Ready For Close-Up

It's one year later and that time of year again to review our year in movies 2025! Andy and Sam have both had a rich cinematic experience this time round, from attending film festivals and joining the Letterboxd crowd to catching up with both classic cinema and the purportedly best films of the year. They have each picked three personal favourites: Ranging from award season layovers and festival d...

It's the end of the year again and Andy and Sam have coordinated their Best of 2024 lists of films they loved, admired, marvelled at or were so sickened by that they almost left the cinema! In an epic roundup, they not only talk about the splendid year this has been for the cinematic experience in general, but they discuss in detail their 10 top picks of the year. This (somewhat unexpectedly) incl...

Giallo was by far the most productive and popular genre of Italian cinema of the 1960 and 70s: Shockingly bloody, daringly sexy and graphically gory murder mystery thrillers were all the rage and sold extremely well internationally, too. Directors like Mario Bava, Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci and Aldo Lado pushed boundaries with exciting visuals, experimental soundtracks and putting well known stars...

The great Meryl Streep is turning 75 this week and Andy and Sam finally take the opportunity to extensively talk about her incredible filmography, from early Oscar fame in Kramer vs. Kramer and Sophie's Choice to romantic favourites like Out of Africa and Bridges of Madison County, but also her great comedic work in Death Becomes Her, The Devil Wears Prada or indeed Mamma Mia! Her impact in dramat...

The movie award season has just been officially ended with the handing out of the Oscars this week and Andy and Sam are discussing the 96th edition of these Academy Awards in their newest episode: Who won and who should have won? What were the biggest suprises and snubs (and Barbie is just one of them!) and what does the field of nominations really tell us about the state of cinema after an unusua...

To wrap up their year in movies, Andy and Sam are looking back at 2023 as a much welcome return to good blockbuster and popcorn movies. Besides the obvious dominance of the Barbenheimer phenomenon and the shockwaves of the Hollywood strikes, the year did kick into gear again towards the end with some of our favourites hitting cinemas right in time for award season: From biopics to courtroom drama...

Finally, after months of suspense, Andy and Sam are back with a blockbuster episode on - well - a summer of blockbusters cut short by the two Hollywood strikes looming over future releases. What results is a two-edged discussion about the merits of Barbenheimer, the two main attractions this summer, which spoiled some of the profits of two anticipated sequels released weeks earlier, Indy 5 and the...

With the new year just having started, it's mandatory for Andy and Sam to look back and compare our respective Best Movies of 2022 lists. Even though they overlap in parts and divert at times considerably, we agree on one thing in particular: The past year had fewer moments of complete cinematic indulgence, where we felt movies had truly swept us off our feet and lingered with us for days afterwar...

It's been a long summer travelling between Mexico City and Hollywood for Andy and the most scenic locations of southern Europe for Sam but we're back with a myriad of cinematic impressions, including some fresh theatrical releases: Universal's first mainstream LGBTQ+ romantic comedy Bros and the newest entry into the Marvel Universe, Wakanda Forever, have us both laughing and in tears - and mostly...

After a quick review of fresh content they have seen over the summer, Andy and Sam talk about recent movie-related exhibitions they have seen: the brand-new Oscar Academy Museum in Los Angeles and the Fellini exhibition at Zurich's Kunsthaus. From these impressions, they discuss what makes an inspiring and worthwhile movie museum and what criteria should be behind the selection and presentation of...

With July just round the corner, Andy and Sam have compiled their respective summer watchlists - from films they have recently seen at the cinema (Jurassic World Dominion, Everything Everywhere All at Once), fresh streaming content (Heartstopper, The Gilded Age, Stranger Things 4) to new productions they look forward to between summer and fall (Elvis, Thor: Love and Thunder, Nope, My Policeman). T...

The release of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane in 1962 was followed by a decade of so-called Hagsploitation movies, in which former female Hollywood stars went at each others' throats as hair-raising psycho biddies. The genre has been highly controversial for its depiction of older women and therefore exposing ageism in Hollywood, but Andy and Sam have also found much cult potential and camp in the...

Overshadowed by that face-slapping scandal surrounding Best Actor winner Will Smith, winners and losers of the night were almost overlooked in an Oscar show that tried to reclaim some of its glamour and inspirational qualities post Covid. Andy and Sam review the night's big scandal but also its most important winners and the movies that clearly missed out. They find that the Academy Awards have be...

Kenneth Branagh's new adaptation of Agatha Christie's murder mystery Death on the Nile happens to be the remake of one of Andy and Sam's favourite 1970s star ensemble movie, so they went into the new version understandably sceptically. The illustrous river cruise on the river Nile that turns into a blood fest only master detective Hercule Poirot can solve, has been updated to suit present-day tast...

With January behind us, Andy and Sam wrap up their first movie experiences of 2022 in their latest episode. Besides catching up on some missed TV shows and Netflix fare, they have also immersed themselves in some fresh cinematic experiences. Their reviews of Guillermo del Toro's mystery thriller Nightmare Alley, the latest history-bending installment in the Kingsman series (King's Man - The Beginn...

With 2022 just starting, Andy and Sam have met for brunch to talk about 2021 and the year it was in movies. They discuss their highlights and disappointments - from House of Gucci and Hand of God to The Last Duel and Power of the Dog. They crown last year's stellar performances and analyse the life-changing nature of this second pandemic year for cinema as a whole. In the end, they remain hopeful...

For this podcast, Andy and Sam have gone on a movie blind date, where they each present a film that they thought the other one would love - of course without revealing which one it is! In a rivetingly suspenseful episode, they each try to guess what movie was chosen for them, based on opening scenes, era and genre, the feel of the film and eventually the cast and crew. Will they guess correctly in...

The wait is finally over and James Bond is back at the cinema, but is NO TIME TO DIE really a Bond film to die for? Andy and Sam dive right into the spoilers, the controversies and the highlights surrounding Daniel Craig's final outing as Bond. Whereas Sam felt like being in Double-O-heaven repeatedly, Andy found himself wondering whether the serious drama of the Craig universe may have gone too f...

The release of the epic science-fiction spectacle DUNE marks the second time Frank Herbert‘s cult novel has been put on the big screen. Andy and Sam review Dennis Villeneuve’s visually stunning adaptation of this thinly veiled Messiah tale and compare it to the famously failed David Lynch version of the 1980s. While both boast grand production designs and incredible star ensembles, it’s the new ci...

After a long and memorable summer, Andy and Sam finally take the chance to review the fabulous Oscar-winning THE FATHER, starring a stunning Anthony Hopkins as a man descending into dementia. Instead of being purely tragic, Florian Zeller's film manages to create an utterly immersive, funny, unnerving and truly cinematic experience. We take a walk down movie memory lane as well, passing other grea...

Our 18th episode means our podcast is coming of age and Andy and Sam are coming out! Our tribute to Pride Month is a discussion of our favourite LGBTQ+ films and the changes queer cinema has gone through over time. The past decades since the first 'gay movie' we saw have seen queer characters evolve from sidelined and supporting characters to being front and center of film, TV and streaming produc...

After almost a year of podcasting, Andy and Sam finally manage to review a fresh batch of cinema and streaming releases! From highly acclaimed Oscar winners Promising Young Woman and Druk - Another Round to Disney's newest origin story Cruella, and from German LGBTQ+ firsts (Futur Drei and All You Need) to long-awaited Netflix besteller adaptation The Woman in the Window, they have found a lot to...

This week's Oscar ceremony provided a somewhat anti-climactic ending to a very unique 2021 award season: a few expected winners (Nomadland's Best Director and Best Movie Awards), but just as many surprises (Anthony Hopkins and Frances McDormand winning Best Actors) and perceived snubs (Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis). Andy and Sam review the most important awards of the evening, as well as the u...

Faye Dunaway was arguably the biggest female star of late 60s and 70s Hollywood. She starred in an incredible string of great movies alongside the hottest stars and directors of the day - from Bonnie and Clyde to The Thomas Crown Affair and Chinatown. Her Oscar for Network (1976) seemed to be another logical step in her high-flying career. But things were to take a very different turn - so whateve...

One year into the global pandemic lockdowns, Andy and Sam finally take you on a journey through lockdowns at the movies: From classic theatrical role models and their adaptations in almost all cinematic genres, we have found great instances of characters locked down or locked in (even into themselves!) - be it Agatha Christie-style whodunits, intricate horror, racy thrillers, suspenseful disaster...