Maximum Film!

Latest Episodes:

Episode #418: "Weapons' with Louis Peitzman Sep 05, 2025

Show notes

This week we’re talking WEAPONS, Zach Cregger’s follow up to BARBARIAN, with freelance writer and host of Chasing Amy Adams, Louis Peitzman. Plus, in honor of a spooky movie with a lot of kids at the center of its plot, we honor some of our favorite creepy kids from cinema.

What’s Good?
Drea - llama costumes at the MN State Fair
Louis - giant beaver/fall scented candles
Kevin - AMC A-List binge

ITIDIC
- The Toxic Avenger Pledges to Commit Profits to Help With Medical Debts
- Fall Film Festival Season Is Underway: Venice and Telluride
- Another Live Action Remake Scrapped at Disney: Questlove’s Aristocats

Staff Picks
Drea - Twinless & A Little Prayer
Louis - The 4th Man (De Vierde Man)
Kevin - Longlegs

Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinmaxfilm

With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

Episode #417: ‘Honey Don’t’ with Meghan Fitzmartin Aug 29, 2025

Show notes

Writer Meghan Fitzmartinjoins us to debate: does a movie have to be "good," or is it enough to just be fun? Then, we'll discuss our favorite Hollywood power couples, both on and off the screen.

What’s Good?

Alonso - The Dean Martin Association YouTube channel

Drea - State Fairs, MN State Fair, Cropseed Art (Crop Art & Scarecrow)

Meghan - Clay pipes (mudlarking on the foreshore)

Kevin - Studio 54 themed birthday party

ITIDIC

Staff Picks

Drea - Griffin in Summer

Alonso - Splitsville

Meghan - Life Size

Kevin - The Shakiest Gun in the West

Mary Sue by Meghan Fitzmartin is out October 8

Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinmaxfilm

With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

Episode #416: 'East of Wall' with Taylor Gates Aug 22, 2025

Show notes

Director Kate Beecroft made her debut feature after meeting and living with a singular family, and then building a script and feature film around their lives – with them as the stars. The resulting film, EAST OF WALL won the Audience Award at the (ahem) Sundance Film Festival. Collider’s Taylor Gates joins us to discuss the movie, and to daydream about what kind of movie we’d set at some of our personal favorite real-world locations.

What’s Good
Alonso - Pumpkin Spice Season Creep/Laughing Cow Pumpkin Spice Cheese Wedges (in principle)
Drea - Chris Ware USPS Stamps
Taylor - Renee Rapp’s Bite Me
Kevin - Tracy Bonham live w/Chris and Adrienne Woods; Silver Lake sightings

Airplane Jive scene (watch at your own risk!)

Physical Media merch!

ITIDIC

Staff Picks
Drea - Relay
Alonso - Souleymane’s Story
Taylor - Private Life
Kevin - F1 The Movie

Linoleum Knife Presents CLUE on August 24

Taylor on Collider and Fanversation

Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinmaxfilm

With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

Episode #415: 'Freakier Friday' with Mary Lynn Rajskub Aug 15, 2025

Show notes

**We have new PHYSICAL MEDIA merch! Check it out at maxfunstore.com**

Everything old is freaky again, and vice verse, with this late-breaking sequel to the 2003 version of Freaky Friday. Prolific actor/comedian Mary Lynn Rajskub is our prestigious guest to take a look at Lindsay, Jamie Lee, and a whole cast of new and returning folks game to get Freakier. Then we have fun talking about best and worst sequel titles.

What’s Good
Alonso - personalized coupons from Ralphs
Drea - first female umpire in the MLB
Mary Lynn - a day at Mt. Fuji
Kevin - satisfaction from household item restock

ITIDIC

Staff Picks
Alonso - The High Note
Drea - Sketch
Mary Lynn - All of Us Strangers
Kevin - Weapons

Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinmaxfilm

With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

Episode #414: 'The Naked Gun' (2025) with Dan McCoy Aug 08, 2025

Show notes

THE FLOP HOUSE's Dan McCoy joins us to consider the power of taking stupidity very seriously. Then, a dishy movie quiz about on-set meetings that led to off-set romances.

What’s Good
Alonso- Mark Rappaport, Book of Dreams
Drea - Midwest trip, “Schumers,” and great chip flavors
Dan - Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Collected Screenplays 1
Kevin - Trip to Lake Arrowhead

ITIDIC

On-Screen/Off Screen Romances Letterboxd list

Pamela Anderson in the Criterion Closet

Staff Picks
Alonso - Billy Joel: And So It Goes
Drea - Sorry, Baby
Dan - Together
Kevin - The Incredible Mr Limpet

Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinmaxfilm

With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

Episode #413: 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' with Sina Grace Aug 01, 2025

Show notes

Is the fourth time the charm when it comes to Fantastic Four movies? We’ve assembled our own fearsome foursome – including graphic novelist and comics writer/artist Sina Grace – to debate all the charms of the modem MCU’s First Steps into Earth 828. Then we’ll celebrate some of our favorite character actors and promote them to center stage

What's Good
Alonso - Voluspa candles (Drea references this SNL song)
Drea - Mom’s “4” punchline
Sina - Lady Gaga
Kevin - Meeting Adam Stein (and seeing Ify!) at Comic-Con

ITIDIC

Staff Picks
Drea - Memoir of a Snail
Alonso - Diciannove
Sina - The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking
Kevin - Avengers: Endgame

Leave us a message at MaximumFun.org/hotline

Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinmaxfilm

With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

Episode #412: 'In the Mood for Love' with John Powers Jul 25, 2025

Show notes

Wong Kar-Wai's In the Mood For Love (which some are calling the fifth best movie ever made, or at least the fourth best this century?) was released 25 years ago, and anniversary screenings of a new 4k restoration have been happening all over. We've got critic John Powers (Fresh Air, Vogue), author of WKW: The Cinema of Wong Kar-Wai with us to help us take an inside look at a movie that continues to enchant and haunt audiences through the decades.

What’s Good
Alonso - Boorman and the Devil to premiere at Venice (and Selena Gomez Oreos)
Drea - pomodoro method (for Spirit Awards spreadsheet mode)
John - Chris Marker: Immemory Gutenberg Version
Kevin - ComiCon 2025

ITIDIC

Staff Picks
Alonso - We All Loved Each Other So Much
Drea - Familiar Touch
John - Cloud
Kevin - Dancer in the Dark

Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinmaxfilm

With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

Episode #411: 'Superman' (2025) with Michael Hartney Jul 18, 2025

Show notes

Actor and comedian Michael Hartney -- a Superman guy to his core - joins us to discuss James Gunn's much-anticipated, highly-speculated upon take on the world's most famous superhero. Then, in honor of Krypto (the Superdog, of course) we nominated best (goodest?) movie dogs to the Hall of Excellence.

What’s Good
Alonso - Dark Chocolate Oreos
Drea - gift article links on Bluesky
Michael - Superman discourse
Kevin - finding his Tracy Bonham album (Sky Too Wide)

ITIDIC
Final Sundance in Park City Will Honor Its History in Utah and Founder Redford
Alamo Founder Launches Private Movie Experience in New York City
The Devil Wears Prada Sequel Set for Next Spring

HoE Nominees
Alonso - Asta (The Thin Man)
Drea - Dug (Up)
Michael - Old Yeller
Kevin - E. Buzz (Poltergeist)

Staff Picks
Drea - Life After
Alonso - The Damned (2024)
Michael - Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
Kevin - Hero at Large

Michael's Characters Welcome Patreon

Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinmaxfilm

With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

Episode #410: '40 Acres' with Aisha Harris Jul 11, 2025

Show notes

It’s week two of our inadvertent two-week celebration of the post-apocalypse on film. This time around, Danielle Deadwyler and Michael Greyeyes head up a family fighting to protect their land and their lives from murderously hungry intruders in 40 ACRES. NPR Pop-Culture Happy Hour’s co-host Aisha Harris joins us to discuss this feature debut from RT Thorne.

What’s Good?
Alonso - Making pignoli cookies
Drea - Wedge Live Cat Tour
Aisha - Finally falling for Love Island USA
Kevin - Tinder Box by James Andrew Miller

ITIDIC

List of “Down on the Farm” Movie Quiz Movies

Staff Picks
Drea - Sovereign
Alonso - Before We Forget
Aisha - The Annihilation of Fish
Kevin - The Girl with All the Gifts

All of Aisha’s links can be found at AishaHarris.com

Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinmaxfilm

With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

Episode #409: '28 Years Later' with Graham Skipper Jul 04, 2025

Show notes

23 years later, director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland bring the rage virus back to life with their sequel to 28 Days Later, 28 Years Later. Actor and director Graham Skipper guests this week to talk about the trilogy, Alpha prosthetics, and coming of age in a zombie UK. Then, we discuss the dream 23-years-later sequels we want to see.

What’s Good
Alonso - Chef Alison Roman
Drea -"Hi Andrea!" and Drea's Close Personal Friend Lucy Liu
Kevin - Trader Joe's Brazil Nut Body Scrub

ITIDIC

Staff Picks
Alonso - M3GAN 2.0
Drea- Ponyboi
Kevin - Rammbock: Berlin Undead

Follow Graham Skipper on Instagram @skipstagraham

Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinmaxfilm

With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher