PODCAST · tv
Thirty Minute Reviews
by Adam Taylor and Josie May
Get the latest movie, TV, and streaming news in 30 minutes or less (sometimes more if we get really into it).Thirty Minute Reviews delivers quick, no-fluff reactions, reviews, and industry analysis—covering everything from the MCU and DCU to horror, animation, box office trends, and streaming shakeups.New episodes drop multiple times a week with hot takes, speculation, and spoiler-filled breakdowns.Because your time is limited, but your fandom isn’t.
Episodes
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Countdown to Doomsday: Avengers Endgame (Encore)
Avengers: Endgame still works remarkably well as the conclusion to the Infinity Saga, though maybe it worked too well. With the Encore edition now retroactively adding setup for Doomsday, Adam examines how Endgame functioned as an audience off-ramp, why the MCU struggled to establish a new…
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Does the Paramount–Warner Bros. Settlement Actually Protect Consumers?
A settlement has cleared another major hurdle for the proposed Paramount–Warner Bros. combination, with conditions covering news operations, studio structure and annual theatrical output. But how meaningful are those concessions? Adam looks at the requirement to release thirty movies per year…
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When Entertainment Scoops Become Leverage
Franchise secrecy has created an entire economy around knowing information before everyone else. But what happens when access to that information becomes leverage over the people being covered? Adam looks at the controversy surrounding Jeff Sneider’s public threat to publish damaging rumors about...
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August 2026 Movie Ranking: Coyote vs. Acme Takes the Automatic Bid
Only two movies made the August field, but one earns its place in the MWPNews Best of the Year tournament. Adam ranks The End of Oak Street and Coyote vs. Acme, revisiting the unused potential of Oak Street's suburban sci-fi premise and explaining why Coyote vs. Acme becomes even more interesting...
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Should the NFL's Player Safety Problem Include Sports Betting?
The NFL says player safety is a priority, but should that responsibility end when players leave the field? Adam looks at new concerns surrounding CTE, the league's increased enforcement of dangerous tackles and its continuing financial relationship with major sportsbooks. With athletes already...
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What If Magneto Is the Villain of Black Panther 3?
Denzel Washington has already revealed that he is involved with Black Panther 3. Marvel has announced most of its new X-Men cast. Magneto remains conspicuously absent. So what if those two things are connected? Adam theorizes that Marvel could introduce a new version of Magneto through Wakanda by...
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D23 2026 Just Changed the MCU’s Future
D23 2026 delivered far more Marvel news than expected. Adam breaks down the newly completed X-Men cast, including India Navarrette as Rogue, Maya Boyd as Storm, Christopher Abbott as Professor X and Adam Driver as Mister Sinister. Plus, a new Avengers: Doomsday trailer gives Doctor Doom a much...
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Countdown to Doomsday: Avengers: Infinity War
On the latest Countdown to Doomsday, Adam revisits Avengers: Infinity War and examines how Marvel introduced an enormous cast, preserved the individual voices of franchises like Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor and Black Panther, and made Thanos the central character holding the entire crossover...
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Can Anything Beat The Odyssey? Ranking July’s Movies
The MWPNews Best of the Year Tournament has a new frontrunner. Adam ranks July’s three contenders—Obsession, Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey—and decides which one receives the month’s automatic bid. Along the way, he examines the devastating consequences hiding beneath Obsession’s...
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Countdown to Doomsday: Black Panther
The countdown reaches the film that earned Marvel its first Best Picture nomination. Adam makes the case that Black Panther is elevated above nearly every other MCU entry by a villain the audience is meant to agree with, Killmonger, whose indictment of Wakanda's isolationism is correct even when...
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Countdown to Doomsday: Thor: Ragnarok
The countdown reaches the film that rescued Thor. Adam makes the case that Thor: Ragnarok is a joyous, gorgeous reinvention, Taika Waititi handed a failing franchise and remaking it in his own voice, and also the film whose relentless comedy comes at a real cost. Why Hela is one of Marvel's most...
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Ghost Rider, Black Panther 3, and Marvel's Soft Reboot
Marvel returned to Hall H, and Adam breaks it down live. Ryan Gosling as Ghost Rider, Black Panther 3 dated for December 2028 with a new T'Challa, and the Avengers assembling for Doomsday, but the real story is what the panel signals. Why the missing X-Men reveal is strategic, what Kevin Feige...
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Why Did Marvel Wait So Long on the Doomsday Trailer?
The first full Avengers: Doomsday trailer finally dropped, and Adam argues the timing says more than the footage. Why Marvel sat on a strong trailer until the last possible moment, what that hesitation says about the December collision with Dune: Part Three, and why "Dunesday" is not the...
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Ranking The Movies We Saw In June 2026!
Five movies, the most June had to offer all year, ranked worst to best for a spot in the best-of-the-year tournament. Adam runs them down: a film that's ashamed of itself to an ending that's so deflating the movie is completely forgotten. Which one takes the automatic bid, and where the...
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Countdown to Doomsday: Spider-Man: Homecoming
The countdown reaches Spider-Man's MCU debut and the first film of the Sony-Marvel deal. Adam digs into why Michael Keaton's Vulture is one of Marvel's best and most sympathetic villains, why that homecoming car ride is one of the great scenes in the Infinity Saga, and the problem underneath it...
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Twelve States vs. the Biggest Merger in Hollywood History
Twelve state attorneys general have sued to block Paramount's $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, and Adam read the entire complaint. A breakdown of the market-concentration math that makes this deal presumptively illegal, why a single company controlling CBS, CNN, HBO, Nickelodeon,...
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Countdown to Doomsday: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
The countdown reaches the last film James Gunn directed before the firing, and Adam makes the case that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is better than the first, and the entry most burdened by the machine around it. Why nearly every character arc here exists to clear the decks for Infinity War…
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Countdown to Doomsday: Doctor Strange
The countdown reaches the MCU's first real foray into magic. Adam argues that Doctor Strange is one of Marvel's most visually stunning films, the Mirror Dimension, the reverse-destruction climax, a hero who wins by outsmarting rather than outfighting, and also one of its most structurally broken....
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The 1984 Supergirl Was Never Good
With a new Supergirl in theaters, the revisionist history is coming, and so is the inevitable claim that the 1984 Helen Slater film was secretly great all along. Adam watched it the night after the new release to head that off. Let's look at why the original is a one-star mess of missing urgency...
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Countdown to Doomsday - Captain America: Civil War
Adam revisits Captain America: Civil War as part of the Countdown to Doomsday and looks at why the movie was such an important turning point for the MCU. The episode covers how Civil War steadied Marvel after a bumpy Phase Two, introduced Black Panther and Spider-Man without derailing the story,...
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Superman One Year Later: James Gunn’s DCU Still Has a Continuity Problem
Adam revisits James Gunn’s Superman one year after its release and looks at how it holds up as DC heads toward Supergirl. We discuss why the movie’s relentlessly positive take on Superman works, why the character needed to be rebuilt before being deconstructed, and how David Corenswet’s Superman...
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Countdown to Doomsday: Ant-Man Caps Phase Two
The countdown closes out Phase Two with the unlikeliest success in the run. Adam makes the case that Ant-Man works for the same reason the best MCU films always do, it follows Stan Lee's old rule and emphasizes the human, grounding a shrinking-suit heist in a father trying to do right by his...
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Why Lightyear Fails Before It Starts
Adam revisits Lightyear, the 2022 prequel built on a premise it never delivers: that this was the movie a kid in 1995 fell in love with. A look at why the film feels nothing like a mid-90s kids' movie, how Buzz Lightyear of Star Command did the job better twenty years earlier, the Sox problem…
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Countdown to Doomsday - Avengers: Age of Ultron
The countdown reaches the most divisive Avengers title. Adam makes the case that Avengers: Age of Ultron isn't a bad movie so much as a conflicted one, the first Marvel tentpole that put serving the wider universe ahead of being its own thing. Along the way: the tonal whiplash that kills every...
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Toy Story 4 and the Box Office Lesson Hollywood Won't Learn
Two stories, one episode. First let's revisit Toy Story 4 seven years on, the weakest and least memorable entry in the series, and argue its real significance is strategic rather than narrative: this is the film where Pixar figured out it could mandate a sequel and have it work, the opening move…
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Ranking The Movies We Saw In May 2026!
Another month down, another slot in the Best of the Year Tournament to be awarded. Who is going to take the spot? The Devil Wears Prada 2 or The Mandalorian and Grogu?
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Countdown to Doomsday: Guardians of the Galaxy
The countdown continues with the film that redefined what a Marvel movie could be. Adam makes the case that Guardians of the Galaxy is the moment the MCU stopped being a factory of serviceable hits and started trusting filmmakers to author something, and why that lesson is exactly what the...
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The Nostalgia Factor: Why Toy Story 3 Hits Different Than It Should
The children who watched Toy Story in 1995 were teenagers when Andy packed his boxes. That timing is not an accident, and it is worth asking how much of Toy Story 3's legacy belongs to the film itself and how much belongs to the audience that grew up alongside it. On today's Thirty Minute…
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Countdown to Doomsday - Captain America: The Winter Soldier
The Countdown to Doomsday continues. Before the Avengers can face what's coming in December, we have to reckon with the film that broke everything: Captain America: The Winter Soldier. On today's Thirty Minute Reviews, Adam revisits the MCU's best political thriller, the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D., and...
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The Sequel That Shouldn't Have Worked: Toy Story 2 Reviewed
Toy Story 2 was never supposed to be a theatrical release. It started as a direct-to-video mandate from Disney, went through a near-total creative overhaul with less than a year left in production, and still came out as the best sequel Pixar has ever made. On today's Thirty Minute Reviews, Adam...
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Countdown to Doomsday - Thor: The Dark World
Thor: The Dark World is one of the MCU's weakest entries but it matters more than you think, even before the Endgame connection. Adam takes a look back at the film that quietly marked a turning point for Marvel as a franchise, what it got wrong, and why it still deserves a place in the Countdown…
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Retro Review: Toy Story
Toy Story is a classic for a reason. On this week's Thirty Minute Reviews, Adam revisits the film that launched Pixar, changed animation, and somehow still holds up completely as a story about jealousy, friendship, and growing up that works on every level it tries. Follow Thirty Minute Reviews on...
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Countdown to Doomsday: Iron Man 3
Adam discusses the third Iron Man movie and the fact that it really gets a bit of misguided hate.
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Countdown to Doomsday: The Avengers
Adam discusses whether or not The Avengers ages well.
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Ranking The Movies We Saw In April 2026!
April kept us busy, and now it's time to settle the score. This week on Thirty Minute Reviews, we're ranking all three films we covered this month: The Christophers, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and The Drama Which April release surprised us most? Which one didn't quite stick the landing? Tune…
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Countdown to Doomsday - Captain America: The First Avenger
As phase one draws to a close, Adam discusses the first Captain America movie (in the MCU) and what has been missing from the Multiverse Saga.
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Countdown To Doomsday: Thor
Adam discusses the film that expanded the MCU on a cosmic level: Thor.
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A Dark Shadow Over 2026's Cinemacon
Cinemacon has come and gone and Adam discusses the weird undercurrent from this year's event.
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Countdown To Doomsday: Iron Man 2
Adam discusses the third MCU film, Iron Man 2!
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Did The WGA Miss An Opportunity?
The WGA has a new contract despite months of warning of the dangers of consolidation. Did they squander a key opportunity to try and slow down some of the mergers?
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Countdown To Doomsday: The Incredible Hulk
For a long time, The Incredible Hulk was dubiously canon to the MCU because of the recasting of Ed Norton immediately after, and the fact that the film was distributed by Universal. Now that it is definitely and unavoidably canon, let's take a look back at the second movie in the Marvel Cinematic...
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Ranking The Movies We Saw In March!
Adam ranks the movies he saw in March for the 2026 Best of the Year tournament.
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Countdown To Doomsday: Iron Man
With Doomsday a few months away, it is now time to discuss the MCU proper, so let's look back at 2008's Iron Man!
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The Super Mario Movie
Adam discusses The Super Mario Movie and why he won't be covering the upcoming Harry Potter show.
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Countdown To Doomsday: Deadpool 2
Adam wraps up the Fox portion of the Doomsday countdown with a look back at 2018's Deadpool 2!
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Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind
Adam launches a new series for the weeks where there is no tie-in movie and starts out by looking back at the film Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind.
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The Trailers For Dune Part 3 And Spider-Man: Brand New Day Have Arrived!
Adam discusses the new trailers for Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Dune Part 3!
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Countdown To Doomsday: Logan
Adam discusses what is clearly the best of Fox's X-Men films: Logan.
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What Can Hollywood Learn From The 2026 Oscars
Adam discusses the big winners from the 2026 Oscars and how indicative it is of some of Hollywood's larger macro issues that are holding back films.
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Countdown To Doomsday: Deadpool
With Avengers: Doomsday on the horizon, Adam continues his rewatch of the relevant movies with 2016's Deadpool.
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Get the latest movie, TV, and streaming news in 30 minutes or less (sometimes more if we get really into it).Thirty Minute Reviews delivers quick, no-fluff reactions, reviews, and industry analysis—covering everything from the MCU and DCU to horror, animation, box office trends, and streaming shakeups.New episodes drop multiple times a week with hot takes, speculation, and spoiler-filled breakdowns.Because your time is limited, but your fandom isn’t.
HOSTED BY
Adam Taylor and Josie May
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Thirty Minute Reviews have?
Thirty Minute Reviews currently has 531 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Thirty Minute Reviews about?
Get the latest movie, TV, and streaming news in 30 minutes or less (sometimes more if we get really into it).Thirty Minute Reviews delivers quick, no-fluff reactions, reviews, and industry analysis—covering everything from the MCU and DCU to horror, animation, box office trends, and streaming...
How often does Thirty Minute Reviews release new episodes?
Thirty Minute Reviews releases new episodes frequently with a large back catalog of 531 episodes. Check the episode list for recent publication dates.
Where can I listen to Thirty Minute Reviews?
You can listen to Thirty Minute Reviews 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 Thirty Minute Reviews?
Thirty Minute Reviews is created and hosted by Adam Taylor and Josie May.
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