Best Daniel Nicholson Podcasts (2026)

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177. Best Picture Showcase - EMILIA PEREZ dir. Jacques Audiard 34:53

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34m ago34:53

34:53

EMILIA PEREZ, Jacques Audiard's audacious trilingual crime musical, is our next stop on the Best Picture Showcase! The most critically divisive of the nominees tells the story of a Mexican drug kingpin (Karla Sofia Gascon) who enlists a junior lawyer (Zoe Saldana) to help her transition into living life as a woman via securing gender-affirming surg…

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176. Best Picture Showcase - ANORA dir. Sean Baker 30:45

10m ago30:45

30:45

The next stop for the Best Picture Showcase leads us to the nominee widely considered the frontrunner for this year's Best Picture Oscar, ANORA. This movie, produced, edited, written and directed by Sean Baker, follows the whirlwind romance of a Brooklyn sex worker named Anora (a hot-headed Mikey Madison, and by the way, it's Ani, not Anora, she do…

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S4E21. Interview | COLD WALLET Director Cutter Hodierne & Actors Josh Brener, Raul Castillo and Melonie Diaz 22:16

8m ago22:16

22:16

Today on The Movies, I got a double-interview episode! I interviewed the director and actors from COLD WALLET, a new crypto thriller about a group of Redditors looking for revenge against the influencer responsible for scamming them out of a "life savings" level of money. They break into the influencer's home in pursuit of his cold wallet, a USB dr…

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174. COLD WALLET (2025) dir. Cutter Hodierne 28:03

6m ago28:03

28:03

In COLD WALLET, a trio of Redditors (Raul Castillo, Tony Cavalaro, Melonie Diaz) take it upon themselves to make a crypto influencer (Josh Brener) pay for tanking the coin, freezing user assets and suddenly demanding they owe the app almost double what they paid to get to said position. Their plan? Find the influencer, steal his cold wallet drives …

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173. Best Picture Showcase - CONCLAVE dir. Edward Berger 27:23

7m ago27:23

27:23

The Best Picture Showcase rolls on with Edward Berger's CONCLAVE, a drama about the election of a new Pope after the sudden death of the old Holy Father. Left with the responsibilities of wrangling every cardinal from 'round the world, along with their egos and ideologies, is a soon-to-be-exhausted Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes). As the d…

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172. ARMAND (2025) dir. Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel 24:40

1h ago24:40

24:40

ARMAND follows Elisabeth (Renate Reinsve), a single mother of the titular 6-year-old. She's called into Armand's school for a parent-teacher conference alongside Sarah (Ellen Dorrit Petersen) and Anders (Endre Hellestveit) the parents of Armand's best friend, Jon. To say it's bad news is the most severe understatement. Jon has accused Armand of sex…

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171. Interview | LIFELINE Director Feras Alfuqaha 32:15

23m ago32:15

32:15

Feras Alfuqaha loves to gab about moviemaking. His directorial debut, LIFELINE, premieres in select theatres and VOD on February 21st. It's the story of a suicide hotline volunteer (Josh Stewart) who receives a call from someone he believes to be his younger self (Judah Lewis). The caller says they're at a motel with gun in hand; they'll kill thems…

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170. LIFELINE (2025) dir. Feras Alfuqaha 16:14

23m ago16:14

16:14

Feras Alfuqaha's LIFELINE stars Josh Stewart as Steven Thomas. Steven's spending his New Year's Eve volunteering at a suicide hotline during the graveyard shift. He's the only guy in the office during a time of year in which folks tend to really feel their pain. The holidays can be rough on some of us. Steven handles a series of calls but one stand…

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169. Interview | WE BEAT THE DREAM TEAM Director Michael Tolajian 28:53

24m ago28:53

28:53

I interview Michael Tolajian, the director of the new basketball documentary WE BEAT THE DREAM TEAM, premiering on Max February 17. We talk the personal impact the 1992 Dream Team had on Tolajian, the process of establishing relationships with his documentary subjects, which of his favorite directors could stand a chance in the NBA and a whole. lot…

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168. WE BEAT THE DREAM TEAM (2025) dir. Michael Tolajian 22:58

25m ago22:58

22:58

A name like the Dream Team understandably comes with baggage. Who could make up a roster so great, the result can only be described as a dream? In the basketball world, guys like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen, John Stockton, Karl Malon-shall I go on? These men were recruited to represent the United States in the 1992 Bar…

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167. I LOVE YOU FOREVER (2025) dir. Cazzie David & Elisa Kalani 24:03

26m ago24:03

24:03

I LOVE YOU FOREVER is an anti-romcom. I don't say this in a way that suggests a cheeky, defiant stance against Valentine's Day. I say this because it weaponizes romcom tropes against us in its telling of an abusive relationship. You can track the trajectory: lonely 20-something girl (Sofia Black D'Elia) meets accomplished 20-something guy (Ray Nich…

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166. Best Picture Showcase - THE SUBSTANCE dir. Coralie Fargeat 43:55

27m ago43:55

43:55

Continuing the Best Picture Showcase, in which I cover this year's Oscars nominees for Best Picture, the road takes us to a tour-de-force of an original, pulse-pounding, "sickly entertaining" movie, Coralie Fargeat's THE SUBSTANCE. This is an audacious, whip-smart body horror movie that's bound to break your heart as much as it'll force you to reco…

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165. Best Picture Showcase - DUNE: PART 2 dir. Denis Villeneuve 25:37

27m ago25:37

25:37

I continue covering this year's Oscars nominees for Best Picture with Denis Villeneuve's DUNE: PART 2, the continuation of Villeneuve's attempt to create high-minded blockbuster fantasy to a new generation. When I was a kid, I had LORD OF THE RINGS. As a 30-year-old, I have this.Think the darkness of EMPIRE STRIKES BACK with the expansive scale of …

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164. The FANTASTIC FOUR Trailer Is Okay, But That's Just Not Good Enough. 21:02

2h ago21:02

21:02

Marvel Studios released the first teaser for THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS, premiering July 25th in theaters. After decades of attempts to try and get Marvel's "First Family" right, this movie, directed by Matt Shakman, looks to plant its flag as the first entry in the franchise to satisfy both fans and critics alike.What did I think of the trail…

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163. Best Picture Showcase - THE BRUTALIST dir. Brady Corbet 32:33

29m ago32:33

32:33

Welcome to the Best Picture Showcase, a miniseries on THE MOVIES where I review each nominee for this year's Academy Award for Best Picture. With each installment, I hope to answer the following: 1) What's the movie about? 2) What's it feel like to sit through the movie? 3) Did I like it? 4) Should it and will it win Best Picture? What's my current…

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162. Interview | ART AND LIFE: THE STORY OF JIM PHILLIPS Director John Makens 16:44

29m ago16:44

16:44

I interview John Makens, the director of ART AND LIFE: THE STORY OF JIM PHILLIPS. The 81-year-old graphic designer Jim Phillips may not be instantly recognizable, his art - the "Screaming Hand," the "red dot" Santa Cruz Skateboards logo, the myriad of custom skateboarding full-board decals, the cartoonish California outdoor mosaics, the rock poster…

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161. ART AND LIFE: THE STORY OF JIM PHILLIPS (2025) dir. John Makens 22:02

30m ago22:02

22:02

Jim Phillips is an artist whose cartoonish mosaics of California outdoor life have informed public understanding and appreciation of skateboarding, surfing, hot rod and rock music cultures. In ART AND LIFE: THE STORY OF JIM PHILLIPS, documentarian John Makens tells his story, from the times when Phillips sketched for fiberglas companies amidst a su…

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160. Listener Request | DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978) dir. George A. Romero 37:15

6m ago37:15

37:15

On this episode of The Movies, I fulfill another listener request! My buddy Jarrett Barnard sent me a stone-cold classic to cover: 1978's DAWN OF THE DEAD, directed by George A. Romero. Widely regarded as the best of Romero's DEAD franchise, this film about a group of survivors waiting out the zombie apocalypse inside a shopping mall is a hallmark …

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159. The 2025 Oscars Nominations 27:19

7m ago27:19

27:19

The nominations for the 97th Academy Awards dropped yesterday morning to the usual flurry of praise and disappointment. (No BABYGIRL? Academy, you will ROT.) Today, I list the Best Picture nominees along with their other nominations, discuss some other movies that jumped out at me and set the stage for the Best Picture Showcase. Before the ceremony…

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158. Interview | BIRDEATER directors Jack Clark & Jim Weir 34:33

8m ago34:33

34:33

On this episode, I interview BIRDEATER directors Jack Clark and Jim Weir. The movie, about a bride-to-be invited to her fiance's unhinged bachelor party, has taken Australian audiences by storm since its Sydney Film Festival premiere in 2023. Featuring at Melbourne International Film Festival & SXSW, the movie's garnered audience and critical prais…

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157. BIRDEATER (2025) dir. Jack Clark & Jim Weir 38:18

9m ago38:18

38:18

In Jack Clark and Jim Weir's BIRDEATER, a Aussie bride-to-be (Shabana Azeez) is invited to her fiance's (Mackenzie Fearnley) "bucks party" - a bachelor party to us in the States, but god, doesn't that just sound cooler? She's not alone, as one of the boys also brings his girlfriend to this cabin in the Outback, but it's more of a friend-of-a-friend…

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156. The 2024 Movies That Stuck With Me 2:30:07

9m ago2:30:07

2:30:07

Sticking with a season-opening tradition, here are the 2024 movies that stuck with me! These are the films I thought about on drives to work and during showers, the ones about which I'd wax poetically to any captive audience I could muster. They made me weep and cackle. They made me whoop with joy. Art requires reflection; this is the cinema I refl…

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155. The Movies: Season 4 12:41

10m ago12:41

12:41

Welcome to Season 4 of The Movies! It's wild to think this will be my fourth year reviewing movies, interviewing critics, authors and filmmakers, waxing poetic over the majesty of one Rachel McAdams.This episode sees me addressing the state of my union, sharing goals for the new year (interview Danny Boyle for 28 YEARS LATER, because dear JESUS, th…

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154. Listener Request | FREDDY VS. JASON (2003) dir. Ronny Yu 38:42

11m ago38:42

38:42

FREDDY VS. JASON brings together two titans of '80s horror: Freddy Kreuger (Robert Englund) and Jason Voorhees (Ken Kirzinger). In a bid to regain his strength through surging fear through the souls of Elm Street, Freddy manipulates Jason to doing some killing on his behalf. However, when Jason starts taking the credit and hacking through more of t…

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153. Fantastic Fest #5: WITTE WIEVEN (2024) dir. Didier Konings 21:24

12m ago21:24

21:24

WITTE WIEVEN, directed by Didier Konings, brings my Fantastic Fest 2024 coverage to a belated end.Frieda (Anneke Sluiters) is a pious woman struggling to conceive a child. In her medieval Dutch village, help only comes through God and the Church, via archaic fertility rituals.One day, the local butcher Gelo (Leon van Wass) assaults Frieda, threaten…

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152. Listener Request | TRIANGLE (2009) dir. Christopher Smith 13:27

13m ago13:27

13:27

I kick off the first of 10 listener requests by fulfilling the most important one: my wife's. She chose TRIANGLE, Christopher Smith's 2009 horror film about a mother (Melissa George) whose sailing trip with friends ends with a storm and shipwreck. Their salvation comes in the form of a luxury yacht, but once aboard, the group discovers the yacht's …

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151. OKIE (2024) dir. Kate Cobb 26:12

14m ago26:12

26:12

Please rate & review The Movies on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you listen to the show! --- Kate Cobb's directorial debut, OKIE, stars Scott Michael Foster as Louie, a writer returning to his rural hometown after his father's death. Going back home is always complicated, but more so because he's unflatteringly based his stories on said…

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150. Interview | OKIE Director Kate Cobb, Writer Kevin Bigley & Actor Scott Michael Foster 26:45

15m ago26:45

26:45

Please rate & review The Movies on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you listen to the show! --- I got to interview the creative team behind OKIE: director Kate Cobb, writer Kevin Bigley and actor Scott Michael Foster. OKIE stars Foster as Louie, a writer returning to his rural hometown after his father's death. Going back home is always co…

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149. ALIEN COUNTRY (2024) dir. Boston McConaughey 21:54

16m ago21:54

21:54

Please rate & review The Movies on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you listen to the show! --- Before we get started, no, I don't believe there's any relation to Matthew. Boston McConaughey is the director of ALIEN COUNTRY, a sci-fi horror comedy he co-produced and co-wrote with Renny Grames to kick off their production company. It follow…

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148. Interview | I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU ALONE Actor Kenneth Trujillo 33:34

17m ago33:34

33:34

Please rate & review The Movies on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you listen to the show! --- I interview Kenneth Trujillo, the lead actor of I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU ALONE, about the process of becoming a mute ex-con in DW Medoff's horror drama. Through his confident performance, he anchors the vicious downer with empathy and cautious hop…

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147. I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU ALONE (2024) dir. DW Medoff 23:33

18m ago23:33

23:33

Please rate & review The Movies on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you listen to the show! --- I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU ALONE, directed by DW Medoff, is about Richard (Kenneth Trujillo), a mute ex-con whose first job out of prison is to spend six days isolated in a "haunted" house to ensure the removal of its spirits. His realtor boss says …

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146. Fantastic Fest 2024 #4: Interview | WRECKED A BUNCH OF CARS, HAD A GOOD TIME Directors James P. Gannon & Matt Ferrin 24:36

12m ago24:36

24:36

Please rate & review The Movies on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you listen to the show!---For their short, WRECKED A BUNCH OF CARS, HAD A GOOD TIME, directors James P. Gannon & Matt Ferrin had to learn to place faith into their film stock. The movie, which documents a Connecticut demolition derby through driver interviews and on-the-gr…

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145. ME, MYSELF & THE VOID (2024) dir. Tim Hautekiet 32:08

42m ago32:08

32:08

Please rate & review The Movies on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you listen to the show!---In ME, MYSELF AND THE VOID, Jack (Jack De Sena) discovers his stand-up comedy routine has a rude punchline: It's not real. Jack is actually passed out on his bathroom floor and the comedian we see is Jack's mind, stuck in his subconscious alongsid…

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144. Interview | ONE PERSON, ONE VOTE? Director Maximina Juson 18:02

43m ago18:02

18:02

Please rate & review The Movies on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you listen to the show! --- Maximina Juson comes onto THE MOVIES to discuss her new documentary, ONE PERSON, ONE VOTE? The movie tells the history of the electoral college, the actual Constitutional manner in which the president is elected. Following four Colorado electors…

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143. ONE PERSON, ONE VOTE? (2024) dir. Maximina Juson 28:52

44m ago28:52

28:52

Please rate & review The Movies on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you listen to the show! --- Maximina Juson's ONE PERSON, ONE VOTE? looks to demystify the electoral college. From examining slavery's influence on its inception to recounting the abuses of said system committed in the pursuit of political power, the documentary advocates f…

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142. Fantastic Fest 2024 #3: WRECKED A BUNCH OF CARS, HAD A GOOD TIME (2024) dir. James P. Gannon & Matt Ferrin 24:43

5h ago24:43

24:43

Please rate & review The Movies on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you listen to the show! --- Fantastic Fest hosts a wealth of shorts, celebrating the eclectic mix of filmmakers who make them. That being said, there was no way in hell I could cover this year's fest and not watch any, so today's episode gets into demolition derby mayhem: …

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141. Fantastic Fest 2024 #2: Interview | APARTMENT 7A Director Natalie Erika James 16:50

5h ago16:50

16:50

Please rate & review The Movies on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you listen to the show! --- Natalie Erika James, director of the new film APARTMENT 7A, stops by The Movies to chat all about her prequel to ROSEMARY'S BABY, streaming on Paramount + starting Sept. 27! We talk about bringing back 1960s New York design, the delicate art of …

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140. Fantastic Fest 2024 #1: APARTMENT 7A (2024) dir. Natalie Erika James 24:05

5h ago24:05

24:05

Please rate & review The Movies on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you listen to the show! --- APARTMENT 7A follows in 2024's tradition of independent directors helming prequels to successful horror franchises. We had THE FIRST OMEN and A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE. Now, Natalie Erika James takes the reins to ROSEMARY'S BABY, revealing the stor…

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139. HAYRIDE TO HELL (2024) dir. Dan Lantz 26:06

1h ago26:06

26:06

Please rate & review The Movies on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you listen to the show! --- HAYRIDE TO HELL is about Farmer Sam (Bill Moseley). As is the case with most farmers, he's happiest living a simple life: growing crops, selling candy apples, making dad jokes so heinous you'd rather pull your own dad's finger after Sunday lunch…

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138. INVOKING YELL (2024) dir. Patricio Valladares 19:07

1h ago19:07

19:07

Please rate & review The Movies on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you listen to the show! --- Patricio Valladares' INVOKING YELL is a frustrating movie. Three main elements make for a promising horror flick: black metal, found footage in the woods a la BLAIR WITCH and psychophony, the practice of recording sounds of spirits. So when I'm …

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137. LOOK INTO MY EYES (2024) dir. Lana Wilson 37:06

1h ago37:06

37:06

Please rate & review The Movies on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you listen to the show! --- LOOK INTO MY EYES, directed by Lana Wilson (MISS AMERICANA, PRETTY BABY: BROOKE SHIELDS), centers on a group of seven New York psychics and the intimate readings they undergo with their clients. Some search for answers regarding their future. Ot…

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136. TRANSFORMERS ONE (2024) dir. Josh Cooley 28:54

1h ago28:54

28:54

Please rate & review The Movies on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you listen to the show! --- TRANSFORMERS ONE is a breath of fresh air for this (admittedly casual) Transformers fan. I lived through the decade of Michael Bay's destruction porn lens and to see a Transformers movie that's a thrilling and fun sci-fi adventure while also emo…

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135. The Anxieties of Parenthood in M3GAN 43:02

1h ago43:02

43:02

Please rate and review The Movies on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & Audible! --- Today marks a first on the podcast. Last year, I reviewed Gerard Johnstone's horror movie M3GAN (see Season 2, Episode 4) but after a recent rewatch with my wife, I found I have more to say about the PG-13 killer doll flick. I'm surprised by how much of the movie works as a…

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134. What to Watch at Fantastic Fest 2024 48:42

1h ago48:42

48:42

Please rate & review The Movies on Spotify & Apple Podcasts!---Fantastic Fest brings together the year's best offerings of genre film, crash landing in Austin, TX from Sept. 19-26. With more than 80 films to choose from, how can you whittle down the selection? Never fear, Daniel from The Movies is here! I'm covering the festival from home (lodging …

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133. Interview | HAPPY CAMPERS Director Amy Nicholson 21:51

1h ago21:51

21:51

Please rate & review The Movies on Spotify & Apple Podcasts! --- Today's episode is an interview with Amy Nicholson, director of the documentary HAPPY CAMPERS. The movie chronicles the last summer for working-class denizens of Inlet View, an RV park in coastal Virginia, to enjoy their undisturbed slice of paradise before a developer tears the place…

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132. HAPPY CAMPERS (2024) dir. Amy Nicholson 22:11

1h ago22:11

22:11

Don't forget to rate & review the podcast! -- I love the hell out of this movie. Amy Nicholson's HAPPY CAMPERS (available on VOD September 10th) sees the denizens of a waterfront Virginia RV park through the last days of their working-class summertime paradise: "The Armpit of America," as lovingly described by a couple in the film. These folks, of …

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131. ALIEN: ROMULUS (2024) dir. Fede Alvarez 39:14

1h ago39:14

39:14

Don't forget to rate & review the podcast! --- ALIEN: ROMULUS feels like a self-proclaimed victory lap for the almost-50-year-old franchise, blending elements from each movie (the greatest hits, some might say) to make an installment to please every ALIEN fan. From the COVENANT cultists to the ALIEN 3 truthers, there's a piece here for you. However…

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130. Listener Request | GLADIATOR II Trailer Breakdown 25:09

1h ago25:09

25:09

Two years ago, I fulfilled a listener request from my friend Resa to review Ridley Scott's GLADIATOR (Season 1, Episode 37). It only makes sense, then, her next request was for me to talk about the trailer for GLADIATOR II! I love Ridley Scott flicks and this trailer hints towards another notch in the belt of successes for one of our greatest livin…

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129. NATIONAL ANTHEM (2024) dir. Luke Gilford 34:23

1h ago34:23

34:23

Luke Gilford's debut feature NATIONAL ANTHEM sees Charlie Plummer (LEAN ON PETE, ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD) as Dylan, a 21-year-old ranch hand who starts his journey of self-discovery through the age-old catalyst of meeting a girl. In this case, the girl is Sky (Eve Lindley), a rodeo performer who's part of a wider community of queer rodeo lovers …

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128. Interview | ELIZABETH TAYLOR: THE LOST TAPES Director Nanette Burstein 33:16

1h ago33:16

33:16

Academy Award-nominated Nanette Burstein's latest film ELIZABETH TAYLOR: THE LOST TAPES sees the director sifting through 40 hours of previously unheard interviews to build a portrait of actress and philanthropist Elizabeth Taylor using her own words. Taylor presents as a woman who suffers no fools, whether they be paparazzi demonizing her affair (…