Cup of Tea Critiques Podcast

Despite being some of the oldest books in existence, Greek mythological stories and their characters have had a strong, lasting imprint on contemporary cinema. Consider that the themes and even characters modeled after those in the original books have been almost seamlessly adapted in recent movies like Face Off , The Silence of the Lambs , and O  Brother, Where Art Thou? . Add to this that modern...

The science fiction genre began in the early twentieth century with movies about space and the common element of showing us what the future could look like. So, have contemporary films like The Substance , Ex-Machina , and those in the Terminator and X-Men franchises strayed too far from the essence of science fiction cinema? Or has the meaning of science fiction just changed (or maybe evolved) ov...

The Odyssey will be opening soon, and it promises to be epic in both experience and duration. Homer’s mythological poem penned by him in the eighth century BCE is about Odysseus’s journey home after the fall of Troy. Like many great books, the story is full of lofty descriptions and told with exquisite detail. Chances are, none of us is worried about Christopher Nolan’s ability to pull off this fi...

Shawshank Redemption . Hurricane . American History X . All prison movies, all garnered critical acclaim, and all well‑received by audiences. But given that such movies depict prison life as scary, oppressive, and even violent, what is the draw of these films? Also, exactly what constitutes a prison movie? One entirely set in a prison like Shawshank Redemption , or one with a few flashback scenes...

The Devil Wears Prada 2 was recently released in theaters, and it is tearing up the box office—earning $253 million worldwide in its opening weekend. Like its predecessor, the sequel stars Meryl Streep as Miranda, whose character is loosely based on fashion media mogul Anna Wintour. We wondered why filmmakers opt for movies loosely based on real-life figures instead of going the route of biopics....

Do you still find My Cousin Vinny funny? Let’s go back even further. Do you still laugh when watching Beverly Hills Cop ? How is it that some comedies are ephemeral, but others can be rewatched decades later and still have you falling on the floor laughing? “Shirley,” it is a combination of elements and not just the jokes or timing. What is the secret sauce to a comedy’s longevity? Join us on the...

The release of Project Hail Mary and near simultaneous launch of Artemis II make this an opportune time to explore space movies. For some of us, the term space movies is a misnomer, since they often encompass movies where the alien activity is earthbound. Think Predato r, Independence Day , and The Day the Earth Stood Still . What is your favorite “space” movie and how do you define this subgenre?...

Some mistakes in movies and television, like the infamous Starbucks cup in the Game of Thrones scene or the fifty-star flags in Oppenheimer (set before Alaska and Hawaii achieved statehood), are just gaffes that make you shake your head or shrug your shoulders. Others, though, enhance the scene. Take Leonardo DiCaprio slicing his hand in Django Unchained . The actor used the painful snafu to lean...

  Epic Films. Even the label sounds lofty, doesn’t it? Webster has interesting synonyms for “epic”: majestic, monumental, magnificent, impressive. Collins views it in terms of time and scale: long, extended, classic, grandiose. On this podcast, we talk about epic films and learn that both our ideas about them and our affinity for them vary. Where one of us thinks epic is related to the feelings th...

When pitchers and catchers report for spring training, our antennas are raised in anticipation of the upcoming baseball season. A recent article published in the Philly Front Office hints that some of us prime ourselves for Opening Day by watching 5–10 of our favorite baseball movies like Field of Dreams , Major League , Little Big League , and Trouble with the Curve . Arguably, more than any othe...

Surprisingly, The Rip , a box office-worthy movie starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, opened on Netflix in January. Though we are glad about the choice to release a potential box office hit on streaming, the reasons behind it are conversations for another day. In the film, Damon and Affleck lead a small team of cops who stumble upon millions of dollars in cash when they investigate a tip about a...

How many times did you go to the theater in January to see a movie? If you responded with a number greater than zero, this would be surprising. Why? January has long been considered “dump month” for movies, since studios typically use this time to schedule theatrical releases that are not expected to perform well at the box office. In January, many people are coming off the winter holiday break, g...

How do you remember studying history during Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Black History Month? Let me guess, memorizing names and facts. Boring! They can have value, though; so, let me add one more. Did you know that Black History Month began as a one-week nod to Frederick Douglass’s and Abraham Lincoln’s birthdays? In this episode, rather than regurgitating facts, we consider how Ma...

Have you seen a really good streaming movie on Netflix, Apple TV+, or Hulu? I mean a film that was so good, you felt it should have received theatrical release and major award considerations. There are several reasons why this probably didn’t happen, and we talk about some of them on the podcast. But the impetus for “Streamers vs Box Office” is to drill down on a prominent film director’s comments...

We often think about our identities as multilayered (Black, White, Italian, Mexican, man, woman), but rarely do we think of them as intersectional, or even that others might view them as clashing or contradictory. Imagine, for instance, that you were both Palestinian and Israeli. Michael Moshe Dahan’s film, Yes Repeat No , is based on the experiences of a person who didn’t just imagine this, but w...

It’s that time of year again where we gather the family together and pull out the holiday movies. What are some of your favorites to watch? Home Alone ? Jack Frost ? Maybe A Charlie Brown Christmas is an absolute must for you. Film professors say we watch Christmas movies because we need to feel close to loved ones this time of year. The romance, predictable stories, and even the bright costumes w...

What are some of the funniest movie lines that come to mind for you? Now think of one or two of your favorites that were more serious than funny. There are a host of reasons cinema quotes stay with us for years and sometimes decades after we have seen the movie in theaters. Often, the quotes are sources of humor for us. Other times, they carry a sense of nostalgia or provide a link for forging rel...

Seen a movie on a rooftop? In a park? How about a cemetery? Yes, it is a thing. But hey, they say don’t knock anything until you try it. How we watch movies in theaters has changed over just the last fifty years or so. We have gone from drive-in theaters and walk-in auditorium style venues to advanced ticket purchasing and immersive experiences with 4DX technology and Cosm shared reality. These dr...

Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé and Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour were undoubtedly huge successes, and the decision to transform them into concert films was genius. For about forty years, live concerts by superstar artists have been plagued with exorbitant ticket prices. Concert films just might be a solution to this misery, since the cinematized productions remove the ticketing barriers for fans who...

Did you enjoy A Complete Unknown , Fade to Black , and Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere ? These and similar productions have enjoyed theatrical releases over the last several years. What do you suppose is motivating the industry to produce biopics of music artists, and what does their continual release suggest about our appetites for cinema on the lives of our favorite musicians. Join us on th...

Remember the old Godzilla and Gamera movies from the 1970s, where the dialogue you heard was perpetually out of sync with the character’s lips on screen? Or have you watched a French film with English subtitles and the characters appear to say more than the captions suggest? If you said yes to either of these, then you probably appreciate how much your viewing experiences have been enhanced with i...

Are you a fan of horror? Some people watch movies in the genre year-round, others only during holidays like Halloween. Some people avoid the genre altogether. After all, the movies are often dark, ghoulish, and intensely violent in surreal ways. In other words, horror movies are designed to scare us. But why would we want to subject ourselves to feeling scared? We found some research to answer thi...

It is fun being in your comfort zone as an actor, you know, when you’re getting roles in your established specialty (i.e. comedy, rom‑com, action). But what if you wanted to break the mold, try something in a different genre or as a different type of character? What are the risks and benefits of making such a bold career move? Join us on the Cup of Tea Critiques Podcast as we discuss the pros and...

Despite spanning only five years in the mid‑1970s, the blaxploitation era of filmmaking left an indelible mark on the film industry and in the hearts and minds of many in the Black community. While some insist the movies contributed to what were already entrenched negative views of Black people, others feel they presented some of the freshest, coolest characters onscreen, accompanied by soulful so...

Darth Vader. Thanos. Lucy van Pelt! What are the qualifications for a villain in your story? Does it even need to be human? Maybe your villain is something more abstract. What villains are your cups of tea? Write us a review and share some of your faves!  SUBSCRIBE (https://www.cupofteacritiques.com/subscribe) Drop us a line and tell us your favorite movie villain and why.   For future updates, su...