Have a Good Movie

CW: Discussions of death, cocaine & drug use, ghosts, cancer. Yes, dear listeners, Macintosh has not seen a full Patrick Swayze movie other than Donnie Darko. Yes, it is a movie crime that he hasn’t taken the time to watch one of the most important romantic dramedies of the past 30 years. It’s time that changed. Ghost was the rare romantic comedy that managed to capture the Academy’s imaginati...

The Academy has announced its nominations for this year’s awards, and we’re here to break down the list! We’ve got love for The Favourite, excitement for Roma, and a heaping load of anger about The Green Book even being shortlisted for these awards. We’re here to do what we do best - judge movies! Macintosh & Maud have started a Patreon! Any little bit you can contribute helps, and we have spe...

It’s kind of hard to remember, but 1993 was a really, really great year for thoughtful storytelling in film. Schindler’s List, Short Cuts, The Remains of the Day, Six Degrees of Separation, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and Philadelphia all came out that year, and all had gut-wrenching performances from established actors and rising stars. However, one film from New Zealand stood out from the crowd...

Dreamgirls, on paper, ought to be a home run movie. It’s a landmark musical with an almost entirely black cast, led prominently by three female characters. It was a runaway hit on Broadway and won 6 Tony Awards in 1982. Yet many who went to see this movie in 2006 were completely unaware of its past history. Enter Bill Condon, a fan of the original run of the musical who had been pushing for years...

1996 was a crowded year in movies. The English Patient swept up tons of awards, Jerry Maguire somehow commanded critical and box office attention, and Fargo cemented the Coen brothers’ status as true master craftsmen. So it says something that a tiny little movie from Australia garnered a ton of Oscar nominations and a Best Actor Oscar for a man that only Aussie theatergoers knew about. Shine isn’...

It’s Oscar season once again, and this year we’re focusing on past movies with Oscar-winning performances. First up is a 2004 surprise box office bonanza that not only earned Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman Oscars but also won Best Picture. Not that 2004 was a particularly great year for movies, but many people were shocked by this movie winning, even Macintosh who didn’t see it until months later...

It’s the end of our second year of talking about movies on microphones, and we’re here to take a quick look back at everything we saw this year. We watched a total of 94 MOVIES, and probably would’ve watched more if it weren’t for our meddling kids. 2018 was actually a great year for movies in theaters - we each had no trouble sharing our bottom 3 movies, but a lot of trouble narrowing down our to...

It’s the end of the year, and so it’s time to wrap up all of the movies we’ve seen in December! We packed a few in right after Christmas, so enjoy some quick reviews for SEVEN movies: The Favourite Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Creed II Aquaman Mary Poppins Returns Mary, Queen of Scots Vice Macintosh & Maud have started a Patreon! Any little bit you can contribute helps, and we have specia...

There’s one thing that’s undeniable about the Vacation film series - Chevy Chase is a genius. I mean, he’s a horrible human being, but dammit he’s funny. He makes the absolute dumbest jokes somehow make perfect sense and makes every scene he’s in better. Which is what makes Christmas Vacation somewhat disappointing - John Hughes is back with his twisted vision of It’s a Wonderful Life, and the Gri...

You don’t expect Christmas movies to become cult classics. They’re usually aimed at everyone, which means they’re either really funny or painfully mediocre. Then there’s the sarcastic, more grown-up movies that ruminate on dysfunctional families or consumerism. Way under all of that, though, is Christmas horror, and it’s here that two genres can really pack a punch. Krampus probably has no right b...

It’s become fashionable in the past few years to debate the worthiness of certain Christmas movies in the canon, mainly Die Hard. That discussion, however, often overlooks a Christmas classic that somehow blends It’s a Wonderful Life with monster flicks. There’s a lot wrong with Gremlins - the clunky script, the lost context in editing, and the lackluster acting. But all you need is a cute fuzzy s...

November is over, and we’ve got our reviews of new movies we’ve seen in the past month. It was light, but solid, and we’ve got some reviews of: • Bohemian Rhapsody • Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald • Ralph Breaks the Internet Look forward to WAY more in December…. Macintosh & Maud have started a Patreon! Any little bit you can contribute helps, and we have special contributor-only...

It’s the perfect elevator pitch - take the classic Dickens Christmas Carol , inject it with a ton of wicked, dark humor, and cast the master of sarcasm as a new-school Ebenezer. So of course the person you pick to direct this is...the guy who made Superman and Lethal Weapon? This is a textbook example of what can go wrong when a studio forces the wrong group of people to try and make a movie. Donn...

Macintosh is the resident Grinch in the Macintosh & Maud extended family. Christmas trees and presents have always brought a little bit of bah humbug out from him. But this Grinch’s heart seems to have grown three sizes this year and watching this Christmas classic just confirms that transformation. 1947’s Miracle on 34th Street is a remarkably natural, relaxed take on the meaning of the holid...

Macintosh & Maud have started a Patreon! Any little bit you can contribute helps, and we have special contributor-only content if you donate at the $2 level, including the final chapters of our Rocky-thon, Rocky Balboa and Creed! You can email us with feedback at macintoshandmaud@gmail.com, or you can connect with us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. If you like the podcast, make sure to sub...

Sylvester Stallone never imagined making a fourth Rocky film. In fact, it’s entirely possible, based on the lawsuit Anderson v. Stallone, that he may have barely written this one. Just like in that court’s decision though, the core of Rocky still exists in this movie, even though some questionable choices are made (talking robot wife for Paulie, 5-minute Stallone Lambo montage, the synth-iest scor...

OK, we admit it. We thought this was going to be the beginning of the end for this franchise. I mean, how good can a movie be when it features a Hulk Hogan cameo and a supporting role from Mr. T? Turns out IT CAN BE AMAZING. Rocky III is so much better than it has any right to be, and Stallone’s script and directing are a huge part of it. Not to mention our returning actors and the incredible debu...

Stallone took over directing duties for this sequel and despite a few failed projects and wound up making a worthy successor to the original. It’s not Oscar-worthy, but Stallone tightens up the story and fleshes out some of the things we loved from the original, like Adrian and Rocky’s relationship or Apollo’s character and motivation. Mickey’s a cartoon character in this movie but it doesn’t take...

Rocky is such a cultural phenomenon that it’s easy to forget it’s really a low-budget, independent slice-of-life drama made on the promise of one compelling actor and screenwriter who had an idea for a story he needed to tell. A $900,000 film wound up grossing over $250 million dollars worldwide and won a Best Picture Oscar against some of the greatest films in American cinema. We can’t say we wer...

It’s the end of the month, so time for some quick new movie reviews! Find us at: iTunes Google Play Spotify Patreon We’ve hit All Hallow’s Eve, which means it’s time to talk about new movies we’ve seen in October, including: - A Star Is Born (2018) - A remarkable, timeless film destined for Oscar glory - The Old Man and the Gun - A great indie bank heist movie with a stellar cast and perfect Rober...

Find us at: iTunes Google Play Spotify Patreon Misery is an odd entry in the horror franchise. It’s written like a prestige drama, directed by a comedy and coming-of-age director and features performances by two leads not known for their horror prowess. Yet with all these disparate elements, and despite some odd directing choices, this film holds up remarkably well. It’s no coincidence Silence of...

Kalena and Sean from TV Dinner join us to talk about the infinitely more meta and still damn fun sequel, Scream 2 ! We get into the sequel’s transformation to a gory whodunit, Kalena’s dad freaking her out with the Ghostface costume and Sean’s epic rating after having NEVER seen the original. Plus, the single most epic list of RPONs (Random Persons of Note) we’ve ever done. Double-check Randy’s ru...

Almost a year ago, David a/k/a Macintosh committed the cardinal sin of our podcast - he checked out of a movie. That movie just so happened to be 1996’s Scream. Now, as we continue with horror movies, it’s time for him to re-assess Scream and what the hell happened that fateful day. Enjoy this bonus mini-sode and get ready for our review of Scream 2 next Monday! Macintosh & Maud have started a...

Fred Krueger is an icon of horror. Armed with his homemade glove of knives, the undead killer now haunts the dreams of local teens with no chance of escape. It’s an amazing premise, and it’s almost criminal that Wes Craven totally screws it up with his cheesy writing, atrocious ending and poor, poor casting. The effects are undeniably great and insane, and deserve their place in the pantheon of sl...

This isn’t a perfect movie. In fact it’s sometimes pretty hokey. Most of the cast is fairly unremarkable and unbelievable as teens and the premise is basic at best. Yet Carpenter’s deliberate visual style, ratcheting of tension and unstoppably evil horror villian elevate this movie from B-movie dreck to instant horror classic. And it also helps that Jamie Lee Curtis is nearly perfect in her first...