Mama Needs a Movie

Anne and Ryan return from an extended podcasting break to discuss some Oscar-nominated movies from 2025, including BUGONIA, BLUE MOON, IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU, MARTY SUPREME, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER, THE SECRET AGENT, SENTIMENTAL VALUE, and more.

Anne and Ryan take a bite out of Ryan Coogler's new vampire picture, SINNERS starring Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O'Connell and Delroy Lindo. Coogler wrote and directed this original Southern Gothic horror tale of twin brothers Smoke and Stack (both played by Jordan), returning to the Mississippi Delta to open a juke joint. When their cousin Sammie is recruited t...

Anne gives a brief update on Mama Needs a Movie for the upcoming weeks. Follow our Patreon podcast, ATTENTION MUST BE PAID, at patreon.com/MNAM

We discuss the new romantic comedy, BRIDGET JONES: MAD ABOUT THE BOY starring Renée Zellweger, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Leo Woodall, and Hugh Grant. Based on the Helen Fielding novel and directed by Michael Morris, this latest chapter of the Bridget Jones saga finds our titular heroine as a widowed single mother, re-entering the dating world with a younger man. Join as we reveal if we're mad about MAD AB...

Anne and Ryan gestate their takes on the new comedy, KINDA PREGNANT starring Amy Schumer, Jillian Bell, Brianne Howey, and Will Forte. Directed by Tyler Spindel and written by Schumer and Julie Paiva, KINDA PREGNANT stars Schumer as a Brooklyn school teacher who fakes a pregnancy for attention. Debuting to the #1 spot on the Netflix charts, KINDA PREGNANT aims to imbue a prenatal comedy with wild...

Anne and Ryan discuss the year's most Oscar-nominated film, Jacques Audiard's musical EMILIA PÉREZ starring Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón and Selena Gomez. The film follows a Mexican cartel leader who recruits a lawyer to help her transition into a woman and restart her life as a philanthropist. Drawing both accolades as an inventive, relevant musical and criticism as a tone-deaf overrea...

In honor of the recently departed David Lynch, Anne and Ryan revisit one of the director's least-celebrated, but most haunting works, LOST HIGHWAY starring Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, Balthazar Getty, Robert Loggia, and Robert Blake. This 1997 neo-noir begins with a married couple receiving a mysterious VHS tape on the doorstep of their Los Angeles home and the rest of the story... is bet...

Anne and Ryan digest the architectural drama, THE BRUTALIST starring Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, and Joe Alwyn. Directed by Brady Corbet and written by Corbet and Mona Fastvold, THE BRUTALIST follows a fictional Hungarian-Jewish architect László Tóth (Brody) as he immigrates to America and falls under the patronage of a wealthy industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren (Pearce). A critica...

Anne and Ryan look back on the most memorable 2024 releases in a special year-in-review episode. Brace yourselves for a spoiler-heavy discussion of 2024's most divisive and impactful movies, including THE APPRENTICE, BABYGIRL, BETWEEN THE TEMPLES, CHALLENGERS, A DIFFERENT MAN, HARD TRUTHS, HERE, HOW TO HAVE SEX, LA CHIMERA, MEGALOPOLIS, MY OLD ASS, NICKEL BOYS, QUEER, THE SUBSTANCE, and many more!

Writer/director Alex Kavutskiy returns to the podcast to discuss the new Bob Dylan biopic A COMPLETE UNKNOWN starring Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, Monica Barbaro, and Elle Fanning. James Mangold directs this chronicle of Dylan's early successes, including his quick rise in the New York folk scene, his collaborations with Joan Baez, and controversial choice to go electric at the 1965 Newpo...

We watched a ton of movies this year, but some of the most exciting ones weren't new. In a special holiday episode, Anne and Ryan discuss a handful of older films that fascinated them in 2024, from first-time discoveries of underseen gems to reexaminations of all-time classics. From noir to gothic horror, from Brando to Bogart, these are some of the film experiences that felt most vital to us in t...

Anne and Ryan discuss Luca Guadagnino's new drama QUEER starring Daniel Craig, Drew Starkey, Jason Schwartzman, and Lesley Manville. Based on the William S. Burroughs novella of the same name, QUEER follows an American writer living in 1950s Mexico City, pursuing a romance with a recently discharged Navy man. As the pair travel to South America in search of a mysterious drug, the story takes o...

Writer/director/actor Courtney Davis returns to the podcast to discuss the newly-released NIGHTBITCH starring Amy Adams and Scoot McNairy. Marielle Heller directed this adaptation of Rachel Yoder's novel about an artist struggling with the monotony of stay-at-home motherhood. As her frustrations worsen by day, she transforms into a canine at night. Released in time for the holidays, is NIGHTBI...

Anne and Ryan enter the arena of discussion for the newly-released epic GLADIATOR II starring Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Connie Nielsen, and Denzel Washington. Ridley Scott directs this sequel to his Oscar-winning GLADIATOR, which finds Marcus Aurelius's grandson, Lucius (Mescal) captured and enslaved by the Roman General Acacius (Pascal). After an impressive gladiatorial perform...

Anne and Ryan discuss JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga. Todd Phillips directed this follow-up to 2019's stratospherically successful JOKER, which finds Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) confined to Arkham State Hospital and pursuing a romance with the mysterious inmate Lee (Gaga). As Arthur stands trial for his crimes, he mentally escapes the threat of punishment through imagine...

Anne and Ryan discuss Sean Baker's Palme d'Or winner, ANORA starring Mikey Madison and Mark Eydelshteyn. When Brooklyn stripper Ani (Madison) meets and impulsively weds the mega-wealthy Ivan (Eydelshteyn), a madcap adventure ensues as Ivan's family desperately attempts to annul the marriage. ANORA finds Baker executing his gritty style at a larger and more accessible scale than before,...

Anne and Ryan discuss the new released comedy-drama, A REAL PAIN starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin. Written and directed by Eisenberg, A REAL PAIN follows two estranged cousins on a tour through Poland as they attempt to connect with the memory of their recently deceased grandmother, their cultural heritage, and each other. Featuring a standout performance from Culkin, A REAL PAIN is just...

Our political thriller series comes to an exciting Election Day conclusion with writer and actor Dan Chamberlain ( Have I Got News for You ) joining to discuss John Frankenheimer's THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE starring Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Angela Lansbury and Janet Leigh. Based on Richard Condon's novel, this 1962 classic concerns a Korean War veteran Raymond Shaw (Harvey), who is brainwash...

Our political thriller series reaches a fever pitch as writer Jack Allison (author of Kill the Rich ) joins to discuss Oliver Stone's JFK starring Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Oldman, Kevin Bacon, Sissy Spacek, Joe Pesci, and many, many more. This 1991 Oscar-nominated drama relitigates the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy through the probing lens of New Orleans district atto...

As the 2024 election draws near, we can't get enough political thrillers, this week looking at Steven Spielberg's Cold War tale, BRIDGE OF SPIES starring Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance. Scripted by Matt Charman, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, the film tells the true story of James B. Donovan (Hanks), a New York City lawyer called upon to defend a recently arrested spy for the Soviets, Rudolph Abel (Rylance...

Our season-long Political Thriller obsession continues with Sydney Pollack's THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR starring Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway. This 1975 suspense classic centers on a CIA researcher who returns from his lunch break to discover his co-workers are murdered and he's on the run for his life. Featuring an unconventional romance between Redford and Dunaway and a villainously scene-steal...

Our Political Thriller season continues with writer and actor Jon Millstein joining to discuss the 1985 espionage true story THE FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN starring Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn. Directed by John Schlesinger, the movie tells the fact-based tale of two disillusioned friends who embark on a dangerous hustle selling United States security secrets to the Soviet Union. With a whip smart scr...

Our season of political thrillers continues with guest Kayla Bates (host of  ScreenVomit ) joining to discuss Mary Harron's AMERICAN PSYCHO starring Christian Bale, Chloë Sevigny, Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto, Samanta Mathis and Reese Witherspoon. Based on the novel by Bret Easton Ellis, this turn-of-the-millenium satirical thriller delves into the psyche of Patrick Bateman, a status-obsessed investme...

Writer Ally Hord (Late Night with Seth Meyers) joins our Political Thriller series to discuss Alan J. Pakula's 1974 paranoia-fest, THE PARALLAX VIEW starring Warren Beatty, Hume Cronyn, and Paula Prentiss. Beatty stars as an investigative newspaper reporter uncovering a sinister shadow organization that specializes in political assassination. Released in the wake of several real life political...

Just in time for election season, we're kicking off our Political Thriller series with IN THE LINE OF FIRE starring Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich and Rene Russo. Wolfgang Petersen directed this 1993 suspense actioner about a Secret Service agent trying to thwart a would-be assassin targeting the U.S. President. Upon release, IN THE LINE OF FIRE was a critical and commercial hit, garnering Osc...