This Film Could Be Your Life

Hosts Jonathan Divine and Mike Overstreet have felt it their entire lives, that there's something about 1999's The Matrix, something they need to discuss, to understand more deeply. They don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in their minds, driving them mad. Join them on this episode, as they take a deep dive into the Wachowski's iconic action masterpiece.

Join Jonathan Divine and Mike Overstreet as they kick off Season 2 of This Film Could Be Your Life by discussing D E S E R T  P O W E R; and where to place Dune (2021) within the canon of all-time great sci-fi films. 

James Cameron is a master at changing things up for a sequel: Aliens (1986) and Terminator 2 (1991) transformed their respective series into big-budget popcorn summer action films, thrilling huge audiences and making tons of money. The strange effect of Terminator 2's success, though, is that its predecessor is sometimes overshadowed. On this episode, Jonathan Divine and Mike Overstreet go back to...

Here’s the pitch: “Giant monsters called Kaiju are attacking cities. Humanity is defended by giant robots called Jaegers.” …quite frankly, do you need to hear anything more?  In this episode, hosts Jonathan Divine and Mike Overstreet discuss one of the purest big budget action movies of the last twenty years, and try to decide if it’s the dumbest awesome movie ever made, or the most awesome dumb m...

Inconceivable! On this episode, Jonathan Divine and Mike Overstreet return to an endlessly quoted staple of their childhoods. Full of wit, heart, and a truly staggering amount of charm, they try to locate exactly why it's lodged itself so firmly in their heads: it's 1987's The Princess Bride.

Martin Scorsese is almost inarguably the world's most iconic living director; for over four decades his movies have pushed the boundaries of storytelling and characterization. And yet, not until his 2007 remake of Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs did he finally win the coveted Best Director Academy Award. Despite its numerous accolades and critical acclaim, that film's reputation has remained c...

Paul Thomas Anderson has earned his place among the canon of greatest living filmmakers - but in 1997, with only one moderate success under his belt, he still had a lot to prove. And his second directorial effort was a tough sell: tracing the life of a fictional, "highly gifted" porn actor during the "Golden Age of Porn," the film's scandalous subject tended to alienate potential investors, actors...

It's tough to explain just how low things got for the iconic James Bond franchise by the late 90s / early 00s. A string of increasingly sillier and less successful films had left a sour taste in moviegoer's mouths for the character. To get from there to today - when each new Bond film seems to be its own global phenomenon, making huge amounts of money and often receiving wide acclaim - required a...

By Grabthar's Hammer ... what a podcast.   1999 was a high watermark year for movies, but one often overlooked is the cult classic Galaxy Quest. Riding on a strong cast and an excellent script, Jonathan Divine and Mike Overstreet revisit the film to explore just how worthwhile a rewatch it still is, and to unravel how a parody can be made with so much care and affection. Never give up - never surr...

Brothers Joel and Ethan Coen have become two of the most acclaimed and influential active filmmakers of the past 20 years. Despite this, hosts Jonathan Divine & Mike Overstreet have always struggled to appreciate the bleak nihilism that pervades so much of the Coens' work. In this episode, our movie geek friends dive deep into one of the most personal Coen brothers films to break open how it works...

A world of Kami spirits - gorgeously hand drawn and imaginatively designed - beckons to movie fans and the spiritually curious alike... Join Jonathan Divine and Mike Overstreet as they discuss what makes Hayao Miyzaki's transcendent Spirited Away (2001) equal parts spellbinding and thought provoking.

When Christopher Nolan, on the heels of mega blockbusters The Dark Knight and Inception, announced he would be making an epic sci-fi film about space travel, the hype train went off the rails. Jonathan Divine and Mike Overstreet were among the scores of movie fans who expected a new 2001, a groundbreaking masterpiece that would upend the whole genre. What they got - inevitably, given all of those...

This week the legendarily stupid, brilliant, subversive and over-quoted British comedy troupe goes under the microscope. Jonathan Divine and Mike Overstreet try to avoid shouting quotes back and forth as they search for the center of 1975's Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

A murder mystery that deepens with so many intrigues and twists that it could be described as a donut...with a donut hole missing from its center. Mike Overstreet and Jonathan Divine instantly fell in love with Rian Johnson's masterpiece, and in this episode they discuss what makes it so great and a few surprising ways it might impact your life. It's 2019's Knives Out.

Indiana Jones may have been a staple of their childhoods, but neither Jonathan Divine nor Mike Overstreet often returned to the series' second entry. Join them as they examine what might be one of the most overlooked - and most problematic - movies of Spielberg's career: 1984's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.   Film Crit Hulk's 2014 Article "Indiana Jones and the Funhouse of Doom" can be fou...

It's the age-old love story - a young guy, out of a rocky relationship, finds warmth, companionship, and eventually love...in his Operating System. Spike Jonze's brilliant 2013 film explores the rawest of human emotions and the baffling depths of love, set against an incredible science-fiction world of the future. Join Jonathan Divine and Mike Overstreet as they discuss Her.

"In space, no one can hear you scream." In this episode Jonathan Divine and Mike Overstreet ponder the horrors of facing a truly unknowable monster, perfectly evolved to kill, and try to mine the deeper truths buried in one of the greatest films ever made: it's Ridley Scott's Alien.

A murder case that never ends, but spins out of control until enough time has passed that too few care to chase the truth anymore. It doesn't necessarily sound like a great story, but David Fincher's 2007 masterpiece effortlessly pulls you deep into its dark conspiracy. Join Jonathan Divine and Mike Overstreet as they discuss the brilliantly disorienting Zodiac.

What if your whole life - everything you'd seen, everyone you'd met - was a fabrication? Jonathan Divine and Mike Overstreet revisit a dark horse contender for one of their all-time favorite movies and find a goldmine of philosophy, ethics, and incredible sci-fi worldbuilding: it's 1998's The Truman Show.

John Wick cemented Keanu Reeves' legacy as an all-time great action movie star. Now, two sequels and seven years later, film geeks Jonathan Divine and Mike Overstreet try to figure out just how an action movie can be so brutal, simple, elegant, and incredibly fun.

Though Reservoir Dogs (1992) was his breakout, Pulp Fiction (1994) took the film world by storm, announcing writer-director Quentin Tarantino as a creative force to be reckoned with. More than 25 years later, Mike Overstreet and Jonathan Divine revisit the film that remains many people's introduction to the rich world of independent cinema.

Vulgar, philosophical, dark, hilarious, and dripping with meaning; it's no wonder our hosts find this movie so compelling. The 2008 black comedy explores deep moral questions by way of a suicidal hitman and his fatherly friend - also a hitman - sightseeing a mecca of medieval European culture. Jonathan Divine and Mike Overstreet try to avoid fawning over one of their favorite films as they discuss...

Steven Spielberg's mega-blockbuster from the early 80's is still held up as a pinnacle of childlike wonder in entertainment - but how long has it been since you actually rewatched it? Jonathan Divine and Mike Overstreet return to their childhoods to unpack E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

Blade Runner 2049, Denis Villeneuve's follow-up to the iconic 80's Sci-Fi masterpiece, is a complex thing to untangle; longer, slower, stranger, and murkier, the film's low box-office returns could mark it as a failure. Hosts Jonathan Divine and Mike Overstreet think otherwise, and in this episode seek to dissect what might be one of the most effective sequels ever made.

Ridley Scott's Sci-Fi classic "Blade Runner" isn't remembered just for its sweeping visuals, gorgeous soundtrack, and genre-defining aesthetic; the story and characters have a tremendous emotional impact which, we think, makes it one of the most effective movies of its kind. Join Mike Overstreet and Jonathan Divine as they dive into "Blade Runner."