Adam 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 Actor/Actress

Alberto Iglesias, "Sesión de fotos" ("Parallel Mothers")

36:25 - Brickspotting: "Master"

41:04 - Next Week / Notes

45:52 - R.I.P. William Hurt

49:50 - Filmspotting Madness—Best of the '70s

1:14:04 - Oscars: Director / Picture

1:28:39 - Outro

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#864: After Yang / Madness Rd. 2 Mar 11, 2022

There 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 them to consider what it means to be human. Adam and Josh agree that it's one of the best films of the year so far. Plus, Rd. 2 of Filmspotting Madness—Best of the '70s, featuring bewildering, flop-sweat-inducing matchups like "Young Frankenstein" v "Alien" and "Dog Day Afternoon v Monty Python and the Holy Grail."

0:00 - Billboard

1:14 - Review: "After Yang"

Mitski, "Glide"

41:56 - Next Week / Notes

47:51 - Madness Rd. 2

1:20:34 - Outro

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#863: The Batman / Our Hospitality (Keaton #2) / Madness Rd. 1 Mar 04, 2022

Part 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 as much a master stuntman as he is a comedian.

0:00 - Billboard

1:07 - Review: "The Batman"

33:50 - "The Batman" (and Bond!) Spoiler Talk - Be warned: with ads, spoiler talk will start a bit later!

Michael Giacchino, "The Batman"

40:55 - Adam Recommends: "Dear Mr. Brody"

45:54 - Next Week / Notes

51:39 - Madness—Best of the '70s: Rd. 1

1:10:41 - Buster Keaton #2: "Our Hospitality"

1:30:03 - Outro / Outtake

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#862: Buster Keaton #1–The Shorts / Filmspotting Madness Feb 25, 2022

Silent 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 Marathon. Plus, Filmspotting Madness—Best of the 1970s kicks off with the Play-In Round.

0:00 - Billboard

1:00 - Keaton #1: "One Week" / "The Scarecrow" / "The Play House" / "Cops"

Mark Allaway, Martin Wheatley, and Jeff Lardner, "Silent Movie Chase"

34:19 - Next Week / Poll

44:25 - Notes / Massacre Theatre

49:39 - Filmspotting Madness: Play-Ins

1:08:16 - Outro

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#861: Kimi / Encanto Feb 18, 2022

Another 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 returning to the highs of his ’90s and early 2000s heyday. Adam and Josh also don’t quite see eye to eye on Disney’s ENCANTO, which last week received an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature. While one sees a moving and surprisingly sophisticated take on generational trauma, the other sees a film that is ambitious but overstuffed. (They both dug Bruno.) Plus, details about the upcoming Buster Keaton Marathon and Filmspotting Madness—Best of the 1970s.

0:00 - Billboard

1:08 - Review: "Kimi"

Sebastián Yatra, "Dos Oruguitas"

28:10 - Nex Week / Notes

43:05 - Polls

57:58 - Review: "Encanto"

1:12:50 - Outro / Outtake

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#860: Top 5 Sondheim Screen Moments Feb 11, 2022

Stephen 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 Michael using a particularly liberal interpretation of “screen.”) Plus, reactions to the Oscar noms and a very special musical edition of Massacre Theatre.

0:00 - Billboard

1:16 - Top 5 Sondheim Screen Moments

Madonna, “Sooner or Later”

39:41 - Oscar Nominations

49:59 - Next Week / Notes

1:03:34 - Massacre Theatre

1:11:48 - Top 5 Sondheim, cont

1:45:21 - Outro / Outtake

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#859: The Godfather at 50 Feb 04, 2022

As 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 of watching - and talking about - something so thematically rich, so brilliantly shot and directed, and so damn well acted. (It’s the longest review in the history of the show.)

And, as it turns out, maybe there were a couple of new things to say about THE GODFATHER. Adam has some thoughts about the film as a product of the Vietnam era. And Josh makes the bold suggestion that “The Godfather” could have been an even stronger film if it had paid just a little more attention to one of its more tangential characters. Also: has Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone ever been compared to “Terminator 2"’s T-1000? Seems unlikely.

0:00 - Billboard

1:07 - “The Godfather” at 50

Nina Rota, “The Godfather Love Theme”

56:42 - Next Week / Notes

1:03:52 - Poll: Oscar Snubs

1:19:06 - Outro

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#858: 2022 Movie Preview Jan 28, 2022

2022 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 - 2022 Show Plans

45:49 - Notes / Massacre Theatre

56:08 - 2022 Movie Preview, cont.

1:21:05 - Outro

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#857: Best Scenes of 2021 / Golden Brick Award Jan 21, 2022

We 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

0:58 - Wrap: Opening Scenes / Funniest Scenes / Moving Moments

Antonio Pinto, "10327 Days of Life" ("Nine Days")

38:44 - JL: "Scream" (2022)

43:34 - Next Week / Notes

1:00:23 - 2021 Golden Brick Award

1:12:45 - Wrap, cont: Music Moments / Scenes of the Year

1:48:26 - Outro

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#856: The Matrix Resurrections / The Tragedy of Macbeth Jan 14, 2022

Adam 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 Matrix worked, especially not the action nor its attempts at profundity. There is far less to debate about THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH, which sees Joel Coen going solo with a sinister and stunning adaptation of Shakespeare.

0:00 - Billboard

1:02 - Review: "The Matrix Resurrections"

Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine, "Lady Macbeth in Chains"

29:09 - Next Week / Notes

46:40 - Massacre Theatre

1:00:38 - Review: "The Tragedy of Macbeth"

1:19:52 - Outro / Outtakes (more "Matrix" talk and a Meow-sacre Theatre Audition)

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#855: Top 10 Films of 2021 (Pt. 2) Dec 31, 2021

Sure, 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 generis” comedy, a medieval epic, and a couple of literary adaptations from first-time filmmakers.

0:00 - Billboard

1:08 - Top 10 of 2021

Jim Williams, "Car F***" ("Titane")

1:16:16 - Notes/Polls

1:22:28 - Top 10 of 2021, cont.

2:04:02 - Outro

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#854: Top 10 Films of 2021 (Pt. 1) Dec 24, 2021

A 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 Avenue Hustle"

45:09 - Golden Brick Finalists

48:50 - Top 10 of 2021: The Outliers, cont.

1:13:20 - Outro

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#853: Best Performances of 2021 / Licorice Pizza / Nightmare Alley Dec 17, 2021

The 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 Week / Polls / Notes

1:13:06 - Review: "Licorice Pizza"

1:30:38 - Outro / Outtake

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#852: The Power of the Dog / Campion Oeuvre-view Awards Dec 10, 2021

Jane 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 attention finely tuned to gender power dynamics and competing displays of masculinity. They also agree that Campion’s latest is a masterpiece. The Campion love continues in the second half of the show with “We Are The Campions,” the end of Oeuvre-view awards for favorite performances and scenes—and Adam and Josh’s ranked lists of the director’s eight features.

0:00 - Billboard

1:04 - Review: "The Power of the Dog"

Michael Nyman, "The Sacrifice"

36:04 - Next Week / Notes

49:41 - Massacre Theatre

55:58 - Jane Campion Oeuvre-view: Awards

1:29:58 - Outro

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#851: West Side Story / Red Rocket Dec 03, 2021

When 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 of white actors as Latinx characters and a pair of romantic leads (Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer) who don't sing and are arguably the weakest members of an otherwise ace cast. Adam and Josh make the case that with his thrilling new adaptation, Spielberg more than answers the why, without necessarily fixing all of the earlier film's weaknesses. Plus, a review of Sean Baker's latest, RED ROCKET, which has Simon Rex's former adult film star making an ignominious return to his Texas hometown.

0:00 - Billboard

1:06 - Review: "West Side Story"

"Cool" ("West Side Story," Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

41:44 - Next Week / Notes

47:22 - Polls

57:02 - Review: "Red Rocket"

1:14:36 - Outro

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#850: House of Gucci / tick, tick... BOOM! / Spencer / Golden Brick Noms Nov 26, 2021

'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 THE KILLING OF TWO LOVERS, TEST PATTERN, SHIVA BABY, and NINE DAYS.

0:00 - Billboard

1:03 - Review Roundup

Original Broadway Cast, "Rent"

31:36 - Next Week / Notes

44:25 - Massacre Theater

51:39 - Golden Brick Nominees

1:12:29 - Outro / Outtake

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#849: Passing / Eternals / Bright Star (Campion #7) Nov 12, 2021

For 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 the film’s bloated running time. Unfortunately, Zhao’s Malickian instincts are forced to compete with the leaden necessities of the franchise. Plus the final film in the Jane Campion Oeuvre-view, 2009's BRIGHT STAR, with Campion bringing an uncharacteristic gentleness to her story of the great love and last years of poet John Keats.

0:00 - Billboard

1:15 - Review: "Passing"

Leonard Cohen, "Suzanne"

30:23 - Josh: "Eternals"

37:02 - Next Week / Notes

47:51 - Polls

57:36 - Jane Campion #7: "Bright Star"

1:21:38 - Outro / Outtake

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#848: Last Night in Soho / In the Cut (Campion #6) Nov 05, 2021

Edgar 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 expectations—or an incoherent jumble of influences. And the Jane Campion Oeuvre-view arrives at the director's own divisive genre film, the 2003 erotic thriller IN THE CUT. Largely dismissed at the time, Adam and Josh make the case that the Meg Ryan-starring film deserves another look.

0:00 - Billboard

1:07 - Review: "Last Night in Soho"

The Kinks, "Starstruck"

26:29 - Chicago Critics Film Festival Preview

34:06 - Next Week / Notes

41:42 - Massacre Theatre

47:13 - Campion #6: "In The Cut"

1:09:45 - Outro

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#847: The French Dispatch / Rushmore (Sacred Cow Revisited) Oct 29, 2021

Welcome 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 - Polls

50:24 - Next Week / Notes

59:47 - Wes Anderson Ranked

1:15:53 - FS Revisited: "Rushmore" (Sacred Cow, 2017)

1:47:13 - Outro

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#846: Dune / Holy Smoke (Campion #5) Oct 22, 2021

The 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-view continues with 1999's HOLY SMOKE, a critical and box office failure on its release that contains a remarkable early Kate Winslet performance and the complicated sex and gender dynamics we've come to expect from Campion.

0:00 - Billboard

1:01 - Review: "Dune"

Neil Diamond, "Holly Holy"

33:05 - Next Week / Notes

41:23 - Massacre Theatre

47:07 - Campion #5: "Holy Smoke"

1:09:31 - Outro

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#845: No Time To Die / Lamb / The Portrait of a Lady (Campion #4) Oct 15, 2021

In 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 conclusion of the Craig era. Plus, the fourth film in the Jane Campion Oeuvre-view, 1996's THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY, Campion's inventive and emotionally volatile adaptation of the Henry James novel. Plus Josh recommends the new Nordic horror film LAMB.

0:00 - Billboard

1:14 - Review: "No Time To Die"

32:56 - "No Time" Spoiler Talk

Wojciech Kilar, "Pearl in the Crown"

39:32 - Josh recommends: "Lamb"

43:29 - Next Week / Notes

56:32 - Polls

1:04:40 - Jane Campion #4: "The Portrait of a Lady"

1:35:00 - Outro

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#844: The Piano (Campion #3) / Chicago Int'l Film Festival Preview Oct 08, 2021

“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 Festival, which features new films from Céline Sciamma (“Portrait of a Lady on Fire”), Joachim Trier (“Oslo, August 31st”), and Andrea Arnold (“American Honey”).

0:00 - Billboard

1:14 - Preview: Chicago Int'l Film Festival

Michael Nyman, "The Heart Asks Pleasure First"

31:13 - Next Week/Giveaway/Notes

41:37 - Massacre Theatre

49:33 - Campion #3: "The Piano"

1:28:56 - Outro

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#843: Titane / An Angel at My Table (Campion #2) Oct 01, 2021

Director 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 provocative twists. They take their review into overtime with some Spoiler Talk about some of the movie's more ambiguous moments. Also on the show, the new Deeply Flawed Filmspotting Poll, and the second film in their Jane Campion Oeuvre-view, 1990's AN ANGEL AT MY TABLE.

0:00 - Billboard

1:25 - Review: "Titane"

32:56 - "Titane" Spoiler Talk

Duncan Gray, Opening Credits ("An Angel at My Table")

45:37 - Next Week / Notes

54:24 - Polls

1:04:46 - Jane Campion #2: "An Angel at My Table"

1:30:18 - Outro

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#842: Casino Royale at 15 / Sweetie (Campion #1) Sep 24, 2021

Ahead 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 - Outro

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#841: Top 5 Films of 1971 / The Eyes of Tammy Faye Sep 17, 2021

The 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 Chastain.

0:00 - Billboard

1:11 - Top 5 of 1971

Oompa Loompa Cast, "Oompa Loompa" ("Willy Wonka")

36:43 - Josh on "The Eyes of Tammy Faye"

40:50 - Next Week / Poll / Notes

1:04:33 - Top 5 of 1971, cont.

1:30:52 - Outro

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#840: The Card Counter / Wong Kar Wai Marathon Awards Sep 10, 2021

A 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"

Julie London, "I'm In The Mood For Love"

32:14 - Next Week/Notes

41:48 - Massacre Theatre

46:59 - Wong Kar Wai Awards

1:25:25 - Outro

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#839: Fall Movie Preview / Shang-Chi / Candyman Sep 03, 2021

The 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 more obscure offerings, including films starring Idris Elba and Regina King; Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield; and Tom Hanks and a dog (and a robot). Plus, Josh has reviews of the new CANDYMAN and SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS.

0:00 - Billboard

1:11 - Fall Movie Preview

George Lam, "Mr. Strong Man"

25:51 - Josh: "Shang-Chi," "Candyman"

37:32 - Next Week / Notes

47:00 - Polls

54:17 - Fall Movie Preview, cont.

1:10:28 - Outro

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#838: In the Mood for Love at 20 / Nine Days / Top 5 Romantic Gestures (Revisited) Aug 27, 2021

Wong 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. Plus, a revisit of the Top 5 Romantic Gestures from 2013, and Josh nominates the new existential drama NINE DAYS for the Filmspotting Golden Brick Award.

0:00 - Billboard

1:05 - Wong Kar Wai #6: “In The Mood For Love”

Vitamin String Quartet, “In Your Eyes”

41:43 - Brickspotting: “Nine Days”

46:37 - Next Week / Notes

53:25 - Massacre Theatre

1:01:51 - Revisited: Top 5 Romantic Gestures (2013)

1:12:27 - Outro

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#837: Annette / Respect / Happy Together (Wong Kar Wai #5) Aug 13, 2021

French 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, "the world's most toxic remake of 'A Star Is Born'." (That's mostly a compliment.) In the second half of the show, Josh and Adam continue their World of Wong Kar Wai Marathon with the Hong Kong auteur's 1997 Argentina-set film HAPPY TOGETHER, and music biopic skeptic Josh has some nice things to say about the new Aretha Franklin biopic RESPECT.

0:00 - Billboard

1:07 - Review: "Annette" w/Michael Phillips

Sparks feat. Adam Driver, "All The Girls"

29:28 - Josh recommends "Respect"

35:43 - Next Week / Notes

44:06 - Polls

56:54 - Wong Kar Wai #5: "Happy Together"

1:21:27 - Outro

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#836: The Green Knight / The Suicide Squad / Fallen Angels (Wong Kar Wai #4) Aug 06, 2021

Like 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 ANGELS, sees the Hong Kong auteur introduce a new set of lost urban souls, but Adam and Josh debate whether Wong gets dangerously close to self-parody in his follow-up to "Chungking Express." And Josh has a review of the new THE SUICIDE SQUAD, a successful-ish entry in the killshot-comedy genre.

0:00 - Billboard

1:10 - Review: "The Green Knight"

Shirley Kwan, "Forget Him"

31:56 - Josh: "The Suicide Squad"

36:58 - Next Week / Notes

52:20 - Massacre Theatre

57:35 - World of Wong Kar Wai #4: "Fallen Angels"

1:21:10 - Outro

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#835: Pig / Old / Chungking Express (Wong Kar Wai #3) Jul 30, 2021

Getting 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 breakthrough CHUNGKING EXPRESS. Plus, Josh defends M. Night Shyamalan's OLD–while also advising Adam to avoid it.

0:00 - Billboard

1:10 - Review: "Pig"

Chris Egan, "Traveling Troubadours"

22:36 - Josh reviews "Old"

28:37 - Giveaway / Next Week / Notes

37:26 - Polls

47:53 - Wong Kar Wai #3: "Chungking Express"

1:30:18 - Outro

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#834: Top 5 Beach Scenes / Days of Being Wild (Wong Kar Wai #2) Jul 23, 2021

Inspired 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"

31:34 - Cannes / Next Week / Notes

46:03 - Massacre Theatre

53:26 - Top 5: Beach Scenes, cont

1:13:43 - World of Wong Kar Wai #2: "Days of Being Wild"

1:37:28 - Outro

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#833: A Clockwork Orange at 50 / Roadrunner / As Tears Go By (Wong Kar Wai #1) Jul 16, 2021

With 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 Adam's thoughts on the new ROADRUNNER: A FILM ABOUT ANTHONY BOURDAIN.

0:00 - Billboard

1:16 - Sacred Cow: “A Clockwork Orange”

Marianne Faithful, “As Tears Go By”

45:08 - Adam: “Roadrunner”

58:21 - Next Week / Notes

1:08:21 - Polls

1:20:42 - World of Wong #1: “As Tears Go By”

1:42:57 - Outro / Outtake

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#832: Black Widow / Summer of Soul / No Sudden Move / Zola Jul 09, 2021

Marvel'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 Steven Soderbergh's new NO SUDDEN MOVE and Josh's thoughts on the wild road-trip comedy ZOLA.

0:00 - Billboard

1:03 - Review: "Black Widow"

The Chambers Brothers, "Uptown"

25:06 - Josh recommends: "Zola"

30:53 - Next Week / Notes

49:04 - Massacre Theatre

54:51 - Review: "Summer of Soul"

1:29:17 - Review: "No Sudden Move"

1:44:24 - Outro

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FS Revisited: Raiders of the Lost Ark / Top 5 Films of 1981 Jul 02, 2021

Back 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 as a "psychosexual sicko" (his words, not ours).

0:00 - Billboard

1:00 - Sacred Cow Review: "Raiders of the Lost Ark"

John Williams, "Raiders March"

29:48 - Top 5: Films of 1981

1:12:03 - Outro

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#831: F9 / Top 5 Fast & Furious Moments Jun 25, 2021

For 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 culmination of their immersion in what Adam has deemed "The F ampersand FU."

0:00 - Billboard

1:15 - Review: "F9"

Dave James and Thomm Jutz, "Bite The Dust"

31:33 - Next Week / Notes

41:14 - Polls

57:24 - Top 5: Fast & Furious Moments

1:34:03 - Outro

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#830: Pixar's Luca / 7 From '76 Awards / The Sparks Brothers Jun 18, 2021

While 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 performances, scenes and more–including their Top 5 of 1976. Plus Adam recommends Edgar Wright's new doc, THE SPARKS BROTHERS, about the eccentric pop group that's been described as "your favorite band's favorite band."

0:00 - Billboard

1:15 - 7 From '76—Best Year Ever Awards

Edoardo Bennato, "L'isola che non c'e"

35:21 - Review: "Luca"

46:13 - Adam recommends: "The Sparks Brothers"

53:26 - Next Week / Notes

1:07:28 - Massacre Theatre

1:14:15 - 7 From '76 cont.

1:30:18 - Outro

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#829: In The Heights / Car Wash (7 From '76) Jun 11, 2021

When 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 moviegoers have been conspicuously missing. Plus, listeners name their favorite 21st-century movie musical, and Adam and Josh wrap up the 7 From '76—Best Year Ever series with cult comedy–and almost musical–CAR WASH.

0:00 - Billboard

1:14 - Review: "In The Heights"

Rose Royce, "Car Wash"

34:36 - Next Week / Notes / "Raiders" Contest

1:01:26 - Polls (21st-Century Musicals; Car Movie Sequels We Need)

1:20:10 - 7 From '76: "Car Wash"

1:45:10 - Outro

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#828: Undine / Harlan County U.S.A. (7 From '76) Jun 04, 2021

Director 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 Ever series.

0:00 - Billboard

1:14 - Review: "Undine"

25:23 - Next Week / Notes

39:54 - Massacre Theatre

49:43 - 7 From '76: "Harlan Country U.S.A."

1:15:29 - Outro

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#827: A Quiet Place Part II / Top 5 Quiet Scenes May 28, 2021

Back 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 5 Quiet Scenes, with Josh contributing his picks to a list Adam and guest host Michael Phillips shared along with a review of the first "Quiet" film.

0:00 - Billboard

1:13 - Review: "A Quiet Place Part II"

Juan Carlos Rodriguez & Iker Gastaminza, "Salsa Brava"

28:22 - Next Week / Notes

35:43 - Polls

46:42 - Top 5: Quiet Scenes w/Michael Phillips

1:29:16 - Pantheon Induction: "Jeanne Dielman"

1:32:40 - Outro

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#826: Summer Movie Preview / Shiva Baby / "The Savages" ('40s Noir Awards) May 21, 2021

Yes, 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 Brick-spotting recommendation of Emma Seligman's SHIVA BABY.

0:00 - Billboard

1:08 - Summer Movie Preview

Tim Garland, "Brush With The Law"

27:37 - Golden Brick-spotting: "Shiva Baby"

31:08 - R.I.P. Charles Grodin

34:54 - Next Week / Notes / Massacre Theatre

48:33 - '40s Noir Marathon Awards ("The Savages")

1:14:27 - Summer Movie Preview, cont.

1:29:51 - Outro

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#825: The Underground Railroad / White Heat ('40s Noir #6) May 14, 2021

Historically 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 Marathon, which features a dynamic performance from James Cagney as a psycho crime boss with a mother complex.

0:00 - Billboard

1:22 - Review: "The Underground Railroad"

Nicholas Britell, "Bessie"

36:18 - Next week / Notes

45:25 - Poll

53:13 - '40s Noir #6: "White Heat"

1:16:23 - Outro

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#824: Top 5 '70s Movie Moms / Wrath of Man / News From Home (7 From '76) May 07, 2021

Sandwiched 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 Andersson ("Songs From The Second Floor").

0:00 - Billboard

1:27 - Top 5: '70s Movie Moms

31:51 - Next Week

36:49 - Josh reviews "Wrath of Man," "About Endlessness"

46:07 - Olympia Dukakis / Notes / Massacre Theatre

57:49 - 7 From '76: "News From Home"

1:15:01 - Top 5: '70s Movie Moms, cont.

1:38:54 - Outro

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#823: Together Together / Oscars / The Lady From Shanghai ('40s Noir #5) Apr 30, 2021

It'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; and Welles' formal invention almost makes up for the lack of heat between the married stars, its confounding plot, and its ill-treatment of Hayworth's troubled Elsa. Plus, Josh fills Adam in on what he missed with the Soderbergh-produced Oscars.

0:00 - Billboard

1:08 - Oscars

9:35 - Review: "Together Together"

Anita Ellis, "Please Don't Kiss Me"

28:52 - Next Week / Notes / Poll

47:06 - '40s Noir #5: "The Lady From Shanghai"

1:11:54 - Outro

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#822: Oscars Special with Michael Phillips Apr 16, 2021

Will 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 few final cases for 2020 films and performances that the Academy failed to recognize. (This should have been your year, Kelly Reichardt!)

0:00 - Billboard

1:08 - Oscars: Supporting Actor/Actress

34:05 - Oscars: Lead Actor/Actress

Anthony Willis, "Toxic"

59:26 - Next Week / Notes

1:22:57 - Massacre Theatre

1:26:05 - Oscars: Documentary/Director

1:37:12 - Oscars: Picture

1:51:27 - Outro

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#821: Rocky (7 From '76) / Detour ('40s Noir #4) / '80s Madness Champ Apr 09, 2021

Whatever 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 two go 15 rounds before ending the review in a split decision. Plus, raves for the nasty '45 Noir DETOUR - part of the '40s Noir Marathon - and the winner of Filmspotting Madness—Best of the '80s.

0:00 - Billboard

1:24 - 7 From '76—Best Year Ever: "Rocky"

Bill Conti, "Gonna Fly Now"

43:45 - Josh: "Godzilla vs. Kong"

49:01 - Next Week / Poll / Notes

54:29 - Filmspotting Madness '80s Champion

1:05:13 - 40s Noir #4: "Detour"

1:29:08 - Outro

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#820: Godzilla ('54) vs. Kong ('33) Apr 02, 2021

With 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 Kong" ('33)

Blue Oyster Cult, "Godzilla"

33:49 - Next Week / Notes

45:20 - Filmspotting Madness: Final 4

46:15 - "Godzilla" vs. "King Kong", cont.

1:30:18 - Outro

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#819: Oscars Homework (Pieces of a Woman / U.S. vs Billie Holiday / My Octopus Teacher) Mar 26, 2021

Adam and Josh skipped the harrowing PIECES OF A WOMAN last fall in the lead-up to end-of-year awards, but with star Vanessa Kirby nabbing an Oscar nomination last week, they couldn't put it off any longer. (At least one of them couldn't, anyway.) They did both play biopic bingo with the U.S. VS BILLIE HOLIDAY, a film which largely fails its talented star Andra Day, who also received a nomination. Plus thoughts on the Oscar-nominated docs MY OCTOPUS TEACHER and THE MOLE AGENT.

0:00 - Billboard

1:15 - "The United States vs Billie Holiday"

18:35 - "Pieces of a Woman"

Billie Holiday, "Everything I Have Is Yours"

22:36 - Next Week / Notes

34:14 - Filmspotting Madness: Final 4

49:24 - "My Octopus Teacher," "The Mole Agent"

1:14:15 - Outro

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#818: Network (7 From '76) / Oscar Nominations / Laura ('40s Noir #3) Mar 19, 2021

A primal scream from the post-Watergate American malaise, NETWORK is a movie entirely of its time that manages to speak directly to ours. Adam and Josh continue their 7 From '76—Best Year Ever series with Sidney Lumet's Best Picture nominee, debating the effectiveness of Paddy Chayefksy's bracing, if occasionally overwritten, script and praising the extraordinary cast (which received five Oscar noms). Plus, Otto Preminger's LAURA, the third film in the '40s Noir Marathon; and Filmspotting Madness Elite 8 matchups.

0:00 - Billboard

1:31 - 7 From '76—Best Year Ever: "Network"

"San Simeon Waltz" (from "Mank")

49:43 - Oscar Nominations

57:46 - Next Week / Notes / Giveaways

1:11:55 - Filmspotting Madness, Elite 8

1:28:46 - '40s Noir #3: "Laura"

1:48:13 - Outro

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#817: Top 5 Movie Meals / WandaVision / The Truffle Hunters Mar 12, 2021

Inspired by the visually striking - and slyly funny - new documentary THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS, Adam and Josh consider the greatest meals they've ever seen on screen. Plus, Josh's thoughts on Marvel's recently-concluded WANDAVISION and the Sweet 16 round of Filmspotting Madness—Best of the '80s.

0:00 - Billboard

1:22 - "The Truffle Hunters"

7:23 - Top 5: Movie Meals

37:47 - Josh reviews: "WandaVision"

42:42 - Next Week / Notes

52:12 - Filmspotting Madness Sweet 16

1:10:27 - Top 5, cont.

1:32:41 - Outro

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#816: Taxi Driver (7 From '76) / This Gun for Hire ('40s Noir #2) Mar 05, 2021

Set post-Vietnam in a Big Apple at its filthiest, Martin Scorsese's Best Picture-nominated TAXI DRIVER is very much of its time, but the film's troubled anti-hero, "God's lonely man" Travis Bickle, is a figure we've become all too used to—on social media, at political rallies, or storming the U.S. Capitol. Adam and Josh continue the 7 From '76—Best Year Ever series with a 45th-anniversary review. Plus, Rd. 2 of Filmspotting Madness and the second film in the '40s Noir Marathon, THIS GUN FOR HIRE starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake.

0:00 - Billboard

1:13 - 7 From '76—Best Year Ever: "Taxi Driver"

Bernard Herrmann, "Thank God For The Rain"

47:57 - Next Week / Notes

55:53 - Filmspotting Madness, Rd. 2

1:17:44 - '40s Noir Marathon: "This Gun for Hire"

1:36:30 - Outro

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#815: Top 5 Anthony Hopkins Performances / The Father / Madness Rd. 1 Feb 26, 2021

A five-time Oscar nominee, Anthony Hopkins has played a Pope, a psychopath and the most loyal of butlers. He's also killed vampires, fought a bear and banished the God of Thunder from Asgard. In fact, there's little Hopkins hasn't done over his six decades of movie acting—and he's done it all with a rare combination of delicate subtlety and volcanic power. This week, Adam and Josh share their Top 5 Hopkins Performances, along with a review of THE FATHER, which features another career-best turn from the actor. Plus, Rd. 1 of Filmspotting Madness—Best of the '80s.

0:00 - Billboard

1:03 - Top 5: Anthony Hopkins Performances

24:06 - Next Week / Notes / Massacre Theatre

35:26 - Filmspotting Madness—Best of the '80s, Rd. 1

58:18 - Review: "The Father"

1:07:55 - Top 5, cont.

1:37:02 - Outro

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#814: The Silence of the Lambs (30th Ann.) / Madness Play-Ins Feb 19, 2021

Based on Thomas Harris's grisly 1988 bestseller, Jonathan Demme's THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS was, on its February 1991 release, an immediate critical and box office success. It ran for eight months and went on to be nominated for seven Oscars, winning five—for Demme, Hopkins, Foster, screenwriter Ted Tally, and Best Picture. This week on the show, Adam and Josh dig into the technical sophistication - and the humanist touch - that Demme and company bring to the lurid material. Plus, Filmspotting Madness gets underway with the play-in round, and Josh recommends the new BARB AND STAR GO TO VISTA DEL MAR.

0:00 - Billboard

1:20 - Sacred Cow: “The Silence of the Lambs” (30th Ann.)

35:46 - Review: “Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar”

40:08 - Next Week / Notes

50:51 - Madness: Best of the ’80s (Play-Ins)

1:19:04 - Outro

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#813: Judas and the Black Messiah / The Letter ('40s Noir #1) Feb 12, 2021

The new Fred Hampton biopic JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH gives as much time to the FBI informant (Lakeith Stanfield) who infiltrates his Black Panthers as it does to Hampton himself (Daniel Kaluuya). Adam and Josh debate the effectiveness of that decision, which recalls atypical biopics like “Amadeus,” “Hamilton” and “Jesus Christ Superstar.” Plus the first film in the six-part '40s Noir Marathon, William Wyler’s THE LETTER, with Bette Davis as a conniving murderer; and Josh anoints the new religious horror movie SAINT MAUD with a Golden Brick nomination.

0:00 - Billboard

1:06 - Review: "Judas and the Black Messiah"

24:09 - Next Week

29:48 - Brickspotting: "Saint Maud"

33:55 - Giveaways / Notes

40:46 - Massacre Theatre

48:17 - '40s Noir #1: "The Letter"

1:16:57 - Outro

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#812: All The President's Men (7 From '76) / Malcolm & Marie Feb 05, 2021

It doesn't take the investigative powers of a Woodward or Bernstein to pick up on the giddiness that Adam and Josh bring to their review of ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN, the first film in the 7 From '76—Best Year Ever series. Long a favorite of both hosts - and an early entry in the Filmspotting Pantheon - they revel in the opportunity to praise the film's unmatched acting ensemble and exquisite, if subtle, craft. Their good mood carries over to their review of the divisive MALCOLM & MARIE (new to Netflix), a volatile, two-hander relationship drama starring Zendaya and John David Washington.

0:00 - Billboard

1:00 - 7 From '76—Best Year Ever: "All The President's Men"

David Shire, "All The President's Men

45:16 - Polls / Notes

1:02:02 - Review: "Malcolm & Marie"

1:23:32 - Outro

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#811: 2021 Movie Preview Jan 29, 2021

As goes Bond, so goes the rest of the movie year. With Bond 25 "No Time To Die" recently moving to October - along with several other high-profile spring '21 releases - the new movie year is getting off to a disappointing start. But with lots of holdovers from 2020 - "Dune"! "Maverick"! "Ghostbusters"! - and some very promising new titles on the horizon, it is, at the very least, an exciting year to contemplate. Adam and Josh preview 2021 with their Top 5 Movie Questions of the Year — and lay out current plans for this year's Marathons, Sacred Cows, Oeuvre-view and the '70s edition of the Best Movie Year Ever series.

0:00 - Billboard

1:12 - 2021 Preview

Lin-Manuel Miranda, “In The Heights”

31:17 - 2021 Show Plans

47:30 - Next Week / Notes

52:33 - Massacre Theatre

59:15 - 2021 Preview, cont.

1:18:04 - Outro

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#810: Best Scenes of 2020 / Golden Brick Award Jan 22, 2021

It goes without saying that the best movies also have their share of great movie moments, so this year’s Wrap Party allows Adam and Josh to share more thoughts about some of their favorite 2020 films. But it also gives them a chance to celebrate memorable moments in movies that didn’t crack their Top 10s - like “Promising Young Woman,” “Da 5 Bloods,” “On The Rocks” and “Borat Subsequent Movie Film.” Plus the winner of the 2020 Golden Brick Award. Welcome to the party. “Silly Games” sing-a-long at midnight.

0:00 - Billboard

1:08 - Opening Scenes / Funniest Scenes / Moving Moments

Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou, “Mother’s Love”

48:12 - 2020 Golden Brick Award

59:01 - Brickspotting: “Identifying Features”

1:02:39 - Next Week / Poll / Notes

1:08:02 - Music Moments / Scenes of the Year

1:37:10 - Outro

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#809: News of the World / Wonder Woman 1984 Jan 15, 2021

For the first proper show of the new year, the Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips joins Josh for reviews of a couple of late-2020 releases: the Tom Hanks western NEWS OF THE WORLD and Patty Jenkins' WONDER WOMAN 1984. While Josh and Michael agree that neither film quite fulfills its potential, they both prove to be great fodder for debate.

0:00 - Billboard

1:27 - Review: "News of the World"

34:28 - Next Week/Notes

44:01 - Review: "Wonder Woman 1984"

54:40 - Outro

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#808: (Pt. 2) Top 10 Films of 2020 Jan 01, 2021

Any other year that gave us new films from Kelly Reichardt and David Fincher, Sofia Coppola and Charlie Kaufman, two from Spike Lee and five from Steve McQueen, would have been considered a great one. Alas, 2020 will forever be remembered as The Worst Year Ever—that also happened to be a great year for some of our best filmmakers. The Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips and Tasha Robinson from Polygon and The Next Picture Show podcast re-join Adam and Josh for the second half of their conversation about the Top 10 films of the year, including their consensus pick for the best film (or films?) of 2020.

0:00 - Billboard

1:13 - Top 10 of 2020, Pt. 2

Janet Kay, "Silly Games"

51:05 - Top 10 of 2020, Pt. 2, cont.

2:17:58 - Outro

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#807: (Pt. 1) Top 10 Films of 2020 Dec 25, 2020

True to the year that kept us apart, the Filmspotting Top 10 roundtable did not meet in its usual configuration in 2020. However, the Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips and Next Picture Show's Tasha Robinson do make an appearance sharing their 10-6 picks before Zoom-ing into the ether with promises to return next week offering their #1 picks. In a part one heavy on docs, Adam and Josh also make room for films from veteran filmmakers such as Charlie Kaufman and David Fincher, as well as newcomers Kitty Green and Radha Blank. Plus, the finalists for this year's Golden Brick Award.

0:00 - Billboard

1:09 - Top 10 of 2020, Pt. 1

Branford Marsalis, "Levee's Song"

1:06:08 - Golden Brick Finalists / Notes

1:11:21 - Top 10 of 2020, Pt. 1, cont.

1:33:47 - Outro

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#806: Best Performances (and More) of 2020 Dec 18, 2020

With the deadline looming for Adam and Josh to submit their ballots for the 2020 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, they turned their homework into this week's show, sharing their favorite performances of the year - including Carrie Coon's delicious turn in Sean Durkin's "The Nest" and the final film performance from Chadwick Boseman ("Ma Rainey's Black Bottom") - along with picks for best editing, cinematography and more.

0:00 - Billboard

1:14 - Best Supp. / Editing / Cinematography

47:45 - Next Week/Notes

1:00:16 - Massacre Theatre

1:09:41 - Best Leads / Breakthrough Directors and Performers

1:41:30 - Outro

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#805: Top 5 Frances McDormand Performances / Nomadland Dec 11, 2020

No two Frances McDormand performances are alike, but they're all rooted in the actor's no-nonsense directness and fierce intelligence. From scene-stealing supporting turns to Oscar-winning lead performances, McDormand has been doing memorable - and frequently iconic - work since the '80s. With her latest performance - in Chloé Zhao's ("The Rider") soon to be released NOMADLAND - earning her yet more acclaim, Adam and Josh devote this week's show to a career-spanning consideration with their Top 5 McDormand Performances.

0:00 - Billboard

1:05 - Top 5: Frances McDormand Performances

31:41 - Next Week / Polls / Notes

53:50 - "Nomadland"

1:02:40 - Top 5, cont.

1:19:38 - Outro

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#804: Mank / Ma Rainey's Black Bottom / Sound of Metal Dec 04, 2020

David Fincher's big-screen exploration of Hollywood's "Golden Age" will, unfortunately, be a small-screen experience for most (it comes to Netflix this weekend), but Adam and Josh agree that MANK, his biopic about "Citizen Kane" scribe Herman Mankiewicz, still offers lots of pleasures, including Oldman's title performance and a stacked supporting cast. Another top-notch ensemble can be found in George C. Wolfe's adaptation of August Wilson's MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM, with an electrifying final performance from the late Chadwick Boseman alongside the always reliable Viola Davis. Adam also throws the new SOUND OF METAL into the mix for Golden Brick consideration.

0:00 - Billboard

1:15 - Review: "Mank"

24:57 - Fincher Ranked / Top 5 Performances

30:03 - Golden Brickspotting: "Sound of Metal"

34:42 - Next Week / Notes

47:58 - Massacre Theatre

54:02 - Review: "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"

1:14:49 - Outro

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#803: 2020 Golden Brick Nominees / The Nest Nov 27, 2020

Previous winners of the Filmspotting Golden Brick Award - Sean Baker's "Tangerine," Bing Liu's "Minding the Gap," Anna Rose Holmer's "The Fits" - didn't just tell compelling stories; they told stories in vivid and surprising ways. It's what Adam and Josh have come to look for in a Brick nominee and it's a quality that all eleven of this year's nominees display—in ways as various as their styles and genres: a time-bending documentary, a retro sci-fi flick, a pair of intricately directed and timely dramas, a Coen Brothers-style thriller, a little of the old ultra-violence - and more. Plus, Adam and Josh revisit their review of Sean Durkin's THE NEST, which is available to rent on digital after playing in limited release.

0:00 - Billboard

1:17 - 2020 Golden Brick Nominees

Michigander, "Let Down"

47:12 - Next Week/Notes

56:51 - Polls ('80s Directing Debuts, Christmas Movie Death Match)

1:06:51 - Review: "The Nest"

1:34:07 - Outro

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#802: Stranger Than Paradise (8 From '84) / Wolfwalkers / 8 From '84 Awards Nov 20, 2020

This year's 8 From '84 series - the sequel to last year's 9 From '99 - gave Adam and Josh a chance to revisit some nostalgic favorites ("Ghostbusters," "This is Spinal Tap," "Beverly Hills Cop"), fill in some blind spots (Leone's "Once Upon a Time in America," Coppola's "The Cotton Club") and complete a director's filmography (David Lynch's "Dune," check). This week, they wrap up the series with the film that launched the career of indie auteur Jim Jarmusch, STRANGER THAN PARADISE, and share their picks for the best performances, scenes and surprises from the 13-film series. Josh also recommends the latest from Cartoon Saloon and director Tomm Moore, WOLFWALKERS.

0:00 - Billboard

1:20 - 8 From '84: "Stranger Than Paradise"

Screamin' Jay Hawkins, "I Put A Spell On You"

29:34 - Josh recommends "Wolfwalkers"

32:50 - Next Week/Notes

44:05 - Massacre Theatre

51:09 - 8 From '84 Awards

1:36:24 - Outro

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#801: Dune (8 From '84) / Twin Peaks Pilot (30th Anniv.) Nov 13, 2020

David Lynch's '84 adaptation of Frank Herbert's DUNE ended the director's flirtation with mainstream Hollywood, but it remains a singular - and still Lynchian - vision. (And oh so spice-y.) Six years later, Lynch achieved cult legend status with the massively popular network TV series TWIN PEAKS. The movie-length pilot episode celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.

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0:00 - Billboard

1:23 - 8 From '84: "Dune"

Angelo Badalamenti, "Falling" (feat. Julee Cruise)

34:05 - Next Week/New Poll ('80s Directing Debuts)

40:40 - Notes/Poll Results (Movie failures you defend)

53:18 - Review: "Twin Peaks Pilot"

1:19:41 - Outro

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From Chicago, this is Filmspotting. Nov 12, 2020

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#800: Fall Movie Preview / Daughters of the Dust (Overlooked Auteurs) Nov 06, 2020

The remaining months of the year won't have the same volume of buzzy festival pictures, star-studded Oscar bait or holiday blockbusters, but that doesn't mean there isn't lots to look forward to—if you know where to look. This week, Adam and Josh have their Top 5 Questions About the Fall(ish) Movie Season. Plus, the final film in the Overlooked Auteurs Marathon, Julie Dash's DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST, along with the Marathon-ending awards.

0:00 - Billboard

1:13 - Fall Movie Preview

Andrew Bird, "Alabaster"

45:03 - Next Week/Notes

50:55 - R.I.P. Sean Connery

1:03:50 - Massacre Theatre

1:10:57 - Overlooked Auteurs #6: "Daughters of the Dust"

1:31:00 - Overlooked Auteurs Awards ("The Burnt Potatoes")

1:51:17 - Outro / Outtake

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#799: Top 5 High-Concept Horror / Bad Hair / The Wolf Of Snow Hollow Oct 30, 2020

Justin Simien, director of 2014's "Dear White People," has followed up that campus-set comedy with another, much bloodier, satire: BAD HAIR (currently streaming on Hulu). The film - about image and ambition in late '80s L.A. - features a homicidal weave with a mind of its own, making it a great example of a high-concept plot. Josh shares his Top 5 High Concept-Horror Movies and Adam - going high-concept himself - shares the five high-concept horror movies he most wants to see. Listeners come to his rescue. Plus Vampire v Zombie poll results and Adam recommends the Halloween-friendly THE WOLF OF SNOW HOLLOW.

0:00 - Billboard

1:08 - Review: "Bad Hair"

15:59 - Top 5: High-Concept Horror

PUP, "Bloody Mary, Kate and Ashley"

40:50 - New Poll ("Movie Failures You Champion")

47:58 - Next week / Notes

56:36 - Poll results (Vampires v Zombies)

1:00:13 - AK recommends "The Wolf of Snow Hollow"

1:04:55 - Top 5: High-Concept Horror, cont.

1:24:04 - Outro

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#798: On the Rocks / Borat 2 / Seven Beauties (Overlooked Auteurs) Oct 23, 2020

Is there such a thing as too much Bill Murray? Seems like heresy to suggest such a thing, but it's a question Josh dares to ask during the review of Sofia Coppola's latest, ON THE ROCKS—a film Adam sees as a spiritual sequel to her Oscar-nominated breakout film, "Lost in Translation." Along with that, thoughts on the new BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM and the Sundance-winning doc TIME; plus, a split take on Lina Wertmüller's provocative 1975 film SEVEN BEAUTIES, part of the Overlooked Auteurs Marathon.

0:00 - Billboard

1:14 - Review: "On the Rocks"

Wilder Embry, "Over It"

23:01 - Reviews: "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm," "Time"

35:26 - Next Week/Notes

45:49 - Massacre Theatre

52:44 - Overlooked Auteurs #5: "Seven Beauties"

1:15:26 - Outro/Outtake

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#797: American Utopia / Trial of the Chicago 7 / Chicago Film Fest Preview Oct 16, 2020

With the pandemic forcing this year's Chicago International Film Festival (Oct. 14-25) to go almost all virtual, Adam and Josh's CIFF Preview will be a helpful guide to the fest wherever you happen to be. (More details about the fest lineup and how to purchase tickets here.) Also this week, reviews of David Byrne's AMERICAN UTOPIA, Aaron Sorkin's THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 and Cooper Raiff's SHITHOUSE. Plus, Josh watched HUBIE HALLOWEEN so you don't have to.

0:00 - Billboard

1:30 - Top 5: Chicago Film Fest Must-Sees

David Byrne, "Once in a Lifetime" ("American Utopia")

31:51 - Josh on "Hubie Halloween"

36:13 - Polls / Notes

50:05 - Reviews: "American Utopia" / "Chicago 7" / "Shithouse"

1:26:36 - Outro

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#796: Top 5 Mozart Moments in Movies / Amadeus (8 From '84) Oct 09, 2020

You need music that's transcendent, soaring, or touched by God? Mozart is your man. This week, Adam and Josh share their Top 5 Mozart Movie Moments, featuring memorable deployments of the composer's music in films directed by Terrence Malick, Barry Jenkins, Ridley Scott and others. Plus, an 8 From '84 review of the Best Picture-winning AMADEUS, and Massacre Theatre goes to the opera house.

0:00 - Billboard

1:12 - Top 5: Mozart Movie Moments

Andrew Wilkowske, "Deh, vieni alla finestra" ("Don Giovanni")

53:56 - Next Week/Notes

1:03:15 - Massacre Theatre

1:13:57 - 8 From '84: "Amadeus"

1:43:43 - Outro

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#795: Dick Johnson Is Dead / Wanda (Overlooked Auteurs #4) Oct 02, 2020

When veteran documentary cinematographer Kirsten Johnson transitioned to directing with 2016's "Cameraperson," which was assembled from hundreds of hours of b-roll footage Johnson had shot over the years, it was unclear what a follow-up from her would look like. What we got - the new DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD - is a project both harrowing and whimsical: Johnson inviting her beloved father, showing early signs of dementia and failing health, to stage (and re-stage) his own death. Adam and Josh agree that the film is "a miracle." Also something of a miracle is Barbara Loden's first - and only - film, the verité-style WANDA from 1970, the next film in the Overlooked Auteurs Marathon.

0:00 - Billboard

1:07 - Review: "Dick Johnson is Dead"

Tim Heidecker, "Fear of Death"

27:21 - Next Week/Notes

37:30 - Polls

45:32 - Overlooked Auteurs #4: "Wanda"

1:08:24 - Outro

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#794: Top 5 Landscapes as Characters w/Gregory Crewdson / Kajillionaire Sep 25, 2020

Gregory Crewdson's large-scale, cinematic photos have been compared to the work of filmmakers such as Alfred Hitchcock and David Lynch. His latest exhibition - "An Eclipse of Moths" - is currently on display in L.A. Inspired by Crewdson's work, Adam and Josh - along with Crewdson himself - share their Top 5 Landscapes as Characters. Plus, thoughts on Miranda July's latest, KAJILLIONAIRE.

0:00 - Billboard

1:16 - Top 5: Landscapes as Characters

The Flaming Lips, "At the Movies on Quaaludes"

51:08 - Review: "Kajillionaire"

1:01:35 - Next week / Notes

1:16:03 - Massacre Theatre

1:25:37 - Top 5 cont.

1:54:24 - Outro

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#793: The Nest / Antebellum / Jeanne Dielman (Overlooked Auteurs #3) Sep 18, 2020

When the tense marriage drama THE NEST debuted earlier this year at Sundance, there was understandable excitement about the return of director Sean Durkin, who hadn't directed a feature since 2011's "Martha Marcy May Marlene" (a Filmspotting Golden Brick nominee). Durkin doesn't disappoint in his return, giving his movie a pervasive sense of unsettling dread—but the real fireworks belong to stars Carrie Coon and Jude Law. In addition to that review, Josh recommends the divisive new horror thriller ANTEBELLUM starring Janelle Monae, and Adam shares thoughts on the not entirely successful THE DEVIL ALL THE TIME, directed by the very talented Antonio Campos and starring Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson. Plus, the Overlooked Auteurs Marathon continues with Chantal Akerman's JEANNE DIELMAN, which Adam and Josh both found more than deserving of its masterpiece status.

0:00 - Billboard

1:08 - Review: "The Nest"

Noga Erez, "You So Done"

30:52 - Josh on "Antebellum"

35:01 - Adam on "Devil All the Time"

38:37 - Next Week / Notes

51:24 - Polls

1:01:13 - Overlooked Auteurs #3: "Jeanne Dielman"

1:25:15 - "Jeanne Dielman" Spoilers

1:34:34 - Outro

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#792: Top 5 Ennio Morricone Scores / Once Upon a Time in America (8 From '84) Sep 11, 2020

When Ennio Morricone passed away back in July at 91, Adam and Josh were quick to commit to a Top 5 Scores from the master film composer. From his early iconic work on Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns to Oscar-nominated collaborations with Terrence Malick, Brian De Palma and Quentin Tarantino, Morricone's best work reflects the astonishing breadth - and wild inventiveness - of his talent. Adam and Josh pair their Morricone Top 5 with 1984's ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, Leone's epic gangster tale—the director's final collaboration with Morricone, and final film.

0:00 - Billboard

1:12 - Top 5: Morricone Scores

Ennio Morricone, "Ninna Nanna Per Adulteri"

50:25 - Next Week/Notes

1:08:10 - Massacre Theatre

1:15:51 - 8 From '84: "Once Upon a Time in America"

1:55:04 - Outro

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#791: Tenet / I'm Thinking of Ending Things / Feels Good Man Sep 04, 2020

Christopher Nolan's TENET. The film that inspired our recent Nolan Oeuvre-view - the film that the entire movie theater industry has been resting its hopes on - was bound to disappoint some. Unfortunately, some of those disappointed moviegoers include Adam and Josh, who both found Nolan's film to be more style than substance. But there is considerable style, and its clever, if perplexing, time inversion plot offers a fascinating counter-point to Nolan's breakthrough "Memento." They also get a mental workout from Charlie Kaufman's latest, I'M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS, which hit Netflix this weekend. Rising star Jessie Buckley is a young woman whose identity comes into question when she takes a road trip with her boyfriend to visit his parents. Plus, Adam recommends the new BILL & TED sequel and the new doc FEELS GOOD MAN.

0:00 - Billboard

1:18 - R.I.P. Chadwick Boseman

6:54 - Review: "Tenet"

Dehd, "Desire"

36:48 - AK recommends: "Bill & Ted Face the Music," "Feels Good Man"

47:56 - Notes

58:00 - Polls: Kaufman Movie Performances, Long Movies

1:03:16 - Review: "I'm Thinking of Ending Things"

1:21:24 - "Ending Things" Spoilers

1:29:59 - Outro

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#790: Personal History of David Copperfield / Daisies (Overlooked Auteurs #2) Aug 28, 2020

Adam and Josh have no disagreement about the charismatic powers of THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD star Dev Patel—but they do butt heads over the effectiveness of director Armando Iannucci's farcical and fast-paced take on the Dickens novel. That review, plus the second film in the Overlooked Auteurs Marathon: Czech New Wave pioneer Vera Chytilová's DAISIES, which has Adam and Josh competing to find the perfect way to describe the irreverent antics of the film's Marie I and II (Groucho Marx, Bugs Bunny or... Harley Quinn?)

0:00 - Billboard

1:11 - Review: "Personal History Of David Copperfield"

Justin Townes Earle, "Give Me Some Money"

28:00 - Next Week/Notes

37:37 - Massacre Theatre

44:06 - Overlooked Auteurs #2: "Daisies"

1:02:01 - Outro

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#789: Barbara Kopple / Ida Lupino + Maya Deren (Overlooked Auteurs #1) Aug 21, 2020

"That's what I love doing more than anything: really getting to know people and let them tell their story." That's legendary documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple from her interview with Adam on this week's show. Kopple's latest doc - DESERT ONE - opens in limited release this weekend. Kopple talks about how she came to make a film about the failed 1980 mission to rescue American hostages in Iran—and humors Adam by letting him ask her questions about one of his favorite docs, 1977 Oscar-winner "Harlan County, USA." Plus, Kopple plays along with The Filmspotting 5. Also on the show: Adam and Josh kick off their Overlooked Auteurs Marathon with films from Ida Lupino and experimental director Maya Deren.

0:00 - Billboard

0:56 - Interview: Barbara Kopple ("Desert One")

Land of Talk, "Footnotes"

27:56 - Next Week/Notes

45:20 - Polls: August Releases, Charlie Kaufman

51:24 - Overlooked Auteurs #1: "Meshes of the Afternoon" / "At Land" / "Ritual in Transfigured Time" + "The Hitch-Hiker"

1:26:31 - Outro

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#788: She Dies Tomorrow / Boys State Aug 14, 2020

While the world waits for the release of blockbusters like "Tenet" and "Mulan," smaller films continue to appear on the regular and on a variety of platforms. This week, Adam and Josh recommend a few of them: Amy Seimetz's SHE DIES TOMORROW, Beyoncé's BLACK IS KING, Kris Rey's I USED TO GO HERE and the Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winner BOYS STATE.

0:00 - Billboard

1:05 - Review: "She Dies Tomorrow"

29:22 - "She Dies Tomorrow" Spoilers

Beyoncé, "BLACK PARADE"

37:48 - Next Week/Notes

49:33 - Massacre Theatre

57:25 - "I Used To Go Here," "Boys State," "Black Is King"

1:15:30 - Outro

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