PODCAST · tv
Motion Picture Pals
by Motion Picture Pals
A lot of movies suck. We try to find the ones that don't. Join a multicultural, queer friendly group of millennial movie enjoyers for a unique film club experience that's as insightful as it is people making things up. Why analyze film if you're not gonna have some fun with it? Not a spoiler free experience.
Episodes
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43: Dune (2021)
To talk about Dune is to dissect the complex layers of Frank Herbert’s worldbuilding and storytelling, famously considered difficult to adapt for film simply because of its grand scope. Fortunately, Denis Villeneuve’s take on the first half of the story is an immersive cinematic experience that...
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42: No Time To Die (2021)
No Time To Die features Rami Malek as a classical Bond villain out to destroy the world, but it’s merely the set dressing. At its core, the final entry in Daniel Craig’s Bond’s arc is a dramatic story about the passage of time and the inescapable nature of James Bond’s work. He’s no longer 007.…
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41: Spider-Man 2 (2004)
We’re nostalgic for Spider-Man 2 for a multitude of reasons: Sam Raimi’s signature camp-infused humor, wild action with a splash of horror, and a poignant emotional core all make the second Spider-film a timeless classic. The vertical fight choreography! The crazy camera angles! The large Italian...
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40: Pig (2021)
Nicholas Cage’s pig has been kidnapped, and it’s up to him and a fail-son entrepreneur to team up and get her back. But this isn’t just another revenge film. It’s not really a revenge film at all, in fact we’re not really sure what it is. One thing we could all agree on was that Pig is a…
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39: The Green Knight (2021)
We’re back to the movie house, which means you have to strategize your piss timing or suffer in silence. It’s a new A24 film, baby! It’s directed by podcast favorite A Ghost Story’s David Lowery! Is it any good? Much like Dev Patel’s Sir Gawain, you won’t know until you dive into the episode like…
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38: Twilight (2008)
The Twilight movies are up on Netflix, so let’s revisit the infamous franchise that defined a genre, spawned numerous memes, and sent ripples of change through the film industry that remain felt today. Made for a mere $37M, Twilight earned a box office total of over $400M, emphasizing the idea…
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37: The Lighthouse (2019)
Two guys become awkward roommates in this buddy comedy about a lighthouse keeper and his new lighthouse keeper assistant. But then spooky stuff starts happening, and now we must ask ourselves: is this shit real, or is it a dream? One of these guys is insane, right? But which one? What is...
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36: Nomadland (2020)
Nomadland wants to make one thing very clear: capitalism destroys people’s lives. We enjoyed Nomadland for its masterful visual storytelling but mostly for its poignant message and relevancy. Though the adapted story is one of the year 2011, its topics of wealth inequality and America’s...
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35: Sound of Metal (2020)
Sound of Metal is a brutal depiction of grief endured by a metal drummer, played by Riz Ahmed, who suddenly loses his hearing. Ruben moves into a shelter for deaf, recovering addicts, and sells his RV to raise the money needed for pay for a cochlear implants operation. This ultimately puts him at...
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34: Concrete Cowboy (2020)
Concrete Cowboy is a coming of age story about Black cowboys, not in the wild west but in north Philadelphia. 15-year-old Cole is taken to live with his estranged father Harp, and introduced to his close-knit urban horse riding community. Cole searches for acceptance and splits time between his...
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33: Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)
Zack Snyder’s Justice League is an anomaly in many ways, and the story of how this once fabled director’s cut came about is worthy of a movie itself. But how does the film itself stack up? It depends on your level of interest and knowledge of the comic book worlds it’s citing. Snyder’s take on...
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32: Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)
Ohoho what’s this? A new release? You better believe it, buster. We’ve tightened up our supply chains and we’ve vertically integrated in order to deliver our takes from the Hollow Earth directly into your earholes in 5-7 business days or your money back, guaranteed. That said, you might be...
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31: War of the Worlds (2005)
We close out the month with the conclusion to our Cruise / Spielberg double feature, War of the Worlds. It’s a decidedly post 9/11 film featuring a classic Spielbergian family with a divorced dad, rage fueled adolescent son, and an increasingly traumatized young daughter. Spielberg portrays the...
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30: Minority Report (2002)
Minority Report contains multitudes. On one hand, it depicts a dystopian, Cyberpunk-Esque future America with an even more powerful police state. On the other hand, there are slapstick scenes that would be at home in an episode of The Three Stooges, of people puking on one another’s faces and…
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29: Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Kong: Skull Island slipped under the radar for a lot of folks, this podcast included. Whether people were feeling disappointed by the “Monsterverse’s” inaugural Godzilla (2014), or simply uninterested in another movie about big monkee, it’s a real shame because Kong: Skull Island is a real gem of...
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28: Ratatouille (2007)
The dead whisper through time and space. They speak to a rodent, driven by pure ambition, rejecting its assignment as a bottom feeder of humanity’s filth. Rather, it will infiltrate their world. It assimilates into a culture of fine dining and western cuisine, a parasite in the body of the naïve....
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27: Vivarium (2019)
Cucks, large adult sons, parasitic super-organisms: Vivarium has it all! Lorcan Finnegan’s surreal take on modern horror was one that we liked overall, even if some of us were underwhelmed by the ending. Trying to solve the mystery of The Boy/Martin was a definite highlight, especially unpacking...
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26: White God (2014)
White God opens on an eerie, apocalyptic scene. The streets of Budapest are empty, and a lone girl bikes through the city. Suddenly, dogs. In perhaps the only film to feature 250 real (not CGI) dogs on screen at once, director Kornel Mundruczo weaves together a coming of age story about the...
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25: Juno (2007)
Our final episode of 2020 revisits the classic teen pregnancy film Juno (2007), starring Elliot Page, who recently came out as trans. With this in mind, we explore the gender dynamics of a film about pregnancy, in which the pregnant character is played by a man. This film came out when we were...
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24: Blade Runner (1982)
Ridley Scott takes us on yet another journey into the distant future (2019) with all the neon and yellow peril we’ve come to expect from the 1980s. In the future, people are governed by megacorporations, cops have exclusive access to advanced technology, and advertising is downright invasive…
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23: The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)
Y, Yorgos? Y? It’s a Greek tragedy! It’s magical realism! It’s horror!The Killing of a Sacred Deer is our second entry from Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos (see Episode 8: The Favourite) and, once again, proves to be a controversial one. In fact, Rebekah didn’t even finish this one, which is…
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22: The Village (2004)
Spoilers for The Village are present in this episode, as well as M. Night Shaymalan classics The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs. Don’t get mad. To say The Village is a complex film to discuss would be an understatement. A relic of 2004, when the Iraq War was in full swing and everyone was...
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21: The Witch (2015)
Like a witch inviting young children to their hut, we invite you, dear listener, to join us for a spooky Halloween/Election Day bonus episode on Robert Eggers’ 2015 feature debut, The Witch: A New England Folktale. Set in the early 1600s, a family of Puritans is forced to leave their community…
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20: Her (2013)
"I think anybody who [records a podcast] is a freak. It's a crazy thing to do. It's kind of like a form of socially acceptable insanity." Sentient AI is a mainstay of science fiction, and movies have always been fascinated by the question of what a computer would do if it were truly capable of...
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19: Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
Boggis and Bunce and Bean, One fat, one short, one lean. These horrible crooks, so different in looks. Were nonetheless equally mean. In a valley somewhere in the anglophone world, a community of animals exists parallel to humans. These wild animals attend science class, publish newspapers, and…
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18: A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)
In Bad City, a skateboarding vampire roams the streets preying on anyone and everyone - until she meets a very handsome boy who is seemingly too handsome to kill. Director Ana Lily Amirpour pays tribute to her multinational background with a cultural mashup combining churning Iranian oil drills...
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17: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
To survive in the wastes of a post-apocalyptic Australian desert you need to be mad, borderline feral — or at least have a kitted out War Rig, a cab full of guns, and your hopes set on the idyllic “green place” from your childhood memories. Mad Max Fury Road (2015) is the fourth installment of...
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16: First Cow (2019)
As usual, complete spoilers for the film in this discussion. Imagine frontier life in the early days of the Oregon Territory, not a cow in sight and thus not a drop of milk to put in your bread. Kelly Reichardt’s First Cow centers on an unlikely duo aiming to solve this issue: Cookie, an aspiring...
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15: Blood Quantum (2019)
An interesting spin on the Zombie Apocalypse, Jeff Barnaby’s Blood Quantum confronts an oft-neglected yet central question within the genre: would you ethnically cleanse a refugee camp if you got your dick bitten off? Blood Quantum flips the racial animus of the zombie apocalypse on its head…
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14: The First Short Film Bonanza
A film podcast, talking about… short films? That’s right, because we’re the smartest and best movies podcast on the internet. We wanted to acknowledge and signal boost that there are other types of films besides theatrical features that are worth watching and discussing, that often go overlooked…
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13: Alien (1979)
You know it, you love it, it's the classic sci-fi horror mashup Alien, not to be confused with Aliens (1986) like at least one of us was. We learned the word "yonic," a companion word to "phallic," a word we end up using a lot in this discussion. And we discuss who the real monster is - is it the...
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12: Children of Men (2006)
In the midst of medical, ecological, and international crises, the government's main priority is brutalizing immigrants. We dive into the unfortunate parallels between the famously hopeless world of Children of Men and Real Life™️, dissect some fictional propaganda, and establish the Alfonso…
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11: Y Tu Mamá También (2001)
Two horny teenage boys meet a hot woman, invent a magical beach, and take her on a zany road trip while an omniscient narrator does his best to bum you out. We talked through Alfonso Cuarón's exploration of being a horny teenager in Mexico while the world around you is in political turmoil, cops...
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10: The Search for General Tso (2014)
Our first discussion wholly committed to a documentary! We all ordered Chinese takeout and ate it while we watched The Search for General Tso. It was very meta, except Joel didn't actually have any General Tso's Chicken. But that's okay, because culture, food, and language are all about…
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9: Happy Together (1997)
Think about your most volatile relationship, and then imagine it happening in another country and also that you may never get to return home (and also that there are undercurrents of colonialism and national identity). Wong Kar-wai shows us the passion and chaos present in every relationship, and...
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8: The Favourite (2018)
In the 18th century, rabbits were considered pests and generally despised. In The Favourite, Queen Anne has 17 pet rabbits and two maids, each determined to one-up the other and become the queen's favorite (favourite). The Favourite is a dark comedy and a semi deconstruction of the classic period...
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7: A Ghost Story (2017)
Remember 2017? Truly, it was a simpler time. Things made sense, you could go outside, ghosts were sheets with eye holes in them, and movies could also be squares. Try not to think too hard about all we've lost, and think instead about David Lowery's wonderful movie, A Ghost Story. We all loved…
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6: Border (2018)
Nordic Noir meets magical realism in Ali Abassi's bleak and atmospheric exploration of Nordic folklore. Border is a wild ride from beginning to end and definitely worth your time if your fragile, delicate psyche can handle a dark film with fairly upsetting themes, a very ambiguous ending at a…
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5: A Silent Voice (2016)
Content Warning: this film deals with depression, bullying, and suicide, and we discuss these topics throughout the episode. Please do what you need to take care of yourself. Somewhere between a coming of age story and a teen romance, Naoko Yamada's A Silent Voice deals with themes as…
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4: Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
We review and discuss Céline Sciamma's gripping "ode to the female [gays]," Portrait of a Lady on Fire because Rebekah saw it three times in theaters in under a week. In our first foray into new releases, we cover portrayals of abortion, woman-to-woman attraction, and what it means for a film to…
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3: Missing Link (2019)
You probably didn't see Missing Link. We know this because it was a box office bomb, despite critical acclaim and several big name actors, including the biggest of all, Huge Jackman. We found plenty to enjoy in the wonder of Missing Link's hand crafted miniature sets and detailed props, plus an...
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2: Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
That one movie that showed up as album art in iTunes that time you pirated a bunch of Sufjan Stevens songs. Content Warning: this film deals with self-harm and suicide. We discuss both topics throughout the episode, especially after the 1h 5m mark. Please do what you need to take care of…
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1: Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
We give this Spaghetti Western 5 out of 5 spicy meat-a-balls. Join us for the inaugural episode of Motion Picture Pals, our new movie podcast. Cam, Rebekah, Travis, and Joel discuss Sergio Leone’s epic 1968 western full of beautiful landscapes, fun characters, and fascinating interpretations of...
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Star Wars Rewatch IX: The Rise of Skywalker
Let the final podcast begin. Thanks to all who tuned into our Star Wars journey. We're on Twitter at @MotionPicPals, where we'll let you know when we have a new film to talk about. Until then, may the force be with you. Star Wars Rewatch is co-hosted by William Suitt, Rebekah Markillie, Cam Call,...
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Star Wars Rewatch VIII: The Last Jedi
Look, we said a lot of things about this movie. Just so we're upfront. We talked about child soldiers. We talked about arms dealing. At one point a Maz Kanata sex scene was suggested. It's a long podcast episode about a long film. The short version is that we all agreed this was a far better...
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Star Wars Rewatch VII: The Force Awakens
We're in unanimous agreement: The Force Awakens was a great event film. We all have fond memories of going to see the first Star Wars film in a decade, and having a blast. Upon revisiting the film at home in our living rooms, something was different though. Without the presence of an engaged...
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Star Wars Rewatch VI: Return of the Jedi
As we come to the conclusion of the original trilogy, our conversation turns to the force and the evolution of its mythos. With the prequels behind us, we remember the unfortunate way Episodes I - III dig into the mechanics of the force, and discuss what it means to turn to the dark side or…
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Star Wars Rewatch V: The Empire Strikes Back
Darth Vader is considerably less horny and angry than his teenage self by the time we get to The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and that's probably because his dick and balls were burnt off on Mustafar. Episode V continues to expand the world of Star Wars by giving us a peek under Vader's helmet at...
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Star Wars Rewatch IV: A New Hope
There was a particular magic to 1977's Star Wars that propelled it to legendary pop culture status. It introduced a rustic spacefaring galaxy of heroes and villains, handcrafted through the innovation of visual effects artists, sound designers, and costume designers, all with limited resources.…
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Star Wars Rewatch III: Revenge of the Sith
War! What is it good for? If you're an evil space wizard who also happens to be chancellor of the Galactic Republic, it's a great front for your rise as a fascist dictator and the transformation of your government into a tyrannical empire with absolute authority, backed by the people who have...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
A lot of movies suck. We try to find the ones that don't. Join a multicultural, queer friendly group of millennial movie enjoyers for a unique film club experience that's as insightful as it is people making things up. Why analyze film if you're not gonna have some fun with it? Not a spoiler free experience.
HOSTED BY
Motion Picture Pals
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Motion Picture Pals have?
Motion Picture Pals currently has 52 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Motion Picture Pals about?
A lot of movies suck. We try to find the ones that don't. Join a multicultural, queer friendly group of millennial movie enjoyers for a unique film club experience that's as insightful as it is people making things up. Why analyze film if you're not gonna have some fun with it? Not a spoiler free...
How often does Motion Picture Pals release new episodes?
Motion Picture Pals has 52 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Motion Picture Pals?
You can listen to Motion Picture Pals on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Motion Picture Pals?
Motion Picture Pals is created and hosted by Motion Picture Pals.
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