Jason and the Movienauts

The Marvelcast continues as Jason and Carlos look at The Eternals, a controversial and mostly disliked film. The guys try to find some love for the film, but unfortunately they discover the movie lives down to its reputation. It's a quick and fun 12-minute complaint fest. Is this the worst Marvel movie? Tune in to see what Jason and Carlos say.

Seven Samurai is famous for being one of the greatest movies ever made, but Jason was surprised (on first watch) just how fun it was, and how easy a film it was to watch. Of course, Eric and Dom knew Seven Samurai was a nearly perfect movie, so the three of them chat for about 70 scintillating minutes about why this film is so special. We had fun recording this, and we think you'll have as much fu...

There are some definite patterns in the Marvel movies. One of them is that many films have a great setup, a mediocre middle, and a flat ending. Jason and Carlos agree that pattern fits Shang-Chi and the Legend of the 7 Rings, which starts out spectacularly, has an interesting middle, and a CGI-vs-CGI ending. But given that, is the movie worth watching? And do the fun elements overcome the boredom?...

The Matrix: Resurrections is due December 22, so this seems like a good time to revisit the original Matrix trilogy to prep and to see if there are themes that will probably run from the original films into the new one. Paul McCoy and Shawn Hill join Jason to discuss the brilliance of the original Matrix , the fascinating philosophy in Reloaded and Revolutions , and some speculation about Resurrec...

Spider-Man and his amazing friends travel to Europe in the latest installment of the Spider-Man Sony/Marvel franchise. But does any of the plot make sense, and do people actually act in ways that any human would actually act? I guess you can tell from the episode title that Jason and Carlos didn't like the seemingly endless waves of dumbness included in this movie. Bummer! If you enjoyed this epis...

It doesn't get much better than watching one of the greatest actors in the world in two of his greatest films, so Keith and Jason loved chatting The Last Detail and Chinatown . Both movies don't just include brilliant performances by Nicholson and his supporting cast (especially the astonishing performance of Faye Dunaway in Chinatown ) but also clockwork scripts by the great Robert Towne. Join th...

Carlos and Jason went into Avengers: Endgame with a sense of dread. The movie is very long, very embedded in MCU continuity, and very tangled. But you'll hear their surprise in this episode when they decide that Endgame was just about the right length, with some good character details and compelling endings to MCU subplots. Somehow, some way, this actually is a pretty good movie which has enough h...

Akira Kurosawa is obviously one of the greatest filmmakers in history, but Jason hadn't seen many of the master's films. That begins to change this week as his friends Dominick Grace and Eric Hoffman join Jason for the first of a multi-part series exploring Kurosawa's classic. This week they discuss Ran and Throne of Blood , two loose Shakespeare adaptations moved to Japan. Ran is famously one of...

Chris has been a fan of David Lynch films for a long time, but Jason is a relative newbie. So that made their first watch of Eraserhead a real treat for both of them. Spoilers: they both loved it, and they discuss that appeciation in this very interesting hour-long chat we hope you will enjoy. If you did enjoy, please rate us on iTunes and subscribe!

Carlos is back to chat about Marvel movies with Jason, and the next one on their list is Ant-Man and the Wasp . They both entered this watch with... well, medium hopes anyway for something fun and entertaining. Well, yeah, the movie is pretty fun but it's also lacking some real basics with logic and common sense. So join us and listen to the guys trash this movie, then you can skip it on your Marv...

It's finally happened. Jason and Carlos have arrived at Avengers: Infinity War in their Marvel movie watch. One of the longest, and absolutely the biggest downer of a Marvel movie, the guys ponder if this movie transcends its sadness with good character moments or if it is finally just too depressing to really enjoy.

For the first time, I have two guests on Jason and the Movienauts as Paul McCoy and Shawn Hill join Jason to discuss their (relatively easy) thoughts on the 2021 Denis Villeneuve version of Dune and their (much more conflicted) thoughts on the David Lynch version of Dune. This is one of the most fun podcasts I've ever recorded, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it!

Nicolas Roeg was one of the most idiosyncratic filmmakers of his generation. Today Jason and Keith look at Roeg's whole career with an emphasis on perhaps his two most popular - and still challenging films, Don't Look Now and The Man Who Fell to Earth. And they have a lot to say about the movies, with a full 90 minutes of fascinating discussion on what it means to be haunted, the existential pain...

Jason and Carlos loved Thor Ragnarok when they first saw it, but was it indeed the best Marvel movie, as many critics have said? The guys explore that question, looking in detail at the complex world director Taika Waititi creates in this movie, a world much more complex than it seems to have on a first watch. Is it the best Marvel movie? Jason and Carlos answer that here. It's 42 minutes of some...

John Carpenter is one of the most influential and beloved directors of the 1980s and 1990s. Jason and Eric have been binging Carpenter films, including Big Trouble in Little China , Halloween and (Jason's favorite) In the Mouth of Madness . The guys chat about the hallmarks of great Carpenter flicks, the perplexing variety of Carpenter's career, and then list their top 5 favorite Carpenter films o...

Dr. Strange is both an oddball entry in the MCU and a completely traditional entry. On one hand, the story takes place in odd dimensions, outside of the world most other heroes experinece, and with a complex and hard-to-grasp cosmology. On the other hand, it's an origin story through and through, a classic kind of Marvel movie. Carlos and Jason explore the odd contradictions at the heart of this m...

So Chris Wunderlich told Jason that he wanted to talk about Repo Man on the podcast, and asked Jason for a good companion movie for Repo Man . If the guys were reviewing a punk movie, it only stood to reason they should also talk about a new wave movie, so Jason selected the 1982 Australian film Starstruck . But much as the guys loved Repo Man , they also had problems with Starstruck. Those differ...

Eric Hoffman joins Jason to talk about two amazing neo-noir films, Robert Altman's astounding The Long Goodbye and Wim Wenders's equally brilliant The American Friend . Eric and Jason talk nontraditional narrative, the brilliance of these two directors and some outstanding performances. It's an hour and ten minutes of fascinating listening. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave f...

Spider-Man: Homecoming got extremely good reviews on its release, but Jason is full of complaints about it. Is he just being a contrary aspiring hipster or do his points make sense? Carlos tries to sort out Jason's take on the first Spider-Man movie in the MCU. What do you think of his take?

Chris Wunderlich again joins Jason Sacks to discuss a couple of oddball films. That's Chris's beat for Classic Comics Cavalcade, dontcha know? Today we talk about two classic Canadian oddball films, Guy Maddin's My Winnipeg and François Girard 's Thirty Two Short Films About Glen Gould. Chris loves these movies and is delighted that Jason enjoyed both of these films. The guys compare notes about C...

Keith Silva joins Jason this week to talk about two of the greatest sports movies of all time. Keith loves Slap Shot and infects Jason with his passion - and Jason finds some stealth greatness in the film as well. As for Hoosiers , well, that movie triggers an interesting debate, which we'd love to hear your opinion about. Oh yeah, and Jason sings in this episode. We're sorry. It's an hour-twenty...

After loving James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy films (especially Book 2 ), Jason was really excited to watch Gunn's The Suicide Squad . Carlos was excited, too, but not holding his breath. And after watching this new movie, Carlos and Jason are... kind of conflicted. Kind of happy, laughing along, at the same time they're frustrated by the movie. It's an ambivalent 24 minute conversation that w...

This week, Eric Hoffman leads Jason on a discussion of two classic Japanese films directed by the brilliant Kenji Mizoguchi . Sansho the Balliff is a tragic story of a wealthy family separated and the slavery they endure, while Ugetsu tells a very human war story set in the sixteenth century. Eric and Jason chat about the filmmaking style of Mizoguchi and team, their political stance in the post-W...

Yeah, Carlos and Jason both spent the 30 bucks to watch Black Widow on Disney+. But they both agree the expense was worth it because they agree the movie is fun, with some clever character moments and people to root for. Way to go Disney/Marvel! Join us for 20 minutes of happy discussion!

Long before he became beloved as the director of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies and the forthcoming The Suicide Squad , James Gunn was just another director looking to make his way in Hollywood. Paul McCoy joins Jason to give a rundown on Gunn's history, as well as in-depth reviews of two of James Gunn's previous directoral efforts, the spooky horror film Slither and the bizarre superhero sati...