Black Men Can't Jump [In Hollywood]

This week, actor and improviser Shakira Ja'nai Paye ( House Party , Will Trent ) joins James, Jerah, and Jon to cover One of Them Days , directed by Lawrence Lamont, written by Syreeta Singleton, starring Keke Palmer and SZA. Together, they discuss the state of theatrical comedies, just how close the film came to winning its opening weekend, whether or not they've softened in their coverag...

This week, James, Jerah, and Jon are covering Sing Sing , directed by Greg Kwedar, screenplay by Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar, story by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence Maclin, and John "Divine G" Whitfield, starring Colman Domingo, Clarence Maclin, Sean San José, and Paul Raci. Together, they discuss Timothée Chalamet, what's going on with Sing Sing 's Rotten Tomatoes score,...

NOTE: In light of the devastating fires in Los Angeles, the show is taking the week off from recording, so enjoy this Patreon episode from the archives. If you can, please donate to the LA Fire Department's Wildfire Emergency Fund or the LA Regional Food Bank, links below. We will be back with a new episode next week! This week, James, and Jerah are covering Sonic the Hedgehog , directed by Je...

This week, James, Jerah, and Jon are covering Transformers One , directed by Josh Cooley, screenplay by Eric Pearson, Andrew Barrer, and Gabriel Ferrari, story by Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari, starring Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, Laurence Fishburne, and Jon Hamm. Together, they discuss the sheer number of Transformers films, Trans...

This week, James, Jerah, and Jon are covering The Piano Lesson , directed by Malcolm Washington, screenplay by Virgil Williams and Malcolm Washington, starring Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, Ray Fisher, Michael Potts, Erykah Badu, Skylar Aleece Smith, Danielle Deadwyler, and Corey Hawkins. Together, they discuss Rotten Tomatoes' new "Popcorn Meter," popular issues with play...

As a special holiday bonus, this week, Jerah and Jon are joined by actor O'Shea Jackson Jr. in advance of the release of Den of Thieves 2: Pantera . Together, they dive deep on O'Shea's roles in Straight Outta Compton , Ingrid Goes West , and Swagger , the surprising role Twitter played in connecting him to projects, the positives of doing indies and shorts, and much, much more! See De...

This week, James, Jerah, and Jon are covering Red One , directed by Jake Kasdan, screenplay by Chris Morgan, story by Hiram Garcia, starring Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, Lucy Liu, and J.K. Simmons. Together, they discuss it being the holiday season, how few Christmas movies have Black leads, holiday films being holiday films, whether or not there's ever been a Black Scrooge, and much, much mor...

This week, James, Jerah, and Jon are covering Gladiator II , directed by Ridley Scott, screenplay by David Scarpa, story by Peter Craig and David Scarpa, starring Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Lior Roz, Derek Jacobi, Connie Nielsen, and Denzel Washington. Together, they discuss 'Sexiest Men Alive' of years past, the best voice to use to order drinks at the bar, b...

This week, actor, poet, and writer Tessa Claire Hersh ( Younger , Desus & Mero ) joins James, Jerah, and Jon to cover Wicked , directed by John M. Chu, written by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, starring Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande-Butera, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Marissa Bode, Peter Dinklage, Michelle Yeoh, and Jeff Goldblum. Together, they discuss who did and did not do any r...

Happy Thanksgiving! We're taking today off for the holiday, so enjoy this episode from the archives! We'll have a new episode next week. Original description: This week we review 2004 comedy Soul Plane with Kevin Hart, Method Man, Snoop Dogg, and Sofia Vergara. Crude racial stereotyping, Islamophobia, baffling misogyny, and plot holes you could fly a plane through... but did it help the ca...

This week, actor and writer Chuck Maa ( Leverage: Redemption ) joins Jon to cover Dìdi , written and directed by Sean Wang, starring Izaac Wang and Joan Chen. Together, they discuss never disrespecting their mothers, the movie's critical reception, its performance at the box office, and much, much more! Listen to the full episode on Patreon or Red Circle's Exclusive Feed! SUBSCRIBE TO EXCL...

This week, James, Jerah, and Jon are covering White House Down (2013), directed by Roland Emmerich, written by James Vanderbilt, starring Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke, Richard Jenkins, and James Woods. Together, they recount the movies they covered in the wake of other recent historical disasters, the phenomenon of two similar but distinct movies getting released clo...

This week, James, Jerah, and Jon are covering The Gutter , directed by Yassir and Isaiah Lester, written by Yassir Lester, starring Shameik Moore, D'Arcy Carden, Paul Reiser, and Susan Sarandon. Together, they discuss whether or not bowling is, in fact, a "sport," the video game Super Bowling , getting strikes, the movie's immensely impressive production design given its small budg...

This week, James, Jerah, and Jon are covering It's What's Inside , written and directed by Greg Jardin, starring Brittany O'Grady, James Morosini, Gavin Leatherwood, Nina Bloomgarden, Alycia Debnam-Carrey, Reina Hardesty, Devon Terrell, David W. Thompson, and Madison Davenport. Together, they discuss the pros and cons of body swapping, the film's wild blend of genres, its incredibl...

This week, James, Jerah, and Jon are covering Mr. Crocket , directed by Brandon Espy, written by Carl Reid and Brandon Espy, starring Jerrika Hinton, Ayden Gavin, and Kristolyn Lloyd. Together, they discuss the Jordan Peele-feel of the film, which—if any—Black filmmakers are getting blank checks nowadays, where they've seen the cast before, and much, much more! Listen to the full episode on Pa...

This week, James, Jerah, and Jon are covering I Saw the TV Glow , written and directed by Jane Schoenbrun, starring Justice Smith, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Helena Howard, Lindsay Jordan, Connor O'Malley, Emma Portner, Ian Foreman, Fred Durst, and Danielle Deadwyler. Together, they discuss just how wild it is that A24 has such an identifiable house style, how complicated all of their initial thoug...

This week, actor and improviser Shakira Ja'nai Paye ( House Party , Will Trent ) joins James and Jon to cover The Deliverance , directed by Lee Daniels, written by David Coggeshall and Elijah Bynum, starring Andra Day, Glenn Close, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, and Mo'Nique. Together, they discuss the movie's already memed Glenn Close line, what audiences seem to be taking issue with re: the...

This week, James, Jerah, and Jon are covering The Wild Robot , written and directed by Chris Sanders, starring Lupita Nyong'o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Mark Hamill, Catherine O'Hara, Matt Berry, and Ving Rhames. Together, they match the actors to the characters they voiced, when Jerah started sniffling, whether or not it'll have staying power at the box offi...

This week, James, Jerah, and Jon are covering Rebel Ridge , written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier, starring Aaron Pierre, Don Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, David Denman, Emory Cohen, Steve Zissis, Zsané Jhé, Dana Lee, and James Cromwell. Together, they discuss where they know Aaron Pierre from, how handsome Aaron Pierre is, who auditions the most, and much, much more! Listen to the full episode on P...

This week, comedian, actor, and writer Taylor Ortega ( Welcome to Flatch , Jackpot! ) joins James, Jerah, and Jon to cover Beetlejuice Beetlejuice , directed by Tim Burton, story by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and Seth Grahame-Smith, screenplay by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, starring Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, Jenna Ortega, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, and Willem Da...

This week, James, Jerah, and Jon are covering White Chicks (2004), directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans, screenplay by Keenen Ivory Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Andy McElfresh, Michael Anthony Snowden, and Xavier Cook, story by Keenen Ivory Wayans, Shawn Wayans, and Marlon Wayans, starring Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Jaime King, Frankie Faison, Lochlyn Munro, and John Heard. Together, they dis...

This week, Jerah and Jon are joined by comedian, actor, and writer Sierra Katow ( Sierra Katow: Funt , The Sex Lives of College Girls ) to cover Jackpot! , directed by Paul Feig, written by Rob Yescombe, starring Awkwafina, John Cena, Ayden Mayeri, Donald Elise Watkins, Sam Asghari, and Simu Liu. Together, they discuss their personal histories playing the lotto, the loss of the movie's working...

This week, James, Jerah, and Jon are covering Blink Twice , directed by Zoë Kravitz, screenplay by Zoë Kravitz and E.T. Feigenbaum, starring Naomi Ackie, Channing Tatum, Christian Slater, Adria Arjona, Kyle MacLachlan, Haley Joel Osment, Geena Davis, and Alia Shawkat. Together, they discuss the trope of movies that use their titles in in-film dialogue, where they've seen Adria Arjona before, w...

This week, James, Jerah, and Jon are covering The Union , directed by Julian Farino, screenplay by Joe Barton and David Guggenheim, story by David Guggenheim, starring Mark Wahlberg, Halle Berry, Mike Colter, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jessica De Gouw, Alice Lee, Jackie Earl Haley, and J.K. Simmons. Together, they discuss Netflix's strangely lacking marketing campaign for the film, how best to...

This week, James and Jon are covering Borderlands , directed by Eli Roth, screenplay by Eli Roth and Joe Crombie, story by Eli Roth, starring Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Edgar Ramírez, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Gina Gershon, and Jamie Lee Curtis. Together, they discuss their personal video game histories, Zombie mode, whether or not either of them had played Borderlands the...