We Like Movies

We’ve come to the end of Nolan Week, folks.The Academy Awards are nigh and we’re here to offer the last word on the soon-to-be-Oscar-annointed OPPENHEIMER.Join Matt and SPECIAL GUEST BRIAN BOARINI (!) for a three-hour tour of a quarter-century filmography.It’s time, folks. It’s Nolan time.Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

It’s TENET-talkdown time, team.We chat. We disagree. We rank.Sound good?Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Stitcher / Overcast / RSSSubscribe: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Stitcher / Overcast / RSSDonate: Thanks! Email: [email protected] Sound good?We chat. We disagree. We rank.It’s TENET-talkdown time, team.

It’s time to talk temporality, team.- INCEPTION (2010)- INTERSTELLAR (2014)- DUNKIRK (2017)Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

With Nolan’s vision of Gotham City in our rearview, we’re now flashing back to the beginning of the auteur’s cinematic journey. We’ll scrutinize his dexterity with the daylight noir, his interest in self-victimizing sleuths, and his fascination with prestidigitation.- FOLLOWING (1998)- MEMENTO (2000)- INSOMNIA (2002)- THE PRESTIGE (2006)Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

You know them, you’ve seen them, and you certainly have opinions about them.Join us as we revisit three of the most successful, influential, and subversively political films of the 21st century- courtesy of a man who insisted that he had absolutely no political agenda in mind when he made them. We’ll [attempt to] get to the bottom of this thematic paradox…- BATMAN BEGINS (2005)- THE DARK KNIGHT (2008)- THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2012)Email: [email protected]: Thanks!Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

As we traverse the last few miles in the marathon that will end at the 96th Academy Awards, it has become clear that “foregone conclusion” is the proper term to describe this year’s Best Director race. We here at WE LIKE MOVIES could not be happier with this inevitability as we look forward to no longer living in a world in which Christopher Nolan has zero Oscars.In honor of the occasion, we have decided to revisit our recent Oeuvre series about Mr. Nolan. For the next few days, leading up to Sunday’s Oscar Ceremony, we will be posting “encore presentations” of all episodes of the Nolan series, culminating in a brand new BONUS EPISODE celebrating the only film not covered in our original countdown: Best Picture frontrunner OPPENHEIMER.We begin with the rare “solo pod,” in which Matt inaugurates the series with a narratology lecture about Nolan’s unique storytelling acumen.Follow us this week for podcasts about all twelve of the director’s films, spanning his quarter-century career.View the complete version of Matt’s Nolan video essay HEREEmail: [email protected]: Thanks!Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

It’s Bond time again. We’re podcasting about it. Need we say more?

On this week’s episode, we’re joined by special guest BRIAN BOARINI for a discussion about Steven Soderbergh’s undervalued and under-discussed 2000 masterpiece, TRAFFIC, on the occasion of the film’s 20th anniversary. Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

Greetings, WLM faithful! We return to you now, after an extended, fall hiatus, with a State-of-the-Cinematic-Union-style discussion pod, followed by a thorough review of David Fincher’s decades-in-the-making, pseudo-historical biopic Mank. We’re excited to be back, have a backlog of hot takes, and promise to never stay away so long again. If you’re playing the WLM drinking game, today’s buzzword is EVOCATIVE! Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

“Eureka! I’ve found it!” Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

Welcome to the inaugural episode of our new podcast series “The Quintessentials”! Here we will be identifying and excavating a sub canon of important films that, for whatever reason, have been lost to time or overshadowed by their more popular or successful counterparts in a a chosen filmmaker’s oeuvre. These are the b-sides, the rarities, the deep dive picks… And while they’re almost never the most well known or celebrated selections in a body of work, they might just be–covertly–the filmmaker’s most instructive, stylistically-defining, and quintessential artistic statements. For our first episode we figured we’d start with a layup- William Friedkin’s genre-defying 1977 masterpiece SORCERER. Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy ride. Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

“Y'all take it easy now. This isn't Dallas, it's Nashville! They can't do this to us here in Nashville!” Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

“Calling all nations. This is Rufus T. Firefly coming to you through the courtesy of the enemy. We're in a mess folks, we're in a mess. Rush to Freedonia! Three men and one woman are trapped in a building! Send help at once! If you can't send help, send two more women!” Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

We’re wrapping up our series on the career of one, John McTiernan, with a bang. Even if you haven’t seen or don’t care about the man’s relatively inauspicious, forgotten, “late period” films, consider joining us for an episode in which we reckon with some unexpected revelations and speculate about the potential for McT’s third act… We’re referring to this third age as the “Spiral into Self-Inflicted Exile”. -THE 13TH WARRIOR (1999) -ROLLERBALL (2002) -BASIC (2003) (special thanks to Mr. Beau Marks — a true gentleman and longtime friend and collaborator of John McTiernan — for consulting on this series) Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

“There's always a girl in the picture. What's the matter, don't you go to the movies?”

At long last we return to continue our journey through the career of one, John McTiernan. We’re referring to this second age as his struggle from the “Jungle to the Upper East Side”. -MEDICINE MAN (1992) -LAST ACTION HERO (1993) -DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE (1995) -THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR (1999) (special thanks to Mr. Beau Marks — a longtime friend and collaborator of John McTiernan — for consulting on this series) Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

We’re going back to ‘99 ONE MORE TIME to organize our thoughts about the inaugural “retrospectating” series, the cosmic significance of the year in question, and whether or not decade-cappers consistently produce the best cinematic output. And now we play the waiting game… Let’s all agree to meet back here in 2029 to take another look at that red letter year on the occasion of its 30th birthday… Talkin’ 1999 just never gets old. Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Spotify / Overcast / RSS

We’re back from the winter hiatus just in time to submit our official Oscar predictions and lock in the choices that will determine the winner of our yearly WLM wager. Join us as we break down all 24 categories, get foolishly optimistic about PARASITE’s chance to make history on Oscar night, and even outline a few additions and subtractions we’d love to see implemented with respect to the future slate of categories. We’re mere hours away from Hollywood’s biggest night! Whether the big prize goes to 1917 or PARASITE, it’s just important to remember that MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL has more Oscar nominations than UNCUT GEMS. Stew on that, get comfortable with the fact that you’re going to die someday, and just give in to the annual, bizarre, intoxicating power of Oscar weekend… Just let it happen. Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Spotify / Overcast / RSS

It’s our annual ode to opinions. We do it every year. We love it. What more do you need to know? Listen in and leave comments. We value YOUR opinion. We treasure your friendship! 2019, we hardly knew ye…. Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Spotify / Overcast / RSS

So here we are… We’ve finally come to the end of our year-long Retrospectating 1999 series and we’re bringing this thing in for a landing with the help of special guest Dan Kelly. He joins us for a bonus episode to celebrate Oliver Stone’s misunderstood masterpiece ANY GIVEN SUNDAY on the occasion of its 20th anniversary. It’s a fun one to end the series on, even if concluding this feature is quite bittersweet. Thanks for hanging with us through this crazy game of inches, WLM family. Happy holidays and we’ll see you in the next decade! Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Spotify / Overcast / RSS

As we near the end of our Retrospectating 1999 series we’ve come to a long-awaited double-header: Anthony Minghella’s THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY and Paul Thomas Anderson’s MAGNOLIA. These films have very little in common besides the fact that they both feature the most important cinematic Phillips of 1999 (Seymour Hoffman and Baker Hall) and both premiered in late December of that year. But on this week’s episode–featuring special guest Ryan Julio in his 3rd WLM appearance–we dig deeper into other potential similarities and even fabricate scandalous conspiracy theories about filmmaker/composer relationships and histories. It’s a post-Christmas miracle! Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Spotify / Overcast / RSS

What a long, strange trip it’s been. It took us nearly a decade to get there but we’re extremely excited to announce that we’ve officially made it to 300 episodes on the We Like Movies Podcast feed! In honor of the occasion we’ve invited back the ten beautiful individuals who have guested on the podcast over the years to share their thoughts on the greatest films of the last decade. Since we started this journey in October of 2010 (reviewing THE SOCIAL NETWORK, no less) and hit 300 episodes just shy of 2020, we decided it made sense to spend this week creating the definitive “WLM Best of the 2010s List”. So, between our two lists and our ten guests’ lists there are 120 individual film picks in play. We’ve assigned a point system that works in contrary order to the ranking number. In other words, ranking ten on a list gets a film one point, ranking nine is worth two points, and so on. But a film has to have been mentioned on at least two lists in order to qualify for points. Using this highly sophisticated balloting system we will seek to create a MASTER LIST. But first, join us as we scrutinize the individual lists, wax affectionate about our wonderfully-opinionated contributors, and take a walk down memory lane to reminisce about how this whole podcasting journey got started. We are We Like Movies and we’re SO elated and grateful to still be liking movies (and each other) after 300 glorious episodes! Thanks to YOU, WLM family. Here’s to 300 more. Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Spotify / Overcast / RSS

20 years ago this month, director Michael Mann released his sixth theatrical feature to widespread critical acclaim in spite of the film’s relative inability to find an audience. Mann received his first (and thus far, only) best director Oscar nomination for the THE INSIDER and despite the fact that the film rarely gets mentioned with the same tone of reverence as HEAT or even the divisive but often-defended MIAMI VICE, the last two decades have been surprisingly kind to this melancholy corporate thriller. Join us as we welcome Michael Mann-super-fan Brian Boarini back to the podcast for a lively discussion about journalistic superheroes, reconciling recent history, and the unexpected cinematic benefits of frumpy, pleated pants. Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

We’re a couple weeks past the official 20th anniversary of David Fincher’s seminal masterwork about displaced and misplaced Gen X machismo. But it’s only given us that much more time to further reflect on a film that has aged in wild, troubling, and unexpected ways that we could not have predicted back in October of 1999. Join us as we revisit and reflect-upon “Jack’s wasted life” in our long-awaited retrospectation of David Fincher’s FIGHT CLUB. Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

We keep our recent streak of passionate but level-headed disagreement rolling with a spirited discussion about Todd Phillips’s JOKER- a film that is either a dangerous and controversial call to violent action or merely a dark and disposable comic book novelty. Or maybe it’s both. Or maybe it’s neither! Give it some thought, give us a listen, and don’t forget to sound off in the comments section. Viva la discourse! (And don’t forget, WLM is a podcast for people who have seen the films. We spoil early. We spoil often. Fair warns.) Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

20 years ago this week, 2 of the Sundance Film Festival’s favorite sons both leveled-up with their respective genre exercises and experienced creative breakthroughs. Yet, for some reason, Steven Soderbergh’s melancholy daylight noir, THE LIMEY and David O. Russell’s Heller-esque military satire, THREE KINGS rarely get mentioned in the same breath as either director’s later successes. We’re here to change all of that with dual reappraisals and hosannahs in a podcast ode to the first week of 1999! Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

———Editor’s Note: Apologies for the tardiness of this episode. Technical issues led to the late posting. But it sounds great now and we’re really proud of the conversation. Thanks for listening!——— We’re talkin’ AD ASTRA, we’re talkin’ box office, we’re talkin’ festival reactions, and we’re talkin’ awards predictions. We talk, you listen, you comment, we read… It’s the podcasting circle of life! Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

It’s a complicated movie with a complicated legacy. These are complicated times. So it’s going to take a complex conversation to properly excavate the Best Picture winner from 1999 on the week of its 20th anniversary. Join us as we celebrate and ruminate [on] AMERICAN BEAUTY, a film that–for better or for worse–defined the end of a decade and a bygone era of incorrigible ennui. Listen closer. This is a complicated one. Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

“You're the most beautiful, exciting thing I've ever seen in my life and I don't know anything about you!” Email: [email protected]: Thanks!Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

A new Oeuvre journey begins this week as we inaugurate our excavation into the career of one, John McTiernan. His incredible run from 1986 to 1990 represents a singular rise from relative obscurity to industry relevance, prominence, and pertinence. Join us as we set the table for his unique career path, attempt to divine meaning from his bizarre debut, and deep-dive into three of his most beloved masterworks. Vive l'oeuvre! -NOMADS (1986) -PREDATOR (1987) -DIE HARD (1988) -THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER (1990) (special thanks to Mr. Beau Marks — a longtime collaborator of John McTiernan — for consulting on this series) Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

If you’ve ever considered joining Mindhead, were always intrigued by the premise of “Chubby Rain,” or get nervous when someone asks you if you’re willing to cut your hair, then you’re probably going to get a lot out of this week’s episode. We’re revisiting the forgotten comedic gem BOWFINGER, a film that got lost in the late summer of 1999 amid the feeding frenzy for repeated viewings of the THE SIXTH SENSE. But there’s many things to glean from Steven Martin and Frank Oz’s sweet little 97 minute Hollywood satire (one of Eddie Murphy’s favorite of his own films) including some thematic and cultural cues that would signpost a comedic pivot that took place at the turn of the century. We hope that you’ll join us on this journey, and never forget- “Cash, every movie costs 2,184 dollars!” Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

In the tenth installment in our ongoing series about 1999 we revisit M. Night Shyamalan’s zeitgeist-rattling supernatural thriller THE SIXTH SENSE; a film we had previously covered in our AFI Top 100 series and had been disproportionately hard on. This time around we look at the film with fresh eyes, examine its relationship to the horror movies that bookended it on the calendar (THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and STIR OF ECHOES respectively), and even find time to throw some love toward under-appreciated gems ARLINGTON ROAD and DEEP BLUE SEA- both of which also turned twenty last month to zero fanfare. Fasten your seatbelts, it’s gonna be a bumpy M. Night. Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

“The continent of Europe is so wide, mein herr. Not only up and down, but side to side, mein herr. I couldn't ever cross it if I tried, mein herr. But I do… What I can… Inch by inch… Step by step… Mile by mile… Man-by-man.” Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

Roughly three or four times a decade we declare a national cinematic holiday in honor of the man who’s been reinventing the rules of mainstream cinema for the last quarter century. Regardless of how you feel about ONCE UPON A TIME ... IN HOLLYWOOD, it’s hard to argue with the fact that Quentin Tarantino’s “9th” (mmm, “10th”?) feature film as writer/director is one of the most hotly-anticipated and hotly-debated films of the year—nay, the 2010s! Join us as we do a deep-dive into the career of the provocateur, demarcate the three[ish] phases of his career, and take a long, spoilerrific look at his newest period epic. Whether you’re floating in your Hollywood Hills pool, drinking a whiskey sour from a beer stein, or hanging out in your trailer, eating macaroni and cheese in the lowlands of Panorama City, this episode has a little something for everybody… Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

We’re a week late for our 20th anniversary celebration of Stanley Kubrick’s provocative final masterpiece, Eyes Wide Shut. But the added buffer gave us more time to stew and reflect upon the truly bizarre cultural real estate that the film occupies in the the filmmaker’s career, in Cruise and Kidman’s respective filmographies, and within the weird and wonderful contextual sphere of the summer of 1999. Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

It took practically the entire decade but teenagers of the nineties were finally gifted with their own defining sex comedy at the halfway point of the last year of it. July 9th, 1999 saw the release (snicker) of the Weitz Brothers’ gross, sweet, schmaltzy, and sporadically hilarious love letter to Losin’ It, The Last American Virgin, and, of course, Porky’s. Join us as we tiptoe carefully around the minefield that is American Pie- contextualizing the genesis of it, overanalyzing the complicated career paths of the deep ensemble cast, and ultimately disagreeing about the film’s relative merits. Avoid the pale ale, hide all the baked good, and cover your web cam. It’s gonna be a weird one. Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

On June 30th, 1999, Trey Park and Matt Stone’s HARD-R animated musical SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER & UNCUT first hit theaters. Released less than two years after the premiere of the Comedy Central series’ pilot episode, South Park’s move to the big screen was only a modest financial success. But it proved to be a legitimate creative breakthrough and eventual Oscar nominee that laid the track for Parker and Stone’s future animated experiments (Team America: World Police) as well as their celebrated foray into more ambitious, postmodern musical satire (The Book of Mormon). Join us as we revisit a film for which the MPAA deemed us too young to buy a ticket in the summer of 1999. Yet not unlike our underaged, on-screen counterparts, we still managed to weasel our way into theaters for multiple screenings of this ground-breaking comedy. Viva La Resistance! Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

In honor of the 30th anniversary of Spike Lee’s seminal masterwork—in which race-relations and temperatures rise to a breaking point on a summer day in Brooklyn—we’re re-releasing our corresponding AFI Top 100 podcast episode. The film ranks [criminally low at] 96th on the 2007 version of AFI’s list and we recorded our conversation about it just over 3 years ago. Join us as we break-down and talk-up one of the most important films of the 1980s- a movie that writer/director/star Spike Lee is still so proud of that he name-dropped it as the climax of his Oscar speech earlier this year. It’s 30 years young and hasn’t aged a day. And that’s the double-truth, Ruth. Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

On our triumphant return to the present tense we sound off about the wild, weird, and existentially-conflicted fourth installment in one of the most beloved and critically acclaimed film franchises of all time. We then turn our attention to another subject that weighs heavily on our minds and is also experiencing a bit of an existential crisis of late- the summertime box office. The mercury’s rising and the box office numbers are dropping. What does is all mean..!? Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

On this week’s edition of our ongoing series “Retrospectating 1999” we revisit the forgotten German crime caper Run Lola Run. Now, this film is technically attributed to 1998, which is when it premiered in Germany, Venice, and Toronto. But it first screened in the U.S. during the Sundance and Seattle Film Festivals (where it racked up multiple awards) respectively before finally getting a stateside release on June 18th, 1999. It’s a miraculous movie that rarely gets talked up and we’re here to remedy that with a spirited discussion about fate, determinism, the metaphysical properties of electronic music, and the unexpected benefits of risking your last five euros on a make or break spin of the roulette wheel. Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

"Howard Beale is processed instant God, and right now it looks like he may just go over bigger than Mary Tyler Moore!" Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

"Nature, Mr. Allnut, is what we are put in this world to rise above." Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

It’s been a long time since we’ve dipped our cinematically-inclined toes into the television pool. But what better reason to do so than the conclusion of the most cinematic show ever to grace the small screen? Join us for a break-down, wrap-up, and maybe even a defense of the wildly divisive final season of HBO’s beloved and reviled 73 episode experiment in long form storytelling. Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

On the third Wednesday of May in the year 1999, an unprecedented cinematic event took place in movie theaters around the world. Twenty years later, we’re still trying to answer two questions about the most anticipated / most disappointing film of the 20th Century: “What the hell happened?” and “What does it all mean?” Join us for another edition of our ongoing series “Retrospectating 1999” in which we masochistically revisit THE PHANTOM MENACE in an effort to uncover the truth behind the infamous fiasco at the center of a legitimate cultural phenomenon. Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

Marvel superfans and friends of the podcast, Anders Dahl and Ryan Julio join us this week as we lightning-round the 21 previous installments in the MCU’s Infinity Saga before digging deep into the franchise’s victory lap- the three hour emotional rollercoaster known as AVENGERS: ENGAME. A lot of personal growth, unexpected revelations, and soul-searching goes on in this episode so be forewarned- there will be SPOILERS not just about the film in question but also about your hosts. We could do this all day… Skål Beer Hall (Anders’ Norwegian gastropub) The Greyhound Bar and Grill (Ryan’s sports bar) ETA (Ryan’s cocktail bar) Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

What a long, strange trip it’s been. We began our journey through Steven Spielberg’s 32-film oeuvre in August of 2017. 20 months later we’ve finally arrived at our 8th and final podcast in the series- a thorough and passionate reflection and ranking episode. Join us as we curate our personal hierarchies of the man’s filmography, break down his budgets and box office receipts, rank performances, scores, scenes, shots, and finally reveal which director will be covered in our next Oeuvre series (premiering May 14th)! Thanks for following us on this epic campaign through Steven Spielberg’s 47-year feature filmmaking odyssey. It’s been an emotional rollercoaster and now it’s time for a new mission. Viva la Oeuvre! Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

This installment is affectionately titled "Playing with House Money” and covers one film per year over four years, spanning 2015-2018: -BRIDGE OF SPIES (2015) -THE BFG (2016) -THE POST (2017) -READY PLAYER ONE (2018) Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

Twenty years ago today a film was released that caught director Doug Liman, writer John August, and a cast of hot young upstarts at a moment of perfect aesthetic and artistic unanimity. GO wasn’t a big hit at the time and was even dismissed by Leonard Maltin as a “junior Pulp Fiction.” But the film has aged in a lot of fascinating ways over the last two decades and on this week’s episode we engage in a rare disagreement about many of them. We also dig deep into an analysis of Alexander Payne’s second (and best?) film ELECTION and its significance in the context of Reese Witherspoon’s unique oeuvre. Viva la ‘99! Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

We’re catching it up and breaking it down this week with a veritable smorgasbord of scintillating topics: -Celebrating the beginning of the season with our favorite baseball movies (00:03:00) -A SPOILER HEAVY litigation of the various interpretations of Jordan Peele’s US (00:14:20) -A preemptive defense of Harmony Korine’s latest ode to hedonism, THE BEACH BUM (00:26:56) Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS

Twenty years ago this week a film came along that not only changed the way that we looked at science fiction, visual effects, and Keanu Reeve’s capacity for star power. It also legitimatized the fetishization of mirrored sunglasses, duster jackets, and leather pants. So pop your red pill, crank up the Rammstein, and dog-ear your copy of “Simulacra and Simulation.” We’re heading down the rabbit hole and back to March of 1999 for our definitive reevaluation of The Matrix. Never forget, there is no spoon! Email: [email protected] Donate: Thanks! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS