In this episode of the show our March Madness with Andrew Davis continues with a conversation about his 1996 outing Chain Reaction. Over the course of our chat you will hear us talk about Davis going back to the well to recapture the success of The Fugitive and why we think it was a bad idea. We talk about how this movie fits into the shifting land…

In this show we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about how The Forman movie treats Ken Kesey's book, how the filmmaker uses his kitchen sink realism lens in support of authenticity and why this movie earned its many accolades. We also try to diagnose M…

In this episode of the show we are discussing one of the most successful movies Andrew Davis Directed and one that most definitely was the biggest success in Steven Seagal's acting career, the 1992 Under Siege. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about the peculiar place Steven Seagal holds in the canon of 80s and 90s action h…

In this episode of the show, we are continuing our March with Andrew Davis and we are talking about his 1989 conspiracy thriller The Package. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about how Davis was possibly enamored with the 70s, both in terms of aesthetic and thematic aspirations, and how this movie owes a whole lot to the po…

In this month's instalment of our Mike Nichols marathon, we are putting our thinking caps on as we discuss his first official box office disappointment, which is the adaptation of Joseph Heller's irreverent post-war novel Catch-22. You will hear us talk about how this movie came together with its lavish production, editing woes and having to deal w…

In this episode of the show we are beginning a brand new month, which means we are switching gears and biting into the work of a new director. In March, we will spend some time talking about Andrew Davis and we begin with his 1985 Chuck Norris vehicle Code of Silence. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us try to position Chuck Norris…

In this episode of the show we are putting a finishing touch on our February with Antoine Fuqua with a conversation about Shooter. Over the course of our chat you will hear us talk about the many years it took to adapt this story into a movie, how Mark Wahlberg and Antoine Fuqua made it happen and how (and perhaps why) the movie left a minimal cult…

In this podcast we are tying into our February theme surrounding the early cinema of one Antoine Fuqua and we are discussing his most highly acclaimed feature Training Day. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about how Denzel Washington may have helped Fuqua make this movie, how David Ayer's script is brimming with authenticit…

In this episode of the show Fuqua February continues with a discussion about his 2003 outing Tears of the Sun. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us try to understand what the mission behind this movie was, whether it was appropriate to transplant a real story into a whole new setting and whether the story in this new setting deserve…

In this episode of our 50-30 Series we turn our attention to the movie which swept the Oscars in 1995, Mel Gibson'sBraveheart. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about howBraveheartcontributed to the eventual comeback of the canonical historical epic, bolstered with realistic violence and attention to tone and atmosphere, how…

In this episode of the show our February trip through the early outings of Antoine Fuqua continues with a conversation about his sophomore movie Bait. Over the course of our chat you will hear us talk about how Bait fits into the landscape of movie entertainment at the turn of the century, how much it owes to a whole bunch of 90s movies and filmmak…

In the second episode of our new Mike Nichols Marathon, we are following up our last month's conversation with a chat about a movie Mike Nichols was planning to direct as his debut before Edward Albee's adaptation came across his lap, which is The Graduate. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about Nichols "graduating" from st…

In this episode of the show, we are beginning what will be our February mini-survey of the cinema of Antoine Fuqua, which also coincides with Black History Month celebrated in America and Canada. And we begin this journey with a conversation about his debut feature The Replacement Killers. Over the course of our chat you will hear us talk about the…

In this episode of the show we are finishing our January survey of the professional relationship between Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg and we are doing so with a double bill of Mile 22 and Spenser Confidential. Over the course of our chat you will hear us debate whether the critics were right about these movies or if they couldn't see the forest for…

In this month's bonus tie-in show we chose to discuss one of the arguable progenitors of the modern docu-drama, the Paul Greengrass-directed Bloody Sunday. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about the incredible immediacy baked into this film, Paul Greengrass's journalistic background lending added realism to the movie and th…

In this episode of the show we are talking about the third collaboration between Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg, which is Patriots Day. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk at length about the power of Berg's Mann-esque realism and how it is additionally bolstered by the emotional honesty smuggled by the characters, whether Wahlb…

In this inaugural show of our brand new 50-30 series where we will be talking about great movies turning 50 and 30 this year we are getting together for a chat about Hal Ashby's Shampoo. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about how we thought this movie fits in the 1975 landscape, what it was that elevated it to the status of…

In this episode of the show our trip through the professional collaborations of Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg continues with a conversation about Deepwater Horizon. Over the course of our chat you will hear us talk about the many problems getting this movie off the ground, the place of a disaster movie genre in the modern landscape of entertainment …

We are officially launching our brand new comprehensive director marathon where each month we will discuss one movie directed by Mike Nichols. As we all know, a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step and the step we take today is a conversation about Nichols's feature debut, the 1967 adaptation of the Edward Albee's play Who's Afraid of V…

In this first episode of 2025 we are launching our Berg-Wahlberg January, a month where we will talk about the collaborations between Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg, and we begin this journey by talking about Lone Survivor. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about how the harrowing true story of Marcus Luttrell translated to th…

In this final podcast of 2024 we conclude the December Shane Black Christmas series with a conversation about the Renny Harlin-directed The Long Kiss Goodnight. Over the course of our chat you will hear us try to make sense of the action movie landscape in 1996 and how The Long Kiss Goodnight fit or didn't fit into the changing times, Shane Black's…

In this special Christmas Bonus episode of our podcast we are loosely tying into our Black Christmas operations by way of talking about an action movie set at Christmas, but most importantly, we are tying into one of the foremost movie Christmas traditions out there. We are talking about Die Hard! Over the course of our amazing chat you will hear u…

In this episode of the show, our December series of Shane Black Christmas continues with Black's directorial debut, the 2005 Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Over the course of our sprawling discussion you will hear us talk about how important it was to watch this movie around the time of its release to get on board with its vibes, how it struggles to match Bl…

In this December Bonus Tie-in podcast we are linking to our main show conversations about Shane Black movies by talking about the breakout hit that blew open the door to Hollywood fame for him: the 1987 Richard Donner-directed Lethal Weapon. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about the 80s buddy cop movies and how Shane Black…

In this episode of the show we are beginning our December series of (Shane) Black Christmas where we will go through a few movies Shane Black wrote and/or directed in reverse chronological order but in order of increasing Christmasiness. This week we begin with The Nice Guys, an action comedy starring Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe. Over the course…

In this special episode of the show we are putting a bow on our year-long journey through the cinema of Spike Lee. Over the course of this conversation you will hear us talk about what we learned by looking at Lee's movies through a magnifying glass, how much more we ended up appreciating his style, his film IQ and his political animus and just how…

In this episode of our 2024 Spike Lee project we are finally getting together to discuss the last (as of now) feature directed by Spike Lee, the 2020 Da 5 Bloods. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about the density and business of the movie, the many references to classic cinema hidden within it and whether it is once again …

In this episode of the show we are finishing the main show part of our Spike Lee Joint-a-Thon as we discuss the final minor joint of this retrospective, the 2015 Chi-Raq. Over the course of our chat you will hear us talk about Spike Lee once again getting on his soap box and delivering a dense and busy treaty underpinned by political ire. We talk a…

In this episode of the show we are putting a finishing touch on our November exploration of the professional partnership between Guy Ritchie and Jason Statham with a double bill of Wrath of Man and Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about Jason Statham's career trajectory as a latter day act…

In this final instalment of our year-long journey throughthe cinema of Kathryn Bigelow, we are discussing her last directorial effort to date, the 2017 Detroit. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about Bigelow telling stories she cares about, the responsibility of the storyteller towards the material and the nuances of tellin…

We did it! In the 200th episode of the show we gathered together with a panel of all-star co-hosts to talk about the namesake of the show, the Safdie Brothers' Uncut Gems. In this show we reminisce for a little while about our journey with this podcast, reveal some of our plans for the future and also, naturally, talk about the movie. We talk about…

In this episode of the show we are taking our Ritchie-Statham conversations into a whole new dimension as the universe of crime comedies complicated by their plot-related shenanigans make space for faux-philosophical musings about the nature of the self in the 2005 Revolver. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about Guy Ritchi…

In this Bonus Tie-in podcast we are adding to our November conversations about the partnership between Jason Statham and Guy Ritchie with a great chat about their arguably biggest hit, Snatch. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about the growth of Ritchie and how this movie differs from Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels whi…

In this episode of the show we are beginning our November exploration of the professional partnership between Jason Statham and Guy Ritchie. Thus, we begin with their debut, the 1998 Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about the influence of Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith and Robert Rodrigu…

In this episode of our ongoing 2024 comprehensive Spike Lee feature retrospective, we are slowly inching close to the finish line and we are now taking on one of Lee's most resounding recent successes, the 2018 BlacKkKlansman. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about Spike Lee not mincing his words any more, how this movie us…

In this episode of the show we are touching base with Spike Lee again and this time we are taking on a double bill of Red Hook Summer and Da Sweet Blood of Jesus. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about Red Hook Summer functioning as a spiritual sequel to Do The Right Thing, how it's a dense sermon spanning gentrification, c…

In this very special show, we are tying into our Carpentober conversations with a great chat about the movie that put John Carpenter on the map and became his biggest success, namely the 1978 Halloween. Over the course of our conversation, you will hear us talk about the enduring legacy of this movie, how it skillfully upsets the viewer in multiple…

In this episode of the show we are closing the main strand of our Carpentober operation with a conversation about Vampires and Ghosts of Mars. Over the course of our chat you will hear us talk about how both of these movies still carry out the main mission of a western, how Vampires refreshes the stale lore surrounding the canonical vampire and how…

In this episode of the show, Carpentober revs up as we talk about John Carpenter's 1983 adaptation of the Stephen King novel Christine. Joined by the phenomenal dynamic duo of Kevin and Erin of The Podcast That Wouldn't Die we talk about the many changes the movie made to the original novel, John Carpenter's nostalgia for the 50s fitting the themat…

We are slowly closing in on the conclusion of our 2024 Kathryn Bigelow Marathon. With only two movies to go, we are this time setting our sights on Zero Dark Thirty. Over the course of our chat you will hear us talk about the many controversies surrounding this movie, from the portrayal of torture and alleged endorsement of right-wing politics to t…

In this episode of the show we are beginning John Carpentober, our October journey through the cinema of John Carpenter. And we go back in time to 1976 to examine Assault on Precinct 13, Carpenter's auspicious take on a siege movies and a gritty love letter to the works of Howard Hawks like Rio Bravo. Over the course of our chat you will hear us ta…

In this episode of the show we are once more catching up with our ongoing Spike Lee project and this time we are talking about his 2013 remake of the cult classic Oldboy. Over the course of our chat you will hear us talk about the many possible reasons why Spike Lee would end up attracted to this project, how his vision may have differed from what …

In this episode of our sprawling Spike Lee Retrospective we are talking about Miracle at St. Anna. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us wonder if this movie signifies a shift in Spike Lee's interests, how it could be seen as Lee's The Longest Day and whether it functions as a pre-eminent war drama capable of standing toe to toe with…

In this episode of the show we conclude our September journey through John Wayne's post=Western career by talking about Brannigan. Over the course of our chat you will hear us talk about how after resisting for so long, The Duke decided to lean into the Dirty Harry craze, how getting him out of the country might have given him an opportunity to act…

In this episode of our 2024 Kathryn Bigelow Marathon we are finally touching base with arguably the biggest success in her career, The Hurt Locker. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about whether this movie is Bigelow unfiltered, how her views on masculinity and genre have evolved over time and how her professional relations…

In this episode of the show we are discussing the 1968 Hellfighters starring John Wayne. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us wonder about John Wayne trying to find new avenues for himself in an increasingly post-western movie landscape, sticking to an all-American hero in a red onesie, and going out on location for a change to put …

In this special bonus episode we are joined by our great friend Hillary to talk about John Wayne and his two westerns, True Grit and Rooster Cogburn. Over the course of our chat you will hear us talk about John Wayne making movies of the old while the world was moving on, whether True Grit is even a western and if Robert Duvall and Dennis Hopper ad…

In this episode of the show we are beginning our September with the Old Duke, a short survey of movies John Wayne made when he got older. This week we talk about McQ, a movie where The Duke tried to catch up to the stoic silent cop movies like Dirty Harry and Bullitt. In our conversation you will hear us talk about movies being written around John …

In this episode of our 2024 Spike Lee Retrospective we are touching base with Inside Man. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk at length about Spike Lee in the mid-2000s, Denzel Washington and Chiwetel Ejiofor playing good cop-bad cop, Clive Owen's brief moment in the limelight and the idea of bringing New York together as a me…

In this episode of the show we are once again reconnecting with Spike Lee as we are talking about She Hate Me. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us try to deconstruct this movie and identify its beating heart within in its complex structure. So, we talk about paranoid corporate thrillers, sex comedies, Frank Capra movies and everyth…