Mama Needs a Movie

Writer and actor Dan Chamberlain ( The Tonight Show ) returns to kick off our October "Mama Needs a BOO-vie" fright-fest with Brian De Palma's supernatural classic, CARRIE starring Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, Nancy Allen and John Travolta. This 1976 adaptation of Stephen King's novel follows Carrie White (Spacek), a timid teen who lives under the thumb of high school...

Writer Harper Steele ( SNL, Casa de mi Padre, Eurovision ) joins to discuss the adventure classic SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON starring John Mills and Dorothy McGuire. Director Ken Annakin helmed Disney's lavish 1960 adaptation of Johann David Wyss's 1812 novel about a family of five shipwrecked on a deserted island. Scavenging the contents of the defunct vessel, the Robinsons manage to build an...

In the conclusion of our "Summer Abroad" world cinema series, comedian and writer Sean O'Connor ( Solar Opposites , Norm Macdonald Live ) returns to discuss the 1962 Italian road comedy IL SORPASSO starring Vittorio Gassman and Jean-Louis Trintignant. Dino Risi directed this primo example of commedia all'italiana , a genre of socially astute, highly successful comedies that coinc...

Our "Summer Abroad" international film series continues with director Oz Rodríguez ( Miguel Wants to Fight, SNL ) joining to discuss Alfonso Cuarón's Mexican road picture, Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN starring Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal and Maribel Verdú. Cuarón and his brother Carlos scripted this unconventional coming-of-age story of two teenage boys on a road trip, while vying for the af...

Our "Summer Abroad" international film series continues with writer Jordan Morris ( Bubble; Jordan, Jesse, Go! ) joining to discuss the French thriller LA PISCINE (THE SWIMMING POOL) starring Alain Delon, Romy Schneider, Maurice Ronet and Jane Birkin. Jacques Deray directed this sexually-charged slow-burner in which a couple's vacation at a stylish Saint-Tropez villa is disturbed by...

Our "Summer Abroad" world cinema tour continues with writer, actor, and director Kate Freund joining to discuss Bong Joon-ho's thriller MOTHER starring Kim Hye-ja, Won Bin, Jin Goo and Yoon Je-moon. This 2009 South Korean film follows an unnamed Mother who is fiercely protective of her intellectually disabled adult son, Do-joon. When Do-joon is accused of murder, Mother will stop at...

Our month-long "Summer Abroad" world cinema series kicks off with writer and actor Conner Shin ( Harley Quinn ) joining to discuss Hayao Miyazaki's 1984 post-apocalyptic anime fantasy NAUSICAÄ OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND featuring the voices of Sumi Shimamoto, Gorō Naya, Youji Matsuda and Hisako Kyoda. NAUSICAÄ tells the story of a bug-loving teenage princess who resides in the peacefu...

Actor and writer Amy Heidt joins to discuss Greta Gerwig's blockbuster comedy BARBIE starring Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera and Kate McKinnon. Gerwig's satiric take of Mattel's flagship doll finds Barbie (Robbie) in an existential crisis, venturing outside of the idyllic and matriarchal Barbieland and into the real world for answers to womanhood's complexities. Meanw...

Writer and comedian Nick Wiger ( Doughboys, Get Played ) joins to discuss Christopher Nolan's biopic OPPENHEIMER starring Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon and Robert Downey Jr. One of 2023's most highly-anticipated films, OPPENHEIMER chronicles the life and times of the father of the atomic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer, from his early days at Cambridge, to his spearheading the Manhat...

Screenwriter Van Robichaux (Fist Fight, Brooklyn 99) joins to discuss Steven Spielberg's 2001 science fiction film A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE starring Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, Frances O'Connor and William Hurt. Originally developed by Stanley Kubrick and handed to Spielberg, A.I. is a fascinating mix of two major filmmakers' disparate sensibilities, combining fairy tale fancy wit...

Anne and Ryan discuss Celine Song's 2023 drama PAST LIVES starring Greta Lee, Teo Yoo and John Magaro. Song wrote and directed this tender story of two childhood sweethearts, Nora (Lee) and Hae Sung (Yoo) from Seoul, South Korea reuniting as adults in New York City, much to the discomfort of Nora's husband, Arthur (Magaro). PAST LIVES is an intimate romance of epic scope, exploring the imm...

Writer Emily Strachan joins to discuss Nancy Meyers's 2009 romantic comedy, IT'S COMPLICATED starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin and John Krasinski. Set in sunny Santa Barbara, IT'S COMPLICATED features Streep as a successful bakery owner pursuing a fling with her now re-married ex-husband, played by Baldwin. A rare and upbeat portrait of sex in middle age, the film was o...

Director Chris VanArtsdalen ( The Birthday Boys ) joins to discuss Wes Anderson's newest, ASTEROID CITY starring Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody and many more. Anderson uses a nesting play-within-a-show-within-a-movie structure to tell the story of a Junior Stargazing event gone awry in a remote desert...

In this preview of Mama Needs a Movie's Patreon-exclusive spinoff, ATTENTION MUST BE PAID (patreon.com/MNAM), Anne and Ryan show some love to under-seen cinematic gems like 2017's LOVE AFTER LOVE starring Andie MacDowell, Chris O'Dowd and James Adomian. Russell Harbaugh's directorial debut follows Suzanne (MacDowell), a mother of two adult sons, trying to move on after the death of...

Writer, producer and cinephile Andrew Grissom returns to the podcast to discuss Nicole Holofcener's newest comedy YOU HURT MY FEELINGS starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tobias Menzies, Michaela Watkins and Arian Moayed. The plot concerns a New York writer Beth (Louis-Dreyfus), who overhears her therapist husband (Menzies) trashing her latest work in progress. YOU HURT MY FEELINGS debuted to positi...

Actor and writer Allan McLeod ( You're the Worst ) returns to discuss the third film in Paul Schrader's "Man in a Room" trilogy, MASTER GARDENER starring Joel Edgerton, Sigourney Weaver, and Quintessa Swindell. Written and directed by Schrader, MASTER GARDENER focuses on Narvel Roth (Edgerton), the resident horticulturist of a lavish estate. When the garden's wealthy owner No...

Comedian Nina Nguyen joins to discuss FAST X, the tenth installment in the Fast and Furious franchise starring Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, John Cena, Nathalie Emmanuel, Sung Kang, Brie Larson, and many, many more. Director Louis Leterrier picks up the saga of Dominic Toretto and his crew of expert car thieves as they face off against Dante Reyes (Jason Mamoa), the veng...

Writer, actor and comedian Lesley Tsina joins to discuss the new film adaptation of Judy Blume's ARE YOU THERE, GOD? IT'S ME, MARGARET starring Abby Ryder Fortson, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, and Benny Safdie. Director Kelly Fremon Craig adapted and directed Blume's coming of age classic about an 11-year-old girl wrestling with puberty and religion in the suburbs of New Jersey. ARE YO...

Do you love Mama Needs a Movie and want to hear more? Head on over to patreon.com/MNAM for our new patron-only spinoff podcast, ATTENTION MUST BE PAID, where we shine a light on sorely neglected, but fascinating films from throughout cinema history. In each episode, Anne and Ryan focus on one seldom-discussed movie, making their case for why more attention must be paid to it. Get access to all exi...

Actor Matt Jones ( Breaking Bad, Mom ) joins to discuss the psychological thriller SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY starring Julia Roberts, Patrick Bergin and Kevin Anderson. Director Joseph Ruben helmed this 1991 film with Roberts as a young woman trapped in an abusive marriage to a violent and domineering husband. After faking her own death, she attempts to start her life anew in a small town, but how lo...

Comedian and actor Josh Fadem ( Better Call Saul ) joins to discuss the 1948 film noir HOLLOW TRIUMPH (aka THE SCAR) starring Paul Henreid and Joan Bennett. Credited to director Steve Sekely, but mostly directed by Henried himself, HOLLOW TRIUMPH follows John Müller, a criminal whose casino heist goes awry, forcing him into hiding. When mistaken for a local psychoanalyst, Müller assumes the doppel...

Comedian and writer Sean O'Connor ( Solar Opposites, Norm Macdonald Live ) joins to discuss the new release AIR starring Matt Damon, Viola Davis, Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Matthew Maher, Chris Messina and Chris Tucker. Affleck directed this true story of marketing intrigue set in 1984, back when Nike found themselves an underdog in the growing basketball shoe market. In a risky gambit, the c...

Author and film historian Sloan De Forest joins to discuss Stanley Kubrick's A CLOCKWORK ORANGE starring Malcolm McDowell. The 1971 dystopian science fiction film based on Anthony Burgess's novel follows a British teen Alex DeLarge and his gang of Droogs committing ultra-violence in a not-so-distant future. When convicted of a brutal murder, Alex is given an opportunity to submit to an exp...

Director and writer Jefferson Dutton ( The Sloppy Boys ) joins to discuss the newly released dark comedy BEAU IS AFRAID starring Joaquin Phoenix, Patti LuPone, Nathan Lane, Amy Ryan, Stephen McKinley Henderson and Parker Posey. Written and directed by Ari Aster ( Hereditary , Midsommar ), BEAU IS AFRAID revolves around a deeply fearful middle-aged man's nightmarish journey to properly attend t...

Comedian, actor and writer Jake Noll joins to discuss the 1994 drama NELL starring Jodie Foster, Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson. Directed by Michael Apted, NELL tells the story of a young woman raised in an isolated North Carolina mountain cabin, making her first contact with the outside world after the death of her mother. NELL was released to a mixed critical reaction, but Jodie Foster recei...