A24 On The Rocks

The A24 rocks crew goes back to the turn of the millennia to the beginning of a new age of zombie films (or is it an infection film?), and reviews 28 Days Later starring Cillian Murphy and Naomie Harris. Directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland: these film reviewers discuss how the film got made, Garland's inspirations, releasing it into a post 9/11 world, and the meaning behind zom...

In 2016, Lulu Wang shared her familial story with This American Life, and it was so poignant to the immigrant experience, that it was made into a movie. After both American and Chinese film studios tried to get her to change the tone of the film, four different indie film production companies picked up her script and gave her the creative freedom to tell her true story. And that became The Farewel...

On this A24 Vibe Discussion, the A24 Rocks crew discusses a Danny Boyle film for the first time. None other than the recent critically-acclaimed zombie thriller "28 Years Later." Written by Alex Garland (writer of A24 films such as Ex Machina, Men, and Civil War), 28 Years Later is the third film in the 28 Days Later universe. These film reviewers ask if it stays truthful to the first fi...

A week after Ari Aster's Eddington was released, the A24 Rocks crew has finally reached one of the most talk about A24 film's of all time: Midsommar starring Florence Pugh. These film reviewers discuss how it was made, its cult classic success, the graphicness of the movie, and what Ari Aster was really trying to say with Midsommar. As Aster himself said: its The Wizard of Oz for perverts....

On this A24 vibe discussion, the A24 Rocks crew discusses the film that made Steven Spielberg a household name, and terrified generations of children from going in the water: Jaws. On its 50th anniversary year, these film reviewers discuss how the film has aged, and its effect on cinema and the film industry. They also delve into plenty of fun trivia, discuss John Williams' iconic score, and w...

The A24 Rocks crew tackles one of the most poignant and impactful A24 films of all time: The Last Black Man in San Francisco. Set in the Bayview-Hunters Point and Filmore district's of San Fran, The Last Black Man in San Francisco is about two friends named Jimmie (portrayed by Jimmie Fails) and Mont (portrayed by Jonathan Majors) who are battling one of the most gentrified cities in the count...

Hello aliens, predators, big lizards, big hairy monkeys, and creatures of the night. This week on A24 On The Rocks: Eric, Cole, Ray, and Kevin blind rank the top 16 best Creature Feature films of all time. Although, this blind ranking was much less civil than our Midwestern film blind ranking. After a few picks in the top five went awry, these co-hosts went after each other's throats and turned in...

The 83rd A24 film review for the A24 Rocks crew is The Souvenir starring Honor Swinton Byrne, Tom Burke, and Tilda Swinton. Written and directed by Joanna Hogg, Swinton Byrne portrays a green film student named Julie who meets a more seasoned man named Anthony. He charms her and they begin a relationship, as he guides her on the direction of her film artistry. The other shoe soon drops when Julie...

Happy Pride Month everyone! On this A24 vibe discussion: Eric, Kelley, and Caitlin fly back to the queer classic "The Birdcage" starring Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Gene Hackman, and Dianne Wiest. They discuss the world this film was released into, how it's aged, and the inspiration it had on cinema and pop culture. They also explore some interesting film trivia, including an altern...

Fresh off The Amazing Spider-Man sequel, Andrew Garfield wanted to star in something different, and he chose an indie film that criticizes the Hollywood lifestyle. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not. This was the third film for David Robert Mitchell, director of the critically-acclaimed horror film It Follows. Under the Silver Lake follows an aimless millennial slacker named Sam who believes there's a...

Two Midwesterners and one Australian (Rhys Crook from The Crook Cut Podcast) go fur trapping in northern Wisconsin with applejack salesman Jean Kayak on this slapstick affair for the film Hundreds of Beavers. Two filmmakers from Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin (Mike Cheslik and Ryland Tews) banded together to create this indie comedy that cost $7,000. 1,500 Adobe After Effects animations, and several fil...

Native Son is a 2019 drama based off the 20th century American classic novel of the same name by Richard Wright. Starring Ashton Sanders (of Moonlight fame), Native Son follows a young black man named Bigger who lives in Chicago. Bigger is into the punk and alternative lifestyle but doesn't quite fit in with his friends. His mom's boyfriend gets him an interview to be a driver for a wealthy Chicag...

Ey der bud, yuse gonna listen to er episode or wut eh? Pop in de old ear muffers, go out for a rip, and sip a brewski with yer olde pals from A24 on da Rocks as dey blind rank da top 16 Midwestern films of all time. Macedonian magician Gage Dana dumps the cheese curds out of his pocket, dusts off the hockey stick, and shoots some slappers where mama hides the cookies. Watcha waitin for? Intro- 0:0...

The 80th film in the A24 catalog is the Sci-Fi space drama High Life starring Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, Andre 3000, and Mia Goth. Directed by French filmmaker Claire Denis, High Life explores a group of convicts that were sent into space for mysterious reasons. Pattinson portrays Monte, who has a daughter at the start of the film, but also inhabits a spaceship with no one else on it. Wha...

A24 on the Rocks enters the millennial time machine and rolls it back to 2004, when Hot Topic "Vote for Pedro" shirts were the new fad, and all the middle schoolers were hitting each other in the face with steaks and yelling "NAPOLEON, GIVE ME SOME OF YOUR TOTS!" You guessed it, today's A24 vibe discussion is millennial cult classic Napoleon Dynamite starring Jon Heder and...

The 79th film in the A24 catalog is Gloria Bell starring Julianne Moore. Gloria Bell is a remake from a 2013 Chilean film named "Gloria," and is about a middle-aged divorcee at a transition period in her life. Gloria meets a man named Arnold (portrayed by John Turturro) at a modern 70s disco bar. This new love interest seems to have promise, before Gloria starts noticing his kids control his life,...

On this special A24 vibe discussion to celebrate Easter, we belt out JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR with Musical Theatre Professional Kandra Harper. A musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jesus Christ Superstar was originally a theatre musical that premiered in 1971 and found massive success, thus leading to the production of the 1973 film. It contains 70s rock opera stylings and all the tell-tale signs of an...

In this psychological horror by Gaspar Noe, a French dance troupe successfully prepares for their upcoming dance competition, and parties with some sangria after. Little do they know, someone spiked the sangria, and the night turns into an upside down world of horror and debauchery. Maybe one of the most experimental A24 films, and certainly one of the most disturbing, the A24 Rocks crew debates i...

On this week's A24 vibe discussion, we bring on Russian filmmaker Alexey Kotolevskiy to review 2024's Best Picture winner Anora. Starring Best Actress Mikey Madison, Anora is about a Brooklyn exotic dancer who meets a Russian Oligarch named Vanya who becomes enamored with her. Written and directed by Florida Project director Sean Baker, the A24 Rocks crew and Alexey discuss the three acts of the f...

Stanley Yelnats has a family curse, and the only way he can correct it is by driving to an old cottage in Ireland to dig holes and situate his trauma. The Hole in the Ground is a 2019 supernatural horror film that delves into the Irish folklore of changelings... and digging holes to build character. Does it also have to do with the hollow earth theory? Fairies living under the dirt? How can whole...

In the first "A24 vibe discussion" of our sixth season: we have on motion graphics designer, video editor, film historian, and fellow podcaster (of The Morally Offensive Podcast) Bill "Netherlands" Holland to talk about Robert Eggers' 2024 remake of cinema classic Nosferatu. The modern remake of Nosferatu stars Lily Rose-Depp, Bills Skarsgard, Willem Dafoe, and Ralph Ineson. It was released to cri...

We're back! We continue our journey of chronologically reviewing every A24 movie with the 2019 year of A24. A24 kicked off 2019 with the Australian crime drama Outlaws, aka 1%, about a power struggle in a motorcycle gang called the Copperheads. Caution: movie spoilers. Programming note: Kelley will not be joining us on this season of A24 on the Rocks. From Kelley- “To our dear fans- I’ve gotte...

We kick off 2025 with the grandest award show in modern cinema: The A24 Oscars! As the A24 rocks crew finished watching the 2018 year of A24, they will now give out the golden coveted Oscar Isaac awards to the best writers, directors, actors/actresses, and films of the 2018 year of A24. They've also added an extra category from previous years, that is similar to a razzy, and that is "the worst fil...

Christmas is next week, so the A24 Rocks crew decided to put aside the dark horrors about generational trauma, or the Thai prison dramas, or coming-of-age tales about anxious/depressed eighth grader's, or the thrillers about alcoholic pastors on a path of righteousness. Just to put you in that Christmas mood: they decided to discuss the most beloved (but maybe debated) Christmas action film of all...

In Jonah Hill's directorial debut, he tackles the world of 90s skateboarding in southern California. Sunny Suljic plays a young boy growing up in Los Angeles, with an abusive older brother (portrayed by Lucas Hedges), and a single mom (portrayed by Katherine Waterston). He soon finds a clique of skateboarders at his local neighborhood skate shop, and all he knows is that he needs to learn how to s...