Molly Movie Club

This week’s episode is Drive My Car directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi. We both felt pretty lukewarm on this movie. There are a lot of things in it that just don’t work very well, which we dive into in this episode. Where Drive My Car does succeed is in the scenes between Kafuku and the driver. As always, we’d love to hear what you think! Next week is the start of a month of movies set during World War...

Today’s movie is The Batman directed by Matt Reeves. We both think this is probably one of the best looking superhero movies we’ve seen in a long time. The visuals of this movie are definitely its strength - everything from the cinematography to the production design works really well. Where this movie falls flat is with its story. Ultimately, it’s just… boring. Let us know what you think! Next we...

Today’s movie is Everything Everywhere All At Once directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. This movie is joyfully absurd, and it’s one of the most creative movies we’ve seen in a long time. Unsurprisingly, Casey takes issue with a few plot mechanics, but we both agree that this movie is truly unique and really well directed. As always, let us know what you think! We will see you back here ag...

Hello everyone, and welcome to a new month! This week we watched Dune directed by Denis Villeneuve. This is probably going to be one of the more contentious weeks of Molly Movie Club, because Casey and Anna both dislike this movie. We know this is probably not the mainstream opinion, but hopefully in this podcast we do a good enough job of explaining why we feel that way. In fact, Casey goes into...

Hey there Movie Club, This is Casey. In a few hours, the regular “Episode 14” of Molly Movie Club will go up. Before it does, I wanted to post this “extended cut” version, and explain what it contains so members can decide which one they want to listen to! After the regular podcast discussion of Dune , I went on for thirty minutes about how bad the screenwriting was in this movie. It was not reall...

We’ve come to the final film of Nautical Month: The Hunt for Red October directed by John McTiernan. This submarine spy thriller from the early 90s is a solid, enjoyable movie. It’s always clear exactly what is happening, which is not an easy feat for a plot this complex. There are also some really good performances, especially from Sean Connery and James Earl Jones. Our biggest complaint is with...

This week’s movie is The Big Blue directed by Luc Besson. This movie is weird. It’s also kind of a mess. For a movie from a film movement that is supposedly about “style over substance”, there’s remarkably little style, and quite a bit of substance! And at nearly three hours, this film is a slog to get through. But The Big Blue certainly gives us plenty to talk about! Next week is the final movie...

This week is Molly Movie Club’s first Wes Anderson movie: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou . We both felt similarly about this movie - it just doesn’t quite work. Anderson is a talented, quirky director with a fantastic visual style, but The Life Aquatic doesn’t seem to live up to the high standards set by some of his other films. In the podcast, we talk about why that might be. As always, we’d...

This week we have Das Boot directed by Wolfgang Petersen, a German film from 1982 about a U-boat crew during WWII. We watched the remastered Director’s Cut. We both agree that Das Boot is the best war movie we have ever seen. Everything about this film — the cinematography, the directing, the script, the acting, the incredible U-boat set — is astoundingly good. If you haven’t seen Das Boot , do yo...

Happy July! We’re excited to start our new series of nautical-themed movies. We begin with Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World directed by Peter Weir. Anna LOVES this movie. Casey thinks it’s pretty good. One thing no one can argue with is that the attention to historical detail in this film is impressive. A love for the time period radiates from Master and Commander , and the commitme...

It’s the last week of June, and it’s time for the final movie in our “Story within a story” series. This week’s episode is Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) directed by Alejandro Iñárritu. We both really enjoy watching this movie. It’s impressive shooting style and original music give Birdman a truly unique feel. Iñárritu and Lubezki are both brilliant, and their talents turn an ambi...

This week’s movie is Ed Wood directed by Tim Burton. As you’ll hear in the episode, we are divided on this movie! This is the first time so far on the podcast that we have fairly different opinions, and we’re really eager to hear your thoughts! Next Friday is the final movie in our “Story within a story” movie series, Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). In the coming week we’ll also p...

This week’s episode is Adaptation , directed by Spike Jonze and written by Charlie (and Donald) Kaufman. We both really enjoy Adaptation . It’s not the easiest movie to digest, especially on a first viewing, but it works with clockwork precision and is totally committed to its premise. Thanks for listening, and we hope you enjoy the episode! As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts on Adaptation...

Well, we’re officially starting our SECOND month of Molly Movie Club! Thanks to everyone who has subscribed. We’re having a great time watching a new movie each week, and we hope you are too! As we’ve mentioned, the theme for June is “Story Within a Story”. The first movie we’re watching is The Purple Rose of Cairo directed by Woody Allen. Neither of us had seen it before, and this movie took us b...

In Episode Four of Molly Movie Club we watch Moon directed by Duncan Jones. It’s the final movie of Space Month, and we’ve had such a great time watching four very different science fiction movies. We consider Moon to be the weakest of the bunch, and in this episode we discuss why we feel a lack of vision in both direction and writing let Moon down. We also get into a heated debate about an antiqu...

In Episode Three of Molly Movie Club, we get to watch one of Casey’s all time favorite movies! We both have a lot affection for Nicholas Meyer’s 1982 film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan . In this episode we discuss why we think this movie exemplifies Star Trek at its very best, and how the screenwriting is some of the most clever we’ve ever seen. As per the club format, this is one of the three m...

We had a feeling there’d be a lot to say about 2001: A Space Odyssey , and we weren’t wrong. In this second episode of Molly Movie Club, we dive into the details of Stanley Kubrick’s remarkable depiction of a spacefaring future, and reach a surprising conclusion about the differing visions vs. our first Movie Club movie, Interstellar . As per the club format, this is one of the three monthly episo...

Welcome, everyone, to the inaugural episode of Molly Movie Club! Our first movie is Interstellar , directed by Christopher Nolan. We hope you enjoy the episode! And we’re excited to hear your thoughts on the movie, and on our discussion. See you in the comments! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mollymoviec...

Hello all! One of our ideas for the Molly Movie Club was that members would pick the movies. Since we’re new to Substack, we’re not sure exactly how to implement that here, but I’m sure we’ll figure out the right thing over time :) As a first attempt, let’s see what happens if you all leave a comment below with your movie suggestion . Then, we can do a follow-up post with a poll so everyone can vo...