We Love the Love

We're continuing our look at the career of Julianne Moore by looking at her first lead performance, in Todd Haynes's 1995 indie classic Safe ! Join in as we discuss cults, color schemes, environmental illness, and milkaholism! Plus: How did Carol and Greg get together? What's Chris's deal? Is Rory the worst kid ever? And why did the New York Times think the movie was set in the future? Make sure t...

ELECTION DAY BONUS!!! We're dropping in on our Julianne Moore-athon with a special look at her Emmy-winning portrayal of Sarah Palin in the 2012 HBO film Game Change ! Join in as we discuss our favorite election movies, Palin's post-2008 career, other HBO ripped-from-the-headlines movies, and our memories of the 2008 campaign. Plus: Could an Alaskan become president? How did the real people feel a...

We're spending this month looking at the career of Julianne Moore, and to kick things off we're looking at her performance in Lisa Cholodenko's 2010 Best Picture nominee The Kids Are All Right ! Join in as we discuss our first encounters with Moore, her lack of a conventional star persona, the film's family dynamic with a lesbian couple played by Moore and Annette Bening, and Laser's dumb friend C...

We're finishing out the Halloween season with a look at the romance of Gore Verbinski's 2002 horror classic The Ring ! Join in as we discuss our introductions to Verbinski, comparisons to the Japanese original, Chris Cooper's cut role, and the horror of recommending movies. Plus: Is Rachel (Naomi Watts) good at her newspaper job? Why does Noah (Martin Henderson) own a copy of Shrek ? Who edited th...

We're taking a look at horror in the 1970s with Nicolas Roeg's 1973 classic Don't Look Now ! Join in as we discuss the movie's handling of grief, its (in)famous sex scene, Pino Donaggio's score, and Donald Sutherland's near-death experience onset. Plus: How did they make Venice look so unappealing? Why does Donald Sutherland's hair look like that? How did the movie avoid further censorship? And, m...

We're continuing our spooky season with a look at the romance of Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 classic, Psycho ! Join in as we discuss movie hotels, Hitchcock's extensive anti-spoiler campaign, the life of star Anthony Perkins, and that controversial final scene. Plus: How did this movie get past the Hollywood Production Code? How easy is taxidermy? What's Sam's job? And will Sam and Lila get together i...

We're kicking off the spooky season with a look at the romance of Alex Garland's 2018 sci-fi horror quest Annihilation ! Join in as we discuss Natalie Portman's underrated performance, the movies differences with Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, the various controversies that came up on the film's release, and, of course, that freaky bear. Plus: Why didn't the movie shoot in the US? Why d...

In honor of his new movie Megalopolis (now in theaters!), we're taking a look at Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 horror romance, Bram Stoker's Dracula . Join in as we discuss our favorite vampires, Keanu's infamous accent work, the movie's incredible costumes, and the most important vampire rules. Plus: Is it possible to make Jonathan Harker interesting? How many voyages does the Demeter go on? What i...

We're staying up all night as we dig into the romance(?) of Sofia Coppola's 2003 indie hit Lost in Translation ! Join in as we discuss the 2003 Oscars, celebrity product endorsements, the film's handling of Japan, and our own weird hotel experiences. Plus: How romantic is this central relationship? What's up with the first shot? Is Giovanni Ribisi playing Spike Jonze? And exactly h...

To herald the release of Transformers One , we're looking back at the fourth entry in the convoluted franchise: 2014's soft reboot Transformers: Age of Extinction ! Join in as we discuss the history of the Transformers franchise, Hollywood's attempts to court Chinese audiences, Chekov's football, Disney's Animal Kingdom, and of course Romeo and Juliet laws. Plus: How does Shane...

We're puzzling over a romance that's either completely believable or not at all plausible in Adam McKay's 2006 NASCAR comedy Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby . Join in as we discuss Will Ferrell's parallel careers for kids and adults, a top-tier Amy Adams performance, the scam of a mid-00s unrated cut, and inevitable comparisons to Vice . Plus: Did France invent the mena...

We're taking a look at the romance of the first ever Best Picture winner, William Wellman's 1927 World War I film Wings ! Join in as we discuss the formation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the film's eight-month shoot, the famous nightclub shot, and the importance of a good luck charm. Plus: Why was The Jazz Singer disqualified at the Oscars? What changed between 1...

We're traveling back (or maybe forwards?) to 2016 to talk about the nonlinear romance between Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner in Denis Villeneuve's Arrival ! Join in as we discuss Villeneuve's career in Hollywood, Adams's quest for an Oscar, the nature of free will, and AMC's current Nicole Kidman video. Plus: How does the film compare to Ted Chiang's short story/novella/novele...

We're digging into one of the biggest hits of the 1980s with a look at the duplicitous romance of Sydney Pollack's smash hit Tootsie , starring Dustin Hoffman in a red sequined dress. Join in as we discuss Southern accents, Jessica Lange's breakout year, Bill Murray's subdued performance, and Dustin Hoffman's existential crisis. Plus: Should Dorothy run for president? Will Emil...

We're talking birthday movies as we dig into the refreshingly healthy romance of Paul King's modern classic Paddington 2 ! Join in as we discuss our past experiences with the film, our favorite small roles, Hugh Grant's new act, and the forthcoming Paddington in Peru . Plus: What makes the Paddington movies so much more effective than other children's book adaptations? What other a...

We're celebrating its 25th anniversary this week (and the release of his new movie Trap !) by taking a look at the romance of M. Night Shyamalan's 1999 Best Picture nominee The Sixth Sense ! Join in as we discuss our own Shyamalan backstories, the movie's contentious development, its legendary box office run, and the troubled status of Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 2 and Captain...

We're celebrating 350 episodes by finally digging into a movie we've discussed since the first year of the show: Chris Miller's 2017 Oscar nominee The Boss Baby . Join in as we discuss the film's place in DreamWorks Animation history, Alec Baldwin's star persona, corporate espionage films, and the Boss Baby Symposium. Plus: What is Puppy Co's business model? Is the Boss Bab...

We're back in the McConnaughey rom-com era talking about his fauxlationship with Sarah Jessica Parker in 2006's Failure to Launch ! Join in as we discuss immoral schemes, paintball, blu-ray bonus features, and the career of costar Zooey Deschanel. Plus: Where exactly is this movie set? Why are there so many animal attacks? Does Paula have any friends? And, most importantly, what exactly is...

Just in time for next weekend's release of Twisters , we're taking a look at the romance of Jan De Bont's 1996 original, starring Bill Paxton, Helen Hunt, and Jami Gertz. Join in as we discuss ill-timed breakups, the film's impressive practical effects, the numerous onset accidents, and the world's biggest steaks. Plus: Which is the titular twister? What happened to Jo's mo...

We're digging into the late-90s teen movie boom for a look at the Pygmalion -inspired romance of 1999's She's All That , starring Freddie Prinze Jr., Rachael Leigh Cook, and just about every other young star of the moment. Join in as we discuss graduation pranks, unexpected dance sequences, the iconic makeover, and the 1999 MTV Movie Awards. Plus: What's the deal with Laney's a...

We're unveiling dark secrets this week as we look at Ron Howard's 2007 adaptation of The Da Vinci Code ! We read the book too, so we're here to dive deep into our favorite historical inaccuracies, pitch alternative castings, unveil the real (dumb) history of the Priory of Sion, and get into the DC Height Act. Plus: Does Dan Brown know that different types of Christianity are different?...

We're finishing out our #Denzelathon with a look at one of his best performances in the last few years, in the Oscar-nominated role of Roman J. Israel, Esq. Join in as we discuss writer-director Dan Gilroy (and his family), Roman's activism, the nature of movie stardom, and giant bulldog statues. Plus: What's the best way to spend thousands of dollars of stolen cash? How long does it t...

We're continuing our June #Denzelathon with a look at Ridley Scott's 2007 crime epic American Gangster , with Denzel starring as heroin kingpin Frank Lucas opposite a New Jersey cop played by Russell Crowe. Join in as we discuss Denzel in the 2000s, Ruby Dee's Oscar-nominated performance as his mom, the film's long development, and its exceedingly flat female characters. Plus: How...

We're continuing our June #Denzelathon with a movie that won him the Oscar for Best Actor: Antoine Fuqua's 2001 crime epic Training Day ! Join in as we discuss other one-day movies, rapper cameos, the Washington-Fuqua collaborations, and Mad Max names. Plus: How much did the movie parallel actual LAPD activities? What makes it different from other Denzel movies? Why is there a Training Day...

We're kicking off our June #Denzelathon with a look at Mira Nair's 1991 interracial romance, Mississippi Masala , starring Denzel alongside newcomer Sarita Choudhury. Join in as we discuss the movie's car crash romance, Edward Lachman's sun-glazed cinematography, shooting in real-life Greenwood, Mississippi, and our own Denzel backstories. Plus: How did this movie change Nair's...