Looking California and Feeling Minnesota

This week on everybody's favorite cinema podcast, Barry and Mike dive into Pixar's latest animated venture Soul. This unique film stars Jamie Foxx and Tina Fey as two entities trying to navigate life, death and New York City. Topics discussed on this episode include diversity in animation, Mike's allergy to Pixar movies and Barry's tales of bad investment advice.

In this tension-filled episode Barry and Mike discuss the much anticipated Wonder Woman 1984. Highlights include shared frustrations over the movie‘s missed opportunities, multiple mispronunciations of Gal Gadot’s name and an enraged Mike viciously assaulting Barry over a misunderstanding.

In this episode of everybody’s favorite cinema podcast, Barry and Mike debate David Fincher’s polarizing new film Mank. Topics discussed include Gary Oldman’s brilliance, Fincher’s frustratingly complex brilliance and an obscure old movie named Citizen Kane.

In this very special Christmas episode of everybody's favorite cinema podcast, Barry and Mike examine the gloriously absurd pop culture phenomenon Recipe for Seduction, the Lifetime Kentucky Fried Chicken mini-movie starring Mario Lopez that tells the steamy tale of KFC founder Harland Sanders. Topics touched upon include Mario Lopez on Mount Rushmore, Shakes the Clown as a Ronald McDonald or...

The bad boys of cinema podcasting kick off their 2021 season early by taking their first dive into the waters of television. This episode Barry and Michael discuss The Queen’s Gambit, the hugely popular Netflix miniseries that is the talk of the town. The topics tackled include Anya Taylor Joy’s beguiling screen presence, the artistic albatross of bad endings and Barry’s unsavory history hustling...

This week Barry berates me for trying to stay current by choosing the new Netflix sci-fi action movie The Old Guard, starring Charlize Theron, for us to discuss. In the episode we break down the movie and consider what worked (not much), what didn’t (a lot), and why. We also dive into the unending mystery of who actually shot this movie. 

On today’s podcast Barry and I take a look at the 2019 Clint Eastwood film, Richard Jewell. On the episode we discuss the hopefully soon-to-be discovered, glorious genius of the film's star Paul Walter Hauser as well as the reliable acting brilliance of Kathy Bates and Sam Rockwell. In addition we wrestle with the often-times frustrating nature of Clint Eastwood’s directing approach and the n...

On this episode of everybody’s favorite cinema podcast we discuss the The Vast of Night , a sneaky good little sci-fi film currently streaming on Amazon Prime. Come join us as we take the Looking California and Feeling Minnesota Starship back to 1950’s New Mexico where we grapple with over-active imaginations and possibly UFO’s!! And we also marvel at the formidable skill of up and coming director...

This week things get combative on the pod as Barry and I do battle over his newest choice for a quarantine watch, 2003’s The Last Samurai , which stars Tom Cruise and is directed by Edward Zwick. We also play another round of everybody’s favorite games - Hollywood Mogul. The stakes are high as the loser of the game and the debate must commit seppuku at the end of the podcast! 

This week Barry's choice for a must see (rewatch) movie while on quarantine is the nearly decade old The Social Network directed by David Fincher (currently playing on Netflix).  This film is extraordinarily written by Aaron Sorkin, filled with incredible performances and directed to a pace that makes 2 hours fly by.  Come join us in breaking down this underrated movie that now is interesting...

This week we dive into the decades old Christopher Nolan's modern classic Inception.  This movie flies in the face of conventional Hollywood blockbusters and succeeds wildly.  Come hear us dig into the many layers of s film. 

This week we are doing a directors "showcase" and we are diving into the career of John McTiernan.  His films include Die Hard, Predator, The Hunt for Red October, Die Hard with a Vengeance, The Thomas Crown affair and many more.  We discuss this dying breed of non-auteur but skilled director and what makes directors like him rare and wonderful to revisit their work. 

This week we dive into the overlooked 2007 modern classic There Will Be Blood.  This movie is an actor and director at the top of their games that have created a museum worthy movie you can watch over and over again and study the mastery they had while making the film.  That is precisely why we want you to check this movie out. If you are a cinema fan you can watch the movie, listen to the podcast...

This week we dive into the overlooked 2011 British movie Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.  This movie is one of the best crafted movies of the last 10-20 years but is a little bit of in a traditional story structure for a spy movie.  This movie makes you think, doesn't spoon feed you nor does it lay everything out with a nice bow on it.  That is precisely why we want you to check this movie out.  I...

This week Barry's choice for a must see (rewatch) movie while on quarantine is the incredible Hell or High Water (currently playing on Netflix).  This film is extraordinarily written, filled with incredible performances and directed to near perfection.  Come join us in breaking down this modern masterpiece.  

This week Mike and I continue our top picks for movies that are streaming you should check out or take second look.  This week is Mike's selection of David Finchers Zodiac (currently streaming on Crackle.com).  Listen to our thoughts on the movie and then check it out online for free. 

We start our series on overlooked, excellent, must watch movies on the major streaming platforms. As we all deal with the quarantines and social distancing we all are running through our list of shows and movies to get caught up on.  We wanted to point out a few gems you maybe missed or were far enough off the mainstream path that you should consider watching with the extra time on your hands.  Th...

This week real life meets Hollywood.  We discuss the current effects the Corona virus is having on the studios and more importantly those working in the gig economy.  We also look back at the Steven Soderbergh movie Contagion.  

This week we talk about the modern telling of an old classic in The Invisible Man.  This classic has been updated to have the film be from the perspective of the main female lead vs the invisible man himself.  There are good and not so good things about the film.  Join us and hear what we liked, what we didn't and what we would have do differently. 

This week we dive into the French film Portrait of a Lady on Fire.  This is a French movie with subtitles and is currently in limited release around the country.  If you love foreign films or cinema in general check out the movie and then listen to us break it down or if you are so inclined listen to our thoughts and see if that makes you more or less inclined to check out this film.  

This week we dive into Quentin Tarantino's 9th film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.  We go deep and wide on the film, the impact on cinema, the influences and why this is such a deep and complex movie.  

This week we dive into the 2020 Best Picture Nominee Joker.  We go deep and wide on the film, the impact on cinema, the influences and why this is such a polarizing movie.  

This week we dive into another 2020 Best Picture Nominee Jojo Rabbit.  What makes this film so great, why you should see it and what makes is so special.  This is an offbeat film that isn't perfect but well worth your time to check it out.  

This week we dive into the 2020 Best Picture Nominee Parasite.  What makes this film so great, why you should see it and what makes is so special.  Also we put on our studio boss hats and we give a few options for what the inevitable American remake/recasting and give you who we would see playing these roles.  

This week we dive into the leading candidate for Best Picture of 2019.  We discuss what we liked about the movie, what we didn't care for and ways we might have changed how the story was told.