125. HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS (2024) dir. Mike Cheslik

Mike Cheslik's HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS feels like a small miracle: an homage to Looney Tunes silliness shot in black & white without dialogue. The beavers hunted by bumbling drunken applejack-turned-fur trapper Jean Kayak (Ryland Brickson Cole Tews) are all represented by Disney World-style costumes (yep, big heads and cartoon faces). Hell, every animal is portrayed in cartoonish costume or felt puppetry. The absurdity leans into noir, sci-fi, romance. It's the best kind of throwback: an amalgam of its influences crafted to, simply, emerge as something you've just quite never seen before.Mandatory watch if you want to break out in the dumbest grin.*Thank you to @trivialtheater, @JMartinAuthor1 and @beaversfilm for your Twitter comments!*---Follow The Movies on ⁠⁠Instagram ⁠⁠& ⁠⁠Letterboxd⁠⁠Financially support the podcast via the ⁠⁠tip jar!Follow Julian Martin, Author of the Juni-Q series